Monthly Archives: October 2007

One problem that webcartoonists often face is the temptation of growing complexity in their comics. An excellent example of this lies in the artwork of Fred Gallagher of Megatokyo fame, especially with the latest chapter with an ongoing zombie invasion of the city of Tokyo. Naturally, the fires and dust from an armed assault (as these zombies are using artillery and tanks in their attacks) would raise considerable dust. Unfortunately, there have been scenes where it is difficult determining what is going on in the strip. It’s a problem Gallagher is aware of, and one he’s struggling to overcome.

The simplest solution is one often found in manga comics: the use of spot backgrounds to show what is going on and then blank backgrounds avoiding cluttered backgrounds that can distract readers from the crux of the comic. However, there are times when it is vital to utilize backgrounds. In this, the latest Megatokyo manages to successfully wrestle with excess detail as Largo and Sonoda Yuki try to acquire a Rent-A-Zilla to use in fighting off the zombie invasion. (And in a brief aside, I must admit to some amusement that what would be the main event in most comics ends up being a side-show in the massive convergence of plots currently underway in MT.)

Little details like the “First Aid” and “Second Aid” medicine kits or Sonoda’s mop help add to the amusement, but it’s the Rent-A-Zilla himself that truly makes today’s comic so great. The sight of a Zilla plopped down watching television while snarfing down a bag of pork rinds… with a hamster bottle of water and a sign requesting patrons not to tap on the glass… well, that’s 100% win all over. Add in the transformation of Sonoda’s face from blase interest to sudden awe while Largo argues with the shop owner over their refusal to rent the Zilla out during a zombie invasion… and we have a comic that recaptures the sense of fun that has been so sparse in the comic for the past year.

A benefit of having an ensemble cast lies with the storytelling potential that the characters bring. A talented writer can create a half dozen or more distinct characters, each with traits and personalities that both compliment and conflict with one another. Character growth can come merely through the interactions of the cast with one another and the relationships they form. What’s more, fans can easily find one or more characters they identify with and grow particularly fond of. Depending on the character, he or she can easily become a fan favorite not only through his or her personality… but also with the relationships that are formed with the character.

Scary Go Round has the benefit of continuing with some of the cast from John Allison’s classic work Bobbins. However, in my eyes it’s not Shelley Winters and Amy Chilton who caught my eyes (though the early SGR stories with Shelley as a zombie are among my favorites in the archives) but rather The Boy and his Girl Friday… Esther De Groot. The relationship between The Boy and Esther is one of the more interesting, partly because of how dissimilar these two are (with Esther being into the goth lifestyle and things dark and mysterious, and The Boy being… rather plain and ordinary). Indeed, before Esther and The Boy hooked up, I would have sworn he and Erin (Shelley’s kid sister) were “destined” to be together.

What’s intrigues me about the Esther/Boy relationship is that I’m rooting for both of them here. It’s not a matter of The Boy chasing after Esther, or Esther going after the Boy. Instead, they kind of fell together almost by accident and found that not only was the sex fun, but that they made a good couple. The Boy helps ground Esther a little; she’s still apt to do crazy things like intruding in on a desecrated Gypsy burial ground… but I get the feeling that she’s calmed down a bit. And Esther gives the Boy a glimpse at a life beyond a dull nine-to-five job with some plain uninteresting girl without spirit or intelligence. They complement each other… and their differences help this pair grow far more than the more mature members of the cast. Scary Go Round is worth reading if only for Esther and the Boy. Fortunately, if they’re not your cup of tea, someone else in the cast will be sure to be more to your liking.

I suspect a lot of people use reading as a quick escape from their lives. This isn’t because their lives are miserable or the like, but often because it gives them a chance to do something new, be someone else, for a short time. As such, we as readers are often attracted to happy endings and the like. Honestly, who wants to read through tens of thousands of words and hundreds of pages only to learn the heroine dies and the hero is left alone and bereft? Yet the unhappy ending can often be a powerful ending, when properly utilized. Just ending a story without wrapping up the loose ends (much as what Falcon Twin did with its story) can result in fans who are ready to track down and inflict bodily harm upon the writer who left them hanging. But a story that ends on a sad note… but which brings closure to its varied plot points… becomes something much greater.

Hopscotch is a tale of love found and lost… of two wayward lovers united for a brief interlude. It’s also the tale of how deception and a failure to tell the truth can sunder love and drive people apart. But mostly it’s about Mike, a young man trying to cope with a failed relationship, and the young woman whom he literally is run down by (fortunately on foot as she rushed from a train). The story follows from Mike’s perspective (and I must admit it would be curious to see the story from the girl’s perspective and thoughts if John Contrad ever revisited the story) as Mike hops through the emotional minefield in which he finds himself. The glimpses of love’s first blush and of the infatuation of just being together was powerfully done, and if the story had just focused on the happier aspects of their relationship it would have been interesting (if saccharine) enough.

It’s the descent into the darkness as the lies and deceptions both Mike and his lover have kept from one another that truly make this story. The comic moves from your traditional love story to something far more tragic, and ends with the two lovers moving their separate ways. It’s even sadder when Mike reveals he still loves her despite the truths she withheld (which in a sense are even harsher truths than his concealing the fact he’d just been dumped by his ex-girlfriend just days before meeting her). I also get the feeling that she loves him as well… and that this love has grown beyond the initial attraction that dragged these two together. She grew to love Mike for who he was, not just how he looked and sounded. Her affair with Mike gained meaning… and in some ways is yet another wound she will carry in her soul. It’s the sadness of Hopscotch’s conclusion that gives it power and makes it well worth reading even now that it has ended.

It’s a sad truth that the vital first impression readers get about a comic comes from its artwork. Less known, however, is that comics are often sold on the last few strips. The latest comic often represents the face that readers are greeted with when they enter the website. What’s more, readers will often click onto previous comics and start reading a comic backward rather than start at the first strip. If the story doesn’t make sense and doesn’t show something to hook the readers, then often those people will move on without bothering to view the archives. This can be a problem with storytelling comics as plot and story isn’t always in-your-face interesting.

An example of this lies in Circumstances of the Revenant Braves. CRB’s story is complex enough that it cannot easily be read from the end to the start without completely confusing the reader. CRB’s roots lie in manga, and utilize some of the traditions found in Japanese comics. I first learned of CRB through the cartoonist’s signature art on the Megatokyo forums. Sadly, while the signature art was colored, CRB was mostly greyscale penciled sketches. Its appearance is rather unrefined, especially when compared to the vast number of inked strips out there; this roughness helps CRB stand out from its peers as Kristof S. is actually a good artist who can draw realistic people, clothing, and backgrounds with a minimum of lines.

The story is perhaps a touch harder to explain. It shares many traits with the Magical Girl genre, with granted magical powers meant to fight evil entities and all of that, with one significant difference: Kanzaki Kei is a boy. Unlike Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki, Kei remains male when using his powers (which appears to be for fighting Vices, or dark spirits that leech the positive aspects of humanity, resulting in people manifesting their worse traits). In addition, with the defeat of the first Vice, certain patterns are emerging. I already suspect which secondary characters will have Vices of their own that Kei will fight and overcome. But despite this probable predictability, CRB remains a diamond in the rough, well worth reading and watching as its rough edges are smoothed away, and the gem inside emerges.