Tag Archives: Post-Apocalyptic comic

Weapon Brown: Blockhead’s War

Posted on December 11, 2012 by | Leave a comment

It’s said that all good stories must come to an end. The thing is, endings can be a difficult thing to write; authors risk upsetting readers if the ending ends up being substandard, or if there’s too many dangling plot points (even if these loose ends make for good fodder for a sequel). Thus when I view the ending for the post-apocalyptic parody comic Weapon Brown: Blockhead’s War, I must admit to feeling conflicted as to the ending, which has left an entire subplot hanging while our protagonist drives off into the sunrise.

While I wish I could ignore the entire Syndicate plotline, this is the one real shadow looming over the strip. We’ve had no resolution with them (which admittedly would make for fine sequel territory, assuming that Jason Yungbluth plans on writing one) or fallout for the Pointy-Haired Executive who launched the attack on Anne’s crew in order to snag their resources and self-replicating food substance. Given that we’ve seen bits of the story from the Syndicate’s point of view, it seems odd not to have even a brief glimpse of how they take their latest setback.

That said, the ending does work despite the lack of resolution with the Syndicate. And to be honest, several elements of the ending cry out for a continuation of the story. For instance, we have Chuck’s new sidekick, Jeffy, who considers Chuck to be his ride in his quest to avenge the deaths of his entire family at the hands of Syndicate soldiers; if WBBW was truly ending, then why replace Snoop with some embittered kid with a grudge? Next, we have Chuck’s own musings about how the Syndicate tried to kill a certain red-haired girl. (Anne? Or is this the girl he originally was seeking at the start of the storyline?)

Given the lack of resolution with the Syndicate, Chuck’s thoughts on how he could ever forget them seems… ironic, to say the least. But watching Chuck drive off… not into the sunset, but into the sunrise while contemplating how Anne and her followers are bringing the world back to life and bringing things worth fighting for, worth protecting… this bit works. As an end to the Weapon Brown story, it’s lacking. But as the end of the middle of a trilogy with the Millennium Falcon flying off into the distance to search for Han Solo, well that could work.

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Weapon Brown: Blockhead’s War

Posted on October 13, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Warning: this comic contains graphic depictions of violence, sexual situations, and plush animals being torn asunder. Viewer discretion is advised.

Perhaps one of the most bizarre webcomics I’ve been introduced to is the post-apocalyptic newspaper funny-pages parody comic Weapon Brown: Blockhead’s War, the story of a cybernetic blockhead and his dog as they make their way through the devastated remnants of the United States. The comic takes place after World War IV turned the planet into a fractured wasteland inhabited by monsters, degenerates, and worse, while taking potshots at varied characters (both old and current) that have been slowly dying a painful death along with the newspaper industry.

The comic starts with Weapon Brown (or “Chuck” to those he doesn’t consider his enemy) chasing after a tank on a motorcycle that looks like something built by a Warhammer 40K hobbyist as he seeks to “rescue” a young woman from the hands of a rogue military unit (which includes a certain lazy military private sporting a carapace and mandibles). Naturally he’s not doing this out of the goodness of his heart, but for the bounty on her return. And despite the overtly decent nature of the wishy-washy wimp Brown was based on from Peanuts, he ignores her pleas for sanctuary (and sexual advances) and returns her to the withered bat of a General who’d hired him before going on his way… without realizing she’d hidden something valuable with him that people would kill to retrieve.

Trust me, it’s a hell of a lot better than I’m making it sound. Cartoonist Jason Yungbluth has struck parody gold here with his spoof of classic, obscure, and current newspaper cartoon characters (to the point that you’ll be wishing for annotations or Wikipedia links to catch the references), ranging from Charlie “my picture is next to the word ‘loser’ in the dictionary” Brown to a psychotic and grown version of Calvin and his cybernetically-enhanced plushie tiger, a certain hollow-eyed redhead with a rich adoptive father, and more. In fact, Yungbluth seems to take a sadistic glee in horribly massacring such classic characters as the cast of Bloom County and Popeye, while those characters who get an extended lease on life often find their characters… altered in delightfully diabolical directions.

It’s Brown though who carries the show (along with his man-eating dog, Snoop). Somehow it’s believable that everyone’s favorite affable nebbish turned into a relative badass who’s sporting a cybernetic arm and wandering the wastelands while evading his foes (primarily the Syndicate, an organization that controls much of the remaining food and electricity and who turned Brown into a living weapon in the comic’s back story). Part of this is that Murphy is his Master (metaphorically, that is) and he has to fight tooth-and-nail for most of his victories. But one thing that endeared Charlie Brown to so many readers is his refusal to surrender no matter how adverse things get, and this remains true for Yungbluth’s parodic interpretation of Brown.

Weapon Brown: Blockhead’s War is apparently the second Weapon Brown story, though A Peanut Scorned is unfortunately only found in print (which is a shame as the hints from WB:BW suggest that Lucy van Pelt was using her psychiatric skills to brainwash people for the military, which includes Weapon Brown). The art is quite well done, especially considering the devastated landscapes that often appear in the background. Combined with more cameos than you can shake a grenade launcher at and a storyline that delves into the depths of black humor, and you have a comic that is well worth reading – especially for those of us who once read the newspaper funnies back when they were funny.

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Requiem

Posted on February 3, 2011 by | Leave a comment

While plot twists are the meat and potatoes of most effective storytelling, there are times when the twist can threaten to derail the story itself in what I consider a WTF moment. Post-apocalyptic contemporary fantasy webcomic Requiem just suffered one such moment, with a classic confrontation between protagonists and primary antagonist Calliel falling apart and leaving readers wondering just what happened, and not in a good way. Given that Calliel is responsible for a significant amount of death and destruction in the world and had most of the protagonists on hand planning gleefully to exterminate her with extreme prejudice, there was no reason why the protagonists should have not proceeded to fill her with hollowpoint rounds the moment they had her in their targeting sites. Having Targeter (who had a loved one killed because of Calliel’s machinations) punch Calliel out rather than kill her was out of character. What’s more, it made no sense. We’re not talking noble hero-types who will let foes walk free; Targeter is a mercenary. Ian gunned down assassins before they knew he was there. Seriously; if you’re going to set up a confrontation between the heroes and the big bad, do it right. Don’t try to be cute and distort the characters’ personalities. It does neither them, nor the story, justice.

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Requiem

Posted on January 20, 2011 by | Leave a comment

There’s a certain fascination with the concept of immortality (and by that I’m talking about physical immortality rather than the concept of the soul or of existence after death). Tales focusing on immortality can be found in a number of myths, as well as classic literature, opera, and the like. One thing that frequently turns up is the downsides of immortality; whether it’s the loss of youth, the death of friends and family, or even persecution from overzealous people who seek to gain immortality for themselves. In fact, it’s rare to see the benefits of immortality (such as possessing the time to learn and master new skills) with this fixation on the negative.

Still, I must admit that the negative aspects of immortality mentioned in James Roden’s online graphic novel Requiem appear to be well thought out and used in an intelligent fashion. While most of the cast is fairly young, several characters are thousands of years old (thanks to nanites designed during a technological singularity that ultimately went wrong). One of the Immortals assisting the protagonists, a woman researcher named Ishara, ends up explaining the cognitive confusion the older Immortals could suffer if too much happens too quickly. The easiest way for me to describe it (rather than quote the pertinent pages) is through computer terms: it’s as if you have a hard drive that has a lot of content and has not been defragged in a while. Slowdowns while retrieving data (and uploading new data) are often the least of your concerns.

Of course, part of the problem Ishara and the Immortals have faced is the need to hide their immortality from the world around them; as such they create new lives for themselves, learn new languages, and so on. After a while it gets difficult keeping track of things (something I’ve encountered in my decades-long life to date, let alone living for millennia). I do wonder how things would differ if an Immortal didn’t bother hiding, and was part of an existing culture of other Immortals. With a less-changing world where loved ones and friends did not pass away, that cognitive dissonance might be more subdued. While we’re unlikely to see such a society exist in Rodan’s comic, his treatment of the subject matter is decidedly more logical than the majority of stories on the subject, which either consider immortality to be immoral (and against God’s will) or ultimately without benefit. In Requiem it is more what the Immortals choose to do with their extended life that matters, rather than the immortality itself.

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Dead Winter

Posted on February 11, 2010 by | Leave a comment

One of the biggest advantages webcomics have over their print counterparts is the nature of the medium itself. For some time, webcomics have dabbled in expanding their boundaries compared to the limitations of print comics. Some comics have pushed the boundaries of what cartoonist Scott McCloud calls the “infinite canvas” (with Damonk’s Framed!!! being an excellent example of this, utilizing html coding to alter how readers interact with his comic). Other comics have dabbled with sound effects and limited animation to help their comic stand out.

The apocalyptic zombie comic Dead Winter is no stranger to the use of animation to celebrate benchmarks in the comic’s run. What makes update 300 so special is the presentation of the animation. Rather than constrain himself with a set animation box, S. Dave Shabet mixed the tradition of comic panels with animation (something that the surreal horror comic 5ideways tried, though 5ideways relied on set panel structures with the animation embedded within the frames). Each panel is animated, and runs in turn to show the story as a whole.

This is where Dead Winter stands out from its peers. While other comics have used animation to help their comic stand out, Shabet has used animation as a means of enhancing the storytelling of the comic itself. Nor is this the simplistic animations found in other comics that have dabbled in animated frames; the animation might not be as smooth and elegant as that found in anime and animated features, but it works well in bringing the comic to life, and engaging the readers. Further, with each new animated sequence, Shabet improves his skills as an animator, helping the animation flow and effectively tell its story. While this undoubtedly is a significant investment of time and effort, it also raises the bar for webcomics as a whole.

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Gulch

Posted on June 9, 2009 by | Leave a comment

It would probably come as no surprise that I consider the Internet to be the future of the comics industry. A combination of escalating costs and a shrinking market has badly hurt the print comic industry; indeed, if not for several spectacular movie successes, I suspect DC and Marvel would already be bankrupt. It seems only natural to me for more comics to follow the route of Phil and Kaja Foglio with Girl Genius, presenting the comic online to draw in readers and offer graphic novel compilations to those readers who want the comic in print.

Thus when DC Comics decided to launch Zuda Comics as its webcomics division, I was somewhat interested. However, when it was obvious this was just a mechanism to draw in webcartoonists to draw for them, rather than posting existing DC Comics online to drum up added business, I lost interest. And while I occasionally received requests for reviews from several potential Zuda comics, I held off on reviewing as the comics had not reached what I consider to be critical mass (over 35 updates) when I’ll consider reviewing them. (The few times I’ve bent the rules on this policy inevitably result in the comic going on hiatus soon after.)

One of the comics to emerge from the competition and get a contract to continue its storyline is the science fiction/post apocalyptic comic Gulch, which follows the story of Clarabelle Dust, a spoiled rich socialite and terrorist striking out against the world that had given her everything on a silver platter. It is this dichotomy that first attracted me to Gulch; of a young woman who has everything and yet lashes out at the world around her out of a sense of guilt and self-loathing that she has so much… when so much of the world has nothing.

The world of Gulch is an interesting mixture of delusions or fantasies (with Clare often living in a green lush world until she’s forced to interact with those around her), biological weapons (I lost any sympathy for Clare and the revolutionaries when they turned a small dog into a biological bomb to kill dozens of people at a boutique, as well as an exploding pig dropped from a highway overpass), and naturally a good dose of government corruption and decadence. Considering the story takes place in the year 2092, the world appears fairly familiar, with buildings and vehicles that don’t look out of place in the early 21st century (though considering the story takes place after the world went to pot, I suppose the lack of flying cars is understandable).

Interestingly, Gulch has avoided the information dumps endemic to far too many comics. While this leads readers to muddle through and piece together what’s going on from snippets in the comic, it can also leave those readers used to having everything explained on a silver platter confused as to what’s going on. While we hear of instances of “police brutality” (Clare mentions killing a cop who was beating up on a bum), we don’t really see any instances of brutality or oppression. As such, it’s difficult to garner much sympathy for this revolutionary movement, outside of the fact they care enough for their own that they try to rescue a captured comrade.

Given more time, it’s likely that Gulch’s story will be fleshed out better. We may be given a glimpse of the world outside of the artificial island of Torros, and of the apparent collapse of civilization that is hinted at in the comic. However, when you consider each “season” of Zuda’s contracted comics run for 60 updates, I have to wonder if we’ll be given that opportunity. An added problem lies in the use of Flash to navigate through the comic; with DSL I would suffer load-times of half a minute or so. I have to wonder if the comic would be worth reading for readers on dial-up. Still, if Matt and Gabe White are able to increase reader sympathy for the resistance and expand on the reasons behind the terrorist attacks, then Gulch would be well worth reading, rather than the curiosity it currently is.

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Ice

Posted on December 27, 2006 by | Leave a comment

Warning: this comic contains nudity, violence, and situations some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.

Have you ever said anything you regretted afterward? Something you can never take back? I suspect we all have these moments that define a moment of our life and colors everything after that moment. It doesn’t matter if the friendship or relationship heals after that. Those words were spoken. The actions are done. It remains a part of the past, poisoning the waters and tainting the future.

It takes a moment of tremendous forgiveness to overcome that moment. Even then with forgiveness that moment remains. There is no erasing it. There is no real forgetting of it… years later it will appear again, rippling again and again. And there’s no telling when such a moment will happen, inflamed by emotion and passion. It can be to a child, a sibling, a loved one. And when unforgiven, it can forever ruin friendships and relationships.

I’ve had such moments. I’ve moments… words my parents said that I remember to this day, that I harbor in my heart. I came close to just stepping out of their lives forever. I didn’t want to forgive the words spoken. I didn’t want to bend. I was the one wronged! And yet… finally I forgave and stepped beyond the moment. Yet it’s still a part of me.

Not everyone is as forgiving. And not all words are as easily forgiven.

I’ve long been a fan of Faith Erin Hicks’s epic comic Ice. Of course, I must admit some puzzlement as to what is truly going on with the villains and the larger deeper story. But even as we swing between stories of child-stealers and stolen technologies there is another story going on here, a more personal one. The story of the woman who calls herself Hunter.

This is no surprise. When Hicks was writing her renowned series Demonology 101, despite the meta-story of Isaac and his quest for power and independence we had the more human story of the high-school girl Raven and her search for her own humanity (a search made more poignant as she was half-demon, though not evil because of that heritage). Indeed, much of D101′s story was about Raven and her own life, even as greater events happened around her.

Likewise Ice is actually about Hunter, even as a greater story unfolds around her.

One thematic element that has reappeared several times happened years before the comic started: Hunter was raped. Some comics have used rape almost trivially, trying to explain away the rape like a sobered-up fratboy finding himself before the police and a sobbing girl. Ice didn’t do that. Indeed, the first hints of the rape were quite subtle. We learned of the rape through second-hand sources (though I must hand it to our two villains of the comic… they do have a twisted sense of honor in finding murder acceptable but rape vile. It gives these two despicable chaps a touch of class).

When Ice left Modern Tales (reminiscent of No Stereotypes leaving MT; Hicks also lost her archives for quite some time when MT suffered their server meltdown and it took forever and a year before it was restored) the comic shifted to greyscale. I’ve heard a few complaints about it, but to be honest I think the greyscale actually fits this comic far better than color ever did. I wish she’d stick with it (as some of the comics are just black-and-white), but greyscale takes about as much time as coloring, and Hicks uses grades of shading and highlights. That takes even longer than the greyscale I did back when I was webcomicking.

Metaphorically, the greyscale also fits what the characters are going through. This isn’t a world of true black-and-white, but one of shades of grey. The two villains who nearly killed Cirr end up showing class and morals. And noble Cirr may indeed be one of the very nobles that have oppressed the common people like Hunter.

Hunter’s sister Mercy believes so at least. Cirr doesn’t exactly refute her comments either. His comments are ambiguous. And even more telling are the words Cirr said to Hunter when drugged up: We left you all in the cold to die. There’s no more fuel. Burned it all. There’s only electricity, and we’ve taken that from you.

Think of that. It’s not that they took the electricity. It’s not that they left the others out in the cold to die. No. It’s “we”. And I half-wonder from the expression on Hunter’s face if she didn’t realize the truth then. Indeed… she may have always known.

What’s most telling though are these words spoken when Cirr asks Mercy what she did to alienate Hunter: I want to see who’s worse: you or me.

And thus begins Mercy’s tale. We go back before Cirr, back when Britain’s democracy finally crumbled and collapsed and all that was left was the Monarchy. Black Maria took control of the country, eliminated rights, eliminated democracy, and instituted a class system with nobles who have the rights and the money… and the rabble who are worthless, sneered down upon and trampled underfoot. Perhaps it was that mentality that led the Queen’s Guard to rape Hunter. But seeing that it happens even in this day and age of democracy, I suspect it was both opportunity and anger over the riots that led to the rape.

The relationship between Hunter and her sister was strained even then. Hunter was joining in the protests at the time against the Queen’s policies and against the destruction of democracy. Mercy tried hard to keep Hunter out of it. She wanted to stay safe, to avoid the violence and anger that was sweeping through the nation. So Hunter and Mercy quarreled, argued over whether it was better to hide and stay safe, or take a stand and try to protect democracy.

In the midst of all this, Mercy realized that she was gay, and turned to her sister for support. And Hunter didn’t accept it. She refused to believe that her sister who had slept with so many guys (in a misguided quest perhaps to deny her homosexuality) was gay. Yet while this wasn’t what caused the falling out between them, it was poison in the well, a muddying of the waters that led to something far worse. For when Hunter was raped… when she finally told Mercy what had happened… Mercy threw Hunter’s own words back in her face. “I don’t believe you.”

Rape is possibly the most devastating thing that can happen to a person. Even surviving the attempt leads a person to question themselves. I know. I was there for one friend who had a friend try to molest her, who assaulted her. And she refused to report him to the authorities. She refused to blame him. She blamed herself. She felt she was responsible. Even though he ended up not raping her… it still hurt her immensely. And I could do nothing for her. I could only listen and try to console her, try to give her advice (advice she refused to listen to because hey, it was her fault and she deserved it in her own eyes).

But perhaps what hurts even more is the betrayal of family turning away, of family saying “you’re lying” rather than accept what happened. In a way, is this not a way of saying “you deserved this”? Is it not casting blame to the one who was raped, in a time when he or she may need support the most?

So Hunter ran away. And in time she found Cirr behind a garbage bin, doped up on drugs, and took him in. And fell in love.

Despite the betrayal of family… Hunter turned to Mercy to save Cirr’s life. She cares enough for Mercy to hate the fact her sister works in a strip club. She cares enough to take interest in the fact Mercy has a girlfriend. And she trusts Mercy enough to leave her alone with Cirr to take a shower.

Perhaps, in a world without villains and plots, there’d be a chance for Hunter and Mercy to heal, for this small family to get back together. But the wolves are at the door and I suspect that Mercy will not be shown any, that she will fall to these villains even as she tries to protect her sister from those who hunt Hunter.

Still… if Mercy has a chance just once to say “I’m sorry” before whatever end she faces and if Hunter can find it in her heart to forgive her sister for those four dreadful words… then perhaps she can find peace in the hereafter. And maybe, just maybe, they can deny the encroaching darkness and cold.

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