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The Webcomics Weekly #100: Centennial (8/18/2020 Edition)

By | August 18th, 2020
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

The Webcomics Weekly is back in your life for the 100th time! It’s funny doing this for 100 rounds, it goes by so fast and yet also in the year 2020 so slow. So thanks for reading us as we continue with a new project looking at “Tower of God” from Elias, Jason goes out on a limb with “Branching Out,” and I stick on my trek with “Trekker” and “Agents of the Realm.” Stay tune to the end of the column where I inevitably tease our reboot and renumbering, a crossover with the Multiversity’s This Week in Shonen Jump (home to all your Shonen Jump needs along with the Multiversity Manga Podcast), Only to reveal to blue hand of Dr. Manhattan was Brian Salvatore all along and it was about the friends we made along the way.

Agents of the Realm
Pages 371-378(Ch7)
Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays
By Mildred Louis
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane

“Agents of the Realm” begins chapter 8 and this one is a nice change of pace because it’s winter break, nothing Magical Girl bad can ever happen on winter break. Judging by the way the archive is setup this chapter is split into a series of strips highlighting what the various Agents are up to on their break. Our first strip centers around Jordan going home to New York City.

While that is the core of the strip Mildred Louis spends a few pages at the front of the strip to highlight something rare in comics: the mundanity of travel. Not even travel really, planning to travel, and the perks of friends with cars. In an alternate universe this strip could’ve been a series of one pagers as Jordan got on and off all manner of bus, instead she manages to hitch a ride with Norah and Adele. These are purposefully small moments but they both highlight the friendship all of them have established and to a degree class-cultural differences like Adele lacking proper winter clothes.

The college setting isn’t all that dynamic in terms of environment which helps the big New York City panel on 374 really land as some palce different. It isn’t just the density of the image but all the neon glow that is added that makes the image pop.

New York City means a good deal of car time, giving readers plenty of time to see Jordan and her Dad interact. Sitting in a car isn’t incredibly dynamic, however, Louis excellent expression work and lettering create the feeling of a chemistry and relationship between characters even if we only met one of them the page prior. It’s that feeling of history that makes of Jordan’s Mother returning to the picture more effective. As it was happening, I was expecting the not so good Prof. Blackwater, that would be very anime and probably a better home trip for Jordan.

The way Louis articulates Jordan’s body language during that sequence and the contempt that comes through is some of the best character acting in this run. It isn’t anger it’s numbness at this routine again. To her credit Louis doesn’t paint the Mom as an evil Mother figure there is a hint that this is for a manipulative purpose but if you break down what she does it also reads as Mother trying to reconnect with her daughter and failing at it.

“Agents” doesn’t shy away from taking place in contemporary times which allows for Louis to work through Jordan’s feeling without having to have a “big talk” with Dad. She can talk to her friends and girlfriend on her phone through texts and video chat which nicely translate to comics. I have a feeling this chapter is going to be the most slice of life of this series is going to get and it is a delightful change of pace thus far.

Branching Out
#14-16
Updates: Varies
By Zachary Wilcox
Reviewed by, Jason Jeffords Jr

It’s crazy that “Webcomics Weekly” has reached 100! If I’m being honest, I didn’t read any webcomics before I started doing reviews for them, my first being “Webcomics Weekly #55.” Although I’ve missed some postings here and there, I’m happily surprised I’m still doing this! Webcomics have grown in my head/heart/life after doing this, at first they were something I heard whispers of, but now after doing these write-ups and following a lot of creators I believe webcomics deserve a bigger impact. Nonetheless, 100 posts like this is no small feat, and I’m glad I was allowed on. Here’s to a few hundred more y’all!

Continued below

That amazing feat out of the way, let’s branch out with “Branching Out.”

Reading the first few updates of “Branching Out” you think it wouldn’t get too violent, or gory. But, damn does update #14 tell us otherwise! Yeah, I thought some cartoon violence would occur, but Briar straight-up rips off Syd’s tail and slices off an arm. So throw out my theory of this being an “all ages” cutesy story, granted that doesn’t take away from the plot. Wilcox adds flashbacks to help grow the story, but not too much, this leaves a taste in your mouth making you crave more. On that note, one plot point was shown that I figured would transpire. It seems the world of “Branching Out” is based around the characters being a type of insect. The designs hint this, then Wilcox has Briar metamorphosis. A final story note; I love how each update has a title that is in reference of what happens.
I love art; much like many things in my life, I like different types of art. I feel like that’s where I’m lucky with my tastes, I can find enjoyment in any media genre and all different types of art. That said, “Branching Out’s” art is freaking fantastic. It fits the fantasy world that Wilcox is building. He makes the world bright and beautiful that invites you in, yes, even when it gets violent. Nonetheless, one of the greatest moments comes in update #16 where Wilcox uses the vertical layout for his favor. In it we see Briar falling slowly into the water which transitions into Twig waking up, the structure here is fantastic.

Within 16 updates, “Branching Out” is a good read that defies your expectation and makes you want to read more. That aside, hopefully we keep this count going, I’m not a fan of comics renumbering! See you next week for All New, All Different Webcomics Weekly #1. I’m just kidding!

Tower of God
Tower of God: Season 1 Eps. 0 – 6; Episode 1 – “BALL”
Updates: Mondays (Currently on Hiatus)
By SIU
Reviewed by Elias Rosner

What do you desire? Money and wealth? Honor and pride? Authority and power? Revenge? Or something that transcends them all? Whatever you desire—it can be yours if you climb the tower.

These are the words of Headon, and Rachel, relayed to us during the opening few minutes/first chapter of the massively popular “Tower of God,” the first comic to make its way from Korean into English on Webtoon way back in 2014. Recently, “Tower of God” got an anime, Tower of God, and for our 100th issue, I thought it’d be fun to compare the two, taking the corresponding comic episodes and contrasting them with the anime episodes, one anime ep at a time. With Crunchyroll & Webtoon partnering, we’ll be seeing more such adaptations, like this summer’s adaptation of “The God of Highschool.”

We here at The Webcomics Weekly don’t get to review many long running series due to the way the column is structured, and at 400-some-odd chapters and over 6 years (10 if counting Korean publication,) this would not be within the usual wheelhouse. Plus, how often do I get to discuss adaptations from webcomics TO TV/Movies versus the other way around?

I’m gonna seize the opportunity.

Three things to note. One: do not spoil the comic OR the anime in the comments. While I have seen the 13-episode, first season, I have not read the comic prior to coming in and the same may be true for others. Some of you may have just heard of “Tower of God” today. If so, follow along with me! There will be spoilers ahead for ep 1 so watch & read and then come back. Two: I will not be discussing the merits or problems of the storytelling/art/dialog etc except when contrasting how the show & the comic approach the presentation of information and the existence/lack thereof of crucial plot points. This is to keep these kinda short, (cue all my editors laughing,) since it’s not a 5 Thoughts like our usual TV stuff nor a regular review. Three: I will be reviewing the dub of the show. I don’t want to hear about it in the comments either. I chose this because I often prefer the dubs but more specifically because I find it more interesting to compare the additional layer a dub brings, this being a comparison between the English-translation of a Korean webcomic to the spoken English-language translation of a Japanese show which was adapted from a Korean Webcomic by three companies in three countries: America, South Korea and Japan. Translation choices are made to suit the ear and fit the flaps. What is lost and found in those choices can be revealing.

Continued below

Apply directly to the forehead.

Episode one, “BALL,” corresponds to the first seven episodes (hereafter “chapters”) of the Webtoon (#0-6) and the differences, while slight, are apparent. With the benefit of a wealth of future chapters, the anime is able to go for a more expansive look at the world, dropping in lore that was missing from the webtoon, and retooling the current mechanics effortlessly, like the laying the groundwork for the politics of the tower (Princesses of Jahad,) the importance of the pocket for language translation, and giving a more concise and visual explanation of the tower. I appreciate the balance the anime tries to strike between throwing us into the deep end with Bam, leaving us to piece things together ourselves, and explaining the more mysterious aspects, whereas the comic’s first few chapters are just one big infodump.

The choice to cut or rearrange events/conversation so different information is conveyed is a good one. Comics have the space to explain more intricate events and rules because it’s faster to read than to listen to the same paragraph explanation of what an irregular is or how the pocket works. TV does not. Almost all the information we learn from Evan and Lady Yuri’s conversation before Yuri drop-kicks Bam is extraneous and would pad out the episode unnecessarily. Instead, the kick is turned into a surprise moment, one major purpose of the pocket demonstrated rather than explained, and the tension of the scene is not lost.

The same is true for Bam’s test. In the comic, the presentation is far more traditional “third-party character(s) narrates aloud/in their head for the benefit of the audience.” In the anime, information is only doled out as necessary rather than ahead of time, preserving the stakes and retaining and enhancing the tense atmosphere of The Tower. In fact, the biggest change from the webtoon to the show is in regards to Headon’s role & knowledge.

Headon knows Bam’s name in the show whereas he doesn’t in the comic. He’s the one who threatens Lady Yuri over interfering in the test and mentions the King of Jahan’s connection to the weapons, and he’s far more conniving in the anime, with the show going out of its way to have him smirk evilly much more often. It reorients the goals of the characters in that scene for a longer term arc and it felt more grand, more epic in scope rather than the pre-rendered cutscene that runs before the start menu of the game that is the Tower of God.

Tell me this looks like TOWER OF GOD PRESS START is about to appear with a copyright Nintendo 2020 logo.

Brief aside, one place where the comic has a leg up is clarifying why the hell Bam’s name is The 25th Bam. I thought it was a title or, like, he’s the 25th version of Bam but nope, apparently it means 25th Night, as in, he was born/found on the 25th night. Adds a new level of sad to his character.

Rachel & Bam’s relationship is another place where the show does more early on, to the benefit of the narrative. We’re shown why Bam finds Rachel so important, teasing the origins of Bam himself and his super-special-awesome-main-character status, as well as effectively showing what is driving Rachel, who is absent from much of the episode. Our first encounter with the two of them together, Bam chasing Rachel, is also far more bittersweet and less creepy than it comes across in the original.

All in all, I’m far more taken in by the first episode of Tower of God than I was by the first 6 (and a half) chapters of “Tower of God.” The next episode begins with the second half of Chapter 6, kinda, and for anyone who is ahead, if they could put the timestamp/panel of which chapter SIU says he included the eye. Because I looked. And I could not find it in either the comic nor the show. Though maybe that was because they changed Headon’s final line from Chapter 4 in the show to “I look forward to seeing what’s coming next. Very intriguing.”

See y’all in two weeks for “3/400.”

Continued below

Trekker
Pages: Book 9 “Mercy Killing” Pages 1-7
Schedule: Mondays
By Ron Randall(story and breakdowns), David Jackson(lettering)
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane

‘Mercy Killing’ was originally published in “Decade of Dark Horse” #2, it is re-syndicated here now in color. Once again something about the color feels a little off to me compared to the color work done in the new “Trekker” stories Randall is putting out, it just doesn’t interact with his line work as well. That said the color on the first page is fantastic, the reduced palette is closer to something from the mid-90s. It also helps the page features a large amount of black allowing for the hazy orange flame of the cigarette to pop without being overly bright in value.

That first page is probably the best overall page in the strip as Randall tries some different approaches for a “Trekker” strip. The page is laid out in a nine panel grid and he uses those nine spaces to isolate characters and imagery from one another, as well as use the middle row to pull out and pan across the room to reveal what the woman is so frightened of, besides the man who is about to murder her.

‘Mercy Killing’ is a odd strip in that most of the narrative takes place outside of Mercy’s perspective. She isn’t the lead so much as an avenging plot force meant to balance the scales by the end. Most of the strip is stuck in the POV of our sadistic unnamed killer with a surprising amount of gruesome imagery. Violence and getting wet isn’t new to “Trekker” but it was always contextualized in the parlance of action and adventure, this is plainly sadistic murder. It’s a tonal detour that didn’t quite work for me it was a bit too dark, too fast, maybe with a larger page budget this kind of story would’ve worked better in “Trekker.”

There is a slight feeling of disconnect in this strip as Randall is woring with only 7 compared to 8 pages. While he does a fantastic job of using leading and matching dialog to unify the narrative across page turns and switches in settings there is lack of the highly effiecent page design and storytelling found in a story earlier like ‘Thicker Than Blood.’ “Mercy Killing” is an overall fine strip and tonal detour it just lacks the plainly good craft compared to previous strips.

Walking to Do
“Quarentine” Pg. 0 – 4
Updates: Mondays
By Rodrigo Vargas & Coni Yovaniniz
Reviewed by Elias Rosner

It’s back!

Well, it’s been back for a while but this is the first non-“Animal Crossing” story and I wanted to talk about Rodrigo and Coni’s fun brand of travelogue/diary, which I’m very grateful to have back. This time, it’s about meeting up in Quarantine in a country that is taking things more seriously than we have been at a national level (presumably, I’m not actually sure the exact nature of Chile’s precautions.) I adore the page zero recap. It’s goofy and ridiculous and exactly the kind of irreverent yet loving pastiche of the overly-serious TV recap of intense moments after a season finale.

I am presuming that Coni drew most of these updates, rather than the back and forth of before, but looking closer, maybe Rodrigo drew the backgrounds and Coni the foreground characters aka themselves? I dunno. Regardless, the style is that distinctly simple but bold linework with a level of detail that keeps the locations full without letting them overwhelm the important character interactions. It’s weird to see people hugging or being close in 2020, even in comic form. However, Coni & Rodrigo capture the yearning for touch many of us are feeling, doing it in a manner that is both tender and hilarious.

They invite us into a small slice of their life. Of supermarket dance parties and discussions of chocolate bar designs. Of meeting for the first time in months, masked up like a superhero. Of moments stolen and moments given. It’s a real treat to be invited in once again and there is more to come so I’ll leave us with the most profound statement of the comic, from Rodrigo: “Wear your mask, don’t be a dong.”


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