More Human Than Human

Here we all are again. Another Saturday and everyone's expecting a new Webcomic of the Week. As each Saturday rolls around, I regret choosing that name as I have yet to find a Webcomic each week since I started. While it may not be a true weekly event, it's still something you can't find on the other comic strip blogs. That's why we're the best, we strive to bring you new and exciting ideas. Incidentally, that is also why you should give us some money, otherwise how will we stay in business? Magic? Don't be silly, magic is just something that money buys.

But I digress, here is the Webcomic of the Week this time around.


This week we have All Too Human by Jesse Cline. All Too Human focuses on the office life a monkey. It's kind of like Dilbert but with talking monkeys. Cline's inspiration comes from his time working at a large accounting firm and how psychologically crushing it was. After a few years he just got sick of it all and decided to do what he always wanted, cartooning. He has been drawing and writing since September of '08 with the original title of Walking Upright but he had such disdain for the writing and drawing that he relaunched in January as All Too Human. He dislikes the earlier work so much that he wouldn't even share it with me. He has posted a few early comics in his blog, comparing them to the more current work. Judging from theses few originals, he has come a very long way in a few short months.

The art is on par or better than most syndicated comics. Currently there are only two updates a week, but Cline has stated in his blog that this is to build up a reserve for when he is unable to write new comics. The normal comic is not in color, but one color comic is done a month as a Sunday comic and they look as good as anything you'll find in your local newspaper.

As I said earlier, the strip has a distinct Dilbert feel. Chester, the main character, is more like Wally than Dilbert as he slacks off and tries his best not to work. Chester is constantly beset by more ambitious co-workers and his bosses are always deriding him for not doing his work. While I have not seen a storyline as one would normally be thought of, there is some continuation of the plot from strip to strip most of the time. Currently, Chester is being mentored by another monkey that is successful (I think). He is teaching Chester how smell is an important part of being successful and doing trust falls.

My main criticisms are that there has been little information given about the other characters that have appeared. This could be due to the fact that All Too Human is a relatively young strip (less than 30 posted so far) or a deliberate action on the part of the author, I hope not because I think it could improve the quality of the experience greatly. There is no need to improve the art, except to have more color strips; but I understand that Cline has a limited amount of time.

If you're looking for a quality comic poking fun at the crushing reality of office life, I recommend All Too Human by Jesse Cline. It may not be daily, but it's as funny as anything out there.