Monthly Archives: September 2008

One of the fundamental elements in good storywriting lies with character flaws. As photographer Kevyn Aucoin once said, “perfection is boring.” And it is. At best, perfect characters are uninteresting. At worse, readers hate them because they are perfect. It’s the imperfections that bring characters to live and allow readers to identify with them. And when a character’s flaws are big enough, it can shape everything the character says and does.

Addiction is perhaps the most insidious and detrimental of character flaws, and one that has often been touched upon by writers. Whether it’s Sherlock Holmes’ addiction to cocaine or the smoking habits of Commander Samuel Vimes, these traits reveal weaknesses that readers can identify with, and which helps make that character more human. Often these weaknesses can seem superfluous and are used as window-dressings to flesh out the character. But sometimes addiction can play a key role in not only fleshing out a character, but presenting something for the protagonist to overcome.

Recently, Megatokyo introduced Ibara Junko’s father to the cast of tertiary characters that inhabit the Megatokyo world. Unfortunately, the lack of an official cast page hides an interesting aspect to the elder Ibara… the fact he is a raging alcoholic, a fact that is revealed in Ibara Junko’s write-up in the 5th volume of the Megatokyo print compilations. While his behavior and body language hints at his being an alcoholic, the generic reader who hasn’t acquired the print compilations or read the forums might miss this key fact… and its importance for one of the primary members of the MT cast, Largo.

There is little doubt that Largo has a drinking problem. Largo and Piro ended up in Tokyo because Largo got really drunk and Piro felt it better to get Largo out of the country after Largo flashed E3. This was just one of a multitude of incidents, including begging Piro (and Hayasaka) for money to buy beer from vending machines and a rip-roaring bender when Hayasaka rejected him. Heck, upon gaining a line of credit when he worked for the Tokyo Police Cataclysm Department, he filled the refrigerator with beer, without bothering with any food outside of dry cereal. Even in the latest chapter, Piro lamented to Nanasawa that Largo spent most of Piro’s paycheck on beer and cereal.

Nor is Largo’s drinking problem a secret. Ibara Junko ran across Largo during his bender, when he caught her practicing enjo-kōsai (going on dates for “gifts” of money). Largo brushed it off and continued staggering through the street. But Ibara followed and helped Largo not only stop feeling pity for himself, but also come up with a method of fulfilling his own need to be a knight in shining armor for Hayasaka while accepting her own desires not to be mollycoddled. It seems a rather decent (and indeed, noble) thing to do. Hell, some shippers even started hinting at a love triangle between Largo, Ibara, and Hayasaka (which is perhaps a tad disturbing as Ibara is only 16 or 17, but not quite as twisted as a 14-year-old girl chasing after a man in his mid-20s (that being Sonoda Yuki, who has been crushing on Piro along with half of Tokyo)).

The truth is perhaps more twisted. When Ibara senior arrived at his daughter’s school to beg money off of her, he revealed something inadvertently; Ibara Junko follows her father when he’s out getting drunk. His very words in the latest update reveal this: “…don’t worry about trying to find me later tonight, I won’t be at any of the usual places. I’ll be out working!” This puts Ibara Junko’s practice of enjo-kōsai in a different light. She’s not out getting money to buy things for herself, or even necessarily to put more money in the till to help her family buy food and supplies. She’s keeping an eye on her father… and making sure he gets home safely.

Did Ibara see a reflection of her father when she saw Largo, lying on his back before an arcade (after Boo deliberately tripped him)? Did she reach out to Largo because he reminded her of the other man in her life that she works so hard to save… her dad? Indeed, this twists the shipper daydreams of Largo and Ibara getting together into Ibara looking for someone just like her father, which is generally felt not to be a good thing as far as relationships go. (Not that I agree with the shippers here; rather than being attracted to Largo, I feel Ibara’s interest is more like a moth attracted to a flame… Largo is her broken bird, and she wanted to save Largo as she can’t save her dad.)

Nor is Largo necessarily alone with this addiction. Nanasawa commented to Piro that Hayasaka was similar to Largo in refusing help when she was drunk, and that Hayasaka went on benders back when she was dumped by Sonoda Hitoshi. Hayasaka shows the same general disregard with her job at Megagamers that Largo does for his teaching job, and has shown no hesitation at drinking when offered alcohol. While alcohol doesn’t seem to be as large a part of Hayasaka’s life as it is with Largo, she too has used it to escape emotional pain, and has entered into a relationship with someone else who likewise hides from his failings with alcohol. We’ve not seen enough to determine if she is an alcoholic or just uses it to hide from her feelings, but there are signs that she shares this failing with Largo.

The last chapter of Megatokyo ended with the apparent death of Tohya Miho… a possible death that only a remote few characters know about. This chapter seems dedicated to Ping, the little android girl who formed a close relationship to Tohya and who misses her dearly, and her own search for Tohya Miho. But perhaps we might have something more forming here… a fellowship of sorts, with Ping, Ibara Junko, and Largo working together to track down Tohya Miho. In doing so, we might actually see Ibara confront Largo on his drinking… and perhaps bring about a chance for Megatokyo’s cloudcuckoolander to realize his problem. In turn, Largo might start a truly heroic battle with an addiction that, untreated, could in time leave him a pathetic old man who hits up his kids for drinking money.

We’ve all heard the term “jumping the shark” (thanks to Eric Burns and Websnark). Well, I’ve just seen an instance of a webcomic that tried to jump the shark, missed, and was then chewed upon by the shark. I half expect the shark to develop food poisoning and spit out the remnants of the comic in question because of the utter lunacy of the situation. The comic in question is College Roomies from Hell, a comic that was once a favorite of mine but that lost me as it started dwelling more and more on depressing, angst-filled storylines rather than the mixture of story and humor that had pulled me in eight years ago.

College Roomies from Hell initially was the story of three teenagers who were forced to become roommates when their dormitory was destroyed in a natural gas explosion. Two months into the comic, Maritza Campos introduced three female roommates living next door, and the comic evolved slowly from a gag-a-day strip and into more of an episodic format. It was during this time that the cast solidified and became more distinct. Dave was a neurotic yet studious student who quickly became a fan favorite as he pursued the equally-studious and even more paranoid Margaret. Mike was a cocky manipulative bastard who ended up being the driving force behind the Roomies, and Marsha his attractive and exceedingly jealous girlfriend. Roger was a quirky and bizarre nerd who thrived on insanity. And rounding out the bunch was April, seemingly the “normal” roommate of the bunch who had a tendency of talking to herself and answering herself.

The dynamic between the characters was the strip’s strongest point. And as this dynamic started to break apart as Campos expanded upon the character of April, sending her spiraling further and further down in a orgy of jealousy and lust for Mike (who wanted nothing to do with her) until finally Campos had April drive a butcher knife through Mike’s sternum, killing him and shattering the comic as a whole. As a critic, I applauded the move. It was bold, unexpected, and would change the face of the comic forever. As a reader and a fan of the original character dynamic, I mourned and finally gave up reading. Fortunately, several of my contacts continued reading, and regaled me with various tidbits of the comic that seemed so surreal as to be in the same category as fanfiction. I’m not talking about some of the truly inspired fanfictions either. I mean the stuff that drips of Mary Sue Syndrome and is replete with idiot-plots.

So, what happened to result in sharks gnawing at CRfH’s midsection? What could drag me out of my steadfast refusal to read the strip and delve into a half-year of archives? It seems that Campos has brought back the central character of the comic as a zombie. Yes, you heard me right, after killing Mike off, she’s returned him as a decomposing, green-skinned zombie. If this sounds at all familiar, that’s because another comic did it far better; Scary Go Round, which had red-haired-heroine Shelly offed spontaneously, resurrected by the Devil as a zombie, and then dwell in an undead state until finally trying to devour the brain of her boss, being zapped by lighting, and like Frankenstein’s monster being brought into the land of the living. SGR’s version is quite imaginative and unique, which is no doubt the reason why Campos has seemingly lifted elements of that story and inserted it into her own comic.

I admit that after Campos killed Mike, I suspected that he would not remain dead forever (even though that would have been even more daring, to kill off a main character and have him or her remain dead). The first hints of Mike’s return appeared several months ago when Mike appeared in a limbo-like environment being pursued by a huge number of demons and finally yanking the blade from his chest, having it turn into a fiery sword, and cutting down several of the demons that had been after him. It was strongly suggested that Mike was in fact Michael, one of the arch-angels of the Christian mythos. And thus we had the first true hint that CRfH was going to suffer an attack of what would be called Mary Sue-itis if this were a fanfic rather than a story using original characters.

Added to the idiot plot is the nerfing of Dave, who is now suffering nosebleeds and blinding headaches whenever he uses his laser-vision (for those of you who don’t read the comic, basically think “Cyclops” from X-Men, but with control over the blasts… and yes, this is yet another example of unimaginative borrowing from other genres). The plot is strongly hinting that something was done during the slow-paced and tedious DunDun Island storyline, which ignores the fact Dave was healed of gunshot wounds and the like by a “holy light” back in a confrontation with a Satan-possessed werecoyote (don’t ask, it’s too long a story to get into). Obviously, God (or whatever power that was) was unable to undo whatever subtle alterations were done to Dave, despite the fact that he was healed of far more visible injuries. Yes, it doesn’t make any sense from my end of the keyboard either. It’s obvious that Campos is trying to rein in Dave, who she made overpowered in previous stories, while adding to the pathos of the story.

Mike’s return as a zombie is a non-issue for most of the cast. Blue, Mike’s younger sister, is absolutely overjoyed to see her brother is back, even if he’s a rotting corpse. Margaret is thrilled, despite the fact that Mike was brought back using dark arts. Of all the Roomies, it’s Dave who freaks out because his roommate is now a shambling corpse who finds it absolutely hilarious to jump out of the elevator and scare him half to death.

Well, okay. Maybe that part was funny, I’ll give her that much.

Still, I’m finding myself once again identifying with Dave… not because I find him sympathetic or the like (my apathy for the cast is very much still in place), but out of a sense of horror as I find the metaphoric reflection between an undead Mike shambling from the grave and a comic that has continued on far past the point that it should be put to rest. Once upon a time, I wanted this comic to continue into the next decade at least. I felt the group dynamic was the biggest strength of the comic and that the interactions between the cast helped drive the plot forward. CRfH was a character-oriented comic.

That’s changed. Campos has tried hard to turn her comic into an epic drama, and suffered an epic fail in doing so. I felt that if she’d returned to what worked so well, with shorter character-driven stories and a decent balance between humor and drama, then the comic could have recaptured that early greatness that inspired so many fans. I was wrong. The Fonz has gotten onto his waterskis, headed toward the ramp… and fumbled, tumbling into the water before the oncoming great white. There is blood in the water, and I cannot think of anything that can save this comic from the shredded corpse it has become. And while new readers may very well enjoy the comic for what it is now, anyone who truly enjoyed the early works of Campos will no doubt be shaking their heads sadly and wishing that as Mike was lowered into the grave, Campos had had the dignity to bring the comic to a close. Instead, we’re left to watch in horror at the ongoing train wreck that was College Roomies from Hell.

While I’m not sure, I believe Heart Shaped Skull may be the first comic I’ve reviewed that I learned of through Twitter. It is the comic-diary of Serenity Rose, a 23-year-old goth witch and one of only 5 witches in America (and 50 worldwide). Naturally enough, this ain’t Wicca we’re talking about here (and Sera is… a tad disdainful of Wicca the one time she mentions it in passing). No, this is blatant visible magic that has an immediate effect on the world. And naturally enough, it’s not made Sera’s life any better. Not really.

One of the fascinating things about HSS is that it is an episodic comic. The current storyline is self-contained, with a prologue that sums up the previous “books” in one page. Thus readers might be tempted to just jump right into the story. They won’t be missing anything significant if they do. Yet in those early works there is tremendous soul evident. Serenity Rose was born of these early, less-than-pristine works, and her heart and soul is presented here. Indeed, the initial readership for HSS emerged with these initial chapters and apparently waited a bit for cartoonist Aaron Alexovich to continue the comic.

Mind you, I don’t know if HSS suffered from hiatus or if Alexovich went to print (or even if HSS is one of a growing number of print comics that came to the web). I do know there is a 144-page print compilation available through Amazon (when it’s in stock, that is). So the first two chapters presented online in the archives are just a teaser meant to whet the appetite of potential readers who want to learn more about this young lady and the insanity (and sometimes inanity) that occurs around her. And I must admit that there’s a part of me that wishes the entire comic was available online, and that Alexovich would fully embrace what I consider the Foglio-style-of-webcartooning (using the full archives as an advertisement to encourage sales of the print compilations).

In some ways, HSS needs the rest of those archives. The first two “episodes” offer a glimpse of a young lady who, despite trying to hide from the world, has a couple of good friends and indeed, a fan-following for the comic she illustrates. In fact, one of my favorite scenes is when Sera meets a fan who doesn’t care that she’s a witch, she loves Sera for her art; Sera’s brief moment of joy at that moment is something I can relate to, and something I’m sure many cartoonists have felt at some point; comics are often a labor of love, and finding someone loves your work so much they want your autograph just makes it worthwhile.

The start of the current storyline, with Sera’s nightmare (or night terror to be more precise) hints that this storyline won’t be quite as lighthearted as the first two archived chapters were. It might seem a tad cliché that a government agency would try to attack Sera when she was young… like something out of X-Men perhaps. Then again, each day’s news is replete with examples of man’s inhumanity to man, so it may be a case of art reflecting life. In this case, it’s cliché because it’s real. The government would try to destroy (or control) witches, and undoubtedly they’d screw up as badly (if not worse) than they did when they attacked Sera seven years before the comic began.

One thing I have to applaud the cartoonist for is the feel of the comic. If you didn’t know better, you’d guess that Serenity is actually the artist, creating a life of wish-fulfillment on the small screen and something she almost wished she could be in real life. In this, Alexovich does a masterful job of bringing his character to life. Sera is vibrant and alive in a way missing in a number of comics. The character (and her friends) have soul and a life that you want to see and experience. That, combined with an imaginative story and an art style reminiscent of Jhonen Vasquez, gives us a story that captivated me and will leave audiences spellbound. Well, she is a witch, after all.

I’ve only been reading The Wotch for two years now, and thus wasn’t around when the comic’s primary protagonist, Anne Onymous, was revealed to be immune to transformation magic that would reverse her gender. Considering that it’s become a meme for Anne to zap her male friends into women, the inability for Anne (or her teacher Miranda, for that matter) to be changed into boys seemed odd at the very least, and some fans protested at the inherent unfairness of the situation. The fact that Miranda, who was the Wotch before Anne, was likewise immune was a significant hint that there were forces at play that transcended claims of sexism or even mere comedic forces at play.

Three revelations have come to light concerning the Wotch (and the Worlock) that strongly hint that Anne remaining female is in fact an important story point. First, The powers of the Wotch are chaos-based. (Likewise, The Worlock’s powers seem grounded in principles of order and stasis.) Second, The initial Wotch was originally a man who ended up transformed into a woman and who, despite her discomfort in being a woman, is unable to change back. Third, Wotches seem to specialize in transformation magics. Why is this significant for our protagonist?

The Wotch and the Worlock were revealed to be a force of balance in the world, one working through chaos and change, the other through order and stasis. (In this, I am reminded of a print comic from DC Comics: Hawk and Dove.) You could view it as a form of Yin and Yang… and as part of that balance, one half of this duality must be female. And while it may seem stereotypical that women are thus associated with chaos, it is much truer that women are associated with constant change. Women bring life into the world (and thus bring change to it). Their very biology undergoes a monthly cycle of hormones (and while males also have a hormonal cycle, it tends to be more subdued). In short, it’s a stereotype because of the truth behind it. For that matter, the original Wotch also specialized in Transformation magics… possibly due to the chaos inherent in finding oneself a different gender… or different species, for that matter.

One thing to note is that Anne (and other Wotches) are not immune to transformation magic. Instead, the Wotches are forced to remain female in all forms (though I must admit some curiosity as to gender-neutral forms, as well as those that embody both genders). And as time has passed, we’ve seen Anne be as likely to transform a female friend male as the opposite. (Indeed, one female tertiary character is trying to work up the courage to ask Anne to turn her male; I’m curious as to if her friend, with whom she switched minds a couple times due to various magical mishaps, might likewise be hiding an interest in being a girl again, and it might be amusing to see a couple of side stories where they both end up switching genders without realizing the other did… and then going out on a date with both switched. But that’s just a personal aside.)

This of course does allow for some potentially powerful moments. The Big Bad of The Wotch has revealed his presence to Anne and admitted his plans to destroy all of creation. (I must applaud how cartoonists Anne and Robin handled their protagonist’s response: ridicule. I mean, destroy the world? Please. How many Bond villains have tried to do this? It makes sense for their protagonist to scoff at this relevation. It’s idiotic, at best! Insane at worse.) From what I remember, he plans on absorbing the power of the Wotch to do this… suggesting then that if we ever see Anne turned into a boy, then she has lost the power of the Wotch. And considering that even former Wotches seem to retain some element of being a Wotch….

Of course, such a scenario could happen without it being an End Game Scenario. Very few webcomics have looked into female-to-male Transformations, and this could allow for a glimpse into what it is to be a young man, seen through the eyes of a young woman who finds herself thrust into this world unexpectedly. How would she respond to her friends? How would they respond to a suddenly-male Anne? At the same time, a second plot would likely be running in the background as Anne’s mentor worked feverishly to figure out just what happened and how to restore her student to her old self. It might even silence some of the critics who claim Anne’s “blanket immunity” to being turned male is a form of sexism and Mary Sueism (though no doubt they’d find something else to gripe about).

In short, Anne’s gender-transformation immunity is fairly significant to the plot of the story. While there are some potentially fascinating story ideas possible if that immunity were removed (even if only temporarily), the comic isn’t hurt by the Wotches being female. Instead, it shows that some far-reaching aspects of this comic were planned quite early in the comic’s run. It also suggests that Anne’s favorite tactic might not work on the Big Bad when they finally fight. After all, if Wotches are always female….