Monday 16 February 2009

Of Mice, Not Pens

Now, I’m a man who likes to talk, usually without thinking first. This has landed me in a world of trouble on more than one occasion. There’s no “backspace” in real life conversation. Once you’ve said something, it’s pretty much a done deal. Sure you can pretend you were talking about something else, or act like you were temporarily possessed by the Demon Queen of Ragnor (I’ve no idea what I’m talking about either), but that’s not always going to work, and one of these days you’re gonna get rumbled, son. Long story short, don’t make pretend that a woman is pregnant when she says aloud that her blouse makes her look fat. That’s a life lesson. I make these mistakes so you don’t have to… And also they can be damn funny at the time.

Today’s comic is written and drawn by a bona fide sci-fi writer-guy, whom you may (or may not – I like to cover all the bases) have heard of. Joe Clifford Faust, author of several works including The Death of Honor, an excerpt of which I read was fantastically well-written, has for us a comic called The Home World. This story-based comic involves the tale of a man, his talking dog (yeah, talking) and their next-door neighbours, the stereotypical “Alien Greys” who have given themselves (ironically) stereotypical human names while they stay on Earth, so they can “blend in” while they try to act human. Of course, they make no effort other than this to disguise the fact that they’re aliens, which is a thick vein of comedy in itself!

The main characters are Garrett, the slightly slow, consistently naïve man whose sole purpose in life seems to be keeping his dog from getting into trouble. There’s a good bit of humour drawn from him, but Garrett is more of a humorous figure in himself than the jokes he tries to make. His dog, Speedy, is a constant source of funny throughout. He has a rapier sharp wit and is no stranger to trouble, seemingly enjoying making Garrett’s life difficult. It’s not hard to hide the fact you have a talking dog, especially with the Feds sneaking around looking for suspicious activity (haven’t they tried next-door?).

Artwork you say? Well, I wouldn’t call it art. And it barely qualifies as work at that. Only kidding, Ladies and Gentlemen! It is drawn using eazydraw on the Mac. Having seen manys a comic drawn of mice, not pens (do you see?), I can say that this one is pretty good. It’s still fairly obvious that it’s done with a mouse, but the style is just so that it steps a toe slightly out of convention in regards the "speech-bubbles". It's nice to see variation in this area, I find it to be a good indication of character.

I know I probably say this a lot, and it will eventually become my motto or some such, but I’d like to point out that this is a very new comic (only hitting strip #25 today) and has a long way to go in regards character development, artwork and finding a uniquely styled humour base. Right now, all in all, the humour of this comic is a solid, fundamental kind. Kinda reminds me of a 70s sit-com, though some people may not find it to their taste you should definitely check it out (I get the feeling it'll be a "you either love it or hate it" thing). The Home World. Be there, or be not. (Shakespeare said that… Ok, I paraphrased… Ok, but he did use “Be” and “not” in the same sentence, I know, I was there).

1 comment:

Lifon said...

Thank you again for introducing me to another wonderful comic, keep up the good work!