Critical Miss

Critical Miss

Cory Rydell and Grey Carter

11 pages

Updates AP, as far as I can tell.

I always try to reserve my judgments for after a comic has had quite a few updates, since I feel bad for ripping apart what may simply be someone’s hobby. Most people don’t start out doing their comic “for profit”, or any site for that matter. Hell, that’s how I did my site, the ads are just there to cover hosting fees.

So please excuse me if I seem uncharacteristically kind to Critical Miss. It’ll pass quickly, I promise.

Critical follows Erin Stout, a professional video game critic, in her adventures… critiquing games. I know, what an innovative story. I must say that the writers were brilliant in pitching the comic to the Escapist instead of striking off on their own, after all the site is already filled to the brim with their target audience.

As video game critic comics go (and there’s a LOT of them out there), Critical isn’t bad. The comics are cynically funny, also known as “the best kind of humor”, and I have been genuinely entertained by them. This will sound ridiculously nitpick-y, but the only problem with them is that the first few comics lack a navigation bar, and it’s a pain in the ass to move around without one (There’s one now, but I’m leaving this in so that you don’t think that I was bought off).

Here’s the caveat, though. Like I’ve said in earlier reviews, comics have a nasty tendency to be spectacular at the start, then drift off into monotony or end completely. This is due to the fact that it’s really, REALLY hard to come up with something new and inventive once a week, much less thrice weekly.

The writers usually will start with a few excellent comics that they hammered out over a long period of time. After they hit comic 10 or so, they run out of these ideas and have to start making things up as they go along. This is wearying for people with other things that they need to be doing, so they might slow down the updates, or simply stop them altogether. I believe I set the bar at 50 comics for the magical “hump”, where a person will not easily give up, simply because s/he has invested so much time and effort into the comic.

So, we’ll see where Critical Miss ends up. I think that we’ll know definitively by the time that I learn to type “critical” without having to fix the spelling.

Pink Parts

NSFW: I just realized that people read this from most recent down, so not seeing monday’s post maaaaaay cause some problems for some people… heh. Annnyways…

Pink Parts

Katherine Skipper

14 pages

Updates weekly (monday)

Think way back, long long ago. In the midst of all that being oppressed, womenfolk had to find something to pay the bills with. Thus, the “oldest profession” is born. Over time it’s evolved, somewhat, and we have the “legal” version of such a career: Strippers! Whether you’re working through school or simply need some money on the side, with a nice body and a lack of body-shyness you too can make some dough!

Pink Parts is an upstart comic that has managed to slip into my view due to their aggressive advertising campaign via Project Wonderful. The plot is basically that of a girl who wants/needs to make some money, so she tries to be a stripper. And thus far that’s all I know. Seriously, what do you expect from a ~14 page comic? It’s brand new, and it could be good, it could suck. Who the hell knows?

Since there isn’t much plot, I suppose I should break my rule and check out the art The style isn’t bad, although it isn’t exactly great either. The backgrounds are decent and the character bodies work well, but for some reason the faces creep me out. Domo arigato, Mr. Robato… but all comics have bad art to begin with, so I’ll cut her quite a bit of slack. Although in the last few comics, it has gotten better. The bodies are actually modeled quite well,  instead of the stiff backs that they usually have. Imagine a comic where the characters are animated! Amazing, I know. For a upstart, it’s really pretty good.

So, yeah. Keep it in mind if you’re bored one day. Madame Skipper has been doing updates Monday throughout, but she’s been pushing for more updates per week. We’ll have to see.

Noses Optional

Noses Optional

Kristy Bourgeois and Sara-Fred Rickert

86 pages

Update Status: Dead. TOD January 2009

Noses Optional is a cute little webcomic collection that the authors made for a senior project. I’m not entirely sure what that it, but hey it gave us this. It’s not really involving, but its funny. Well, if you like video games and Final Fantasy it’s always funny. If not, then only occasionally. But let’s face it, if you’ve never heard of FF then there is something seriously wrong with you. It’s a slice of life comic but it does involve a lot of the “ooh lets make a webcomic” humor that starts off many series. It just continued. Plus, I am secure enough in my masculinity to say that I find the art style adorable. It is. So sue me.

There are a lot of filler things, plus the “inker” left the comic about 30 real strips from the end, so it’s been rocky for Noses Optional. But they do form enough in-jokes and stories to still be legit, eh? Just don’t judge it by the most recent strips, jump back to the beginning.

Or maybe I just have a soft spot for nerdy girls.

…Ok, I do. To the nth degree. But hey, it’s still funny, eh?

In short, the archive may be small and filled with “oh i didnt have time” material, but short also means quick to do. I’m not sure if it will continue in the future, but it could! Maybe. Kinda. I hope so.

Note: The blonde one is female. Yeah, you may have guessed that from the name, but she’s referred to as Fred. Hell, I didn’t even know it until she showed up in a tube-top. Yeah, I know! Surprising.

P.S. I don’t care what you may think, caffeine is not an adequate replacement for sleep. You may be conscious, but it impairs your thinking skills. Want proof? See above.  ♥ Catalyst

Slackerz

Slackerz

Smith and Hepting

4 years

Recently dead, with promises of future comics

Ah, yes. Slackerz.

Take one part video game humor, three parts internet humor, one part movie references, one part social commentary, and add random yet funny recurring characters to taste. Mix well over low heat. Once baked for 30 minutes, remove fourth wall. Serve hot.

Slackerz is one of those things, a comic that you’ll either love or hate. The characters are more developed than most recurring creatures in these random, daily-style comics. And they’re not just “oh look, Joe is back. That crazy fellow. Capital!” kind of jokes, either. For example, take McHampster, who regularly advises kids to do things such as (in his introduction comic) snort crack and put salt in their eyes. This, of course, speaks to the stupidity and sheep-like nature of kids, but its a goddamn humor webcomic, not a master’s thesis. It’s just funny.

Most of the humor is based around over-exaggerating the reactions of the people and the narrator, but it’s done well. Although it does sometimes get a bit “Oh look a clown NOW ITS A DOG oh sh*t its a roflolcopter”, that kind of problem is rare. It’ll keep you coming back…

Well, at least it would have. As of today Slackerz was declared done, although the authors say that they are going to bring it back in a few months. Yeah, and my cousin’s going to go back for his bachelor’s degree after he hikes around Europe. It may help that they’ve been doing it for so long, and therefore have something of a vested interest in it, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

At any rate, it’s definitely worth a read. Most of the references need nothing more than a basic understanding of popular geek culture, so I think most of you should be fine. I mean, who hasn’t seen the Matrix or played/heard of a Zelda game? Crazy people, that’s who. And we don’t talk about them.

Again, read it.

Somewhere Different

Somewhere Different

Mayura and RedRaine

About half a year

Semi-weekly

This may be a comic to keep an eye on, depending on where the story is taken. It’s fairly new, so very little has happened past the first chapter, but it could turn into something interesting. Or, like I fear, it could turn into mindless romance. The start already centered around a boy, the third wheel, being tormented by his dating friends’ lovey-dovey attitude. The “about” page describes what will be the future plot, but I’ll leave that to you lest I spoil the limited story. Like I said, this is something to watch, but I’m not holding my breath.

The art style is a basic kind of manga, although I do give the artist some leeway due to the new nature of the comic, so again we’ll have to let it develop. There is a lot of filler art, which is kind of annoying. I understand that it isn’t always possible to draw up a comic, but c’mon people. If you can draw an intricate picture, then you can draw a simpler comic.

Still, the comic holds promise, perhaps we’ll have to revisit it later.