Originally I planned on talking about Belkar of Order of the Stick later in more depth, but the latest update left me needing to laugh in enjoyment over this one short (no pun intended) bit: Belkar is a sexy shoeless god of war! Yes, Belkar’s back in the game (and no longer suffering from the Mark of Judgment), looking for trouble, and leaving the girls breathless in his wake. (No wonder Varsuvius was so worried about Belkar possibly being attracted to V after the kiss on New Year’s.) And I must admit that the “passcode” for the Curse Belkar was under proved most amusing: Evolve or die.
One of the greatest flaws of Belkar’s character was that he has been a two-trick pony for the longest time. He was a violent comedic foil who had no social graces, no interest in blending in, and whose solution for everything was “stick a knife in it until it’s dead.” And it was getting old and boring. What’s worse, it was hurting the rest of the comic as well. The rest of the cast have undergone character growth and have had some truly intriguing stories behind them. Belkar? Outside of killing things, he was useless. The visitation of Lord Shojo (whether it was Shojo’s spirit, a manifestation of the curse Belkar was under, or even just a hallucination) ended up providing Belkar with a chance (and a reason) to grow, while staying fundamentally who and what he is.
Thus Belkar is going to pretend to have character growth. Yet I must wonder… in pretending, and while playing the same game everyone else is, some of that faked character growth may actually rub off. In the meanwhile, watching Belkar slaughter his way through a horde of low-level thieves, leaving the one girl alive after kissing her breathless, has actually become amusing again. What’s more, he may actually get to play the part of hero once again, and enjoy himself immensely while doing so. And while he is fated to die (according to the Oracle, whose death activated Belkar’s Mark of Justice to begin with), I can’t help but wonder if maybe he’ll gain a measure of redemption in the process… or at the very least enter into the Abyss ready to kick butt and chew bubblegum.
Webcomic Beacon Podcast
This is unfortunately a common trait among a number of amateur podcasts (and indeed, WB is better than a number of these hackneyed attempts at creating a podcast). At its roots, a podcast is much like the radio programs of old, such as the Larry Glick radio show from the 70s to early 90s. Glick’s show was eclectic and had an immense variety of content and discussions, something that a number of podcasts have attempted unsuccessfully to recapture. However, Glick did not always have an eclectic show, and he has his roots in traditional radio broadcasting. I remember a story Glick once told on how when he first started in radio, his show was random and fragmented and ended with his being fired. Afterward he focused on traditional radio broadcasting and only gradually evolved his show into the phenomenon it became. While I doubt many of my younger readers will know of Glick, other popular radio talk show hosts likewise have a firm foundation in traditional radio broadcasting which they in turn evolved into their current programs.
This is a lesson that podcasters should take to heart. Rather than start out quirky and random, podcasters should strive for a level of professionalism and then let their podcasts evolve and find its own voice. And professionalism can take several forms. One thing I’ve heard Fes complain about in WB is his hatred of editing the program. This is unfortunate as it is this editing and compacting of material that can help turn a mediocre podcast into something good. A combination of possessing a basic outline and sticking to it, having backup questions to ask guests so the podcast doesn’t devolve into awkward silences and random silliness, and editing out silences and errors in recording the podcast could turn the Webcomic Beacon into one of the better podcasts out there, and one that helps to showcase webcomics as a significant media deserving of attention and interest. What’s more, the WB could more effectively focus on topics that prove useful for cartoonists and fans alike. Without that extra effort, I can only recommend it as a curiosity to listen to if a topic catches the listener’s attention. Even then, the WB will be hit-or-miss in whether you’ll find gems hidden among the dross.
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Posted in Webcomic commentary
Tagged Podcasts, Professionalism, Webcomic Beacon