Comments on: The Webcomic Overlook #109: Haunted http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/ Webcomic reviews are serious business. Sun, 03 Jun 2012 04:37:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Webcomics makes the Xeric grant obsolete | The Webcomic Overlook http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/#comment-12431 Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:27:23 +0000 http://webcomicoverlook.com/?p=4603#comment-12431 [...] kinda disheartening. I’ve reviewed a few webcomics that have received the Xeric grant. Knowing how tight finances can be for many [...]

]]> By: Webcomic creators doin’ it online « The Webcomic Overlook http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/#comment-4133 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:56:41 +0000 http://webcomicoverlook.com/?p=4603#comment-4133 [...] Josh Smeaton of Haunted talks with The Daily Loaf about Haunted (reviewed here as well). Here’s Smeaton on self-publishing: CL: What kind of determination does it take to [...]

]]> By: El Santo http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/#comment-4047 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:29:55 +0000 http://webcomicoverlook.com/?p=4603#comment-4047 Curse my lack of simian genus knowledge! I had to delete a couple of baboon related asides, too, when I made the decision that they were monkeys and not baboons (a false assumption!). None of them were any good, and I was just ripping the jokes off of Lore Sjoberg, but still!

]]> By: Michael Stearns http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/#comment-4046 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:40:34 +0000 http://webcomicoverlook.com/?p=4603#comment-4046 Regarding baboons, they have tails and are monkeys. Apes are the ones without tails, and baboons ain’t them.

]]> By: Grey http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/#comment-4044 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:02:13 +0000 http://webcomicoverlook.com/?p=4603#comment-4044 Since “unfinished” and “released by the page every few days” applies to nearly every webcomic reviewed on this site, that would not be a good defense for favoring this one over any others that have been under the scrutiny of review.

For an example in the webcomic world, The Meek is hardly finishing chapter two right now and it’s full of characters who in just a few panels are able to show more “characterization” than anyone in Haunted has in its entire five issues. I care more about the guard from The Meek who is going to get in trouble for talking with Suda than any of the characters in Haunted, and he hardly got a page.

It’s not just the characterization. There needs to be something to keep me reading. There’s no suspense, no real drama, characters we have no reason to care about, an no nothing making even care to keep reading; much less wait until the next update. Unless the comic kicks things up a notch in the next issue I really have no reason to go back to it. I just don’t care what happens next, and it’s the fault of the storytelling that does that.

]]> By: El Santo http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/#comment-4043 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:07:25 +0000 http://webcomicoverlook.com/?p=4603#comment-4043 I think, though, that characterization is one of those things that you need to nail immediately. It’s the hook. I think some of the best comics nail the characterizations within the span of the first issue. Bone, for example. One of the biggest things the first issue gets right is the appealing dynamic between the three cousins and Fone Bone’s winning personality. It propels the issue forward and gets us anticipating over what will happen next.

Haunted is up to issue five, and the characters still seem underdeveloped. I think you’re right, that there is value to patience, but after a while readers will lose interest and abandon an ongoing comic because they don’t have an emotional investment in the characters we’re supposed to care about from the start.

]]> By: Dennis Culver http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/#comment-4042 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:23:45 +0000 http://webcomicoverlook.com/?p=4603#comment-4042 Interesting review.

I think you make some valid points regarding characterization however I feel it’s hard to accurately judge pacing on something unfinished that’s released by the page every few days. Frankly, it may be too soon on characterization as well.

As far as the relative horror of the ghost I think that just comes down to how you would tell the story versus the choices that Josh has made.

I think Josh is still learning and developing as a creator and I’m looking forward to seeing how Haunted turns outs. I’m also excited to see how Josh applies what he’s learned on his next project.

-dc

]]> By: Angelina F http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/#comment-4041 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:50:14 +0000 http://webcomicoverlook.com/?p=4603#comment-4041 Oh yeah… I remember checking this out. Got bored with it halfway through the read and stopped.

]]> By: Grey http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/02/21/the-webcomic-overlook-109-haunted/#comment-4038 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:06:31 +0000 http://webcomicoverlook.com/?p=4603#comment-4038 It’s one of those comics that only kept me reading it because it was easy enough to look at and I had enough free time. The art is nice but I’ve seen way better with stories that actually caught my interest. I’ve heard praise for this comic before but have no idea what for. It’s just not interesting.

For what it’s got, the art, I agree that the buildings are well done but they are barely able to make up for the characters that are at times just as poorly sketched together as their personalities. There’s something about half the facial expressions that just bothers me… All in all, it doesn’t do much to make up for the paper thin story and content here.

Tell me again why this comic was given a grant? I’m having trouble making sense of that.

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