One Punch Reviews #33: Romantically Apocalyptic
August 16, 2010 at 4:38 pm | Posted in 3 Stars, CG webcomic, One Punch Reviews, The Webcomic Overlook, comedy webcomic, photo webcomic, sci-fi webcomic, webcomics | 9 Comments
If you were, say, stuck in a post-apocalyptic world, there are basically two options at how to approach life. You could either become either a grim n’ gritty loner voyaging the land like a wandering samurai, or you could go insane. The first solution may be inherently cooler, but the second will probably leave you happier. At least, The Captain from Vitaly S. Alexius’ Romantically Apocalyptic seems to be having the time of his life, and he’s complete bonkers. (In this case, the “romantic” in the title refers to the “marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized” definition, rather than the romance one.)
Continue reading One Punch Reviews #33: Romantically Apocalyptic…
One Punch Reviews #32: Manly Guys Doing Manly Things
August 11, 2010 at 12:25 pm | Posted in 3 Stars, One Punch Reviews, The Webcomic Overlook, comedy webcomic, video game webcomic, webcomics | 5 Comments
I know what you’re saying. You’re saying, “El Santo, why don’t you ever review comics about real manly men?” OK, so you’re really not saying that… ‘cuz deep down inside, you’re all girly men! *Grunt* Time to eat your vitamins and say your prayers, kids, because today we’re getting pumped up with Kelly Turnbull’s Manly Guys Doing Manly Things, where the punchline is machismo.
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The Webcomic Overlook #126: Wendy Pini’s Masque of the Red Death
June 29, 2010 at 4:45 pm | Posted in 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, adult webcomic, dramatic webcomic, literary adaptations, motion comic, sci-fi webcomic, webcomics | 24 Comments
I became a comic fan in the early 90′s during the debut of Jim Lee’s X-Men. Thanks to my nerdy, obsessive nature, I ended up taking a strong interest in the history of comics. I used to hope up at the Detroit Public Library, head up the stairs to the second floor (which had some fantastic Diego Rivera murals that I didn’t appreciate at the time), and pored through various books about comic book history. I learned about obscure, now-forgotten heroes, reveled in pages devoted to Will Eisner’s The Spirit, and took a passing interest in the Kitchen Sink Comix movement of the 1970′s.
When the book got to the 80′s, a couple of names stood out prominently: the husband and wife team Wendy and Richard Pini. Their comic, Elfquest, was the standard bearer for indie comics of the 1980′s. It was THE sterling and unassailable example that creators didn’t need to sell their souls to the Big Two to create a comic book hit.
However, I never got into Elfquest much. I tried reading the books, which were also available in hardcover at the library, but they weren’t for me. I think the books were successful because they pursued the female comic reader market before manga proved to everyone that they were commercial viable. While a noble pursuit, these delicate fantasy comics filled with dewy-eyed pretty boys were definitely not for me, who longed for nothing more than to read page after page of muscly guys punching each other.
Still, I was filled with giddy excitement when, one day while browsing through the “webcomic” entry of Wikipedia, I ran across Wendy Pini’s name attached to an online adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death. Ah, I thought, the perfect gateway into the world of Wendy Pini! I loved Poe’s original short story, and I was excited to see how that would translate to comics.
Imagine my surprise when the webcomic bore less resemblance to Poe’s Masque of the Red Death and more similarities to Anne Rice’s The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty. That is to say that Rice, writing under the name A.N. Roquelaure, mainly used a well known story as a framework for erotic literature about bondage, domination, and sadomasochism.
In case it hadn’t bee quite clear to you yet, Wendy Pini’s Masque of the Red Death is similarly and adults-only affair. The review itself doesn’t really go overboard into NSFW territory, but, still, proceed at your own caution.
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The Webcomic Overlook #125: Bottle of Awesome
June 23, 2010 at 9:48 pm | Posted in 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, action webcomic, adventure webcomic, comedy webcomic, fantasy webcomic, webcomics | 10 CommentsTags: Zuda Comics, Zuda, Bottle of Awesome
If Andy Belanger’s Bottle of Awesome has anything going for it, it’s got a helluva title.
Not that calling anything “awesome” makes it immediately… uh… awesome. If you inflect the pronounciation wrongly, like by giving it a high pitched sing-song sound and drawing out the last syllable, you tend to sound like something the odious comic relief character on a Nickteen show would say.
Additionally, you run the risk of sounding like a total tool. Hey, anyone remember the name of Rob Liefeld’s short-lived comic studio after he left Image? That’s right: Awesome Comics. Ugh. Say it out loud to determine how incredibly dorky it sounds. That’s, like, Poochie levels of trying to hard to sound cool. So not awesome.
Put into the right context, though, awesome can become a wonderful adjective that can substantially boost the semi-ironic quotient that you so desire in a competitive product. Who would want to read a comic called Bottle, for instance? English lit majors? Hell, that sounds like a depressing black-and-white indie comic about a man’s descent into alcoholism.
But affix of Awesome at the end, and you’re back in business. Someone can actually contain the essence of inspiring awe? And somehow it’s the adjective form and the not the noun (“awesomeness”)? Aw, snap… that’s my jam, son!
Continue reading The Webcomic Overlook #125: Bottle of Awesome…
The Webcomic Overlook #121: Galaxion
May 26, 2010 at 9:45 am | Posted in 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, adventure webcomic, dramatic webcomic, manga style webcomic, romance webcomic, sci-fi webcomic, webcomics | 3 CommentsTags: Galaxion
This was the first year I’d ever heard of a little something called the Joe Shuster Awards. Like many people, I sorta did a double take and went, “Holy crap! One half of the creators of Superman was a Canadian?” Not to insult the Canadians reading this site (of which there are plenty), but the whole “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” motto kinda threw me. It turns out that Shuster immigrated to the US when he was 10, which does kinda make him as American as I am. Still, Canada has every right to claim him as a native son, especially since it turns out his cousin was none other than Frank Shuster of the famous Canadian comedy team “Wayne and Shuster.”
The Joe Shuster Awards have been honoring an “Outstanding WebComic Creator/Creative Team” since 2007. Previous winners have included the team of Ryan Sohmer & Lar deSouza (for Looking for Group and Least I Could Do) and Cameron Stewart (for Sin Titulo). This year’s crop of candidates is pretty impressive. The webcomic nominees this year include Kate Beaton (for Hark! A Vagrant), Rene Engström (for Anders Loves Maria), Karl Kerschl (for The Abominable Charles Christopher), Gisèle Lagacé and David Lumsdon (for Eerie Cuties and Ménage à 3), and Steve Wolfhard (for Cat Rackham). As much as I lauded this year’s Eisner nominees, the crop of webcomic candidates at the Canadian awards may be a better reflection of the webcomic market.
(Both the Eisners and Shusters also share the same candidates, what with Karl Kerschl nominated on both ballots this year, and Cameron Stewart nominated on the Eisners and winning the Shuster last year. I guess what I’m trying to say is, “Hey, American webcomics creators! Step up your game already!”)
There were also a few names I wasn’t completely familiar with. One was Tara Tallan, the creator of the webcomic Galaxion. I knew little to nothing about it, other than it was set in space and all the characters dressed like extras for Star Trek: Enterprise. How could I resist? I’m a sucker for a good space opera. The Joe Shuster nomination only whet my appetite.
The Webcomic Overlook #119: Power Out
May 9, 2010 at 9:24 am | Posted in 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, adult webcomic, alternative webcomic, dramatic webcomic, slice-of-life webcomic, webcomics | 7 Comments
Contemplate the title of Nathan Schreiber’s comic, if you will: Power Out. What do you think this comic is going to be about?
The more mainstream among you might theorize that this is some sort of superhero comic. I mean, look at that title! There’s “Power” in there, right? Nope. Power Out is a Xeric Grant winner, and that places it square in the camp of one particular genre: the “indie” comic. And unless you’re doing some ironic and depressing send up of the Fantastic Four or Superman, there will be no capes nor tights.
Perhaps you decided to take the title more literally. Perhaps you guessed that there’s a power outage of some sort. Good for you! That’s much closer! Power Out does, indeed, feature a black-out that envelops the East Coast as one of its central plot elements. However, while that’s probably what the title alludes to, it’s not really what the comic is about.
Now… are there any kids under the age of ten reading this site right now? If you are, please follow the next link and go directly to Princess Planet. It’s a fun, pun-filled romp that’s a delight to readers of all ages! Now shoo, you little scamps. Ah, they grow up so quickly.
Alright, so are there only adults checking this review now? Good. So, you ask, what’s Power Out really about? It turns out the comic is, in fact, about chronic masturbation.
The Webcomic Overlook #116: Bad Machinery
April 2, 2010 at 1:00 am | Posted in 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, adventure webcomic, comedy webcomic, slice-of-life webcomic, webcomics | 17 CommentsTags: Bad Machinery
“Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” So goes the intros to one of America’s most beloved soap operas,Days of our Lives. It always comes to mind when it’s time to finish something and start something new. Yes, it somehow supercedes both “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof and “Closing Time” by Semisonic. The latter two are perhaps superior and less archaic examples, but the hourglass analogy has a sense of timeless poetry.
Observe.
When the sands finally reach the bottom of the hourglass, it’s time to flip that mother over and start something new. Like ending one webcomic and starting a new one. Interestingly, though, while the march of time is new, the contents therein, like those grains of sand, do not change. Sure, the presentation may be different. The swirl pattern of the sand may be different this time. But every person is hardwired to the same themes, which were formed as they were over a culmination of life’s experiences. These are fundamentally unalterable. So the new march goes on with cues that are new yet strangely familiar.
That’s the case with John Allison’s Bad Machinery, the successor to Scary Go Round (which itself was the successor to an earlier work, Bobbins). Everyone knew it was time to flip that hourglass and start something knew. Allison himself admitted as much on the comments section here that Scary Go Round was getting stale.
But amidst the changes … familiarity.
The Webcomic Overlook #114: By Moon Alone
March 18, 2010 at 12:01 am | Posted in 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, action webcomic, all ages webcomic, anime, fantasy webcomic, manga style webcomic, webcomics | 10 CommentsTags: By Moon Alone
Among my fellow Philipinos, it’s hard to find people who aren’t anime fans. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s dangerous to make generalizations about a race or nationality as a whole. However, my family, my wife, my wife’s family, friends and acquaintances, people I know living in the country itself … everyone I know born in the Philippines after 1965 is to some degree an otaku, with some taking their devotion to embarrassing levels. (If you’re reading this site, Jansen… Naruto sucks! Grow up already!) I include myself among the anime-devotees, by the way. Several readers take issue with my 5-star review of MegaTokyo. I, however, flat out stated that it was the kind of story anime fans zestfully eat up like it was baby back pork ribs slathered in honey mustard sauce or something. I shall defend that review to my death. It spoke to me. It SPOKE TO ME!
As the laws of nature go, anime fans breed anime-style comics. The most notorious Philipino webcomic creator is Vinson Ngo, a.k.a. “Bleedman.” I’ve covered extensively on this and other sites. However, it should not be forgotten that there are other webcomic artists hailing from the Philippines. One is Honoel A. Ibardolaza, creator of the webcomic By Moon Alone.
The Webcomic Overlook #109: Haunted
February 21, 2010 at 3:01 pm | Posted in 3 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, adventure webcomic, all ages webcomic, gothic, mystery webcomic, webcomics | 8 CommentsTags: Haunted
When I put together a list of the webcomics I’d planned on reviewing for February, I had no idea that two of them had something in common. It wasn’t apparent immediately. One was about a haunted house, the other was about a shaolin monk living at the end of the Ming Dynasty. However, when scanning the press releases, I came to a surprising discovery: both were awarded a Xeric grant. It’s wacky ka-winky-dinks like this that lead to this site’s impromptu theme weeks/months (see also: Zombie Week). Thus, by the power vested in me, The Webcomic Overlook hereby declare this week to be Xeric Week! Cue fireworks!
But wait, what is a Xeric grant? And what is this so called “Xeric Foundation” that’s running it? Judging by the name alone, shouldn’t they be bad guys in a Marvel comic, sworn enemies of the Starjammers and the Shi’ar Empire? No, actually they’re a charitable organization, founded by Peter Laird (who you should know was one of the guys behind a little thing known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). While involved in several charitable organizations, the Xeric Foundation is best known for donating money to support independent comic book artists. I’ve talked about them before on this blog, mainly in my review of Joe Chiapetta’s Silly Daddy. (Silly Daddy itself is not itself a Xeric winner, but Chiapetta is a grant winner for a previous work, A Death in the Family.)
According to Wikipedia, “The Foundation tends to support work of an alternative or non-’mainstream’ nature, reasoning that if a comic has strong commercial appeal, it would be picked up by one of the major publishers. Therefore, it is an extremely valuable supporter of ‘art for art’s sake’ comics, and has helped launch the careers of a number of ‘literary’ cartoonists.” In other words, indie comics. The kind with unsettling art and embarrassing personal confessions. This criteria isn’t explicitly stated on the official Xeric site; they only say that “Among the qualities that we will be looking for are: originality, literary and artistic merit, and a sense of commitment to the work.” However, a glance through the supremely unconventional Silly Daddy will have you convinced that the Wikipedia description is right on the money.
Or are they? Your honor, I would like to present to you Joshua Smeaton’s Haunted, one of the 5 grant winners in May 2009. The most surprising thing about this indie comic is that Haunted looks — both in terms of aesthetics and content — like it’s got the chops to win mainstream approval.
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