The Zoo Act

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The Zoo Act

Staff: Myron Macklin

Overview:

An excellently written comic with adult themes, good visuals, and competent writing.

Review:

Starting off, there are some really adult themes in this comic. They are handled well but it’s got blood, tits, drugs, kinky sex in bunny masks, death, dogfighting, more drugs, splattered brains, murder, etc. If your a kid, put this down and go watch some Spongebob.

The art is very stylized in this comic. I love the way they utilize black, white, and light blue to augment the emotional aspect of the visuals. The style kind of reminds me of Frank Miller’s art in Dark Knight Returns vaguely. This does suffer a few mishaps when the black is used for multiple similar aspects of the picture but ultimately these are far and few between. They do a great job using the environment to show motion, something a lot of artist could better utilize (the trail of snow off a foot kicking for example). The art on the whole shows some real talent. The artist had a keen understanding of dynamic posing and that stops the stylized look of the comic from becoming distorted. I liked all the little nods to pop culture they slipped in the background (is that a certain King of Monsters I see in the protagonist’s apartment?).

I need to mention that special attention was given to the character designs in this book. Everyone FELT like they were unique and that the designs were able to inform me of something about the character. Like when they show a senator’s son he had a american flag pin, a overlarge collar, scruffy facial hair, and a black and white (or at least some color pinstripe) tie. That educates me a lot as to who he is. Why is his suit collar large? Does he not like suits? Does he not know how to wear/pick a suit? Is he just so use to suits that this is just a little well worn? It gives him personality and I can really dig it.
From a lettering perspective there were a few times when letter spacing with the font they chose gave me a little problem (example: There is an instance where it looks like the word is “he ad” rather than “head”) but ultimately it is readable. I think they were looking to have the font match the art style and it certainly does. The onomatopoeia are well done and indicative of the sound visually so that’s a plus. It’s untraditional for a comic to use hyphens to break words across lines and it does do this on occasion. If it feels like I an nit-picking, I really am. It’s just little things. Ultimately you can read it so what else really matters right? 🙂

The dialogue is well written. It has a bitter, almost satirical, edge, and isn’t always PG-13 (again, nothing too offensive). We have some slang tossed in there. Having multiple conversations going on at the same time does get confusing at time As an example, at one point a TV is dropping some background exposition while the protagonist is having a phone call. It wouldn’t have been an issue but then we have a few full screen panels of the TV conversation and it breaks the flow of the phone call, which I had to go back and re-read to pick it up again when they jump back to it. On the flip side there is some beautiful imagery that goes with the visuals, acting in tandem rather than at odds with it. For example we have a beat to hell guy walking and the narration is, “But my legs only mimic walking”. Goddam bloody gorgeous. The story often flips from vulgar dialogue and slang to a more artistic inner monologue and it works.

One thing I’ll say is that this is a long comic (117 pages) and hell if it isn’t good… but after a while the pacing started to slow down. I would really have broken this up into two, three, or even four issues. It’s not like the story wasn’t good but I think it could have benefited from a break, like how a run-on sentence could benefit from a coma (or a period).

Overall this is a fantastic, if not adult, comic. It’s got an interesting art style, compelling story, and competent writing. The premise seems like it’s been done at least in part before (no spoilers) but it’s a welcome premise with a lot of room to grow. I would really recommend this only for adults (18+) but it’s a hell of a good read. The point of this site is to find indies that push the envelope and in that regard- I’m glad I reviewed this one. Check it out.

 

Metrics

Art: 7/10 (Stylized but it works and good on a technical level)

Lettering: 5/10 (Readable but some really minor issues)

Plot: 6/10 (Damn good read. 18+ though.)

Novelty: 7/10 (Novel art style, good characters, excellent tone)

Overall: 6.25/10

 Link to Website

Eclipse

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Eclipse

Staff: Trevor Talbott, Scott Meier, Peter Raymond, Jessica Jimerson

Overview:

Shine on your magnificent bastards.

Review:

Alright so Trevor Talbott, the creator, shot me a email regarding his KS backed comic. Like normal I am going in blind (to try to remain objective) so I have not read any sort of intro or summary. With that being said, lets jump into “Eclipse”!

So the artwork is really trying to be professional grade. A lot of indie comics don’t think enough about the color pallet they are using for a comic, but this one a lot of thought went into it. The style seems very “DC” (which is good for the most part) and I definitely get the modern superhero vibe from this comic. The artist (the line artist in particular) doesn’t draw heads or faces as well as bodies it seems. Sometimes we get characters with really heavy jaws, oddly placed eyes, and they seems to have two expressions- teeth grit or lips closed. The eyes are almost always WIDE OPEN and while I think it is a stylistic choice, I don’t think it lends anything to the visuals (kind of makes the characters look like dolls). Also, page 20 had some really good example of dynamic movement and the way you can layout your panels in a creative way (hats off you ya’! It deserves a special mention).

One thing that I liked was the way they handled having a (slightly) autistic dad in the story. They didn’t go all “comic made for the express purpose of beating us over the head with a message ” on us, but they did show the problems it presents. This is the hallmark of really good writing. At first I was honestly going to write this off comic as one of the dozen “generic superhero” comics we’ve all see in the indie space but- goddam was I wrong. This is a comic with heart, some fantastic characterizations, well thought-out dialogue, and by the end I really could identify with it.

I gotta say I liked the references to other comic characters (The “Menacing Bulk” and the “Crimson Bat”). This was written by a comic fan for comic fans, I can tell you that much. There are lot of little inside references. The costume design for the protagonist REALLY reminds me of Nightwing (particularly the New 52 version) and a lot of the visual tricks they use with good ol’ Dick Grayson pop up (multiple iterations of the same character on the same panel in different positions to show fluid acrobatic movement).

To be honest, I wasn’t a huge can of the antagonist. When you hold him up next to such a well written protagonist he doesn’t really stand up. Hell, I was kind of sad when we had to go back to present day and see scenes without the protagonist’s father who was much more interesting to me. Then again, if it had not progressed the story, I probably would have criticized the patience. The saving grace of the villain is that you get some good character development at the end of the comic and it makes me think there is more to him than that. He seems to be being set up for something bigger.

If I have a gripe it is that we don’t get too much actually happening in the peasant. We get an intro followed by an extended flashback (that gives context and character development), and finally a little ending. The main character is pretty much in the same situation he starts in, though we get some world building. I don’t know if that is a bad thing, and maybe it is my American need for instant gratification, but I don’t get a big payoff. Like I feel there should have been a big ol’ fight at some point that really shows us what this hero can do (present day).

Overall though, this is a stellar comic. I can recommend it sheerly on the strength of writing, but the art is worth a glance too. It goes into some unexplored territory and is very clever in the entire overall presentation. Give it a read!

Metrics

Art: 5/10 (Nearly pro grade)

Lettering: 5/10 (Didn’t notice it so that means it’s solid)

Plot: 8/10 (Back story is great)

Novelty: 7/10 (Pushes some boundaries in terms of the treatment of Autism)

Overall: 6.25/10

Link to Facebook

Penny Palabras

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Penny Palabras

Staff: Kelly Matten and Waker farrell

Overview:

Wonderful creepy pasta in comic form.

Review:

Ok so today’s main dish is Penny Palabras, a supernatural story by James B Willard and Patrick K Beavers. We are given a brief introduction that describes a girl (Penny) who is terrorized by a paranormal entity known as “the straw man” and she seeks to find a way to free herself from him. It’s a pretty novel concept off the bat and I’m psyched to get into it! Lets dive into, Penny Palabras (Episode One: The Spectacular Revolver).

Let’s start with the visuals. The art is a drag grayscale that uses a lot of negative space and rough lines. It’s very fitting with the theme and is a stylistic choices rather than a demonstration of the limits of the artist. Mix that with the almost handwritten typography and you have a wonderful visual presentation. There are a few limits brought on by the art style and things I wished they had find a way around (some of the dark grey dialogue bubbles have their edges lost against other areas of dark grey due to a lack of stroke for example). That being said, the art is not professional grade but I almost doesn’t want professional grade with a comic like this. It fits too well. It’s dirty and messy, just like the story.

The story is narrated from the perspective of an odd little girl but before you start shouting “gothic-Alice syndrome!” she defies the cliche. Penny is one of the few female protagonists who doesn’t seem to be just a pair of breasts and hips, she is more than that. I could have seen this character being written as a male or female, but I get the feeling that if Penny had been a guy it would have been a much more “emo” comic. Instead Penny is tough yet still sensitive enough to be vulnerable and have problems.

There is some clever writing that match the clever visuals. The story is very engaging and they make use of both the visual and literary aspects of the medium (example: talking about the skull faced man you can see in the moon while moon is right there). There is an art to that and it’s well done here. It leaves us on a cliffhanger, asking more questions than it really answers, and while as a reader that bothers me a bit- it works. It snags you hook-line and sinker and pulls you along for a ride. Penny Palabras doesn’t fall into the trap of a lot of first issues where it just hammers you with exposition. No, it establishes things pretty quick and actually progresses the tale by page 24.

All and all this is a fantastic little comic. Right now it’s donation for the first issue and I strongly suggest you pick up a copy if your into the horror, supernatural or even just plain mystery genres. Totally worth a read.

 

Metrics

Art: 5/10 (Not pro but it fits the theme)

Lettering: 5/10 (Sloppy and inconsistent)

Plot: 7/10 (What can I say? I love well written female character.)

Novelty: 8/10 (New and creepy!)

Overall: 6.25/10

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Stargirl

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Stargirl

Staff: Brandon Rhiness, Brittni Bromley, Przemyslaw Dedelis

Overview:

A space opera that manages to put me to sleep.

Review:

Alright so today we are going to do Stargirl. It’s a scifi that looks like a space opera and I LOVE me some space opera so let’s get into it!

Starting off, the art is well done even if it is not professional grade. At times it looks like there might have been a compression and/rasterization issue on some of the panels but overall it’s a solid effort with a lot of life to it. There are some great use of perspective in here, showing some real talent, though the colors are a bit simple. However, that’s kind of ruined with a few sloppy panels that lack the details of the others and it stands out. There is also this odd coloration on some of the skintones of the characters. It’s like it had shadows that were just drawn on with a low-opacity brush and left unblended. The effect is that they look more like odd 2D skin blemishes rather than adding depth. Perhaps the best way to express it is that this comic has great linework but the color is not on the same level.

The lettering could really have used a professional edge to it. There were plenty of poor choices and they were made on a most basic level. There are small things like always fitting a bubble into a panel rather than allowing it to merge the border, cramped lettering, inconsistent spacing, etc but there were also large things. An example is located right on the cover where a light colored font in the subtitle gets lost in a bright white starburst.

We get some expository dialogue and the writer falls into the trap of using his words to explain rather than letting the visual aspects of the comic illustrate what is going on. On the flip side, there is a lot of fun dialogue in here (particularly between a character and a humanoid dog) that is a cut above some of the dryer bits we get. A lot of the pages are really dialogue heavy and don’t really progress the plot. It felt like I was waiting for SOMETHING to happen.

The layout of the comic is pretty solid and it has some fun paneling showcased. There is this odd use of a really large panel in the middle of the comic (not like double size) that is a bit disruptive and I’m not really sure why it couldn’t just fit onto a single page. However, on the whole, it’s pretty well laid out and they play with panel/perspective enough to keep it interesting.

I’m not sure how to phrase this delicately so I’ll be blunt- I was really bored by this comic until the very very end. They spent a lot of time working on these characters, fleshing out their personal life, but it just kind of stays there and doesn’t move for about 25 pages. We get small victories until then, but it feels more like a time waster. And the worst part is that very little adds up to the end result- they could have summed up 90% of what was said in a few pages and it would have had the same impact on the story.

All and all I don’t think I’d recommend it. I love space opera stories and this doesn’t make the grade. It has some fantastic linework and the components of a real solid story are laying about- but they were not deftly assembled into a compelling narrative.

Metrics

Art: 3/10 (Good linework, hit & miss color)

Lettering: 2/10 (Sloppy and inconsistent)

Plot: 3/10 (The pieces of a good story are here but it left me bored)

Novelty: 5/10 (It’s new to me! Draws from some other established tropes but that’s ok)

Overall: 3.5/10

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I Am Michael Watcher

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I Am Michael Watcher

Staff: Brian Hawkins

Overview:

A psychological thriller that falls kinda flat.

Review:

I Am Michael Watcher by Brian Hawkins is next up in the good ol’ review queue. I know a few other reviewers have done this one (check out a few over at GoodReads or on J53518’s review on YouTube) but I skipped reading/watching them for this comic to make sure I could formulate my own opinions. So that being said, let’s dive right into “I Am Michael Watcher”.

The art, to be honest, reminds me of an art student. It has a lot of texture and detail in SOME things. It lends itself to this cliche where there tends to be the characters involved and some object to give us perspective but other wise we are only treated to an uninspired background. There are some occasional minor oversights in terms of perspective but nothing super major, however the death by a thousand cuts is often worse than one fell blow. It all adds up to feeling like this was drawn by an art student rather than some kind of professional. Nothing wrong with it, just nothing impressive. There are also some very ugly facial expressions that suffer from accentuated realism that gets applies to a character’s face when the artist is too focused on the facial details (example: see the bottom right panel of page 10). I’m happy to report however that the lettering is just fine and looks quite professional.

The characters, when we finally get to them, are pretty lively. I like the down to Earth take they have on college life (and relationships during college in particular) and the personality they exude. I don’t want to say that they dwell too much on it- but I felt like saying, “just get on with it already” a few times. The dialogue walks the line between unnecessarily explanatory (“I don’t know who this is?” “My roommate”) and relatively realistic dialogue between two people.

While the pacing suffers, it isn’t a bad story overall. It has enough there to keep you guessing but it didn’t invest me in the world/stakes as much as I’d hoped. Maybe I’m jaded by CSI and Law & Order, but it felt a little contrived at times. That’s not to say it doesn’t have good points, it really does real quite well and it’s worth the read (maybe TV is just a better medium for murder mystery?). If it has a flaw though, it is that it really is one of those comics that crawls near the end (for the second half of the comic) and rushes in the beginning. You can tell the direction it is going but by the end of it you are just flipping pages to make sure you are right.

Ultimately the only word that comes to mind with this comic is “harmless”. It’s not bad, but I don’t think it will make it to be top of 2014 list either. I feel like the comic could have been made better by cutting the page count in half (example: The entire struggle on the first pages could be done in three or four panels relatively well) and moving the plot more in the first issue. An increased reliance on visual storytelling could have also benefited the piece and allowed it to retain an air of mystery. As it stands, they spell everything out with painful detail in heavy dialogue.

In conclusion, it’s worth a read if horror/mystery is your thing. I’d recommend you give it a read but suggest you buy the first two or three issues if you are going to get into it.

Metrics

Art: 3/10 (Unpolished)

Lettering: 5/10 (Spot on)

Plot: 4/10 (Pace is a slow and you can call most of it but it’s still good)

Novelty: 4/10 (Nothing super new. Enough to keep me interested.)

Overall: 4/10

Link to Product

Last Breath

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Last Breath

Staff: Sam Eggleston, Jason Baroody, Josh Oakes, John Hunt, Kim Eggleston

Overview:

Hard hitting space survival story that is competently executed

Review:

I love a good scifi and today’s entree is “Last Breath” which as a crying astronaut on the cover so- hey, I guess this is my cup of tea. This is a KickStartered comic and I’m always glad to see delivery on those. Anyway, let’s jump in.

This comic opens with the iconic space race and mainlines us some concentrated backstory that expands the timeline of the space race into the future. I am glad to see that they didn’t go to hardcore into the scifi (no giant robots, alien invaders, etc) when they begin with such a historically grounded premise.

I gotta say, the art is spot on for this comic. It’s pretty standard high production value American style comic art. It has realistic proportions and even though it’s a scifi that takes place in the future (no that distant though) it still looks very recognizable. I really dig the way they use expansive starfields behind the character to stress how alone he is.and how little they make him look for a lot of it. The lettering is also standard comic book fare for comics and that is to say it was legible and differentiated internal dialogue and spoken dialogue well. The thing with lettering is, when it isn’t a problem it’s good (it’s SO easy to mess up).

The writing is done primarily through internal narration for the first half, which again, lends itself to the “lone survivor” vibe it is going for. There is no one to hear him, so he talks to himself. I don’t want to spoil a lot of this comic (it’s VERY well written) so I’ll leave it at that.

Plot wise, again I am not looking to spoil this so my hands a bit tied, but it is something not to be missed. It reminds me of Apollo 13 a little bit and I say that in the best possible way. There is some very good characterization, though after a point we basically are left with two characters in an impossible situation. They don’t got into the geopolitics that is evidently going on in the background (then again, this is the first issue) and the plot kind of flies by as the pacing picks up to a rocket’s pace by the end. A defter hand might have slowed it a bit near the end but then again it could have ruined the action a bit.

All and all this is a solid comic and you should pick it up if only for the production value and premise. Not to spoil anything but it’s a near-future, hard science, survival story with man facing off against the environmental dangers of the exploration of the moon. It’s competently written, engaging, with some great art to boot. The backers for this KickStarter will NOT be disappointed. Give it a read! 

Metrics

Art: 7/10 (High grade)

Lettering: 6/10 (No complaints)

Plot: 6/10 (Good with a little rushed pacing near the end)

Novelty: 6/10 (Hey- it’s new to me)

Overall: 6.25/10

Link to Site

The Believer

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The Believer

Staff: Larry Morgan

Overview:

Generic superhero doesn’t begin to cover it.

Review:

So today I am reading The Believer by Larry Morgan for Electro-Magnetic Press. I actually got a physical copy sent to me for this one so I’m a little out of my element (I normally do PDF based reviews here) but that doesn’t mean much. I see a few crosses and some superhero goodness so lets jump in!

The first thing about this comic is the character design and to be honest, it is not very inspired. He looks like someone was made on HeroMachine.com and doesn’t have anything super defining about his appearance other than the cross over his head and heart (oh yeah and on the bottom of his boots too). It gives me the “BibleMan” vibe and in the worst possible way. The cover has him with a variety of colors and an asymmetrical “v” shaped neckline that extends over his heart and down his arm in blue. This might translate well in a color comic, but we have a black and white comic and this is just left white (like the rest of his suit) and kind of comes off as an odd out of place line at times. He also has this magically disappearing cape that is sometimes replaced with a shield and sometimes just not there (it varies from panel to panel).

The art in this comic is decent at times but at other times it is downright terrible (see Midnight Man’s hand on page 7). It’s obviously drawn by something with talent as the perspective and profiles are spot on. Part of me things it is partially traced or drawn by multiple artists because some parts are excellent and others are unforgivably bad. The jarring differences are blatantly apparent and causes a very weird disconnect.

The art also suffers a bit in the details, foremost in musculature and the background. The background of most panels are left white and I lost what was happening because I lacked any sort of visual cues as to what is going on (example: When a character is falling I was not sure if they are just standing funny or falling). And since the story jumps so much it’s nearly impossible to follow what it is going on at time. Images also clip beyond their stroke sometimes (example top right panel on page 5) which makes me wonder how these were drawn (like like vector artwork?).

The story reads as generically as possible. I really hate to use the word, “generic” because generic superhero stories are a pet peeve of mine. They feel like cheap knock offs and try to use the same tropes used by writers of established heroes and it always falls flat unless it is in parody. The story here is that there is a generic hero, with generic powers, who fights genetic villains, in a generic universe that wouldn’t be out of place in a major publisher (except without as much history, depth, background, continuity, etc). I kept waiting for this to turn out to be a joke or a parody but it wasn’t. It just kind of read like a recap of a generic superhero universe that I wasn’t invested in. I’ve seen that song and dance a thousand times before. There is so much exposition crammed into the front had of the book that only a miracle could save it and the second half of the book is basically a fight scene between two characters. It doesn’t advance the plot much, it doesn’t tell us who these guys are, the set up is weak, and honestly- it is just really stale.

One thing I did like about it was the ending. It gave me a glimmer of hope for this character. It was a single pearl in a pile of mud though. However, even then the execution was flawed. A good twist, like they pulled at the end, needs build up and context. We are never given a hint or reference that this is something that could happen or how out of place this would be in the world (despite all the exposition in the front half of the book). If you pull a twist with no investment or build up, it doesn’t work. It’s just random.

The dialogue is dry and comes off like a parody of human speech. Most of it is exposition or explanation of things. People hardly talk- they make declarations or attempt one-liners. It feels like the characters are giving us the cliffsnotes version of the story. If the staff slowed down and gave their characters time to develop and impress upon us who they are it might not have been as bad but they rush it. We basically get what could have been two or three stories in one comic and only a few pages per story. Each of them could have been pushed into a full issue to give us time to really get into the nitty gritty of this big universe.

All and all I am really disappointed in this comic. There is obvious passion, forethought, and a bigger story trying to be told in this comic that the skill of the writer can’t execute properly. In the hands of a more veteran writer this might have been a great plot with an amazing twist but instead it’s a forgettable comic with a slight shrug on the last page before you close the book.

Metrics

Art: 3/10 (A few good pieces, but a lot of rough stuff)

Lettering: 4/10 (Sloppy and inconsistent)

Plot: 1/10 (Rushed and bland)

Novelty: 1/10 (So painful it generic)

Overall: 2.25/10

Link to Publisher

The Fog Walkers

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The Fog Walkers

Staff: Tim & Alorian Haire

Overview:

Hate to say it but buy this comic for the artistic direction and ignore the rest.

Review:

So today I am looking at an indie comic called “The Fog Walkers”. This is one of the more painful reviews I have had to do. It is a downright dream in terms of art but everything else falls so flat. In short, I REALLY want to love this comic but I just can’t. That being said, I lets jump into the good stuff first.

Fog Walkers takes a different spin on art. They are using photos rather than illustrations and it WORKS so well. The tone and style is something this comic has down pat. They have a heavy filter over their black and white pictures which blends the line between illustration and photograph. It is gritty and dark and lonely and it perfectly matches the aesthetic they were going for. It’s a risky gamble that pays off. I’ve seen other comics that have tried to do something this but it ended up looking like terrible clip art (generally traced with Illustrator). Add to that the fantastic and creative page layout, where they extend characters beyond the panel edge to look at images in other panels, and this is one of my favorite comics visually thus far for 2014. 

One thing that bugs me about this comic is the lettering. Hands down the worst I’ve ever seen. It might be a technical glitch but the lettering has odd spaces and occasionally will separate a letter or two out from the rest. I don’t think it was done for tone or style, and if it was- it fails to convey anything other than “this comic is hard to read”. They use a spidery thin font and made me strain my eyes to read it on occasion and the jumbled mess that was their spacing just compounded the problem.

The plot, unlike the fantastic artwork, is lacking as well. We hop on the exposition express in the first two pages. The dialogue is stale and doesn’t sound human and not much progresses in the first comic. We have a guy who is fighting aliens who have conquered the planet. A fog they need to survive has mutated some humans and they fight back against the aliens. Our protagonist is a “fog walker”. It’s a really interesting premise that doesn’t really go anywhere in issue #1. That is not to say that a first issue has to go somewhere and I was actually pretty interested in the setting. However, I didn’t care all that much about the character or his situation.

It seems like there were more interesting stories that could be told in this world unless I am missing something. Where is the twist? Where is the passion? Where is the intrigue? The first issue comes a guy putting on some cloths and leaving his shelter for a city where he kills something. It feels like it fell flat and honestly that is a shame considering the kind of love that went into the premise and downright gorgeous artwork.

UPDATE: Having received an updated version from the publisher the quality of the lettering has improved significantly. It was a technical error on their behalf and they have amended it. The new lettering is still not superb. I would still suggest they do another revision on the kind of font they are using. The inconsistent character stroke and embellishment may play to the tone of the comic but it is a bit difficult to read (particularly with a black and white comic). I can admire the intent but the finished product is still a bit difficult to read.

Metrics

Art: 8/10 (Oh man was this cool)

Lettering: 4/10 (Difficult to read)

Plot: 3/10 (Setting has potential. Characters and plot didn’t grab me)

Novelty: 8/10 (Trippy and boundary pushing)

Overall: 5.75/10

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Salvagers

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Salvagers

Staff: Bob Salley, George Acevedo, Delfine Siobhan-Kanashii

Overview:

Caution: Hardcore scifi slummy greatness inside

Review:

So Salvagers comes to us from Hound Comics who has a pretty good rep and I’ve been looking to check out a comic or two from them. I picked up Salvagers #1 and can’t wait to dive in.

So these guys are pros. I read that comic without even blinking I think. 28 pages gone in a flash. Salvagers is about, you guessed it, salvage… but in space. At first it vaguely reminds me of the series planetes (If you haven’t seen that, stop reading this and treat yourself to an episode or two) but by the end the only things I could really liken it to were Firefly and Star Wars. A rag-tag crew of high-risk salvagers scour the stars for a few legitimate jobs. We join our crew as they are attempting to salvage a warship. When the ships security measures start kicking in, things go FUBAR. Don’t want to give anything away because it’s a solid comic but the real star of the comic is the characterization. The characters and their interactions with each other is a lot of fun to read and you can tell by the way they talk that they have been slumming in on these crummy jobs for a while now.

The art is professional, no questions asked. Top notch grade A USDA approved comic art. The color and proportions were consistent, the dynamic action spot on, and the perspective creative and indicative of the action. If there is one complaint I can make it is the lettering, it switches for various reasons (com chatter, synthetic voice, etc) and sometimes that is for the worse. A few times the type got kind of close to the edge of the speech bubble and I really felt like it wasn’t on the level of the awesome art this comic has.

Sorry for the short review this time, but I don’t have a lot of critiques for this one. Love it, go check it out.

Metrics

Art: 9/10 (100% Grade A Comic Art)

Lettering: 4/10 (Sloppy in a few places)

Plot: 6/10 (Characterization is the strong point here)

Novelty: 6/10 (Nothing groundbreaking in novelty but an instant classic.)

Overall: 6.25/10

Link to Product

Dr. 2

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Dr. 2

Staff: James Chiang & Peter Tieryas

Overview:

Messy and weird and I love it.

Review:

Sometimes it takes a few rough edges to make something memorable. It’s not the pearly white clean “by the book” things that stick in our minds, no they are far too ordinary, we remember the rough things that challenge us. Dr. 2 is not a clean thing by any stretch of the imagination and it’ got faults and flaws a plenty but it sticks in your mind and you can’t help but wonder if the little things were not intentionally stabbed like a needle in your brain to catch your attention.

A little background. Dr. 2 is done by two VFX artists and I can almost see it in the way this is made. It is drawn with a janky, grayscale, hyper stylized approach that draws heavy inspiration from film noir. The deformed faces and rough brushstrokes the comic is drawn in plays to the overall tone of the comics and really captures the aesthetic they are going for. Sometimes this makes it difficult to tell what is going on and they throw a LOT at you real fast and to be honest- I didn’t catch everything with just one read through. That is not a compliment because I felt pretty lost by page 20 and key points got lost due to some points that are mentioned early on that get resolved later.

Some sleight lettering/dialogue balloon mistakes are actually gambles that didn’t pay off. For example, on page 28 we have the driver of a car turning a radio on but we can’t see it so we have an arched bit of text that says “Radio On” with a curving arrow indicating that the character is turning it in that direction. Visually that works and is kind of novel, however the arrow has this issue that occurs in Adobe Illustrator when you try to curve a line and then apply a stock arrow style to it as a stroke where it oddly warps the traditionally straight tip. I know I’m getting technical here but for what is otherwise a great comic- little things like that get in the way of really pushing it up to the next level. It’s more a “death by a thousand papercuts” kind of thing that drags the production quality down and most of it could simply be reworked and repaired (provided they kept the layers separate).

The contrast used in the comic is undoubtedly the best use I’ve seen in an indy comic and reminds me of Samurai Jack fighting the Ninja. It fits with the “shades of grey” sense of morality to get and pays homage to the kind of detective flicks that this reminds me of.

There is a very compelling story to be told here and it is currently sitting in a bunch of pieces like a puzzle sitting on the floor. It’ll probably take a few issues (well… no doubt a series) to sort itself out and I gotta admit I’m pretty hooked. I’d love to see the ways this fit together. The characters were mysterious yet familiar enough in their roles that it was genuinely enjoyable to spend some times in this little world Dr. 2 has created.

As a heads up to younger readers, this comic probably should have an NC-17 rating on it but if you are of age- give it a read!

Metrics

Art: 6/10 (Good and stylized)

Lettering: 3/10 (Not this comic’s strong point)

Plot: 6/10 (Engaging and fun)

Novelty: 7/10 (Took risks and some paid off, some did not.)

Overall: 5.5/10