A Problem Like Jamal - Featured Reviews 

The Webcomics Weekly #5: The Dream Child (10/9/18)

By | October 9th, 2018
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

The spookiest month of the year is here and while we here at The Webcomics Weekly aren’t in the most spooktacular mood just yet, our returning titles certainly are. Mingling with their spirited content are an eclectic collection of comics filled with humor, music, and pirates. Let us know what you think in the comments and, if you’re feeling up to it, drop us a spooky story of your own.

Acursian
Chapters 1-6
Updates: Every Friday
Written by John Barrowman, Carole Barrowman, and Erika Lewis
Illustrated by Beni Lobel
Colors by Christopher Sotomayor
Music by Matthew Brind
Reviewed by Robbie Pleasant

I was not expecting to find a webcomic written by John Barrowman, but it’s his comic and it’s online and free to read, so it counts. This isn’t his first foray into comics, but unlike most webcomics with just one or two creators, he’s joined by his sister, Carole, and Erika Lewis as co-writers, as well as a full team for art, lettering, etc.

However, what makes this stand out against other webcomics is the use of music. It’s set so that certain musical scores begin to play as readers scroll through the comic, with decently soothing or epic scores by Matthew Brind. I’m not a music critic, so I can’t analyze those entirely, though I will say that, with only so many scores to choose from, sometimes the music is more fitting to the scene than others. Still, it’s a nice touch that I don’t often see in webcomics.

Story-wise, the writing team clearly has a full idea in mind. The characters have their distinct motivations and backstories that we’re slowly beginning to learn, although the flashbacks are interspersed throughout each issue to only give us a glimpse at a time. Six updates in and we’re starting to get a good idea of who’s who and what they’re after, so things are starting to pick up.

However, it does occasionally feel like it jumps around just a bit, like they have the story bits and are leaving the spaces in-between up to our imagination. Each scene typically takes 3-5 panels, and this chapter shifts between at least three different time periods, so we’re getting multiple snippets of the various stories and starting to connect them together.

Beni Lobel’s illustrations are mostly solid, with clear character designs, give or take the occasional misshapen expression. Of course, protagonist Charlie Stewart is clearly designed to look like Barrowman himself (which makes it a little surprising how big a jerk the character is, at least for now), and he captures John’s features well enough. One clever artistic choice is the way the panels are spaced out – the comic is read by scrolling down one panel at a time, but they can be varying sizes or lengths, or even have extra white space between them – it’s a good use of the online medium.

As this week’s issue ends, things are starting to move and change, so either Charlie will start learning things or more questions will come the readers’ way. Either way, it’s an interesting start so far, and I’m curious to see where it leads.

Overall, “Acursian” is an interesting webcomic: it’s clearly written with a lengthy story in mind, and while I could work just as well as a regular print comic, instead the team is making the most of it being online to include different takes on the panel size and layout, as well as include a musical score with the comic. It’s definitely unique, I’ll give it that, and in spite of a few shortcomings it’s still worth checking out.

Bad Machinery
October 12, 2009 – October 15, 2009
Updates: Completed
By John Allison
Reviewed by Bodhi

‘I know! Russia is where BRIDES come from!’ — Lottie

Hello and welcome to the Case of the Team Spirit where some machinery is about to go very, very bad. Also, you did notice it says Spirit on the title, didn’t you?

We focus almost exclusively on Lottie and Shauna this time as they try to do some do-goodin’. Well, Shauna does and Lottie is around to provide the snark. The person they are trying to help is an elderly woman, a “Mrs. Biscuits,” who is a Russian immigrant to the UK and who lives on her own, her sole companion being her grey cat. She’s in a spot of trouble with football club owner Kropotkin who wants to build his stadium and Mrs. Biscuits’s is the only house standing in the way of his expansion. So on one side we have a business tycoon and on the other an elderly lady who is very proud of having a house to call her own. Guess who our fearless heroes decide to help.

Continued below

The pages fly fast with Allison providing his trademark humor and channeling it mainly through Lottie. Allison’s drawing keeps evolving throughout the stories but right here is one of my favorite interpretations of the two friends, Shauna and Charlotte. Everything from their hairstyles to their hoodies is vibrant and larger than life.

See you next time when the boys enter the mix and we get to see just who this Kropotkin is. Also, we finally meet Mildred!

The Lost Nightmare
Pages 1.16-1.24
Updates: Completed
By Julia K. (a.k.a. Miyuli)
Reviewed by Gustavo S. Lodi

“Lost Nightmare” completes its first chapter with this third review, with much needed progression on the overall mission the series protagonist Ink will have on the story. On this beautiful and whimsical world, nothing is what it seems, which holds true to the reveals towards the end of this chapter.

Miyuli’s art continues to be the main pull for this welcoming: all characters are very consistent and the overall tone and imagery of “Lost Nightmare” is gorgeous to look at. It truly feels like looking at celluloid prints from hand-drawn animation, which suits the style of the dream-like story like a glove. Colouring, same as before, walks hand-in-hand with drawing, with a consistent palette, being adjusted to suit each individual character’s defining personality trait.

This time around, readers will have a better sense of the journey Ink will go through. Character profiles remain a bit flat – with the naive protagonist, the mysterious villain and the pesky rivals – but the end of the chapter seem to hint that not all of those pre-conceived notions will remain true for long. The series apparently aims to show the value of the balance between dreams and nightmares and how any excess — or any side — can be damaging.

“Lost Nightmare” continues to entertain with the ending of its first chapter, largely on the back of the wise artistic choices and execution. While plot and character development have only now started to pick up, they did open doors not usually transversed, avoiding the pitfalls of stereotypical heroes and villains on the long run.

A Problem Like Jamal
Huge Trouble – No Disrespect (September 17-October 5, 2018)
Updates: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
Reviewed by Dexter Buschetelli

Billed as “when Calvin & Hobbes meets Huey from the Boondocks,” “A Problem Like Jamal” already deserves to stand next to such esteemed company. Smart, sardonic, and slyly still an all-ages strip, the series finds its footing immediately out of the gate. This reviewer feels confident in saying so as the past two week’s releases were enough to warrant dropping everything and reading the full run.

The entries beginning on September 17th, 2018 deal with a newly introduced character, Cody. Like the entire series, this arc explores facets of being a black child in 2018 America. Jamal dissects Cody’s use of African-American Vernacular English and attempts to educate him on appropriation of culture as the two search for a mouse that is loose in Cody’s house. The social commentary in the quick interactions between the pair is handled deftly and, to quote Cody, “keeps it one hun’ed”.

The Sunday entry for October 1st steps away for a short bit featuring Jamal’s best friend Leray as a legendary big game hunter. Having discovered Bigfoot, El Chupacabra, and the Unicorn, Leray presents the audience and Jamal with his latest spectacular find “the fabled African-American Trump voter.” This is yet another example of how creator Tauhid Bondia makes no bones about the type of content he intends to create.

This series is slick, and not just in terms of writing. Bondia’s line work is crisp and looks like a series one would expect to have been running for years, not months. The expressive nature of the characters faces leave no doubts to the types of emotions he wishes to convey.

This series is a delight, and is sure to only continue to deliver with its biting commentary, amusing dialogue, and and vibrant art style.

Shadow Pirates
Chapters 1-3
Schedule: Mondays
Written by Ian Hopps
Illustrated by Leonel Castellani
Continued below



Inked by Leonel Castellani and Cassey Kuo
Colored by Sean Galloway, Emmanuel Fuentes, and Michael Komai
Lettered by Sean Galloway
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane

The opening chapters of “Shadow Pirates” are a mixed bag. The art design of this comic, which gestures towards a Disney style of fantastical and anthropomorphic characters, is clean and striking. The overall plot, a prison escape, is a solid hook. Everything about the general appearance of “Shadow Pirates” looks great, and then you read writer Ian Hopps script. “Pirates” is clearly aiming at a younger demographic, but that’s not an excuse for dialog and narration that fails to dramatize character or serve some purpose. As our good guy law enforcement, the titular Shadow Pirates, wait for the prisoner Mao to come through, they are mobbed by adoring fans. Some of them are having a ball with this fame, others not so much. Artistically, Leonel Castellani and the various colorists, get this point across. However, the scripting in these moments and throughout the series of strips reads as forced and unnatural.

The design of this series is phenomenal. The opening strip is primarily a trip through new and old San Diego, here re-imagined as a futuristic meets Age of Sail port city. Leonel Castellani cleanly transitions from setting to setting as we get the lay of the land. The clean spatial geography that Castellani develops in the first two strips as the prion break/transfer, makes everything easily understood on a visual level. The color design on this book seems to be mostly done in flats, with a nice screen tone effect, that makes it all look like a Disney children’s book. All the character designs are emotive and engaging. Visually, I’m curious to see what other kinds of designs the art team puts forth.

The first three chapters of “Shadow Pirates” fail to sell me on the characters of this series. The start of the series is primarily from Mao and his henchmen’s point of view, which is fine except that his internal monologue is vague and broad in its evilness. It gives no reason to consider a counter argument on why he should be labeled a villain. I’m not sure if Ginger and male Cadet are supposed to be the good guy protagonists. These three chapters fail to dramatize character in a meaningful way, the plot and art are all solid, but it hasn’t given me a reason to really care yet.

The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn
Chapters 9-12 & Q&A
Updates: Wednesdays
By Tri Vuong
Reviewed by Elias Rosner

The first act of ‘The Last Soldier of Somme’ comes to a close and it’s here that “Oscar Zahn” starts to hit its stride. The last batch of updates straddled the arcs, bridging a solo-adventure, more akin to a cold opening, to the longer, full-episode. The art has jumped in quality while still retaining the sketchy nature of the drawings. His portrayal of the trenches makes everything feel cramped and claustrophobic. Dust and fog covers the battlefield, mud is everywhere, and there is a deep sense of anxiety and tension in the air.

Additionally, while the characters are a bit shallow at the moment, the rest of the writing has a dry wit to it that clashes nicely with the more serious setting and the mysteries of the arc. Tonally, it’s less meditative than ‘Lost and Found’ but feels fuller and more scary. The image of the tank soldier, with red eyes and full face mask, is scary and if a soldier in WWI were to see that, I’m sure they’d be terrified. Oscar, too, gets more to do this time around and while he is not the focus of the story, as the narration attested at the start, he is still an integral part.

It’s a good move, having the protagonist take a back seat to another, new character. It keeps the mystery alive while still giving us dynamic characters. Also, by giving him a face (yes, Oscar gets a face for this) Vuong is able to portray a wider range of emotions via his art. It’s getting good and it’s getting weird and I can’t wait to hunker in the trenches with these people.


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