The Meek

I know...I know...another webcomic. I can't help it! They're my favorite! (Partially because there so gosh-darn easy to find, but also because of the type of stories people usually get to tell in them!!)

The Meek is a comic by Der-shing Helmer, and it's super intriguing. I had come across this comic when it first started, but then stepped back and kind of forgot about it due to being too impatient to wait for updates on something so compelling [read: cliff hangers kill me]. This was a great excuse to catch up on a wonderful comic. Unfortunately, the author/artist has been having health problems so the comic has been on hiatus since January.

The art of The Meek is strong in many ways--good anatomy, good colors, nice mood, great environments, so of course that helps make it an easy read. But more than that, the storytelling so far has been able to give a lot of information about who each character is with very few words and pictures. Within a couple pages, the audience already has an understanding of who a new character is, how they work, and what their motives are. It's all done quite subtly.

At this point in the story, the fourth chapter has just been started. Each chapter up to this point had been focusing on a different character, in completely different areas of the world without knowing yet quite how their stories will intertwine. The beginning of the fourth chapter brings us back the characters that were introduced in the first. That is, Angora and Pinter. What I first found really intriguing about this comic was Angora's unabashed nudity, proving that you can have a naked (and female) character run around without being sexualized. She's some kind of jungle girl who has plant-like hair capable of growing flowers, or so she says. In the second chapter, we focus on the ruler of the country, Luca. He design presents a very serious man who doesn't want to be hassled or annoyed, quick to want war. In in the story, however, we see that there is so much more to him. His relationship with his wife shows him to be less sure-of-himself than he presents himself to be, making an absolutely lovable character. His wife also, in just one scene, became my favorite character. But....(spoiler alert) she dies. And quickly. Her murder looks like it's going to be a major catalyst in the rest of this story, unfortunately we're just not there yet.

And there's the downfall of webcomics. When you're contracted to work on a comic, when you're getting money for it, and when there's a larger corporate body spending money for your comic, you are much more likely to be compelled to finish it. Webcomics take much more dedication just to keep up with, especially since the only money you'd get back is usually going to be from donations made from viewers, any money you can make from merchandise, or possibly getting it printed. And then the downside to the printing is that only the die hards will likely buy it, as many people would not see the merit in buying a physical copy of something that they could read for free online.

I really hope that The Meek doesn't become yet another webcomic to fall into a forever-hiatus and drop off the face of the internet. It's a great read so-far, but mostly it just leaves us hanging at this point. Please, get better soon, Der-Shing!

Scott Pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim is something of a triumph for my generation. The humor is basically what anyone currently between the ages of 15-25 absolutely thrives on, what with the video game references, the variety of characters, and the general kookiness of the plot. I'll recap, even though it's kind of unnecessary thanks to the movie version: Scott Pilgrim falls head over heels for the new girl in town, Ramona flowers, and decides that he will do anything to date her. It turns out that's a tall order when Ramona has seven evil ex-boyfriends (one of them is actually an ex-girlfriend) who have formed a league out to destroy her love life and anyone else who might attempt to date her. It's a new twist on the classic "boy must fight for girl's love," except in this case, the girl is a lot cooler than the bumbling idiot of a hero and also the heightened stakes make for absolutely ridiculous circumstances.

The way Scott Pilgrim uses pop culture is brilliant. Some are simple ways that merely help expand on the character's personality, like when Ramona constantly changes her hair color, very counter-culture/hipster/artsy, because of how fickle she is. Often, it's simply for humor, like when Matthew Patel, the first evil ex, attacks Scott with "demon hipster chicks," or when one of the evil ex's is presented as having magical powers since he's vegan, or when a rival band member turns out to be robotic. The world Bryan Lee O'Malley creates is just bursting with these kinds of references. The video games element is amazing within the series and is utilized in so many different ways:
~the fights themselves, with each battle getting progressively harder than the last and building up to the big Boss battle at the end.
~video game style mechanics, like earning lives and leveling up to get better weapons.
~my personal favorite touch, the coins left after each ex is defeated. The literally turn into a pile of pocket change.
~the use of graphics (simulated perfectly within the movie) very similar to the UI of fighter games.

The style the comic is drawn in makes is really easy to like the characters, they're very simple, yet given distinct personalities. My personal favorites are Wallace, the gay roommate who is absolutely brilliant and practically magical in his meddling in Scott's life, and Kim, who delivers lines with such a perfect deadpan. While I realize that this post is meant to focus on the comic, I really do have to mention how happy I was with the casting and handling of this movie; Wallace was almost even more brilliant in the film. One problem, however, that I had with both versions was Ramona. She didn't seem worth all the fighting to me, especially in the film. In the comic, her past and personality are explored in much more depth than the movie, obviously for time constraints, but taking those parts away from her make her....eh, not so compelling. In a way, I can accept it knowing her backstory from the comics and also because part of the purpose of this story seems to be breaking down the illusions of "the perfect love interest" and "the perfect hero," since both Scott and Ramona are deeply flawed characters.

Overall, I love this series, even the movie version! I'd really love to read more from Bryan Lee O'Malley.

Bad Machinery

Bad Machinery is another webcomic, one that I admit has been on my reading list for a while but didn't get around to reading until it was actually assigned. (Sad, right?) The story centers around a group of British, middle school-aged children who do middle school adventure type things, including solving mysteries! This scores big points with me, personally, because I really miss those types of stories from my childhood. As an added plus, some of these mysteries involve fantastical creatures like selkies, spirits, and aliens.

The humor is great, very British on a few levels, but also very modern--perfect for my generation. Reading from beginning to end (end meaning the most recent page), Charlotte quickly became my favorite character, boisterous and silly, quick to judge, usually smiling, and always full of ideas...mostly bad ideas. The adults, also, are full of interesting personality quirks. For example, the teacher Mr. Beckwith must remind himself that he is an adult and does his best to create a "teacherly" look for his class because that's the way school is supposed to be. His wife, meanwhile, is quite bohemian and dislikes formality when relating to children.

At first, the British slang is a little hard to get used to, but with time I learned the language. I feel like these kinds of posts are meant to go deeper into the meaning of stories, and I'm having trouble doing that with this story since it tends to be fairly surface-level humor. Not that there's not depth to it, it's just more middle schooly. Overall, this comic is extremely enjoyable, and I'd recommend it to anyone with a love of silliness.

Lackadaisy

I first discovered webcomics some time during high school, introduced to them by a friend of a friend. The first ones I remember were Earthsong and Inverloch. What I really found intriguing about this genre was the interactivity with the author/artist and the audience. Both of those webcomics (and many other webcomics) have/had very active forum communities. The author participated actively, listening to what the audience really enjoyed and what they were wondering about with the characters.

Lackadaisy was a comic I came across a couple years ago. The premise is about a speakeasy in Prohibition Era Missouri and the trials that its rumrunners go through. Oh, and all the characters are presented as cats. Not that they really need to be cats, but it really does add something to the comedy of it (and there is a surprising amount of comedy). Tracy Butler has some amazing drawing skills, especially when it comes to rendering textures. It's quite obvious that if she wanted to, the entire comic could be humans, but then in wouldn't be as fun. The expressions really bring these characters to life, especially the manic faces of Rocky. Each of her characters have their own distinct personality, from the demure and cunning Mitzi to the strong and stoic Viktor to the extremely Irish, extremely motherly Nina.

What also makes this webcomic really stand out is the attention to detail and historical accuracy. Reading through the archives is almost like a mini-history lesson as each comic page is often followed by a few comments from the author about when things were invented or came into common use and what kind of jargon and political issues were big at that time. Between the interactivity with the author (who is also the artist) as well as information on the expanded universe, reading the comic becomes more of a cultural experience. I definitely recommend this comic to anyone looking for a laugh, some action, and some really well-developed characters. Oh, and if you like cats. That's good, too.

Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You

Neil Gaimen's Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You was very different from what I expected. Truly, I'm not sure what I had really expected...I guess something more superheroey since that's the focus this week? Coming into this comic, it seems to be par to of a series which I am obviously not previously familiar with. We our introduced to a strange line up of characters, jumping back and forth with mysterious "dream land" pages. These characters end up in the dreamland to help save their friend Barbie, despite their own real life problems. Though at first, I am confused by some of the pacing and things shown at the beginning, but quickly find the characters and begin to appreciate it. But then it takes a turn. Everything gets quickly and unexpectedly violent, weird, and then followed by one of the most cliche storylines I've seen. Even after reaching the end of the book, I'm not sure if it was really that bad or if it was supposed to be kind of cliche and stupid? That storyline, of course, is the whole girl is princess of fantasy dream world inside her head. Sure, he throws in more violence than you'd normally see, but the fact that I myself wrote something of nearly the exact same Wizard of Oz-type story in the 2nd grade I think proves it.

Honestly, what I found most interesting in this story were the "kooky" collection of characters, almost too obviously kooky. Still, the author sets up their personalities and you feel for them. That's pretty good to begin with. The characters in the fantasy world, on the other hand, are bland. Even from the beginning, I was not invested in the second part of the story, the one actually about the main character. The idea of the cuckoo was interesting, having a dream entity who preys on the thoughts of others by becoming accepted and loved by it, but the fact is I just didn't care that much. In some places, I wondered if the text was purposely fighting with the drawings, such as when the Dream King's eyes were described as sparkling when in the drawing they were nothing but a black void. The idea behind "girls want to be princesses" is of course a purposely simplified view, but I can't help but feel that the author doesn't even really understand the ramifications of it, much less what it actually feels like to yearn for your own world as a female.

The ending, post dreamland, was maybe what I found the most entertaining. Barbie dealing with the death of her transgender friend in a town that will forever deny her existence how it was, preferring instead to remember her (or him, in their minds) as a good, God-fearing boy.

Asterios Polyp

I found this comic really interesting, probably my favorite so far in this class. The first part that actually stood out was of course the clean style. Within the opening pages is a profile portrait of the main character, Asterios, stood out with the clean silhouette, the front of the head's shape mirrored in the back of the head like some kind of dented lightbulb. He's a compilation of straight lies and perfect curves.  When his love interest, Hana, is introduced, she is drawn in a style reminiscent of the women in Japanese prints, having those tiny lips, leaf like eyes, and gently sloping neck and shoulders. Immediately, this sets up the major differences in these two characters--organization vs chaos, manmade vs natural. The artist plays a lot with the idea of how we view each ourselves, how we see the world, and how it can affect the way we interact with other people. To get this idea across, Asterios is drawn with light blue straight lines, looking like merely a compilation of simple shapes and forms while Hana is in pink, being shaded with a messy sort of cross hatching. When they finally come together and begin seeing things together, their colors and styles meet in the middle turning purple and being a more "realistic" version of them. So that was an absolutely brilliant translation of an abstract idea into visual means, especially when it's utilized during arguments to show their sudden distance from one another.

Asterios is not a likable man. On the contrary, Hana's character is much sweeter and easier to take in, especially because of her artistic side. Meanwhile, Asterios is a critical, rude, spot-light hogger. Flipping back and forth between the past and present allows the audience to simultaneously watch the demise and redemption of his character, as he loses love and then decides to reclaim it. The host of side characters serve as a very interesting backdrop for Asterios's turning around. Again and again, the artist makes some extremely clever decisions regarding storytelling, using a cube for a speech bubble near the beginning to show the less-than-simple, three part answer. Later, when the wife of the family who takes him in is monologuing about life and supernatural beliefs, the reader is forced to turn the page as her speech moves from right side up, to sideways, to upsidedown, creating a physical experience for the reader. Even the narration, from Asterios's unborn twin brother creates a dual plane that the narrator can spread out in. I really enjoyed the introduction at the beginning, where Asterios sits in a room alone, watching what sounds like porn when later it is reveled that he is watching something much more innocent and important to his character: his secretly video taped memories, and evening cooking for Hana

Once again, the idea of how we see each other and how we interact with one another is a huge. I found the conclusion really interesting, being able to find Hana again only after learning to cling less to himself and his pride, essentially taking what he's learned from spending time with Hana and finally applying it to life. Meanwhile, when he does finally find her, Hana has been subject to the exact same treatment, learning to appreciate the shapes and forms that have always enthralled her exhusband.

American Born Chinese

This one had a bit of a twist ending for me. But I'll get to that in a bit. First, the style: It's simple, but colored, generally very likable and  cartoony. The language built with the paneling and breaking up chapters (especially between three different stories) reads very easily and quickly. I could hardly believe when I had reached the end of this book from it moving so quickly and easily.

[More to come....]