Happy New Year!

Just wanted to say it's been a ROUGH year for me, but I managed through it and here I am, attempting to keep this site going with new updates AND a new comic series which I'm determined to keep on time, and funny. Hopefully. Thanks for reading, thanks for supporting, and I hope that the new year is ten times better for everyone. Have a great time and happy new year!

Review: Captain Mushface..

Seeing as how I have a new comic series featuring a Captain, I thought, why not check out another captain? So, here is my short review for Captain Mushface, a full page comic by one Josh Rogers. What's it about, you probably want to know? Well, Mush is about two friends who get their brains sucked out by aliens and put into robot bodies. From there on it's action, humor, and cursing. Okay, on to the art.

Josh Rogers art is very polished for a webcomic. That is to say most webcomics I've reviewed. His style reminds me at times of Mike Mignola of Hellboy fame, with his tons of chunky blacks, sharp linework, and subdued colors. He even takes the time to draw backgrounds, something that always adds a level of professionalism(no wonder I don't do many backgrounds!). Good art that doesn't look rushed. Very cool.

The art so far is better than the story, which from where I left off was pretty much just Mushy and friend escaping their captors and trying to find their way back to Earth. But this could be a good thing because it leaves the field open to tons of possibilities. I mean, heck, they could NEVER find their way back home, but that doesn't mean they can't have crazy adventures in the process. It's like a road trip in space! Some of the jokes are funny, and the characters, while kinda one note, did start to grow on me by the end. The one thing that I didn't get was the use of the "F" word. I know it's an R rated comic, with blood and guts and cursing, but I just didn't see the need for the harsher language. It doesn't really put any emphasis on anything, and you can write better than that. But that's just an opinion from someone who doesn't like major cursing. Someone the complete opposite will be like "yo, that Capn' Mushface can curse like a muhf*!?!! Woooo!!"

Site design? What site design? It's very basic, and I understand that, if you're using one of the templates provided by Comic Dish to start you off. But it serves its purpose, with an easy to navigate archive, links to a Mushface blog, and even a store(where you can purchase Capn' comics for your ipod or iphone!). All in all a decent site.

So to sum it all up, Captain Mushface has room(heh heh)for improvement, but doesn't need a whole lot to be a top tier webcomic. It's combo of great art(check out his females in the new ish!)and decent writing is worth a first and second look before you make a decision as to whether you should add it to your bookmarks or not. Just remember, it's for mature audiences, what with all the mush and all.

Captain Mushface gets...

Captain Ahole is upon you!

Howdy folks, just wanted to let you know that my new comic endeavor, Captain Ahole, is up over at Comic Dish(a fantastic place to host your comic). Read it and weep! With laughter, of course. Hopefully. If you like goofy pg-13 superheroes. With robot sidekicks. That seem to be all the rage. And stuff. Some things coming up: old folks, sour milk, a retired super-villain, and upchucking! You HAVE to read it now, right?

Merry Yuletime!

Hey everyone, just wanted to say Merry that time of year and if anyone wants to send links to their Christmas strips, do so at Uncaringmachine@aol.com and I'll post links to em in an update before Christmas day. I know lots of people love to do holiday strips, so send links, because for one, I would love to see em, and two, others will as well!-Jack

What are you just sick and tired of seeing in webcomics?

You know, goths; geeks sitting on couches playing and making fun of video games; inanimate objects trying to kill their owners in humorous and always unsuccessful ways(okay, maybe that one isn't so common), but you know what I mean. Cliches are a dime a dozen. So what are the dozen you hate? I for one am bored to death with animals having intelligent conversations about the universe and which came first, the chicken or the egg, blah blah blah. You're an animal. You should be wondering what that thing is biting you behind your ear, or which female sheep to hump next. Anyway, that's just my ramble. And no offense to any intelligent farm animal comics out there, because their are some really good ones(Zoology, for example), of which I've reviewed. And come on, don't worry about hurting anyone's feelings, hey, if you wanna say something like "I hate when review sites bitch about webcomics!" then say that too! Anything's game! It's open season! Speak!

First look!

Here it is, your first very early look at Captain Ahole! I can't wait for you all to get a look at the whole thing, but till then, there ya go!

Crappy computers and lost internet connections...

Hey, I wrote a long diatribe about what's been going on in my life and why I haven't continued the site, but it got lost somehow. I'm just going to say I miss the site and reviewing and all that, and I'll be back soon, but for now just keep making great comics and be looking for my new series, Captain A-Hole, in the new year. Hugs and daps all around...Jack

I stopped updating awhile ago when my internet was cancelled, and it took me quite a while to get it going again. New house, more bills, etc. The motivation to continue reviews just wasn't there. I hope to find it in me again soon, but for now there will be sporadic updates when I can find the time. It's not that I don't enjoy the medium, it's just that other things have to come first for now. Thanks for the support, and keep those webcomics going!

Milestone!

Kat Feete has recently informed me that Sunset Grill, her webcomic, hit 100 comics as of today. It's also starting a new storyline so it's a great new time to jump in! What are you waiting for? I've checked it out before and it's an interesting future world she's set up. Read it!

Review: Freshly Squeezed...

Hello again readers, Jack is back with another semi-professional review! Today we have Freshly Squeezed, a webcomic by Jesus Navarro. That's no longer updating. Darnit. Maybe I should have read the "about" section before going through all of this trouble. Note to self, prepare more next time! Well, he requested a review, so I'm going to go ahead and do it, seeing as how I've already written up some notes and read the strips. Here we go. Freshly Squeezed is basically a humor comic with lots of random things happening, which I will get more into in a minute. Okay, minutes up.

Art: Quickly scribbled(and probably cut and pasted a lot, by the looks of the character models), blocky MS Paint-style art, with nary a background to be seen. These characters obviously live in some sort of white vortex, devoid of even a couch to sit on. Or a line representing the ground. Loud primary colors are used also, so wear sunglasses. That's about it on the art front. Not much to talk about.

Writing: I'm sorry to say it, but the few guest strips about zombies are the funniest ones. Because they have a joke in them. When will comic creators understand that randomly exploding characters does not a joke make? And how about those random acts of violence, like, say, here, or here, maybe this one, and right over here! Makes the heart grow fonder with every quart of blood spilt, doesn't it? Man, what's the next generation going to be like....he should have just named the comic Al GORE, with a pic of the environmental activist standing by his decapitated head. Maybe "An Inconvenient Bloodletting". Bleh. Okay, okay, it wasn't completely bad. There were a couple, like this one, that were decent, but a few nickels and dimes in a jar full of pennies doesn't add up to greatness, or even goodness. Less death and more time spent on punchlines would have upped the quality. Not much in the way of writing at all here, just excuses to blow heads off in the name of comedy. Or at least at an attempt at it.

Freshly Squeezed is just a series of exploding heads, suicides, murders, penis jokes, and swear words, sloppily written and drawn, for the viewing pleasure of a few that like their comics a bit on the depraved side. Strip 64 sums it up perfectly. At least Jesus doesn't pretend to be doing Shakespeare here.
I give Freshly Squeezed...

Build-Your-Own-Comic Contest!

The creators of Bitmap World are having their second annual Build-Your-Own-Comic Contest. It's extremely easy to make the comic, and you can have the finished product submitted sooner than the time it takes Garfield to eat a lasagna. For the millionth time in his strip. Yawn. Prizes include coffee mugs, tshirts, and Bitmap World art. Neat stuff! Why not take a few minutes to enter the contest? You've got nothing to lose, and a coffee mug to gain! Who doesn't like coffee? Go there now!

Family Webcomics!

Need help deciding what comics you want your kids reading? Family Webcomics is a site, well, here's the description, straight from the site itself:
Family Webcomics is a new information site containing listings, reviews, and a variety of related content. With over 12,000 webcomics on the internet featuring a wide range of material from all-ages to porn, it can be difficult and time-consuming for a parent or educator to weed through all of the offerings and find strips suitable for their children. That's why this site was created. FWC provides a place where you can not only view webcomic listings, but evaluate their content based on an extensive list of content elements and attributes.
So if you're looking for a family oriented site that's easy to use, then this is the one for you. Go on over and start searching!

Top ways of getting out of having an actual joke.

So you have a comic, but you run out of ideas on how to finish a strip. Hmm....well, you could do like a lot of other webcomic creators and use one of these handy scenarios I've conjured up, using Gothy and Dizzle to make the points. Enjoy!

Not being one to dignify what Dizzle says, which just so happened to be something about how he "Eyeballed a hoochie with a rump like what he saw in a meat market once", Gothy punches him, showing a lack of respect for the bewildering story. Next, please.

Instead of responding to Dizzles story about how he got his "crunk on", nothing is said for about four cut and pasted panels, giving the impression that what Dizzle said wasn't worth a response.

Here we see Dizzle unleashing a veritable sea of flatulence into the unwanting face of Gothy. This gag is commonly used as a last resort in the more lowbrow of webcomics. It can also be combined with a "pull my finger".

The use of the insult as a last panel can be dated back as far back as original Popeye comics, where Popeye first told Olive to "blow him down". The insult isn't really a joke, as it is more of a statement about the person it is being told to.

So, I hope this has been useful to you. Perhaps you have some of your own to share?

We have a milestone!

Dave Buist has let it be known that his comic, Taking The Bypass, has hit SIX YEARS as of April 1st! That's a pretty good number, isn't it? Heck, some people are lucky to make it six months. Congratulations, Dave! And to all you readers, take a look at his comic some time, won't you?

Me am back!

Sorry, felt a little bit like Bizarro for a sec....anyway, hi. I'm working on a little article about cliched bits used in webcomics more times than Chuck Norris has scissorkicked a minority bad guy, so hold on just a little while longer. In the meantime, maybe you have something you would like to say? Maybe....gimme some milestones people. Has your comic reached one hundred strips? Has a major character died? Have you decided to end your comic? Let me know, and give me the links, and I'll put em up. Simple, right? Okay, I'm out, but just remember, I haven't left, follow me on Twitter to know what's going on, and congratulate me on having a fiance. Okay, thanks for reading, stay tuned for a major upswing in updates, and have a great night, day, evening, whatever!

Happy Birthday!

Modern Love is celebrating it's third year as a daily webcomic! Head on over and check out the comic I referred to as "a well drawn and written comic that will give you something more to think about than the usual gamers, furries, or people getting kicked in the nuts".

My review style...

Sometimes I get questioned on my reviews, and my style of reviewing. I just wanted to give the basics of what I'm attempting to do here. It's pretty much a layman's overview. I don't get technical, at least try not to, and I don't pick apart every little detail of a site just to drag out the length of the review. It's short, sweet(or sour, depending on the comic), and I HOPE that it gives a sense of what I think needs to be worked on and what is just right. This is not a professional site by any stretch of the imagination, I am not a professional webcomicker or reviewer, and these are not definitive reviews. They are just the opinions of a fellow webcomic creator and fan of the medium. So take what I say with a grain(maybe a whole container)of salt, and keep on making those webcomics!-Jack

Interview time!

I have returned from the abyss of watching some old western movie starring Elvis(where he got the pomade to keep his hair that shiny and slicked back is beyond me)with a brand baby spankin' new interview, this time with Hatpire creator Becky Turpin. Arise from your coffins, put on your monacles, and prepare to be educated!

1. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy Hatpire creating life, Becky. So has creating and maintaining a webcomic been all you could have imagined?

It’s a really rewarding experience, and it really is everything I imagined. When I got the comic started, I never thought it’d even be as big as it is now—which is, I admit, a speck in the grand scheme of things. But hey, it’s a speck I’m PROUD of, and that’s what matters most to me.

2. How do you think Hatpire fits in with the traditional view of vampires, if at all?

If it weren’t for the fangs, his grandpa, and his occasional habit of turning into a bat, he wouldn’t really be much of a vampire at all. I don’t want to dwell much on the fact that he as a character is a vampirebecause, in all honesty, I don’t consider Hatpire to be a vampire comic. When I think of a vampire-related creative work, I think of things like Buffy, Anne Rice novels, Nosferatu, or Dracula. Take out the vampires in those and replace them with an ordinary person, and the whole nature of the work would change. Replace Hatpire with an ordinary person, and much of it would stay the same (although he’d be less fun to draw!).

3. About how much time do you spend per comic?

Hmm. I’d say maybe anywhere from 4-6 hours, from sketches to finishedcomic. This is just a rough estimate—I do a lot of sketches during my breaks at work, so when I come home it’s all set to be inked and colored on the computer.

4. How long do you see this comic staying around?

I can definitely see myself keeping this going for around two years. As much as I’d like it to keep going forever, I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep it going. Having no dialogue is definitely a restriction (but a fun one). When I feel I’m not creating comics up to my standards, then Hatpire will come to a close. That’s definitely not in the near future, though. :)

5. Do you have any other ideas floating around upstairs?

With all the floating going on up there, you’d think my brain was infested with ghosts. I do have a lot of different projects I’d like to work on. They’re not all comic ideas, though. I’d like to get a book published someday, but I have a long ways to go yet as far as my writing skills are concerned.

6. Do you ever see the webcomic community becoming more mainstream?

Oh, definitely. Printed newspapers are already starting to become a relic, and from what I can gather, that’s where the majority of the public get their comic fix. As newspapers go online, so will more of the public, and there’s that door open for them. At that point, it’s just a matter of finding a comic they enjoy, really.

I already see a lot of overlap with people who read printed graphic novels and people who read webcomics. There’s at least a few print artists I know of that have started publishing online as well, and vice versa. The webcomic community is already huge if you compare it to where it was just five, six years ago. As more and more comics start getting more mainstream.

7. If you were to do a crossover with any webcomic out there, which would it be, and
why?

You know, I’m not sure what comics I’d do a crossover with. I’ve never really thought about it, though to be honest I’ve never been a fan of outright crossovers where each side is interacting with one another. Cameos, however, are awesome. I love playing “Spot the Comic” whenever the creators include other comics’ characters in the background. Something like that, I’d really love to do.

8. What other hobbies do you have?

Give me a pencil and some paper, and one way or another, you’ll keep me busy. I write, I draw, I play a few different musical instruments (the latter very, very badly). Anything creative and I’ll give it a chance and then most likely get hooked.

9. What webcomics do you have bookmarked?

There’s Three Panel Soul, Girl Genius, Awkward Zombie, White Noise, The
Abominable Charles Christopher, and VG Cats, to name a few of the ones I check most often. I’m probably missing at least a couple in the list.

10.Any last thoughts? Oh, and feel free to tell the readers why they should check out Hatpire.

To be honest, I’m surprised Hatpire has even gotten big enough to warrant people interviewing me. That in and of itself is awesome and is a huge ego boost every day for me. :)

And why SHOULDN’T you check out Hatpire? If it’s something you haven’t checked out yet, what’s the harm in it? It just takes a minute. And if you don’t like it, then show it to that one friend of yours that always likes the thing you don’t. You know you have one of those. Heck, if you have a lot of them, show it to everyone. :D

Thanks again for the interview, Becky! And to all of you reading this, be sure
and give Hatpire a once-over. For the Asylum, this is Jack, over and out!

Review: Gets a job...

Gets a job is a webcomic with an underlying theme. The theme being, yep, you guessed it, various famous figures, past and present, getting odd jobs not exactly suited for them. Can you truly say you haven't wondered what would happen if Satan worked at a Denny's? Well now maybe you can find out. Let the hijinks begin! Aaron Bowersock, the creator, has an update schedule of five days a week, excluding the weekends. Now, let's dig in...

Ah, the art critique. There is only so much you can say about the art in a comic, unless you want to get all technical, or talk about what this color scheme might say about the creators lifestyle, blah blah. I'm just going to keep it simple. Aaron likes it simple, or maybe he just can't draw a lot of detail. Anyway, I like the simplistic way he draws the characters, and the colors are nice and shiny, but the complete lack of backgrounds is a big negative. You see a lot of that in webcomics. Heck, I'm even guilty of that to a degree. But here's an example. They could be in a black hole for all I know. At least have a picture on the wall back there or something. I know it's tough putting out a comic five days a week, so cutting corners here and there is understandable. Just not every single friggin comic. A LEETLE more effort would solve this.

The premise to this comic is pretty good. It's not a roommate comic, or gamer one, so at least it has that going for it. Not to say that's all it has. I'm sure lots of people will check out the archive to see who gets what job. I found quite a few entertaining, if not laugh inducing. But after the first five strips had Dracula getting different jobs, I was thankful to see someone else. But guess what? After about three more, there was Dracula again! Argh! Show me the kid from The Wonder Years working as a porn director or something. Okay, I'm kidding. He's actually doing that crappy Confessions of a Teen Idol show on VH1. Okay, Dracula is gone again. Good thing Aaron knows when to let something die. Wait a sec, 21 comics in and Drac rears his bloodsucking head again! Variety! That's the spice of life! Seriously though, there are plenty of different types of famous people, from the shark from Jaws to The Hulk. Number 28 was really funny, because I was wondering what happened to her. This one is a keeper too. Sometimes clever, sometimes dull, is what you get here.

In closing, Gets a job could've been worse. I liked seeing all of these differing celebs and famous people trying something different, and I can see Aaron mining this idea for a long time without it getting overly stale. Just keep coming up with funny situations to put them in and you've got comedy gold, or most of the time, bronze, with a few silvers mixed in. Keep up the decent work, and start drawing some backgrounds!

I give Gets a job...

Review: For The Reels...

Jack here with another short but sweet webcomic review! It's been awhile, hasn't it? Don't worry though, I'm not going anywhere soon. Maybe to the insane asylum, but that can wait. Webcomics are more important! Now, where was I...

Oh yes, movie parodies. They've never been a favorite of mine, because they are usually way too obvious(Superman getting shot in the eye and crying like a baby? Please.)or just aren't that funny. Of course, there are always exceptions(an old Saturday Night Live skit where even shaking someones hand made Bruce Banner get angry enough to turn into the Hulk was classic. Obvious, yes, but handled well.)to every rule. The question now being: which category does For The Reels, a movie parody comic by "two badass twins named Jon and Joe from Denver", fit into? Here we go...

The art style for this comic is basically lots of blocky backgrounds, bright colors, and Lego looking character designs. How do they even grab anything with balls for hands? I've seen other comics that resort to the ball-hand manuever, and I've always hated that. It's a minor distraction, but still a distraction. Also, the stiff way the characters are drawn make action movie parodies a bit harder to pull off. Okay, criticisms out of the way. Positives? The art is still fun and pretty darn cute, even when blood is spilling. And the representations of the movies being parodied do look close enough to the real thing to pull off the jokes. Not bad.

A parody has to make you laugh or at least think it was pretty clever to be successful, right? And using the F word constantly doesn't automatically make funny. Ahem...okay, I did find some clever, albeit crude, stuff here. A good example being "Indiana's Jonesin". The whole snake thing was just asking for it. Honestly though, with a few exceptions, I didn't find many of them to be standouts. Kinda middle of the road, and a bit groan inducing. But it's not for lack of effort. I mean, finding a way to parody Schindler's List? Wow. You gotta give em credit.

What can I say about For The Reels? These two guys do try hard, and it shows, but for me, most of the jokes weren't good enough to get a laugh. I didn't find myself hurrying to the next comic, but I would maybe look at the archive and pick out the movies I like to see what they have to say about them. Give it a try, but don't get your hopes up. Now, I wonder what they would have to say about Triumph of the Will...

I give For The Reels...