Shrub Monkeys Review

Normally I'd feel obligated to apologize for the lack of updates but I think I have a decent reason - video games. The foul and addicting snake wormed itself around me again, constricting me and wrapping me. The more I struggled to escape, the harder it became especially as it was famished. I welcomed the beast eventually though as an old friend. For those unfamiliar with my life and such, my own Wii had been stolen last October and I was mostly disinterested in gaming since then. Previous attempts to enthrall me had been made unsuccessfully.

My personal demons of these weeks though have been varied and all in all, very good. Persona 3, Jet Set Radio Future and Fallout 3. Sadly my roommates PS3 crashed allowing me to not finish Persona 3. Curses. Then again, the Wikis did a good job of helping me deal with the loss by looking up the story online. Jet Set Radio Future, the old Xbox game was as enjoyable as ever which means I'd end up playing till 2 am, realize I was tired and then stay up another 2 hours. Luckily that is winding down as I embark on my quest to unlock all of the characters. Finally was the strongest of the addictions, Fallout 3. The art, the feel, the gameplay. I must confess that I had never played one of the original games so I cannot be a judge comparing it to the others in the series. I did play Morrowind (which I loved) and Oblivion (which I loathed) though and I can say that Fallout 3 was better than both. The inclusion of downloadable content is keeping my interest though I need to actually download it. Enough about video games though.

Now finally though after the weeks that you have waited, my Shrub Monkeys review.

But first, Amazingly Average is back up after a long hiatus. Go and give Ant some love. It is easily one of the most original webcomics out there on the internet. I owe the guy a large favor since he originally linked to my blog so this is payback along with a few forums posts.

And now...

Shrub Monkeys by Katie Shanahan

I've talked to Allan of Allan and Ryan from the 600 on the topic of journal comics. The fact is that thanks to one of the big webcomic powerhouses linking to Allan, almost every recently created blog/journal comic has been a stylistic rip off of Allan's comic. Heck, I even did it with most of my 40 Day Web Comic Challenge Art. It was nice finding a different artistically styled comic. Now before you go on to complain that Shrub Monkeys started before Allan (by several years) I am just pointing this fact out because YOU CAN COME UP WITH AN ORIGINAL IDEA AND STYLE FOR JOURNAL WEBCOMICS.

The art is high class stuff, the quality and caliber that you can come to expect from actual animators. Katie's art is amazing, energetic and you realize what one can learn in a college for cartooning. Long story short, the art is great. Not much more to say about it except that it can be minimalistic at times. No backgrounds, etc.

The jokes (where art students may fail at this point) are also great. Technically I should say "writing" but more or less, I am out of it (the review writing groove). The jokes mostly focus on real life humor but you don't feel alienated by inside jokes. The fact is that the main character is about as un-embellished as you can get, the non-Mary Sue factor comes off on occasionally almost Charlie Brown levels. The jokes do require a decent amount of prior knowledge though.

Overall, the comic is great. Great art, great writing. Not much more to say. Then again, I am rusty right now so what the heck do I know. A

Big News

I finally got my own webcomic started. Super Feudal Communist Russia Team Squad Now! will be updating every Friday (till I get some more cash flowing).

Along with this I hope to continue with a review a week. I'll put up the review in a few hours of Shrub Monkeys. I need to sleep, shower and shower again.

To tide you over, Hiimdaisy has a pretty awesome Persona 4 comic up. Check out the comic. TRIAL OF THE DRAGONNNNNNNN! ( I post this as 60% of my free time has been spent on this game.)

Sleep time!

Edit: Busy editing html, installing a forum and such to write a review. Page is better now though.

Daisy Owl and The Meek

First off, I need to apologize for my break over the past few weeks especially when I usually don't take all of that much time to write reviews. Its becoming more of an inspiration thing and writing a blog that reaches maybe 10 readers can be a depressing thing. I am not saying that I garner no enjoyment from my blog but I will assure you, the blog is far from dead, far from dying and far from another planned block break. I will comment though that update times will be in pandemonium now as on Monday and Sunday I am busy so on Friday you can more likely respect an update.

Daisy Owl by Ben Driscoll

Daisy Owl is an enjoyable and simply drawn comic, much like print comics used to be except with a wit and humor that can apply to today's webcomic readers in certain strips. While the comic does not hold the amazing humor one might attribute to a KC Green comic, they hold a style to the own debating bear racism, honey science and conversations on other topics that one might normally not consider unless on some psychotropic drugs.

The art style is very simple line art, not that there is a problem with that. The complaint would be though, you can find better art in other webcomics.

Daisy Owl is not a wasted comic to read through They made a smart choice telling the origin of out order and they seem to still be getting in the grove overall but give it a shot, you might like it or you might not but chances are, it will pay off in the end.

If I were to comment on how to improve the comic, it would be a difficult thing to say. The art could be more complex, add in some line variation instead of the same what seems to be illustrator lines over and over and also add texture from time to time but doing that might destroy some of the classic appeal. It comes to the question of audience or style.

The writing is progressing well and the only really advice would be to keep it up, keep improving and just don't give up.

Daisy Owl earns a solid B for creative writing and overly simplistic art.

The Meek by D. Helmer

The Meek is one of those weird webcomics you find being created by an amateur with enough professionalism that it makes you wonder why every webcomic can't have this level of quality.

The story so far (it has only been running for a while) follows Angora, a girl from the jungle who due to circumstances not fully known at this time is being tracked in the forest. While there are tits ahoy (the comic is NSFW depending on your level of censorship) the simplest explanation seems to be she is being tracked by horny old men. Drama enough, interest is there and the comic is unfolding slowly playing its cards out nice and smooth.

The art itself is top notch, stylistic and expertly done by a person who from the FAQs section, seems to be self trained to some degree. The characters are expertly designed and it easily grabs one interest.

My one complaint would be the update schedule so you can help by supporting the artist so we can let the story unfold faster.

The comic is off to an excellent start and really has set high expectations. I hope to see this comic picking up popularity faster.

The Meek earns an A.

Up next week, Shrub Monkeys and something else.

Ummm - See You Friday

I'm still on break. I returned to my dorm to discover that I am changing my room finally. Between moving and actually playing video games (my roommates have video games consoles and they share), cooking and in general not being depressed, I have not found time to write a review. I will probably change the update date to Friday though. So, check back then.

On Breakation

For once I actually have been unable to find time to read a webcomic. Off on vacation. Will see if I can find a comic to read through Thursday. Sorry.