Reflections that exist between objects on infinite planes of existence (and other nonsense).
May 01, 2005
Review: Schism
One of the advantages in digital comics is the ability to supplant traditional sequential storytelling with interactive features like Flash and link tunneling. Unfortunately, the use of multimedia in digicomics is only in it's infancy - mainly through the lack of a knowledge base. Because of this it becomes especially important to gain insight from those who are already involved in the cutting edge to see what lessons can be learned.
Which is where Leigh Bader's
Schism comes in. Scattered amongst its superbly coloured strips are a number of animated Flash featurettes, some requiring interaction on the part of the reader to progress the story. And although the animation in some is reminiscent of old computer game animation styles with its low frame rates, the resurfaced memories this causes adds to the cyber-punk feel of the comic. Speaking as a person with a fast internet connection, these featurettes do fit seemlessly into the storyline but would likely just serve to frustrate those connecting through dialup. This would especially be the case for the one or two mainly text based featurettes that could've just as easily been done in the regular way.
The writing in
Schism is generally strong, though there is a slight tendency towards awkwardness and unrealism, particularly for
conflict situations, and the lead-in material to Shikai and Jiko's relationship feels out of character for Shikai and tacked on and could probably have benefitted from a little more subtlety in the writing. There are also
two pages of mainly text that fill in some backstory which could be more effectively be told as actual content or stripped out altogether to form link-tunnel accessed or supplemental material. Additionally the use of the Mysteriously-Sick-Girl-Who-Is-The-Key cliche is a little frustrating as is the slight lack of focus manifested in the force behind the central narrative shifting between Shikai and Jiko, despite Jiko presumably being the central character.
The development and experimentation of the artwork through the story is quite good (my favourite piece being
Kitoku here), though at a small cost to some text-legibility in later chapters.There are some minor areas that could be worked on, such as the physical
action sequence in the abandoned building that is just confusing, at times poor sequence ordering and Leigh's rather odd way of overemphasising
shoulder blades. The colouring, as mentioned, is superb and the use of solid white streaks for glossy hair is refreshing in it's relative novelty, as is the general style of the art.
Even if you disagree with it's content, Schism should be read by those with a serious interest in experimenting with digital media or just those who enjoy a good story being told by great art.
Positives: Near perfect website design, great colouring and art, complimentary use of multimedia.
Negatives: Limited legibility and sequencing issues, writing a little forced and unnatural.
Rating: Read it.
April 24, 2005
Some Housekeeping
Coming soon to BtLG, reviews of
Schism,
Sluggy Freelance and
Fragile Gravity, some thoughts on the recent semi-breakdown of
Faye in
Questionable Content and my first post on Webcomic Theory.
And depending on other events, a post on how you too can be part of the magic.
Spinning the Universe
It's been just under a week since the return of the Tinkles to Jeff Rowland's
Magical Adventures in Space (MAIS), now renamed back to
Wigu. In the time since we last saw the Tinkles, we've seen
Sheriff Pony and
Topato take on a man-machine hybrid, space terrors, intoxicoholism and an unwanted girlfriend.
Some recent history, following the hiatus that marked the end of
Wigu, Jeff wrote a three week
WIGU-TV series, featuring a completely new cast - although I believe a character resembling
Goth Daschund was used briefly in
Wigu - and two new stories. The stories worked well, particularly
American Platypus, although
Science Cop was a little derivative.
With a little sadness at the loss of the Tinkles, a new age of television parodies had begun.
Or so it seemed.
WIGU-TV was only filler for the real new series,
MAIS. The people rejoiced, back were our beloved
Sheriff Pony and
Topato. But something just didn't feel right.
Don't jump to the wrong conclusion here,
MAIS is strong series with the traditional Rowland humour, and a worthy sucessor to
Wigu. There have been some bumps along the way,
Annaba Banana in particular is an unlovable character. But there have also been some classic moments,
Nos Woggleby shooting Topato,
Princess Dongle's Royal Blog,
Sheriff Pony's charmingly
childlike flirting and the mystery of what occupies
Topato's mattress among them. And yet...
The Tinkles.
There are no Tinkles. For years
Topato and
Sheriff Pony were inextricably linked with the adventures of
Wigu and his family. They've never had a chance before to exist on their own, and in fact, they weren't developed to exist independently. This may seem a rather strange comment, but
Sheriff and
Topato existed within the
Wigu universe, not the other way around. And after all those years of them belonging with the Tinkles, to suddenly thrust them into their own seperate world feels wrong. Like a spin-off series from the popular original.
If I'm right about this, there will be ways to tell. Newcomers to
MAIS won't notice the off-putting feeling a regular reader will experience, because for them
Sheriff and
Topato will have begun in their own world instead of being torn from another. This is why
WIGU-TV, with its new cast and new stories worked, and why
MAIS needs the Tinkles to shake that subconscious wrongness that plagues those who cut their teeth on the original
Wigu. Which is just one of the reasons why I'm glad that they've returned.
April 22, 2005
Review: Mom's Cancer
Your father's scream wakes you up. While you lay, panic rising, you hear your mother calling out his name, over and over. Nothing. You freeze, terrified, and from your room you too start calling out his name.
After the ambulance, after the trip to the hospital, the nurse on duty tells your shaken family he had a seizure. It's probably nothing, she says.
Brian Fies'
Mom's Cancer is the 2005 Eisner Award winner for Best Digital Comic, and tells the tale of his family's reaction to the discovery of his mother's cancer. From the very first page, Brian Fies explores all of the issues of life with cancer, in an understated and often humourous way that will resonates strongly with cancer-knowers.
The admitted primary theme of the comic is hope, but this theme is played off against a darker undercurrent of the cold horror and sense of dread that helplessness brings. The intelligent older brother can do nothing but seethe at those possesssed by the demon-stick as his desperate self-education proves no more help than that already provided. The younger sister alone in a silent house, silent but for the sounds of her dying mother. Hope losing to the harsh realities of cells that don't know how to die.
The artwork is reasonable and at times imaginative, portraying the younger sister as invisible was a nice touch. Given that it's the narrative that drives this webcomic, the art is good enough to push the story forward at a nice pace without needing to worry too much about looking like the Sistine Chapel. The writing itself is subtle, betraying the thoughts and emotions of its narrator in an way that endears itself to the reader. Those who have lived under the spectre will see in the characters echoes of themselves. The use of anecdotes to underscore moments of insight and poignance is also particularly well-done, though the grandfather story is slightly contorted to fit it's final conclusion.
So in short,
Mom's Cancer deserves it's accolade. And at a short 33 pages, you should spend ten minutes and go check it out while it's still online.
Positives: Powerfully written, accurate, terrifying.
Negatives: Average artwork.
Rating:
Read it Now.
April 20, 2005
Review: Alpha Shade
The speed of a narrative is entirely dependent on the illusion of time you create in a reader's mind, and a truly great storyteller will always be able to create an illusion that perfectly matches the events of their story. Illusion Time will always flow, but in the hands of the skillful it can be made to speed up, or alternatively, slow down.
In the hands of a master, it can be brought to a painful halt.
With this in mind, we look at the first chapter of Christopher and Joseph Brudlos'
Alpha Shade. Readers would do well to heed a warning and view the low-bandwidth version of the site, as even on broadband I found the high-bandwidth version hard on my patience.
The first thing that you notice about
Alpha Shade, apart from the phenomenally good artwork, are the eyes of female lead
Laura Stone. Surrounded as they are by her cherubic, minimalist features, her eyes stand out in strange contrast. Even on the second page, when she forms a half-smile, they remain cold and starkly seperate, and are mirrored in every other character. Not quite dead, not quite angry. They are an odd affair, and for me at least, made each character strangely real, especially when they were being made to appear superior and contemptuous.
Perhaps they are the first testament to the artistic skill of Joseph, the strip's artist. The first of many, I should add, for his talents are obvious, though some characters tend towards having proportions more suited for children (see page 11, final panel) or cliched japanese school girls (page 20, final panel) and everyone seems to be from a planet inhabited by the terminally beautiful and young. There is also a curiously intriguing mix of World War I and II elements with fantasy and futurism, that somehow blends togther quite well. Apart from these minor nitpicks on substance, the quality of the style of artwork in
Alpha Shade is exceptional.
And so, in general, is the writing of Christopher. I have problems, and I will always have problems with the need to introduce the setting of a story in the first few pages. Creating a mythos is fine, but the need to dedicate visual space to text alone is usually a sign of desperation on the part of a writer. Backstories and characters should be established by their actions, their conversations, not by a slab of text forcing their personalities and motives upon us.
And if there is a weakness in
Alpha Shade, it is with it's need to do just this, especially in the opening few pages. Starting from the initial introduction on page one, we see numerous examples, page 7 with the thought about the airforce, page 10's remarks on the bombardment and ammunition supplies, and page 20's remarks on
Sky's training to name a few of the more glaring examples.
Once the story reaches full swing around page 21-26, however, the writing sharpens up considerably – presumbly because there are finally current events that can be used as a basis for conversation and also because it wouldn't make much sense for people to be sharing their backgrounds while their lives are in danger.
And full swing it is, the action sequences are fast, chaotic and take their toll as our persepective switches between various points of view. The reader is swept up in the quick and chaotic confusion, as characters we are only just opening our mind to get to know are bluntly and brutally slain. This sense of chaos is prolonged through the arrival of the flyers, the sabotage of the anti-aircraft batteries, the betrayal (though why the attack was necessary if they had a saboteur in the camp and their only objective was to kill
Laura is anyone's guess), only to be slowed by the downed flyer pilot (pages 67/68), presumably to help establish her character. It would surprise no-one if she were to escape death and feature in future chapters.
The pace is picked back up soon, though it isn't helped by the creation of confusion in the mind of the reader by the troops near the railway (page 70 and 72). In a visual medium, the fourth wall is broken when you confuse the watcher, as they recoil and try to make sense of what they are seeing, interrupting the flow of the narrative. Nevertheless, the return of a sense of speed and chaos are returned and sustained, as
Laura's forces scramble to protect their leader from a flyer bent solely on her death.
And with the arrival of the climax - will she survive, will she die - what can a storyteller do but shift our focus elsewhere? Annoying, yes, cliched, yes, but with such a time-tested technique, it will almost certainly work.
But we will have to wait and see. And you should, too. For all it's minor flaws,
Alpha Shade will, with practise and especially tighter writing, particularly on filling backstory and realism, become a must-read.
Positives: Exceptional artwork, good writing, interesting setting and a plot with potential.
Negatives: Tendency to force characters and backstory, sometimes at inopportune moments, artwork tends towards objectification, annoying website design.
Rating: Definitely keep an eye on.
Updated to correct my own stupidity.
April 19, 2005
On Archetypes and Interaction
A short addendum to the
previous article on
Goats.
I note with interest that the first two characters we see
Fineas' voluntarily choose for companionship are
Toothgnip and
Oliver, the same two previously suggested as the archetypes mixed together to create the
Fineas persona. It is no suprise that this should be so, for who else is there in
Goats to appease the worldly and psychotic aspects of
Fineas? Making a prediction; unless there is a dramatic shift in the now set
Fineas persona, there will be little interaction between him and
Jon and
Philip beyond (probably violent) superficialities.
A friend of mine has also pointed out that I failed to also note the similarity of
Fish to
Kiki from
Sluggy Freelance, to which I can only admit error in overlooking the obvious.
I will be writing a brief review of the first chapter of
Alpha Shade soon, as well as a note on the shift in Jeff Rowland's
Magical Adventures in Space back towards
Wigu orientated material. This short post has also given me an idea for further exploration of interactions between similar archetypes in webcomics.
Update: Jon Rosenberg has helpfully drawn my attention to something I should have clarified further in this post. While I say
"the now set Fineas," I certainly didn't intend to proclaim that Fineas cannot undergo any futher gradual evolution in his personality, only that the great change from Fish to "other" has been made.
April 08, 2005
On the Evolution of Fish and Goats
Anyone with a passing familiarity with Jon Rosenberg's webcomic
Goats should by now know that the strip's adorably naive and innocent character
Fish has been utterly transformed. The sweet beer-mug occupant of the past is gone, replaced by the precise and violent
Fineas through a process of
amoral mental manipulation.
But this isn't by itself all that remarkable.
Goats is a webcomic based solely on the surrealist and absurdist humour caused by its brainless protagonists
Jon and
Philip, featuring everything from a rabid sex dwarf to Jesus Brand Penis Butter Cups - proof, by the way, of the stupidity of pushing a webcomic artist and not expecting them to push back. And since the transformation, the new
Fineas quickly found a place with the usual characters, single handedly causing a
Moustache Duel, changing the
laws of physics and providing a segue into the current storyline
Good Hitler vs. Space Hitler.
But there was a brief time, only a few days, when all of this could've been different. Much different.
Amateur dramatics aside, for three days (
1,
2,
3)
Goats could've pulled off transforming the darling
Fish into a type of character rarely, if ever, seen in light webcomics.
Fineas could've become the perfect complement to
Goats.
In those three strips we see a character wholly devoid of the irrational silliness - barring the taco packets remark - that is the staple of the genre. Instead we see the cold, melancholy and humourless
Fineas, who can't stand the nonsense of those surrounding him and points out the harsh truths behind their glib, unthinking reflex-reactions to one inane situation after another. For that ever-so-short three days, Jon Rosenburg created a character that could've resulted in the growth, the evolution of his comic from a standard light comic to something that managed to retain its madcap antics while simultaneously exposing the dark side of the genre, a killer one-two punch.
But the chance was missed.
Fineas went on to settle into a character mould reminiscent of the genre, perhaps as a mix between the straight-man
Toothgnip and the unpredictably violent psychosis of
Oliver. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, Jon does do his work very well, but it's work that can also be done reasonably well by others, such as is seen in
Filthy Lies (note especially
Beefcake's resemblance to the old
Fish, and also
Questionable Content's Pintsize). By following the well worn path, Jon has missed an opportunity to move his creation to something more than it currently is, something that connects with people on a higher level. And there are only so many combinations of standard character-types one can use before things get repetitive.
But as
Fineas himself notes, we can only go forward, and what might have been is gone.
