Tightening Up the Story

In the writing of the end of Return to Eden, I mentioned how the story didn't exactly bloom until near the end.  Nothing wrong with this, of course, as I stated I somehow doubt the comic had this major story until near this point anyway.  If there is a story, though, what is the best way to tell it?  There are no hard or fast rules, and in fact if Return to Eden had been planned to develop the way it did from the beginning, I likely wouldn't find a fault in it.  Still, I do have some guidelines writers and artists should keep in mind while telling a story.

1.  Show don't tell.  I've covered the topic of show vs tell before, but in a visual medium like webcomics, showing should always be a priority.  It is harder than it looks, of course, or everyone would do it properly and it wouldn't be sung as a mantra.  This may mean breaking away from the main characters, or doing a flash back.  This is alright, don't be afraid of it.  Just don't over do it.  Which is the next guideline.

2.  Every word and panel is precious, don't waste them.  Make it count.  Whatever is written and drawn must have a point, and must be important.  Going off on a pointless tangent that has nothing to do with the main story is a waste of time and energy, not just of the artist, but of the reader.  There's also the double threat of either the tangent driving people away from the comic, or even worse, being vastly superior to the main story line.  Either would be a disaster for a comic.  Keep it important to the main story, even if it's not obvious right away.  And finally:

3.  Brevity is your friend.  In this era of the infinite canvas, there's a notion that there should be no limits at all to art.  That's not what the infinite canvas is for, it's for exploring things that would be harder to explore in print form.  Animations, multiple paths and the like are what the infinite canvas allows for, but that doesn't mean the pages should go on, and on, and on forever.  Each page should be quick and too the point.  No sense wasting extra time on things that mean little for the overall development of the story or a particular character.

This also helps keep the overall work load down.  Less time spent on drawing pages of fluff or writing unnecessary dialog means more time working on the important stuff, like showing what happened rather than telling the reader.

Nothing super complicated here, hope it helps.  Until next time kiddies.

Return to Eden Ends

Another comic comes to an end, but a complete end this time.  Return to Eden wraps up a rather long story that in the end I didn't expect to enjoy so much.  I knew the ending was coming, but I really didn't expect it to be here so quickly.

There are so many things that kept me interested in the comic.  The mythology of the comic proved to be, well, incredible.  Partially based on Biblical mythology, it twisted it in just the right way to make it feel unique.  As the comic got nearer the end, I got drawn further in, and found a world far more interesting, and far more human, than I might have expected before.

As I flip through the early chapters of the comic, I'm surprised at how improved the artwork got, while still retaining its style.  The sketchiness of the strips is there throughout, but by the end it proved more controlled and deliberate than the early ones.  There's also a certain level of "chibi" built into the comic's early strips, and that is all but missing in the later comics.  I think it's related to how serious things got near the end, and I appreciate that.

I also noticed there were far more colored pages early on as opposed to later in the comic.  In fact, one of the early key plot points was that the main character's eyes changed color.  Later on though, the number of color pages decreased dramatically.  Some of that is due to time constraints, I think, but also an increase in skill of the artist.  It didn't NEED to be in color any more.  That's a great evolution, though I do wonder what it would look like if it had gone full color instead.

In the end, the oddest thing about this comic is that there really wasn't a central villain until near the end.  Oh, it was a GREAT villain, but the revelation of who it was and why didn't come until the comic was almost over.  Makes me think that there wasn't much of a "plan" for the comic early on.  There may have been some vague ideas, but nothing serious.  At one point, there was even an apology for introducing a new, very important character in the last third of the comic.  The creation of that character, the villain, and the final conflict and story was all late additions to the overall comic.

One of the few faults is the cast:  They didn't have much to do at the end.  A couple were hard to differentiate from the each other, causing a bit of confusion along the way.  Still, the later characters are MUCH more memorable, and stood out in dress and design much better.  Some had arcs, but not many.  Even the main character really didn't have an "arc," she really just became a bit more mature as the comic went on, nothing more.

Even so, I enjoyed the comic for it's entire run.  I'm glad to see a comic come to a natural end like this, completing the tale and showing a true evolution in artistic skill and story telling ability.  There is a new comic in the works by this artist, and I will happily read it as well.  I think it might be really good.

Well, another comic down, but not for bad reasons.  Until next time kiddies.

Wild Webcomic Reviews 155 - 159

Another old batch of reviews.  Been busy this week, and we haven't had one in a while, so let's go.

March 21, 2008

155. Apophenia 357 - I don't think it's really a comic, more of an art concept. Take a bunch of spam, create a comic from them, then let the reader add the text. That's right, there's not a single word in the entire comic, which makes reading it a rather interesting experiance. It's on a kind of hiatus now, so I wouldn't expect anything new, but it is interesting, and trying to form a story, even if it's only in your mind, is kind of fun.

TODAY - I'm still not sure if this is actually a comic or not.  It's an interesting idea, at least, kind of wish there were others like it.

156. Ashita and Yesterday - This comic hasn't been updated since December, and that's not a big loss. Seriously, there's really no reason to read it. It's not strictly bad, I suppose, but there's nothing especially good about it. There's a story, but it's nothing you haven't seen before in a dozen other comics and it doesn't do it all that well. The art doesn't stand out either. I will say the first few strips make it seem more interesting than it is, because it falls of after that. I mourn many comics that stop updating, but Ashita isn't not one of them.

TODAY - Still dead.

157. Footloose! - This is a comic that is silly, self aware, filled with history (from another comic) and actually not badly drawn. Though I did find myself comparing it to a couple other comics that LOOK JUST LIKE IT. See Return to Eden for the most obvious comparision. Now, that doesn't mean it isn't good, it is pretty decent. It's kind of comfortable in that way. It's also a very girl comic. I've read enough of them at this point to pick that out and again, that doesn't mean it's not good, it just means the story plays to a certian beat, and after reading enough of them, it does get old after a while. I'll probably follow it for a bit, mostly because it does have that silly, self-aware humor I do enjoy so much.

TODAY - Still reading it and enjoying it.  It's gotten a little darker and resolved with a literal Deus Ex Machina.  Good read, I recommend it.

158. Jetpacks and Time Machines - This should be in newspapers. It reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes, okay? Reminds me, doesn't mean it is, but if this was in the paper, it would be my favorite strip. And if the curse of hiatus hadn't taken it, I'd follow it even now. There's a lot of great things about it, the characters, the humor, the art, it's all there. Will it update again? God I hope so.

TODAY - Dead, which is a shame.  Great ideas, lots of fun, but no staying power.  Oh well.

159. Roza - Of this batch of comics, this is the best. Hell, the only comic that comes close in the last few reviews is Dresden Codak, and it's a pretty even fight there. There's no exposition, you're just thrown into the current story and it's done with one of the best balances of art telling the story and dialog doing so as well. I really can't praise this one enough folks, it is damn good, double damn good, so go read it, alright?

TODAY - There was a brief hiatus and it's going to change a little to make updates quicker.  Which is good because it's a fun comic and I enjoy it.

Well that's kids, I'll see you guys later.

What's in a Name

Due to the sheer number of comic names I'm going to drop in this article, I will NOT be linking every single one.  Instead I refer you to The List for any comics you might want to check.  It's as updated as this past November 2011.  It should be noted that I started coming up with this article back in March of 2010.  This isn't the only one I hope to resurrect and revive.

There are so many attractors to a comic.  The art, a random strip, word of mouth, ads, links from other comics and the like all can pull different people into a strip.  However, I think one of the biggest factors in drawing someone in is the title of the comic.  There are a LOT of comics, and designing a title that will draw attention should be a high priority for any artist.  So here are my ideas on what can make a good title, though not necessarily.

Naming the comic after the main character is a pretty common practice.  Candi, Lizzy, Jeremy, Hector!, and Bruno are but a few examples.  The problem, of course, is that simple names like this can be easily confused with another comic.  Remember Jack?  Well, there is another Jack.  Different concepts, different comics, same name.  No, I haven't read the second Jack yet.

So when using the name, change it up a bit.  Sandra and Woo uses two names and The Adventures of Dr. McNinja and The Adventures of Wonderella both add the very generic "The Adventures of" to the name, but make it stand out (not that Wonderella or Dr. McNinja are very common, but still).  Others like Edge the Devilhunter or Connie Van Helsing, Monster Hunter add jobs to the list.

Some titles simply demand that you read the comic.  They're so over the top it's almost required.  Kristy vs the Zombie Army, Cleopatra in SPAAAACE!, Sister Clair:  Pregnant Nun, Holy Crap! and Anne Frank Conquers the Moon Nazis are but a few with these wild titles.  Each one screams "READ ME" and often they deserve it.

Worst comes to worst, the title can tell the reader exactly what the comic is supposed to be about.  The Best Band in the Universe, Worst of the Timelords, Here There be Robots, Shi Long Pang the Wandering Shaolin Monk, and The Teddy Bear Trauma all are pretty descriptive about what they are about, and rather creative too.

Sometimes, though, the title is too creative for it's own good.  leveL is specifically written backwards like that, but tells you little about the comic, and means little to the comic.  UnCONventional doesn't make sense unless you know what the CON part means.  Mad About U requires connecting the U to university, and the mad part still doesn't make sense until you read the comic.

Locations are a good source of names as well.  Wapsi Square, Templar, Arizona, Winters in Lavelle, and City of Reality are good examples of this.  In some ways they can be just as descriptive of the work as any other title.  Winters in Lavelle especially as the "Winters" part refers to the last name of the two main characters, but can also refer to the time of year they arrived in Lavelle.

There are some titles that are, um, too much for a comic.  A Lesson is Learned but the Damage is Irreversible is probably the longest title of any comic I've ever read.  It tells nothing about the comic and is just a pain to write.  Supermassive Blackhole A* is a strange title and not one that I think stands out.  More likely to confuse some poor physics undergrad student than attract a new readers.

The weirdest titles, though, are often reserved for the daily gag strips, or those that started as that.  Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, The Parking Lot is Full, Voices in My Hand, Cyanide & Happiness, Does Not Play Well With Others and even Sluggy Freelance all started as gag comics and all had some of the most interesting names.

And then there are the REALLY weird names.  Dresden Codak, Exiern, ReVVVelations, and 5ideways just to name a few.  Strange, but appealing on some weird level.

Of course, some titles go off the rails.  Exploitation Now shifted gears near the end of it's life so the title meant little to it.  Sluggy Freelance ceased being a gag strip long ago.  String Theory started about a scientist, now it's on a prison break.  Life of Riley got really strange near the end, and really wasn't the life of Riley any more.

A good title can, and will, be the driving force behind visiting a comic or not.  A simple, but intriguing title should be the goal.  Take Blip for example.  So simple, so short, so interesting, you almost have to check it out to know what it is.  The Adventures of Superhero Girl tell you everything you need to know about the comic, but still make you want to read it to see who Superhero Girl is, and what her adventures entail.  Spinnerette stands out as a name very quickly, is easy to remember and oddly simple to spell (seriously, I keep checking that I spelled it right and I always have, go figure).  Girl Genius, Gunnerkrigg Court, Punch 'n Pie, The Call of Whatever, Dreamland Chronicals, hell, even Penny Arcade has a simple, easy to remember name and it keeps people coming back, spreading it around and encouraging others to read it.

Oh there still need to be good art, good story, good humor, good drama or whatever, but a good title acts as the first attractor and I've put more links into my Future Read list simply based on the name than anything else.  Something to consider.

Well that's enough for this week.  See you next time kiddies.

Can't Live Without, 2012 Edition

So I skipped doing this last year because I had other things to do, but the list has changed a bit from way back in 2010.  Two comics on the original list ended/died utterly, one stalled out, one is nearing its end and I've discovered more comics, so the list needs to be updated.  Again, these are in no particular order, so no one is better than the other, and this is not a "best" list at all, just comics I never want to not read.

1.  Sluggy Freelance - Despite all the weird twists the comic took, I still enjoy Sluggy.  I WANT to see where it goes everyday, whether it's the darkness of 4UCity or the silliness of the Hampsternom, I want to see the next strip.

2.  Schlock Mercenary - Still probably the overall best comic on the net, I love how the story simply flows from one event to the other, ranging from local hotspots to galaxy spanning conflicts.  The characters all have their strengths and weaknesses, and all manage to do it in the funniest way possible.  A classic webcomic that deserves your attention.

3.  Weapon Brown - There are few action comics that are as awe inspiring as Weapon Brown.  The repurposing of classic comic characters into a post apocalyptic setting is amazing and well done.  If you haven't read this comic, you're missing out, go do it.

4.  Gunnerkrieg Court - This comic is great, and not reading it should almost be a crime.  The art, the characters, the story, all of them come together to make one of the best comics there is on the net.  There should be a franchise built around this, it would be awesome.

5.  The Adventures of Dr. McNinja - Humor is McNinja.  Weird, surrealist humor with a bit of action.  Dr. McNinja is a comic that never forgets WHAT it is, no matter how weird or long the story goes and deserves to be read.

6.  The Whiteboard - The silliness continues with this comic.  On one end it's a fairly simple adventure/gag comic, on the other, it goes over the top in such a way that you can only laugh.  The cast has gotten more rounded over the years and I really think this is getting better than most.

7.  Spinnerette - I've been reading this from it's beginning, and it has only gotten better and better with each new chapter.  It gives me hope that superhero comics can actually rise above the current garbage out there while still being fun.  It's serious and fun, smart and hilarious.  The art is spot on for such a work, and it deserves the movie they're now working on (an independent film).  Go read it.

8.  Dead Winter - The zombie fad is hard to do different and interesting.  Dead Winter manages this, I think.  It's less about fighting zombies than the people doing it, if anything the zombie fights are almost casual annoyances most of the time.  The art is great too, getting better with each new strip and likely some of my favorite art in a comic I've read.

9.  Heart Shaped Skull - Okay, technically the comic is called Serenity Rose, but that's the name of the site and I'm a stubborn soul.  Despite the otherworldly nature of the comic (magic is big here), it is pretty well grounded.  Serenity is pretty normal, relatively and that gives it an odd depth that I enjoy.  The art is great, the message is well thought out and I just think this comic works.

10.  Blip - Where Serenity is neck deep in the magic of her world, K is completely oblivious to it.  I love that aspect of the comic, where she is utterly unaware that her three best friends are a vampire, a witch and a robot.  It's an odd angle for a comic as most usually throw the main character in or have them wallowing in it already.  I suspect that K will NEVER know what's going on around her, or if she finds out, the comic will end.  It's a great angle for a great comic.  Just wish the artist would fix the date system attached to the updates.

As always, I have some Honorable Mentions:  City of Reality, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Errant Story, The Adventures of Superhero Girl and Sinfest.  All of them could easily get on this list if the rest weren't there, though Errant Story isn't because, well, it's nearly over and at some point I will have to live without it.

Well, that's it.  Happy New Year to you and yours and hopefully I'll have some new reviews instead of half baked articles this year.  Later kiddies.

Webcomic Christmas Gifts I Want

Well Christmas is coming this weekend, and I could give you a present of a new batch of reviews.  But I didn't do any.  So instead, I'll give you a list I would send Santa for the various webcomics I read.  This isn't so much about things, but the comic itself.

1.  I'd like so many comics to come back from the dead.  Lizzy, Hanna is Not a Boy's Name, Shadowgirls,  Hazard Pay, No Rest for the Wicked, etc, etc.

2.  I don't want too many print copies of comics, but Gunnerkrigg Court, The Meek and Errant Story are a couple exceptions.  They are spectacular comics, and WHY AREN'T YOU READING THEM!

3.  A few comics I'd like to see start going again.  They aren't "dead" yet, but getting close.  Sea of Insanity has returned to life more than a few times, and I'd like to see that again.  Hari-Sari and Punch n' Pie need to come back as well.

4.  Some comics just need to end.  Elsie Hooper needs to get back and finish up.  It's so close to the end, so close.  Not too many others, luckily, at least ones I'm still reading.

5.  And some comics I just want to die horribly.  Diesel Sweeties and Penny Arcade, please just curl up and die.  I don't read either of you, but please die and make the internet a better place.  Please?

I would like to say I DID get a webcomic gift after all.  In the process of adding links, I found that Nobody Scores! updated!  I know, I was shocked too.  Miracles do happen kids.

And that's it for Christmas.  I hope you have a Merry Christmas, or general Happy Holiday.  I'll be back next week for my top 10 comics I Can't Live Without, 2012 edition.  See you then kiddies.

Not So Wild Review: Sinfest

Since I don't want to spend time recreating a post that blogger ate, I guess I'll do a Not So Wild Review.

SINFEST

I read a lot of comics, and as I've said before, I divide them into 4 categories:  Novel, Epic, Adventure and Classic/Daily comics.  Usually I have one or two ideas of what each entails, a prototype for the category.  Sinfest is the prototype for the Classic one.

Once upon a time, Tatsuya Ishida, the comic's artist, wanted to get Sinfest into newspapers.  I think he was rejected about 15 times or so, enough that he said screw it and dedicated himself to the webcomic.  I think that was probably a good thing as the comic syndicates would likely have demanded it be neutered and all the humor of the comic would have been lost.  Sinfest doesn't have an overarching story, but does have character development.  There are no "adventures" but things happen over the course of the comic.

But let's get down to the review portion and start talking about it.

CHARACTERS

The two main characters are Slick and Monique, but even then, the secondary cast has taken a lot larger role in recent years.  For a comic that is built on short story arcs and daily jokes, however, the various characters develop over the life of the comic.  Slick once wanted to be a pimp, but is he really?  Yes, he still has some of those traits, but he's a much better character than he once was.  Monique has done much the same, questioning her own appeal and, very recently, going for a more androgynous look to try do define herself.

Calling the rest the "secondary cast" is hard, though, as they span quite a variety and get reasonable amounts of time.  Li'l E currently is getting a chance to reexamine his life while the Devil seems to be tracking his movements.  Fuchsia, a devil girl, walks out of her job with the Devil to pursue her love for Criminy, a boy who loves books.  Even Squigley, the over eating, pot smoking pig, got a whole storyline where he wondered around as a hobo.  None of these characters are quite what they used to be at the start of the strip (well, God is still a bit of a dick).  At the same time, they are, fundamentally, the same people.  Reading a strip from early on and then fast forwarding to the present isn't as much a jarring change as you would think, though it would leave more than a few questions.

STORY

There are no adventures in this comic really.  There are stories, but they rarely go very far and wide.  Squigley's adventures as a hobo are about as close to a full fledged adventure as the comic ever got, and even then it wasn't quite what would classify as an adventure in comics of the type.  There are no great villains running around (the Devil doesn't count), or quests to undertake.  These are people living relatively normal daily lives, well as normal as having a Reality zone next door, the Devil playing basketball with Jesus, books that attack people and 2010 pulling a Themal and Louise vs Death.

All that sounds exciting, but they are only loosely connected.  The comic isn't about the adventures, it's about the characters and their common foibles.  Sex, drugs, religion, pop culture, popularity and even love all appear in one form or another and the individual vignettes that pepper the strip help to explore them.

HUMOR

Sinfest is, at it's heart, a daily joke comic.  Nearly every strip is punctuated by some kind of joke or twist.  Slapstick is rare, but it happens, and almost never is there a pun involved.  The jokes aren't more about setting up the moment and delivering in the next up.  It's an interesting pacing for this kind of comic as the set up is often as funny as the punchline, if not funnier.  Honestly, as time has gone on, the comic has felt less funny to me, and more insightful than it probably has any right to be.  Laugh out loud moments in Sinfest are kind of rare, but there's almost always a bit of a chuckle to be had.

And when things get too intense, Tatsuya pulls out Percy and Pooch and runs a week worth of strips featuring them.  In a way, they represent a more conventional kind of comic, jokes built around a dog and cat and their interactions with each other, their owner and their limited world.  These moments provide a light moments that are almost always funny, especially from a pet owners perspective.  Kind of like how Garfield USED to be in it's nature.

ART

Comparing the early strips to the later ones really isn't that huge of a leap.  Oh, the earlier strips are cruder, but the basic characters are fairly well defined.  The big difference is shading, as in there's a lot of it in the modern strip as opposed to the early days.  The characters have gotten smoother and more streamlined, and the art has improved, but I wouldn't call the differences radical.  More like a well practiced hand at work.  The art is very good, and stands out even more with the color Sunday strips where Tatsuya gives himself more space to work with.  There are details that aren't detailed, but you can see them well enough.  Once in a while he'll do a calligraphy strip that shows line and form merging from a regular image into a written character (I assume it's Chinese, but I don't know for sure).

OVERALL

Sinfest is one of those comics I've come to expect to just BE there.  And as the comic has evolved from a straight up daily joke comic into what it is now, I find myself enjoying it more and more.  I haven't always felt that way, but even in writing this review I found that I really like this strip much more than even I thought I did.  It's a good comic and one that deserves to be read, long term or short.

Until next time kiddies.