Tag Archives: webcomic

Webcomic Wednesday – Bearmageddon

19 Oct

I discovered Bearmageddon when I was reading Axe-Cop, and even though it just started in August, I still thought it was worth sharing. Bearmageddon is written and drawn by Ethan Nicolle, the same guy who draws Axe-Cop, and the similarities between the two comics are apparent right from the start.  There are even some subtle references to Axe-Cop for fans of the series, so keep an eye out. All that said, this is by no means a little “side project;” this is a very well-done comic that would easily stand on its own without the connection to Axe-Cop.

I’m sure you’ll be able to guess the gist of the story from the title; in a nutshell, the impending world domination by grizzly bears led by a group of super-bears. What isn’t as easy to guess from the title is the excellent characterization Ethan accomplishes, as well as the clever and subtle ways he weaves in a tension between nature and society, which is shaping up to be a major theme for the comic. A story about pissed-off, super-intelligent bears would be cool, but since it’s a lot easier to relate to humans, making it a story about humans dealing with pissed-off, super-intelligent bears was probably the right choice. So we’re introduced to Joel Morely, a 22 year-old working a lousy job at Wow Mart and living at home with his younger brother and overbearing father. Joel’s friends are all just as unmotivated as he is, and this leads to a pretty ingenious plot point that I won’t say anything else about (he’s only on page 22). Ethan manages to perfectly capture the slump that so many young adults find themselves in, just getting by day-to-day and unable to make the leap from adolescence to adulthood. The characters sound and act like young twenty-somethings, and I have a feeling most people can relate to them in some way.

Ethan has said that Bearmageddon is a graphic novel, and as such will not go on indefinitely. This definitely shows in the very focused, foreshadowing-heavy storytelling he uses, and it’s a nice change of pace for an online comic. Also, one more little thing that really impressed me: under the “Characters” tab on the site, in addition to the main characters, Ethan has given extensive descriptions for characters that (so far) have appeared only once and are never referred to by name in the story. He was probably just doing it as a gag, but even so it’s great to see that he recognizes that these characters, however minor, have their own stories, and by giving them their stories the comic as a whole benefits.

Anyway, I don’t want to say too much more since it’s so short at the moment, but it’s also a good reason for you to go read it. You can get caught up in about 20 minutes, and then when this becomes a hit you can brag to all your friends that you’ve been reading it since (almost) the beginning.

Happy reading,

-Nate

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Webcomic Wednesday – MS Paint Adventures

12 Oct

In my review of Dresden Codak, I talked about how that comic is taking advantage of some of the unique properties of the Internet as a medium, namely the unlimited canvas of webpages. Another comic that takes this one step further is MS Paint Adventures, one of the most original comics I’ve seen.

The basic concept of MS Paint Adventures is that the various comics on the site essentially mimic the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books and old text-based video games. Originally, readers would give suggestions for what the character in the story should do next by means of a forum, and the comic’s creator, Andrew, would then choose the first suggestion given to advance the story. The first two comics, “Jailbreak” and “Bard Quest” both followed this format, and also had branching story paths. However, Andrew considers them “failed experiments,” and they both remain unfinished.

For the first major story on the site, “Problem Sleuth,” he did away with the branching storylines and the forum-based suggestion method, and switched to a suggestion box, giving him a list of suggestions he could choose from. After finishing “Problem Sleuth,” which is several thousand pages, he started “Homestuck,” which is currently running, is very long, and also incorporates flash animation, interactive pages, and music. The site’s fanbase is so huge now that Andrew admits it’s hard to still call it “reader-driven,” as there are so many suggestions coming in at any given time.

So now to the actual content. As the title would tell you, all of the pages (excluding the flash effects) are created in MS Paint, so naturally they don’t look too great. The characters in “Problem Sleuth” are stick figures, and many of the objects are pretty crudely drawn. There are occasionally very well-drawn props though, and the contrast in detail when these things show up (I’m being intentionally vague) provides a good bit of humor. Nevertheless, the simplified art style allows for much faster updates, sometimes even multiple updates in one day.

First page of "Problem Sleuth." Copyright MSPaintAdventures.com

The comics also have a very unique humor, a lot of which comes from toying with readers’ perception of items in the “game’s” world. I won’t give anything away, just know that nothing is what it appears to be, and it looks like Andrew had a lot of fun twisting peoples’ suggestions. There are also a lot of recurring jokes and themes, so the comic only gets better as it goes along.”Homestuck” even has a webcomic-within-a-webcomic, “Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff,” which is absolutely hilarious and is worth checking out even if you never read the rest of MSPA.

I’m most of the way through “Problem Sleuth” and still pretty early in “Homestuck,” but both are great in their own ways, and are both worth taking the time to read. I’d suggest starting with “Problem Sleuth” before moving on to “Homestuck” or checking out the earlier two (though “Bard Quest” is pretty funny). So go check them out, they’re a lot of fun!

Happy reading,

-Nate

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Webcomic Wednesday – Axe Cop

5 Oct

"I'll chop your head off!"

Remember when you were a kid, when your imagination wasn’t fettered by things like “logic” or “coherent thought?” When in the throes of play, toys didn’t even need to represent what their creators intended; a truck could be a rocket truck, a Barbie could be an evil witch, a Batman action figure could be a guy named Jeff who can fly and also shoot lasers out of his mouth. Now try to picture that same sort of creativity embodied in a comic: characters can become new characters at any time, the laws of physics are wholly ignored, and the main character is a police officer who uses an axe as a weapon. Meet Axe Cop.

If you use the Internet, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Axe Cop. Basically, Ethan Nicolle, a twenty-nine year-old comic artist, illustrates his six year-old brother Malachai’s ideas for a comic, and the result is completely ridiculous and hysterical. And I’m not the only one who thinks so; according to the site’s “About” page, Axe Cop had 750,000 unique visits within a month of its debut.

There isn’t too much to say about the story, since it’s about as random as you (or a six year-old) could possibly imagine. Basically, it’s about a cop with an axe and the ridiculous sidekicks he meets and situations they find themselves in. Within the first five pages, we’re introduced to Axe Cop, Flute Cop, Dinosaur Soldier, Uni-Baby, Avocado Soldier, Telescope-Gun Cop, Ralph Wrinkles the dog, and Pretzel Head. Are you still reading this? You haven’t clicked the link yet? Maybe you missed it. Here it is again. The structure for most of the stories follows the pattern of “This happened, and then this happened, and then this happened, etc.” but it absolutely works. And hey, it’s a kid, so cut him some slack.

Not only is the story awesome, but it looks great too. Ethan’s art perfectly complements Malachai’s story, walking a fine line between cartoony and badass, acknowledging the absurdity of the comic while recognizing that none of it is meant ironically; Malachai has these ideas because he thinks they’re cool, so the art has to be cool too. Character designs are always great, facial expressions are always hilarious, and there are always plenty of action lines. While the ideas come from Malachai, Ethan also paraphrases and does most of the actual writing for the comic (he goes into more detail about the process on the site, and there’s a video of an episode being made here), and he does a great job of crafting his brother’s ideas into a tangible product, without inserting much of his own influence.

The beauty of Axe Cop is that it couldn’t have been made by anyone other than a kid. If a twenty-something was the one writing it, we’d all either shrug it off as juvenile, or just say that he was trying too hard. And he probably would be trying too hard; I think I have a pretty active imagination, but I’d have a hard time coming up with some of this stuff, or resisting the urge to make the story somewhat coherent. The sheer randomness of Axe Cop runs completely contrary to the way (most) adults think, and to what is conventionally thought to be good storytelling.

Axe Cop lets us remember what it was like to be a child not through contrived nostalgia, but through the actual thought process and unbridled creativity of a child. Does that make it some brilliant work commenting on the nature of childhood and the gradual suppression of creativity? Of course not, it’s a kid telling a story about a cop with an axe. But it’s sure fun to read.

Happy reading,

-Nate

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Webcomic Wednesday – Cucumber Quest

28 Sep

Copyright Gigi Digi

I was a bit hesitant to feature another fantasy comic so soon after Rice Boy, but this one is different enough, and way too much fun not to post. It’s called Cucumber Quest, and it’s a cute, goofy adventure story with some really interesting art and a great sense of humor. Or, as its creator Gigi Digi describes it,”a comic about bunny kids going on adventures and having fun.”

Right off the bat, we’re introduced to the main characters, Cucumber and his sister Almond (all the characters are named after, and somewhat resemble, food), as they find out their kingdom is in danger and only Cucumber can save it for some reason. Problem is, Cucumber is just a 9 year-old kid who was getting ready to leave for wizard school, and is probably the least-qualified person around to be a world-saving knight.

Since the comic was only started a few months ago, it isn’t very far along yet (96 pages at time of writing), but in that short space a lot of great characters and locations have been introduced. One of the great aspects of the comic is how it pokes fun at popular fantasy tropes that will be familiar to fans of the genre. Why doesn’t the all-knowing oracle just save the world herself? Why does an untrained kid have to be the one to save the world? This sort of questioning of the genre adds a lot of humor to the comic, but also shows that Gigi has put a lot of thought into the comic, and I’d bet my hat she has some big plans for the story. Also, be sure to read the hilarious captions she puts at the bottom of each strip; her humor really shines through the dry one-liners and they’re essentially a part of the comic themselves.

Cucumber Quest‘s art style is really distinctive and works great with the imaginative fantasy setting. The drawings are all done in bold colors without outlines, which really gives the comic a softer, youthful feel. Plus, her color choices are…heck, I’ll just show you.

Cucumber and his hilarious father, Cabbage. Copyright Gigi Digi

For a scene with some back story on the legend of the great hero, she even uses paper cutouts to give the out-of-story events a different look (it looks great, of course). Whatever tools she uses to draw these, it’s impressive that she’s able to create pages this lush two times a week.

So what are you waiting for? Great art, great laughs, and a setting that’s just plain fun. Go read it.

Happy reading,

-Nate

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Webcomic Wednesday – Gunshow

21 Sep

Since there seemed to be a pretty big reaction last week to PBF, I figured I’d feature a (somewhat) similar comic this week: KC Green’s Gunshow.

Gunshow’s humor would probably be described by many people as “immature.” A lot of the jokes are pretty random, and many aren’t even that clever, but for some reason they’re absolutely hilarious. Often the humor comes from the art, like this:

That is a stern baby. Copyright KC Green

This is going to end up being a really short post, since the comics pretty much speak for themselves, and there’s no matters of plot to go into. So here’s another one:

Copyright KC Green

As you can tell, the art is pretty simplistic, but he can definitely draw effectively when he wants to. So what else can I say? If you like Beavis and Butthead or just random, crude humor, and you’re not too picky about art, Gunshow is absolutely worth your time. Have fun!

Happy reading,

-Nate

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Webcomic Wednesday – Perry Bible Fellowship

14 Sep

While I love a great story, I still think of the Perry Bible Fellowship as one of my favorite webcomics. PBF has a strip format and pretty much every strip is pure gold. The humor is usually somewhat dark and sometimes will feature some taboo subjects, but it never relies on crudeness or shock for laughs. The comic’s creator, Nicholas Gurewitch, occasionally works with others on the comic, so the art style tends to vary pretty widely from strip to strip.

For the past several years there hadn’t been any new updates, but just a few weeks ago fans were treated to a new comic. Whether it signals a return to somewhat-regular updates remains to be seen, but for newcomers this is as good a time as any to start reading. Just hitting the “Random” button works fine, but you might want to just read from the first comic to experience the whole collection.

Happy reading,

-Nate

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Webcomic Wednesday – Rice Boy

31 Aug

As you can probably tell from the title, every Wednesday I’ll review a different webcomic, so you can discover new comics while still going easy on your wallet. The first webcomic(s) I’ll feature here are the same ones I always tell friends about first- Evan Dahm’s Overside comics, most notably Rice Boy. http://www.rice-boy.com is actually home to three separate comics, two of which are each close to 1,000 pages. All three comics take place at various points in time in the world of Overside, and are all fantasy series with varying tones and styles.

Rice Boy, the earliest comic on the site, absolutely oozes charm and is probably the most accessible of the three. Because of this, as well as reasons of continuity, newcomers should definitely start with RB. The story follows the journey of the titular character, a small, timid, limbless…being (person? creature?) named Rice Boy as he leaves the comfort of his home and finds himself caught in the middle of ancient prophecies and a massive war. On his way he meets a plethora of unusual characters who are enhanced by the series’ distinct, quirky visual style (I’m always reminded of Dr. Seuss).

While reading RB, it’s very apparent that Rice Boy is Dahm’s first long-form narrative, and yet in every aspect of the comic this freshness works to its advantage. The drawings aren’t as sharp as Dahm’s more recent work; the storytelling, at times, seems to be more of a string of strange places and characters than a carefully constructed plot (not to say there isn’t one…), and the various races and locations of Overside seem to only be given superficial attention. But when you consider that the main character is a naive youngster who has never ventured must farther than his front door, these shortcomings take on a new dimension. The almost cartoony visual style reflects the way that Rice Boy sees the world, the story structure reflects the way that Rice Boy is quickly whisked from place to place before he can catch his breath, and the the fact that we’re given little background on the world lets us experience the world for the first time along with Rice Boy. As I said, it sometimes feels like Dahm was flying by the seat of his pants as he wrote this, but it also feels like he was having an immense amount of fun, which gets passed on to the reader.

Dahm’s next work, Order of Tales, is quite different from RB in several ways. By this point Dahm had two years of experience under his belt, and this shows in both his art and the story. Though some of the spontaneity of RB is lost because of this, on the whole it feels like a much stronger and more focused work. OoT focuses on Koark, the last in the line of the Order of Tales, an ancient organization dedicated to the documenting and preservation of stories. As he sets out to find a fabled story, “The Ascent of the Bone Ziggurat,” he soon discovers that there might be more to the story than he anticipated. Although OoT occurs before the events of Rice Boy, there are some surprises that will only be meaningful to those who’ve read RB first.

In contrast to RB, OoT is drawn entirely in black and white, with a much sharper, more detailed line style. It might take a little getting used to after RB, but you get used to it pretty fast, and it really goes with the story’s relatively darker tone. The story is also structured much better than RB, and Koark is a much more active protagonist. Another key aspect of OoT is that this time around we’re given much more information about the world of Overside and its inhabitants, which is appropriate seeing as how Koark is essentially a traveling historian. The story is occasionally broken up by stories straight from Koark’s book of tales, which adds a really unique flavor to the series. Another excellent series, there isn’t much more to say.

The last of the big three is Vattu, which is currently running, and at the time of me writing is at about 170 pages. Vattu follows the life of a young member of a nomadic race called the Fluters. I won’t say too much more about the story since the comic is still in its early stages. What I will say though is that the color in Vattu is absolutely gorgeous, especially instances where light and shadows give surroundings an interesting tone. The story is also a bit different than the other two comics, as a lot of it is told with little dialogue, focusing instead on the characters’ actions and the landscape around them. The pace is much slower than, say, OoT, but it’s a deliberate pace, and recently  in the story it’s become apparent that Dahm has some big developments up his sleeve.

In addition to the three long series, Dahm also makes short stories that further expand upon the world of Overside. Despite their shorter length they’re all great, and they contain some of my favorite moments from his comics. The site also has a link to a fan-maintained wiki that documents all the information on Overside and the comics (just watch out for spoilers).

As you could probably guess by the obnoxious length of this post, I’m all about the Overside comics. I could easily write more, but I think I’ve already written more than enough. They’re all absolutely superb, and I highly, highly recommend you check them out. I’m flattered that you read this far before going to check them out, but go. Do it. I won’t be offended.

Happy reading,

-Nate

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