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The Webcomics Weekly #44: Noir + Monsters (7/16/19 Edition)

By | July 16th, 2019
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Welcome back, one and all, to The Webcomics Weekly! This week, Norah has a series of Skype calls. Gustavo reads the “Bad Signs” between civilized action and savagery. “Clink” is a spin on the noir style that adds monsters to the mix. “Sam and Fuzzy” continue to look for the employee of the month.

Agents of the Realm
Pages 46-56 (Ch. 2)
Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays
By Mildred Louis
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane

Mildred Louis packs a lot into this batch of pages from “Agents of the Realm” and threads the tricky needle of exposition as the series enters chapter 2. She gets the exposition, mostly stuff we already know but now with a clearer verbiage as Good Prof. Blackwater explains the basics of the realms and the titular Agents to Norah. All in the span of a single page. It’s serious and lore heavy, and on the turn of the digital page we get a picture of Norah not really paying attention to it at all. Louis body language shines throughout but in this particular sequence her cartooning the eyes in some subtle ways really drives the mood home.

This exposition dump is interrupted by a call from Mom and Dad. I’m unsure if it is a processing error, if so it is still effective, as certain panels play with the garish lighting one often associates with webcam VOIP calls. Mom and Dad do as parents often do with their children, gently nudge them into situations and hint at things the reader already knows. Norah isn’t the most socially outgoing type, she reminds me of myself in a lotta ways, and her parents try to get her to open up and meet new people at college. It was one of the opportunities of living on campus after all. In this sequence Louis stacks the subtle eye movements with the shoulders as you see Norah slowly crumple and come back up. Louis packs a ton of character work into these four and a half pages.

As is the running theme in this batch, that conversation is interrupted as well! The mysteriously absent roommate, Adele Silveira, appears sobbing on the phone speaking in Spanish – as if almost by fate. This conversation is a bit more one sided and comedic as Norah is drawn, essentially, photobombing Adele as she makes her self at home.

When all this solid character work and exposition is an interesting twist on one of the motifs for the series, agency. Which is fitting considering the shared root with the titular occupation. It’s only a sentence but opens up some interesting ideas about characters and fate. Norah and her gang will be put in spots they didn’t intend either by their own actions, someone else’s, or karma, but they still have a choice in how that situation is resolved. Which should be the watch word for this second chapter.

Little note at the end, as Norah and the Good Prof. end their inter dimensional Skype call, Louis ends it with a static panel and onomatopoeia “Bloop.” I know what it supposed to be, but it looks a lot like “Blood,” confusing the ‘P’ for a capital ‘D.’

Bad Signs
Chapter 1
Updates: Saturday
By Jimena Aranda
Reviewed by Gustavo S. Lodi

“Bad Signs” is a webtoon with an intriguing premise: what is the series of events that lead a group of people from being usual and civilised, into becoming savages in a deserted island? And while it could be played from a more serious angle, creator Jimena Aranda flips it on its head and makes it a comedy.

The first chapter of “Bad Signs” is very ingenious in how it sets up the story and characters. By throwing readers in the middle of a pursuit scene in the middle of an island, the audience is left grasping at straws to obtain nuggets of information about what has happened before and how these characters are. This approach usually ends up on one of two fields, that of complete puzzlement, or, as it the case here, intriguing promise. It works largely due to the pacing of the action and the sharply written dialogue, with a big push on situational comedy and a diverse roster of colourful characters.

Continued below

Talking about the art, “Bad Signs” does not break any preceding ground, but it uses its tools well. With a certainly cartoony style, with super express facials and up-and-close zoom for maximum effect, the series places their characters first, and readers learn everything about plot and relationships from their body languages, conversations, and other visual cues.

Towards the end, “Bad Signs” pulls the time back and shows these same individuals before they embarked on their island adventure, as they tape their audition to what seems to be a reality TV program. The sharp contrast of the “then-and-now” adds to the sense of movement the chapter instilled up to that point.

All in all, “Bad Signs” rests on its pacing and dialogue to create something unique, and despite having a visual representation that is well-know, it is executed well and aligned with the series overall style.

Clink
Chapter 1.1 One Lycan’s Eve Parts 1-6
Updates: First of the Month
By Cody Forkes
Reviewed by Elias Rosner

Give me a good spin on the noir genre, fill it with monsters, and stylize the whole thing like the ‘New Gotham’ era of “Detective Comics,” and you’ve got a comic that already has a lot going for it. I’m a sucker for these kinds of genre mash-ups, especially when they lead to clever fights and utilizations of traditional concepts. “Clink’s” second chapter, or, the second part of the first chapter, continues the work of the first chapter with panache, doubling down on the genre elements and the glorious fun they bring.

I particularly love the way the reveal of who Nate’s friend is, and why he had to stay outside, plays out. It brings a nice bit of expansion to the world without overloading us with exposition. This is true, too, of Nate’s narration. It’s light but whenever it is present, it illuminates more about Nate’s character than about any event or the workings of the world. That’s something that a lot of pseudo-noir, or any narration heavy story, misses, that narration is more a tool of placing us within the narrative position of that character and that it should tell us as much, if not more, about them and the way they view the world around them, than the actuality of that world.

On the art side, Forkes’ coloring continues to impress, with the soft, dark environments contrasting with the warm, bright lighting. In fact, Forkes lights every scene so naturally that, despite the stylization of the colors, being of limited color palettes and solid blocks of colors, which works in much the same way as the utilization of negative space in Frank Miller’s “Sin City,” it’s as if they are real places that I could step into at a moment’s notice. I adore this lighting and the way it shifts and dims and intensifies based on the source without overpowering the mood or the clarity of the visuals.

My only negative critique is that there are a few places where the chaotic paneling makes reading in the intended order difficult. The eye is not drawn across the page in the intended order, thus diminishing the effect of those scenes. This happens at the top of the most recent update, although Forkes does break the panel border in an attempt to draw attention to the irregular reading order, and, more problematically, on the previous page, with the Frankenstein scene. Reading as one would normally, left to right, up to down, it’s hard to tell that the second panel in the sequence is actually below the first rather than to the right, which is a more dynamic panel, and thus attracts the eye before you realize that the actual next panel was a quieter one. It doesn’t take away from the overall quality and enjoyment of the story but it will make for a bumpier reading.

However, if you’re looking for a comic to eagerly await month to month, and have already burnt through your stack of “Criminal,” this just might scratch a bit of that itch. Plus, look at those colors!

Sam and Fuzzy
Employee of the Month + Buddy Saves Christmas
Continued below

Updates: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
By Sam Logan
Reviewed by Dexter Buschetelli

The roller coaster that is “Sam & Fuzzy” continues this week as we delve into ‘Employee of the Month.’ I say “roller coaster” because of the way this series tends to rise and dip in quality. This week, we’re moving up, although roller coasters really get more fun when they’re going down. Y’know what? This metaphor really doesn’t make sense. But, given that “Sam & Fuzzy” revels in its own absurdity, I’m using it anyway! Just try and stop me!

‘Employee of the Month’ begins with Mr. Y returning from his long battle against Mr. X, the two being some of the top ninjas under the employ of N-M-S. Y’s victory nets a small trophy–or long depending on X’s reach, I suppose–a severed arm which he drops on the desk of Aaron announced his triumphant homecoming. This serves as one of the many comedic gags that makes “Sam & Fuzzy” so enjoyable at times, as Aaron is in the midst of a conversation explaining why N-M-S can’t assassinate a potential client’s adversary, or political rival, or maybe just annoying neighbor as this is not made clear.

As the arc continues we see Y has developed an increased paranoia from his almost-never-ending-duel with X and he seeks to protect the most recent N-M-S emperor with extreme prejudice. Potential domesticated-cat-bombs, a plague-carrying goldfish, and a very frightened pizza delivery guy all see the sharpened edge of a ninja’s protection as Y goes beyond overboard in his duties.

All of this is incredibly entertaining and serves as more proof that “Sam & Fuzzy” works best with its core cast, and is at its most meandering when flashing back to Sam and Hazel’s adventures–as in ‘Buyer Beware.’ There are just more figures to play with in the newer toybox and Logan is clearly more invested in these shiny, new game pieces than when he laboriously drags the audience by the arm to provide backstory.

While Fuzzy’s origins may be fundamental in the overarching narrative, they’re just far less engaging than the series is here in ‘Employee of the Month.’ Here’s hoping my next review will be as enthusiastic as this one, and not as painful to write as the last. Join me again in two weeks as I continue my review of “Sam & Fuzzy.”

Oh, also a Goldfish whacks against the glass confines of its domain for five panels and somehow is a yuletide hero in ‘Buddy Saves Christmas.’


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