A Review of Woo for You!

Hello again, faithful readers. I must begin with the bad news. Due my excessive workload and sleep deprivation, I didn’t get the chance to find and review a really obscure comic this week. That means getting in touch with the artist, asking their permission to use some of their comic in the review (for the taster, chief!) and it usually takes a day or two for them to reply. Anyway, yeah, I didn’t do that. And so! I decided to review a less obscure but no less recent comic. With any luck, I’ll get quick permission to post a picture [I got it, son! - Ed.]. If not… I don’t know… I guess I’ll draw a bad rendering of it? That’s what happens when you cross the Trax! Yeah! Wow that sounded awful once I read it back. “Just the Trax, ma’am.” I need sleep.

So, I’m gonna thank Cameron right now for suggesting the comic Sandra and Woo. If, like me, you’ve seen the advertisements and haven’t read it, then you were missing out on some good stuff! Originally, I was going to review this one in a month or so but, since I read the entire archive in one sitting, I think I’ll review it now. Sandra and Woo is about a young girl who finds and adopts a raccoon, Woo, as her pet. Fortunately for us all, Woo can talk! And he be knocking out the funnies. There are numerous other characters too: Sandra’s father; and her friends Cloud and Larisa; Woo’s friend Shadow, a fox; and Sid, a Squirrel. It’s written by Oliver Knörzer and drawn by Powree, AND it only began in October!

This comic is entirely reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbes. Mostly the writing, but some of the comics are portrayed in a similar fashion to the old Calvin and Hobbes strips, but in no way is it ripping it off. It’s all very original, and very well written. These similarities are usually intentional, an homage of sorts, to the excellence that is C&H, (not Cyanide and Happiness, that’s another thing entirely). So if you’re into Calvin and Hobbes, you will like this strip. It’s full of the witty and inspirational observations!

How can I describe the art work? Well, you can check out Powree’s DeviantArt page and make up your mind with your eyes. Or, you can just check out the comic and make up your mind with your eyes that way, son! I recommend the latter, since it kills two birds with one fantastic stone. Her work is very good, animé-cartoonish, but still retaining a sense of realism for the comic. The strip itself is done in black and white, and is done in very clean black lines. Refreshing! See to believe, chief.

A summary! Sandra and Woo is a good read if you like intelligent humour and cute fuzzy animals. So what the heck are you waiting for, Marty? Go and read it! Updates twice or thrice a week, usually Mondays and Thursdays and one other mystery day (Hint: it’s not Monday or Thursday!) Here’s your taster, guys and gals, have a good week!
Peace and chicken grease.
Coyote “Write-Me-do” Trax

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.

Satisfy your comic-buds!

Unique. This is a word I use infrequently. There’s a shopping chain here called “Unique”. Ironic, in that all the clothes-wear they have is pretty much the same. And if everyone shopped here, there’d be nothing unique about it. Which begs the age-old question: What the fuck? Anyway, today’s comic is truly unique. Not “unique like all the others” unique, but really it’s in a class of its own.
Serious Emotional Disturbances (SED) caught my attention immediately. I was hooked. It began back in February ’08, and follows the semi-autobiographical chronicle of 9 Bridges. That’s the artist’s name. A story about nine actual bridges would be pretty flimsy at best… Sure you could bring in bits about iron girders and concrete, or wood, even, if you’re into that sort of thing, you sick bastard. This comic is probably best compared to a saucy young nun/stripper that seduces obese rappers just for kicks. And by that I mean it’s so surreal, dark, hilariously bizarre and cleverly vulgar, it doesn’t fail to satisfy your comic-buds. For a primarily storyline based comic, it’s hardly a one-trick pony. Dotted with rants and other one-off escapades involving people in the author’s life, such as The Colorist, a mysterious paper-bag-masked individual, about who very little is known. Other characters include 9’s sister (who is sort-of invisible) and Chuckles, 9’s first friend in the town of Bumfuck (Seriously, read it for that alone). There are more, but character assassinations are costly. First I have to draw the assassin, then somehow get him into someone else’s comic without being caught. It’s tricky like that.
Style-wise, I have to say I’ve never seen anything like it; which is probably why I find it so compelling. I’ll always stress that a story-based comic must (MUST!) have good artwork to back it up, or the reader will pretty quickly lose interest. That’s a fact, mon ami. But SED does not disappoint. The style is individual from the start, quite detailed but still retains a simplistic, almost stick-figure-like innocence infused with what I can only describe as a face-painting style reminiscent of Native American tribes. Or maybe it just helps to tell the characters apart. What am I? An anthropologist?! Nay, I am not, and I shall do no such anthropologising. Even if you don’t find the content much to your taste, the artwork alone deserves very much merit. You have to see to believe. Recently, it seems to be finding a comfortable artistic niche and has never looked so good.
A summary you say? Alright fine. SED is surreal, unreal and at times, too real. Yes. Updates M/W/F (that’s Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays for those of you who don’t acronym like I acronym). Go see it with your eyes.

Webcomic for the Unimpressed

From time to time, when surfing the so-called ‘Internets’, browsing the old-reliable webcomics that I do, I very occasionally come across a little ad that catches my eye. “A webcomic for the unimpressed” it read! My attention was caught like a dolphin in a fishing net. I clicked. I was happy.
Rock, Paper, Cynic by Peter Chiykowski is one of those rare little gems that genuinely made me ‘lol’ out loud (as the those forum kids say nowadays). This comic had its beginnings in the margins of schoolhall notebooks. It has since shed the hurriedly-etched, back-of-the-lecture-hall environs wherein much fun was made from the gaping, flapping boredom of a tweed-coated toss-pot. Fortunately, it has lost none of the charm!
Clever and witty, it can be described easily (though insufficiently) as a cross between xkcd and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, but with far fewer math and graph jokes (for which I am eternally grateful). Artistically speaking, I can't say it's spectacular, but the content is the main focus here. Having only become web-borne on October 31st (be spooked), it’s still a fairly new comic finding its niche in a sea of… Well, a sea of everything really, that’s what the internet is. Fear not! Its voice shall sound through the din and 1337, to be heard by those who truly care. For this is no fetid carbon copy of a comic, but something neck twitchingly amusing, you'll be guffawing so hard. And that's not to mention its fanciful insights into silly putty.
Surreal, clever and, above all, cynical, this comic will provide a daily laugh and, if there truly is a god of webcomics, they will smile upon Rock, Paper, Cynic. Kids, go check it out. It’s the thing. Best of luck to them in the future. In the meantime, here's a taste of what I'm babbling on about.