Boxes o' Foxes

As the longest week of my life draws to a close, things are shaping up to be pretty similar next week. In that regard, I regretfully have to inform you that there will be no Wednesday updates anymore. Oh, it was always a pipe dream, I could never keep up! That and we’re tearing through comics at a fierce rate these days, aren’t we? So from now on, let’s keep it simple. One comic, one update, one week. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Anywho, onwards and upwards with the review! I’ve alluded to reviewing this comic in the past, but now, John Connor, it is time!

Housepets! by Rick Griffin was cyberspace-worthy in June of ’08. This is not his first comic though, no. His first comic was In the New Age over on comicgenesis, his unique style still shining through. You can see the differences between In the New Age and Housepets! pretty easily. As you’ll see on the site, he’s been working on Housepets! for a while, developing his artistic talents to suit the characters (the great many there are), as well as working on the setting and the characters' personas for quite a long time beforehand. [Editor's Note: Rick tells me this was while he was waiting to get a tablet PC, but where some people would sit with their thumb up their ass doing nothing, he actually planned a fair bit. Good for you, Ricky!]. And by golly, it sure paid off! Wow, where do you begin with something this good? This comic ticks all the boxes that constitute a solid, funny, story-based strip. This is newspaper worthy. And not some cheap tabloid rag that’s used to wrap fish, no sir! But the fancy newspapers, that are read by the middle-class gentleman with a fountain-pen in one hand and a beer in the other. Housepets! primarily follows the tale of Grape and Peanut, the pet cat and dog (respectively) of the Sandwich family, as well as the various intertwining stories of the other pets in the neighbourhood. It’s like a sit-com about pets! Only better, ‘cos it doesn’t suck like a sit-com about pets would! Of course, all the little pets are anthropomorphisms of the actual animal, but I doubt it’s what you’d call a “Furry” comic. Those things are strange. It’s more like VG Cats in that respect, in that they’re animals, but can talk and act like people. Though in the Housepets! universe, the pets are treated more like kids than pets… Mostly.

The writing is great. I’ve seen better, I’ll admit, but the key component here is the artwork synergising with the writing. See how I use a fancy word? But man can’t live on words alone, there’s gotta be humour. Manys a sight gag, especially in the early comics and one-offs, will have you lol-ing with the best of them. The humour is pretty PG, and is kinda reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbes at times, which is always nice to see. I’m a firm believer in not having to revert to base humour such as cussin’ and the like, though it can work well, depending on what the comic is and how it’s delivered. Housepets! doesn’t really get the opportunity for awful language anyway, and uses situational and character driven humour to great effect. Which leads me nicely onto the characters themselves! There are quite a few, we’re introduced to all of them as stories progress, though combined with the uniqueness of their design, it’s easy enough to tell them apart. As I said before, Rick has been working on this long before starting it on the interwebs. He gets the characters and their various qualities across very naturally, and their development is equally impressive.

I should mention the artwork. Again: he’s been figuring this out for a while, not just in his head, but on the sketch pad too. It visibly shows. Like I said, there are differences between his old comic and this, notably in the characters' eyes. But the quality of his drawings are consistenly good. Looking at it, you’d think that Housepets! has been going for years, and it does take years for some artists to reach that level of comfort and consistency with their work. It’s truly wonderful to behold. The things I love most about this comic are the facial expressions. They’re very well done. And because we’re dealing with little kitties and doggies, we’re dealing with intense amounts of cuteness. I haven’t seen creatures this cute since I attended the Sixth Annual Miss Cute competition sponsored by Tiny Woodland Creatures Ltd. and The Boxes o’ Foxes Fine Fuzzy Faux Foot-Warmers collection. That’s why I fell in love with this comic anyway. I can’t not like the kitties. Kitties!

This may be one of the longest reviews I’ve written in a while now! I may keep them this long if I’m only doing the Saturday updates from here on out. In the meantime, check out Housepets! It’s too good to be missed. Really. Updates M/W/F and has a cuteness count of 8.3 on the Button Scale, that means each strip is 8.3 times cuter than a button! (If you’re still using the old (outdated) LOLcat Scale, it’s about a 14).
As always, here’s a taste (courtesy of the man himself) of what you’re missing out by not clicking the linky. Clicky it.

Being all critic-like!

Right now, I’m sitting here hopelessly distraught over my thesis project (apparently my laptop won’t read .stp files no matter how many viewers or converters I try) and not to mention the project itself has been going tits-up since X-mas when somebody left a fridge unplugged, leaving my teeny tiny yeast cells at the mercy of infectious fungi. Suffice to say I’m up Shizzle Creek without a… What to rappers sport these days… Bitches ‘n’ hoes, a gaudy chalice and a boombox! So I’ve been having a pretty damn crappy week, a week whose sheer shittyness runs into the next week, like some sort of diarrhea of epic failure. Ah well, what can I do?

Here’s what I did: I went done found me a comics! Drunk Elephant Comics by Max Riffner has helped me ease the pain. Mr. Riffner is a funny man. A really funny man. Even if you don’t like his comic (which is entirely unlikely) you should read his blog. Or, if you use alcohol to escape the more adverse aspects to your life, check out some of his drink recipies! Coming from the Land of Alcohol myself, this is something I can truly appreciate. Also: drink in moderation (I think there’s a few laws indicating that I have to say that).

So, Drunk Elephant consists of 3 main characters. Join Hank (he’s an alcoholic elephant, you know) and Marty (his newfound roommate and fellow alco) on their various escapades as they drink in their favourite bar with their much-beloved (much-breasted) bartender, Kacy (she has boobs). Going since September, this comic is partially story-based, with the rest comprising one-off funnies. Drink-related humour is the key here, folks and overall the humour is crude. But the best kind of crude. Like a hot nun wearing hotpants and slathered in unrefined oil. It is THAT crude. And it is THAT good. But in no way vulgar, son. Some people hear the word “crude” in regards comics and think “six-year-olds attempts to make a funny”. Those people couldn’t be more wrong (in this case, at least). In terms of realism… Well, it’s an alcoholic elephant, son, what do you think? Drunk Elephant can be a bit randomly bizarre, but you go along with it willingly because let's face it, if you're reading a comic about an elephant that enjoys a tipple, you expect a certain amount of it.

The artwork is proper. And I mean proper. The simple black and white flowing lines reflect the styles of humour nicely (look at me being all critic-like!). It reminds me a little of bars in the '40s, back when life itself was in black and white until they invented the colour TV. There are few, if any, complications in his style. Everything is short, sweet and to the point, and yet not entirely minimalist either, which is nice. Facial expressions - good (artists take note of how he comes up with them); hands - good (always a must, they're bastards to draw); backgrounds - quasi-existent but good when they're there (like I said, few complications, and backgrounds count as a complication in my book). Reminds me of the 3 panel black and white shorts of Chainsawsuit, too. Very nice.

And so we come to the final paragraph, wherein our world-weary child of the interwebs tries to summarise something he’s been trying to write about for the last two hours… I know, it took me two hours and what I wrote isn’t even entertaining. Fortunately, what I wrote about is. Go see Drunk Elephant. It’s a little beauty of a comic, and I’ll definitely be keeping up with it every Tuesday and Thursday, that’s for sure. And, with Max’s permission, here’s a little taste of things to come. Enjoy, folks.

The Most Useless Information Kiosk of All Time

Aside from Wikipedia, of course. Evel Knievel killed by ninjas? Factual. Between work and naps, I haven’t as much time as I’d like for comics. Weep for me. The other day, I was given a link to a few comics from some “peeps” from a forum. Yes, I am hip to the interweb jive. Really, I am. Anyway, there’s nothing I like to do more than tear through the archives of a particularly good comic. And today’s comic is quite possibly one of the most effectively ingenious comics out there right now.

Blank It has a simple premise, a classic love-hate buddy comic about two guys in a strange world that is, for all intents and purposes, nothing. Well, not entirely nothing, but you have to see it for yourself. Follow Lemmo and Aric as they try to make sense of their world, find hats, catch fire and read the most unnecessary information kiosk of all time. Drawn by Lemuel "Lemmo" "Lem" "Hot Soup" Pew (of Pure Pwnage and, most recently, Grinders) and written by Aric "Woefully Under-nicknamed" McKeown (of Ashfield fame), these two are an awesome force as a comedic duo. A dynamic duo, if you will. The two main characters are clearly based on the likenesses of Lem and Aric, and presumably a comic twisting of their actual personas. Having started way back in the summer of ’08, it’s clocked up over 70 comics and its story is now well underway. But it’s not too late to catch up, if I can do it, so can you. But not just yet! Finish reading me first. Please?

I usually like to break down the comic with respect to other, more famous comics to try and put it in some sort of perspective. Also, it makes my page more popular via the Googles (I say “more popular” but I’m just clinging to the vague hope someone might find me on the searchy majigger). But here, there is no comparison; it truly has its own sights and sounds. As far as the humour goes, and it goes pretty far, it's strange, but clever, a little random, but very witty. It’s hard to strike a balance with that kind of humour, VG Cats has done it well in the past, and I have to say Blank It does it even better. This comic is so well written, you could eat your own words off of it. Fancy!
The artwork is spectacular, to say the least. It’s very detailed; a professionally drawn cartoon-style that reflects the characters sentiments perfectly. Manys a time I’ve laughed my socks off at their facial expressions alone. “Heehee, look at him fly!” I said. Ah, good times. Lem’s style is fabulous though and if you’re an admirer of webcomic art, this is a must-add for your list.

How do you summarise a comic this good? One word, son: Awesome. It’s bloody hilarious, it’s fantastically drawn and it slew me when I first read it... and again the second time. Read it now, kids, it’s a winner. Updates Monday and Thursdays, sample panels below.

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).