Category Archives: One Punch Reviews

One Punch Reviews #59: Smashing Avatar

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Man, you know what I haven’t done in a while? A review of a webcomic about video gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…..

…

Whoa. Sorry about that. I think I passed out for a moment there. Anyway, you know what the world needs more of? Webcomics about geeks. Geeks and their geeky lives. And video games. Ryan Huertas and Mike Karell, the creators of Smashing Avatar, certainly created one of those comics.

Now, before we get into the review proper, I’ve got to put a question out there. Look at the sample strip I posted below. Does this look familiar to you? Like, maybe we’ve seen this webcomic before? There’s two gamers… a couch… even the hair looks sorta familiar….

It looks a lot like…

It looks A LOT like …..

Oh, right. Oglaf. This comic looks like Oglaf.

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One Punch Reviews #58: Nerd Rage

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Man, if nerds are known for one thing it’s … not … being … able … to shut … the hell … up. Seriously, man, check out some of the comments posted this AV Club review of the game Borderlands. You’d think that, by not liking a video game, someone just insulted their religion. I’m sure pretty much the rest of you can come up with your own examples… including, um, several reviews posted on this very site.

Heh.

So it’s time to channel that apoplectic manchild within, because today we take a look at a comic about nerds, rage, and the consequences thereof. It’s Andy Kluthe’s webcomic, Nerd Rage, where nerds are more ragin’ than Cajuns.

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One Punch Reviews #57: Legacy Control

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I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I took cartooning at the Detroit Center from Creative Studies. In one class, we went over shapes of characters heads. I’d tried to make a face out of something that looked like a lightbulb. My instructor took a look at the results, sorta made a face, and suggested I turned the shaped 180 degrees.

“A pear-shaped head looks more natural than a lightbulb-shaped head,” he said.

I think he made a good point. I can think of plenty of characters with pear-shaped heads: the principal from Archie, Pete from the Mickey cartoons, Baby Huey. There aren’t that many with lightbulb shaped craniums, unless you’re an evil villain with a big brain like The Leader. Still, with artistic license, I think it can be made to work.

I couldn’t help but think of this while reading Javis Ray’s Legacy Control. Because if this comic has convinced me anything, the one shape that will never work are lemon-shaped heads.


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One Punch Reviews #55: The Trenches

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I am something of a fan of stories about he software industry. It probably has something to do with taking the driest subject matter possible (programming) and turning it into a story that’s dramatic or epic. One of my favorite biographies is Masters of Doom, the story about the creators behind the revolutionary first person shooter, Doom. It starts off with hard times with the creators being forced the work around the clock in a dank room and ends with a truly remarkable fortunes for its two principle characters: John Carmack went on to become so rich that he amassed enough money to build his own space ship, while John Romero had a momumental rise and fall, going from the rockstar to the laughingstock of the video game industry.

And you can bet that I am totally on board with seeing Man On A Mission, the documentary about Ultima creator and longtime cosplayer Richard “Lord British” Garriott, who also amassed so much money he eventually fulfilled his childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut.

The creators of The Trenches, Scott Kurtz, Mike Krahulik, and Jerry Holkins, also achieved some pretty amazing — albeit less galactic — milestones. Between them, they’ve established one the premiere game expo franchises in the world, emceed the Harvey Awards, were named as Time’s most influential people, and are regarded as the founding fathers of webcomics. Still, I don’t expect this partially autobiographical webcomic about life in the software development industry to arrive at something quite so mind-shattering.

Maybe if one of those lazy bums should get off their butts and build an actual space ship, huh?

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One Punch Reviews #54: Power Nap

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Every time I come across a reference to Maritza Campos’ Power Nap, there’s always a reference to College Roomies From Hell. I’ve never read that comic. I suspect it’s a blind spot that will prove to be my undoing, like that time I didn’t know what Penny Arcade and Ctrl+Alt+Del were. (Oh, to return to those blissful, innocent days.) It’s long, and it never really seemed something that was up my alley, anyway. I’ve never really been a fan of college roommate comics, let alone one where they’re apparently from the eternal netherworlds of the damned. So I’m not the guy to go ask if this is better or worse than CRFH.

It doesn’t much matter, anyway. First of all, it’s visually distinct from CRFH. This time around someone else is handling artistic duties. Power Nap is penned by Bachan, a Mexican illustrator who also does Vinny. It seems to be about a werewolf of sorts.


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One Punch Reviews #44: So… You’re A Cartoonist? (Second Opinion)

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(I’m still on hiatus! However, David Herbert was kind enough to do a review while I’m away. In this review, he tackles previously reviewed webcomic So… You’re A Cartoonist? with a different take than mine. It’s time to get hit up with … a second opinion.)

When I first got into webcomics, I tended to gravitate towards comics that were somewhat based in the author’s real life. So when I found this comic by Tom Preston, or Andrew Dobson, it seemed like something that would interest me, not just because I like diary comics, but also because this is about being someone who makes comics and their own tales of doing what they love.

Basically it’s my comic, Living with Insanity, except the writer can draw and it doesn’t devolve into insane nonsense.

However, one of the first things you’ll notice is that the title doesn’t really work until nearly 18 pages in, where being a cartoonist becomes the main focus. Up until then, it’s about being bullied as a kid, watching shows with his girlfriend and stuff his roommate did in college.


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