It'th alright, I have a lithp.

I decided to write most of today’s review from the college library as I “study” for my final finals. Maybe the fact that I’m typing this here and now shows you just how much (read: little) I’m getting done. For some reason I can’t get my interweb connection to work here. It’s been 4 years so you think I would have figured it out by now. No matter. So what’s in the news? Swine ‘flu still? Sorry “H1N1” as the UN would have us call it, or “Filthy Mexican ‘Flu” as the pork industry (Big Pig) prefers.
This week’s introductory-paragraph comic of choice is A Fine Example by Brian James. Now, this happens to me a lot, and I’m not sure if it happens to you guys, but when I come across an awesome comic I like the read the whole lot from beginning to end. Unfortunately time, being the possessive wench that she is, doesn’t often let me do this. But damn it this comic is funny and I want to finish it (curse you exams!). The main story follows John Stiles, he’s some sort of pirate, I don’t know, I’m not done reading. Don’t like the story? Check out his archive, there’s funny random stuff. I loved the Global Warming report, I haven’t laughed that hard since this Checkerboard Nightmare. From what I have read, it’s good stuff. Hand-drawn, good style and to top it off you’ll be laughed-up verily. [EDIT: Just finished the main archive and I have one word for it: Fantastic]

Today I have for you a very new webcomic that’s in the very early stages of its story. Very. Joe Cook brings forth for us his comic called Shattered Myth. And in case you were wondering, that’s not the title of the next heaving mass of Dan Brown awfulness, but I see how you may mistake it for such. That’s really Dan Brown’s fault for writing such tripe. I hate you Dan Brown. Fortunately, this comic isn’t written by, or is in any way associated with, Mr. Brown. Set in the “Mythoscape” the story so far involves ancient gods, some dude who is very, very confused and some chick whose only virtue is impatience. Shattered Myth only started in mid March, so it’s pretty new and has yet to really start developing the main characters. Here’s a quick run down of them as they stand:
Roland: Geek with a sarcastic streak. Has no idea why he’s in the Mythoscape. Currently paired with Anubis.
Anubis: A Jekyll and Hyde with the hide of a Jackal. Do you see? Currently stuck with Roland the Greek… Sorry, geek.
Anya: Not to be confused with: Enya. Currently walking Fenrir, a wolf-pup/god thing. She’s pushy, shovey, impatient… Typical woman really. She plays the role of the “bit of tart”. (Don’t hurt me, Women’s Lib! I’ll be good, I swear!)

As I said, this comic is pretty new. As a premise, the whole mythological thing is pretty good. It’s been done enough that it’s somewhat familiar to readers, but there’s enough creative room to make it entirely unique. In fact, this is the reason I was drawn to it. I’m quite the mythology buff. Well, I say “mythology buff”, I mean “avid watcher of Stargate”. This comic is in no way a History lesson either, chief. There’s more comic relief than you can shake a Mjolnir at (See? Comedy Gold!). The story is just now emerging from the “introducing the characters to us” stage. It’s now on the cusp of getting really interesting, with the plot starting to get into gear. I have only one real critique on the writing front, however. The story needs to be paced a little better. At times it slows down when what it needs is a good kick in the plotline to get things moving forward again. But pacing is something you learn with time and practice. With a little more plot planning, I can see this being a very interesting story-comic to follow.

Now onto the “drawmanship” (a word I invented myself to berate another reviewer). For the man’s first comic, it’s good. Of black, white ‘n’ grey cartoon-style, it’s not overly ambitious in terms of creativeness. But its solid, smooth lines look comfortable and the backgrounds, in addition to being well-drawn, are used to great effect. I’ll be honest, I have seen comics out there and they’re really not much more than scrawls. You would honestly think that an elderly bloke with the Parkinson’s had attempted it with their bad hand while dancing the “hoochie coo” on an oil-covered ice-rink. So by that outrageous standard, Shattered Myth is fantastical. But by a far more normal standard, Shattered Myth is par for the course. Golfing terminology aside, artwork evolves as time goes on, and I think it’ll hold true for this comic as it progresses. Check out the taster below.

All in all, I’m only going to give it 2.5 out of 5 paw-things. It has much potential, but it still needs to “find itself” as those monks what live down the street keep saying. And keep in mind that this is a first attempt at a webcomic. That stuff ain’t easy, as illustrated nicely by the first issue of Broken Plot Device. Still, as a first timer comic, it’s damn fine. There’s a lot of room for development and, with a little time and effort, it could become quite the popular niche comic, no question. Shattered Myth updates M/W/F kids, it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on to see where it’s going. That’s all from me on it. Next week, that’s right, another comic!

Peace
CT

Why do you think I write this thing?

Ah, there’s nothing like a smooth week to make things seem like they’re alright. Although, my phrase of choice this week doesn’t reflect such good tidings, I think you’ll agree that it’s pretty deep: “Sometimes you have to know that there’s no going back in order to move forward”. So kids, if you’re stuck in a rut like I was, don’t be afraid to burn bridges and get on with things. Anyway, enough “life talk”, let’s get back to what really matters: Webcomics.

A brief note of webcomics news: Artist of insightfully delightful comic Bellen!, BoxBrown is releasing a companion book to said comic called “Love is a Peculiar Type of Thing”. It’s only ten bucks, so if you like his stuff you might consider convincing your local “comix” store to get in a few copies. It’s good stuff, chief, and there are a few previews available on the book’s site.

And now for our regularly scheduled update. This comic, without trying to build up your hopes too soon, is one of the best I’ve read in a while. Broken Plot Device by Lis “Lizardbeth” Boriss is really something, folks. Right from the get-go it’s pretty well done. A solid art style and storyline are clear from strip numero uno and you can tell that this comic won’t disappoint. It’s already got a huge following having only started in June of 2008 and, though I really can’t remember how I found it, it seems to live in relative obscurity next to comics of equal calibre. Oh, wait, I think I found it through random clicking on twitter… Peoples, twitter is the only place to be.

BPD’s modus operandi is self-described as “geek-centric” with plenty of game, and sci-fi humour, dashed with a bit of the magics and some pair-oh-dee (that’s “parody”, chief!). The overall “theme”, you could say, is furry (but in the not-weird sense, son), with the majority of the plot centring on a group of friends and acquaintances living in the Byron Apartment block and the situations they get themselves into. Some involving ninjas, others involving a robot. The main character is Liz, a budding young webcartoonist with everything to prove and a healthy internet addiction to boot (autobiographical much?). The other characters, as mentioned, are tenants in the same building. The main three, I guess you could call them, are Maxine, Sid and Zigfried, all of them good friends with Liz. There are several other characters too, each getting a fair amount of strip time themselves (nobody’s left out, really) over the comic’s run thus far. The writing is done pretty well so the characters develop nicely as the story progresses and there’s the added bonus of the inter-character history imbuing their personas with an added sense of realism. One of the major difficulties in writing something is trying to establish a “believable” back-story for the universe they are in, and one which will hold the attention of the reader. This comic does so in such a way that is not only natural, but also subtle, so it’s not like you have to really try to understand where everything comes from in it. You’re happy to accept it all and read on contentedly.

I’ve mentioned that this comic has a good following, and I would like to think that’s the case due to the most excellent humour involved. And it is. HOWEVER! This comic also has a second gun of excellence in its artillery of awesome. It is a very well drawn comic! I have to say, I’m a fan of black and white comics, so this was very nice to come across for me. Some of the strips are coloured though, for those of you who prefer that sort of thing, but give me clean ink on paper any day of the week, son, and I’ll be happy. Y’know, unless you drew a penis or something, then I’d be less happy and more punching-you-in-the-throat-y. Lis has a pretty distinct style of drawing, and her overall comic layout doesn’t generally throw up anything out of the ordinary. It’s a straight-forward multi-panel festival of laughter for your eyes, chief!

Broken Plot Device updates Mondays and Thursdays, kids and you can follow Lis’ musings on the Twitters too. You wanna see some of the good stuff, then scroll right down past this para, son! Don’t forget to check out BoxBrown’s new book, too. When a webcomic gets going, even when it hits the paperback-mainstream we all gotta pull our weight and help each other out. Why do you think I write this thing?

Peace and chicken grease
- Coyote Trax