Library Laughs
There are a lot of gaming comics available on the web. There are a lot of superhero comics. Comics about elves, and dragons. Comics about romance, or roomies, or robots.
There are very few comics about libraries and librarians.
Unshelved has found its niche, and rules it well.
For me, the comic works well because of nostalgia – I remember my days working as a page in a public library, and Unshelved captures a lot of the little truths about such a place.
Even though I haven’t worked at such a job in over 5 years, I am still currently an avid reader. My reading has changed – it is much harder to enjoy the pulp fantasy books I used to love, but every once in a while I discover something amazing, and they capture perfectly exactly what that experience entails.
So Unshelved works well for me, because I can relate.
I’ve been there, I still am there in many ways, and I can recognize it all as true.
The comic has a lot more going for it than that, of course. There is plenty of clever gaming jokes and dorky references, along with more ordinary humor, from the surreal to the slapstick. It has solid storylines, a nice cast, and even the occasional romantic tension. I’d wager a lot of folks out there could easily enjoy it without needing any background in library logic.
And for those of us who enjoy the world of books? There are a lot of nice touches that strike very close to home, and thats a good thing.
Eyes of Liquid Rage
I’m really excited about Ugly Hill’s new book, Eyes of Liquid Rage. I’m mainly excited because the name is so perfectly awesome.
I’m a late comer to Ugly Hill. I started reading it when the Blank Label Comics collective formed, as it was one of the few members that I was not already a intense fan of.
It took a little while to get into it, but I began to really dig it, mainly when I realized that my favorite character was actually Hastings, the uptight, fun-hating, work-minded asshole.
He’s an unmitigated jerk, as shown time and time again by his interaction with his family, his co-workers, and…. well, I guess he doesn’t really have any friends.
But he is a fun character to see in action. He shows his emotions intensely, and Paul Southworth does some great stuff with his expressions. Especially the eyes. The shiny, glistening eyes.
There are a lot of things that can persuade one to purchase a book. The author, the content, the art. Convenience, availability, price.
But here’s one person who was won over on this sale, in large part by name alone. By the fact that someone was able to condense in four simple words such a primal element of the strip.
Now that’s pretty awesome.
The Adventures of Dr. McNinja
Ninjas are, in fact, totally awesome. This is scientific fact.
The figure you see to your left is Dr. McNinja.
He is, as you may surmise, a doctor. He is also, as the observant among you might be able to discern, a ninja.
It is not until you learn of his secret backstory that one might discover that he is also irish.
In any case, it is my profound duty to bring The Adventures of Dr. McNinja to the attention of all passerby. To read this yarn of hope and sacrifice is to internalize a great truth unto oneself:
Namely, that ninjas. are totally. awesome.
Costume Catastrophe
8-Bit Theatre, by Brian Clevinger, is regarded as one of the most successful sprite based webcomics on the net.
Like many sprite comics, the characters are ‘borrowed’ from a video game – the original Final Fantasy game for the nintendo, to be specific. The story from the game is retold with much more laughs, chaos, hijinks, and so forth. Various characters are given distinct personalities – red mage is the rules lawyer; thief is, well, a thief; fighter is really dumb; black mage is pure evil.
By and large it is pretty good, even if sometimes the humor is often the same joke about those personality traits.
The main problem, though, is the art.
Now, being a sprite comic – being, in fact, an ‘8-Bit’ comic, means the art has obvious limitations. And sometimes Clevinger transcends those limitations and does impressive stuff with the art.
Unfortunately, sometimes he… doesn’t. And the art makes it really hard to tell whats going on.
Recently the characters ‘powered up’ and got all new outfits, most of which look bad-ass.
Unfortunately, Black Mage got an outfit that makes him look like a clown. Or something. I can’t really tell what the outfit is supposed to be, other than making it look like he is running around without any pants. No pants! That is simply disturbing.
Making use of a limited medium doesn’t mean the art has to be weak or confusing. Order of the Stick, as I mentioned before, does amazing things despite being a ‘stick figure’ comic. A Modest Destiny (sadly no longer viewable directly on the site), was a very good sprite comic when one looked past all the drama that surrounded it. Good clean art. Distinct characters, backgrounds, layout.
8-Bit Theatre is a good webcomic. It will continue to remain popular. Story can surpass art.
But please, in the name of all that is good in this world, give black mage his pants back!
Time and Time Again
Sluggy Freelance is moving into the last stages of its Oceans Unmoving storyline.
Now, this storyline has met with a lot of contention. Some have liked it, while many others have found it dissatisfying.
Part of the concerns that people had were that it came just after That Which Redeems, which was regarded as a fantastic success, and one that renewed people’s faith in the Sluggyverse. It concluded with many questions still unresolved, and many people eager to see the changes that the events had left on Torg.
And then… Oceans Unmoving. The normal cast of Sluggy was left behind for a wild jaunt through ‘Timeless Space,’ and an epic journey featuring all manner of new and innovative characters, stories, technology, and so forth.
And people were upset.
It has been said before – Oceans Unmoving would have been a great story as its own comic. It will do much better once it is complete and in the archives, and people can read through it in one fell swoop.
But it was too much to take in. It was filled with exposition and explanations. It had only one character that we knew – Bun-bun, who many fans didn’t feel especially attached to anyway. It gave us several new characters and new romantic tension – but it was hard to get attached when all most people really wanted was to get back to the old crew.
It wasn’t that people wanted the Old Sluggy days back, of nothing but silly jokes and goofy adventures – they wanted to get back to the characters they were already attached to, and see some resolution to the countless stories building up (Aylee, Oasis, the evolution of Torg). They didn’t want to see a new storyline interrupt that – especially one that just went on, and on, and on.
Oceans Unmoving, indeed.
Over a year later, Oceans Unmoving is wrapping up.
And me?
In all honesty, I am really digging the ending. I’ve liked some of the final twists behind the scenes, even if a few seemed excessive. After a year of reading the tale, I’ve become attached enough to Kada and Calix to care about their fate. And… even the greys, too, to an extent. (Still hate Caribs, though.)
I don’t really want to see much more of them, mind you. But I am eager to see the last hurrah of all this – the climax and conclusion.
And from the pace of things, it won’t be long before its all wrapped up, and it looks like it is wrapping up well.
Which brings us to the true test – where Sluggy goes from here.
I wouldn’t say Oceans Unmoving has been fully redeemed by this, but I’ve certainly gotten brought back in to the tale, and will be ready to walk into whatever new is coming without being held back by total frustration over the last year of the comic.
For the first time in a long while, I’m looking forward to Sluggy everyday, rather than dreading it.
So that’s a sign that Abrams is certainly doing something right.
How long until there is an entire genre of comics that consist of ‘political satire comic with pink-haired girl protaganist’?
I read both Sore Thumbs and Winger, despite the fact that they sometimes go a bit too far on their political tirades for my own personal taste. They both have a lot going for them outside of their political teasings, and both deliver good humor and art.
Now, Sore Thumbs is currently doing… well, something crazy. Other strips have waged the war between humor and drama before, and right now Crosby appears to be giving it a whirl himself.
I’m not entirely positive as to exactly which direction he’s trying to take – whether he is trying to be a drama making fun of its own lightheartedness, or trying to be a funny strip making fun of its attempts to add psycho-drama, or just making fun of the whole shebang.
Regardless, I’m liking it, and it does a good job of making both perspectives work.
Oh, and I’ll admit it – the “Cheney Shot First” shirt made me laugh. Yes, in fact, “out loud,” as the kids say.
Webcomics are Totally Something
Everytime I check out Josh L.’s webcomics blog, the title has gotten a little less jubilant. I predict that within a month, the title alone will be a manifesto on the darkness inherent in the webcomic world.
Anyway, Josh has used the blog to, by and large, shake things up a bit, as it were, and give some criticism (some much-needed, some seemingly a bit more for its own sake) on various fictures in the webcomic world.
His latest post is advice for webcartoonists. Some of it is mainly there for shock value – but a lot of it is genuinely stuff people need to hear.
One of the things he stresses is learning to draw better. And… he’s right. I mean, there is almost always room for improvement in any given comic, both artisticly and otherwise. But the web, as a self-published medium, is a place especially filled with work that has room to grow.
This is something that was especially true when the webcomic scene was just beginning. I mean… there are tons of comics that have come far that started with truly deplorable art. College Roomies from Hell is a good example of this – a strip that started with some really rough art, but has become a top dog amongst webcomics. It has has become genuinely well drawn. It was carried along by the story at first, but the artist put in the time and effort, and the strip evolved, and grew, and succeeded.
And there are a lot of cases like that out there, of comics that started poor and then actually became nice looking comics.
Which is why I want to emphasize Lesnick’s advice – learn to draw better. If you think your art is crap, and it will forever limit your webcomic? Don’t give up. Keep at it. Work at making it better. It will get there. You’ll learn from doing your comic all the time, and you’ll learn in other ways that you can apply to the comic. And if, after months of working at improving it, you take an honest look and realize that you’ve only gone from being violently atrocious to being merely craptastic?
Keep at it some more.
The webcomic world is one made for evolution, and as long as an artist has the persistence to endure their own growth – and the drive to make that growth happen – they can join the ranks of all the others who went ahead, regardless of the work… and learned to draw better.
High Hopes
Scott Kurtz of webcomic powerhouse PvP is well known in the webcomic world, both for the quality and accomplishments of his comic, as well as for his willingness to speak his mind frankly on many different topics.
He recently had a story arc in his comic that was nearly a month long, dealing with several of main characters of the strip getting sent back through time and space to interact with the heroes of his previous gang, “Tales by Tavernlight.” It was an impressive attempt, though it came as a surprise when he said it was his first story arc that had lasted that long before.
Thinking back on it, it seems true – he has done a lot of lasting stories before, but they are usually broken up over numerous little arcs. This monthlong plot, in any case, was a good one – I enjoyed the concept, and liked several of the jokes worked into it.
It was only afterwards, when he posted his thoughts on the arc – talking about what he had hoped for it, and how he felt it fell short – that I noticed the ways it could be better. And they were there, sure – some parts of it moved a bit too fast, and left too little room to really see the full interactions between the different casts, or to really reveal the little twists behind it all.
But that said – I did not notice it at the time. I enjoyed the arc. I liked what it did. And for all that it had room to grow, I wouldn’t even have noticed it without Kurtz feeling free to give his thoughts on it and some of the things he cut out in order to get it finished quickly.
I don’t think Kurtz should feel bad about the way the story panned out – and I think, in the end, that sort of personal constructive criticism is a good thing, and is almost always an even more discerning eye than that of a reader.
Damn Good Comics 