Hey there cats and kittens, it is Valentine’s Day once more. That’s right, and the initials “V.D.” are no coincidence, let me tell you. As a special “V-Day” thang, here’s a selection from some of my favourite comics’ take on the Valentine’s that I’ve come across.
If you’ve seen other great V-Day-themed comics that I didn’t mention, post them in the comments thingy at the bottom. Go on, don’t be shy. I'll even thank you personally, I guarantee!*
Friday’s xkcd went with a spectacular Sierpiński Triangle filled with red hearts and Valentine wishes. It’s so good; I threw up in my hamper.
Ctrl+Alt+Del has, of course, focused on Lilah, Ethan and their upcoming “official” wedding. We all pray Mr. Buckley won’t write in a suicide or something on the day to mar the festivities. I wouldn’t put it past him, would you?
Housepets, by Rick Griffin (something I hope to write more on in the near future) has treated us to Valentine’s cards featuring various characters from the comic with witty little sayings. It’s not only cute, but also sarky. Don’t know what “sarky” means? Read his cards.
Gene’s Journal by David Reddick has done a couple of Valentines comics this week featuring the young Gene Roddenberry and his two alien “friends”. So if you’re a Trekkie/Trekker/Virgin go check it out.
Rock, Paper, Cynic (the very first comic reviewed right here!) is celebrating Valentines in a most unexpected way. Nah, I’m just kiddin’. It’s burning cynicism that will torch thy very soul, perfect for all of you spurned by Love’s cruel spurn-wrench.
Artist BoxBrown’s comic Bellen! has a… Um… Well, I can’t even tell if it’s a Valentine’s Day thing or not. If you’ve ever read it, you know what I mean. But it’s a nice, romantic comic on this pre-Valentine’s Day, also known as Friday the Thirteenth (!) in some circles. My circle. I’m dizzy.
Observational surrealist comic-guy Zach Weiner over at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal has given us a heart-warming Valentine’s tale of a couple rediscovering their love, amongst other things.
Oooh! Also! For all you sci-fi comic fans, there’s a colour special page over at Galaxion by Tara Tallan. It be Fusella’s birthday o’er there too, so singles are welcome. If they bring cake.
And now for the conspiracy mumblings.
I think it’s always important to bear in mind that Valentine’s Day is essentially a made up day. Yes. Hallmark and the bastions of the Chocolate Industry have conspired together to throw off our calendars by making an extra holiday for them to mooch off of. Before they arrived on the scene, there were only 362 days in the year. The remaining three days being comprised of the holidays invented by the Hallmark-Chocolate Alliance (with subsidies from the Florists Union): Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and, of course, Valentine’s Day. If they hadn’t invented this so-called holiday, we would never have had things like Valentine’s Day Massacre and Love Hearts, the chalky scourge of the corner-shop.
In summary, I’m a bitter, bitter man.
*not a guarantee
Showing posts with label comic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comic. Show all posts
Saturday 14 February 2009
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Surl's World
Did you know I take requests? Well, I do. Like some aging hippie musician, whose songs people have long forgotten, I play up to the audiences desires in order to feel loved. That and it’s the easiest way for me to know who’s new to the interweb scene. As such, I always welcome requests. Another point (technically you don’t have to read this paragraph, it’s usually nonsensical musings) is that webcomics come in all forms. They really do. And everyone has certain preferences. I like to think I have a wide taste, but that’s a lie. I don’t. But I do have to review comics that I find unfunny. Thankfully, today isn’t one of those days.
Today’s review is of Luke Surl’s untitled comic which, as you may have gathered already, has no name. You clever fellow. As I began reading this comic I recalled some of the major greats of observational comic humour. In Surl’s case, we are looking at major cacophony of semi-surreal observational humour styled as the likes of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, The Book of Biff and The Perry Bible Fellowship. If you like any one of those, you’re guaranteed a laugh from Surl’s World (That’s what I’m calling his comic now, mostly for ease of typing. I'm lazy like that).
It started way back in July of last year, way back when “recession” was a word heard, but never seen. The first few months are pretty hit and miss when it comes to hilarity, and the ones that are genuinely funnysome, are sometimes overwhelmed visually by the mediocre illustration. At the beginning, the artwork is a tad on the bad side of generic and the strips that weren’t up to his usual standard left me a little bemused. I saw the joke, I got the joke, but I didn’t laugh. Maybe my laughter valve was acting up again. More likely, the jokes were just poorly executed, a commonality shared among many beginning webcomics. It’s like there are just too many punchlines and sight gags floating around the creators mind and it shows that they don’t know what to do with them all, so ending up using some at the same time. As such, their delivery gets a little diluted.
Fear not, young Luke, for the Force is with you! Fast forward about six months and visible changes are pretty apparent in Surl’s World. In a nutshell, it gets funnier. The jokes are better executed. Heck, the jokes are just plain better. Why? I think, it’s because they’re more original and come across more naturally. It’s still observational humour, but it’s more original. It took a while, but this comic is slowly coming into its own. Bask in it, Luke! Bathe that comic in the unique glow of your own voice! Use the Force! The echoes of comics like Perry Bible Fellowship and SMBC are still there, but only insofar as similar styled witticisms being delivered. It’s nice to have a fresh perspective to such a fundamentally humorous observational style.
From an artistic point of view, as I said already, it starts off pretty crude and generic, but is quickly working its way up to a cleaner, more unique style. As of now, it’s decent, but not spectacular. Granted, the art style doesn’t carry a lot of weight in comics where the humour is clearly text-based, though it does help to carry off the joke. Bad art can, however, take away from a joke, even if said art is irrelevant. For example, the minimalist views of xkcd versus the signature simplistic styles of SMBC. Neither of them complicated, and both have a similar modus operandi.
I do suggest checking out Luke Surl’s comic. It’s good for a laugh or three, and there are many, many little gems throughout. Here’s a little taster so you can see for yourself. It updates M/W/F and I swear it is getting better by the day.
Today’s review is of Luke Surl’s untitled comic which, as you may have gathered already, has no name. You clever fellow. As I began reading this comic I recalled some of the major greats of observational comic humour. In Surl’s case, we are looking at major cacophony of semi-surreal observational humour styled as the likes of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, The Book of Biff and The Perry Bible Fellowship. If you like any one of those, you’re guaranteed a laugh from Surl’s World (That’s what I’m calling his comic now, mostly for ease of typing. I'm lazy like that).
It started way back in July of last year, way back when “recession” was a word heard, but never seen. The first few months are pretty hit and miss when it comes to hilarity, and the ones that are genuinely funnysome, are sometimes overwhelmed visually by the mediocre illustration. At the beginning, the artwork is a tad on the bad side of generic and the strips that weren’t up to his usual standard left me a little bemused. I saw the joke, I got the joke, but I didn’t laugh. Maybe my laughter valve was acting up again. More likely, the jokes were just poorly executed, a commonality shared among many beginning webcomics. It’s like there are just too many punchlines and sight gags floating around the creators mind and it shows that they don’t know what to do with them all, so ending up using some at the same time. As such, their delivery gets a little diluted.
Fear not, young Luke, for the Force is with you! Fast forward about six months and visible changes are pretty apparent in Surl’s World. In a nutshell, it gets funnier. The jokes are better executed. Heck, the jokes are just plain better. Why? I think, it’s because they’re more original and come across more naturally. It’s still observational humour, but it’s more original. It took a while, but this comic is slowly coming into its own. Bask in it, Luke! Bathe that comic in the unique glow of your own voice! Use the Force! The echoes of comics like Perry Bible Fellowship and SMBC are still there, but only insofar as similar styled witticisms being delivered. It’s nice to have a fresh perspective to such a fundamentally humorous observational style.
From an artistic point of view, as I said already, it starts off pretty crude and generic, but is quickly working its way up to a cleaner, more unique style. As of now, it’s decent, but not spectacular. Granted, the art style doesn’t carry a lot of weight in comics where the humour is clearly text-based, though it does help to carry off the joke. Bad art can, however, take away from a joke, even if said art is irrelevant. For example, the minimalist views of xkcd versus the signature simplistic styles of SMBC. Neither of them complicated, and both have a similar modus operandi.
I do suggest checking out Luke Surl’s comic. It’s good for a laugh or three, and there are many, many little gems throughout. Here’s a little taster so you can see for yourself. It updates M/W/F and I swear it is getting better by the day.
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