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If you play with matches, you just might get burned...
 (From Flipside. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
Flipside is another of my old favorites, and one that definitely deserves to be read. I started back several years ago, when the story was about Maytag (a female Jester who is much more daring and assertive when in costume) and her friend/partner, Bernadette (who was a very talented swordswoman, who only fought defensively and never to intentionally slay her opponent). It was an interesting mixture of fantasy and modern-world atmosphere (it was... contemporary, I suppose. Not 20th Century technology or the like. Just... the feel of the world).
Half a year ago, Brion Foulke ended the first Flipside storyline and started over. We've not seen a sign of Bernadette yet, though I'm sure she'll appear soon enough. For a while, the previous Flipside comics weren't easily found, but Brion did restore them as "Book 0"... and like Faith Erin Hicks, does not like his earlier work (he considers it a bit "rough"). *wry chuckle* I half-expected him to redraw elements of "Book 0" like Faith did for Demonology 101.
(The interesting thing is... I found Demonology 101 thanks to Flipside. I suppose that's part of the reason I find similarities between the two.)
The pacing of Flipside is fairly slow. While it updates on a MWF schedule (with full-page strips), Brion takes time to build the story and will often allow just the artwork to tell the story, rather than the dialog. Also, as a long-time fan of Flipside, I was not exactly happy to be focusing so much on Crest (the focal-point of the current Flipside storyline). I was curious as to what Maytag or Bern were up to. Fortunately, Maytag at least has a tendency to appear where you least expect her to. Now if only Bern would show up....
Anyway, you can start at the beginning of the current storyline without much trouble, or head to the beginning of "Book 0" and catch Maytag and Bern as their adventures begin.
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- They've got him Lock, Schlock, and Barrel...
 (From Schlock Mercenary. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
Howard Tayler seems on top of his game right now. His comic has moved from the Keenspot umbrella (and he's got an advertising plan with GoogleAds that promises him more profits than he had with Keenspot), his readership is probably the highest it's been (I'm assuming this point, but it would make sense), and a storyline that borders the edge between genius and insanity.
It's this third part that draws me in. As other comics stretch past the five years mark, they often seem to stumble. Sluggy Freelance has succumbed on more than one occasion with the doldrums of "where do I go from here-itis" (or as my roommate said, "I've written myself into a corner, what do I do? I know, have Kiki poop in it!") and CRfH suffered from a storyline that went on (a year) too long. Melonpool has had month-long hiatuses (and ended for a period of time - fortunately the writing bug caught Steve Troop and throttled him until he restarted the comic).
The current storyline did start (in effect) last October, and some people might claim that Howard is "jumping the shark" (to borrow a Websnark phrase). I don't see this at all. Instead, Howard is pursuing (and successfully catching, gutting, skinning, tanning, and mounting the head (on the wall) of) a high fantasy/sci-fi storyline. I mean, we have time travel to go back and save the entire galaxy... and while we're at it save the life of Captain Tagon.
And it's how Howard is pursuing this storyline that works so well. Back before I quit reading Sluggy, Pete had a sequence of strips where the gang was threatened with losing their home and one day would have a solution and the next wouldn't... and it just didn't work for me. I don't know if I was just coming down from a powerful storyline (That Which Redeems) and couldn't stand the inanity of what was happening next... or what. On the surface you see something similar with Schlock Mercenary.
Think of it: In order to save the universe, Captain Kevyn Andreyasn went back in time. Because he didn't search for stowaways, Schlock stowed away... and threw off the weight of the ship, and they missed Tagon by three hours. Three hours. And his next idea of just waiting until events caught up and going through the Andromeda Gate again fell apart with the Gate. On the surface, it sounds the same as what went on with Sluggy.
So what's the difference?
Timing. Pete tried to do an entire sequence of "save!" "not saved!" in one week. He yanked fans around on several levels. (It was the shifting of venue right at the crux of the gang being "saved" one last time that broke the camel's back.) It was too much too fast with no real building of the story (and to be honest, a broken premise). Howard has taken time... had several days where you truly think that Captain Andreyasn is going to leave Tagon to his fate... and then tosses in a massive monkey wrench, letting Commander Andreyasn come up with a way to save Tagon and following it instead of the ongoing plot to save the galaxy.
Howard Taylor has had an ongoing storyline: save the galaxy. We have hints of something big going down at the galactic core, stuff that Petey needs future Kevyn to work on. And instead of focusing on that ongoing storyline, we go off on this tangent of trying to save Tagon.
And it's working. I've been enjoying this side-story. I suspect that past-Kevyn is probably going to die saving his friend... I even wonder if Tagon will be saved or not... and yet I'm not annoyed at not knowing what's going on with saving the galaxy. I mean, literally, Howard has taken the car that is Schlock Mercenary and stomped on the brakes, fishtailed the car and then taken off at a 90 degree angle from the main plot. And it's working!
Howard Tayler? You get a nromlicious homemade oatmeal cookie. (I need to get more; I'm just about out...)
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- God's a cute young girl!
 (From Acid Reflux Comic. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
Man, it's been a while. I'm not exactly sure when I started reading Acid Reflux, but it didn't last long enough. Basically it was a comic about God. And God is a young girl, being given her own universe to take care of on her 5th millenia birthday. It's a hand-me-down of her big sister, who let the universe go to pot when it got "icky".
Did I mention she's currently trapped in the hand-me-down universe without an instruction manual or an idea of how to get out?
Acid Reflux is a delightful mixture of whimsy and world-building, with God slowly working to build up a worshipping base, recover the various parts of the owner's manual, and day-to-day living in a world where only a few people can actually see her. Oh, and also having to deal with occasional statues to her sister still standing around (let's just say that God's sister is... a bit busty. While God herself looks to be 6 or 7. And quite adorable!)
So, why am I tangenting this strip? Well... it was a long-time favorite of mine. Yes, it ended on a little bit of a cliffhanger (nothing severe, more a character segment), but it's still worth reading. And who knows... maybe if enough people read this comic and ask Emily to start up again, she'll restart her comic.
Or at the very least start working on something new.
Acid Reflux has a nice mixture of characters and storyline, and is an amusing read. Yes, it ended entirely too soon (after 2 years)... but at least everyone is pretty much safe and sound where it ends... and it has a simple clean artstyle that just flows so well (and makes God look just adorable - if I met her, I'd give her a hug and some ice cream).
So start reading at the beginning... before you know it you'll be at the end. It's definitely worth reading.
Robert A. Howard
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