Welcome back to The Webcomics Weekly!
Maybe it’s the fall here in the northeast but I have been craving some Great British Bake Off, but specifically uncensored bloopers of the hosts cursing up a storm to make sure a take can’t be used. What good eggs those hosts are. We need more good eggs in this world. What’s new with us? Well, welcome back “The Otherknown,” which has swapped weeks to join “A Better Place” on these, the odd weeks. We’ve also some good, good “Trekker” action as well as two newbies! “Skye” and a new ongoing “Mr. Boop,” which promises to be. . .well, absurd. Let us know what you think in the comments and DFTBA.
A Better Place
‘Your Real Self’ – ‘Betrayed’
Updates: Thursdays
By Harry Bogosian
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
We’re in the Endgame now.
A LOT happened in these eight or so pages. Hannah has killed E.C. in an heart wrenching set of pages, the Ward of the City of Coins has been destroyed, Arma and Nina finally got over the awkward romance tension in less than a page, and the final bit of Hannah’s innocence has been shattered. She is a Godly being. She has an awesome and terrible power within her and she will wield it against her foes, giving them no quarter. The stark, emptiness in Hannah’s eyes combined with the heavy and numerous inking lines added to her face makes for a chilling portrait of a person in freefall.
Hannah’s world has been shattered by a betrayal she did not think possible. The irony is that for E.C., betrayal was the furthest thing from her mind and yet, that is what she did. It’s a beautiful moment. Well, a beautifully tragic moment, made impactful by showing us the aftermath of Hannah’s action rather than the action/reaction itself. We do not see the destruction of E.C., only the tank, now empty, and the drones, now silent.
The choice to intersperse the scenes of this and the action in the City of Coins is a good one that helps to bolster the narrative impact of Hannah’s destruction of E.C. and her transformation into Daikupanchi I MEAN God Empress Hannah-in-a-creepy-demon-suit. Instead of having each scene stand alone, the constant back and forth increased the tension of each, feeding the desperation of Mr. Bun, Nina, Arma, Frida & Theo, as if there was a ticking clock only we could see and a time at which their mission would irrevocably fail. That said, the tension is released through fist-pumping turn around and little moments of humor, like “perfect” Frida dodging an explosive, allowing the Ward to go kaboom.
In between last time and now, “A Better Place” has seen its final update. Now that I know how far we are from the end, I have some thoughts on how the story has changed from the first half to the second, at least in focus and scope, and how this is both a positive and a negative. It’s impossible to predict where “A Better Place” is going and I love that about it. The third act is here. Will we find ourselves in a better place by the end? I guess we’ll have the next few weeks to find out.
Mr. Boop
Book I: My Wife Is Betty Boop
Chapters: 1 – 10
Updates: Completed
By Alec Robins
Reviewed by Jacob Cordas
This is going to disappoint every reader (though not as much as it disappoints me) but I am not married to Betty Boop. I am not married to such a perfect, beautiful and understanding a woman as Betty Boop. I am single and alone. However for the moments captured in this webcomic, Alec Robbins is.
“Mr. Boop” is an absurdist webcomic about that marriage that I vow to make my own. It uses a simple four panel grid for every release. The art is crass but in a way that reveals itself to be far more complex than it seems to be. At first glance, you’d think this might be the lowest of porn comics you can find on a private google search (or a public google search if you’re a goddamn monster). But that undervalues the greatness that is “Mr. Boop.” Here in the first ten releases we are treated to a small slice of Alec’s life filled with hilariously weird discretions. It’s a crude and ugly comic that is at its core truly wholesome.
Continued belowAlec has just married Betty Boop and can’t imagine marrying anyone else nor can Betty Boop imagine being with another man. (No mention is ever given to her relationship to Popeye or her soon to be relationship with me. We can’t “compete” with Alec. Ha!) They both love telling each other how much they love each other – and they will every single chance they get. They finally have sex for the first time in this passage, though they were married before this so it begs some questions this webcomic clearly doesn’t care about. (Though I do – I want to make sure you’re being satisfied, Betty Boop!)
In one of the weirder and yet most relatable choices, he makes their very real relationship that I am not at all jealous of centered around how emotionally open the both of them are. For all the absurdity (and this is a comic where our hero gives a divorce lawyer a gun so he can shoot our protagonist if he ever asks for a divorce), it grounds the relationship in a place of real love.
And this choice just makes the comic funnier and funnier. Like a fan fiction on acid, “Mr. Boop” is a man’s love of fictional character who is totally real and doesn’t want to hear anyone tell them they aren’t. Every character in the world reminds us how true and faithful their love is (GAH!). It takes it so far as to have a therapist smoking a pipe in front of her unspecified, framed PHD who can’t help but think about how much “this guy loves his wife.”
From the beginning though, he made the choice to make his insecurity this fear of possibly getting a divorce. In the world we live in where his wife, Betty Boop, isn’t public domain and can’t marry anyone without legal consent from her owners, this divorce anxiety becomes a fear of the law taking this relationship away. Will some lawyers come along and force him to divorce his wife, the woman that makes him “the luckiest dope in the world?”
Will this love triumph?
Probably not. But will they keep loving each through the end though?
I hope not. Because if this has shown me anything, it’s that I need to be married to Betty Boop. And I will be doing everything in my power to show her that I’m a way better partner than Alec is. Betty Boop may tell Alec it be stupid for him to divorce her but it would be the smart choice for her to divorce him so we can get married.
I love you, Betty Boop. If you’re reading this, I’ve attached a link to a very reputable divorce lawyer. I will cover whatever fees you need. I will help you through this trying time. Don’t worry, Betty Boop. I’ve got you.
If you’re not Betty Boop reading this, please read this comic and meet my soon to be wife, Betty Boop, in all of her greatness.
The Otherknown
Chapter 3, Pages 1-5
Updates: Wednesday/Saturday
By Lora Merriman
Reviewed by Jason Jeffords Jr
So, I bet you’ve wanted to know a little more history behind Ajupris and Demeck. What? It’s true? You have!? That’s great because so have I! Luckily for all of us Merriman felt the same and opened up the third chapter with their first meeting.
First, let’s talk about my favorite part of these five pages: Merriman’s decision to start with a flashback. It’s ingenious because not only did she end the last chapter with a cliffhanger, she also begins the next with a flashback. To keep your audience waiting like this is a bold move. Either they will be extremely pissed with the wait, or this will make them even more excited to get back. For me, it’s the latter. This is especially true with the ending of the flashback going back to the present with Ajupris out cold in a bed of flowers. While I do adore this method, there is one element that doesn’t work in the flashback. Much like the series, however, I’ll leave you on the cliffhanger and come back later.
Continued belowThe brief moment between Ajupris and Demeck in the party is quite entertaining and interesting. Before even meeting the man, Ajupris seems to already know about him and is actively avoiding him, which brings about a humorous moment between the two. However, once business talk begins, the tone shifts, showing Demeck’s scheming side. This whole interaction brings a lot to the table of their relationship. Plus, it seems that it wasn’t that far back in the future.
On the subject of flashbacks, and returning to my cliffhanger, Merriman doesn’t give any “real” notable visual cue that this is a flashback. I mean, we know it is since the last time we saw these two, they fell off a bridge, but there is nothing that screams this is a flashback. A great example would be manga. In most cases, manga will make the background of the page black or a different color than usual. Yet, for this flashback, the pages remain white, with no other cues at all. Now that’s not a big deal as the story itself shows it’s a flashback (as we’ve left the bridge,) but this update would’ve benefited from something like that.
That visual “fault” (I use that word lightly here) behind us, Chapter 3 Pages 1-5 is a great opener following that killer cliffhanger. Merriman is able to hold the tension, making you want to read on and see all that has transpired.
Skye
Pages: Prologue, Episodes 1-2
Schedule: Tuesdays
By Cynthia J. Schmitz
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
“Skye” is bursting with energy and rough around the edges. Writer-artist Cynthia J. Schmitz shows a lot of promise and fundamental craftsmanship in their new Webtoon series; the series just needs to find its pace and calm down a bit as the solo creator throws about 500 potentially interesting story threads at the reader in the span of 3 episodes. The plot of the prologue episode, a tense discussion about what to do with a body after a mission went bad and the nature of corporate espionage in the world of “Skye” is fundamentally well done. It also throws about 5 terms too many of the worlds fantasy lingo at the reader without explaining who or what “C’Ceils,” “Vivers,” or “Malum” are and more importantly mean. All of this terminology reinforces the own questions I as a reader have about who these people are, that lack of knowledge is part of the tension in the episode but more could’ve been narrated to the reader.
Schmitz art also isn’t the most stylish, cleanly operating in the Anime-Manga influenced and made with Clip Studio Paint style of art one is accustomed to seeing nowadays. This isn’t a real knock, but the overuse of the flash pattern from the art program on word balloons eventually numbs the reader to any sort of importance, emphasis, or novelty a particular word balloon is supposed to carry. Jargon laden dialog aside, Schmitz scripting is solid and cleanly differentiates the two main characters.
Their art isn’t stylish but it is fundamentally well composed. The way they employ panels isn’t groundbreaking, and at times run into overly long gutter space, but the content held within them and their flow is incredibly sound and effective. In the latter episodes as the titular character is suddenly on the run from a robot Schmitz composes a better chase sequence both in terms of readability and evoking the feeling of speed than I’ve read in a Big Two book in a good while.
“Skye” is rough around the edges, but there is clearly something there that is worth checking out. Maybe not right away but in a couple of months with a fair amount of episodes under its belt, “Skye” could turn into something.
Trekker
Pages: Book 12 “The Train to Avalon Bay” Part 4 Pages 25-32
Schedule: Mondays
Witten and Illustrated by Ron Randall
Colored by Jeremy Colwell
Lettered by Ken Brunzeak
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
The fourth entry in ‘The Train to Avalon Bay’ is action packed, a rare sight for the series. Sure “Trekker” normally features action, but it tends to happen in two distinct spots: the beginning and the end. Randall has been on the action kick since the second strip. The action in this fourth part, however, sets itself apart with the emphasis on Mercy’s mental state. Readers are normally stuck in her head, but this time Mercy waxes poetic about her preternatural trigger finger and killing potential. Randall doesn’t change how he’d normally depict action in these settings with plenty of panels showing Mercy mid motion. This imagery when paired with the internal monologue gives the pages an almost poetic feel as she does the dance of death around these anonymous goons. It’s all so spectacular and easy.
It lulls the reader into the strip’s twist. The hunted became the hunter, when in reality they were always the hunted! It’s quite the reversal of fortune and a different kind of cliff hanger for a strip to turn on. Most cliffhangers in this series tend to turn on Mercy walking into a spot and a mobster or whomever walking out of the dark. This is drama and tension created through the strip structure. Here the tension of the cliffhanger is created for the reader through Mercy’s own spectacular actions. The strip puts the reader in a good space only to show them how dropping their guard is dangerous, and now Molly is paying the price for it. Ending ‘Avalon Bay’ this way is only effective due to how it subverts the readers expectation after years of doing it one way.
The tension is such that I’m not even all that mad at the lame, though retrofuturism appropriate damseling of Molly. Molly isn’t being used for (Wo)man Pain, she is literally an innocent bystander who was caught up in this mess.
