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‘Living with Insanity:’ Web Comic Review

Living with Insanity (www.livingwithinsanity.com) is an ongoing web comic created by David Herbert and drawn by Paul Salvi and Fer Galicia. The basic story follows a group of creative types as they struggle to create, promote, and try to break even on a web comic. They face the realities of trying to increase website hits, make con booths profitable enough to avoid losing money, and the difficulties of writer’s block and artist distraction.

I read the most recent four chapters of Living with Insanity, which are drawn solely by Fer Galicia. He replaced Paul Salvi on the comic after three hundred strips when Paul chose to move on to other creative endeavors; however, Paul’s earlier comics are still available on the website, although they are currently being re-uploaded after issues with the site. I skimmed a few of the earliest ones to get a baseline, and the art remains very similar even with the change in artists.

As someone who has worked for a small family company most of my life, I definitely relate to the quirky, boundary-breaking atmosphere shown amongst the cast of Living with Insanity. David, Mike, and Fer are not just work colleagues; they spend a certain degree of leisure time together, even if they sometimes call it business. I enjoyed seeing the funny, yet frustrating, ways they related to one another throughout the creative process, and I believed in them as full characters. Julia was a fun addition to the cast as the model/booth babe for the main character in the web comic’s comic. I get the impression that Alice was more important in earlier strips, because she didn’t get much development in the latest four chapters. Hopefully, she will show up more in later strips as the latest storyline is expanded upon. My only complaint with the writing is that I wanted to feel more story arcs rather than just one offs that roughly connected to one another. While each comic is better understood if you build on the previous ones, I didn’t feel any sort of greater plot connecting them; however, readers who enjoy episodic web comics will enjoy the style.

The art of Living with Insanity is not intensely detailed, but it works for the lighthearted examination of the difficulties of being an independent creator. There is almost a Peanuts sort of feel to the simple, stylized character drawings and coloring. I did get a little bored with the backgrounds while reading through the comic, and I realized my favorites were ones with objects such as the trees in the park or the panels where the color wasn’t just flat. Even adding shading to the back of the scenes to create a false sense of depth was more visually appealing to me than just a splash of tint. I would love to see the creators do more with dynamic backgrounds in the future, if possible.

Who would this web comic appeal to? It obviously has a fanbase, since it’s been around since 2008, but every online entity can use more fans. I think that anyone who likes offbeat characters experiencing life will enjoy Living with Insanity. It’s a humorous, if not very deep, look into life on the indie side of comics.

4 Desperate Fan Art Posts out of 5

Jodi Scaife, Fanbase Press Social Media Strategist

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Mid-30s geek type with a houseful of pets, books, DVDs, CDs, and manga

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