I don't rank comics by star ratings, but I do sort them into categories based on how I perceive them.
But for your convenience when browsing reviews by category:
What a Find! - Comics with special and unique characteristics that enthralled me, and which I can whole-heartedly recommend to others.
Place of Interest - An enjoyable comic that while wasn't earth-shattering and might have some flaws, is a worthwhile read if you have some time to spend.
Lost in Transit - A comic that has both positive qualities that might endear it to readers, and negative qualities that might drive them away. It's like Marmite, either you like it or hate it, there is no in-between.
Weekend Day Trip - A comic that was not really bad, might have been quite enjoyable to read but was lacking on the "memorable" front. A read-through is an entertaining way to spend a few hours, but ask me about it after a long time and I might need a few minutes to remember I read it.
Under Development - A comic that is too new to be evaluated properly, so contents of review may be inaccurate later on.
Tourist Trap - Comics that I did not enjoy and cannot in good conscience recommend to anyone.
Showing posts with label Weekend Day Trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weekend Day Trip. Show all posts
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, October 28, 2005
33rd Leg: The Dementia of Magic
Comic: The Dementia of Magic
By: Nicholas Killewald
Setting and Elements: Fantasy, Magical World, DnD Influenced
Content Type: Adventure, Humor
Art Medium: Inks, Cel-shaded colours
Art Style: Simplifed Cartoony.
Is About: The adventures of a thief and his soceress sister in a land ruled by and inept king who is constantly conscripting peasants into his army.
Website: http://www.dementiaofmagic.net
Frequency: Irregular
Availability: Free
First Impressions and Presentation:
I must admit my first impression wasn't very favourable. Whatever else I may think of the comic later, at first sight, the art for DoM isn't very impressive. As most comics rely on art to draw the reader in and writing to keep them there, I suspect the writing must be excellent to keep them there.
The website design is simple, although the slick Photoshopped (or should I say, GIMPed?) title image contrasts badly against the simple and cartoony art style of the comic. Link colours aren't bad, but a little tooo bright. Navigation however, is straightforward and easy to use.
The Concept: The Dementia of Magic is one of the many and common stereotypical DnD variant comics out there. You have your hero the thief, his sister the sorceress and the people of their village. I have to admit this premise didn't exactly thrill me, and if this comic had not been linked to by Catharsis, I probably would have taken a brief look and moved on. However, because the link IS there, I'm willing to give this a chance (See the importance of recommendation?). Good execution and new spins on non-original concepts can make for good reading, after all.
The Art:
The art for DoM isn't anything to talk about at. Nicholas' art is extremely simplified, which isn't a particularly bad thing, but simplified art often needs smooth lines and geometric shapes to carry it off. Despite the artist's best attempts, the wobbly linework with unvarying thickness results in a rather flat look.
The early strips are quite rough, but over time many improvements have been made, such as the change from black and white to full colour and the clear, more consistent art. The newer strips expecially show quite a bit of effort and attention to detail, and the new colouring work is actually quite good.
While the initial font was hard to read, the change to a more eye-friendly font was a godsend.
The art so far has shown a slow and steady rate of improvement, and whatever is lacking in artistic skill the artist more than makes up for with the amount of effort and attention to detail put in.
The Writing:
In all honesty, I wasn't very impressed by the first storyline. While the story was surprisingly original (No motely crew meeting up and setting out on a quest) a lot of the details didn't make sense.
Ping's train of thought:
"Eh? They killed the dragon and are heroes! Why are they running away? That doesn't make sense!"
*goes on reading anyway*
However, the writing improves drastically after Magic Mushroom storyline, and I'm happy to report that the stories often transcend their set-up and plot inconsistencies by being quite orignal and entertaining. There's also a lot of interesting world-building going on. OK, I generally don't like fantasy that's built on Tolkien unless it has a twist, but I do like to see attempts to develop the thing out of the bloody fantasy sterotype so it adds something to it. The latter strips especially show a lot of thought being put into the world-building, ranging from programming principles put into spellcasting and a forays into the properties of the plants and culture of the world.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure that the most distinctive thing about DoM is the concept of Nasal Flies. I won't tell you what they are and spoil it, but I laughed my head of and judging by the guest strips, they seem to be pretty popular.
While there are many plot inconsistencies early on (these get progressively less and less as time goes on), you get drawn in by the story so (most of the time) you're willing to suspend disbelief.
Another point about DoM is the frequent and regular use of self-insertion. The author often appears in strips pertaining to the creation of the comic, and sometimes at pivotal plot points, making jokes at his own execution of the comic. This makes the whole comic feel more like a comic where the creator learns how to make a fantasy comic. Self-insertion being what it is,it sometimes works and sometimes doesn', but all in all I found the self-insertion strips to be tolerable, instead of the usual closing of the browser window and the vow to never return ( though I shouldn't be one to talk. I've used it myself a few times.)
And... Do I see a reference to Catharsis here?
Problems:
Despite the fact the art is not exactly the comic's string point, my complaints are all concerning writing. Other than the aforementioned plot inconsistencies...
This is one thing about DnD variant stories that annoys the hell out of me. "Thief" is NOT, and should NOT, be considered a respectable profession. It is definitely an profession you DO NOT admit to having in the open unless you want to be tracked down and tossed in the dungeon for. No one should be able to say "Oh that's So-and-so the Thief's house over there", especially as they live in a place where there are lots of soldiers running around conscripting everyone. I know it's imperative for most fantasy stories to have the stealthy sneaky thief character, but for god's sake at least have the guy/girl pretend to be a shoemaker or peddler or farmer or something.
The other main problem I have with the writing is what I call "It's a Small World After All" and "The World Revolves Around Our Protagonists" syndrome.
The former refers to the fact how every character in the world seems to know everyone else, when logically, that should not be possible. Not only that, the in a lot of cases, some new character the protagonists meet knows someone else the protagonist knows from the past. Not only that, but the characters seem to run into the same people in different places over and over again. Whether it's the palace guard or the evil mage or the elven librarian, it does make you wonder after a while if the population of the entire fantasy world barely reaches double digits.
The latter syndrome is also one that is common in most fantasy fiction, but is no less annoying for that. This refers to the annoying tendency for everything important that ever occured to happen to, or around the main the characters. While I realise that the story wouldn't be very interesting if NOTHING happened to them, how believable everytime something major happens the main character just happens to be in the thick of it decreases.
Overall:
It's hard to put my finger on what exactly it is that makes this comic work. Despite having a number of non-trivial shortcomings (both in art and writing), I found myself enjoying the comic and actually liking the characters.
I suspect this may be due to the sheer amount of effort that has obviously gone into the comic. The creator shows such enthusiasm and depth of thought about the background and world that the reader feels it, and is pulled along with it.
DoM may not be to the taste of most people, but if you don't require lavish art, like original storylines and have a high threshold in suspension of disbelief, give DoM a try, and you may find that you'll enjoy yourself.
Oh, And the concept of "Nasal Flies" is genius.
The Next Leg:
I was going to review Stuff of Legends, but as the comic appears to have reached an end or hiatus, so I decided to head back to the DoM link page and pick another comic.
This is a good thing, really, since I seem to have a bias towards fantasy comics and really should be experimenting more of the other stuff.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
31st Leg: Vindibudd, Super Hero in Training
Another week of drama and controversy in webcomic-dom. Keenspot artists go independent and form Blank Label Comics, which looks to be interesting and bears keeping and eye on. Keenspace gets the decision to be renamed confirmed but the chosen new name of Toonspace isn't sitting too well and now everyone's scrambling for an acceptable compromise.
Me? I'm sick of all the hoo-hah and I am not going comment on the overblown molehill any more. Instead, here's a long-awaited Find report. Enjoy.
Comic: The Adventures of Vindibudd, Superhero in Training.
By: Andrew Williams
Setting and Elements: Aternate World/Dimensions, Superheroes, Surreal, Fourth-wall breaking
Content Type: Satire, Parody, Pop-culture/Social/Political commentary
Art Medium: Inks, Flat colour
Art Style: Angular, Stylised Cartoony
Is About: Superhero Vindibudd (The guy in the blue cape), who is a superhero... in training. He and his sidekick, General Safety go through a series of adventures(?) about life, love and the occasional Lord of the Rings obsession.
Website: http://www.vindibudd.com
Frequency: Irregular
Availability: Free
First Impressions and Presentation: The website is bright and bold, and a little bit gaudy, very much like its genre stereotype before 'dark and gritty' became the fashion.
Oddly enough the first thing that stuck me was not that the art, but how difficult to read the hand-lettering was.
The art is unusually angular and stylised, and appears to have its own distinctive identity. (Always bonus points there)
The Concept:
Superhero Vindibudd at first glance, gives the impression that it's a superhero comic. On closer examination however, you quickly realise this is not really a superhero comic in the traditional sense of the genre. In fact, it's closer to a political/social satire strip starring superhero characters who are the personalisations of various concepts. For example, you have the superheroine "Common Sense Girl", who shows up whenever a good dose of common sense is needed, and "General Safety" who advises criminals to "run not walk or they might slip and fall".
All in all, a rather interesting concept, and I'll admit it took me by surprise. I was expected a typical young superhero in a superhero academy bildungsroman-type story, instead it's less of a story comic than a commentry strip. I have no idea how common these kind of comics are, but I haven't come across too many of them, which is always a good thing.
The Art:
To be honest, without the character costumes, I can't tell one character from the other. For example, I went through most of the comic, thinking the character "General Safety" was another character called "Not Vindibudd", and it wasn't till later when I realised they were separate entities. I have no idea if this is a satirical poke and superhero comics in general, but Andrew does make use of this similarity as a key point of one of his storylines, so it seems to be to some extent, intentional. If it wasn't, he sure made clever use of it!
One other thing about the art is it appears to be inked with a single sized pen, and the lack of line-widths variation does tend to make the characters look flat. I'm not sure if my cohenrency level is very high today, so lets turn to the 'picture is worth a thousand words' adage:
Original art
Altered art to include line-width variation
(Apologies to Andrew for vandalising his work.)
It's a shoddy job of alteration on my end, but I hope that the thicker lines do make the image 'pop' out a bit more and serve as a contrast and explain the 'flatness' remarks.
All in all, the art for Vindibudd is capable, and doesn't feel awkward, and has its own unique look. The flatness and homogeniety does take away from it somewhat, but those are not very major factors.
The Writing:
The premise of Vindibudd that's it's satire and commentary, so it relies heavily on pop culture and zinging humour to make its points.
Unfortunately, maybe it's because I'm not American, but having read through the archives, I didn't 'get' most of the jokes. The majority simple flew past my head without my comphrehension. There were a handful of brilliant ones I did get, and I laughed very hard at those, but they were few and far between.
There are some interesting forays into continuous storylines as well. Unfortunately these forays are frequently interrupted with unrelated joke/commentary strips mid-storyline, so continuity is often broken and scattered.
The characters, like I have mentioned before, appear to be the literal manifestations of the qualities they stand for, like "Common Sense Girl", or "Easily Offended Man". It's an interesting concept, and a lot of the clever jokes work even better because of this, but it does also mean that they get very limited character growth because the characters are not just people, they're stereotypes on/with purpose.
Problems:
I must confess I've read through the entire archive of Vindibudd, and I'm still left with a very hazy impression of the whole comic. Although nothing in the comic seems bad at all, nothing appears to particularly grab my attention either. I found it very hard to get into the comic, and it wasn't until the later chapters when I really started enjoying some of the strips. (Particularly the ones with Fluffles/Dagzar in them. I am very susceptible to cute Golden Retrievers. They rule!)
Overall:
All in all, Vindibudd is a comic with a very interesting concept and the execution is not bad at all, but for some reason, it seems to suffer from a lack of focus in direction.
There's nothing pointedly wrong with the comic, and I think a number of you will be able to enjoy this comic without even noticing any of my nitpicks. In fact, some of the strips are incredibly clever and witty...
But there's just that something missing.
The Next Leg:
Proof that I'm also susceptible to ninja-cats.
Also, I'm planning a new feature to Finds that you might find interesting. More that later.
Edit: Hmm... rereading that review a few hours later, it seems to be more critical than I intended it to be. I should include a disclaimer somewhere that the events mentioned in the beginning of the post made me crabbier than usual, so keep that in mind as it reflects on the writing. Makes you wish Blogger has those little mood emoticons Livejournal has. -Ping
Me? I'm sick of all the hoo-hah and I am not going comment on the overblown molehill any more. Instead, here's a long-awaited Find report. Enjoy.
Comic: The Adventures of Vindibudd, Superhero in Training.
By: Andrew Williams
Setting and Elements: Aternate World/Dimensions, Superheroes, Surreal, Fourth-wall breaking
Content Type: Satire, Parody, Pop-culture/Social/Political commentary
Art Medium: Inks, Flat colour
Art Style: Angular, Stylised Cartoony
Is About: Superhero Vindibudd (The guy in the blue cape), who is a superhero... in training. He and his sidekick, General Safety go through a series of adventures(?) about life, love and the occasional Lord of the Rings obsession.
Website: http://www.vindibudd.com
Frequency: Irregular
Availability: Free
First Impressions and Presentation: The website is bright and bold, and a little bit gaudy, very much like its genre stereotype before 'dark and gritty' became the fashion.
Oddly enough the first thing that stuck me was not that the art, but how difficult to read the hand-lettering was.
The art is unusually angular and stylised, and appears to have its own distinctive identity. (Always bonus points there)
The Concept:
Superhero Vindibudd at first glance, gives the impression that it's a superhero comic. On closer examination however, you quickly realise this is not really a superhero comic in the traditional sense of the genre. In fact, it's closer to a political/social satire strip starring superhero characters who are the personalisations of various concepts. For example, you have the superheroine "Common Sense Girl", who shows up whenever a good dose of common sense is needed, and "General Safety" who advises criminals to "run not walk or they might slip and fall".
All in all, a rather interesting concept, and I'll admit it took me by surprise. I was expected a typical young superhero in a superhero academy bildungsroman-type story, instead it's less of a story comic than a commentry strip. I have no idea how common these kind of comics are, but I haven't come across too many of them, which is always a good thing.
The Art:
To be honest, without the character costumes, I can't tell one character from the other. For example, I went through most of the comic, thinking the character "General Safety" was another character called "Not Vindibudd", and it wasn't till later when I realised they were separate entities. I have no idea if this is a satirical poke and superhero comics in general, but Andrew does make use of this similarity as a key point of one of his storylines, so it seems to be to some extent, intentional. If it wasn't, he sure made clever use of it!
One other thing about the art is it appears to be inked with a single sized pen, and the lack of line-widths variation does tend to make the characters look flat. I'm not sure if my cohenrency level is very high today, so lets turn to the 'picture is worth a thousand words' adage:
Original art
Altered art to include line-width variation
(Apologies to Andrew for vandalising his work.)
It's a shoddy job of alteration on my end, but I hope that the thicker lines do make the image 'pop' out a bit more and serve as a contrast and explain the 'flatness' remarks.
All in all, the art for Vindibudd is capable, and doesn't feel awkward, and has its own unique look. The flatness and homogeniety does take away from it somewhat, but those are not very major factors.
The Writing:
The premise of Vindibudd that's it's satire and commentary, so it relies heavily on pop culture and zinging humour to make its points.
Unfortunately, maybe it's because I'm not American, but having read through the archives, I didn't 'get' most of the jokes. The majority simple flew past my head without my comphrehension. There were a handful of brilliant ones I did get, and I laughed very hard at those, but they were few and far between.
There are some interesting forays into continuous storylines as well. Unfortunately these forays are frequently interrupted with unrelated joke/commentary strips mid-storyline, so continuity is often broken and scattered.
The characters, like I have mentioned before, appear to be the literal manifestations of the qualities they stand for, like "Common Sense Girl", or "Easily Offended Man". It's an interesting concept, and a lot of the clever jokes work even better because of this, but it does also mean that they get very limited character growth because the characters are not just people, they're stereotypes on/with purpose.
Problems:
I must confess I've read through the entire archive of Vindibudd, and I'm still left with a very hazy impression of the whole comic. Although nothing in the comic seems bad at all, nothing appears to particularly grab my attention either. I found it very hard to get into the comic, and it wasn't until the later chapters when I really started enjoying some of the strips. (Particularly the ones with Fluffles/Dagzar in them. I am very susceptible to cute Golden Retrievers. They rule!)
Overall:
All in all, Vindibudd is a comic with a very interesting concept and the execution is not bad at all, but for some reason, it seems to suffer from a lack of focus in direction.
There's nothing pointedly wrong with the comic, and I think a number of you will be able to enjoy this comic without even noticing any of my nitpicks. In fact, some of the strips are incredibly clever and witty...
But there's just that something missing.
The Next Leg:
Proof that I'm also susceptible to ninja-cats.
Also, I'm planning a new feature to Finds that you might find interesting. More that later.
Edit: Hmm... rereading that review a few hours later, it seems to be more critical than I intended it to be. I should include a disclaimer somewhere that the events mentioned in the beginning of the post made me crabbier than usual, so keep that in mind as it reflects on the writing. Makes you wish Blogger has those little mood emoticons Livejournal has. -Ping
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
29th Leg: Storm Corps
Comic: Storm Corps
By: Chester "Chet" Lucero
Setting and Elements: Earth, Futuristic, Space and Sky-travel
Content Type: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Art Medium: Drawn, Inked and Digitalled coloured.
Art Style: Disney-esque, Semi-realistic
Is About: The crew of StormCorps weathership Terra Thunder, who in the battle to control the fierce skies, face internal intrigues and sky-pirates as well.
Website: http://www.stormcorps.com/
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: Free
First Impressions and Presentation:
The website design is nice, compact and clean. Colour choice is kind to the eye. Very nice, and helps draw focus to the attractive art. Very efficient navigation too!
It may sound silly, but from the point of view of a first-time reader, the "Story starts here!" sign is VERY helpful. I've always liked being able to jump right in at the beginning, nothing as irritating as having to HUNT for the first or going backward through the archives.
The practice of having every page of the comic available via quick links from every page in the archive is also very handy. In terms of user-friendliness, StormCorps already scores a major point.
The Concept:
There is definitely a lot of originality inherent in the comic. The idea of the controlling the weather (which is by nature unpredicatable) to survive is very appealing, even if the explanations of how they did this were rather vague. Add more so to the idea of the other planet where things seem to take on a mythical feel.
The Art:
The first word that comes to mind for the Stormcorps art is "Disney-style". The art in the beginning is a bit shifty in terms of porportions, but improves greatly, and by the current chapter, is nicely consistent.
The comic has capital airbrushed-looking colouring, and the artist's work on mechanical elements (airships and machinery) is to die for. Being a person who can't draw machinery well, I can particularly appreciate how good Chet is with his technical drawings. Page layouts and cinematography is excellent and varied, and the background-work is beautifully detailed.
Chet also seems to be able to draw very attractive characters without resorting to being gratitiously sexy. Unfortunately, there does seem to be this issue where most of the male and female human characters seem to share the exact same ideal body types and faces, with differences only in clothing and hairstyles. On some of the facial close-ups I had trouble telling one character from another.
The other issue is the lack of expression variety. Expressions seem to be fixed in a permanent smile, even in situations when smiling seems rather out-of-place. There's the occasional 'mildly alarmed' and 'smirk', but it always seems to default to the same smiley expression again. This really does make many of the scenes feel posed and unnatural.
The Writing:
The story begins with a prologue which give a lot of background and history on the world and setting. Some people dislike these kind of prologue because they generally feel a little info-dumpish, but I didn't mind this one. It was a little long and did drag on for a bit too much, but it was well-done otherwise. It was a fairly good introduction, although it looks like it was done after the completion of chapter one.
The first chapter opens in splendid action style, StormCorp ship Terra Thunder spots a mysterious ship in an area it should not be. On closer inspection, one of the crew spots a man being thrown-off the deck of the mysterious ship, which turns out to be a hijacked military ship.
From then on, the story gets more and more interesting. There's a lot of intrigue and good action involved, and it really does pull the reader into the thick of it with cool cinematography.
Although the story focuses on action there were a few hilarious scenes as well. That particular example appealed a lot to me because it happens to me too ;) However, the humour does takes a back seat to the story.
Problems:
Something I must mention though... although the story flow was interesting, something was nagging me throughout the reading of the archives. It's very difficult to put my finger on what it was that distubed me, but the closest I can get to it is the plot is illogical in many places. There are some very nice plot-point and twists throughout, but a lot of other things just don't seem to make sense even though the creator takes a crack at explaining it (and I'm not talking about technical details, here). The story as a result sometimes feels like a very forced and pre-selected sequence of scenes, with a far too many coincidences and engineered plot-points holding them together.
To add to this is the behaviour of the characters, which really puzzles me. The characterisation is excellent, and with many nice little human touches. In regards to their behaviour towards the plot though, 'unnatural' would be the best word to describe the state of things. For example, the reaction of the character "May" appears to be a very strong-willed and loyal, but on discovering that one of her former crew-mates is taking up with pirates and betraying his former organisation, not only does she not do anything other than demanding a few questions, she doesn't do anything about it.
Characters also seem to be almost eternally good-tempered and unperturbed even after the aftermath of events that would plunge a lot of people into depression or at least a spot of traumatic shock.
All in all, these are very subtle details, and I highly doubt most of the people reading Stormcorps will find this a problem if they even notice it at all.
To me however, although good, there's just that intangible something about that just doesn't feel right about Stormcorps that suspension of disbelief can't quite cure.
Overall:
Stormcorps is a comic with excellent art and interesting (even if not very convincing) storyline. It's a good read, but there's just that something not-quite right with it that keeps it from greatness. Nevertheless, it's worth checking out, and some of you might end up disagreeing with me and my gut feelings ;)
The Next Leg:
I feel a bit whimsical today, so for once I'm not going to pick a next leg. Instead I'm going to point out that this is the Storm Corps links page. For this leg I'm letting you guys decide where I go next.
Most of the comics listed seem to be quite popular already, and a fairish number of them (Lovarian Adventures, Eidolic Fringe, Cascadia, Timescapes, Magellan, D101, Mindmistress, Bolt City/Copper) are already on my read (and used-to-read-when-they-updated) list. I'm giving precedence to comic picks that I haven't read yet, but if no one suggests one of those I have no objection going over any of the mentioned.
So pick a link!
Friday, January 7, 2005
21st Leg: Elsie Hooper
Firstly, welcome to the New Year!
Secondly... enough waffling already! Let's get down to business and find some webcomics!
Comic: Elsie Hooper
By: Robert D. Krzykowski
Genre and Setting: Survival Horror, Modern Day, Apocalyptic
Art Style: Heavily-stylized realistic, Greyscale (heavy blacks), newspaper strip format
Is About: A young girl named Elsie Hooper, who has been taken by the shadowmen. Elder brother and guardian Ridley isn't about to let them get away with it, and wages a war in the deserted town of Campbell falls. Deserted, except for the hordes of shadowmen bent on stopping him.
Website: http://www.elsiehooper.com
Frequency: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays (Has been rather irregular lately)
Availability: Free
First Impressions and Presentation:
I think it was the front page banner that did it. You have these two omnious figures standing in a shaft of light. And one of them is carrying a chainsaw.
A chainsaw. If that doesn't set the mood for the comic, nothing does.
As should be expected (and probably appropriate) the website is dark and minimalistic. Nothing fancy, but I don't think anything more is needed, really.
The Concept:
It's the classic survival horror situation: You run through your hometown, which is devoid of people and is now overrun by a) Undead (zombies) b) Monsters c) Aliens. When push comes to shove, even a mild-mannered character is going to find some way to fight back. Ridley Hooper does.
The premise for Elsie Hooper follows the classic approach, and is none the worse for it. It's certainly a nice twist that you're never sure what "they" (the shadowmen) are, or what happened to all the people, except that they are all certainly gone. There's more underneath the surface that has only been hinted at, something apocalyptic, we we'll see soon enough where that goes
The Art:
While at first glance it looks deceptively simple, it's actually quite detailed. The style definitely suits the comic matter, and serves to enhance the 'horror' feel. Robert also make liberal use of splatter effects.
One thing's for certain, you can't possibly mistake Robert's style for anyone else's. The style of drawing the eyes take some getting used to, but it works.
I should also mention that there's some great experimentation done on the newspaper strip format.
All in all, I like the art, and I do the like the distinctiveness of the style.
The Writing:
It's obvious the author has a good grasp of storytelling techniques.
The action scenes are excellently done. Conveying action in a comic is very difficult (I should know) but the action scenes in Elsie Hooper are exceptionally well done.
Not only is the flow of action very easy to follow, but it manages to do something many action comics fail to do: have a lot of action yet not make it boring. It pulls the reader into the thick of the fray, and for a moment, you are there. You can feel the fear when the shadowmen surround the characters. You can sense the animal rage when the characters fight for their very survival. You feel the terror and despair of the characters when they hit setback after setback. And the constant knowledge that more of them are coming.
Another thing worthy mentioning is how subtle and efficient Roberts can be sometimes. Here for example, one of the characters tells of the events that happened to him before meeting up with the main characters, not only does he relate some events that are important to the story, but he also gives some nice backstory on Ridley's parents. (A good example: Ridley's father was a fireman killed in action, but the author manages to convey this to the audience without directly saying so).
I've gotta learn how to do that one.
Problems:
One thing that annoyed me the most after reading Elsie Hooper is that as enjoyable as the story is while you're reading it, once you're done you realise that despite the large archives, not much of real substance has really happened in the story. There's a lot of action. And more action. And it's good action... but at the end of each chapter the plot advancement has gravitated perhaps two inches from where it was at the beginning of the chapter.
Which is a pity. There's a very intriguing story in Elsie Hooper that's still waiting to break out, but has been supressed in favour of action. and while action is all very well, there is such a thing as 'too much of a good thing'.
This might not seem like a big 'problem' in your eyes, but in all honesty, if the pacing continues to be this slow, I'm beginning to doubt I will ever see the end of this story. In my experience, good comics that die before reaching their ending tend to be of this type; the slow pacing kills them eventually as the creator's attention tends to wander off. And if I think a comic will never finish, I'm not likely to continue reading it, because goddamnit I want to know the ending!.
I hope I'm wrong. I really do. But I wouldn't be surprised if I were right.
Overall:
Elsie Hooper has lots of fast-paced interesting action and a great concept. Normally I'd give it a glowing review, if not for the knowledge that the story pacing is problematic, and there's the great possibility that this comic might not ever finish. I had a great time reading it, but after finishing I found it frustrating.
Don't let the opinion of this blogger keep you from reading it, though...
The Next Leg:
Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to find a links page with webcomic links in it.
You know what this means: BACKTRACK!
I don't know why, but I chose Dinosaur Comics. Maybe it's because I remember it being mentioned about in websnark before, or maybe it's not something I'm likely to read otherwise...
Although that might be because I have a slight phobia of dinosaurs. Now I bet that's something about me that you didn't know.
Secondly... enough waffling already! Let's get down to business and find some webcomics!
Comic: Elsie Hooper
By: Robert D. Krzykowski
Genre and Setting: Survival Horror, Modern Day, Apocalyptic
Art Style: Heavily-stylized realistic, Greyscale (heavy blacks), newspaper strip format
Is About: A young girl named Elsie Hooper, who has been taken by the shadowmen. Elder brother and guardian Ridley isn't about to let them get away with it, and wages a war in the deserted town of Campbell falls. Deserted, except for the hordes of shadowmen bent on stopping him.
Website: http://www.elsiehooper.com
Frequency: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays (Has been rather irregular lately)
Availability: Free
First Impressions and Presentation:
I think it was the front page banner that did it. You have these two omnious figures standing in a shaft of light. And one of them is carrying a chainsaw.
A chainsaw. If that doesn't set the mood for the comic, nothing does.
As should be expected (and probably appropriate) the website is dark and minimalistic. Nothing fancy, but I don't think anything more is needed, really.
The Concept:
It's the classic survival horror situation: You run through your hometown, which is devoid of people and is now overrun by a) Undead (zombies) b) Monsters c) Aliens. When push comes to shove, even a mild-mannered character is going to find some way to fight back. Ridley Hooper does.
The premise for Elsie Hooper follows the classic approach, and is none the worse for it. It's certainly a nice twist that you're never sure what "they" (the shadowmen) are, or what happened to all the people, except that they are all certainly gone. There's more underneath the surface that has only been hinted at, something apocalyptic, we we'll see soon enough where that goes
The Art:
While at first glance it looks deceptively simple, it's actually quite detailed. The style definitely suits the comic matter, and serves to enhance the 'horror' feel. Robert also make liberal use of splatter effects.
One thing's for certain, you can't possibly mistake Robert's style for anyone else's. The style of drawing the eyes take some getting used to, but it works.
I should also mention that there's some great experimentation done on the newspaper strip format.
All in all, I like the art, and I do the like the distinctiveness of the style.
The Writing:
It's obvious the author has a good grasp of storytelling techniques.
The action scenes are excellently done. Conveying action in a comic is very difficult (I should know) but the action scenes in Elsie Hooper are exceptionally well done.
Not only is the flow of action very easy to follow, but it manages to do something many action comics fail to do: have a lot of action yet not make it boring. It pulls the reader into the thick of the fray, and for a moment, you are there. You can feel the fear when the shadowmen surround the characters. You can sense the animal rage when the characters fight for their very survival. You feel the terror and despair of the characters when they hit setback after setback. And the constant knowledge that more of them are coming.
Another thing worthy mentioning is how subtle and efficient Roberts can be sometimes. Here for example, one of the characters tells of the events that happened to him before meeting up with the main characters, not only does he relate some events that are important to the story, but he also gives some nice backstory on Ridley's parents. (A good example: Ridley's father was a fireman killed in action, but the author manages to convey this to the audience without directly saying so).
I've gotta learn how to do that one.
Problems:
One thing that annoyed me the most after reading Elsie Hooper is that as enjoyable as the story is while you're reading it, once you're done you realise that despite the large archives, not much of real substance has really happened in the story. There's a lot of action. And more action. And it's good action... but at the end of each chapter the plot advancement has gravitated perhaps two inches from where it was at the beginning of the chapter.
Which is a pity. There's a very intriguing story in Elsie Hooper that's still waiting to break out, but has been supressed in favour of action. and while action is all very well, there is such a thing as 'too much of a good thing'.
This might not seem like a big 'problem' in your eyes, but in all honesty, if the pacing continues to be this slow, I'm beginning to doubt I will ever see the end of this story. In my experience, good comics that die before reaching their ending tend to be of this type; the slow pacing kills them eventually as the creator's attention tends to wander off. And if I think a comic will never finish, I'm not likely to continue reading it, because goddamnit I want to know the ending!.
I hope I'm wrong. I really do. But I wouldn't be surprised if I were right.
Overall:
Elsie Hooper has lots of fast-paced interesting action and a great concept. Normally I'd give it a glowing review, if not for the knowledge that the story pacing is problematic, and there's the great possibility that this comic might not ever finish. I had a great time reading it, but after finishing I found it frustrating.
Don't let the opinion of this blogger keep you from reading it, though...
The Next Leg:
Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to find a links page with webcomic links in it.
You know what this means: BACKTRACK!
I don't know why, but I chose Dinosaur Comics. Maybe it's because I remember it being mentioned about in websnark before, or maybe it's not something I'm likely to read otherwise...
Although that might be because I have a slight phobia of dinosaurs. Now I bet that's something about me that you didn't know.
Tuesday, November 2, 2004
18th Leg: BeeComix
Firstly, I'd like to introduce you to WF-tan, or to give her her full name: Webcomic Finds-tan. She's the personalisation of the Webcomic Finds blog.
Since WF-tan is a traveller, I thought it be appropriate that she'd dress as a backpacker. The pen she has in her hand is a walking-stick, and you'll notice it's in a revolution, like the Lonely Planet logo.
Although I've already been introduced to the OS-tans by one Alan Medlar, I blame friend Rodrigo Pin Nitto for starting up the webcomic versions... the stuff he came up with was so awesome I just had to join in!
Of Pin's stuff, my personal favs:
There are loads more, but I didn't want to wait for permission to post them so you'll have to go to the linked thread to check them out.
Looking at the comparisons between WF-tan and the rest, you can so tell that as much as I try, drawing 'cute' and stylised stuff doesn't come naturally to me. I keep lapsing back into 'realistic'. The more astute of you will also have noticed that WF-tan bears a snarky (sorry Eric, couldn't resist) resemblance to yours truly. The reason for that is fairly straightforward: This blog has sometimes been referred to as Ping Teo's Webcomic Finds, so it's in a way an echo of myself.
WF-tan is by FAR cuter though ;)
Edit: Oooh, more last minute permissions. Just in case you're interested, more Webcomic tans!
FYI, the last tan (the onlinecomics.net one) is done by TheLoserHero, whose comic, Twice Destined I reviewed waaaay back in Leg 4!
Now, A couple of other things I want to mention before we go onto our latest Find:
Firstly, I've been told by one happy Spell & Whistles reader that S&W is BACK! (Thanks Nicole!) Checking out the site I was surprised to find that Tauhid Bondia has joined the ranks of the webcomic artists who have dumped their day jobs to make webcomics full-time (and earn a living doing so).
Personally I earn a bit of money from my Graphic Smash paycheck, but I'd be lying if I said I made a living with it. I recouped the cost of my WACOM graphics tablet from it, but currently that's about it. I can't imagine how Mr. Bondia is going manage, but I salute him for being brave enough to take the plunge. He's certainly good enough skill-wise.
I'm beginning to see a trend. And as I write this, I wonder... for the remaining two months of 2004, how many more webcomickers are going to take the plunge?
Secondly, a moment of silence for Captain Kaff Tagon, who became the latest casualty for Schlock Mercenary's Schlocktober fest. Howard Tayler has a rule about his writing that I both fear and like: killing off main characters. Popular main characters.
In this case, the character he's killed off is one of the main cast, who has been in the comic since the very very beginning. It'd be the equivalent of me killing off Jade Lanner from The Jaded (which is silly, since he's IN the title, but I digress).
It took me ages to forgive Howard for killing off the first doctor in Schlock Mercenary. And although I'm sad that Tagon bit the dust, I'm getting used to it. I must say though, Howard Tayler must be a really happy man right now. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Howard is happy to get rid of Tagon or that he loves playing with his readers' emotions. What I mean is, he must be happy that people can care enough about his creations to mourn them. That must be the ultimate compliment a creator can get.
When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (attempted to) kill off Sherlock Holmes, people actually went into mourning, wore black and armbands and all that. I'm not going to be mourning Tagon, but I'll will call a moment of silence.
Provided Howard doesn't bring him back in a year or two ;)
And now finally, the latest leg:
Comic: Bee (Shutterbug Follies)
By: Jason Little
Genre and Setting: Modern-Life, Mystery
Art Style: Cartoony, Semi-realistic, Full colour
Is About: Bee, a spunky young woman who works as a 'photo-finishing technician'. When an odd series of corpse photos start popping up, Bee, who hasn't quite learned that curiosity killed the cat, decides to investigate.
Website: http://www.beecomix.com
Frequency: Unknown
Availability: Free samples, the rest published
First Impressions and Presentation:
Well, the website feels professional... but cluttered. There's so much going on I get slightly confused where to start. Eventually I do click the 'Comix' link and find myself with a selection of more comics. (Seperate series). More confusion as to where to start? Hell yeah.
I take it that the comic with the redhead is the main one, and the rest included are seperate short stories.
Unfortunately ShutterBug Follies appears to be a published comic, and only a free preview is available. However, I'll do my best to review the comic from what I can work with.
The Concept:
Has definitely been overlooked by a lot of others. Most of us never think about what happens to our photos when they are taken to be developed. The obvious one that most people should realise is that the person who developes them sees them. In this case, Bee, the main character, does.
I like the concept, it's certainly something refreshing!
The Art:
Very professionally done, inked and brightly coloured. I particularly like the use of the flat colours and two tone shading... somehow it reminds me of Herge's stuff.
One thing I should also mention, there's some fun variation of faces and body types. A lot of comic artists have this bad habit of drawing characters who could be interchangable if you swapped hairstyles. The characters in Bee definitely do not qualify for this dubious honour. The main character herself departs from the generic heroine body-type. She's short, slightly plump, wears glasses and sports short hair... and manages to be attractive despite... or because of it.
There some detailed backgrounds, and with them quite a few background jokes.
All in all, the art is something you can't complain about. It doesn't have the dazzling quality of some other comics, but it does look good, and like what I keep finding myself saying: It just works so well you never think about it.
The Writing:
Like all good graphic novelists, Jason Little tells a story by showing, not telling. It's a subtle kind of storytelling that takes a lot of work to master but makes SUCH a great improvement in terms of readbility.
The story setup is good and the plot is intriguing. The mystery peels off in layers, and the more you find out the curioser and curioser it gets. I found myself drawn into the mystery like I should be.
Problems:
Nothing much, except for maybe the navigation and site layout, which seems to splatte the reader's attention all over the page instead of focusing it.
Overall:
For, all the good attributes of the comic, it somehow doesn't quite click with me. It's a good comic. I can tell you that. I suspect that it's just because I know I'll probably never find out what happens next that the keenness is gone.
There's some other cool stuff besides the Bee comic though. some of the short stories I liked, especially the 3D comic that made me glad I never had problems with seeing Magic Pictures or whatever you call those things that you have to cross your eyes and half-uncross them to see.
The Next Leg:
Whoops. There doesn't seem to be a links page. You know what that means: BACKTRACK!!
I'm tired, so I'm just going to pick a link at random.
Meow
Since WF-tan is a traveller, I thought it be appropriate that she'd dress as a backpacker. The pen she has in her hand is a walking-stick, and you'll notice it's in a revolution, like the Lonely Planet logo.
Although I've already been introduced to the OS-tans by one Alan Medlar, I blame friend Rodrigo Pin Nitto for starting up the webcomic versions... the stuff he came up with was so awesome I just had to join in!
Of Pin's stuff, my personal favs:
There are loads more, but I didn't want to wait for permission to post them so you'll have to go to the linked thread to check them out.
Looking at the comparisons between WF-tan and the rest, you can so tell that as much as I try, drawing 'cute' and stylised stuff doesn't come naturally to me. I keep lapsing back into 'realistic'. The more astute of you will also have noticed that WF-tan bears a snarky (sorry Eric, couldn't resist) resemblance to yours truly. The reason for that is fairly straightforward: This blog has sometimes been referred to as Ping Teo's Webcomic Finds, so it's in a way an echo of myself.
WF-tan is by FAR cuter though ;)
Edit: Oooh, more last minute permissions. Just in case you're interested, more Webcomic tans!
FYI, the last tan (the onlinecomics.net one) is done by TheLoserHero, whose comic, Twice Destined I reviewed waaaay back in Leg 4!
Now, A couple of other things I want to mention before we go onto our latest Find:
Firstly, I've been told by one happy Spell & Whistles reader that S&W is BACK! (Thanks Nicole!) Checking out the site I was surprised to find that Tauhid Bondia has joined the ranks of the webcomic artists who have dumped their day jobs to make webcomics full-time (and earn a living doing so).
Personally I earn a bit of money from my Graphic Smash paycheck, but I'd be lying if I said I made a living with it. I recouped the cost of my WACOM graphics tablet from it, but currently that's about it. I can't imagine how Mr. Bondia is going manage, but I salute him for being brave enough to take the plunge. He's certainly good enough skill-wise.
I'm beginning to see a trend. And as I write this, I wonder... for the remaining two months of 2004, how many more webcomickers are going to take the plunge?
Secondly, a moment of silence for Captain Kaff Tagon, who became the latest casualty for Schlock Mercenary's Schlocktober fest. Howard Tayler has a rule about his writing that I both fear and like: killing off main characters. Popular main characters.
In this case, the character he's killed off is one of the main cast, who has been in the comic since the very very beginning. It'd be the equivalent of me killing off Jade Lanner from The Jaded (which is silly, since he's IN the title, but I digress).
It took me ages to forgive Howard for killing off the first doctor in Schlock Mercenary. And although I'm sad that Tagon bit the dust, I'm getting used to it. I must say though, Howard Tayler must be a really happy man right now. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Howard is happy to get rid of Tagon or that he loves playing with his readers' emotions. What I mean is, he must be happy that people can care enough about his creations to mourn them. That must be the ultimate compliment a creator can get.
When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (attempted to) kill off Sherlock Holmes, people actually went into mourning, wore black and armbands and all that. I'm not going to be mourning Tagon, but I'll will call a moment of silence.
Provided Howard doesn't bring him back in a year or two ;)
And now finally, the latest leg:
Comic: Bee (Shutterbug Follies)
By: Jason Little
Genre and Setting: Modern-Life, Mystery
Art Style: Cartoony, Semi-realistic, Full colour
Is About: Bee, a spunky young woman who works as a 'photo-finishing technician'. When an odd series of corpse photos start popping up, Bee, who hasn't quite learned that curiosity killed the cat, decides to investigate.
Website: http://www.beecomix.com
Frequency: Unknown
Availability: Free samples, the rest published
First Impressions and Presentation:
Well, the website feels professional... but cluttered. There's so much going on I get slightly confused where to start. Eventually I do click the 'Comix' link and find myself with a selection of more comics. (Seperate series). More confusion as to where to start? Hell yeah.
I take it that the comic with the redhead is the main one, and the rest included are seperate short stories.
Unfortunately ShutterBug Follies appears to be a published comic, and only a free preview is available. However, I'll do my best to review the comic from what I can work with.
The Concept:
Has definitely been overlooked by a lot of others. Most of us never think about what happens to our photos when they are taken to be developed. The obvious one that most people should realise is that the person who developes them sees them. In this case, Bee, the main character, does.
I like the concept, it's certainly something refreshing!
The Art:
Very professionally done, inked and brightly coloured. I particularly like the use of the flat colours and two tone shading... somehow it reminds me of Herge's stuff.
One thing I should also mention, there's some fun variation of faces and body types. A lot of comic artists have this bad habit of drawing characters who could be interchangable if you swapped hairstyles. The characters in Bee definitely do not qualify for this dubious honour. The main character herself departs from the generic heroine body-type. She's short, slightly plump, wears glasses and sports short hair... and manages to be attractive despite... or because of it.
There some detailed backgrounds, and with them quite a few background jokes.
All in all, the art is something you can't complain about. It doesn't have the dazzling quality of some other comics, but it does look good, and like what I keep finding myself saying: It just works so well you never think about it.
The Writing:
Like all good graphic novelists, Jason Little tells a story by showing, not telling. It's a subtle kind of storytelling that takes a lot of work to master but makes SUCH a great improvement in terms of readbility.
The story setup is good and the plot is intriguing. The mystery peels off in layers, and the more you find out the curioser and curioser it gets. I found myself drawn into the mystery like I should be.
Problems:
Nothing much, except for maybe the navigation and site layout, which seems to splatte the reader's attention all over the page instead of focusing it.
Overall:
For, all the good attributes of the comic, it somehow doesn't quite click with me. It's a good comic. I can tell you that. I suspect that it's just because I know I'll probably never find out what happens next that the keenness is gone.
There's some other cool stuff besides the Bee comic though. some of the short stories I liked, especially the 3D comic that made me glad I never had problems with seeing Magic Pictures or whatever you call those things that you have to cross your eyes and half-uncross them to see.
The Next Leg:
Whoops. There doesn't seem to be a links page. You know what that means: BACKTRACK!!
I'm tired, so I'm just going to pick a link at random.
Meow
Saturday, October 9, 2004
13th Leg: Haiku Circus
Firstly, because someone requested it:
It's nowhere near my best, but I'm kinda starved for time at the present. Originally I wanted a backpacker, but I couldn't fit it in the banner.
Next, if you guys are familiar with Keenspace and the myriad comics that exist on it, AND if you're feeling adventurous, you might be interested in this post which presents this Random Keenspace Sampler. Like what it says: it redirects you to a random Keenspace comic.
In 9 cases out of 10 you'll probably run into something bizarre or horrendous (sprite, stick figures, MS-paint) but sometimes you can get a good find or two. For example, my last 10 attempts:
Entertaining indeed. Sometimes depressing and a tad hazardous, but ultimately fun. (Thanks to Mercury Hat of Gunmetal Annie for the initial heads-up!)
Anyway, for something else a bit on the unusual side: Today's Find.
Comic: Haiku Circus
By: Ken Sakamoto
Genre and Setting: Surreal (?)
Art Style: Various, ranging from digital art to pencil/pen line drawings. Greyscale.
Is About: Modern haikus... done in comic form.
Website: http://www.haikucircus.com
Frequency: Unknown
Availability: Free. Comic has been published in various university papers.
First Impressions and Presentation:
Interesting. This has to be the first comic I've ever seen that has uh... tomatoes as the main characters.
The description for the site reads:
The navigation for the site is a bit different... There's only a previous button (but no first comic button) and an archive page with a list of all the past haikus on the site. Strips are group according to month, so clicking each button gives you a page full of successive strips. There's also this little box under each haiku asking you to rate it. (1-10, Awful - Hilarious/Enlightening)
Yep. Like I said, whatever else this comic might be, it's definitely interesting
The Concept:
According to the 'About' page, a haiku is form of Japanese poetry consisting of three lines, where the first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7 and the last has 5.
Haiku Circus takes this a step further by combining Ken's original haikus with sequential art. so imagine a series of comics, all in three panels, and each panel depicting a line of poetry.
You know, I don't think I've ever been floored by sheer originality before, but this concept is genius. And in my experience, absolutely unique.
And I don't think I've ever had this much difficulty trying to classify a comic before either.
The Art:
Is not exactly the best part of the comic.
I'm rather confused by the quality of the drawings, sometimes they look all right, sometimes the lines looks rather shaky and amateurish (you know, short scratchy lines, off poportions, scary looking eyes). In fact if I didn't know better I'd say they looked traced. But that's just conjecture on my part, so don't take my word for it. The digital stuff doesn't look very finished either, there are a lot of sharp jagged edges that should have been aliased.
I also notice a very high usage rate of 'cut-and-paste'. While in some places it works, at other times it makes the author look lazy.
But for most part the art, while not as easy on the eyes as the last few comics I've found, does what it's supposed to to, and that is: convey the message they are supposed to.
The Writing:
I'm no expert at japanese poetry, so I don't really know whether the haikus are good or bad, but I can tell you some of them are really funny. The following strips made me laugh out loud: Filthy cockroaches, Lunch Special, Whining Crosswalk, Triangles.
Like I said, I'm not sure of the value of the haikus literature-wise, but in terms of how funny they are, they vary. Some of them obviously have connotations that fly over the head of this humble reader, and some of them I didn't think were very funny. Like the previous comic it was mostly hit-or-miss, but the hits made up for the misses more often than not.
It's also interesting that there are no main characters or recurring themes, and the comic tend to focus more on interacting objects more than people.
By the way, having attention paid to the syllables had an interesting effect on the reading of the archives. I found myself subconsciously building up a rhythm (5-7-5-5-7-5...), so even when the particular haiku I was reading was a 'miss' the rhythm of the whole thing was so soothing I didn't really mind anyway.
I don't think I've ever read another comic that had this same rhythm effect.
Problems:
One very bad problem I had with the strips was the level of JPEG compression used. The level is set far too high, resulting in a horrible fuzzy JPEG artifacts appearing everywhere and blurry text, fractured text that challenge my eyes.
It doesn't help that the overall dimensions of the strips are rather small too.
Overall:
I'm not a big fan of this haiku thing, but I found myself charmed by the Haiku Circus because if its refreshing originality. It's not something I think I'd read daily, but I can see myself coming back next month to catch up on the strips, which IMHO are better read all in one go.
The Next Leg:
There's a small section put aside on the links page for webcomics. For no particular reason whatsover, I chose Deathworld.
It's nowhere near my best, but I'm kinda starved for time at the present. Originally I wanted a backpacker, but I couldn't fit it in the banner.
Next, if you guys are familiar with Keenspace and the myriad comics that exist on it, AND if you're feeling adventurous, you might be interested in this post which presents this Random Keenspace Sampler. Like what it says: it redirects you to a random Keenspace comic.
In 9 cases out of 10 you'll probably run into something bizarre or horrendous (sprite, stick figures, MS-paint) but sometimes you can get a good find or two. For example, my last 10 attempts:
- Try One
- Try Two (Count Your Sheep!)
- Try Three
- Try Four (This one's downright bizarre)
- Try Five: Sore Thumbz (Is this guy making fun of Sore Thumbs?)
- Try Five
- Try Six
- Try Seven
- Try Eight (MY EYES!)
- Try Nine
- Try Ten (Wow! The art for this one's awesome!).
Entertaining indeed. Sometimes depressing and a tad hazardous, but ultimately fun. (Thanks to Mercury Hat of Gunmetal Annie for the initial heads-up!)
Anyway, for something else a bit on the unusual side: Today's Find.
Comic: Haiku Circus
By: Ken Sakamoto
Genre and Setting: Surreal (?)
Art Style: Various, ranging from digital art to pencil/pen line drawings. Greyscale.
Is About: Modern haikus... done in comic form.
Website: http://www.haikucircus.com
Frequency: Unknown
Availability: Free. Comic has been published in various university papers.
First Impressions and Presentation:
Interesting. This has to be the first comic I've ever seen that has uh... tomatoes as the main characters.
The description for the site reads:
A comic strip that combines drawings with haiku poetry (5-7-5 syllables)
The navigation for the site is a bit different... There's only a previous button (but no first comic button) and an archive page with a list of all the past haikus on the site. Strips are group according to month, so clicking each button gives you a page full of successive strips. There's also this little box under each haiku asking you to rate it. (1-10, Awful - Hilarious/Enlightening)
Yep. Like I said, whatever else this comic might be, it's definitely interesting
The Concept:
According to the 'About' page, a haiku is form of Japanese poetry consisting of three lines, where the first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7 and the last has 5.
Haiku Circus takes this a step further by combining Ken's original haikus with sequential art. so imagine a series of comics, all in three panels, and each panel depicting a line of poetry.
You know, I don't think I've ever been floored by sheer originality before, but this concept is genius. And in my experience, absolutely unique.
And I don't think I've ever had this much difficulty trying to classify a comic before either.
The Art:
Is not exactly the best part of the comic.
I'm rather confused by the quality of the drawings, sometimes they look all right, sometimes the lines looks rather shaky and amateurish (you know, short scratchy lines, off poportions, scary looking eyes). In fact if I didn't know better I'd say they looked traced. But that's just conjecture on my part, so don't take my word for it. The digital stuff doesn't look very finished either, there are a lot of sharp jagged edges that should have been aliased.
I also notice a very high usage rate of 'cut-and-paste'. While in some places it works, at other times it makes the author look lazy.
But for most part the art, while not as easy on the eyes as the last few comics I've found, does what it's supposed to to, and that is: convey the message they are supposed to.
The Writing:
I'm no expert at japanese poetry, so I don't really know whether the haikus are good or bad, but I can tell you some of them are really funny. The following strips made me laugh out loud: Filthy cockroaches, Lunch Special, Whining Crosswalk, Triangles.
Like I said, I'm not sure of the value of the haikus literature-wise, but in terms of how funny they are, they vary. Some of them obviously have connotations that fly over the head of this humble reader, and some of them I didn't think were very funny. Like the previous comic it was mostly hit-or-miss, but the hits made up for the misses more often than not.
It's also interesting that there are no main characters or recurring themes, and the comic tend to focus more on interacting objects more than people.
By the way, having attention paid to the syllables had an interesting effect on the reading of the archives. I found myself subconsciously building up a rhythm (5-7-5-5-7-5...), so even when the particular haiku I was reading was a 'miss' the rhythm of the whole thing was so soothing I didn't really mind anyway.
I don't think I've ever read another comic that had this same rhythm effect.
Problems:
One very bad problem I had with the strips was the level of JPEG compression used. The level is set far too high, resulting in a horrible fuzzy JPEG artifacts appearing everywhere and blurry text, fractured text that challenge my eyes.
It doesn't help that the overall dimensions of the strips are rather small too.
Overall:
I'm not a big fan of this haiku thing, but I found myself charmed by the Haiku Circus because if its refreshing originality. It's not something I think I'd read daily, but I can see myself coming back next month to catch up on the strips, which IMHO are better read all in one go.
The Next Leg:
There's a small section put aside on the links page for webcomics. For no particular reason whatsover, I chose Deathworld.
Friday, October 8, 2004
12th Leg: Voices In My Hand
You'll notice that the individual comic banners are back up again. I just got the ok from Joey to link the images using my Graphic Smash WebComicsNation account. Which is great, as a picture is worth a thousand words: nothing beats having a sample of the art to go with a review, even if it is a teeny sample in a banner.
I have had some worry over the having posted my first relatively negative review (10th Leg: Gigawhut?) a few posts back. I've also been told by some of my readers that I need to write more negative reviews. Personally, I always prefer to give people good reviews, BUT I don't think it'd be fair of me if I wrote a good review for a comic I didn't like and didn't think people reading 'Finds would like. So, I'm not going to try and square the circle and make a comic that doesn't appeal to me sound like it did, but I'll try my best to be fair and certainly not rude while doing it.
I should make it clear that the purpose of Webcomic Finds is to tell people what a comic is like. So if you ever find me whining about a comic I don't like more than actually describing it to you, please don't hesitate to point that out.
By the way, an interesting update on a past Find. Do you remember The N00b all the way back from the 2nd Leg? It was the first comic I discovered as a direct result of writing this blog, and is currently one of the top favourites on my read list.
I'm happy to report the N00b continues to not disappoint. In fact the strips keep getting better and better. This recent strip in particular nearly made me spit my tea onto my PowerBook screen. The punchline is clean, but it's almost dirty humour if you get the subtle implication. The part that makes it hilarious that it's done in such perfect innocence on the part of the main character.
For those of you who don't get what 'suppository' means; try the Dictionary.Com definition.
Where the sun doesn't shine indeed... *snickers*
And now for today's review:
Comic: Voices In My Hand
By: Bill Charbonneau
Genre and Setting: Sci-fi/Horror, Humour, Satire, Commentary
Art Style: Single Panel, Ink, Greyscale, Stylised Cartoony
Is About: No particular theme except for the funny side of death and other issues concerning the darker side of human nature... There's a running gag on two earthworms who keep commenting on how the remains of various famous people taste though.
Website: http://www.voicesinmyhand.com/
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: Free. Subscribe to get the comic in your mail.
First Impressions and Presentation:
Well, the website design is creepy... but cool. Instead of text links you have rusty chains holding aloft various objects ranging from a bucket of blood to the very clever symbol for the links page. Definitely original.
I regret to say I don't get the joke from the comic on the first page. No, I don't know who Rick James is. Hopefully I'll get the rest of the jokes.
I'm particularly pleased to note that this is a single-panel comic... they're something of an endangered species on the 'Net. In fact, I think the only other one that I know of is The Chopping Block.
The Concept:
Well... this is a hard one. It's something like those single panel comics you see in your newspaper dailies. You know, the single panel ones that usually get squeezed on the side beneath the horoscope or the crossword? Yeah. That one.
Except for the fact that the subject matter isn't anything any editor fearful of losing his job would dare to put up. However, according to the about page, Bill's stuff has actually made it to the paper, so I guess there are some sensible editors out there after all!
The Art:
Very professional, but very stylised to the point where Mr. Jackson doesn't really look like Mr. Jackson. But then again I doubt if anyone really knows what Mr. Jackson really looks like nowadays.
All in all the art is pretty good; though obviously geared towards newspaper publication so the lines are minimal, simple, clear and easily reprintable.
It's not outstandingly memorable, but it is good and does the job pretty well; which is the point.
The Writing:
If I could pick just one word to describe it, I'd pick subtle.
There's usually just enough of narration to steer you towards the punchline... it's left to the reader to make the jump to get to the punchline. This results in two possible things: The reader makes the jump and the punchline is all the funnier because the reader needs to do some thinking... or the reader invariably fails to make the connection and fails to be amused.
I'll admit that it was the latter case with me with the first strip. It's a brave thing to do, but the humour for me was either hit-or-miss. The ones that I missed I usually just shrugged off; but the ones that I 'got' were funny.
By the way, does this one remind you of a particular MTV Awards Parody or what?
Problems:
The aforementioned hit-or-miss humour could be a problem... the humour sometimes feels a bit forced... and sometimes doesn't seem to be funny at all.
Overall:
Not a bad comic. There are some gems among a bunch of mediocre strips (or maybe they're just funny but I don't get them), but it's a lot harder to be funny when you only have one panel to express yourself in anyway.
The Next Leg:
The links page contains a few buttons and a looooong list of text links. Anyway, I'm considering some bizarre algorithm or system to pick a link from the long list. How about the numerical value of the first letter of this blog entry?
Which is the letter "Y" = 25th letter of the alphabet.
Therefore the 25th entry in the list... which looks like something rather new, in my experience.
I have had some worry over the having posted my first relatively negative review (10th Leg: Gigawhut?) a few posts back. I've also been told by some of my readers that I need to write more negative reviews. Personally, I always prefer to give people good reviews, BUT I don't think it'd be fair of me if I wrote a good review for a comic I didn't like and didn't think people reading 'Finds would like. So, I'm not going to try and square the circle and make a comic that doesn't appeal to me sound like it did, but I'll try my best to be fair and certainly not rude while doing it.
I should make it clear that the purpose of Webcomic Finds is to tell people what a comic is like. So if you ever find me whining about a comic I don't like more than actually describing it to you, please don't hesitate to point that out.
By the way, an interesting update on a past Find. Do you remember The N00b all the way back from the 2nd Leg? It was the first comic I discovered as a direct result of writing this blog, and is currently one of the top favourites on my read list.
I'm happy to report the N00b continues to not disappoint. In fact the strips keep getting better and better. This recent strip in particular nearly made me spit my tea onto my PowerBook screen. The punchline is clean, but it's almost dirty humour if you get the subtle implication. The part that makes it hilarious that it's done in such perfect innocence on the part of the main character.
For those of you who don't get what 'suppository' means; try the Dictionary.Com definition.
Where the sun doesn't shine indeed... *snickers*
And now for today's review:
Comic: Voices In My Hand
By: Bill Charbonneau
Genre and Setting: Sci-fi/Horror, Humour, Satire, Commentary
Art Style: Single Panel, Ink, Greyscale, Stylised Cartoony
Is About: No particular theme except for the funny side of death and other issues concerning the darker side of human nature... There's a running gag on two earthworms who keep commenting on how the remains of various famous people taste though.
Website: http://www.voicesinmyhand.com/
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: Free. Subscribe to get the comic in your mail.
First Impressions and Presentation:
Well, the website design is creepy... but cool. Instead of text links you have rusty chains holding aloft various objects ranging from a bucket of blood to the very clever symbol for the links page. Definitely original.
I regret to say I don't get the joke from the comic on the first page. No, I don't know who Rick James is. Hopefully I'll get the rest of the jokes.
I'm particularly pleased to note that this is a single-panel comic... they're something of an endangered species on the 'Net. In fact, I think the only other one that I know of is The Chopping Block.
The Concept:
Well... this is a hard one. It's something like those single panel comics you see in your newspaper dailies. You know, the single panel ones that usually get squeezed on the side beneath the horoscope or the crossword? Yeah. That one.
Except for the fact that the subject matter isn't anything any editor fearful of losing his job would dare to put up. However, according to the about page, Bill's stuff has actually made it to the paper, so I guess there are some sensible editors out there after all!
The Art:
Very professional, but very stylised to the point where Mr. Jackson doesn't really look like Mr. Jackson. But then again I doubt if anyone really knows what Mr. Jackson really looks like nowadays.
All in all the art is pretty good; though obviously geared towards newspaper publication so the lines are minimal, simple, clear and easily reprintable.
It's not outstandingly memorable, but it is good and does the job pretty well; which is the point.
The Writing:
If I could pick just one word to describe it, I'd pick subtle.
There's usually just enough of narration to steer you towards the punchline... it's left to the reader to make the jump to get to the punchline. This results in two possible things: The reader makes the jump and the punchline is all the funnier because the reader needs to do some thinking... or the reader invariably fails to make the connection and fails to be amused.
I'll admit that it was the latter case with me with the first strip. It's a brave thing to do, but the humour for me was either hit-or-miss. The ones that I missed I usually just shrugged off; but the ones that I 'got' were funny.
By the way, does this one remind you of a particular MTV Awards Parody or what?
Problems:
The aforementioned hit-or-miss humour could be a problem... the humour sometimes feels a bit forced... and sometimes doesn't seem to be funny at all.
Overall:
Not a bad comic. There are some gems among a bunch of mediocre strips (or maybe they're just funny but I don't get them), but it's a lot harder to be funny when you only have one panel to express yourself in anyway.
The Next Leg:
The links page contains a few buttons and a looooong list of text links. Anyway, I'm considering some bizarre algorithm or system to pick a link from the long list. How about the numerical value of the first letter of this blog entry?
Which is the letter "Y" = 25th letter of the alphabet.
Therefore the 25th entry in the list... which looks like something rather new, in my experience.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
4th Leg: Twice Destined
Comic: Twice Destined
By: The Loser Hero (Pseudonym, well duh)
Genre and Setting: Fantasy
Art Style: Manga, Pencils, Greyscale
Is About: Esher, a mysterious girl who seems to be a prophesised doombringer, and Celia, who seems to be the futuristic reincarnation of Esher. Both are locked in struggles in worlds and lives that do not want them.
Website: http://twicedestined.keenspace.com
Frequency:Erratic. Sundays, sometimes multiple pages
Availability: Free
First Impressions and Presentation:
Well, the website is... black. And I am greeted with a fairly pretty rendering of an angel and a girl as the comic. The tag-board on the right seems to be filled with positive comments, however, so this should be good.
Website design is spartan, but at the time of this writing the navigation menu does not work. *frustrated clicking at void links* As there are no comic links on the main page I forsee some problems for me in the near future. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here, so...
The Concept:
Two interwining stories told by alternating chapters. The idea of the reincarnation in webcomics is quite rare, and although I'm not a big fan of the 'prophesised doombringer' dohickey and the neglected rich child setting, having both of them as part of the same thing is certainly something new.
The Art:
Variable. Coming on the heels of another similar manga comic, there's always the tendency to compare it to the previous one. In this case, the art of Twice Destined is sometimes good enough to go in a Clamp book, at others times, rather rough and the porportions drift off a bit.
There's a lot of fanservicy art in this comic. Nothing wrong with that, as long as it's equal treatment... but Twice Destined does seem to have a terrible amount of it ;) But one thing I found highly amusing was that in the various nude scenes in the comic, the unclothed characters for some reason seem to have no trace of genitalia whatsoever. And it's not that the characters in the world have different physiology or anything, as this page here illustates.
Don't think I'm demanding explicit pictures or anything, but I am a firm believer that if you're going to show nudity in your comic, at least have the decency to do it properly and believably. If you can't bring yourself to draw it, either don't or hide it... either with scenery or clothes. Do you know how traumatising it is to young readers who grow up thinking men have Ken-doll crotches only to find out they don't?!
And stop laughing. I'm serious here, you.
I should also make some mention of The Loser Hero's masterly use of camera angles, stunning establishing shots and beautiful backgrounds. There are too many 'fight' splash pages for my taste; I'm more of a 'get down to the story' kind of girl. (Fight scenes are great, but spending several full panel pages in succession is a bit too much for me.) No denying however, that most of the fight pages do look good, and the use of perspective in the comic is impressive.
All and all, the art is pretty good, although variable. There are times when it looks worthy of Tokyopop, and at others it feels like it's off and there's just something wrong with it that I can't quite put my finger on...
The Writing:
One hell of a convoluted story. Very interesting and complicated, obviously well-planned out in advance.
I have a gripe with the characters though. Some of the main characters, and the inconsistent Celia in particular, just don't seem to come off as believable to me. One moment sweet spoiled child, the next this gracious little lady who doesn't take much offense at being punched in the stomach by a guy who's supposed to be her rescuer, then a non-squeamish surgeon the next.
On the other hand, a few of the secondary characters are incredibly realistic. *SPOILER* Celia's mother, while showing a rather odd lack of apprehension at finding a naked boy in her bedroom (Most Mums, including mine, would throw a fit), does a very believable mother-sheilding-child-from-daddy act, while the enjoyably detestable Sister Agatha ranks as one of the most believably hatable 'villians' I've seen in a while.
Problems:
FILLERS!!!! I think Twice Destined could give Megatokyo's 'Sad Girls in the Snow' a run for their money with their 'Sexy Exam Studying' filler strips.
Fanservice is fine, but when there's too much of it, it does ruin the enjoyment of a comic. The erratic schedule probably doesn't help the filler strips any either.
Overall:
Twice Destined seem to be a pretty good comic, with a nice story concept and art but... I'm sorry to say it's not my cup of tea.
I do hate not being able to leave with a positive glowing review, but despite everything, the comic somehow does not appeal with me enough to be a regular reader. Still, like I said, it's not a bad comic, so it's probably more a question of personal taste.
So, the best way to judge is to read it yourself, really.
The Next Leg:
As I mentioned earlier, there are no comic links on the main page, and the links page does not seem to be linked. So looks like I'll have to do my first backtrack all the way back to Deity Permit's links page and choose another comic from there.
This poses a problem. Alex and Ilia I have done already, while I have snarkish feeling I shouldn't review Fallen Angels Used Books, because knowing the creator personally, I won't be able to do a fair job. Alex and Ilia was hard enough as it is. Jack is a thought, but I think I've seen a review of it on other review sites before. I'm already fan of Loxie and Zoot, so that leaves Nishichi 27, Saturnalia and Treading Ground.
The description for Treading Ground doesn't seem like what I'd like:
So looks like it's between Saturnalia and Nishichi 27. I'm not sure if Saturnalia has been reviewed somewhere else before, but I'm so tired at this stage I'm just going to leave this to chance.
I have a coin and I'm going to flip it. 'Heads' it's Saturnalia. 'Tails' it's Nishichi 27.
*flips coin*
Heads. Saturnalia,here we come.
By: The Loser Hero (Pseudonym, well duh)
Genre and Setting: Fantasy
Art Style: Manga, Pencils, Greyscale
Is About: Esher, a mysterious girl who seems to be a prophesised doombringer, and Celia, who seems to be the futuristic reincarnation of Esher. Both are locked in struggles in worlds and lives that do not want them.
Website: http://twicedestined.keenspace.com
Frequency:Erratic. Sundays, sometimes multiple pages
Availability: Free
First Impressions and Presentation:
Well, the website is... black. And I am greeted with a fairly pretty rendering of an angel and a girl as the comic. The tag-board on the right seems to be filled with positive comments, however, so this should be good.
Website design is spartan, but at the time of this writing the navigation menu does not work. *frustrated clicking at void links* As there are no comic links on the main page I forsee some problems for me in the near future. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here, so...
The Concept:
Two interwining stories told by alternating chapters. The idea of the reincarnation in webcomics is quite rare, and although I'm not a big fan of the 'prophesised doombringer' dohickey and the neglected rich child setting, having both of them as part of the same thing is certainly something new.
The Art:
Variable. Coming on the heels of another similar manga comic, there's always the tendency to compare it to the previous one. In this case, the art of Twice Destined is sometimes good enough to go in a Clamp book, at others times, rather rough and the porportions drift off a bit.
There's a lot of fanservicy art in this comic. Nothing wrong with that, as long as it's equal treatment... but Twice Destined does seem to have a terrible amount of it ;) But one thing I found highly amusing was that in the various nude scenes in the comic, the unclothed characters for some reason seem to have no trace of genitalia whatsoever. And it's not that the characters in the world have different physiology or anything, as this page here illustates.
Don't think I'm demanding explicit pictures or anything, but I am a firm believer that if you're going to show nudity in your comic, at least have the decency to do it properly and believably. If you can't bring yourself to draw it, either don't or hide it... either with scenery or clothes. Do you know how traumatising it is to young readers who grow up thinking men have Ken-doll crotches only to find out they don't?!
And stop laughing. I'm serious here, you.
I should also make some mention of The Loser Hero's masterly use of camera angles, stunning establishing shots and beautiful backgrounds. There are too many 'fight' splash pages for my taste; I'm more of a 'get down to the story' kind of girl. (Fight scenes are great, but spending several full panel pages in succession is a bit too much for me.) No denying however, that most of the fight pages do look good, and the use of perspective in the comic is impressive.
All and all, the art is pretty good, although variable. There are times when it looks worthy of Tokyopop, and at others it feels like it's off and there's just something wrong with it that I can't quite put my finger on...
The Writing:
One hell of a convoluted story. Very interesting and complicated, obviously well-planned out in advance.
I have a gripe with the characters though. Some of the main characters, and the inconsistent Celia in particular, just don't seem to come off as believable to me. One moment sweet spoiled child, the next this gracious little lady who doesn't take much offense at being punched in the stomach by a guy who's supposed to be her rescuer, then a non-squeamish surgeon the next.
On the other hand, a few of the secondary characters are incredibly realistic. *SPOILER* Celia's mother, while showing a rather odd lack of apprehension at finding a naked boy in her bedroom (Most Mums, including mine, would throw a fit), does a very believable mother-sheilding-child-from-daddy act, while the enjoyably detestable Sister Agatha ranks as one of the most believably hatable 'villians' I've seen in a while.
Problems:
FILLERS!!!! I think Twice Destined could give Megatokyo's 'Sad Girls in the Snow' a run for their money with their 'Sexy Exam Studying' filler strips.
Fanservice is fine, but when there's too much of it, it does ruin the enjoyment of a comic. The erratic schedule probably doesn't help the filler strips any either.
Overall:
Twice Destined seem to be a pretty good comic, with a nice story concept and art but... I'm sorry to say it's not my cup of tea.
I do hate not being able to leave with a positive glowing review, but despite everything, the comic somehow does not appeal with me enough to be a regular reader. Still, like I said, it's not a bad comic, so it's probably more a question of personal taste.
So, the best way to judge is to read it yourself, really.
The Next Leg:
As I mentioned earlier, there are no comic links on the main page, and the links page does not seem to be linked. So looks like I'll have to do my first backtrack all the way back to Deity Permit's links page and choose another comic from there.
This poses a problem. Alex and Ilia I have done already, while I have snarkish feeling I shouldn't review Fallen Angels Used Books, because knowing the creator personally, I won't be able to do a fair job. Alex and Ilia was hard enough as it is. Jack is a thought, but I think I've seen a review of it on other review sites before. I'm already fan of Loxie and Zoot, so that leaves Nishichi 27, Saturnalia and Treading Ground.
The description for Treading Ground doesn't seem like what I'd like:
A hilarious strip about a guy, his rather sucky life, and his nerve-wrackingly illegal relationship with the 16-year-old "girl nextdoor..."
So looks like it's between Saturnalia and Nishichi 27. I'm not sure if Saturnalia has been reviewed somewhere else before, but I'm so tired at this stage I'm just going to leave this to chance.
I have a coin and I'm going to flip it. 'Heads' it's Saturnalia. 'Tails' it's Nishichi 27.
*flips coin*
Heads. Saturnalia,here we come.
3rd Leg: Deity Permit
Comic: Diety Permit
By: Soap Committee (Pseudonym, obviously)
Genre and Setting: Humour, Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Alternate-Reality, Present Day
Art Style: Manga inks, Greyscale, Occasional Guest Colour
Is About: Rika, a girl who doesn't seem to feel cold. On a walk on the cold Hawaiian beach, Rika is kidnapped by a mysterious woman who believes that Rika is 'infected' with something that is responsible for her condition.
Website: http://pele.keenspace.com
Frequency: Erratic. Generally Tuesdays, but sometimes other days as well. Has an update-notice service though.
Availability: Free
First Impressions and Presentation:
Wham!
On arriving on the site I am greeted by an apology-for-lack-of-updates filler comic with a picture of a manga girl... a pretty well-done manga girl... but it looks like it's done in MSpaint. I didn't think such things were possible ;) . Still, not a very auspicious start, although it could really be just bad timing on my part.
Note inserted later: The lack of new comics seems to stem from computer problems, so looks like it IS bad timing on my part.
Website is simple but pretty, with some good use of space, although there's a lot of black and blue... but really, I shouldn't be one to talk ;)
The Concept:
Is pretty unusual and intriguing... and water-based. The idea of a cold Hawaii and an underwater hospital is pretty cool. So much more cooler is the whole 'cold disease' idea. Thumbs up.
The Art:
Damn, that woman can draw! Very pretty traditional manga-style art at that. The lineart is skillful and so is the use of the grey gradients and screentones. I am particularly impressed by Soap's skill at anatomy, makes me wish I could draw the human figure like she does.
In the beginning, there was a distinct lack of backgrounds in the comic, and the characters seemed to be floating in a white space most of the time, but later on she amends this error, and when she draws backgrounds, she draws backgrounds! I especially admire Soap's use of screentones and pattern fills. Unlike most comics, they blend with the art instead of standing out like sore thumbs.
The Writing:
Confusing and unorganised in the beginning.
During the first half of the comic I was quite confused to what was going on as the storytelling was rather choppy and jumpy. However, about half-way through it started getting interesting, although when the flashback came I had absolutely no idea it was a flashback. The writing does improve considerably and shows more planning as the comic goes on, and by the end of it I was quite absorbed in the predicament of Rika as the whole comic began to form a coherent story.
The characters are a rather flaky bunch, and sometimes act rather incomphrehensibly. As with most mangas, you have your slapstick chibi moments, then your serious brooding moments a few seconds later, which can sometimes be a bit jarring.
But it looks like there's a really interesting story comic coming up, and as the story flow becomes smoother, I think I'm going to like it.
Problems:
Other than the aforementioned initial choppiness of the story, the comic updates erratically and s-l-o-w-l-y. There's a update notice service available, so that does help things a little, but thank goodness the fillers and non-comics are kept to a minimum.
Overall:
I kinda like Deity Permit, but there really isn't really enough of it out yet to be able to judge properly. All in all I think it's interesting, and although the erratic schedule means that though I won't be a regular reader, I will be checking back once in a while to see what happens.
The Next Leg:
There are no webcomic links other than the Keenspace NewsHack (NewsBox) in the main page, so to the links page we go.
There's a nice list of links on the links page, and glory be: descriptions! I love links page that have descriptions, it makes my decisions so much easier.
A lot of the comics listed are pretty well-known but one at the bottom seems interesting. The description for Twice Destined runs thus:
Don't let the nun-fanservice throw you off. This is an amazingly-drawn story about two women in different ages of the world, with their own trials and terrors to spare.I've not heard of this one before, so it sounds like a good candidate as any.
Note: I realise that the three comics I have visited so far are all Keenspace comics and this looks to be another one. What can I say? I'm trying not to review comics that have been reviewed (usually popular ones) before, and the Keenspace community IS tight so they tend to link one another. Still, I'm not targeting Keenspace in particular, it just happens to be that way.
So anyway, next stop: Twice Destined!
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