Review: Kidd and Geezer...

Sorry no review last week, but as I've mentioned on my other sites, and possibly on here in the past, my computer used to belong to Fred Flintstone, and being the kind human being(except for to his wife. Seriously, was that emotional abuse or what?)that he was, he let me buy if off him for a few seashells. Now it barely works. I think it's about fried. Anyway, I'm going to attempt to whip up a review today, so here we go!
Kidd and Geezer, by Frank Zieglar, centers around Geezer, an old dude who lets Kidd, a college guy, live with him because he needs the money. And as it states on the site, "The gender gap is guaranteed". Nice tagline, I must say. Anyhoo, The comic updates on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule. To the ratings, Robin!
ART: 8
I liked the art in Kidd and Geezer because it's simple, yet distinct. Every line has a reason. There wasn't an overabundance of sloppy scribbles used to just fill in space like a lot of comics do, just clean, neat, three panel comic art. The comic starts off in black and white, which I liked just as much as the color comic it becomes. I almost wanted it to STAY in bw for the nostalgic factor of reading the daily newspaper comics when I was a kid. Ah, but that's just not to be these days..
WRITING: 6
Well, we're promised a gender gap, and for the most part, we get it. It's fun to see how different these two characters are, and how they each handle the situations they come across. But for some reason I just don't buy Geezer as a totally convincing old dude. He's just not crabby enough for my tastes. He's almost always smiling, he doesn't have hair growing out of his ears(maybe this should be in the art section of the review), and he just doesn't seem that annoyed most times by Kidd's naive(or is it dumb?)ways. Maybe I'm being picky, but I've been around a LOT of seniors in my day, and they almost always seem to get irritated rather easily at the younger set. I know that's not true of all oldies, but that's just my opinion on the subject. I suppose if he WAS that mad all the time, it wouldn't make for a funny little innocent webcomic, so I can understand why he's a bit toned down. Now Kidd, on the other hand, seems more like a bubbleheaded thirteen year old girl to me, with his innocent ways and dimwitted nature. Neither character has any real bite, which left me feeling a little underwhelmed. Also, although the comic has some decent cute strips, a lot of them just had no relevance, like the writer was just running low on ideas. The "Kidd starts a webcomic" strips also seemed like a quick way to do some easy, light on artwork fillers as well. Now you're probably wondering why give the writing an above average grade after all that? Okay, with all that said I still liked the writing generally speaking. There were more decent ones than bad, and the comic is good for the younger set, which I haven't reviewed that many of recently. Not all webcomics have to be completely adult oriented. While I didn't really laugh while reading it, I was charmed by how "nice" it was.
ORIGINALITY: 7
You don't see a lot of comics out there about a senior citizen becoming friends with a college kid rooming in his home, so for that reason it's pretty original. Other than that it's a three panel newspaper style comic, which isn't. Original.
WEBSITE: 8
The website has a nice blog which I enjoyed reading underneath the strips, a random comic button, an about page, an extras page, Twitter and Facebook links, recommended reading, and a link to Frank's diet and exercise blog, Big Fat Blog, all in a nicely designed package. It was easy to maneuver and also easy on the eyes.
TITLE: no score here, just wanted to mention that I like the name of the comic. It's catchy, and seeing a comic with that name is what made me want to check it out. "Kidd and Geezer? How in the world will they get along? I have to click!" Nice.
OUTCOME:
Kidd and Geezer was a nice change of pace for me in the review department, because it was a clean, family friendly comic with no shock value or grossness to speak of. While I did find it to be kind of middle of the road, and sorta vanilla in its humor, you won't do wrong by giving it a read. It could be just the break you need from all the manga and gratuitous violence out there today. And stay off my lawn.

Be featured as a hero/villain in Cap Ahole Issue 4!

Hello all, Jack here with an important announcement. Would you like to appear in issue 4 of Captain Ahole? Would you like to fight along side the Stuporhero himself, or do battle against the dimwitted duo? Well, here's your chance. Just send in a drawing of a superhero/supervillain you created, along with a description of his/her powers and a short bio. The most creative one(picked by myself and Ashenskye of Just Another Day)will appear in the next ish of the non-award winning comic, Captain Ahole! Sound fun? I hope it is! Oh, and be sure and send in a little description of his/her personality too. The contest ends June 30, so you've got plenty of time to work on it. Send your drawings to uncaringmachine@aol.com with the subject something like "Cap Ahole contest submission". Thanks, and good luck!

New Webcomic Series By Me!

Yep, I'm doing yet ANOTHER webcomic. What's THIS one about, you say? Well, it's called Jacked Up, and it's about the little things I go through, with drawing, daily life, work, etc. It's more autobiographical than anything I've ever done, and drawn in a really simple style. I'm doing it so I can have a small stress relieving thing to do in between Cap Ahole and this site. I hope you click the link and give it a shot. Maybe you can relate! Oh, by the way, it updates seven days a week. SEVEN!

People who need people....

Yknow, sometimes, when the chips are down and you need a helping hand, there are those people who jump in and save the day. When I needed help designing my Captain Ahole comic site, and then redesigning the site, only one person came to my aid, kinda like Scoot when Cap needs a save. That person was Ashe Skyler, over at Just Another Day. I had NO idea what I was doing, but he sure did. Go on over to Just Another Day and check out his comic, which is pretty good, with solid storytelling and nicely drawn and colored art. And hey, maybe if you need some help, he'll be there for you too. And hey, why not go over to Captain Ahole and see the new layout? You'll like it, I swear!

Cap reviewed at The Dish!

Hey gang, guess what? My webcomic, Captain Ahole, was recently reviewed on The Dish podcast, from the peeps over at Comicdish. I enjoyed hearing them talk about the oddball humor and over the top, off color things that happen in the comic, and I think you'll get a laugh out of it too. Head on over and listen in!

Review: Ace Hoyle...

Hey people, Jack here with yet another weekly webcomic review. Not weview, REVIEW! Heh. Some of you will get that. Anyhoo, this weeks comic to get the chimp treatment is Ace Hoyle, a gambling comic by Tomas Batha and Phill Provance. Not too many online comics out there with a casino theme, now are there? Updated weekly, let's see if Ace can hold up to my intense scrutiny...
ART: 6
I'm going to have to say that they really took a gamble with this art style. Sorry. I couldn't resist. Okay, the art starts off VERY sketchy. Tons of scribbly lines and blacks fill in for backgrounds for the first half of the comic. I'm glad to say that things change after awhile and the linework is much tighter and consistently detailed after that, thank God. The artist does, however, trade the heavy black filler for grey in many scenes, but it's still an improvement. The character designs are decent enough, even though they reminded me of the characters you see in those Bible tract pamphlets you find in mall and grocery store bathrooms. That is to say they all looked a little seedy, but maybe they're supposed to, seeing as how most of them are gamblers. I did like the occasional use of color in a mostly black and white comic. It gave Ace Hoyle a unique look. One thing I really think they need to take out are the two headshots of a character named Dolly between comics 9 and 10. Why break up the story by inserting two "pin-ups", both of which are exactly the same, but one with an orange background and one with blue? Filler is never a good thing.
WRITING: 6
I'm not a card player, I've never been to Las Vegas or any casino. I don't know the lingo, how to bet, or what cards mean what. So just remember the 6 I give the writing is coming from someone who isn't in the know when it comes to gambling, just a comic reader. So for anyone else who isn't into this sorta thing, they most likely won't want to read this comic. It just won't make that much sense, or entertain someone looking for some light webcomic reading. However, if you're a card shark, or just a casual viewer of gambling on tv, you may find something to like with Ace. It's all about poker, poker, poker. I mean, the entire site is about poker. More on that in a bit. Aside from that, the writing is pretty good, not a lot of out there humor, more in the vein of wisecracks between characters about their skills at the table. Not my cup of vodka, but maybe yours?
ORIGINALITY: 8
An 8 because you don't see many, if any, poker themed webcomics. That's original, right? Also, it could be a good way to get people who aren't into webcomics, or comics in general, to maybe try something new.
WEBSITE: 5
Okay, the reasoning behind the rating. The site isn't really a webcomic site at all. It's a poker site. All around the comic are links to online poker. Tacky. The comic almost seems nothing more than a big cartoon advertisement to reel in new poker players. Other things that do add to the comic are a "Hoyle-ites" fan club that you sign up for(it's free), where you can play flash games, take polls and quizzes, and enter contests, and a rogues gallery that gives info on the characters. The website is a mixed bag, and if you can look past the links and POKER POKER POKER in your face, you can find some enjoyable extras.
OUTCOME:
I didn't really care for Ace Hoyle, but like i said earlier, I'm not a poker fan. Can you enjoy it if you aren't? Can you enjoy a comic about goth dudes who fight aliens? Sure you can, if it's well done and keeps your attention. Ace isn't a bad comic, just not something I would bookmark and keep coming back to. A niche comic in every sense of the word, Ace Hoyle will mostly appeal to the online poker player in you. I, unfortunately, am not "all in".