The Webcomic Overlook #99: The Meek
November 5, 2009 at 3:56 pm | In 5 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, action webcomic, adventure webcomic, anime, fanservice, fantasy webcomic, manga style webcomic, webcomics | 24 CommentsTags: The Meek

Typically, in the great tug-of-war over which is most important to a comic — great art or great writing — I tend to think that writing wins out most of the time. A good narrative will get me through a webcomic any day, while nice art satisfies only but for a moment. But, you know, there’s a chance I’m looking at this debate all wrong. What if a lot of webcomic artists are just poor storytellers?
It’s been said that a picture is of equivalent value to about 1,000 words. Unfortunately, most artists only go up to about 200. I’m a big fan of Jim Lee, especially since, back in the 90’s, his art on X-Men was one of the things that got me hooked into comics. But, you know, these days when I look at one of his comics the only words that pop into my mind are “boy, that girl sure has a nice rack.” That’s only eight words Jim.
On the other hand, there’s Frank Quitely. Take a look at Grant Morrison work independent of him (i.e., Seven Soldiers, Batman RIP, Batman & Robin #4-6). Sure, the stories are high concept, but in the end, they come off as rather pedestrian. But pair Morrison up with Quitely and the combination is transcendent (All Star Superman, Batman & Robin, New X-Men). Morrison’s plotting was only, at most, half of the story. The other half was the fantastic storytelling prowess of Frank Quitely. His illustrations alone spoke volumes about emotion, wonder, and action. Batman & Robin #2 opened with Dick Grayson slumped over while sitting on the stairs in his Batsuit, ill-fitted and hardly as intimidating as when Bruce wore it, while Alfred looked on sadly. That single panel was easily the 1,000 word variety… maybe more.
This is probably why I’ve really enjoyed The Meek, written and illustrated by Der-Shing Helmer. The art isn’t just pretty. It’s half the storytelling.
By the way, this webcomic does feature a cornucopia of nudity, so be warned: assume all links are NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
The Webcomic Overlook #98: Gunshow
September 29, 2009 at 12:54 pm | In 5 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, anime, comedy webcomic, spoof, webcomics | 7 CommentsTags: Gunshow, KC Green

At some point in the development of human culture, we — and I speak a collective “we” as citizens of the world — decided that we did not like fart jokes. The very term “fart joke” has become short hand for humor that’s crude. Unseemly. Lazy. Far too bourgeois. Any movie that employs a fart joke is immediately dismissed as the trash heap of comedy. A movie, for example, could have a script written by Garrison Keillor. But if you, heaven forbid, put a fart joke in it, lord how the critics will talk! They will stick their nose up in the air and say things such as, “Leave your surreptitious trumpetlike rump blasts for infants and rednecks.” (Notable exception: Blazing Saddles. For some reason, the fart scene there is considered high art, perhaps because it is the best fart scene.)
The paradox, though, is that fart jokes are funny. Let out a long, mighty rip — ideally punctuated by a motorboat staccato — and you can bring the whole room down with laughter and tears of joy. There’s something primal about hearing a fart and laughing in kind. It’s an instinct hard-coded the deepest recesses of our minds. We find it funny, our forefathers found it funny, and it doesn’t depend on witticisms that need copious amounts of cultural baggage or familiarity with the language. Sarcasm may be unique to Western culture, but fart jokes are universal. It’s somewhat of a comfort to imagine that our ancestors amused themselves around a campfire by ritualistically dancing around the campfire in their facepaint and decorative shields to celebrate the gods for their blessed feast of wild boar, only to have the festivities erupt into guffaws when one of the dancers felt particularly gassy. Naturally, his wife would be standing sternly to the side, rolling her eyes.
Which brings me to Gunshow, a webcomic by the irrepressible KC Green. It’s no insult, I think, to say that Gunshow is the fart joke of webcomics. I mean that metaphorically, for the most part … though it’s pretty literal at times, too. Gun Show taps into the most primordial instincts, daring us to laugh from something as ridiculously simple as a goofy-looking face. Like the crude humor you find in those early Mel Brooks films and South Park’s Terrence & Phillip, sometimes it takes a genius to remind you that fart jokes are, in fact, funny.

The Webcomic Overlook #89: Girl Genius
July 15, 2009 at 5:16 pm | In 5 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, adventure webcomic, sci-fi webcomic, webcomics | 11 CommentsTags: Girl Genius

Some of my ideas for this site never pan out. A few weeks back, I had played around with doing a theme week. Specifically it was going to be Girl Power Week. (Motto: “Girls rule, boys drool!” Eh heh heh … so true.) A marathon session, reviewing webcomics with sassy, brassy ladies in the lead role! I even had a logo designed and an intro paragraph written (which can be found in The Black Cherry Bombshells review. OK, so it took me all of 3 minutes from googling “gurren lagann yoko” to slapping the logo together in photoshop. But still!
But, you know, actually finding the time to read webcomics and write about them takes forever. I finished about two-thirds of Girl Power Week: along with The Black Cherry Bombshells, I also finished the Earthsong review. But the third comic was too long to do properly. And now here we are, almost a month later.
More than one Webcomic Overlook reader has enthusiastically requested that I take a look at this comic. It’s one of the few comics set in the steampunk framework and does it right. It’s been nominated for Hugo Awards and Eisner Awards, and has won WCCAs and Squiddy Awards (whatever the hell that is). It’s the comic about “Adventure! Romance! Mad Science!”
Yup, you guessed it. The Webcomic Overlook finally reviews the infamous Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio. The webcomic takes a lot of surprise twists and turns, so I’ll try to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. However, there will be some revelations (minor ones, I hope), so proceed reading this review at your own risk.
The Webcomic Overlook #88: Daisy Owl
July 7, 2009 at 8:09 am | In 5 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, comedy webcomic, funny animal webcomic, webcomics | 5 CommentsTags: Daisy Owl

Online, Cracked has been going through a lengthy process to distance itself from it’s dismal and historical reputation of being the poor man’s Mad Magazine. The efforts, I think, have been largely successful. When you think Cracked these days, you think less of “magazine that also does comic movie parodies but not quite as funny or creative as Mad” and more of “Top 7 List of Trivia that makes you feel all smart and knowledgeable, although generally the information is pretty worthless and the only reason you read it was because you liked seeing the words ‘Max Planck’ and ‘badass’ together.”
Well, that’s not completely true. There’s also “Top 7 list of things where we can laugh about other people’s cultures,” “awkward YouTube sketches that used to be aired on public access channels,” and “photoshop contests that are not as quite as funny or creative as SomethingAwful’s Photoshop Phridays.”
Cracked is also a strong proponent of webcomics. Unlikely as it might sound, the site is starting to become key in introducing webcomics to new audiences outside of the typical circles (e.g. nerdy and verbose blogs like The Webcomic Overlook). Think of it as the funny pages section of your local newspaper. I can’t vouch for the quality, though; some comics, like the recently showcased Fatawesome, have been mind-bogglingly terrible.
However, sometimes Cracked strikes gold. The site and the members of its forum are partially responsible for the publicity of at least one decent webcomic. It’s the subject of today’s Webcomic Overlook review, Ben Driscoll’s Daisy Owl.
The Webcomic Overlook #82: Sin Titulo
June 15, 2009 at 5:29 pm | In 5 Stars, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, alternative webcomic, dramatic webcomic, horror webcomic, mystery webcomic, webcomics | 9 CommentsTags: Sin Titulo

As I mentioned in my review of The Princess Planet, the Transmission-X webcomic collective has, in my admittedly cluttered mind, been batting at 1.000. Fantastic writing, fantastic artwork, and accessible, friendly creators. Transmission-X is the webcomic gold standard, an admirable example for creators everywhere.
And yet, I was STILL apprehensive about the content of the webcomic for this week’s Webcomic Overlook review. The Abominable Charles Christopher, Kukuburi, and The Princess Planet are all generally peppy, upbeat, colorful, and fanciful. I like those elements in a webcomic. It’s like Pixar in print form. Sin Titulo, by contrast, is dark, noirish, and grounded in the harsh light of reality. It even comes with a “For Mature Readers” tag. There’s nothing sexually explicit in the comic thus far, by the way; the warning is mainly for language and violence.
Also, while I love me some mystery, suspense, and hard-boiled detective novels, noirish comic books are just not my cup o’ Bourbon. I’m not that huge a fan of Sin City, for instance. (Miller sorta lost me with the ninja hookers.)
What to make of Sin Titulo, then? And, a more important question: how do you pronounce the second part of the title? (I’m personally going to go with “Tah-TOO-low.”)
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