Category Archives: 2 Stars

One Punch Reviews #51: Aikonia

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When I first started this site, one of the most exciting new artists to appear on the webcomics scene was Awkward Zombie‘s Katie Tiedrich. Even if you didn’t like video game comics, you had to admire her fun character designs, her sense of comic timing, and her unique character personalities. Marth and Roy, for example, were less the characters from Fire Emblem and more Teidrich’s own creations who just happened to look like somewhat familiar video game characters.

It made several of us wonder: how would Katie Teidrich be able to handle original characters? We sort of get a taste of that with Aikonia, a fantasy webcomic illustrated by Ms. Teidrich but is written and developed by a team from MADSOFT Games, LLC (who are working up to a game release based on the world established in the comic).

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One Punch Reviews #50: The Goddamn Panty Brigade

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So… do I even need to tell you if you want to check out The Goddamn Panty Brigade? I mean … that title. In the best case scenario, it could be about a regular misfit military unit who wear regular clothes, only some jerk drill sergeant stuck them with the most embarrassing name possible to toughen ‘em up. Or it can be about an all-lady Vietnam commando unit clad only in lacy underthings. Or maybe it’s a whimsical fairy tale about sentient panties. Still, would you be willing to admit to your friends, family, or the public as a whole that you’re the guy (or girl) who reads a webcomic called The Goddamn Panty Brigade?

So who are The Goddamn Panty Bridage? Well, as it turns out … they’re Josie and the Pussycats.

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The Webcomic Overlook #172: The Paul Reveres

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On June 4, 1942, American and Japanese forces met at a small spot in the Pacific Ocean close to Midway Island. The Japanese were planning on a sneak attack, even going so far as invading Alaska’s Aleutian Islands as a diversion, but codebreakers on the US side figured out Japan’s plan to take over the little island to extend their defense perimeter.

The two carrier fleets exchanged blows for three days, clashing in the air and on the seas. Torpedo bombers from both sides tried to break enemy perimeters to sink the other side’s ships. The tide turned, though, when Admiral Chester W. Nimitz whipped out his Gibson Les Paul and broke out a guitar solo so devastating that four Japanese carriers spontaneously exploded from the sheer awesomeness.

The battle was lost, and subsequently the remaining Japanese fleet retreated. Historians compare this moment to Gettysburg, when Winfield Scott Hancock of the Union Crew owned George “Charge” Pickett in a devastating rap battle.

OK, so that never happened. Historians have always glossed over the impact of guitars, drums, and keyboards in warfare. Never fear, though, fans of military history/pop music mashups. Tina Pratt’s The Paul Reveres exists, where the American Revolution if fought through music… and for some weird reason, I have a feeling that there’s standing bet on the internet somewhere to see who can make the most adorable interpretation of the War of Independence.

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The Webcomic Overlook #168: Looking For Group

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(The following review comes from guest reviewer David Herbert. Thank you, David!)

You can tell a lot about a writer’s strengths and weaknesses when you take a look at their forays into different types of storytelling. In today’s case, we’re going to look at a comic strip writer’s attempt at writing an ongoing story with a layered plot.

Many of you will know of Ryan Sohmer from his webcomic Least I Could Do, or maybe The Gutters, which was reviewed on this site a while back. Looking For Group is different in that it attempts to have a complex story modelled after the epic fantasy genre, along the lines of Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time or A Song of Fire and Ice, while also parodying the branch of fiction.

How is it? Well, notice that I used the word attempt when referencing the story.


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The Webcomic Overlook #166: The Gutters

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With regards to The Webcomic Overlook, the question I get asked the most is, “El Santo, if think you’re such an authority on webcomics, why don’t you write one yourself?”

My answer is: BECAUSE. DAMMIT.

The second most asked question is, “When are you going to review Least I Could Do?”

This is an incredibly loaded request. It’s a comic that gets tons of love from people that generally I respect. It is also, paradoxically, one of the most reviled webcomics of all time. I’ve got to admit that these conflicting standpoints would make for a hell of a review.

However, being someone of the latter disposition, I have a hard time reading more than ten LICD strips in a row. I know, I know… I’m the same guy that read Jack and Ctrl+Alt+Del. How could I be possibly fazed by LICD? Well, the first two are at least enjoyable to watch go off the rails in a “Can this comic get any worse?” sort of way. From what I’ve seen of LICD, it’s the same thing day in and day out, and I have a hard time imagining that it would ever keep my attention.

I’m not discounting a review of LICD outright. However, sadistic readers of The Webcomic Overlook, I offer you a taste. This next review is written by LICD writer Ryan Sohmer, and periodically illustrated by Lar deSouza. By my estimates, it is at least 53% created by the LICD crew. The webcomic is a little thing called The Gutters.

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The Webcomic Overlook #165: L.A.W.L.S.

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Have you and your friends ever tried to do round-robin storytelling? You gather around in a circle … or, if your friends are online, a message board maybe. Someone starts off things by tossing out the first sentence.

You start the ball rolling. Once upon a time, a woman got stranded on a desert island.

And then it’s the next person’s turn, who adds: On that island was a hat.

The next storyteller is a bit saucy and chimes in. And the hat is alive and he bleeds rainbows.

It’s a silly story. You all have a good time, especially when the story gets really out of hand. The webcomic called L.A.W.L.S. seems to practice the same storytelling ethic. It’s written by by Denis Caron (a.k.a. Joenis Norac). The acronym, incidentally, stands for “Large Air Whales Like Silence.”*

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The Webcomic Overlook #157: Blade Bunny

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It took me maybe ten pages to become annoyed with the free-spirited, adorable antics of the title character in Blade Bunny. I started panickedly looking around and mopping imaginary sweat beads from my forehead. After the first chapter or two, I began to wonder what in the world I’d gotten myself in to. Every press of the “forward” button became an exercise in endurance, as I knew that the next page would treat us with yet another tiresome appearance of Bunny.

Incidentally, this is not to be confused with Blade Kitten, the manga-like webcomic about a fighting girl with animal ears who also had a video game made out of it. This is a different manga-like webcomic about a fighting girl with animal ears, only it doesn’t have a video game.

That’s a huge difference, people!

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