Kimberlysusanrhodes's Weblog

Webcomic review: Diesel Sweeties by Richard Stevens

Kimberly Rhodes — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:16:14 +0000

Diesel Sweeties is, as artist Richard Stevens describes it, an “indie rock robot romance comic” and that pretty much sums it up. The comic is in the style of a Sunday morning comic strip, with mostly humor and very little continuous plot. The cast of characters include both humans (mostly parodies of archetypes of real-life humans) and robots. The story is about how these humans and robots interact and their lives and romances. Most of the characters are likable, though not particularly easy to relate to. This comic is good if you’re looking for a light read.

It’s difficult to review the art for this comic, because it is purposely lo-fi. One of Stevens’ other descriptions for Diesel Sweeties is “pixelated robot romance.” The characters appear as they would on a hand held video game, blown up and put in full color. The art style fits the theme of the comic.

The website is neither difficult to navigate, nor clever. It has its own online store, character profiles, an about page, extra art, a news blog, and icons for LiveJournal and computers. One bothersome thing about it is that you have to go to the “info, contact and links” tab in order to get to everything except for the store.

This comic is updated every Monday through Friday. It is aimed at adults. Readers should be warned of sexual content and blood.

Rating: A-

Webcomic review: Scary Go Round by John Allison

Kimberly Rhodes — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:13:36 +0000

John Allison’s Scary Go Round has gone through six years of evolution, but the current story is a mix between a mystery series and a comedy. Although there are no outright jokes, Allison has a subtle sense of humor that makes his comic entertaining, even if not roll-on-the-floor funny. It takes place in fictional town of Tackleford, England (though many of the characters end up traveling all over the world), where the large and widely varied cast find themselves in the midst of several strange and supernatural events. The comic deals with themes you’d find in a horror movie, but it neither parodies them or allows them to make the comic too dark. All in all, it is an entertaining, light read and not as dark as Vampirates.

The art has changed drastically from the beginning of the comic. The first chapters of the comic had a flat, almost paper cutout appearance, but since Allison made the transition to Adobe Illustrator, it has become much more lively and cartoonlike. Each page is in full color.

The website that it is hosted on is fairly straightfoward and simple. It is light on the extra features; the main focus is definitely the comic itself. The main features include a merchandise store, a character profile page, a Q and A from Allison, and links to comics that Alllison has drawn guest pages for, and Allison’s blog.

The comic updates every Monday and Friday. It is enjoyable by all audiences. Readers should be warned of supernatural themes.

Rating: A

Webcomic review: Grim Tales from Down Below by Bleedman

Kimberly Rhodes — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:41:56 +0000

Today’s webcomic is slightly different than the previous webcomics I’ve reviewed. It is a doujinshi, an unofficial fan-comic of another series. This webcomic’s name is Grim Tales From Down Below and the series that it is based on is The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, though characters from other cartoons make cameo appearances. It takes place in a future when Mandy and the Grim Reaper have married and stars their two children, Grim “Junior” Reaper, Jr. and Minimandy “Minnie” Reaper. The first chapter features the two sneaking into a forbidden part of Hell where they run into an unfriendly demon. The next several chapters are in the form of a flashback where Junior remembers how Minnie changed from a beautiful young girl into a corpse sewn together and reanimated. The plot itself is fairly dark, with themes centered around death, demons and other such things, though the characters are fairly cartoonish – over-the-top and entertaining. The complexity of the characters is hard to judge at this point because not much of the story has been explained.

Each page is in full color. The style is a mix between anime and classic American cartoons. I find no complaint with it, though the dialogue has become less crowded and more readable since the beginning of the comic.

The website that Grim Tales is hosted on is also slightly different than the ones I’ve reviewed before. Grim Tales is one of several comics hosted on the same website (the others are accessible through thumbnails at the top of the page) and all of the links to the comics’ special features lead to the same webpages. The only exception is the cast page, which only shows the cast of the Grim Tales comic and what series each character originally appeared in.

The comic is updated on Sundays. It is hard to judge the target audience for this comic. Readers should be warned of supernatural and Satanic themes, death, heavy violence and blood (though oddly, there is no swearing).

Rating: B

Webcomic review: The Awakened by Sarah “Sadcat” Davis

Kimberly Rhodes — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:43:19 +0000

In The Awakened, Chase Sigismund, a troubled high schooler, finds himself in the middle of strange events – but only he seems to be able to perceive them. During a walk in the forest, he is attacked by several supernatural creatures, only to be rescued by three talking wolves and told that he is not like other humans – he is a fighter for good in the Eternal War, a war over the lives of ordinary humans that is destined to last until the end of time. Though the plot is a little confusing at first, it is purposely so – Chase is confused, so we are, too. The characters are a little over-the-top at times, but this does not detract from the enjoyment of the story.

Each page is in full, vivid color and the backgrounds are extremely detailed. As of the writing of this blog, the author is offering to put readers’ characters in the comic as background extras. Though there are a few problems with the art in the beginning, these problems seemed to have been smoothed out.

The website hosting the comic is well laid-out and straightfoward. It includes guest art, forums, profiles for the main characters, a store, and off-site links to its own wiki and the artists’ various blogs and art archives.

The comic updates irregularly. It is enjoyable for most audiences in high school or older, though readers should be warned of swearing, violence, mild sexual scenes and blood.

Rating: B+

Webcomic reviews: Okashina Okashi: Strange Candy by Xuanwu, Kourin, Tanzy, and Emi-chan

Kimberly Rhodes — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:10:22 +0000

Okashina Okashi is another comedic webcomic, but this time with a coherent plot. It all starts when five young woman and one young man get transported to an alternate universe by a geek trying to summon his own harem. These six people, none too happy about being plucked from their homes, search for the writers of the book said geek used and end up being transported through several different worlds on their search for a way back to our Earth. This webcomic parodies several different genres of anime, manga and video games. The characters are purposefully over-the-top and stereotypical. Many of the references would probably be lost on those who aren’t familiar with at least one of the parodied subjects above, but for those who are involved in the anime, manga or video game scene, this is a highly enjoyable read.

The art does not show a vast improvement from the beginning, but it does change from fully black and white to fully color, which is nice. The drawing is a little rough, but not rough enough to detract from the enjoyment of the comic. This comic works in arcs rather than chapters, so there are no proper “title pages,” but there are intermissions with guest artworks and extras by the artist.

The website is fairly straightforward, but it doesn’t spoil us with features like many other webcomics do. It has a profile page for the main characters, a page for guest art, a store, some links, and a forum.

This comic updates every Thursday. It is aimed at fans of manga, anime and video games. Readers should be warned of numerous sexual references, especially during the “Amazon Land” arc and the “Pr0n Land” arc.

Rating: B+

Webcomic review: Earthsong by Crystal “Lady” Yates

Kimberly Rhodes — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:13:52 +0000

Earthsong stars Willow, a mysterious purple-skinned young woman who wakes up on the planet Earthsong with no recollection of who she is or where she came from. Soon, she finds herself in the middle of the war between Haven’s guard, fighters Earthsong’s sentient spirit and the Mandragoras, fighters for Beluosus, the spirit of another planet. Most of the characters are based on mythological races such as elves, harpies and vampires and they all come from different planets. The comic’s strength is the richness of the setting and interesting but easy-to-follow plot, though the characters come across as being slightly flat. Nonetheless, Earthsong is a good read when you want to be entertained.

The art is very well-drawn, somewhat in the anime style, and each page is in full, rich color. The comic is being redrawn from the original, so the artist has already gained much experience and settled on her style before the current version of the comics began. Unlike Drowtales, however, all of the old versions of the chapters have been taken down, so navigation is not difficult.

The website itself is fairly straightforward, with links at the top for archives, character profiles, information about the story and the author, and more. The font chosen for some of the section titles is a little hard to read, but appropriate for the comic and the characters.

The comic is updated not updated on a regular schedule. It is aimed at girls. There is very little offensive in this comic besides some light swearing and some blood.

Rating: B

Webcomic review: Sinfest by Tatsuya Ishida

Kimberly Rhodes — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:34:42 +0000

Sinfest, unlike the previous comics I have reviewed, is not an ongoing story, but a series of comic strips like what you’d find in the comics section of a newspaper. The subject matter of most of these strips involve religion, politics, and general observations about life. Despite two of these being hot-button topics, the comic deals with them in a non-preachy, lighthearted way without trivializing the issues. The cast includes a wide variety of characters, each representing an archetype. Monique is the modern girl, Slick is the self-proclaimed “pimp” who never seems to get lucky, and Squigley is an anthropomorphic pig representing self-indulgence. Other characters include religious figures, Ishida’s cat and dog, and others.

Ishida was once a penciller for Dark Horse Comics, so it isn’t surprising that his artwork was professional-looking from the get-go. Nonetheless, it has evolved from the beginning of the series. This may be the result of Ishida becoming more comfortable with the character’s designs. Every Sunday features a colored page. The use of color is like what you’d find in a typical Sunday newspaper – not terribly vibrant, but a nice break from the norm.

The website’s features are nice, but nothing out of the norm, but that’s okay, because the website that a comic is hosted on is not an integral part of the quality of the comic. It features a merchendise store, a forum, and the sparsely-updated blog of the artist.

The comic is updated daily. It is enjoyable for all audiences. The only thing I could find that could be offensive in this comic is mild sexual references.

Rating: B+

Webcomic Review: Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell

Kimberly Rhodes — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:33:49 +0000

Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell takes place in the United Kingdom, where Siddell grew up. The central character, Antimony Carver, is in her seventh year of school, which is the equivalent of the sixth grade in the United States. Upon transferring to Gunnerkrigg Court, a boarding school that resembles a factory more than it resembles a school, Antimony makes friends with several other characters – some natural, some supernatural. The audience quickly learns that although the school is heavily focused on the sciences, there are many supernatural elements to the school, such as the spirits and mythology-based creatures that inhabit it and the alchemy symbols that can be found throughout the school. Over all, this comic has a fairly light-hearted, mystery feel to it.

The artwork has evolved over time, though it hasn’t so much improved as it has changed. It started out angular and cartoony, but the more recent pages have gained a slightly more realistic quality to them, though there are still several details in the backgrounds that are fun to pick out. The style and quality of the title pages are pretty much the same as the story pages.

The website isn’t terribly heavy in extra features. It has all the standard features of a webcomic website – profiles on the cast members, extra art, and a forum. The navigation is straightforward, with the links to all of the features on the main page. Unfortunately, access to page comments and most of the features are only accessible on the main page, but the main page is fortunately accessible from each page.

The comic updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It seems to be aimed at children and young teens, but it is enjoyable for all audiences. Other than references to non-Christian religions, very mild violence and one tiny swearword that’s been cleverly censored, there’s really nothing in this comic that could offend anyone.

Rating: A

Webcomic review: Drowtales by Yan “Kern” Gange

Kimberly Rhodes — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:07:57 +0000

In another world and another time, drow, descendants of dark elves, live and thrive in a vast, complex system of caverns underground. The drow are a warlike, matriarchal society where the family one was born into determines one’s fate and compassion can lead to death. This is the world of the drow girl Ariel val’Sarghress, the main protagonist of Drowtales. This comic is much darker than the previous two comics I reviewed, though it isn’t without its comic relief moments. Though the culture of the drow is very different from our own, the characters have real emotions, fears and desires and are relatively easy to empathize with. Kern Yates, the creator of the comic, has woven a complex, rich world in such detail that the website has its own online encyclopedia, which is accessible from the website.

Currently, the comic is being redrawn to include better art and a better story. These new pages show such a vast improvement over the originals, they hardly seem like the same comic. While the first chapter is a little roughly drawn, since it was not changed from the original story and was thus not redone, the rest of the chapters are nothing short of stunning. Each page is in full, rich color and the amount of detail is nothing short of incredible.

The website can be a little confusing to navigate for new readers. The main story, Moonless Age, isn’t being updated in chronological order, so the most recently updated page is usually somewhere in the middle of the story. Furthermore, in between each chapter, there are guest pages and extras that have little to do with the main story. Other than that, the website is loaded with extra features, including a blog with extra concept arts, side stories, a podcast, and yearly animations. For a small monthly fee, you can also participate in an interactive, unofficial story called Daydream where the readers determine the direction of the story.

The main comic updates every day from Monday to Friday. It is hard to determine the targeted audience for this comic, but with language and excessive violence, it would be best for young children to avoid it. Daydream is updated Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is aimed at audiences 18 or over. Subscribers to Daydream should be warned of some language, some violence, and sexual scenes of varying degrees of intensity depending on the story and the direction of the votes.

Rating: A

Webcomic review: Vampirates by Jones in Space

Kimberly Rhodes — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:46:39 +0000

In Canada, in the near future, there is a blood-transmitted virus that causes people to become vampires. Vampires still have rights, but society views them as second-class citizens. Currently, the debate rages over whether drugs that suppress vampires’ craving for blood is beneficial or harmful to the vampires that take it. This is the setting for Vampirates by Jones in Space, a webcomic about, as the title suggests, a modern pirate crew made up entirely of vampires. This comic achieves a good balance of whimsical humor and an engaging plot. The plot isn’t as dark as you would expect from a comic about vampires, but there are still some more serious themes along with a good measure of suspense, mystery, and good old-fashioned conspiracy theories. The characters are interesting, varied and easy for the audience to empathize with. As a bonus feature, they’re also good eye candy for all the ladies out there.

The art and overall comic shows a vast improvement over the course of the comic. The art at the beginning was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. At this point in the comic, one could easily see Jones getting a job as a professional artist. The quality of the title pages stays fairly consistent throughout the series. It’s clear that Jones puts a lot of effort into the title pages with simple but elegant art of the series’ characters.

One bothersome thing about the webpage is that one can’t access all of the features from the “latest page” page. The only way to get back to the main page is to delete part of the URL or hit your browser’s “back” button. Other than that, the features on the main page are good, though not spectacular. One cool feature that the webpage has that most other webcomics don’t is a tutorial for making your own webcomic using various image editing programs. Jones herself is fairly easy to get in contact with through e-mail, the Vampirates messageboard or the Vampires LiveJournal community.

The webcomic updates every Thursday and Sunday with guest comics every other day until the end of February. The comic is mainly aimed at older teens and young adults. Readers should be warned of violence, swearing, homosexuality and sexual content.

Rating: A-