(In which we continue our tour of online comics with intriguing art, of which you may not have heard.)

Sometimes you read a webcomic because you want it to succeed.

Usually the comic in question isn’t very polished or even particularly good, but you like the tone or the quirkiness or the creator shows glimpses of talent that begs nurturing. (In fact, if one were to be frank, most webcomics probably fall in this category.)

With Loyalty & Liberty, I want it to succeed because I respect its goals. Yes, it has goals. L & L bills itself as “an Educational Graphic Novel” that seeks to “educate ages 12 and up about 18th century life” and the conflicts involved in the American Revolution. I’ve got two boys in elementary school. I call that worthwhile.

Not that Loyalty & Liberty reads like a kid’s comic, mind you. We start in 1774 by following a company of British footsoldiers investigating gunpowder thieves in Boston. I suspect their flintlocks will soon unload some .75 caliber whoopass in the faces of outmatched colonial kitty cats.

Did I mention the kitty cats?

The characters are rendered as anthropomorphic cats. Think Puss In Boots as a redcoat. It lends accessibility and visual appeal to a strip that’s produced with loving detail by obvious history geeks. Makes for an interesting juxtaposition. The color artwork - I’m not sure if it’s digital or hand-drawn - feels like illustrations in a children’s book, which is not a condemnation (have you seen some of the kid’s books out there lately?). It needs some work to fully integrate into the comic format, but the raw ability is on the page.

Having said all that… L & L isn’t very polished and “shows glimpses of talent that begs nurturing.” The writing and typography are stiff and not always grammatical. The comic updates a page a week (if that) and only went live in late December, so there’s not much story yet and no guarantee the whole thing won’t die on the vine, as so many webcomics do. But that’s one reason I’m mentioning it here. Let’s put some eyeballs on Loyalty & Liberty and see how this intriguing dish cooks up.