I have to wonder if Robin truly is that naive? I mean, come on… she has to realize what those tag lines are about… she’s just teasing her new “roommate” (I hope). Amber, on the other hand, seems to have wisdom far beyond her years… in catching the thoughtful expression on Robin’s face and interpreting it before Robin strikes.

Now if only she had earplugs handy to block out Robin’s comment….

Unfortunately, laughs aside, I’m not that drawn to Shortpacked. It’s not that I don’t like Willis’s work. He’s a talented artist and a skilled storyteller. But… when talking to a friend about this, he suggested part of the problem might be that David has written himself in a bit too narrowly to interest me. Sure, working retail is something we’ve all done.

I could easily see Shortpacked being almost a Dilbertesque comic about the inanities of working retail, dealing with idiot customers, insane bosses, and braindead coworkers. But… well, part of the problem is that Willis has too much love for toy stores or something. It just feels… off, somehow. Like a puppydog that is trying too hard to get you to love it. You look at it, you feel for it, you pat it on the head, and then you walk away with a slimy hand and wondering where the restrooms are so you can wash your hands.

Except Shortpacked is a bit cleaner than puppydogs. Still, it tries. It truly does… and the comic is well drawn, it’s got cute little storylines… and it just isn’t igniting my interest.

Perhaps part of the problem lies with the refugees from It’s Walky. Robin was an interesting addition to the comic. It made some sense, though Robin’s talking about being able to kill a person in under a second just… fell flat. Mike, on the other hand, just gives Shortpacked an unpolished sharp edge that hurts when you hold it wrong and doesn’t do anything to enhance it. Hell, he died, and yet here he is, unexplained and unrepentant. I doubt we’ll ever find out what’s behind Mike’s ressurection as the only character that he has any tie to is Robin, and I can’t imagine him admitting to her what happened.

Of course, another problem is that there’s been no real storyline to the comic. There’s been a couple short runs, like the “protection plan” that the boss came up with… but no real roots have grown in the four months the comic’s been running.

Then again, Shortpacked only updates 3x a week, and David is also doing new Roomies strips as well as a continuation of It’s Walky. So I’ll stick around a while longer and hope that some actual storylines evolve.