For she has done a thing! And much like most things she does, it is a beautiful thing!
Very illuminating to see her process, not the least because it really shows you exactly why so much time passes between her webcomic pages.
Showing posts with label Webcomics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Webcomics. Show all posts
Friday, November 5, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Webcomics Reviews V
Shi Long Pang: (Pronounced Sher Loong Pong, apparently.) A kung-fu epic starring a young wandering Shaolin Monk, Pang, in 17th Century China. The art style is well-suited to the subject - simple enough to allow all kinds of crazy action sequences when the need calls for it, but stylized enough that some of the backgrounds that creator Ben Costa put into his panels are evocative of Chinese watercolour paintings. Equally impressive is the effort Costa puts into the historical and cultural depictions of 17th Century China - which lends his narrative a certain air of authority that it would otherwise lack.
If I can criticize it for anything, it's the plotting - I find that for an action/adventure/comedy, the whole thing moves a bit slowly at times; this isn't helped by often-infrequent updates. Your mileage may vary, of course.
It's worth noting that Costa won the Xeric Award for his work on the comic. The Xeric Foundation was founded by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle co-creator Peter Laird, and awards grants to winning comic creators designed to help them self-publish their creations (as well as feed and house themselves while they do so.) It was founded in 1992, and has given almost two million dollars in grants since then. I thought that was pretty cool, and Shi Long Pang a very worthy recipient of the award.
Bobwhite: This webcomic by Magnolia Porter follows the exploits of three friends as they struggle their way through life, love, and art school at Bobwhite University. The thing I love about this comic is how honest it is; while the characters are obviously exaggerated for comic effect, there's nevertheless a lot of truth in everything they do. Each of them is imperfect in a myriad of their own ways, but even for all their flaws it's hard not to love them.
If there's a flaw I can criticize with Bobwhite, it's the art. Don't get me wrong - the art's quite good, and the style is very appropriate to the theme and humour of the comic. However, at times it gets a little inconsistent, as if Porter is just kind of phoning it in - getting it to where it's good enough, rather than getting it to where it's good. I also get the feeling it's often limited by the newspaper-strip format, which is a shame - I often get the feeling that if she'd break out of the format constraints and take the time she needs, she could make some truly mind-blowing visuals.
Starslip Crisis: This is a Sci-Fi parody comic from probably the most prolific creator in webcomics, Kris Straub. It's a webcomic parody of Star Trek, science fiction in general, and pop culture and art, not necessarily in that order, and it's very, very good. The art is not to everyone's tastes - though I think it's vastly improved these days over the style he used when he started the comic - but it's sufficient to drive the story and the humour.
In addition to Starslip, Kris Straub also does/did F Chords, which is to music what Starslip Crisis is to Science Fiction, Checkerboard Nightmare, which is a webcomic about a cartoon character developing his own webcomic, and Chainsawsuit, which is a webcomic parody of webcomics billed as "disposable internet humour." Like I said, the guy's prolific. Starslip Crisis is my favourite of his creations, but if that's not to your taste then there's probably something Straub's done that suits you - maybe even Chainsawsuits you get it it's a joke okay I'll stop.
If I can criticize it for anything, it's the plotting - I find that for an action/adventure/comedy, the whole thing moves a bit slowly at times; this isn't helped by often-infrequent updates. Your mileage may vary, of course.
It's worth noting that Costa won the Xeric Award for his work on the comic. The Xeric Foundation was founded by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle co-creator Peter Laird, and awards grants to winning comic creators designed to help them self-publish their creations (as well as feed and house themselves while they do so.) It was founded in 1992, and has given almost two million dollars in grants since then. I thought that was pretty cool, and Shi Long Pang a very worthy recipient of the award.
Bobwhite: This webcomic by Magnolia Porter follows the exploits of three friends as they struggle their way through life, love, and art school at Bobwhite University. The thing I love about this comic is how honest it is; while the characters are obviously exaggerated for comic effect, there's nevertheless a lot of truth in everything they do. Each of them is imperfect in a myriad of their own ways, but even for all their flaws it's hard not to love them.
If there's a flaw I can criticize with Bobwhite, it's the art. Don't get me wrong - the art's quite good, and the style is very appropriate to the theme and humour of the comic. However, at times it gets a little inconsistent, as if Porter is just kind of phoning it in - getting it to where it's good enough, rather than getting it to where it's good. I also get the feeling it's often limited by the newspaper-strip format, which is a shame - I often get the feeling that if she'd break out of the format constraints and take the time she needs, she could make some truly mind-blowing visuals.
Starslip Crisis: This is a Sci-Fi parody comic from probably the most prolific creator in webcomics, Kris Straub. It's a webcomic parody of Star Trek, science fiction in general, and pop culture and art, not necessarily in that order, and it's very, very good. The art is not to everyone's tastes - though I think it's vastly improved these days over the style he used when he started the comic - but it's sufficient to drive the story and the humour.
In addition to Starslip, Kris Straub also does/did F Chords, which is to music what Starslip Crisis is to Science Fiction, Checkerboard Nightmare, which is a webcomic about a cartoon character developing his own webcomic, and Chainsawsuit, which is a webcomic parody of webcomics billed as "disposable internet humour." Like I said, the guy's prolific. Starslip Crisis is my favourite of his creations, but if that's not to your taste then there's probably something Straub's done that suits you - maybe even Chainsawsuits you get it it's a joke okay I'll stop.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Webcomic Reviews Pt. 4
Books, Beers, and Ballpoint Pens: The best word I can think of to describe this darkly humorous gag-a-day webcomic is "rough." It's got rough art, rough writing, rough punchline delivery... There's craft underneath it all, but not much polish. Infrequently updated, and sometimes it just falls flat. So, why do I read it? Because every once in a while it comes out with something absolutely golden. The birthday skeleton won my readership for at least a year.
Pictures for Sad Children: Deceptively simple art is perfectly blended with the subject matter for this webcomic, which presents an overwhelmingly cynical view of the world at large. Very witty and humorous, but the laughter it elicits is often accompanied by a certain dawning horror at just what you're laughing at. A very sophisticated gag-a-day comic, but its sophistication only emerges in retrospect.
The Non-Adventures of Wonderella: A once-a-week gag webcomic done with Adobe Illustrator, following the absurdist exploits of slacker superhero Wonderella. Extremely funny, though I imagine readers familiar with supers comics and genre conventions found therein - particularly conventions related to legacy heroes - get more out of the comic than others. Other frequent themes include celebrity, pop culture, dating, and modern life. At first I found the art style somewhat annoying and cheap, but it's grown on me and now I find it adds to the webcomic's charm.
The Meek: A fantasy comic that follows the adventures of a dryad in her quest to save the world... I think. Art-wise, this comic is incredible, right up there among the best - just a few notches below Lackadaisy Cats, which I consider to be the pinnacle of webcomic visuals. Writing-wise it's harder to assess this webcomic, because while the scripting is good and it's drawn me in quite well, I find the pace to be rather maddeningly slow... We're on the third chapter and the creator Alexds1 is still introducing the cast, so it's hard to make any statements about the broader strokes of storycraft that might be at work. Still, like I said, it hooked me pretty quickly so I highly recommend giving it a try.
Pictures for Sad Children: Deceptively simple art is perfectly blended with the subject matter for this webcomic, which presents an overwhelmingly cynical view of the world at large. Very witty and humorous, but the laughter it elicits is often accompanied by a certain dawning horror at just what you're laughing at. A very sophisticated gag-a-day comic, but its sophistication only emerges in retrospect.
The Non-Adventures of Wonderella: A once-a-week gag webcomic done with Adobe Illustrator, following the absurdist exploits of slacker superhero Wonderella. Extremely funny, though I imagine readers familiar with supers comics and genre conventions found therein - particularly conventions related to legacy heroes - get more out of the comic than others. Other frequent themes include celebrity, pop culture, dating, and modern life. At first I found the art style somewhat annoying and cheap, but it's grown on me and now I find it adds to the webcomic's charm.
The Meek: A fantasy comic that follows the adventures of a dryad in her quest to save the world... I think. Art-wise, this comic is incredible, right up there among the best - just a few notches below Lackadaisy Cats, which I consider to be the pinnacle of webcomic visuals. Writing-wise it's harder to assess this webcomic, because while the scripting is good and it's drawn me in quite well, I find the pace to be rather maddeningly slow... We're on the third chapter and the creator Alexds1 is still introducing the cast, so it's hard to make any statements about the broader strokes of storycraft that might be at work. Still, like I said, it hooked me pretty quickly so I highly recommend giving it a try.
Monday, August 23, 2010
More Webcomic Reviews
Oglaf: This is an often-R-rated webcomic that frequently borders on X-rated, being extremely naughty. It's also hilarious, particularly if you're familiar with the sort of source material it parodies, being a comedic fantasy comic. (Not all its strips involve pornographic material, though - sometimes it's perfectly tame, though this never hurts the humour.) Solidly drawn with beautiful colours, it doesn't really have a story per se, though it does have some frequently returning characters - the most common of which is an evil sorceress and her hapless apprentice.
Plan B: Billed as "a tale of love, revenge, and supervillainy," I don't have a whole lot to say about this comic. A usually-but-not-always parody strip, it's certainly good enough to have drawn me in and keep me reading. It's frequently amusing. The art is serviceable-to-good for the most part, with only the occasional easy-to-overlook flub. Having said that, the main reason I read it is the genre - if it were, I dunno, a webcomic about sports or video games or pretty much anything else besides superheroes/supervillains, its charms probably wouldn't be enough to hold me.
Girly: The most fascinating thing about this comic is the evolution Josh Lesnick's art's gone through over the years he worked on Girly. In the beginning, it was rather animu crap - not horrendous for animu stuff, but still way too heavily influenced by animu. As time passes, the art slowly evolves to the point that Lesnick develops a clear style all his own. At its best, the art was really worth eating up and studying in every detail - a wonderfully cartoony style that screams energy and is truly Lesnick's own.
However, I have to admit I have serious misgivings about his latest stylistic evolutions. I find that in throwing himself into the energy of his drawings, Lesnick's lost a lot of the structure - nowadays his faces are unnecessarily melty, and the action can be really difficult to follow from panel to panel.
Oh, yeah, and then there's Lesnick's sense of humour. It can range from lame to decent. He frequently jumps into lolrandom humour ("Magic whale fetus! LOL!"), which really only works when done well and he doesn't always do it well. Not a comic for everyone, but still head and shoulders better than most of what's out there. In fact, I'd have to say that the humour - and the writing in general - was of much better quality during the early and middle parts of the run than in the last parts. Between that and the way I feel his art has evolved in bad directions lately, the only reason I'm still reading this comic is due to inertia - Lesnick's been working on the final story for about six months, and will be ending the comic after that, so I figure I might as well keep reading until it's over.
It's also worth noting, for Scott Pilgrim fans, Lesnick did a back-up mini strip in the last Scott Pilgrim book. So, um, yeah. That's relevant somehow, I'm sure.
Sorcery 101: A solid urban fantasy comic about a high school teacher who's secretly a foreign prince, is an apprentice sorcerer being taught by a reluctant vampire, and who lives with a married couple (a former demon hunter and a werewolf) and their werewolf daughter (she takes after her dad). That probably sounds a lot sillier than it actually is - the strip is very often comedic, but it's never actually silly. Well, maybe the bits with the kid necromancer excepted.
This, like Girly, went through an interesting art evolution as well. In the beginning, it was often downright badly-drawn, with frequent basic mistakes of anatomy and perspective. Unfortunately, I can't really show you any of this - Kel McDonald's art evolved to become solid (at worst) to excellent (at best), and as it did he went back and re-did his early stuff so it's not available to make comparisons with. Just trust me, the stuff that's up now is much, much better than what used to be there. (His writing is always solid, though sometimes I have to overlook some spelling mistakes - I think he's said that he's dyslexic and has to do a lot of proofreading. I hope I'm not misremembering that.)
Plan B: Billed as "a tale of love, revenge, and supervillainy," I don't have a whole lot to say about this comic. A usually-but-not-always parody strip, it's certainly good enough to have drawn me in and keep me reading. It's frequently amusing. The art is serviceable-to-good for the most part, with only the occasional easy-to-overlook flub. Having said that, the main reason I read it is the genre - if it were, I dunno, a webcomic about sports or video games or pretty much anything else besides superheroes/supervillains, its charms probably wouldn't be enough to hold me.
Girly: The most fascinating thing about this comic is the evolution Josh Lesnick's art's gone through over the years he worked on Girly. In the beginning, it was rather animu crap - not horrendous for animu stuff, but still way too heavily influenced by animu. As time passes, the art slowly evolves to the point that Lesnick develops a clear style all his own. At its best, the art was really worth eating up and studying in every detail - a wonderfully cartoony style that screams energy and is truly Lesnick's own.
However, I have to admit I have serious misgivings about his latest stylistic evolutions. I find that in throwing himself into the energy of his drawings, Lesnick's lost a lot of the structure - nowadays his faces are unnecessarily melty, and the action can be really difficult to follow from panel to panel.
Oh, yeah, and then there's Lesnick's sense of humour. It can range from lame to decent. He frequently jumps into lolrandom humour ("Magic whale fetus! LOL!"), which really only works when done well and he doesn't always do it well. Not a comic for everyone, but still head and shoulders better than most of what's out there. In fact, I'd have to say that the humour - and the writing in general - was of much better quality during the early and middle parts of the run than in the last parts. Between that and the way I feel his art has evolved in bad directions lately, the only reason I'm still reading this comic is due to inertia - Lesnick's been working on the final story for about six months, and will be ending the comic after that, so I figure I might as well keep reading until it's over.
It's also worth noting, for Scott Pilgrim fans, Lesnick did a back-up mini strip in the last Scott Pilgrim book. So, um, yeah. That's relevant somehow, I'm sure.
Sorcery 101: A solid urban fantasy comic about a high school teacher who's secretly a foreign prince, is an apprentice sorcerer being taught by a reluctant vampire, and who lives with a married couple (a former demon hunter and a werewolf) and their werewolf daughter (she takes after her dad). That probably sounds a lot sillier than it actually is - the strip is very often comedic, but it's never actually silly. Well, maybe the bits with the kid necromancer excepted.
This, like Girly, went through an interesting art evolution as well. In the beginning, it was often downright badly-drawn, with frequent basic mistakes of anatomy and perspective. Unfortunately, I can't really show you any of this - Kel McDonald's art evolved to become solid (at worst) to excellent (at best), and as it did he went back and re-did his early stuff so it's not available to make comparisons with. Just trust me, the stuff that's up now is much, much better than what used to be there. (His writing is always solid, though sometimes I have to overlook some spelling mistakes - I think he's said that he's dyslexic and has to do a lot of proofreading. I hope I'm not misremembering that.)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Moar Webcomics
Continuing with my previous post:
Dead Winter: This has a really rough start as the creator struggles to really find his art style at first, but it hits its stride pretty soon. I'll admit the art is a little incongruous at first - it's a webcomic about a zombie apocalypse done in a cutesy, vaguely anime style - but after a time you come to appreciate it. Although a comic set in a zombie apocalypse, it's not really about zombies... They're more like a fact of life that the characters have to deal with, like bad weather or taxes. The writing is solid and serviceable, but nothing stellar.
Oh, and every hundred strips creator S. David Shabet treats us readers to a fully-animated strip, which is always incredible to behold.
The Abominable Charles Christopher: Visually one of the most beautiful comics on the webs and done by print comics veteran Karl Kerschl, this follows the exploits of what might or might not be a dwarf-sized abominable snowman, as well as the more mundane animals that inhabit the forest he calls home. It kind of has a story, but I'm at a loss to explain what that is after three years of updates. Honestly, writing-wise, when not doing one-off gags it's kind of incoherent. But look at that art! Gorgeous.
Lackadaisy Cats: A comic about prohibition-era mobster cats. Most of the time they're goofy and adorable with plenty of humour to be found, and then every now and then one of them gets up to the sort of psychotic dark acts (sometimes with black humour, sometimes not) that only a murderous mobster can. Every bit as gorgeous, if not moreso, as Charles Christopher, but with much better (more coherent) writing. Creator Tracy Butler is a master of expressions, and the detail that she puts into each and every one of her panels blows me away Every. Single. Time.
The only major drawback is that it updates infrequently (albeit in large, satifsying chunks.)
Doodze, a Tiny Epic: Done by a high school friend of mine, Doodze is a comic about the trials and tribulations of the would-be-hero-but-actually-is-Sh'leep-herder Eddo. He's a dood, which is kind of like a yellow smurf that lives in bamboo. Robin White, the creator, describes it as "Smurfs meets Lord of the Rings." I've always been a big fan of Robin's art style - it has plenty of mad energy. The comic's still in its early stages, so it's definitely worth checking out.
That's it for now. I'll do another four next time.
Oh, and while I'm still here, WHAT IS THIS I DONT EVEN
WHAT
WHAT
I think it's that "Made in USA" label that makes my brain break. It's just the little bit that pushes me over the edge.
Dead Winter: This has a really rough start as the creator struggles to really find his art style at first, but it hits its stride pretty soon. I'll admit the art is a little incongruous at first - it's a webcomic about a zombie apocalypse done in a cutesy, vaguely anime style - but after a time you come to appreciate it. Although a comic set in a zombie apocalypse, it's not really about zombies... They're more like a fact of life that the characters have to deal with, like bad weather or taxes. The writing is solid and serviceable, but nothing stellar.
Oh, and every hundred strips creator S. David Shabet treats us readers to a fully-animated strip, which is always incredible to behold.
The Abominable Charles Christopher: Visually one of the most beautiful comics on the webs and done by print comics veteran Karl Kerschl, this follows the exploits of what might or might not be a dwarf-sized abominable snowman, as well as the more mundane animals that inhabit the forest he calls home. It kind of has a story, but I'm at a loss to explain what that is after three years of updates. Honestly, writing-wise, when not doing one-off gags it's kind of incoherent. But look at that art! Gorgeous.
Lackadaisy Cats: A comic about prohibition-era mobster cats. Most of the time they're goofy and adorable with plenty of humour to be found, and then every now and then one of them gets up to the sort of psychotic dark acts (sometimes with black humour, sometimes not) that only a murderous mobster can. Every bit as gorgeous, if not moreso, as Charles Christopher, but with much better (more coherent) writing. Creator Tracy Butler is a master of expressions, and the detail that she puts into each and every one of her panels blows me away Every. Single. Time.
The only major drawback is that it updates infrequently (albeit in large, satifsying chunks.)
Doodze, a Tiny Epic: Done by a high school friend of mine, Doodze is a comic about the trials and tribulations of the would-be-hero-but-actually-is-Sh'leep-herder Eddo. He's a dood, which is kind of like a yellow smurf that lives in bamboo. Robin White, the creator, describes it as "Smurfs meets Lord of the Rings." I've always been a big fan of Robin's art style - it has plenty of mad energy. The comic's still in its early stages, so it's definitely worth checking out.
That's it for now. I'll do another four next time.
Oh, and while I'm still here, WHAT IS THIS I DONT EVEN
WHAT
WHAT
I think it's that "Made in USA" label that makes my brain break. It's just the little bit that pushes me over the edge.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Arts and Webcomics
Two more designs finished:
Princess Starra and SkyArrow.
Someday I'll be done these, I swear.
Someone once asked me what webcomics I thought were worth reading. To give me a break from yelling about Harper, I figure this would make a good topic - so over the next few blog entries, I'm going to be sharing the webcomics on my reading list, and giving mini-critiques explaining why I think each one is head and shoulders above the rest.
String Theory: This is billed as a supervillain's origin story. It's funny and cute, with a cartoonish style, with a nice blend of humour and drama (leaning heavily toward the humour side, admittedly). The first bits of the comic are in black-and-white, and colour elements are introduced in a thematically-appropriate manner as the story progresses. The writing is solid enough that I can even forgive the occasional spelling error.
Rice Boy: This is actually a trio of comics, two of which are finished, and all of which are easily among the best webcomics have to offer. The eponymous Rice Boy is the first story, with a very simplistic art style and a fantastically surreal setting; the story deals with themes of the nature of the divine, faith, and fate, and creator Evan Dahm's style really evolves throughout what turns out to be a truly epic story - one that strikes me as something like a cross between Bone and Alice in Wonderland.
Rice Boy is followed by a prequel of sorts, Order of Tales, which is a pen-and-ink romp involving bards, romance, evil overlords, and the importance of stories. It's not as good as Rice Boy, in my opinion, but it's still very, very good.
Lastly, Evan Dahm is currently working on Vattu. It's just gotten up and running - I'm unsure what the story's going to be about, or where it fits chronologically in his world setting, but even at first glance you can tell how far his art's come since the beginning days of Rice Boy.
Effort Comics: A frequently not-work-safe comic that's definitely not without its flaws. The scripting often comes across as awkwardly constructed, and the plotting moves at a snail's pace. As far as I've been able to tell after reading it for the better part of a year, the comic is about some twenty-something losers (mostly) who are trying to find out what they want in life, love, and everything else, set in a world where Toons are real. Kinda like, um... I dunno, Friends meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Anyway, despite its flaws, the art style is what's kept me reading; the creator, who goes by the name of Ovens, has a very refined style that's pretty much pitch-perfect for her subject material. It has an energy and vibrancy that's clearly apparent even when her characters are sitting around talking (as they are frequently wont to do.)
Magellan: This is one of the webcomics that got me wanting to start my own. I've been reading it for years, and it's one of the very few decent superhero webcomics on the internets today. Made by creator Stephen Crowley and based in Crowley's home country of Australia, the webcomic follows the exploits of, generally, the students and faculty of Magellan Academy, specifically focusing on one Kaycee Jones, currently Magellan's only non-powered student. There's lots of swearing and very rarely the comic will have a bit of nudity, so it's not-work-safe but it's all very appropriate to the story.
The art is a bit rough around the edges, particularly when he's trying to portray action. What really got me reading the comic, and kept me around, is the world-building Crowley engages in. He doesn't really bother with infodumps, but you can tell lots of thought went into creating his world setting and all the characters that populate it. And he's got lots and lots of characters, very few of whom ever strike me as throwaway - I think he puts a lot of thought into who these people are, even when they're just in the background for a few panels.
Sadly, it's been on hiatus for a few months now, though it's got a huge archive of already-completed chapters and is set to start up again before too long.
That's all for now. See you next time.
Princess Starra and SkyArrow.
Someday I'll be done these, I swear.
Someone once asked me what webcomics I thought were worth reading. To give me a break from yelling about Harper, I figure this would make a good topic - so over the next few blog entries, I'm going to be sharing the webcomics on my reading list, and giving mini-critiques explaining why I think each one is head and shoulders above the rest.
String Theory: This is billed as a supervillain's origin story. It's funny and cute, with a cartoonish style, with a nice blend of humour and drama (leaning heavily toward the humour side, admittedly). The first bits of the comic are in black-and-white, and colour elements are introduced in a thematically-appropriate manner as the story progresses. The writing is solid enough that I can even forgive the occasional spelling error.
Rice Boy: This is actually a trio of comics, two of which are finished, and all of which are easily among the best webcomics have to offer. The eponymous Rice Boy is the first story, with a very simplistic art style and a fantastically surreal setting; the story deals with themes of the nature of the divine, faith, and fate, and creator Evan Dahm's style really evolves throughout what turns out to be a truly epic story - one that strikes me as something like a cross between Bone and Alice in Wonderland.
Rice Boy is followed by a prequel of sorts, Order of Tales, which is a pen-and-ink romp involving bards, romance, evil overlords, and the importance of stories. It's not as good as Rice Boy, in my opinion, but it's still very, very good.
Lastly, Evan Dahm is currently working on Vattu. It's just gotten up and running - I'm unsure what the story's going to be about, or where it fits chronologically in his world setting, but even at first glance you can tell how far his art's come since the beginning days of Rice Boy.
Effort Comics: A frequently not-work-safe comic that's definitely not without its flaws. The scripting often comes across as awkwardly constructed, and the plotting moves at a snail's pace. As far as I've been able to tell after reading it for the better part of a year, the comic is about some twenty-something losers (mostly) who are trying to find out what they want in life, love, and everything else, set in a world where Toons are real. Kinda like, um... I dunno, Friends meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Anyway, despite its flaws, the art style is what's kept me reading; the creator, who goes by the name of Ovens, has a very refined style that's pretty much pitch-perfect for her subject material. It has an energy and vibrancy that's clearly apparent even when her characters are sitting around talking (as they are frequently wont to do.)
Magellan: This is one of the webcomics that got me wanting to start my own. I've been reading it for years, and it's one of the very few decent superhero webcomics on the internets today. Made by creator Stephen Crowley and based in Crowley's home country of Australia, the webcomic follows the exploits of, generally, the students and faculty of Magellan Academy, specifically focusing on one Kaycee Jones, currently Magellan's only non-powered student. There's lots of swearing and very rarely the comic will have a bit of nudity, so it's not-work-safe but it's all very appropriate to the story.
The art is a bit rough around the edges, particularly when he's trying to portray action. What really got me reading the comic, and kept me around, is the world-building Crowley engages in. He doesn't really bother with infodumps, but you can tell lots of thought went into creating his world setting and all the characters that populate it. And he's got lots and lots of characters, very few of whom ever strike me as throwaway - I think he puts a lot of thought into who these people are, even when they're just in the background for a few panels.
Sadly, it's been on hiatus for a few months now, though it's got a huge archive of already-completed chapters and is set to start up again before too long.
That's all for now. See you next time.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Comic Book News (also an Art link)
Most people who read this blog are probably not aware of the legal shenanigans that comic book mogul Todd McFarlane gets up to. Keeping up with comic book creator drama, in particular figuring out who's engaging in douchebaggery, is a hobby of mine... So, in order to truly appreciate what I'm about to share, you need a bit of context.
Mr. McFarlane was once a big name in the comics industry. Less so these days, but he was the most popular Spider-Man artist of his day, he helped found the No. 3 publisher Image, he created one of Image's flagship books Spawn (later turned into a terrible couple of movies and some moderately cool cartoons), and he used that to springboard a very successful toy company.
Well, back when his book Spawn was in its infancy, he wanted to really kick it off into high-gear around issue 7 or 8 (can't recall exactly which issue it started), and so recruited a number of top-tier writers to write several issues for him. These were all pretty famous names at the time (at least famous for the comics industry): Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Dave Sim, and Neil Gaiman. I might be forgetting someone, but it doesn't matter - the important name in that list is the last, for our purposes today.
Most of these stories were eminently forgettable, but then they all wrote single-issue stories so you couldn't expect a whole lot. Gaiman's was by far the most energetic of the set, though, and he created a number of interesting characters and setting elements for McFarlane. McFarlane should have been grateful, because really Spawn had little going for it up to that point besides his overrated art, and I suspect he acted grateful - but as soon as he got the opportunity, McFarlane violated the agreement he had with Gaiman which began a number of long legal battles.
You can read Gaiman's own thoughts on the matter here. There's a follow-up here. He also describes some of the legal shenanigans McFarlane got up to in an effort to twist copyright law to his own ends here.
Those links show that the courts sided with Gaiman in every single instance, granting him ownership of characters he created: Angela, Cagliostro, and Medieval Spawn. Believe it or not, this case established some important legal precedent from what I understand.
Thing is, apparently Todd didn't like this much, so he created a secondary Medieval Spawn character - basically a carbon-copy of the first, so he could continue to use the (different) character without paying Gaiman any royalties (never mind all the royalties he already owed him, but that's another matter.) Well, I guess a judge took issue with this because recently a ruling was handed down with an awesomely geeky statement to accompany it:
Judge knows her stuff. Here's Gaiman on the latest development.
Oh, and before I forget, here's my latest character design: Jade Fan. As always, comments are welcome.
Anyway, that's all for now.
Mr. McFarlane was once a big name in the comics industry. Less so these days, but he was the most popular Spider-Man artist of his day, he helped found the No. 3 publisher Image, he created one of Image's flagship books Spawn (later turned into a terrible couple of movies and some moderately cool cartoons), and he used that to springboard a very successful toy company.
Well, back when his book Spawn was in its infancy, he wanted to really kick it off into high-gear around issue 7 or 8 (can't recall exactly which issue it started), and so recruited a number of top-tier writers to write several issues for him. These were all pretty famous names at the time (at least famous for the comics industry): Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Dave Sim, and Neil Gaiman. I might be forgetting someone, but it doesn't matter - the important name in that list is the last, for our purposes today.
Most of these stories were eminently forgettable, but then they all wrote single-issue stories so you couldn't expect a whole lot. Gaiman's was by far the most energetic of the set, though, and he created a number of interesting characters and setting elements for McFarlane. McFarlane should have been grateful, because really Spawn had little going for it up to that point besides his overrated art, and I suspect he acted grateful - but as soon as he got the opportunity, McFarlane violated the agreement he had with Gaiman which began a number of long legal battles.
You can read Gaiman's own thoughts on the matter here. There's a follow-up here. He also describes some of the legal shenanigans McFarlane got up to in an effort to twist copyright law to his own ends here.
Those links show that the courts sided with Gaiman in every single instance, granting him ownership of characters he created: Angela, Cagliostro, and Medieval Spawn. Believe it or not, this case established some important legal precedent from what I understand.
Thing is, apparently Todd didn't like this much, so he created a secondary Medieval Spawn character - basically a carbon-copy of the first, so he could continue to use the (different) character without paying Gaiman any royalties (never mind all the royalties he already owed him, but that's another matter.) Well, I guess a judge took issue with this because recently a ruling was handed down with an awesomely geeky statement to accompany it:
"The two characters are similar enough to suggest that either Dark Ages [McFarlane] Spawn is derivative of Medieval (Gaiman) Spawn or it is the same character to which plaintiff owns the copyright.
"Much as defendant [McFarlane] tries to distinguish the two knight Hellspawn, he never explains why, of all the universe of possible Hellspawn incarnations, he introduced two knights from the same century," Crabb writes. "Not only does this break the Hellspawn 'rule' that Malebolgia never returns a Hellspawns [sic] to Earth more than once every 400 years (or possibly every 100 years, as suggested in Spawn, No. 9, exh. #1, at 4), it suggests that what defendant really wanted to do was exploit the possibilities of the knight introduced in issue no. 9. (This possibility is supported by the odd timing of defendant’s letter to plaintiff on February 14, 1999, just before publication of the first issue of Spawn The Dark Ages, to the effect that defendant was rescinding their previous agreements and retaining all rights to Medieval (Gaiman) Spawn.)
"If defendant really wanted to differentiate the new Hellspawn, why not make him a Portuguese explorer in the 16th century; an officer of the Royal Navy in the 18th century, an idealistic recruit of Simon Bolivar in the 19th century, a companion of Odysseus on his voyages, a Roman gladiator, a younger brother of Emperor Nakamikado in the early 18th century, a Spanish conquistador, an aristocrat in the Qing dynasty, an American Indian warrior or a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I? It seems far more than coincidence that Dark Ages (McFarlane) Spawn is a knight from the same century as Medieval (Gaiman) Spawn."
Judge knows her stuff. Here's Gaiman on the latest development.
Oh, and before I forget, here's my latest character design: Jade Fan. As always, comments are welcome.
Anyway, that's all for now.
Friday, July 30, 2010
One More Before the Weekend
Hot off my tablet:
Kid Viking.
I'm getting so sick of doing these character designs... But I want to do this comic right, and that means having clean reference images. Le sigh.
It also means having scripts, which I haven't touched in some time... But that's a whole other problem, and a less immediate one since when I stopped writing I still had seven or eight (can't recall) completed issues, so I'll be good for a while.
Anyway, going to a family reunion on the weekend, I'll likely be back sometime Saturday Night or Sunday afternoon.
Kid Viking.
I'm getting so sick of doing these character designs... But I want to do this comic right, and that means having clean reference images. Le sigh.
It also means having scripts, which I haven't touched in some time... But that's a whole other problem, and a less immediate one since when I stopped writing I still had seven or eight (can't recall) completed issues, so I'll be good for a while.
Anyway, going to a family reunion on the weekend, I'll likely be back sometime Saturday Night or Sunday afternoon.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Drawings &c Minus the &c
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Hawkes Goon Squad
With these three drawings, I've completed designs for all of Richard Hawkes' inner circle:
Mr. Jones
Ms. Widow
Mr. Black
Add Mr. Singe and Mr. Frost, and you've got all of Hawkes' regulars. I've got vague concepts for a few others (a psychic named Mr. Book, the slasher villain Mr. Nice, and a cyborg called Mr. Gears), but to be honest I don't know if they'll ever see the light of day so I'm not worried too much about finishing their designs anytime soon.
Mr. Jones
Ms. Widow
Mr. Black
Add Mr. Singe and Mr. Frost, and you've got all of Hawkes' regulars. I've got vague concepts for a few others (a psychic named Mr. Book, the slasher villain Mr. Nice, and a cyborg called Mr. Gears), but to be honest I don't know if they'll ever see the light of day so I'm not worried too much about finishing their designs anytime soon.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
I love my Cintiq
My Cintiq has arrived. I'm still getting used to it, but I've already done a drawing.
It's a Devil Girl!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Devil Girl is a minor character who appears briefly somewhere around issue 10 or 11 of the webcomic I want to make. However, I find I like drawing her, so I may change that at some point.
I screwed up the colours - they looked very different in Photoshop than they did when I exported them into a jpeg. Much brighter here. Still, it's a learning process, and overall I'm still quite pleased. Having a cintiq really makes things a lot easier.
I've got four and a half more character designs to do still before I'll be ready to start on the first webcomic story arc (which lasts about three "issues").
EDIT: I played around with the colour settings a bit, I've got it a bit better now.
It's a Devil Girl!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Devil Girl is a minor character who appears briefly somewhere around issue 10 or 11 of the webcomic I want to make. However, I find I like drawing her, so I may change that at some point.
I screwed up the colours - they looked very different in Photoshop than they did when I exported them into a jpeg. Much brighter here. Still, it's a learning process, and overall I'm still quite pleased. Having a cintiq really makes things a lot easier.
I've got four and a half more character designs to do still before I'll be ready to start on the first webcomic story arc (which lasts about three "issues").
EDIT: I played around with the colour settings a bit, I've got it a bit better now.
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