Welcome back to The Webcomics Weekly!
As we approach the end of the secular, Gregorian year and the end of that decade (don’t worry, it’s still a couple months away,) it is often time to reflect on the time before us. To make amends. To talk and connect with those who you may have lost contact with. . .or let them go. So, on that, I have a question for you all: What is something you’ve had trouble letting go this last year?
For us, it seems that the month of spoop hangs over the column with “A Better Place’s” updates and newcomer “Chickenface.” But not all is spooky, as “Order of the Stick” and “Vainglorious” keeps the fantasy comedy alive and “The Wrath and the Dawn” takes an adaptive route to an modern adaptation of one of the most famous fantasy collections: “1001 Arabian Nights.” Something for everyone, wouldn’t you say?
A Better Place
‘To Sleep’ – ‘Early to Rise’
Updates: Thursdays
By Harry Bogosian
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
‘To Dream’ and ‘Save Yourself’ are gorgeous updates y’all. I mean, all five in this look are great but the way Bogosian draws the Terror puts these chapters above the rest. Even at a distance, sneaking through a rift in the subspace, the Terror is rendered in with thick, intricate inks contrasted against the vast nothing grey background, its spindly bony arms drooping down while some of its fingers slipped onto the edges of the rift, pulling it through. The grayscale artwork, with pops of color, are perfect for these scenes. It gives it a skeletal look, as if it were literally raised from the depths of some hellscape and brought onto the material plane for the express purpose of being unnatural.
I’ve made comments before on the fun of the tags and the descriptions of each page but this set of updates seems to be where they shift from being fun little asides to integral pieces of world building. Well, the descriptions; the tags continue to be fun bits of thematic asides.
Some might argue that these are extraneous to the text and thus outside of the scope of an analysis but I would argue that they function in relation to the text in the same manner as the sentences in the margins of Matt Kindt’s “Mind MGMT” do. They’re necessary to gain a greater appreciation for the characters and the world as a whole, worked into the universe not as authorial intrusions but as diegetic pieces of lore, channeling exploratory video game practices, and thus optional to following the main narrative or the motivations of the characters.
It makes each update far more meaty and for that, I appreciate these additions. I also appreciate how well Bogosian gets these characters. Hannah is still operating with a child’s mindset but with the weight of power upon her. Theo, a younger brother who trusts his older sister to have everything under control, finds he must step up when his innocence is destroyed by the night terrors, a detail that could slip right by but that adds texture to the creatures. Nina. . .well, Nina is along for the ride at this point, her world not yet shattered but cracking more and more with each revelation. Revelations that are at the heart of the narrative, and will almost certainly provide the thrust for the next bit of the comic.
Chickenface
Chapter 1 pages 1-33
Updates: Mondays
By KJ Murr
Reviewed by Dexter Buschetelli
My God. Let me begin this week’s entry by telling you how absolutely disturbed and yet intrigued I am by “Chickenface.” If you’ve been following us here at Webcomics Weekly for some time you might have noticed I have a bit of an affinity for the weird. Horror is abound in the world of webcomics but is not always good. I’ve had the pleasure of discovering some wonderfully bizarre little strips in this column such as Erika Price’s “Disorder” and “Endless Halls” by WideMouthInk. Those series are great, and I highly recommend checking out my previous reviews if this type of genre interests you. But “Chickenface” is something else entirely.
Continued belowMy process for finding material to review here generally just involves me typing “new webcomic” into the search bar on Twitter. Not every week is fruitful in that method but “Chickenface” was the first tweet to catch my eye in a matter of seconds of scrolling. And following the link to Murr’s website offered up its latest installment which features a four-armed obese man assaulting a body-horror creature by swinging a flab of his fat at it. Immediately I knew this was going to be a good week for writing a review.
“Chickenface” is currently at thirty-three pages and they are a breeze to read through, but you will want to double back in order to really savor some of the details. Murr’s style is simultaneously gorgeous and grotesque as he presents a world where “demons and all sorts of other ghoulish creatures are just a part of everyday life.” This thing is the unholy result of “Videodrome” and “Tetsuo the Iron Man” making the beast with two backs. It’s “Soylent Green” slathered with “Invader Zim.” It’s what Brian Yuzna thinks about as he does a dutch rudder with David Cronenberg. It is hilarious and horrifying, cute meets cringe, delightful yet disgusting.
The beauty of “Chickenface” doesn’t just lie in its vomit-inducing visuals, though. Murr’s creation is darkly amusing, featuring a protagonist with parents who are completely checked out when it comes to showing him affection, his mother more interested in tasty chunks and his father ineffectual at giving advice and support. The titular character’s co-worker informs him that he works the fryers and their boss doesn’t let them use baskets, revealing his deep-fried forearms before beginning to devour them. And the words “flibbity giblets” grace the pages of this irreverent work.
Treat yourself to some tasty chunks by checking out “Chickenface” on Tapas, Webtoons as both offer an easier reading flow than the official website, but make sure you take some time to check out Murr’s website as well if you’re still hungry for more of his illustrations.
Order of the Stick
Pages 171 – 175
Updates: Varies
By Rich Burlew
Reviewed by Gustavo S. Lodi
On this latest update, “Order of the Stick” deals with the aftermath of the party escaping the group of bandits, and defeating it’s father-and-daughter combo of a leadership. As always, the sharp banter among the characters and the ludicrous situations they find themselves in is a blast to read.
Similar to other end-of-arcs updates, these strip for “Order of the Stick” are a bit scattershot, with shorter commentaries being made in a number of fashion. Readers get to see the immediate fallout of the last adventure as the group gets back together (with some truly endearing moments), a longer joke on how implausible it is to manage mounts on silly RPG rules, and are even introduced, teased actually, to a new, looming antagonist.
It is perhaps the final page of this update that is the funnier, when the group breaks down in explaining how the hexagon pattern of RPG tabletop games can be used strategically. It is such beautiful nonsense, so much breaking of the fourth wall that it becomes inspired. Also of note, this update uses some visual elements (signpost designs, maps for the hexagon bit) that were truly new to the series, and welcomed at that.
Again, a pleasure to read, both from a purely entertainment fashion, but also to appreciate the cleverness of some of the jokes and the situations it creates.
Vainglorious
Chapter 8, Pages 11-18
Updates: Monday/Thursday
By Kelly
Reviewed by, Jason Jeffords Jr
What’s better than a huge, fang bearing, winged, fire-breathing dragon that wants to be king of the nest? That same terrifying sounding dragon in a clumsy human form that lacks basic knowledge! If that oddly specific opening is exactly what you’re looking for, “Vainglorious” will curb your hunger.
Like the chapters preceding it, chapter 8 starts off fun and easy going. But, we aren’t starting with page 1, nay, we start at page 11 which may be the most emotional to date. As the caravans the group were waiting for finally made camp, Hammer (human) makes the decision of stealing supplies from the Dragon Hunters. As these hunters collect dragons, that means they have a caravan filled to the brim with dragon parts. Just so happens Rei (dragon turned human) stumbles upon said caravan.
Continued belowThroughout “Vainglorious” Kelly has showcased the characters and world in a fun and playful matter. But, it seems to all change once Rei steps into the caravan filled with dragon remains. The page itself is strong in its delivery, with a few small abstract panels showcasing its contents, then a huge panel with action lines portraying the dramatic realization. This singular page seems to signal a dramatic shift in where the story is going. Has it been fun so far with the goofiness that stems from Rei and his cluelessness? Hell yeah.
But, this ignorance can only drive a story so far. Rei has grown to a degree, but only in language, not much in character. Hopefully this serious revelation will help drive a change and further character development in Rei.
As noted, Kelly makes great use of her panels. Throughout the 8 pages she never keeps dead space lingering, unless it’s intentional. Instead, she has no problem tightening the box to focus on a single person/object or lengthening the rectangle to include dialogue boxes. As great as Kelly is at panel work, she excels at character emotion. If you dropped the dialogue boxes and just focused on the emotions portrayed by the characters you can tell exactly what they are trying to emote.
After these pages my excitement for the direction of “Vainglorious” grew. I enjoyed all the wackiness and fun the characters were having. But, you can only go so far with a clueless character. Luckily it seems that this traumatic experience may change Rei.
The Wrath and the Dawn
Ep 1-3
Schedule: Tuesdays
Written by Stephen Lamm
Art by SilvesterVitale
Art Assitance by Jean Kim
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
Based on the book, and subsequent YA series of the same name, by Renée Ahdieh “The Wrath and the Dawn” is something of a nesting doll of adaptation. The core source material for the metaseries is One Thousand and One Nights. The opening trio of strips by writer Stephen Lamm and artists SilvesterVitale and Jean Kilm doesn’t have the punchy charm of Ahdieh’s prose or the core source (which is to say, the remediated original text). This isn’t a bad thing, it just starts in a surprising place of understated melodrama that you wouldn’t expect.
Some of this melodrama, such as Shahrzad potential final meeting with her father, works very well with the limited characterization each have. Both clearly being positioned as stock characters in a play (the Caliph Khalid’s wedding) that has happened numerous times before. In other moments, it is less effective such as Tariq leaves to go storm the castle. This sequence too relies on archetypes to work, but is less effective compared to Shahrzad and her Father due to a lack of understanding with these characters – beyond broad ideas of eternal devotion and love.
The premise of “The Wrath and the Dawn” is straightforward enough, the Caliph marries a bride each night and she is dead by sunrise. The comic in these strips works best when it leans into that deadline nature, as Shahrzad states she only has one chance to kill him. To draw out this deadline structure artists SilvesterVitale emphasizes the movement of objects through space with the infinite scroll. The moment where Shahrzad drops her necklace/dress hangs before the smooth transition to another panel of the clothing now on the floor. The art is best when it captures these kinds of moments of eternity in vertically infinite panels. The paneling in this strip is among the real strengths, the horse race in the second episode is effective and dynamic in ways I didn’t expect with this format.
Where the art is less effective is the character acting. While the paneling helps, the core facial work is good but not great. Some of this is due to the rendering, everything is soft edges even in the clear desert sun. The soft shadows makes everything blur together, lacking the contrast necessary to draw out an image. On a macro level most of these panels, the core line work, are fine but the rendering undercuts this core competency.
The first three episodes of “The Wrath and the Dawn” are a mixed bag. There isn’t anything broken about it, the strip actually shines in a few spots, but it some artistic short comings undermine it in spots. This trio of episodes are a good tease and clearly state things up front. But in the infinite content of Webtoon, good-not-great isn’t much of a grab for the latest splashy Original.
