Happy 2008, and welcome back to the Webcomic Overlook! If you are looking for a site that reviews online comics, this is one of them.
Recently, I came across a a blog for video gamers lamenting on the dearth of in depth video game reviews. The writer began thinking about the silent film era, and that even in those early days film goers co get a hold of little newsletters publishing film recommendations. The writer of that particular blog post was highly enamored that he might be a reviewer in video gaming’s “silent movie” age.
Now, I don’t know if I’m a reviewer in “silent movie” age of webcomics. I wasn’t there during the heyday of Charlie Chaplin, obviously, so I can’t make a fair comparison. However, I’d like to say that we’re in the “Doom” age of webcomics. Remember Doom? That game where you picked up big guns to messily destroy demons on Mars. I was there when it was first released. (If anyone tells me to “Go to bed, old man!” I will rap them on the head with my old man cane.) The popular 3D shooter truly turned the world upside down. The energetic and confusing era to follow which saw countless, indistinguishable imitators (Heretic? Hexen? Rise of the Triad?) Across the ocean, the Japanese meshed the style with anime/manga visuals (Final Fantasy VII). And while a few developers tried for something off the beaten path, they weren’t really that different … since most developers knew that they were all reaching out to the same adolescent-to-young-adult market.
Does this sound a little like where webcomics are now? Or do I have to remind you how, despite the diverse tastes and experiences that we can see displayed by individuals in the human race, a solid majority of webcomics are still about video games?
There will be some entrants, too, trying to hold on to the glorious past. In video games, it was Donkey Kong Country, reminding players of the glories of 2D platformers. In the case of webcomics, there are some that harken to traditional print comics. Nothing I’ve read so far has felt more unironically old school than today’s Webcomic Overlook subject, Sugary Serials.
Oh Mandle… you came and you gave without taking….
