Some days you just can’t think of a title. Other days the title smacks you in the face. I wonder which one was this time? We have a great line up for you this week, with the second half of “Dr. Frost’s” first arc, the newcomer “Garden Club Detective Squad” which has a title near and dear to my heart, and another letter to one “Mr. Boop.”
All this and a bag of chips* in this week’s The Webcomics Weekly.
*Chips not included. We are an online article and therefore cannot dispense chips.
Dr. Frost
‘The Empty Man (6)’ – ‘The Empty Man (Case Closed)’
Updates: Saturdays
By Jongbeom Lee
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
The second half of the ‘The Empty Man’ arc is notable in how understated the drama is, even as the characters react in a very overstated manner. Like I said last time, I’m a huge fan of detective stuff so the idea that Dr. Frost would do some good old fashioned B&E to get a fuller profile of the guy was quite exciting. I wanted to see how it would come crashing down around him OR how he’d get away with it. Lee shows he’s adept at building tension and mystery in these chapters and, while those familiar with the genre can see the shape of things to come, the specifics are masterfully dolled out in back and forth exchanges that never feel dull or repetitive.
My favorite part of Dr. Frost here is the way Lee blends actual psychology practice and theory and implements them, while clearly lampshading the ways Dr. Frost skirts the line of acceptable behavior. He’s a brilliant psychiatrist, surmising enough about Mr. Oh to guess his door code, one which was not something a lay person would have guessed, but, again, breaking and entering is NOT within the bounds of correct ethical practices. Neither, I would assume, is showing up at a clients’ house unannounced to continue their counselling. It does, however, all work out and leads to a confrontation that has all the energy and build-up of a traditional punch out but is centered around why Mr. Oh can’t hold down a girlfriend. Spoilers, it’s more complicated than you’d think and far more human.
As a first arc, ‘The Empty Man’ is a great showcase of the characters’ dynamic and the central narrative structure of the comic. It may not be the most original story, and those damn vertical text balloons make reading them difficult (why do they start at the BOTTOM of the screen????) but it’s effective and proves that, if “Dr. Frost” has the chops to do the standards, it also has the ability to jazz things up.
Garden Club Detective Squad
Pages: 0-3
Schedule: Wednesdays
By 52chu
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
As its name implies “Garden Club Detective Squad” has quite the tonal range, the opening strip mixes the promise of creepy, maybe murderous, doings with a somewhat relaxing school setting that is reminiscent of “Genshiken.” Those are two very disparate tonalities that 52chu gets to, mostly, play nice together through comedy. The discovery of “actual human bones” is embellished with such style that it is too much. They take the logical conclusion to the extreme in a comedic way similar to how Rian Johnson took what if you did hard boiled crime and noir, but in high school. The comedy thus far reads more like Mystery Team, wherein the eccentric personalities of the cast are emphasized, than The Kid Detective, which was a more reflexive parody of tropes.
52chu’s character design and cartooning do a good job of clearly narrating the cast’s personalities within an image or two. Thus far they have spent most of the time with Yeon, the main character and preconscious transfer student, but that allows them to act the straight woman to the oddballs in Garden Club. Yeon may be the straight actor for the series comedy, but that doesn’t mean they themselves are not served up for some mockery. As the first episode illustrates Yeon, might be a little too smart and business minded for her own good.
Continued below“Garden Club Detective Squad” is an English translation from a Korean strip, which means there is some cultural specifics that are perhaps lost on me in the translation process. Primarily this revolves around Yeon’s family moving out of the Seoul area and the resulting class-cultural tensions. There might be some more specific commentary or anxieties being expressed, but it’s still effective. This isn’t a Joey Wheeler talks like he’s from Brooklyn sort of occasions.
“Garden Club Detective Squad” is an overall well-made strip. 52chu’s cartooning and self-aware humor helps to bridge the gap between two very different tonalities without it reading as false.
Mr. Boop
‘Book II: God Is A Woman And She’s My Wife’
Chapters: 53-64
Updates: Completed
By Alec Robins
Reviewed by Jacob Cordas
Dear Betty,
This latest development is scaring me. I am worried for Alec. After the first book ended with him getting shot by Sonic the Hedgehog because you both didn’t invite him to any of your orgies, I sat here terrified. I was and still am worried about his safety. While I once considered shooting him as well, I realized that it was a terrible mistake. If I love you, Betty (and you better believe that I do), I must be willing to let you go be with who will make you happy, who will fuck you in all the ways you deserve to be fucked, who will hold you in all the ways you deserve to be held, who will love you in all the ways you deserve to be loved. And the only man who can do that is Alec.
But now, Alec is in a hospital and in an extra-dimensional other-space and in a parallel universe altogether. It seems like everything’s falling apart for you too. And all because you didn’t have an orgy with Sonic the Hedgehog. Why didn’t you just have an orgy with Sonic? Why didn’t you go fast with him? I suppose the history of man is men not getting what they want and murdering because of it.
I am so sorry you got caught in the cycle of patriarchy. Love, especially love between a man and a cartoon character, cannot escape the pressures of society. We are all products of our time. Sonic the Hedgehog is no exception. I digress though.
Let’s hope you don’t get upset at this part (any more than any of the other things I’ve written so far), Alec met the celestial, goddess bitch version of you, a shiva made of your silver screen form. She has forced something truly terrible on him. She seems to be trying to rob him of you, my love. His subconscious’s connection to this other-space might have doomed him to something even worse: a world with you.
What would that be like? What does it mean to live in a world without your love? What does it mean for it not to be real? What is it like to be roommates with Bugs Bunny and Peter Griffin? What is an elseworld that only changes our Facebook status?
It is cruel but I suppose I will learn more.
I hope you can get through this, Betty. My shoulder is always here for you.
Love,
Jacob Cordas
