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The Webcomics Weekly #119: Nice to Meet Coup (1/12/2021 Edition)

By | January 12th, 2021
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

I don’t know about you all but I’m worried about 2021. Any reason in particular? Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…nope. No reason in particular. None, and because my New Year’s Theme is the Year of Relaxation, I’m going to try my damndest not to dwell on it here any longer, even though it is worthy of dwelling and I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it. Fuck the Nazis. Instead, let’s dwell on this week’s Webcomics reviews! Before the end of the hell year, we finished up “A Better Place” and taking it’s, heh, place is the enigmatic “Dr. Frost.” Joining this newcomer is the continuing, odd letters of “Mr. Boop” and a comic whose title is a pun and therefore automatically bad, no matter how good the comic is, “Blades of Furry.”

All this, in this week’s issue of The Webcomics Weekly!

Blades of Furry
Pages: Episodes 1-6
Schedule: Sunday
By Deya Muniz and Emily Erdos
Edited by Dayna Broder
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane

Look, if you’ve read this column for any length of time you will have realized several things about me. For starters, punny titles always catch my eye. Romance as a genre is a consistent focus for me here. And sports manga is cool, Yuri on Ice is really cool. “Blades of Furry” has all three of those qualities. It is, as the title implies, a furry comic which might be a deal breaker to some. And it would be to their detriment as the art team presents cartooned and expressive design work that anthropomorphizes the characters and distills their personality.

That sort of efficient storytelling is necessary due to “Blades of Furry” having very little chill and just going for it. In this strip figure skating is known as battle skating. How it works exactly is unknown, but it seems to be a combination of figure skating and shoot fighting. Thankfully this sporting element only serves as a basic structure for which the creators can hang the overall character driven narrative around. “Dragon Ball” was a sports manga most of the time, so it isn’t like this basic attribution of sport isn’t without merit.

There is one major point of friction in this series and that is the art teams use of gutter space. It is simply too large and takes away the sense of fluid energy during the first skate battle. The individual panels in this series are well done, but they can feel too isolated at times.

“Blades of Furry” is a ludicrous series, but it does the thing that matters most well: engaging art and character work. The series reflexively plays off various sport manga tropes as it uses that to structure the ongoing narrative in order to allow Emile to work through his feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt.

Dr. Frost
Ep. 0-5, ‘Prologue’ – ‘The Empty Man (5)’
Updates: Saturdays
By Jongbeom Lee
Reviewed by Elias Rosner

I originally had a different pick for my continuing reviews for 2021 but with the return of “Dr. Frost” after a little over three and a half years, I thought it’d be fun to go back and revisit the series. The basic premise of “Dr. Frost” is very simple: genius psychologist identifies people’s problems ala Sherlock Holmes, thanks in part due to his ability to look at things entirely “objectively.” Lee consults with experts for every storyline and it shines through in how he demystifies what Frost does and breaks some of the myths perpetrated by similar media re: these kinds of stories. That said, these early chapters still have a air of “mysticality” to them where Frost is concerned.

As a big Sherlock Holmes fan, it should come as no surprise that “Dr. Frost” is exactly the kind of thing that interests me but I also know what you’re thinking: “That sounds like it’s been done a million times before.” It has and “Dr. Frost’s” first couple episodes are fairly generic in that way.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say they are emblematic of the genre and the medium it’s in. “Dr. Frost” looks like your run of the mill Manhwa at the start — like how there are certain artists that scream “DC comics” — and feels like your typical detective story, complete with a break-down of how Frost knew this schlubs’ girlfriend just isn’t that into him. It’s a proof of concept almost, lasting just two episodes before the real story gets started. Kinda like a cold opening, Chapter 1 & 2 of ‘The Empty Man’ introduces us to who Frost is, what he’s like, and how he thinks as well as the tone of the comic.

Continued below

Despite the “I’ve seen this before” factor, and a stiffness to some of the art, the underlying fundamentals are really solid, aside from a couple odd choices on the translator’s part to have a few sentences be turned on their side and read bottom to top. The paneling keeps the tension taut, the story unfolds in a clear manner without an over-reliance on coincidence, and the world is beginning to take shape. We see the dark sides of Academia and get an understanding of what makes the named characters tick, even if we don’t really know why. Professor Oh in the counseling center did everything wrong because he didn’t care & only wanted to work on his dissertations. Through the scene with Professor Chun, we learn what fostered this mindset about the counselling center, one Seonga Yoon & Dr. Frost don’t share. In Yoon, it’s an idealism while Frost simply doesn’t care.

These character traits put Frost & Yoon instantly into conflict and that looks like it will be the central tension of our next batch of updates. While the first half of ‘The Empty Man’ is definitely a simple introductory arc, the well told story & exposition complement the characters and provide the perfect start for fans of the genre like me.

Mr. Boop
‘Book I: My Wife Is Betty Boop’
Chapters: 41 – 50
Updates: Completed
By Alec Robins
Reviewed by Jacob Cordas

Dear Betty,

Can I confess something to you? Orgies scare me. There are just so many people, so many hands, so many legs, so many feet. God, so many feet. And they are all so sweaty and clammy wrapped around other feet that are wrapped around even more sweaty feet ad infinitum. I can’t get behind it or in front of it or any position related to it. It just ain’t for me, Betty. But it is for you and Alec. You and Alec fuck and suck your way through so many cartoon characters I can’t even begin to consider that lifestyle. I can’t imagine what all you did with Goku, Peter Griffin and even female Gardevoir.

Maybe I need to admit, that I’m not the perfect man for you. Maybe I need to admit that in my bloodthirst and lust I misjudged you, Betty. While you and Alec spend most of these ten chapters engaging in flibble flabble with yourself and others, I spent it trying to assure myself I’m fine I can’t my girlfriend orgasm. And I am. I totally am, Betty.

But perhaps you deserve better than fine, Betty. I know you do. Much like Bugs Bunny does at the start of these, I too choose to hold down my weapon and I too apologize. I struggle with this next part but I suppose I need to admit it: you both are perfect for each other. It’s the ideal relationship. It’s the goal for all us lonely men and women out there. We want to be like you.

Even Sonic the Hedgehog wants you both have. He needs to have it. I get where he is coming from. Staring into perfection is so hard when we know we are imperfect. You both have everything going for you. I understand why he felt the need to get violent. I understand why he pulled the trigger. Hell, I nearly did.

Your art is just too perfect to ruin. Your writing is too solid to stand in the way of. Love will flourish. And I stand by you two, no matter how hard survival is. I just hope Alec can pull through.

With Love,

Jacob Cordas

P.S. If he doesn’t pull through, I mean I’m still here. I’ll do what I can for you. Sometimes the only way to mourn is be with someone fine.

See y’all in 7.


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