Ha, He Does Say 'Rack' A Lot

ATTENTION: Musings by Evan Diaz (reviewed here) is now Pajama Forest.

I’m sure you guys all know of The Rack. The webcomic set in the comic book store, Yavin IV? “That’s no moon, it’s a comic book store!” No? Well you’re clearly not a comic book junkie. I am no such thing either, so I don’t really get all the humour. You may shame me for not giving a flying figurine about D.C. or Marvel, but I know enough to know that Superman could kick the X-Men’s collective asses now that Professor X is gone. Anywho, to get back on t’Rack, The Rack recently created a spin-off webcomic about one of the characters, Lydia. Writer Kevin Church stays on to script things up, but Max Riffner now provides the art talent.

Lydia, which started on May 1st, follows the story of Lydia Park. Formerly the assistant manager of Yavin IV Comics, she now plunges haunch-deep into her new cube-jockey role as Associate Products Manager of Analytics (so sayeth the plaque) in some big corporate business thingy. So it’s kinda like Dilbert, but the characters have personalities. And it’s actually funny. There’s also some crossover with The Rack, to help the transition for the new comic. We hear mention of Lydia’s boyfriend, Billy, and we also see Abegail, both characters from said Rack. There’s also some reverse-crossover (what?) where Lydia reappears back in the The Rack. She’s a sassy lady who takes no shizzle (lip) from any hizzle (one).

Kevin Church’s writing style differs just enough from The Rack to make Lydia a different (i.e.: more bearable) and interesting read. She retains all of her character qualities, the aforementioned sass, as well as her often-biting sarcasm and sharp wit. I can’t write this without comparing Lydia to The Rack. The setting, obviously, is different. But office humour isn’t really much of a jump from the comic book store laugh-a-doodles (except now I get the punch-lines). Both are set in the work environment and Church maintains a good balance between situational and character driven storylines. He’s an imaginative man to be able to write so unambiguously about the same person and coax the funnies out as she makes this life change.
In terms of the art style changing, well, Riffner clearly has a different style to Benjamin Birdie. Birdie’s work starts off with very busy panels and with a fair bit of detail compared to Riffner. Recently, his work more of a simpler black and white style and has gotten less crowded. Riffner, who did some guest art for The Rack, uses his unique style for Lydia. Check out this sampler, son.
Riffner delivers his usual good job with the artwork. And this is where I have my only problem with the comic. His definitive, semi-minimalist, smooth, black and white style is almost exactly the same as in his other comic, Drunk Elephant (reviewed here). Personally, I was hoping for something else with Lydia, but he went with the status quo. I mean, there’s style and then there’s stale (that's a bit harsh, but I liked the phrase too much not to use it). Take Chris Jones’ (Snowflakes, Grumps) for example. He has a very distinct style, but I can’t say that all of his work is the same. Here, Lydia’s boss Ashley may as well be Kacy the bartender from Drunk Elephant. Riffner’s work is still top notch, don’t get me wrong, and he’s a fine artist (see his site here). I guess I’d just have liked to see him shake things up a little for the new comic. I’m glad that he doesn’t try to imitate The Rack though. That’s a big plus. The whole point is to have a fresh start with a new story and a clean look. If it had looked the same, I’d have been slightly upset. Spin-offs are meant to stand apart. Nobody wants another Joanie Loves Chachi on their hands.

I’m giving Lydia a 3.5 out of 5. It’s a well written, well drawn piece that makes the inter-comic transition quite smoothly. Church and Riffner have a great dynamic that makes Lydia a quality comic and a pleasure to read. Updates M/W/F so get a followin’, kids.
As an addendum, I’d like to thank everybody who checked out Star Trax. Hits are better than I expected. Seriously, you guys rock. Updates Monday and Thursday. (Pssst - the sketchblog updates today!)

Peace
Coyote Trax

It's a-Musing(s).

So, finals are going… Um… Well, they’re going. Comics are getting harder and harder to keep up with every day, I tell you! I need some sort of filing system to keep track of all these. If only there was some way that I could create a specific folder, that I could somehow save onto my computo-tron, in which I could put the web addresses of my favourite comics. But alas, to my knowledge, such technology does not exist. Don’t forget kids, you can send in more of your webcomic and non-webcomic related questions/comments/queries to me at coyotetrax@hotmail.com for the up-and-coming "special update" crudely termed “You Say It, We Spray It”. No question goes unanswered. Except questions concerning the nature of life, those even I cannot answer on the interwebs. “You Say It, We Spray It” is in lieu of a ‘real’ update next week (Friday), go get ‘em in. And thanks to those who’ve already e-mailed their questions!

Anyway, here’s a comic that I like to read. Because I am a girl. Candi by Starline Hodge is possibly one of the best (and sadly, underrated) comics out there. Yeah, I guess it’s a “chick” webcomic, but son, the artwork has a nice familiar feel, the characters are believable and the story just sucks you in. On top of all this, it can be damn funny. That’s like, every box ticked, Benny! It follows the story of struggling art student Candi, her friends and their college escapades and love lives. For some reason, I can’t get enough of it. Check it out.

Now today’s comic can be described in many words and 'nipple-less flatulant tush mittens' aren't any of them. Yes, Musings is the fantastical new comic by Evan Diaz. This one also started on my birthday, that’s pretty freaky. I now pronounce March 9th to be “New Webcomic and Give Trax a Gift Day”. You may kiss the bride. Musings isn’t a story comic per se, but there are short story arcs. For a humour based strip, this comic puts others to shame. I’ve laughed myself senseless at it on more than six separate occasions. Also, there’s some hilariously insightful (read: unsightful) guff. Hence the name “musings”. Recently the characters have been formalized (note: NOT ‘formulized’, that’s different, guy). Here’s a run down.
August: A pretty normal guy with a pretty unusual name. He plays the role of the cartoonist’s representation of himself.
Ed: He’s a nut short of a ballsack. (Alternative metaphor if kids are reading this: A few cards short of a deck. In retrospect, I should have put that first). He's random, skewed, lewd, and probably the real ladies' man. Look at his eyes! Sooo cuuuute! Has a pet coat named Petie.
Iris: One letter short of an alcoholic (Iris - Irish? Geddit? Ah you wouldn’t know funny if it bit you in the hind-quarters). She plays the role of the author’s significant other (read: owner).
There are other minor characters that we’ve only just been introduced to, or will soon be introduced. So we’ll leave those guys out for the moment.

So what are we dealing with here with Musings? At first, I thought it was going to be a bit of another xkcd-styled draw-a-thon. And for the first couple, it kinda is. It’s all dizzy metaphor and stick figures. But the writing progresses significantly, developing a couple of characters and a bit of a story to go along with it. Up until a couple of months ago, it was mostly random strips. Not all of his early stuff was glitter and bran-flakes, let me tell you! There were undertones of that dreaded four letter word. Should I say it again? Are we passed the watershed? Ok, undertones of xkcd. Man, I like xkcd, I really do! But I’m not very fond of most xkcd-alikes, whether they meant to be like it or not. Anyway, despite a couple of these strips, there is possibly the most randomly hilarious stuff I’ve ever read in a comic since the Perry Bible Fellowship… Remember when it was good? (and updated, for that matter?) Ah good times. But Mr Diaz’s imagination has got to be more overactive than Marty Feldman’s thyroid (It's alright, I can make that joke. I'm a biologist).

Artwork time again, folks. Remember how I mentioned overtones of xkcd? Yeah, that extends quietly into the artwork too for some of the early strips. It progresses pretty quickly onto less-stick-figure-like guff, and then again recently with the new main character designs. I’m pretty impressed with it. I find it kinda cutesy, especially in the eyes. Damn their eyes! But lately the artwork has gotten very good and suits the humour style right down to the ground. Me likee very much. And the facial expressions, what I love the most, are fantastically done. Here’s a taster of the art style used now.

So in conclusion.





I love doing that. Randomly saying “So in conclusion.” Confuses people to no end. Good stuff. Anyway, this bad boy is getting 4 out of 5 paw things.

I’ll be following it every Monday to Friday, and so should you. If you like random, throat-hoarsingly good funsies, or just a cutesy comic that will make you smile as you contemplate the fruitlessness of your existence, Musings is for you.
And don’t forget that "You Say It, We Spray It" is next Friday, so keep mailin' your questions. Ask anything you want! Voice your thoughts on the webs. Not THOSE thoughts, chief, this is rated PG16... Doesn’t exist, huh? I’ll give you existence *shakes fist*... I’m so very tired. Oh, and I should have a little surprise for y'all as well that day. Depends on the amount of sorrows I'll need to drown after the finals.

Peace and chicken grease
Coyote Trax