In a 2014 article for Comic Book Resources, reviewer Larry Cruz felt that the mythos of the strip was unattainable for a reader to retain, and stated, "Marathoning Sluggy Freelance can often come to feel like a chore, and I admit that I tapped out for the duration of the second "Oceans Unmoving" storyline (concluding in 2006), which I absolutely grasp was the breaking place for several longtime readers.