Monthly Archives: March 2008

Of Snakes and Apples

Posted on March 21, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Warning: Of Snakes and Apples contains nudity and religious content. Reader discretion is advised. As well as a sense of imagination and tolerance for alternative points of view.


Even when I was young, I was able to comprehend that many of the stories in the Bible were metaphoric. Yes, I believe in magic and in the reality behind the myths… but I also believe in physics, evolution, and the like. For all of the beauty in the idea that the Divine created man and woman from clay (which could also be a metaphor for being created from the ashes of dead stars that exploded billions of years ago), the truth is that we evolved into the beings we are… and that Adam and Eve were naught but myths created by shamans and priests to try and explain a universe that was beyond our comprehension.

Still, there is a certain fascination in the ancient creation stories. Of Snakes and Apples retells the story of creation in Genesis and provides it with a twist, telling the story from a uniquely female perspective: Eve’s own. Nor is this a strict adhering to the ancient tale. We do not see Adam formed and Eve shaped from his own rib. Instead, we start with a glimpse of a remarkably female God (which makes a certain level of sense to me; women are the creators of new life, so why would God not be female in aspect… at least when creating life for the first time?) breathing life into Eve, and bringing her into the world.

Maya Lindell does a superb job of showing the young Eve’s innocence, leading to her eventually meeting a young man named Adam who seems a bit perturbed at his new mate (which also hints that Eve was not the first mate God made for Adam, keeping in line with the Jewish legends of Lillith). The comic has taken its time in getting to this point, working to establish aspects of the characters’ personalities rather than jump straight into a plot that originally took a few paragraphs. Lindell’s artwork remains as skilled as in her other comics (such as Kenyagi), relying purely on photoshopped colors that are rendered quite professionally. And while some people may disagree with her vision of Genesis (and a female God), the story shows considerable imagination and is now on my reading list.

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Mary Quite Contrary

Posted on March 21, 2008 by | Leave a comment


One of the “new blacks” of webcomics has to be the autobiographical comic. These can come in a variety of flavors, starting with the diary comics and moving on toward storyline comics based off of the cartoonist’s life. And there is a certain logic to this; we write what we know, and what do we know more than our own life story? Unfortunately, after a little bit the genre starts to blur together and dozens of autobiographical comics saturate the webscape. One rather innovative standout among the blur lies with Naomi “Brigid” Gill’s comic Mary Quite Contrary, which talks not about Brigid’s life now… but of when she was a 13-year-old girl.

It’s a topic most readers can relate to. All but the youngest readers have gone through those awkward early teen years and remember (or try to forget) the torments of middle school, suffering through idiot teachers and young bastards honing their skills of torture for a future career at Guantanamo Bay. While MQC can at times move into the truly sappy material that we all suffered through at various points of our childhood, for the most part it manages to walk a fine line between humor and drama, and focuses as much on the character Mary (who is mostly Brigid) as her family.

Unfortunately, not all is rosy with MQC, and I speak not just of young Mary and her parents’ efforts to get her home schooled. The comic resides in two abodes, both in its original Comic Genesis abode, and in a later blogsite. While the blog allows easier and more directed comments for the comic itself, it can take forever for people on dial-up to load the comic… and readers can sometimes forget to read from the bottom up to catch up on the strip. Navigation issues aside, MQC is one of a small number of family-friendly comics out there, and quite likely one parents will enjoy as much as their kids.

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Kenyagi

Posted on March 18, 2008 by | Leave a comment

A growing problem with an increasing number of long-form story webcomics lies with pacing in the comics. More and more webcartoonists have seen webcomics as a means of presenting the novel they’ve long desired to write. Unfortunately, it can take forever for a comic’s story to be revealed, and the slow pace can discourage readers from putting a comic on their reading list. This is one of the problems I had with Kenyagi, a comic about a young woman who possesses magical powers she cannot control.

Or at least, I think that’s what Kenyagi is about. Indeed, the first chapter of Kenyagi follows that basic premise, starting with a brief tale of how Chi’era came across the Sashaim Goddess Sashi while gathering roots for her mother. Unfortunately, Sashi’s identity is only given if you view the character page; there is no explanation for the white-haired lady in over 50 updates of comic and no explanation as to why Sashi has shown interest in Chi’era, or why the girl is the nexus for poltergeist activity.

That’s not to say the comic has nothing of merit. The artwork is better than quite a few comics out there, and while the coloring has shifted from colored pencils to nicely rendered photoshop colors and back again, Maya Lindell’s artwork remains top notch. My primary gripe lies with the fact we don’t have any real clues as to where the comic is going after 53 updates. We’ve also not really had a chance to get a real feel for who Chi’era is, or any of the people around her. Lindell is erring on the side of caution, in trying to take her time in telling this story… and risks losing her audience unless the pace is picked up. Despite this drawback, the comic’s merits outweigh the slow pace of its story, and is worth reading.

Addendum Note: Kenyagi has gone on hiatus so that Lindell can concentrate on one of her comics (she was working on several at once), Of Snakes and Apples.

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Urban Fey

Posted on March 18, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Every so often I come across a comic that just jumps out of the shadows, grabs me by knifepoint and drags me back to its URL. Often it is story that inspires reviews out of me, though spectacular or untraditional artwork can also catch my attention. But in rare cases, it’s the theme of a comic that draws me in. Urban Fey is an example of the latter, with a story about fairies that have adapted to living in the city and embody various aspects of city life (including fey that embody (and sometimes control) traffic lights, graffiti, and even body piercings and tattoos).

While the concept behind Urban Fey is intriguing, it is the storyline that helped solidify my enjoyment of the comic. UF focuses on the efforts of two fairies, Lord Neon and Lady Hestia, to create a unified Urban Court for the fairies, while dealing with the intrigues and manipulations of the Great Courts of the Fey, who seek to keep the urban fairies divided and at each other’s throats. It is the political intrigue and personality conflicts that helps UF stand out from so many other comics. There are no epic quests looking for arcane artifacts to save the day, or the doldrums of day-to-day life here. Instead, there are intrigue and manipulations that drive the story along.

The artwork works nicely with UF. The use of greyscale and of textures and lighting help give the art a certain grittiness that works nicely with the urban setting. And while it would be good to see Rhea Ewing work more on background art and integrate it more regularly into the comic (instead of backgrounds being primarily to set the scene before vanishing into a haze of greyscale fades), the comic doesn’t suffer much for their lack. In addition, Kimberley Long-Ewing does an excellent job of character and plot development. It is this partnership between effective character development, political intrigue, and artwork that helps Urban Fey stand out. It has earned a place on my regular reading list, and I have no reservations in recommending it.

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Girl Genius

Posted on March 7, 2008 by | Leave a comment

One of the things I enjoy most about Phil and Kaja Foglio’s masterpiece webcomic Girl Genius is the diverse and fascinating cast of characters. While Agatha Heterodyne is the primary protagonist of the tale (as well as the comic’s heroine), Gilgamesh Wulfenback and his father also rate notice for their own place in the story, with Baron Klaus Wulfenbach often played in the oddly conflicting role of both antagonist and dark hero. The Baron is feared and hated across much of Europe and rules the land with the iron hand of a despot… and yet his intentions are to bring peace to Europe and stop the warring of varied Madboys and their insane inventions.

Naturally enough, Gil didn’t understand why his father has to be so heavy-handed and unreasonable. Early in the comic he would often argued with his father (whether over Agatha, Othar, or the varied tests that the Baron put Gil through) and much like any father and son pairing, neither seemed to understand the other. But Gil has matured tremendously since those early heady days of Girl Genius when Agatha was onboard the massive dirigible Castle Wulfenbach. Back then it seemed Gil struggled to prove himself in his father’s eyes… and Agatha was part of that process, of Gil working to prove his father wrong.

In doing so, Gil started to fall for a young woman who wanted so badly to create things and who found herself swept up in the insanity that surrounded the Wulfenbachs. But even more than that, he began to find his own footing, and when his father was sorely injured in battle against Agatha, Gil stepped to the forefront and proved most capable of dealing with the challenges of being a leader. Along the way, Gil developed an understanding about his father. In fighting the rogue Jager Vole, Gil has come to realize why his father behaves the way he does… as he beats Vole to a pulp to force him to behave.

Gil realizes that it isn’t that his father doesn’t want to try and reason with his foes. It’s that when the Baron tries, they take the gesture as a sign of weakness and try to take advantage of him. And while this may lead Gil to start emulating his father more (which may truly bring about fireworks when Gil and Agatha inevitably meet again), there’s something about the last panel of Friday’s comic, with Gil looking proud of his father when he tells a Jager of a monograph his father had written on workpalce communication (a monograph that all seven(!) Popes ordered burned) that speaks volumes.

Likewise, back when Gil was facing down an army of War Clanks singlehanded, the Baron was truly amazed and pleased at how his son dealt with the foe. There would be no more tests of his son. Klaus knew his son has what it takes to rule Europe… and to protect not only himself, but the many people who depended on the Baron for protection. Both father and son have grown to respect and understand one another. And while they will undoubtedly continue to disagree about Agatha, I see few foes prevailing against father and son when they work together.

And while that would be an upbeat place to end, I do feel it necessary to mention one other potential source of conflict between father and son… because of the Other, believed to be Agatha’s mother. When Agatha was possessed by the Other, she infected Klaus with a modified Slaver Wasp, one that could work on Sparks. Should the Other get to Klaus, she could possibly command him against his own son… and the resulting battle would be especially tragic seeing how father and son have gained an understanding and tremendous respect for one another.

Whether Klaus can be saved from the Other, either through Gil’s experiments or Agatha’s own, remains to be seen. But in the end, we may very well see Agatha and Gil fighting against the Baron and the Other, struggling hard to stop the Baron without killing him. But that is a story for another day.

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Anders Love Maria

Posted on March 6, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Warning: Anders Loves Maria is Not Safe For Work and has cartoon violence, swearing, nudity, and sex. I would rate it a hard R for content. This comic is not suitable for children, not even with adult supervision.


I first came across Anders Loves Maria on the webcomic podcast The Webcomic Beacon (which makes it a first for comics that I recall having found via podcast). I’m going to lay it on the line. I don’t particularly like ALM’s artwork (just the nude scenes alone are most surrealistic, seeing the art is like a cross of Girly and Ren and Stimpy), the storyline shifts several times into content that is disturbing (to say the least), and the hijinks? They are wacky and are ensuing on a frequent basis. However, despite these strikes, there are two aspects to ALM that drew me in and kept me reading despite my discomfort.

First, these characters are very much alive and are very human. If I were to sum up ALM in one sentence, I’d say ALM is a story about adultery and its consequences (even if the two protagonists aren’t married). Second, the story builds to this betrayal of trust… and does so quite realistically and believably. This is not a story where the guy is an evil bastard who betrays his poor pregnant girlfriend’s trust. The steps to betrayal are taken gradually and are done on both sides. Maria is equally to blame for what has happened, from her actions that led him to being beaten to a pulp when he tried to protect her (before he cheated on her), to immediately before as she let her jealousy of another girl (Tina), and her actions against Tina which drove him into her arms.

This does not absolve Anders of his betrayal, of course. His actions, and his treatment of Tina afterward were abhorrant. Yet even as the starcrossed lovers drift apart, with Anders staying with Tina and Maria with an old ex-boyfriend, it’s obvious that there is no closure here. Anders still loves Maria very much. And Maria feels strange having sex with her ex while pregnant with Anders’ child. It is the combination of characters who truly live and do what they want, along with a semi-realistic storyline (even with wacky hijinks) that kept me reading. As such, I give it a nominal thumb’s up with the caveat that the content may very well offend a number of readers.

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