Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Todays Review: Ted Pax...


Eve Z., the creator of Synthetic Life, graces us with another of her creations, Ted Pax. This is the story of Ted, your not so average blue-haired high school kid. The story so far is that Ted isn't treated fairly by anyone, even his own family. After seeing a contest to win a free home, he vows to enter and win said home, getting away from his miserable life forever. If you had a dad who would yell at your just because you interrupted his banana eating, wouldn't you do the same? The webcomic hijinks come at you every Thursday.

With Synthetic Life, Eve had an anime style that was very prevalent, but with Pax, it's been toned down to much greater effect. I completely prefer the art here. Very detailed, expressive, and enjoyable. It is mostly a black and white comic, but a few are in color, which made a big difference. I think it would look much better if all of them were in color, but keeping a schedule can sometimes be tough in the webcomics world. Anyway, good stuff!

Now, to the writing. As with her other comic creation, something is lost in the translation. With English not being her first language, Eve seems to have a bit of difficulty getting across what she wants to say. You can understand what's going on, but it's just quite worded properly, making for not-intended humor. Example: Ted's mom is cooking soup, forgets about it for a minute while she yells at her son, he reminds her of it, and when she sees it yells "AHHH! My soup is compromised!!!" I laughed at it, but I doubt for the right reason. It reads like a subtitled Godzilla movie or something. And I don't know why, but EVERYONE in the comic seems really really mean for no reason, with the exception of his sister. I wouldn't wanna live in that world. I think maybe an editor or just having a friend to help clean up the dialogue would help the comic make more sense and be much more enjoyable. Storyline-wise, there is no real direction to the story other than Ted getting beat up by bullies and trying to get the girls, but I suppose it doesn't NEED some life altering storyline or adventure because it is a teen humor comic.

The art is great in this comic, I just wish the writing was at the same level. I felt a little bad for enjoying it not for what it was meant to be, but for chuckling at the odd wording and strange personalities in Ted Pax. Eve gets points just for trying, in my opinion, something that a lot of people can't even do. But check it out and decide for yourself if it's worth the trip to Bizarro world.

I give Ted Pax...
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

2 comments:

Eve Z. said...

You've got some points wrong around here. His sister Amalia is not mean at all. In fact, she's really nice. ;) In one of the later pages(and in the banner) he sais he's got blue hair. that's why he's got bullied. I'm pretty sure you didn't read the comic properly. Maybe I'm not very good at writing, but there are some hints there.

After all, this webcomic is just a baby that will grow big and strong one day, as hints will make it unfold. ;)

Unknown said...

I never said his sister was mean, I was generalizing, which maybe I shouldn't have done. And I did read the comic properly, it just wasn't written so. But it's okay, it's just my opinion after all. Others may have a completely different one!