The Fever King - Featured Reviews 

The Webcomics Weekly #43: Clone Farming for the 21st Century (7/9/19 Edition)

By | July 9th, 2019
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Welcome back to The Webcomics Weekly!

Clones may not be the subject of any of our comics today but we certainly have an eclectic mix this week. One is our first adaptation, a YA dystonia novel that may or may not have Atlantis in it, and the other straddles the line between two halves of a rebooted universe. No, it’s not Hunger Games or “Jojo,” it’s “The Fever King” and “Limbo Road.” Joining them are our two regulars, the fantasy and horror stories “Order of the Stick” and “The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn.” Visually running the gamut, I think it shows just why webcomics are a medium I love and how any style can tell a great story.

And yes, I do know Atlantis isn’t a part of Hunger Games.

The Fever King
Ep. 1-4
Schedule: Sundays
Written by Victoria Lee
Illustrated, Colored and Lettered by SaraDeek
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane

With YA comics being the growing segment in the marketplace, it comes as no surprised to see LINE get into that space as well. “The Fever King” is based on the novel of the same name from writer Victoria Lee, offering all too familiar, achingly relevant, elements of our present reality with a dash of fantasy. Set in an alternative North America, and the state of Carolina, “The Fever King” follows Noam as he deals in the fallout of a magical-technorganic plague in a setup that isn’t all that dissimilar from the start of “Deadman Wonderland.” Noam is an Atlantian; if Lee means the kind from Georgia or the mythical lost continent is up in there air. The former makes plenty of sense, but the use of water based imagery fits the other column.

The first three episodes form a prologue as Noam, his father, and a friend have a tense stand off with the police – think the start of Inglorious Bastards – before a late title card propels the series into a new chapter. Overall, as individual strips the creative team makes a solid comic that hits the right tense final note without feeling overdone. The opening batch of strips drop the reader into the thick of things and use environmental cues to catch readers up on everything. We don’t really understand this plague, but that isn’t important. What is, is how scared everyone is by the thought of it.

Artistically, “Fever King” takes awhile to get started. By itself, Deek’s manga inspired art is technically well done, if a bit generic, the content of the panels is well done, and how it is all laid out is a bit basic, but very functional. The strip soon finds its legs and Deek starts to lean into the unique qualities of the infinite vertical strip, in particular strong seamless transitions and a beautiful mirror image of Noam and his tormentor. All of this is before the fever takes hold and things turn into a nightmarish dream and the strip really begins to flex. It can’t be at that level all the time, but the way Deek builds up to these moments makes it very effective.

“The Fever King” also features a first, as far as my reading goes: black gutter space! Deek’s art is enhanced by that backing for one. It also makes the gutter space appear less visually jarring on my phone. The size of gutter space is still a tad too big for my tastes in a few spots, but it also made me go back and look for it in a way other comics on LINE haven’t.

“The Fever King” gets off to a good start, with a surprisingly considered amount of world building through visual information and scene work as opposed to spoken exposition.

Limbo Road
#497 through vol. 2 #3
Updates: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
By Bill Bushman
Reviewed by Dexter Buschetelli

I think a universal reboot constitutes a “new” series, so on that premise I chose to review “Limbo Road” this week. It’s a quirky series that clearly contained a lot of backstory before Dr. Faust chose to hit a reset button on the world. The pages leading up to the end and its new beginning provide a wonderful jumping-off point, however.

Continued below

The art here is much like the slogan for Hooters restaurants, “delightfully tacky, yet unrefined.” These drawings are anything but rudimentary, but lack a certain polish which only adds to their charm. Characters are clearly defined but environments are bereft of detail, giving an oddly pleasant juxtaposition to the visuals.

The end of the original series sees it at its most charming, as characters debate the ethics of this decision. But it is interestingly the aesthetic choices for this sort-of-finale that works best, as a DOS-like screen informs the reader that this is the end, but also a new beginning. The blurs of the panels are an amateur effect that somehow manages to be effective as we are told the series is “just collecting some error info” after which it will boot back up.

While floating heads of celebrities, evangelical nutbags, and wives-turned-wombats are all amusing, this series finds its strength in characters. This small snippet of entries is enough to introduce you to Dr. Faust, Panda-Bat, Miles, Clovis and others while giving you a strong indication of their character archetypes.

I can’t speak to the history of this series; but, as far as new beginnings go, this is as good a position as any.

Order of the Stick
Pages 126-130
Updates: Varies
By Rich Burlew
Reviewed by Gustavo S. Lodi

This week, “Order of the Stick” deals with two crucial matters of role-playing games. . .and of life, in a broader sense. The decision of your career (or classes) and the ever-so-important process to divide prizes (or quest loot.) As always, series creator Rick Burlew does so with just the right amount of satire and discussion, keeping the jokes sharp and the story moving.

For the first pages of this update, readers are presented with a funny exchange on how certain careers pay off sooner than others, and why anyone, in a game or otherwise, should invest the time to truly master anything in life. It is actually a compelling discussion that talks about the illogical process of majors and minors in an education environment and should hit close to home to part of its audience.

Later, “Order of the Stick” goes back to full mischief and funny banter, as the group’s members divide the treasure found on the previous campaign. It ends up discussing how greedy individuals may position themselves to failure and to be swindled out of their own blind ignorance, while still poking fun at some of the tropes of the RPG and MMO world.

As always, “Order of the Stick” is a perfect example of a simple goal being executed and juggled perfectly. By allowing itself to branch in some many directions and to discuss this many aspects, it ends up being always unpredictable and fresh.

The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn
Chapters 86-90
Updates: Completed/On Hiatus
By Tri Vuong
Colored by Irma Kniivila
Reviewed by Elias Rosner

With these chapters, ‘The Ghost of Witch Lake’ enters its climax, with each of the disparate sub-plots crashing into each other, producing a lovely amount of tension, and upping the stakes by a substantial amount. The rate at which the events and changes are speeding up, which is a bit at odds for the slower pace of the previous few sets of updates, but is welcomed nonetheless. The story, at this point, requires this faster pace so that it can retain the air of fear and tragedy.

We actually learn a lot during these five chapters, in particular chapter 86 & 87, which sheds some light on the traumas that have shaped Johann and what they have shaped him into, as well as expanding our understanding of the mechanics of the world of “Oscar Zahn.” How is it that Maddy was able to remain as cognizant as she was? Why did she have the same blue glow as the Ectopus or Sebastian the Fey or Nora while the other spirits are dark shadows with eyes of red? But, as with any good mystery, the answers aren’t clear nor fully explained so that the air of wonder and the ability to speculate and theorize remains.

Vuong also brings in more humor via Walter and his mother than have been present for a while, a welcome bit of fun that reminds me of Shaun of the Dead. . . right up until Maddie’s father completely goes off the rails in his grief-induced quest to “rescue” “Maddie.”

As has been the case throughout ‘The Ghost of Witch Lake,’ Vuong’s artwork continues to be moody and expressive. While it is still hampered by the webtoons format, most notably in the “big reveal spread of spirits,” which really could have been something if allowed to open to the full width of a screen, he nails the more important moments: the small character beats and close bits of horror. As I’ve said before and I’ll say again, Kniivila’s addition as colorist during the back half of the arc has certainly allowed for Vuong to place increased focus on his drafting and shading, increasing the overall quality of the comic and the arc, in all aspects. And the best part of that? It makes the cliffhangers all the more harrowing.


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