The Webcomic Overlook #100: xkcd
November 14, 2009 at 7:01 pm | In 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, comedy webcomic, stick figure webcomic, webcomics | 7 CommentsTags: xkcd
Ah, 100 reviews.
This is truly a milestone in the annals of The Webcomic Overlook lore. True, I’ve also written 20+ smaller reviews, which are actually longer an more elaborate than the earlier Webcomic Overlooks. Plus all those reviews I wrote for ComixTalk and Comic Fencing (all lovingly catalogued on this very site).
Still, 100 reviews and 500k page views is a hell of a milestone. So a big thank you to all the readers who have been following The Webcomic Overlook all this time. I seriously would not be writing these columns if it were not for you, your input, and your enthusiasm.
Now, let’s get past the valedictorian speech and on with the review. To commemorate the 100th, I asked you, the readers, on the Twittersphere — and if that term hasn’t been coined yet, I’m totally going to claim it — which webcomic I should review: xkcd or PHD? In an awesome demonstration of my Twitter prowess, I got four whole replies. One vote went to PHD, one vote went to Girls With Slingshots (automatically disqualified because it was not one of the options), one vote went to xkcd, and one vote went to something called kxcd.
Yay me?
I think the latter was written by bRYAN NOORSOOMAIKXCD. (And yes, that reply WAS from Sarah Zero writer Ace Plughead.)
I had strong inclinations to do a review of PHD. It’s a curious, long-lived webcomic in its own right, attracts audiences beyond the typical webcomic spectrum, and yet doesn’t typically get much attention when discussion turns to webcomics. I may still review it some day. But I decided to settle on Randall Munroe’s xkcd after all. Because deep down inside, I really am a glutton for page visits.
One Punch Reviews #25: Dreamless
August 18, 2009 at 10:00 am | In 3 Stars, One Punch Reviews, The Webcomic Overlook, dramatic webcomic, romance webcomic, webcomics | 4 Comments
There are many ways a webcomic can catch my attention. In some cases, a webcomic will hook me in with its concept. A ninja who is also a doctor? Awesome! In other cases, a webcomic will grab me with the art. And in very few cases, a webcomic will attract me due to the creators behind it. This was the case with Dreamless, which features an unlikely team-up: writer Bobby Crosby of Marry Me (reviewed here) and artist Sarah Ellerton of The Phoenix Requiem (reviewed here at ComixTalk).
The Webcomic Overlook #94: Head Trip
August 7, 2009 at 1:00 am | In 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, comedy webcomic, pop culture caricatures, webcomics | 3 Comments
When Stephenie Meyer created Twilight, I doubt she knew that she was creating an unstoppable cultural juggernaut. Its effects range from the minute to the macroscopic. Small scale: a mother of two twittered us when she arrived in Forks, practically squealing with delight when she spotted a sign declaring that the city had “8.5 vampires.” Large scale: Borders bookstore is eliminating its CD and DVD section to create “Borders Ink,” a section largely designed to introduce teenage Twilight readers to similar novels and manga.
The series has attracted its share of criticism as well as controversy. While not referring to Twilight explicitly, Neil Gaiman stated that vampires needed to go back to their frightening ways in a recent article on EW.com. A while ago, The Beat practically blamed fanboys for being sexist by using a double-standard when they deal with Twilight fans. Frankly this surprised me, because in my experience the chief critics were female fans — such as Tasha Robinson and Genevieve Koski of the AV Club — who were more than a little insulted that the generally mature vampire genre was being hi-jacked by a Trapper Keeper friendly version that sparkled in sunlight.
Still, I think Twilight mockery is as viable a franchise as Twilight itself. While I have never read any of the books, I have been rather amused and entertained by the podcasts, articles, and blogs dedicated to why people hate Twilight. And Twilight hate is what introduced me to the subject of today’s Webcomic Overlook, Head Trip, written and illustrated by Amanda “Shinga” Bussell.
The Webcomic Overlook #90: Locus
July 20, 2009 at 3:25 pm | In 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, action webcomic, adult webcomic, fanservice, horror webcomic, webcomics | 7 CommentsTags: Locus
It’s a shame that the Grindhouse movie entered and left theaters so quickly. I’m too young to know what real grindhouse movies looked like, so I would’ve appreciated the experience. Now all we have are two separate DVDs for Planet Terror and Death Race… though everyone who’s seen all of them tells me that the original theatrical release was the superior version.
I guess what I like most about grindhouse is the poster designs. One of my favorite SomethingAwful Photoshop Phridays was the one that re-imagined famous movies as grindhouse posters. The aesthetic is partially reflected in the site redesign. Hell, I spent the weekend designing an online invite for my brother-in-law’s bachelor party, all done up in a font called “Feast of Flesh” and rendered in half-tone with images looking like they were clipped out of the local newspaper.
Today’s review focuses on a comic that seems to be the modern embodiment of a grindhouse film, steeped in viscera, horror, and gratuitous full-frontal nudity. Oh yes, there will be boobs. So many boobs that eventually you mind tricks you into a trance and you have to rind yourself that boobs in comics is kinda risque. It’s impossible to keep your mind out of the gutter after you’ve finished reading Locus. Now it ain’t no Oglaf or Sexy Losers; if Locus were a movie, it would likely score an R rating rather than a hard NC-17 or X. However, I feel I should warn you that everything after this paragraph should be considered NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Click on links at your own risk.
The Webcomic Overlook #83: The Black Cherry Bombshells
June 21, 2009 at 4:31 pm | In 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, action webcomic, adventure webcomic, webcomics | 5 CommentsTags: Black Cherry Bombshells, The Black Cherry Bombshells, Zuda, Zuda Comics
Lately, I’ve been in the mood for some power. But not just any power.
GRRL power.
Or, uh, GRRL PWWR. You know what they say: girls rule, boys drule. Amirite, ladies?
“Grrl Power,” not to be confused with “Girl Power,” was probably conceived some time in the 90’s, with the Spice Girls as the chief spokespeople. The main tenets of the Grrl Power movement seemed to be tights, tattoos, mountain biking, and rollergirling. It was a win-win scenario for everyone. Girls found a convenient template for which to indulge their fantasies about rebelling against authority without, you know, any of the actual rebellion. And boys got to stare at gals in bare midriffs and fishnet stockings. Win-win!
And you just can’t get more Grrl Power than the estrogen-fueled world of Zuda Comics’
The Black Cherry Bombshells. It’s set in the world where women are smarter, more courageous, and more athletic than men. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the men are all zombies.
And the literal kind, not the kind that watches the NFL all day and never takes out the garbage eventhough you’ve asked, like, a million times.
Continue reading The Webcomic Overlook #83: The Black Cherry Bombshells…
The Webcomic Overlook #78: The Original Nutty Funsters
June 2, 2009 at 6:35 am | In 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, comedy webcomic, furry webcomic, webcomics | 1 CommentTags: The Original Nutty Funsters
I get a lot of e-mails from creators who are requesting reviews. As a result, I’m faced with a dilemma fellow webcomic bloggers can probably sympathize with. Should I review their comics and give exposure to some minor webcomics that just might find an audience thanks to your coverage? Or should I stick to webcomics I was attracted because it covered a topic I was interested in, which will hopefully make my opinions more valid and far less easy to dismiss with a “you’re obviously not the audience for this webcomic”?
Compounding the problem: I probably wouldn’t give a lot of the requests more than 1 star. Oftentimes, the art is off-putting and the humor is, shall we say, not up to snuff. I’d probably be spending my days typing out a whole slew of reviews for terrible webcomics. Not only would it sap my passion and energy, it would also manage to turn this blog into the webcomics version of “Talk Soup.”
I don’t want to abandon requests altogether, so I looked at the crop of review requests and asked myself, “Based on what I’m seeing, which one has the most potential?”
That’s when I ran across The Original Nutty Funsters, a comedy comic by Stephanie O’Donnell about slacker furries (note: her e-mail is quite insistent that it’s not a furry comic, and I can sorta see why, but I thought I’d tweak her a little). OK, so that kinda sounds underwhelming, and frankly a bit off the norm for what gets reviewed in this site. However, I felt a certain kinship with this comic … mainly because it looks a lot like a comic I drew for my college paper a decade ago.
Continue reading The Webcomic Overlook #78: The Original Nutty Funsters…
One Punch Reviews #20: Clumsy Love
May 22, 2009 at 9:14 am | In 3 Stars, One Punch Reviews, The Webcomic Overlook, all ages webcomic, comedy webcomic, journal webcomic, slice-of-life webcomic, webcomics | 5 CommentsTags: Clumsy Love
Ah, marriage. As a wise man once said, “Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam… And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva… So tweasure your wuv.”
Comic strips about the foibles of marriage somehow take the lion’s share of the newspaper funny pages. For Better or For Worse, The Lockhorns, Andy Capp, Jumpstart, Blondie…. I could go on and on. Yet, these comics are getting to be anachronisms. When you factor the bold new world of webcomics into the equation — you know, the “genre” that’s seemingly aimed at teen gamers — comics strips about married couples start to seem even more old-fashioned.
Can a comic about a husband and wife still feel new and refreshing? You can judge for yourself by reading the subject of today’s review: Clumsy Love, written and illustrated by Mike Gray.
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