City of Reality

February 4th, 2010

One of the truly enjoyable aspects of webcomics is the utter freedom they give the cartoonist in both story content and concept. While the lack of editorial restriction does have a dark side (I’ve stumbled across comics that focus on school shootings, binge eating, and pointless graphic violence; these seem to rely on the subject matter to draw in readers rather than intelligent storytelling), this editorial freedom can also encourage cartoonists to indulge in philosophical concepts and story subjects that would likely not see print due to limited readership appeal. The utopian deconstruction webcomic City of Reality fits in the latter category, using both whimsical stories and more serious content to describe the utopian world of Reality, and several people who are part of the super hero organization SUEPR (though many of the “supers” use devices, rather than innate abilities).

No, that’s not a typo. The organization that deals with disasters, monsters, and other insanity is called “SUEPR;” I’m not quite sure what the acronym stands for, but the “Sue” aspect was deliberate, and several of the characters would be Sue-like characters, except for the deliberate deconstruction of the trope in general. Nor are the Sue-like characteristics universal with the entire cast; instead, it almost seems to be an innate aspect of the natives of Reality, in comparison with characters who emigrated from another world to live in Reality. Perhaps the best example of this lies with the leader of SUEPR 4, the teenage boy Todo.

Todo is, for a lack of better words, perfect. He’s handsome, articulate, compassionate, skilled, assumes the best of people and doesn’t judge them if they don’t meet those expectations. In short, he’s the type of character you’d hate (well, initially) if you stumbled across him in a fanfic or the like. But as the comic unfolds, it becomes obvious that Todo’s “perfection” is a veneer, and that the very aspects of him that appear so “perfect” in Reality end up hurting him (and his companions) when facing problems from other less utopian realities.

The two outsiders of the group are immigrants from worlds outside of Reality; A.V. is a young verbose lady who has a lot of talent and heart, but freezes up in social situations, while Hawk is an anthropomorphic dragonfly with a chip on his shoulder and the need to prove himself. It is these two that truly help the comic shine, with their reactions to the eccentricities of their new world (such as a sock puppet rabbit being the mayor of the City of Reality, or how everyone is just so nice to each other, even in the face of infidelity or being robbed.

Of course, A.V. and Hawk won’t be the only ones who’ll give double-takes at times. There are subtle and not-so-subtle images that will suggest how things could go; take the infidelity (which was told as a flashback story): when the guy is confronting his girlfriend after catching her in bed with another man, there is an one-panel flash to a handgun in the bedroom drawer. It’s never touched, and the two manage to talk things out (with the guy that was caught in bed cowering behind the bed looking quite nervous the entire time). Likewise, one of the very first things that happens in the comic is that a young girl is given a ride home by a shadowy complete stranger, taking a different route home than is normally taken… and she gets home safely and untouched. The entire world reeks of the Uncanny Valley effect; the inhabitants of Reality are (for the most part) human… and yet somehow not.

In many ways we’re being given a glimpse of the alien nature of a utopia. In order for a utopia to exist, people would have to resist those darker impulses that are a part of all of our lives… and do so consistently. And they do, with the exception of some of the immigrants from other realities where things are not so perfect. We’ve not seen A.V. react adversely to some of the almost inhuman decency among the citizens of Reality, though there are moments when you’re sure she’s going to comment, only to back away. Hawk, on the other hand, spends an entire chapter trying to break through their veneer of civility, only to finally conclude that somehow, Reality itself is one huge family (and not one of the more typically dysfunctional ones in our own world).

The rest of the cast plays primarily a background role; Froggie, a giant intelligent anthropomorphic frog is the scientist of the group, while Victor is the final member of SUEPR 4 and is, if anything, even more perfect and decent than Todo. Little has been done to date to expand on their personalities or backgrounds (though Victor is hinted at having a “mysterious past” which will undoubtedly become the basis of some future storyline). Finally, there’s Mayor Rabbit, a sentient sock puppet rabbit who single… um… handedly runs the entire government of the City of Reality. Much like the other natives of Reality, when he appears and talks about various things we catch brief glimpses that suggest things aren’t quite as perfect in Reality as appearances might suggest, but outside of a few disasters (all of which have been (indirectly?) caused by interactions with another reality called Magic World) we’ve had few glimpses at the possible darker side of Reality.

After the first two chapters (which introduce both A.V. and Hawk), the chapters tend to flow into each other. Indeed, the problems caused by Magic World products ends up being the motivation behind the CoR storyline that just concluded, where SUEPR 4’s three core members had to travel to Magic World to stop their own brethren, who are trying to eliminate the threat Magic World poses for Reality. Cartoonist Ian Samson manages to portray the members of SUEPR 1 as well-intentioned extremists that know what they’re doing is wrong… but that it’s for the greater good of Reality. Chapter 5 may be the best storyline yet in CoR, and undoubtedly we’ll see more of Magic World in the future, especially once Mayor Rabbit admits to the rulers of Magic World that some of his own were responsible for their own recent troubles.

Another interesting aspect of CoR is its update schedule: the comic is released twice a month with sizable multi-page updates. This helps create a better sense of story and continuity than even a daily update schedule would do. Samson has stated that this update schedule will be changing soon, but hopefully he’ll continue some form of multi-page update (perhaps similar to the update schedule of Sarah Ellerton’s The Phoenix Requiem).

City of Reality is one of those comics that will amuse, charm, and at times disturb you. It may also make you sit back for a moment and consider what Samson is saying here… and on the state of our own reality. For that alone I’d recommend it; the interesting deconstruction of just what a utopian world is and on the nature of “perfect” characters is just icing on the cake.

Addendum note: It appears CoR is switching to a MWF update schedule, for the time being.

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Blip

February 1st, 2010

I’ll admit I’ve long struggled over the concepts of predestination (essentially that the future is predetermined and unchangeable) and free will (there is no destiny and we are free to choose our fate). I find the concept abhorrent that we are, in essence, puppets dancing out to the whims some capricious divinity who decided before the existence of time itself who would do what, who was damned, and who would be saved. Thus when I stumbled across the webcomic Blip, which is about a girl who is born without a destiny in a reality that runs according to God’s Plan, I quickly found myself drawn into the comic.

Metaphysical aspects aside, Blip is a slice-of-life comic where the mundane exists obliviously along side the surreal and supernatural. The comic’s protagonist, a young woman called “K.” by all her friends and associates, is oblivious to the ongoing conflict between the forces of Heaven and Hell over her life. Well, she’s oblivious on a conscious level at least; a fair ways into the comic we learn that K. knows the Devil, whom she calls “Uncle Luc” (and who in the comic is a very attractive and affable gentleman, showing courtesy to both his own minions and to his opponents among the angels) and was mentored by “Luc” in her dreams, being taught how to play instruments, draw, paint, and write. The forces of Heaven try to combat this by discouraging her artistic tendencies and ensuring her life is boring and nondescript. (And no, they apparently aren’t allowed to kill her. It’s against the rules.)

Needless to say, Blip does not ascribe to the notion that the Devil is evil. While it is revealed that he rebelled against God, he is not shown to be the metaspiritual boogyman of Christian mythos. Indeed, even the Devil seems to answers to someone… that being The Adversary, who (according to the Devil) is responsible for “ruining” K.’s life (even if it’s the angels who are doing the footwork). Likewise, we’ve not seen evidence that the comic is using the trope that “God is Evil.” An evil God wouldn’t care about rules and would do worse than ensure that a young woman’s life is uninteresting and uninspiring. While it’s not exactly a nice thing to do, it’s at worse a very vanilla evil.

Amusingly enough, K.’s life is replete with supernatural elements that she is unaware of. Of her two best female friends, one is actually a vampire, and the other a witch. A third former friend whom K. is antipathetic toward is a cyborg (and whose father is hinted at possibly being Dr. Frankenstein). And as I mentioned above, K.’s spiritual/dream mentor is the Devil. Interestingly, K.’s friends were unaware of K. being without destiny (or a “blip”) until the Devil tells K.’s vampire friend; needless to say, the knowledge that K. is anethema to God’s Plan is a considerable shock to them.

Despite the supernatural turmoil surrounding K., her life is fairly mundane with a boring job at a hospital’s medical records department, as well as the ongoing tediousness of K.’s life in general. Eventually she forms healthy relationship that the angels are unable to stop (thanks to the Devil’s minions distracting them until the roots of the relationship grew and the two started dating) at which point we finally catch a glimpse of K. being genuinely happy. Don’t get me wrong; the angels continue to throw monkey wrenches at K. and her relationship (including old exes for both K. and her boyfriend) and there are days which are full of suck. But that could be said for all people.

The mixture of supernatural and mundane elements works. Our frequent glimpses into K.’s life helps us care for a character who has the sort of life we can relate to, which helps anchor the more surreal elements and meta-conflict. What’s more, we end up cheering for someone who traditionally is considered a villain (though he is not necessarily a hero in this incarnation) except for his efforts to give one person a better life. And whether you enjoy a comic that has metaphysical elements that make you think or just enjoy a slice-of-life comic with a squeeze of supernatural lime, you’ll find Blip to be one comic you want to keep on your radar.

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Anniversaries – El Goonish Shive turns Eight

January 21st, 2010

I just wanted to tip my hat to Dan Shive, whose surreal contemporary fantasy comic El Goonish Shive is now eight years old today. While there are a number of older comics out there, and for a bit EGS was updating weekly in-between hiatuses, it’s still a remarkable accomplishment. Congratulations, Dan. I might have become more critical than not of late, but your comic continues to amuse and showcases your growth as both an artist and a storyteller.

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Between Failures

January 18th, 2010

I suspect there are few people out there who’ve not worked retail at some point of their lives. And let’s face it; retail jobs are wretched, soul-stealing jobs designed to crush the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of our youth. So I suppose it’s inevitable that slice-of-life webcomics focusing on retail work (or more specifically, the young men and women who are bored to tears in those jobs) would arise from them. While Between Failures may not precisely show the realities of the retail trade, it does capture the spirit of it (much like the movie “Clerks,” which BF pays homage to in some ways) through a mixture of dark humor, cynicism, and the occasional bit of drama.

Since any webcomic that focused on the mundanity of retail work would quickly put its readers to sleep and possibly result in multiple recursions of post traumatic stress syndrome and a wave of store shootings from former employees driven insane from suppressed memories of the utter tedium of retail work, BT instead focuses on the employees who work for a barely-solvent chain store, and their interactions with one another. It is this banter between employees and the shifting relations between them that drives much of BF and makes it so enjoyable to read.

As BF is a slice-of-life comic, it has more of an ensemble cast rather than focusing on any one character as its protagonist. Thomas, the floor manager and chief snarky bastard of the comic, comes across at times as a primary protagonist, but he willingly passes the baton off to his coworkers, and each member of the cast has had his or her moment to shine in the spotlight. Most of them have done so quite well (though it helps that most of the cast are quite likable and distinctive) when the comic focuses on them; there is a bit of chemistry between the characters, and this helps drive the comic as a whole.

One interesting aspect of the comic lies with its initial use of black and white art, and its shift to color. I don’t know if the cartoonist had this in mind when he first started the comic, but J.T.’s shift of the art from black and white to color was quite artistically done and works both metaphorically and as a storytelling device. I won’t spoil it for you, but the moment color comes into the comic is a climactic moment for the comic as a whole; later updates have included black and white for flashback scenes, and I can easily see black and white crop back into the story for dramatic purposes.

Another thing you’ll soon realize is that much of the cast seems addicted to movie quotes. This is somewhat understandable, as one of the characters is a huge movie fan who loves it when her coworkers try to stump her with movie quotes (and she’s never been stumped once, so far). I know that I have a tendency to start using movie quotes myself when I’ve been exposed to them, so I suspect the cat’s tendency to overuse movie quotes could just be cultural contamination from their coworker. Fortunately, the abundance of quotes is more amusing than annoying.

On the whole, Between Failures is a humorous (if at times darkly cynical) comic. That’s not to say there are not dramatic aspects to the existential storyline; just as “drama” tends to creep into any retail setting, so too does it rear its head in BF. Fortunately, J.T. has managed to blend the two so that even during the more dramatic moments of the story, touches of BF’s dark humor show through. But it is the sense of “family” that exists between these coworkers that truly helps BF shine, and what kept me reading despite the flashbacks to my own dark days in retail. (No retail or grocery stores were harmed in the writing of this review.)

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Meta-review: Footloose (Part 3)

January 12th, 2010

Here’s the conclusion to the Meta-review. I apologize for how long it took to write the entire thing; it’s over 5,000 words in length (making it among the longest of the Meta-reviews, though I think the Girl Genius Meta-review might be longer). Part 1 can be found here, while Part 2 is located here. The review in its entirety will also be posted on its own page in the Meta-review section.

———————

Continuity: 4.75 ribbons
Story Genre: Contemporary and High Fantasy, School Story, Adventure, Comedy

One problem with just about every webcomic lies with the fact they are incomplete works that are put up slowly over time. This gives the cartoonists or writers time to change their mind about details and existing continuity. Unfortunately, this past continuity is still quite visible in the archives, and can create discontinuity for new readers skimming through the archives. (I suspect this is one reason for comic relaunches.) One way around this is by writing out the entire script of the story before the comic even goes online (though even then discontinuities can creep in if the writer isn’t careful).

Footloose is part of a growing number of storytelling webcomics that have done just this. The background setting has been extensively prepared, and much of the past was already written down in the prequel fanfic that Alice Nuttall and Emily Brady wrote several years back (and which actually inspired the current comic). As such, Footloose has a well-written and fairly concise story, and within the comic itself there are no inconsistencies that stood out. (This doesn’t hold true for InubuYAKasha, but Ally and Em found an imaginative method of explaining those inconsistencies away; seeing as the fanfic has minimal bearing on the comic outside of background material, it’s not a factor anyway.)

There is a remarkable level of continuity in the characters behavior and reactions as well; even Keti’s recent odd behavior was built upon layers and layers of previous content which informed all but the most unobservant readers that Keti was going to go nuts. If anything, the level of foreshadowing concerning Keti has been overkill, though some of the shout-outs have been subtly done. Even recent events such as An flirting with Daniel have their roots in the past (though this is more evident in hindsight).

That’s not to say there are no incongruities. The problem is discerning what aspects are mistakes, and which ones just haven’t come to fruition yet. One case in point is with Keti’s mom, Beansprout, who Flibbage initially asked to come to the Dojo to teach. It would not be for just over 190 updates when Beansprout would land the job Flibbage had offered way back when. Add in the presence of a Deus Ex Machina (literally) from the InubuYAKasha prequel story, and almost any incongruity can ultimately be hand-waved away. Hopefully, Ally and Em will take the time and effort to deal with these incongruities before they’re a problem, rather than rely on their Deus Ex Machina (unless, of course, the DEM is in fact the point of said storyline).

Rating: PG

Footloose is rated PG. I don’t recall any swearing (though swear-substitution has occurred, with “Folk” and “Folking” being the primary “curse word” of choice (Folk undoubtedly referring to the “Fair Folk”). That said, there are a couple of scenes with some nudity (full rear nudity for Sparkle, and An’s breast is visible when Daniel “exposed” her during their duel), and some violence as well. The nudity in question was not gratuitous (well, maybe showing Sparkle’s butt was, but seeing that she was the butt of the joke…), and the violence isn’t nearly as bad as that shown on television, so I feel safe in keeping the PG rating. (That said, as always I urge parents to read the entire comic before letting young children read it themselves. What I find tame, others might find objectionable.)

Punctuality: Monday/Tuesday and some Wednesday/Thursdays (see below).

Footloose has had an odd update schedule for a while. Initially, it updated weekly with two pages (one new page, one redrawn art), often on Thursday but sometimes posted earlier if Emily Brady finished the artwork quickly enough. With the launch of the spin-off prequel comic Magical Transvestite Cherry (which updates when sufficient funds are donated toward the comic), the update schedule shifted to two comics a week, with one update for Footloose and the second either Footloose or Cherry. This is the current state of things, with updates often appearing on Mondays and Wednesdays in the U.S. (or very early Tuesday/Thursday in England, where Ally and Em live). There have been occasional missed updates, but for the most part the comic updates on time (or early) and regularly.

Additional Web Content: 3.5 ribbons

One thing I should note about the Footloose website is that some of the content is not related to the comic itself. While the site includes links to the comic, the spin-off prequel comic, and the fanfic prequel, there are also links to a third comic unrelated to Footloose, as well as an art gallery of artwork Emily Brady offers for sale. The art gallery does include Footloose-related artwork and fan-art, though I must admit I wish the art had a sorting system that differentiated new work from existing art. Most art galleries have similar problems with efficient sorting, so it’s more of a personal gripe than something I’d mark off on.

Comic-related content also includes a cast page written up as files for each student in the four classes. While this was imaginatively done, the lack of attached pictures or information on Jin and Keti’s parents (and Flibbage for that matter) does lessen the impact of the page. Oddly enough, it also increases the importance of the secondary characters in my eyes. I’d probably have never noticed most of the secondary cast except for that page. I’m unsure if they’re included because schools (or dojos) would have a large selection of students, or because Ally plans on fleshing them out if and when the story eventually returns to the dojo.

Unfortunately, there are no separate pages for species information, history, or similar categories. This is not to say the information is missing from the comic; instead, Ally and Em integrated it into the comic as a whole. I suspect Ally and Em want to avoid cluttering the site with too much detail, even if it would be easy to reuse specific pages from the comic for these sections. While it would be nice to have a map of Faerie, I can understand why Ally and Em have been reluctant to create one (or at least show the readers this map).

Overall: 4.25 ribbons

As I stated earlier, I first fell in love with Footloose because of its characters. But while Keti, Daniel, Jin, and An may have drawn me into the comic, it was the mixture of story and effective use of storytelling tropes that have kept me here. While I’ve managed to guess a few plot points (to the point that Ally and Em have a standing policy not to tease me with hints any longer), more often than not the plot contains enough elements I didn’t foresee that even when I get something right, I never quite guessed at the entire picture. (But let’s face it; those sky blue pieces are almost impossible to put together in jigsaw puzzles.)

Recent updates have been following up on Keti’s fracturing mental state (as a result of Keti’s MGSD) and its effect on the people around Keti and their relationships with her. One obvious focus will be the relationship between Keti and An; while part of Keti is in denial of her attraction to An, that part of Keti’s not in control any longer. This may actually force An to finally state her intentions, which are probably “just” friendship. While I’ll admit part of me would enjoy seeing An and Keti pair up, An honestly hasn’t shown that level of attraction to Keti (especially when compared to her occasional flirtations with Dan). What’s refreshing about this is the honesty of this character interaction, with An’s refusal to confront Keti up until now for fear of hurting the feelings of what may very well be her only friend.

Other character relations and interactions likewise flow naturally, whether it’s Iordan’s unassertive nature and quiet interest in Keti or the growing relationship between Jin and Cherry. As several members of the secondary cast have slowly grown, their personalities likewise have evolved and come to share the limelight with the primary cast. This is not always obvious and as I mentioned before, only three of the cast (Iordan, Jimmy, and Cherry) have shown significant growth. With the shift of venue (and the reduction of secondary cast), this has been changing, giving Claudette and Sylphia more time in the sun as well. It remains to be seen if the secondary and tertiary cast at the Dojo will see similar attention when the story returns that way, but hopefully with time their stories can also be told.

That is not to say that the relative lack of development in the secondary cast is deliberate; when you consider there’s only been a little over 300 updates for the comic, it’s more understandable that the majority of the secondary cast hasn’t had time to shine. And while the comic’s concept (of Keti being a “story magnet” due to her “primary protagonist syndrome”) is suggestive that the vast majority of Footloose’s stories will involve her, that doesn’t lessen the possibilities of secondary cast development. Keti’s interactions and the development of friendships with the others in the Dojo would give both Keti and her fellow students the time to shine in the spotlight and become individuals, instead of background fodder.

It is this mixture of storytelling skill and distinctive characters that makes Footloose well worth reading. The story mixes both humor and more dramatic moments nicely, without letting either aspect dominate the comic as a whole. This is a refreshing change over the majority of storyline comics, which tend to lose much of their humor for the sake of dramatic storytelling. It is the spots of light humor that help alleviate and contrast the darker moments of stories, and hopefully Footloose will manage to maintain that balance as the story continues to grow.

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Fiction: Final Rest

December 30th, 2009

Every so often I get an urge to write up some fiction. This one is fairly short for me (the original idea was for something a bit longer, and I shifted the venue to help reduce the length) and was inspired from a couple of comments on the Footloose tagboard and from this sketch Emily drew a bit back. Please note, I have no idea what the ending of Footloose will be, so don’t expect this sort of thing to happen in the comic.

Anyway, enjoy! I’ll be wrapping up the Meta-review hopefully in a day or two.

——————-

Final Rest

By Robert A. Howard

A light breeze played with the blades of grass growing from the grave. Keti glanced up at the sun, feeling its warmth on her skin. It almost seemed wrong somehow that it was warm and sunny here. Keti took a deep breath and stepped away from An, kneeling by the grave. She could feel tears tumble from her eyes and her throat tightened as a sob threatened to escape; Keti struggled to keep it in.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced up gratefully at An. An had been there for her, letting Keti cry on her shoulder, and supporting her. An had promised him she’d stay by Keti’s side, and Keti felt guilt mingled with gladness that she wouldn’t be losing An at least. He’d made her promise not to drive An off, not to let her guilt destroy her. But it was hard. It was very hard.

“It’s my fault.” Keti blinked on hearing her own voice, so soft that the rustle of grass almost suppressed it. An heard, though.

“He’d not think so.”

Keti shook her head, looking at the gravestone. “How can you say that? It’s my fault… I should have listened to Flibbage, instead of following you guys like some folking idiot…”

An sighed and was quiet for a moment. Keti glanced up at her; An was staring at the grave, her eyes shining. “If you hadn’t followed… well, we might not have gotten the Sword back. My sister might have defeated us. Who can tell? Besides… if you weren’t with us… you wouldn’t have fallen in love with him,” she said and smiled, “though he was attracted to you back at the Dojo, you know.”

The wind picked up, blowing Keti’s hair in her face, and she turned back to the grave. Her heart constricted, and Keti clenched her fists into the grass. It hadn’t been there yesterday. Flibbage must have grown it with her magic. But there were limits to what even Flibbage could do. “Your sister didn’t drive the Sword through his chest. It was me. My fault.”

An knelt beside her and turned Keti toward her, hugging Keti’s face to her shoulder. “That wasn’t you. It was Kaeti. And you… finished her. None of us could have done what you did.”

Keti laughed through her tears and said, “Cherry beat her, with his magic. And Daniel got the Sword away from her. She almost killed him too! All I did was drive it through that bitch’s chest.” She closed her eyes and whispered, “Sometimes I think she’s the lucky one.”

An pulled away from her and gave her a small shake. “Don’t say that. I should have stopped her. I… I hesitated,” An said, and Keti heard the suppressed grief in An’s voice. “If you’re to blame, then so am I.”

Keti opened her eyes and saw her pain reflected in An’s eyes. She understood. She really did. An stood and held out a hand for Keti. She took it and let An pull her up; Keti put a hand on her belly as she stood and glanced back at the grave. She was barely showing, and the t-shirt hid that. For now.

“You know, he’ll live on in you, through your child,” An said, her voice barely heard above the rustling of grass. Keti sniffled and smiled hesitantly back while blinking away tears.

“Twins. Least, Jin thinks so, though I have to wonder if that’s wishful thinking so she can be an ‘auntie’ to two babies,” Keti said. She glanced down at the gravestone and added, “Mom says he died on purpose so she couldn’t kill him.”

“No he didn’t. Iordan was no coward,” An said. Keti glanced over at her and saw An’s eyes were narrow. Anger shone in them. Yes, An understood, even if Keti’s mother didn’t. She gave An a grateful hug and turned away from Iordan’s grave.

An was right. He’d been the bravest man she’d ever known.

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Meta-review: Footloose (Part 2)

December 26th, 2009

This is the second part of the Footloose Meta-review. It’s run a bit longer than expected, and parts 3 (and maybe 4) will be posted hopefully later this week. I plan on consolidating these in the first section as well in a month or two. Part 1 of the Meta-review can be found at this link.

———————
Character Development: 4 ribbons
Primary cast: 4.5 ribbons
Secondary cast: 3 ribbons
Antagonists: 4 ribbons
Character Chemistry: 4.25 ribbons
While the world of Faerie and its fairly unique treatment of storytelling traditions and rules is a huge draw for Footloose, it is the cast which I ultimately fell in love with. That said, there are some flaws with the cast that keeps me from just blithely awarding the comic a “5″ in character development. While Keti and her immediate friends are well fleshed-out, the background cast sadly was neglected, partly due to the huge number of background characters located at the Dojo where the story takes place. This may change now that the comic has shifted gears and gone from “school adventures” to “epic quest” mode. This has resulted in the secondary cast shrinking from over 20 characters to around five (not including adversaries).

Footloose keeps with the tradition of many stories with a primary protagonist, Keti Jones. As such, the comic focuses either on Keti’s perspective on things or on events directly concerning her. Indeed, Keti is revealed to be suffering from “Primary Protagonist Syndrome” which she inherited from her mother (who in the prequel fanfic InubuYAKasha likewise suffered from this syndrome). It is pretty much mandated that Keti is going to end up in the middle of any story that comes along. Considering the varied convoluted reasons writers have come up with over the centuries to involve protagonists, you have to admire the straightforward nature of the author here: Keti is genetically predisposed to be the protagonist, and she gets admitted to the Dojo so she won’t be completely pathetic as one.

Despite being the center of the comic, Keti’s no heroine. She’s not naturally adept in her Kung Shoe classes (think of it as a combination of kickboxing and using shoes as projectile weapons to incapacitate foes), she has a blindspot when it comes to the rules of generics (a failing shared with Keti’s mother and most humans in the comic for that matter), and a tendency toward ineptitude (though with practice she can overcome that tendency). In fact, Keti is perhaps the least Mary Sue-like protagonist I’ve come across in a while. She isn’t beloved by everyone, she isn’t better than other people with minimal effort, she isn’t an annoying git, and she even shows intelligence and cunning when she has a moment to think (and yet can be a complete idiot in other ways). In short… Keti is balanced, and her growth has been a gradual careful thing.

In an interesting twist, she’s also quietly insane, and is manifesting signs of Multiple Generic-induced Sanity Dysfunction (MGSD), which allows the cartoonists to “switch” personas of established characters, send them on violent rampages, and generally behave in methods that normally would be contrary to the norms of character development. Oddly enough, this works. Initial manifestations had Keti talking to imaginary “shoulder friends” that took the form of her friends Jin and Daniel – this was less “good and evil” like traditional shoulder-angels and -devils and more “ditz and sarcasm” but has since evolved to the above-mentioned “mindscape” comics where her genetic aspects (fae, werewolf, and human) appeared after Keti was smacked upside the head with the “Sword of Slayskull,” a plot device from the comic’s fanfic past. Seeing that Keti’s ultimate nature is one of balance, and that several storylines have focused on some aspect of that balance, it’s likely that in time Keti will manage to balance the various aspects of herself and achieve some form of mental unity.

Keeping with the storytelling traditions of the vast majority of fiction out there, Keti has a small circle of friends (and a love interest, though the Keti/An dynamic is a subversion of this). While Footloose is a mixture of high and contemporary fantasy, the comic settled firmly into the School Story genre until recently (where it shifted into a variation of the monomyth, or hero’s journey). As such, Keti’s friendships are formed freshly at the Dojo itself, sparing readers from the tired old trope of the “lifelong childhood friend.” Jin and Daniel have filled out the roles of the lighthearted ditz and snarky cynic respectively (at least, until they get drunk).

On the surface, it would be easy to mischaracterize Jin as a blonde ditz and comedic relief. While on the surface Jin may fit this mold, it doesn’t take much effort to find Jin is a multi-layered person who is deeper and more serious than she pretends to be. Her good nature and high spirits are deliberate masks that Jin dons. It is evident fairly early on that this is not always easy for her. One of Jin’s early catch-phrases in fact is “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,” which her twin brother Daniel uses to try and cheer her up at one point and that she used as a mantra when she found herself getting angry.

Jin’s friendship with Keti is one Jin initiated, partly due to the fact her parents had adventured with Keti’s parents (though the two sets of parents weren’t exactly friends) and also partly due to their shared werewolf heritage. In many ways, Keti, Daniel, and Jin have formed a small pack, with Keti and Daniel squabbling over dominance, while Jin watches over and protects both her best friend and brother. I hesitate in calling Jin the “Alpha” of this pack (especially as Keti has led the way on more than one occasion), but given her protectiveness of Keti and Daniel, and how easily she cows her brother, it’s as apt a description as any.

The second of Keti’s close friends is Daniel, Jin’s twin brother. Much like Jin, Daniel’s a fairly complex character who on the surface appears fairly cynical and sarcastic (a tradition which earns him beat-downs from his sister and from Keti). But while we might not have learned (yet) exactly why Jin plays the part of the scatterbrained optimist, we do learn that Daniel dated Sparkle (top magical girl and antagonist for the first six chapters of the story). Jin’s description of the relationship (in that she doesn’t remember Daniel smiling once in the six months he dated Sparkle) makes me wonder if he’d originally been more cheerful and outgoing until Sparkle got her claws into him.

It’s difficult nailing down exactly what makes Daniel tick. It’s easy to define him, but only in regards to other characters; he’s the straight-man to Jin’s antics (and is naturally protective of his younger twin, even as she’s protective of him). Daniel plays a similar role with Keti at times while also giving Keti someone she can safely snarl at. His competitive nature also led to his conflict with An, partly because An proved better than him in their “Indiscriminate Whacking” classes and partly because whenever Daniel tried to challenge An, events would conspire to incapacitate Daniel so he couldn’t fight An and find out just who was the better fighter. But as to who the real Daniel is… I don’t know if we’ve seen him yet.

The final member of the primary cast is An. I must admit to being conflicted on revealing a key aspect about An that Ally and Em managed to conceal from readers for the first five chapters of the comic: An is a girl who was pretending to be a boy. While part of me hates spoiling the surprise for new readers, this is an important factor as the relationship between An and Keti obviously changes once An is revealed to be a girl. (There’s another secret An was hiding as well, but that one isn’t nearly as vital to the character chemistry between An and Keti as Keti learning her big crush was in fact for another girl.) Looking back, there are clues. There’s nothing sufficient for anyone who’s not Sherlock Holmes to put together, but you can see little hints of An’s secret (well, this one at least) that make sense after the fact.

Much like Daniel, An is difficult to nail down without defining him in regards of other characters. It’s spelled out in no uncertain terms that Keti likes An (to the point that Keti still has conflicted feelings over An even after learning the truth). Daniel saw An as competition and perhaps as a threat of his masculinity (an issue which ironically vanishes once An is outed – he doesn’t have a problem with women being better than him, just other men). Daniel may also be attracted to An on some level. But as for An herself? Recent developments suggest that An may be driven by guilt, guilt over her past and perhaps on the consequences of her actions. And when you consider that An was living a lie for so long… you have to wonder if An might have felt tremendously alone. She couldn’t trust anyone with her secrets… because of the danger to others. Indeed, much of An’s odd relationship with Keti could be viewed as a desperate need to have a friend… and Keti read too much into it.

Existing in a sort of ambiguous area between the primary and secondary cast is Sparkle, the primary antagonist for six of the chapters. As the initial antagonist (until Keti traded up for faerie pirates), Sparkle plays the part of foil and competition for An’s interests (obviously before An was revealed to be a girl). She also played a rather cruel prank on Keti just because she could (though Keti managed to turn the tables nicely). The psychological profile of Sparkle in the Cast page sums up Sparkle perfectly: she [is] a charming, highly intelligent and talented young woman … she is also a manipulative little bitch who thoroughly deserves to be taken down a peg or two. She plays the traditional part of “snobby bully” perfectly, and watching her get taken down a peg (several times) is admittedly a guilty pleasure of mine.

In an interesting subversion for Ally and Em’s usual skills in character development, we don’t see much development for Sparkle, or even any back-story that might explain her behavior. At the end of Chapter Six the above-mentioned faerie pirates kidnap her to be a wench/serving girl for them. To date, we’ve seen neither signs of Stockholm syndrome or anything reminiscent of O’ Henry’s The Ransom of Red Chief (which makes sense; Sparkle is mostly defenseless and surrounded by armed pirates who could hurt her if they wanted to), though she’s remained snarky and fairly insolent even in the face of servitude. This seems to be classic Sparkle, so I’m unsure whether to lament at the theoretical lack of character growth in this situation, or applaud Sparkle for remaining defiant even when facing possible pointy doom. Considering her snarkiness in the face of adversity has me cheering for her… I’m applauding while hoping for some further chances at character growth.

As might be expected for any comic with a “school story” focus, the secondary (and tertiary) cast is fairly sizeable. Unfortunately, this has resulted in the vast majority of the cast remaining untouched. We’ve had maybe three members of the secondary cast with any significant fleshing out and development (that being Cherry/Steve, Jimmy, and Iordan). The rest of the cast has remained pretty much background detail that serves little purpose except as setting. Yes, it makes sense that a school (or dojo) would have a goodly number of students, but few secondary characters have had an opportunity to shine. We’ve seen remarkably little about Keti’s classmates in Kung-Shoe, which is surprising when you consider these are the girls Keti has the most contact with on a daily basis. Outside of Jin, Keti’s formed no friendships with her classmates, which is a shame as these extra friendships would have given these characters a chance to be fleshed out and grow.

Likewise, we’ve seen little of the Antagonist Squad, aka the Magical Girls (and Cherry) of the School of Marketable Magic. They pretty much serve as little foot troopers and yes-women for Sparkle to command, and a couple of them are given bare-bones detailing to give them a tiny bit of individuality, but outside of Sparkle and Cherry, I couldn’t name any of them or really mention what purpose they serve besides giving Magical Girls a bad name. Mind you, I have to applaud at a most unique depiction of magical girls as completely contrary to the traditions – not only are most of the magical girls not heroic, but they are in fact quite despicable, with Magical Transvestite Cherry being the odd duck out (in more ways than one) in that outside of doing what Sparkle tells him to do, he’s a fairly decent person. Cherry’s a favorite of both Ally and Em, and has been fleshed out further in his own mini-comic, which I suppose makes him a subversion as he’s both a secondary and primary character as a result.

The same lack of development holds true for the School of Useless Mecha, and if not for the relative dearth of students in Indiscriminate Whacking (with two of the four students being part of the primary cast), I’m sure it would hold true for this school as well. Alice Nuttall created a beautiful and detailed setting with the dojo for Footloose, but ultimately this was meant to be a stepping stone for Keti to prepare her for the bigger adventure ahead. As I mentioned earlier, at the end of Chapter Seven Keti has left the dojo while following An, and the secondary/tertiary cast has been slashed from 20-something to five (six if you include the captive Sparkle), which should make it easier for the secondary cast to be fleshed out further.

(To be continued in Part 3)

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