Dork Shadows

Dork Tower #2

by John Kovalic

Give In To The Dork Side!
Lurking in the dork shadows, you'll find Matt, Igor, Ken, Gilly the Perky Goth and Carson the Muskrat. Whether you're a goth, a gamer, an SF fan, a comics fanboy, a computer wonk or a mundane, you'll recognize them all! Dork Tower is a worldwide hit amongst geeks and non-geeks alike! Make Dork Shadows the brightest spot in your comics collection! Meet the characters from John Kovalic's Dork Tower in their second sellout collection . . . and welcome to the world of Dorkness!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Comic Book, Webcomic, Gaming, Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

John Kovalic’s cartoons have appeared everywhere from his hometown WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL (Madison, WI) to the NEW YORK TIMES and DRAGON MAGAZINE. His creations include the sell-out comic book sensation DORK TOWER and “DR. BLINK: SUPERHERO SHRINK,” as well as SNAPDRAGONS, NEWBIES, WILD LIFE, BEACHED, and panel cartoons including MURPHY’S RULES, THE UNSPEAKABLE OAF and others.

A co-founder and co-owner of Out of the Box Games, and a cartoonist for Steve Jackson Games, John has illustrated over 100 games and game supplements, and is at least in part responsible for best-sellers like APPLES TO APPLES (A GAMES Magazine Hall of Fame inductee) , MUNCHKIN, CHEZ GEEK and BLINK. He is closing in on 4,000 MUNCHKIN cards drawn, and boy, are his arms tired.

He was the first cartoonist inducted into the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Hall of Fame. In his spare time, John searches for spare time.

You can also read about how he got his wife into the National Enquirer.

The lovely and talented JUDITH, BTW, is world-famous now that she works at Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dig Dork Tower. There's a ray of positivity in the comic, as well as in Kovalic himself, which isn't seen much in webcomics. I'm a little behind in reading the collected versions of the comic book, but thanks to a two-year-old Kickstarter finally getting delivered, it's time.

As much as I like the strip, there's a repetition to the comics that can get a little tiresome. Kovalic's jokes run in the vein of describe-describe-describe-DESCRIBE-DESCRIBE-punchline. It works great in a webcomic format, but when reading a whole comic, where even the extended stories carry that same format, it can get very same-y.

Still, I'm not going to stop reading these. I have seven more to go to get caught up.

[F. Malanoche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found two or three issues of this series at a local store and loved everything about it. I ordered book one and loved it even more. It is a hilarious recap of what life was like for gamers and goths against society that isn't copacetic with such interests. If I remember correctly, Gilly enters in this edition and is arguably the best character.

[Lady Entropy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Endearing, sweet, funny, but the central romance (still in the "will it happen!" stage) does kinda ruin it for me. It was funny the first few times, now it's just... meh.

And it takes away a bit from the nerd-theme of the series.

Still, Jill's relationship with her brother is totally awesome.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nörttihuumori puree myös sarjan toisessa albumissa. Lisäksi mukaan tulee entistä korostuneemmassa roolissa ihastuttava romanttinen juonikuvio, jossa keskushenkilö Mattin ja pirteän goottityttö Gillyn tiet eivät vaan kohtaa.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dork Tower was always one of my favorite comics. It's nice to have this collection of older strips all in one place for easy reading. Even if you're not a gamer, this is worth checking out as Kovalic is one of the most consistently funny cartoonists in the business.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

funny reading

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not spectacular, but chuckle-worthy and entertaining enough. (B)