Office Stix...

Anyone out there seen Office Space? You know, the movie with the guys working in an office, and all of the mundane yet hilarious things that happen there? Yeah, the crazy guy who only wanted his stapler cracks me up every time....sigh. Now to the review.

Office Stix is basically a stick figure version of Office Space, only without the whole hypnotist turns guy who hates his job into a guy who doesn't give a crap whether he gets fired or not and gets a promotion nonsense. It's only seven comics in so this will be a short review. The site doesn't say when it updates.

Artwise, well, Rui(I don't know if that's his/her name but that's what's in his/her email) admits him/herself that the art is less than stellar but is focusing mainly on the jokes, which makes it easier on me. It's praying mantis like stick figures wearing ties standing around in different office settings, such as the cubicle and the water cooler. I've never worked in an office but apparently these are staples. I have to say that I'm just as much into the art of a comic as the writing, and to me they go hand in hand. I wish there was more effort put into the it but it's early in the comics life so I won't say anymore other than that the art will most likely improve as everyone experiments with their art eventually.

The jokes are what the creator says he's focusing on, and that we should too. Well, so far I do believe that a couple of the jokes are good, but out of the seven up so far, four of them miss the mark. I liked #2, #4, and #5. The others just kinda fell flat. Given time I'm sure he/she will figure out what works and what doesn't and bring the funny more often than not. I wonder when he/she will do a copy machine joke....

When it's all said and done, with only seven strips up Office Stix isn't bad but needs some fine tuning. Some top notch jokes will help people forgive the simplistic art, and I'll be checking back on it in time to see what's to come...

I give this comic...

Synthetic Life...

Synthetic Life, created by Eve Z., stars an android girl named Michelle who was created by a young scientist named Sean, who fails to tell her that she's not human. His reasons for creating her vary from using her to rescue his father to trying to create a robot with emotions, especially love. There is action, romance, and a little dose of humor. I'm not too sure what the update schedule is but as of the time of this writing there are 5 chapters with between 14-30 comics in each.

To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of the anime style. I did like Vampire Hunter D, and I dug the Street Fighter 2 movie, but the big eyes and way out there expressions kinda bug me. Synthetic Life isn't totally in anime style, but does flirt with it heavily. I like the art here for the most part, but Sean just looks odd, like he's wearing a beard that he drew on with eyeliner or something. Maybe he would look better without it. I would like to see Eve Z. slowly find her own style and start to steer away from the leanings toward anime, as she has real potential. Anyway, the backgrounds are well drawn and plentiful, and the characters all have their own style and distinguished looks unlike a lot of comics where the characters all look alike except for a different hairstyle. Also the coloring job looks great with lots of shading and blending. The later comics look quite professional and improve greatly from the earliest offerings.

The story here can be kind of hard to follow at times, with the mad scientist villain seeming more like a senile non threat than a true bad guy. At one point, angry at one of his two girl androids, he tells her he's going to call around and punish her by making her babysit kids. Not very evil. Also, the writing can sometimes be awkward, like it's an English language translation of Japanese anime. For instance, panel 8 of this page. A little more time taken on proper sentences and wordplay will make all the difference in the world. However, I like the characterization of Michelle. Her wide-eyed innocence of the world around her is written well enough and you will come to sympathize with her and want to know what happens next.

The site has a nice selection of extras, such as a story page, which tells you how the characters were created and what the basic story is; a characters page; fanart; and a nice drawing tutorial. We all need as much practice as we can get!

Synthetic Life has an interesting story and some very nice art which is constantly improving going for it. There are some things that need to be worked on, but I doubt you would be disappointed by giving it a quick read. If anything, it may better help you cope with the fact that lifelike robots are getting closer and closer to reality....

I give this comic...

Check it out!

TalkAboutComics recently did a short review of the site which I'm really happy about. Just click on the link to see what they had to say. Also, Aarin's review site is mentioned in the same webcomic review roundup. I'm in great company!

Solipsism...

I think it's great the way anyone and everyone can whip up a webcomic, slap together a website, and put their comic out there for everyone, well, at least a few people, to see. We all have something to say, don't we? Webcomics are a good way to express ourselves and have an audience at the same time, talent or no. Let's get on with the review...

Solipsism, by Mike Escobar, tells the epic story of, well, Mike Escobar. How exciting can one dude about to enter college be? Well, the comics vary from Mike giving headbutts to Mike being hated by everyone. So to answer my own question, not very. Updates seem to be whenever he decides to.

The synopsis above might sound a bit harsh, but honestly there isn't much to this comic to get excited about. Artwise, the strip is basically talking heads. And when I say "heads", I mean heads. The first few comics had a few bodies, but the artist decided that disembodied heads were the way to go. Color is used in the newer ones, but doesn't do much to help the fact that there are no backgrounds at all and nothing else. Just heads. Working on the art would help this comic immeasurably.

Some comics have mediocre art and great writing, but this comic has neither. Take this comic for instance.
That's about as good as it gets. Better jokes, or jokes period, would heighten the experience for everyone. Writing tutorials are everywhere on the internet.

I feel strongly that Solipsism needs a lot of work to be worthy of a read. Less floating heads, more backgrounds, some decent jokes and situational comedy and we could see a comic in there somewhere. But hey, maybe this is just what Mike Escobar has to say...

I give this comic...

Question and Answer Time!

Please welcome a new feature to the site, Question and Answer Time! Today's victim is "Cooties" creator Nick Perkins. Let me know what you think, and enjoy!

1. What was your main motivation for doing Cooties?
First of all, cartooning is a passion for me. It's all I did in high school; I spent lots of time making toons for my friends and just something to do to pass the time while teachers droned on. In college, I did a comic strip for the school newspaper, and I've spent the last six years as an editorial cartoonist for two different Utah newspapers on top of that. It's just in my blood, I guess.

Secondly, the medium of webcomics is so exciting for an artist; as opposed to spending years toiling away unnoticed trying to get picked up by a newspaper syndicate, today's cartoonist can bypass the bureaucracy and editorial control of the old system by simply putting up a website and becoming accessible to anyone who can find them. And the strict limits put on newspaper cartoonists go out the window as well, so content that was once considered "underground" is, on the web, mainstream. So now, you have to look a little bit harder to find comics appropriate for all ages. My motivation with Cooties is to have something that my kids and my mom would enjoy, but at the same time be funny and action-packed enough for the rest of us. I picture it as Peanuts meets The Incredibles.

2. Is anything from the comic inspired by real life events? Any particular event you would like to share?
Some of my family and friends will definitely recognize Nathan as my 7-year-old son; I aged him a bit for the comic. And Lori is based on my wife's little sister; a girl who is pretty smart, but was off smelling flowers when God was handing out common sense (and I mean that in the nicest possible way!).

The boullion cube bit is one of my favorites. My brother-in-law gave his little brother one when he was two years old, telling him it was candy. He videotaped him putting it in his mouth and oy, the spitting and the gagging! We still watch it and laugh. Anyway, it seemed like something Jake would fall for.

3. Who past or present is your favorite cartoonist?
It would have to be a tie between Charles Schultz and Bill Watterson. They were both so adept at capturing the innocence and whimsy of youth, and making their characters timeless and memorable. They left such a void on the comics page that has yet to be filled (some newspapers are still running reruns of Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes!); I'm trying to diminish that void as best I can, but them's some big shoes to fill.

5. Please explain the title of your comic.
I have two things in mind with it: 1) the characters are in that stage of life we all go through when the opposite sex is starting to become interesting, but you're so used to being disgusted by them that you don't know how to deal with it. You know they have cooties, and that cooties are bad. But maybe you want to catch some just to see what it's like... It's hard to explain, but we've all been there. There will be a lot of "battle of the sexes" type things going on. 2) The word cooties also conveys a sense of weirdness, danger, and emotional roller-coastering, something else I want to be a staple of this comic.

Lastly, the first story uses it as a play on words. The alien race is called the Q'utee (pronounced "cootie", natch), and they are the catalyst for some big things that will happen not just in the first story, but things that will be coming down in the comic years from now (yes, I've got that many stories planned out) that will be totally unrelated to alien invasions.

5. About how much time and effort do you put into your comic on a daily basis?
Not nearly as much as I'd like (anywhere from one minute to 30 minutes a day). With a wife, three kids, and two jobs, cartooning doesn't get as big a priority as it wants. However, I've got some things planned for after the first story that will change the format a bit and make it possible to update more often, while still improving the quality. Stay tuned.

6. If you could do a crossover with any webcomic out there, which would it be and why?
I would love to send the kids down under to do a ghost story with the blokes at School Spirit at some point in the future. I think the two would make a great fit.

One last question: Why do you think people should check out your comic?
It's a fun adventure that will bring out the kid in you. If you like sci-fi, superheroing, comedy, drama, politics, magic and mayhem, read Cooties! And bring your kids if you got 'em!

Land of Nodd...

Land of Nodd, by Matt Newton, is a gag strip for those of you out there who aren't exactly politically correct, or if you just have bad taste. It does have one or two characters who make repeat appearances, such as Satan and a ghost, but mainly relies on one-shot jokes such as the ghost trying to possess a cow and then ending up a piece of steak. The site didn't say when the comic updates.

The artwork is simple with a lack of extra detail, but this sort of art style doesn't call for it. I do feel substituting backgrounds with a couple of different colors isn't a good idea, unless you're short on time and trying to keep your comic updated regularly. I like the style here and would like to see some nice colorful backgrounds to give us a better idea of where they are. Also the little balls instead of hands just looks weird. I will say that good use of coloring can only help a comic look more professional and that's what it does here.

A tasteless gag comic needs it's tasteless gags to be successful, and Land of Nodd has an equal amount of them that made me go "heh" and "hmph". That's not to say that there weren't good ones. I especially got a kick out of the "Me want Honeycomb!" strip. Let me just say that if you're easily offended you might not want to read this comic as there is lot's of death and crude humor to go around. It's not as offensive as, say, One-liners, but it's got it's share. Personally I find this type of humor pretty funny so it's fine with me, well, other than the Christian jokes. All in all there were some weak jokes but they can't all be monkey-washing-a-cat funny. I hope that made sense.

The site itself is pretty plainly designed but has some good content such as a nifty feature that let's you rate each comic on a 1 to 5 scale, Forums, and news updated regularly. There are also Land of Nodd tshirts for only 5 bucks, which is a pretty sweet deal if you like to wear cartoon Jesus or Satan in public or while lying around in your boxers watching Family Guy.

If you like gross-out humor you'll like this comic. The archive is pretty small with only 19 comics, and the backgrounds are sparse, but it's a good quick read that'll make you either cringe or laugh depending on if you have a soul or not. And if you don't have a soul well, check out the strips set in Hell. You'll love em!

I give this comic...

West of Bathurst...

Ah, college. A time of change. A time of learning. A time for Marie to find out that it's not all learning. It's also gossip, crazy games, and drinking. And also crushes on guys named Casey Mulligan. West of Bathurst is written and drawn by Kari Maaren and updated Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and every second Saturday.

The artwork in Bathurst starts off with a liberal use of cross hatching, which distracted me a bit from the foreground. This is a small complaint though, as it's used less and less in the later updates. I like the clean drawing style, but sometimes the boxes seem too small for what's inside them. Maybe using three instead of four panels sometimes would make for a better fit? Also Kari uses nice touches in the background, letting you know exactly where the characters are instead of them having to tell the reader and have empty white space behind them. Saturday color comics are a welcome addition as well.

The story is told pretty well with good pacing and solid punchlines usually appearing in the last panel, but I do have a few minor issues. The whole "Casey is the devil" ongoing thread is used a little too much for my tastes, and I don't really see how people would feel that a perfect guy is Satan. It seems that he would be closer to a God. Eh. But people in college do have some crazy theories. Also Marie puts most of her energy into complaining and not much else. I would like to see her branch out more and show other sides of her personality. Other than these personal grievances the writing is good and gives you a taste of what college life is like. I take it a lot of this is from personal experience?

The site itself needs a lot of work as it's bare bones with the comic and nothing more. I would like to see some links to favorite comics, maybe a biography, character profiles, etc. But with webcomics, the comic IS the website, and some people prefer to let the comics speak for themselves.

West of Bathurst is a decent comic that many of might enjoy for it's frantic take on college life and it's barely-making-it-through main character whom some of you will no doubt relate to. Take a moment and see for yourself what you might be missing.
I give this comic...

Cooties...

Jake and Nathan are your normal grade school kids who tell jokes and get involved in alien plots to take over the world. Wait. What? Cooties is by Nick Perkins and updated weekly.

The artwork is nice and simplistic with an uncanny resemblance to Calvin and Hobbes. Whether that's coincidence or not I can't say. With that aside, it's perfect for this g-rated comic and I think most will like it. The colors are a little dull though and I think could possibly be a little brighter and use a wider variety of reds, blues, greens, etc. Happy colors! This is a g-rated comic after all.

Storywise the comic is making good use of the alien arc, even if it seems to have taken away from the simplicity of the kids dealing with normal childhood issues. The writer even attests to that fact a few times, but is doing a good job of keeping the story flowing. Also he seems a bit unhappy with his own work, which he explains in his thoughts underneath the daily updates. I wouldn't be letting the audience know I'm unhappy with how my comic is going, but maybe that's just me. I don't think it's bad though, with most of the jokes hitting their mark and the interaction between the kids in school being my personal favorite parts of the story.

Cooties is a good comic with a few rough edges, but it's still pretty early on in it's run. If you can look past the uneven updates and the creator complaints about his own creation, you'll find a fun, pretty professional webcomic to read. And just to let you know, I came across this one and read through it a few months ago. Not too shabby.

I give this comic...

Don And Doll...

Don And Doll, created by Dolores Fogarty and Adrian Mee, involves a man with what seems to be social anxiety disorder and a emotionally handicapped doll named...well, Doll. Subtle humor coupled with Don's struggle with himself and the world around him play out every Monday.

The artwork here has a underlying creepiness to it which sets the tone of the comic. It's dark and sparse, a bed here, a cabinet there. Many times it's just Don and his doll sitting and having a conversation. It works, but Don seems a bit stiff and there isn't much variety from one comic to another. I liked the few where the characters were outside because they gave a change of scenery, but kept the mood intact. Doll's glassy eyed stare invokes a Bride of Chucky crossed with Strawberry Shortcake image in my head, sort of a feeling of danger behind that porcelain facade. I'm not sure what she's made out of, but that's just me. Also the coloring is cool because I don't see many webcomics that use this style. The reddish orange hue and dark tones help keep the mood somber, but it also just looks really nice.

Reading through the archive made me wonder what exactly the writer was going for here. Funny or serious? Depression or self consciousness? Maybe all of those. I didn't find myself laughing most times because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to. It felt a little like watching some emo guy with a web cam set up in his house. Don't get me wrong though, I felt for Don and his anxiety. I think we all feel like not going out into the world occasionally. And Doll. I'm not sure if she hates and just humors him or genuinely cares about him. This is an odd relationship to be sure. I would like to see more of Don's life and what makes him tick, maybe a little backstory on Doll, etc.

All in all I liked Don and Doll for not slapping me in the face with gag humor and giving me a unique reading experience with decent art perfectly suited for the writing. Not a bad way to spend a few minutes. Check it out.

I give this comic...