Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Todays Review: The PC Weenies...


Krishna M. Sadasivam has a pretty impressive resume to work with. A B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He earned a M.F.A. in Animation from the Savannah College of Art & Design. He is now a full-time
instructor within the Media Arts and Animation department at the Art Institute of Tampa, and also spends a considerable amount of time as a freelance cartoonist / illustrator. Some of his prominent clients include Hinduism Today, What PC? Magazine (VNUnet), The BENT Magazine (Tau Beta Pi), EE Times, Microsoft, and CNET. This was taken out of his about page by the way. Wow. Now, say he had a webcomic. What would it be about? The PC Weenies is all about computers, computer repair, computer software, computer support, etc. It's about to get geeky in here! Updates come three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I love cell animation, and this is what I see when I look at PC Weenies. Pretty, colorful and fluid animation quality artwork which looks like a geek version of Ren and Stimpy. I never liked Ren and Stimpy, but it sure was neat to look at. I'm a fan of this style, which I'm starting to see more of as I review more and more webcomics as it isn't sketchy and sloppy, and has a very marketable sheen to it. Nice.

With the entire archive of jokes revolving around computers and computer applications, it did get a bit tiresome after a while. I ended up wanting some slapstick, maybe someone getting hit over the head with a catfish or something. It was well written for the most part, but I didn't find myself laughing at it. Maybe because it's geared almost entirely toward the egghead crowd? Here's an example: "Oh, you're in for a treat, Chauncey. Hampton's Photoshop Slow-Down tips will totally change your work flow!" Huh? I'm sure the audience it's aiming for gets it, and it's funny to them, but to snag a wider audience that wouldn't know a CSS from a zip file there needs to be something more. More personal or longer reaching strips about other topics could help.

I liked PC Weenies but could have liked it more. It has great artwork, a nice intricate site design, and nice smart writing, but was lacking in laughs for me. If Krishna likes where he's at and is content zeroing in on one particular crowd that needs it's fix of tech jokes, then he should keep doing what he's doing, because it's perfect for that group. I suppose his tag line says it all: "Tech toons for tech enthusiasts". I just think changing things up a bit and having a little less tech and more funny would help Weenies gain a whole new audience in it for the wacky and zany adventures and not just the pokes at the computer industry. It might just be too smart for it's own good.

I give The PC Weenies...
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(For bright, colorful, flawless art and good, if not hysterical, writing)

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