I’ve got summer on the brain and that means it’s overheating just a tad. It means my shoulders are as red as a lobster because I failed to properly apply the protective layer of goo necessary to prevent the sun’s life-giving energy from radiating my skin into pain. It means the sun is a “Useless Villain” thanks to “Adventures of God” via “The Spirit Queen,” proving once again the only way to stay cool is through a visit from “Dr. Frost.”
All this, and hopefully less of a stretch for an intro, in this week’s issue of The Webcomics Weekly.
Adventures of God
Pages: Episodes 46-50
Schedule: Fridays
By Teo Ferrazi and Corey Jay
Reviewed by Devin Tracy Fairchild
One thing that satire is so excellent is demystifying that which we hold sacred. Satire is both a biting critique and tender homage to our sacred institutions and traditions. Nothing is sacred, nothing is off limits. For instance the opening episode of this batch of Adventures of God depicts a hell fire and brimstone preacher (who’s kind of a piece of shit) who upon death thinks he’s survived the apocalypse, only to revealed that he’s stroking out in hell and is imagining all of this. Hell is a dark, shitty concept that is traumatic and not something that is intrinsically funny. It’s about the worst thing that can happen to any being. But by mocking it the way Adventures of God does it demystifies it and removes its sting or ability to terrify others. The hypocrite who thinks he’d be the last person to end up in hell is left in the hell of his own mind.
But when nothing is off limits in satire nothing is sacred. And in a sense that makes everything sacred. Comedy like “Adventures of God” celebrates the human condition in a hilarious messy way that has kept me wanting more. Nothing is sacred or beyond ridicule and that makes everything sacred. Teo and Corey extend the unholy sacrament of life itself to everyone and everything. In a sense if nothing is privileged and and we are able to peer out from behind our massive skyscrapers of dogma then nothing is sacred then everything becomes sacred. The world itself becomes our sacrament every living thing is by happenstance transubstantiated into the body and blood of the human organism. Every moment is also holy even reading webcomics on your phone while eating a bag of spicy chili Doritos during the respite of a rainy cool Sunday afternoon in the middle of a sweltering summer with the songs from In The Heights echoing out your open windows.
The thing that makes this comic so poignant and not just goofy is that Teo and Corey are shining their comedic talents on the dark recesses of the mind and some of its brightest light simultaneously. Every human being must come to grips with the expiry date on this fragile sack of meet and marrow we call humanity. We might as well laugh at our puny frail selves. The questions are the same for every human, even though the “answers” even vary not just from culture to culture from individual to individual and moment to moment. The tradition I was raised in happens to be the context Teo and Corey are painting both inside and outside the frame but any tradition can find humor, even solace in this delightful comic.
Subtlety is the scalpel Corey’s art makes shaky incisions upon our psyches with nerves like God on one of his benders. In the before-mentioned gag with the delusional preacher gathered around what he thinks are the faithful few, only in hell, the slight rolls on the eyes of his new “congregation” are just one of the many touches that goes unnoticed upon first glance. The posture of them sarcastically clapping is exaggerated for effect. One of the new “congregants” has a nasty scar on his cheek, denoting that perhaps this group has had it rough both in life and the great beyond.
With lighthearted flair Jesus is introduced to social media in episode 48. In a moment of exquisite detail Lucy’s account is fully rendered revealing that all he posts is pictures of his cats (and that tracks) and conveniently has 666K followers. Jesus’ first post is of him smiling in front of some bread and whine. His caption is “last supper… until tomorrow. LOL #foodie.” And immediately a comment reads “ur not the Son of God.” To silence the hater trolls Jesus posts a video of him turning water into wine with coy finger guns pointing at it. But the skeptics persist so he posts a picture of himself with God and Satan. Satan looks bored but fabulous and God looks a little annoyed and confused. But he gets reported only to discover there’s a @realSonofGod. A cross between Chuck Norris and the guys from Duck Dynasty is cocking a rifle in the profile pick with 100 Million followers. Jesus tries to get verified only to be asked by the customer service representative to upload a picture of him with his trademark rifle.
Continued belowFor the 50th episode, they do a fully rendered, in full color, Q and A with drawings of the creators themselves, which I thought was neat. My favorite question was “Lucy who does your hair?” To which he coyly answers “somebody special” with a fierce gleam in his eye. Also Corey and Teo reveal that Teo is Catholic and Corey is agnostic, which isn’t really that surprising considering their brand of humor. Where’s their buddy cop comedy? And a classic gag follows where God waves at Corey and says “Dude, I’m right here.” Jesus also has to rather sternly proclaim he is not secretly a wizard. And Teo admits that his first comic was a mostly black and white comic called “Down the Upward Spiral” which features his unique brand of visual humor that we have grown to love in “Adventures of God.” Corey admits with equal parts sheepishness and equal parts pride that he dabbled in neckbeard comics. Another spot on question is “does God read Adventures of God?” Which is hilariously revealed as he scrolls through his phone with that exact panel on his phone in a fresh take on the visual gag in Spaceballs the Movie by Mel Brooks and they even do a tasteful tip of the hat to the other webcomics they scroll through on their own phones.
50 episodes and none of it seemed to drag in the slightest and now there is over 460. It is very clear to me their well will not run dry anytime soon.
Dr. Frost
‘The Psychologist in the Yellow Room’ (7) – ‘Insomnia’ (Case Closed)
Updates: Saturdays
By Jongbeom Lee
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
It’s been a hot sec since we last saw a ‘Psychologist in the Yellow Room’ chapter. I was beginning to think we were never going to see them again. It’s a bit of a slight chapter but I’m glad it acted as a buffer between the very heavy stuff in ‘Persona’ and the quieter and lighter developments in ‘Insomnia.’ The one gag I found the funniest had to be the first one. A bit of personal self-effacement always cracks me up and endears me to a work.
As for ‘Insomnia,’ I was afraid the tighter scope and lower stakes would have me feeling restless but I should have trusted Lee to craft a story that’s both enlightening and engaging. In ‘Insomnia,’ Lee brings things back to the people, centering Seonga after having centered Frost for the last two cases, and tackles an aspect of Korean culture that has been touched on before but never really addressed head on: a distrust and stigmatization of counselling. It’s a fairly direct and explicit discussion so there really isn’t much to break down. “Dr. Frost” does a good enough job on its own laying things out and educating its audience both of how privacy laws with respect to counseling works in Korea and how the fields are broken down generally and more specifically there.
As for the characters, I really like the interplay between Frost & Seonga in these chapters. You can really feel the respect they have for each other, which was more tenuous on Frost’s part previously. It acts as a marker in Seonga’s career and life, where she is growing into her own as a counsellor but still has a ways to go. Her “failure” in this instance isn’t because she missed something or isn’t doing a good job, it’s just that Yoojun has a compounding factor which is making him reticent to want to get better. Lee correctly doesn’t dive deeper into Yoojun’s life as the broad strokes – successful parents & siblings & disapproval from various members of said family – tell us all we need to know about why his Insomnia is secretly a relief rather than a burden.
It’s a fascinating exploration of stress in the modern world and how our brains and our bodies are more linked than we think. It’s a quiet story, with low stakes that appeals to the everyday and the mundane rather than the dramatic and the rare. It also makes sure to remind us that nothing is ever as simple as it seems, not even the life of our good old Dr. Frost. Next time, a delivery on that stinger about Frost’s parents. Maybe.
Continued below
The Spirit Queen
Episodes 1-7
Updates: Saturday
Story by Kuaikan Comics
Art by TUTU
Reviewed by Mel Lake
Imperial intrigue is everywhere for Zhi Ling, the main character of the fantasy drama series, “The Spirit Queen.” This manhua series appears on several sites, but I read the version published on Tapas. Only the first eight are unlocked so far, but thirty-two more chapters are available for purchase.
The basic story of “The Spirit Queen” is a version of “Cinderella” crossed with a morality tale about humanity’s inability to accept that which they can’t understand. Zhi Ling can see the future, which gets her clan in trouble with the humans in her world. But the actual backstory of the world, though it seems complex, is also frustratingly vague. Set in an alternate period of Chinese history, the story fuses vague spiritual powers with court intrigue. Both of these things are fascinating on their own but are blended awkwardly in the first eight episodes so far. Because basic worldbuilding facts aren’t quite clear, I had a hard time connecting the characters to the story and the exposition. Much of this confusion may stem from cultural clues being lost in the translation of the story to English, but it makes “The Spirit Queen” frustrating to read at times.
However, TUTU’s artwork is so fantastic, the story is almost secondary. Almost every character has the same ethereal, elegant look, which makes them difficult to tell apart but absolutely beautiful to look at. The clothes and backgrounds are beautifully rendered, as are the hairstyles and accessories the characters wear. Setting the story in an imperial harem means there are ample opportunities to draw flowy gowns and rich silk dresses, and “The Spirit Queen” does not disappoint. The way TUTU is able to simulate the way a camera might zoom in on a subject or pan across a landscape by using selective focus and perspectives is amazing to this reviewer, who can barely draw a circle without breaking a sweat.
The politicking and backstabbing in the Emperor’s harem, as well as the burgeoning romance between the prickly Emperor and the steadfast concubine, are familiar enough tropes that readers of historical romance or fans of harem anime or manga will be able to follow along, regardless of any rough translations or rocky storytelling. Of the episodes available for free, the “spirit” aspect of “The Spirit Queen” hasn’t been explored much at all, so I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities for the plot to take a supernatural direction in further episodes.
A Useless Villain
Episodes 1-3
Schedule: Mondays
Written by Yeoul
Illustrated by Odi
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
During COVID, I would often joke about how time feels like mush or do my excellent rendition of “Time is a Flat Circle” monologue. There was a Groundhog Day quality to early quarantine. “A Useless Villain” finds a new twist in the Groundhog Day scenario by asking a simple question: what good is being one of the most powerful (and evil) psychics in the world if you’re unable to take over the world?
That’s what Dongjin Kim wants to do, become a malevolent dictator and callously throw away lives because he thinks himself so superior. The creative team in the prologue to the first episode do an excellent job of showing how fundamentally unlikeable and honestly boring Dongjin Kim is as a character. If only he could get through the day without violently murdering his classmates and resetting the time loop, he’s stuck in. His murders are gruesome, but not as effective after the first hit – much like being stuck in a time loop. There is a real burst of energy when he kills two of his classmates the first time due to the shock value. As the strip goes on, layouts do a poor job of connoting the feeling of energy in the reader as pens go through heads. Gutter space creates a gap in action leaving solitary gruesome images.
“A Useless Villain” has an excellent hook. It’s novel but still easily known to anyone who’s seen Groundhog Day or Palm Springs. Further framing through the binary morality of superheroes helps to underscore the fundamental terribleness of the lead. His monotony renders him as much a joke as the rest of the comedy in the strip. It’s early days but there is something to this strip. At the same time after the first strip, it became a bit of a bore to read. The rote quality of the hyper violence is part of the point, but that doesn’t make it any more interesting to read. Maybe in a month or two this strip will really turn into something.
