Back

I'm back at college now and I've been busy. Stuff on my plate for contests and projects. Everyone following probably heard about the KC Green interview which was almost a week ago. I'm currently busy with three projects but once I finish, I'll have time to read some new comics. Till then, go see Slumdog Millionaire. Also I'll post interview links here for when I do them.

08 in Nerdy Review

I figure since the year is over and I've been too busy to read too many webcomics, I'll post a semi pointless list of the top and bottom things of the last year in the classic K-blog Tradition of writing the post at night when I should be sleeping.

Top Things of 2008 in No Real Order ®:

• The Option Key on my Macbook - Seriously, I love being able to make all the symbols with memorizing 4 button combos.
• 4th Edition Anticipation - The videos, the previews, the Penny Arcade teamup. Honestly if the product had lived up to my standards of not being an MMO tabletop game, 4th edition itself would be on the list.
• New Music - Current bands to follow that you might not are The Magic Bullets, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band and Akira the Don. Seeing the first two live and continuing a semi association with the third made this a good year for music.
• Interviews - Back before I deleted the old Majorca shows, we had a repoitre of semi-famous internet people including the unflappable KC Green, Scott Smith and Scott Hepting of Slackerz, Tyson Hesse of Boxer Hockey and ....more. Honestly I don't remember. Along with that, meeting Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse also top the list.
• Nerding - Honestly, 4th edition, a new WoW expansion, Dr Horrible and more make this a good year to be a nerd. While I don't play WoW anymore for a plethora of reason I note it due to my addiction demanding that I do.
• Zombie - Diary of the Dead, Left 4 Dead, Monroeville Mall and more. Zombies are back in the spotlight and with the WWZ movie aparently in the works, things look even brighter.
• Change - New politics after 8 years. Blah blah liberal junk.
• Webcomics - I've picked up good ones, dropped bad ones, I consider this a win.
• Superjail - Closest thing we have to a KC Green tv show so far.
• Movies - I'm seeing more and I'm liking what I am seeing.
  

Bottom Things of 2008 in No Particular Order ®:

• Wizards of the Coast - I dropped out of the Magic thing for various reasons leave me feeling jilted. My disappointment over 4th does little to assist. I'm leaning more towards indie games now. Next up, Serenity RPG!
• The Internet - Microcosm of humanity = we are a bunch of fuckers.
• Adult Swim Content - More crap than non crap as of now. I mean, the PJs? Not even Fox wanted them. Sure there is Superjail but most of the other stuff is horrible.
• Fast Zombies - Just.....no
• Sloth - Why can't it be a purple squishy blob....
• Vista - I am using a Mac now, aren't I?
• Anime/Manga - Overall, less creativity than the Saturday morning kids cartoon lineup. Some shining stars in it but overall, avoid, avoid, avoid.

I have a list of stuff to trudge through so that means some sort of review coming next week. Till then,
hope.

NaNoWriMo Break

So, the NaNoWriMo is going well. I'm currently at about ten thousand words and I can probably drop a couple thousand more tonight cause tonight is all right to write.

I've added .... 6 webcomics (8 if you want to be technical) since the last review so its a super jam packed review tonight. Plus you get two from people who apparently watch me on Twitter. Why? I have no idea.

First off:

Brawl in the Family by Matthew Taranto
Normally I don't like video game comics with my levels of hate for them eventually reaching epic levels like the time I dropped Dueling Analogues mid post. Good times, good times. It takes a special kind of gaming comic to hold my attention and to make me laugh. Brawl in the Family is one of those comics. Simplistic art with characters mainly drawn from the Kirby series (with a few other Nintendo stars) combined with classic gags makes Brawl in the family similar to those comics you and your friends (or at least me and my friends) used to draw all the time. Quick, funny and something that you'd think would probably not do well on the Internet. Still, this comic has kicked that level of writing up sew notches making your average gaming comic with a heavy dash of XKCD. Frankly the comic is one of my top ones to read and I think we as readers can expect a good future from it. The downside though is the art which could be better but on the other hand adds a level of charm to it with its flaws making it better than the copy pasta work of CAD. I'm going to have give it an A-.

Eegra by Patrick Alexander
Back when I originally saw the comic on forums, I thought KC Green was doing a secret project. Then I ran blindly to the actual site and saw the Black Monolith (like in 2001: A Space Odyssey) of a webcomic that Patrick Alexander has created. A revolving cast of misanthropic beasts that should have never seen the light of day illustrated by hands that have probably dealt with large amounts of drug money create a comic that scares me, disgusts me and brings me back for more. To call it a gaming comic would be like calling... Menage a 3 a gaming comic, except that this actually has gaming references. References that tear the soul of a man and make him hide from sleep. Frankly I fear giving it a review as if it were some book from a Lovecraftian horror story that would make me go insane so I will end by saying simply, read it, fear it but overall enjoy it. It gets an A.

The Gun Show by KC Green
Its KC Green. Seriously. Just read it. This and Birdworld. I'm not giving full reviews of them because my love for him is too powerful now for a nonbiased review.

Kukuburi by Ramon Perez (add accent marks where necessary.)
Remember Dresden Codak? The prentious comic that I loved so much for its art? Imagine that but with a bigger fantasy world, better art and a storyline that you don't have to be a jerk to understand. Welcome to the world of Kukuburi, a world where the imagination comes alive and... It's like I'm describing a animated film. Frankly, you just should read the comic already. It's fault is one that is reasonable being that it only updates once a week driving some associates of mine away. The fault being reasonable because the author/illustrator is a professional artist. Give the comic a shot and read through the archives, then wait a few months for it to build its archive back up with new comics and you will not be sorry. An A+ is well earned here.

Roomies!/It's Walky!/ Joyce and Walky! - David Willis
The three part continuing epic of David Willis, guy who does Shortpacked! is not something to be triffled with. With an archive beginning in '97 and leading up to an update every Saturday with Joyce and Walky!, the story will do your mom and pay her a nickle cause she's cheap that way. Roomies! is the weakest of the three stories starting as a generic college comic with some sci-fi moments. It does a good enough job establishing the characters that you see throughout and it has its moments but it never really becomes ungeneric. It's Walky on the other hand takes you by the balls to the bathroom where it shows you some pretty awesome shit. I mean really. Sure the comic can be seen as something filled with Mary-Sue and Marty-Stu characters but I really didn't care. Walky and Mike are amazing enough to power it through its storyline ending with an epic climax fitting the series and leading into Joyce and Walky!. Joyce and Walky! earned every right to be a gag strip. It did some serious shit (seriously, you should go look at it) and its kicking back now with an occassional break for some story development but in many ways, its a second wheel to Shortpacked! which is all right. It also apparently has some monthly subscription thing showing the Willis is only in the business for the money (actually its a good deal, gotta try it out). Frankly, the comic is shit loads long, took me about 12 computer restarts with my bandwidth limits at college and about 10 hours of reading but it was worth it. David Willis, I salute you. It earns a B-/A/A.

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella by Justin Pierce
Frankly, I don't get the hype of the comic which disappoints me. Almost every comic I read has a link to this somewhere, maybe 60% of the ones I'd say. Maybe I've grown tired of the long format webcomics. Maybe the art doesn't do anything except remind me of early Scary-Go-Round art. Maybe the writing just tries to hard. It's made me guffaw once or twice but I don't really get the deal. Blah blah blah superhero with problems, wacky situations. I have no idea why but it does nothing for me. I'll leave it up though. It's on notice. B-

And now because I have people watching me on Twitter, they have opened up the torrent of reviews that lie within me. Fun fact: I watch people on Twitter whose comics I don't read. I'm looking at you Lesnick!

Sticky Figgers by Beau Watson
Now I might understand that through my correspondence with Slackerz, an association of sorts between fans might occur. This is my only reasonable explanation for this association.
Sticky Figgers tries to be XKCD except even less artistic. With XKCD you get the feeling that Randall Munroe actually understands art and just goes for the minimalist style. With Sticky Figgers, this is far from the case. Its essentially stick figures done for shits and giggles and I see as I am writing that there are high levels of hate flowing through me. I made it through about 20 or so comics before my headache began and my Chinese food was getting cold. I ended there with the conclusion that this was yet another person hoping to climb aboard the train of fame that XKCD rides up. Frankly the art is...crap. It shows little or no effort to it. It's like, "My heroes of the internet do stick figures and so can I!" This is only true when and only when you have the writing to back it up. Maybe this comic isn't for the reviewers. Maybe it's just for a bunch of friends. I don't know. All I do know is the comic needs to learn they are not XKCD, learn to draw by hand. Seriously, I don't care if you have a Wacom pad and Illustrator. If you use it like MS Paint, you might as well save money. It earns a D+ only due to the fact that it may suddenly pick up after where I quit reading.
THIS IS WHY I HAVE HELD OFF REVIEWING COMICS I DON'T LIKE SMITH!

Fantasy Story by Ming
What I like about this comic is that he confesses that he is still learning and that he doesn't over inflate his ego. The comic is essentially him learning to comic which I am fine with. The art has potential though I am not sure if he is solely restricted to his current style or not. The writing seems to be his biggest downfall with characters that I know nothing about and that I don't want to learn about. Frankly he could use a writer to make his characters say more than essentially "Hi (insert noun) I am going to (location)." So yeah, he needs to work on writing. Luckily the Internet has tons of writers willing to write. I'll check up on this every once in a while though so it's got my attention at least that far.

Currently I'm busy doing NaNoWriMo so talk to you later.

Webcomic Review Part 8: The New Conclusion

And so in here, we end a chapter of web comic reviews. I am glad to say that I think this journey of web comic reviews will hopefully be done for a while or at least until I get some more.

Now these comics are comics I have picked up over the period of time that I have been reviewing web comics but luckily I only need one of these. Lets get turn on the breaks so I can get back to reviewing whatever I reviewed before.

Allan by Allan Wood
To tell the truth, I don't give a crap about the lives of most people and I think most blogs are self serving pieces of crap that are written by people with over inflated egos seeking to scrounge a bit of fame without putting in much effort. My journal is one of those. Allan is not. Allan is an auto biographical comic and actually entertaining. Now, I have a very small social life, I'm a nerd who fearfully follows the law and is governed by a pretty strict morality. Reading Allan is in many ways, a way of conveying with my opposite. Allan's take on his daily events are an enjoyable read and you are easily able to connect with him and fall into his mind in a way. Allan has a simplistic style but really, it makes it more readable. Allan earns an A.

Elsie Hooper by Robert Krykowski
As it is with me and web comic artists, as soon as I read through I like to review and they are greatful almost all of the time, some exceptions, some people ask "How the bloody shit did you get my name?" Those people have been reviewed though and I didn't bring that up. Still, some turn you onto new comics and Allan (reviewed above) hooked me up with this. Essentially a black and white storyboard in a Johnan Vasquez style about an alien invasion, a girl and her pissed off unstoppable killer of a brother. The story is great and works well with the art though it definitely stretches the whole suspended disbelief with how much shit he goes through but people love heroes like that. Indestructible and unstoppable. Sucks to have one of those without the other. It looks like the comic is wrapping up soon though so catch up for the conclusion. Elsie Hooper earns an A-.

Not So Distant by Elizabeth Maxwell
Ant turned me onto this comic during a nerdy funk of mine and I really took to it. A story of space travel, time travel and the human psyche. The art is clean and almost reminds me of a more realistic, as much as that means, Dresden Codak. Stylistic and adventurous, the comic can be rather slow paced and wordy which means that half of the web comic readers of the Internet will bitch but really, its worth a try if you like science fiction. It had been on a hiatus but apparently my preparations returned it to life. :| Its worth a look but reviewing it can be hard. As much as I like it, it hasn't inspired me in the ways that other comics have to look forward to it. Maybe because it took a break after I started reading, maybe my mood when I went through the archives. Give it a look, I'll give a B+.

Red Future by Allan Wood
Two Allan Wood comics in one review? Who does he think he is, KC Green? A survival comic told in between blogs from the characters and comics. The problem I have with comic is that I have no idea what is going on. Apocalypse, alien invasion, communists? No idea. If anything though, he should get props for that. The art is simple like Allan with some more frills but Allan is great so far when it comes to story writing. Its to early to give it a full review though but it is off to a really good start.

That wasn't too painful was it my friends? You know what I read now, what do you read that I don't? I'd be glad to check them out? Do you do comics? Tell me and I'll give them a more supportive shot that other bloggers do. It'll be a while though. Shards of Alara comes out this weekend for prerelease and I'll be in Columbus for that. If you will too just drop me a line.

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Webcomic Review-a-thon Part 3: The Continuing

First things first, Majorca is getting new comics every few days and I should actually have a series there too. Also, interviews and other fun stuff abounds, interviews and such.

I have more webcomics. Getting caught up in vacation kept me from almost all gaming over the weekend. I did go to some enjoyable concerts though, met Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo of Gnarls Barkley and had some other stuff come up.

Now onto the comics.

Fanboys (Online) by Scott Dewitt - Now, I have respect for Mr. Dewitt's comics if for no other reason than the fact that for a while, he was pumping out some wonderful comics that put VG Cats to shame. Sadly, his comics have notably gone down in quality of humor to almost the standard "Spys sapping my sentry" mentality week after week. There is a time and place for this. The place is right but the time has passed quickly. I can also respect Mr. Dewitt for seeking to improve his art but alienating his audience for months at a time to do it is hard on the loyal fans and makes the relationship almost just one way, by not showing the sketches and asking for opinions in public (might do differently on the forum, I don't know.) I respect Mr. Dewitt for his contributions to the webcomic world but frankly it may have changed too much or too little
for him to keep up. Here is to hoping the comics get better again. B

Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddel - An imaginative world with fun characters and enjoyable dialog combined with a fun and fitting art style? There could be complaints from the high literature crowds about some crap or another but really, it is enjoyable overall. One of the best series out there, unless you hate female characters you shouldn't/can't fap to. Check it out now. A+

Hockey Zombie by Crun - Nert nert nert nert nert nert. Nert nert nert nert nert nert nert nert nert. Nert nert, nert nert nert nert. Nert nert nert nert nert nert nert. B

Holy Bibble by Lucas and Cannan - Do you love some heresy to help get you going in the morning? Does the thought of Jesus being a colored person offend you? Did you forget that Jews are actually the base of Christianity? If you go to a Christian church and got confused by these questions, Holy Bibble isn't for you. Holy Bibble falls into the category of Bible comics except where most banish you to the shadow relam or something for playing D&D, Holy Bibble is essentially straight up parody of the Bible. An easier look at the Old Testament than most of the actual Bible text. Check it out, Chibi Christianity from gender confused comicers. B+

Horribleville by KC (Kills Coons) Green - The biggest piece of crap on the internet drawn by a fat slob except you can't even call what he does "art". I mean seriously. My blind paraplegic uncle could do better. And then the "story" is worse than the average Livejournal. Whine whine whine. D-

Actually I love KC Green and Horribleville is a work of modern art since apparently a book of web slang can be considered a novel. KC Green gets an A+