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Weregeek is, for the most part, a slice-of-life comic about Mark (pictured above) and the group of geeks he joins. When the gang role play the comic takes on the look of the role play they are taking part in.

There are, however, some fantastical elements (I am not counting the role play images as fantastical as they are meant to be in the imagination of the characters). The first of these is that there exists “weregeeks”. Under the right conditions they can transform into humanoid creatures (see below). In their weregeek form geeks are stronger but they are more geeky. The other fantastical element is that there is a band of hunters that are trying to eliminate the world of geeks.

The main plot is centred around Sarah. Mark has a girlfriend but, with him spending most of his time with his new friends, he isn’t spending as much time as she would like with her. Sarah, on the other hand, would like to hook up with Mark but knows that he is taken.

The hunters form the main sub-plot. It bubbles along in the background and, just when you start forgetting about them, there’s another development.

The comic tends to follow Mark, Abbie (a friend of Sarah’s) and Sarah. However, the comic sometimes centres on Joel, the mysterious member of the gang.

Do you love Star Trek and/or Star Wars? Do you role play? Do you like comics? If the answer is “yes”, maybe you should meet the gang.

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‘Bruno’ is a black and white webcomic about a young painfully intelligent and blisteringly opinionated girl trying to find her place in the world. It is dialogue heavy by necessity — each ‘strip’ is actually one long or tall panel with an illustrated scene and a conversation between characters. This is comic very much driven by characters, not by any sort of an overarching plot.

The comics vacillate between being long and rambling, and quick and pithy. Almost all of the humor is character based–Bruno’s reactions to people around her.

Bruno’s cynicism and indecisive anxiety can be grating, but it is generally offset by her wry sense of humor, insight, and occasional deviations into unrepentant silliness. As a reader you will probably find yourself empathizing with Bruno’s friends– and forgiving her her flaws for the sake of her charm and the occasional perfect luminescence of character she displays.

‘Bruno’ the comic has a very pronounced flaws that are extremely evident in the beginning, but gentle as the comic goes on. In the beginning, it tosses you immediately into the action without providing exposition. You need to pay careful attention to the conversations the characters are having to figure out who everyone is and where you are.

There are sufficient cues in the dialogue to orient you, but it’s easy to miss one (I didn’t figure out the comic had started in New England until Bruno left and came back) and it’s shocking to immediately have so much pressure on the reader to figure out everything.

On the bright side, this rewards an attentive the reader with understanding and the satisfaction of having figured things out for yourself. Even when somewhat incomprehensible, Bruno’s style is interesting and engaging. The comic doesn’t talk down to you, the characters regularly discuss complex ideas and don’t shy away from big words. Is rewarding and educational to read.

But getting back to criticism, there are a few points early on where it’s simply impossible to get sufficiently oriented. I initially assumed Bruno was at college because people kept talking about it, and was startled to find out she was on break. There were many instances where you meet a character, and only later discover how significant they are. There also many instances where you need a character, and then never ever see them again.

The snapshot style of the comic makes it difficult to intuitively keep track of how much time is passing. Given all these obstacles it’s extremely impressive that it all hangs together as well as it does. The author quickly learns how to transition us more gradually from situation to situation, and to focus more on individual characters (other than Bruno) to help us develop relationships with them.

The comic really comes into its own with the introduction of Amy, Bruno’s niece. This happens in the archives on April 29, 1996. if you’re not entertained by then, put it back on the digital shelf.

I want to make a particular note about characters. The vastness of Bruno’s cast is a beautiful and potentially befuddling thing. Christopher Baldwin does an exquisite job drawing faces. Faces pop out from every comic, the focus and the point. Vivid and expressive. The story is character based, and the drawing style expresses this by making people’s emotions the centerpiece of every image.

And the voices of the characters are wonderfully varied and evocative. It’s obvious this author loves people.

The comic has some trouble resolving itself, and sometimes seems to lack direction. Appropriately, Bruno constantly struggles with these very same problems. You could argue that this indecision is an elegant metaphor for Bruno’s life, but it seems more likely that it’s the artist not knowing what to do next.

To summarize: Bruno’s main flaw is that it is sometimes confusing and indecisive, but it’s a beautiful and challenging character piece.

Seeing that I’m entirely too lazy to write up reviews ahead of time, I put out a call for guest reviews. This is the second of the reviews, by HiFranc (who has recommended this comic to me in the past).

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Review of A Girl and Her Fed:

When Otter, the artist, started her style was very different to what it is now.  She is in the process of updating the archives to make the art consistent throughout, and to correct plot holes and pacing.  At the time of writing (August 2009) the update is not yet complete so the old strips form the middle if you go to the new archives.

I’ll warn you now that there is a lot of swearing in this comic and there are a few bedroom scenes.

To get an idea of the art and a quick introduction to two of the characters here is the first page:

The first page as it originally was:

The new version of the first page:

The comic is about a young woman (the “Girl” of the title), who is in touch with the ghost of Benjamin Franklin.  At the start she thinks he’s just a hallucination because she is the only person who can see him.  The Government is keeping an eye on her because for some reason she’s unjustly listed on a no fly list.  She is also an unpaid intern for a newspaper.

The agent (wait for it….the ”Fed” of the title) who has been assigned to her has his own invisible friend.  He is part of a secret programme where a chip has been inserted into his head and the display is projected in mid air such that only people in the programme can see it.  The interface looks like President Bush.

Someone connected to a local politician dies and our heroine[1] decides to investigate.  The agent decides to help her so the two of them start following the clues.  The comic follows them on their mission to discover the truth.  It also charts their relationship.

Otter has informed us that the comic will end when the adventure is over.  The plan is for the comic to finish sometime in 2011.

How else can I describe the comic?  The plot is based on at least one conspiracy theory.  There is a mixture of light hearted strips and deadly serious ones.  The humour comes mostly from the interactions between the characters and some that you would expect in a sitcom.  In its own way it pokes fun at the paranoia that has engulfed most countries since the events of 2001.

How would I summarise its style?  The first thing that I can think of is: MASH meets Enemy of the State (but our heroine and hero are far from helpless).

In short, if you want a fun conspiracy thriller with a lot of humour, ghosts and strange characters then A Girl and Her Fed is the comic for you.  If that doesn’t grab you then you’re probably best giving it a miss.