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Frontstage Pass
 (From ShortPacked. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
I was a huge fan of It's Walky, even when Willis started killing everyone off. It was a story-intensive comic with an involved and multi-layered background. Or in other words, it was pretty much what I enjoy in my comics. But it finally came to an end (and I do consider it an end, despite people paying $100 a pop for new strips.
Naturally I climbed on board as soon as Shortpacked started (the 2nd incarnation, that is). But it's left a hollow feeling. I have read through all of Roomies and all of It's Walky but... this comic was such a drastic shift from his previous comics that even with the inclusion of Robin and Mike (whom I'm betting isn't a clone or even just Mike somehow having survived the Martians, but instead is Mike's evil identical twin brother who psychically knows everything Mike knew... *shiftyeyes* What?) that it just doesn't seem to flow well.
Part of the problem is that Willis is being drawn in two separate directions. On one hand are all of his fans from It's Walky, who enjoy dramatic and well-plotted storylines. On the other hand are his other friends and fans who enjoy gag-a-day strips and the like. When Willis starts focusing on one, half his fans complain. When he goes the other way, the other half complain.
And while Willis is a gifted cartoonist, he's not managed to pull off both at the same time. I'm not sure if he just hasn't tried or if the format of the cartoon keeps him from doing so... or even if he just doesn't have the mindset to do a Narbonic or Anywhere But Here. Instead, the comic keeps bouncing from story to gag and back again, and somehow it just doesn't feel right.
I know this feeling. I had it after I finished GMing a Night Below mega-campaign, which I modified to include a storyline about divine ascension and ancient prophecies and more. It was the epitome of D&D games that I have ever run... and the next couple of campaigns after that fell apart rather quickly because they just lacked the stature and background of that campaign.
This is what I feel with Shortpacked. It's being tugged in two directions and there's a feel like it should be better than It's Walky... but it won't be. Not for a while. When I first started doing the Night Below campaign it was small-scale. The mega-plots didn't arise until a year into the game, as more and more players started joining. Likewise Shortpacked is at the beginning stages... and it needs to build before it can [b]be[/b] something great. And with its two heads, story and jokes, snapping at each other, I'm not sure it will succeed in that.
If I were Willis, I'd seriously consider turning Shortpacked into a gag-a-day strip like so many of his fans seem to want. Then I'd start up a second comic, running Tuesday and Thursday, maybe Saturday as well, that would start building the background needed to create another epic comic. Both sets of fans would be satisfied... and I'd be able to indulge in both storytelling and joke-telling urges.
Still, you have to enjoy how Robin pays the price of admission to get past the guards. Though... isn't she super-fast? Why not just run by them before they notice?
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- Site Design Modifications Planned
Just an FYI, I am currently accepting suggestions as to modifying my website design and some aspects of Tangents itself. Feel free to stop by the Keenspace discussion thread or the Keenspot discussion thread to make your suggestions heard.
Small note: A monthly index of reviews is already in the works, and was before I heard the cries of people wanting such an index. *wry smile*
Enjoy!
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- He's not a Heterophobe...
 (From Girl Genius. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
If there's one problem I have with Girl Genius it's that I'm left wanting more. More strips, more updates, seven times a week! Twice a day! Three times! TIE DOWN THE FOGLIOS, MAKE THEM WORK 24/7!!! *ahem* sorry about that. Needless to say, I've been enjoying this comic ever since it made the leap to the internet.
And really, this is a superb opportunity for them. I don't know why Studio Foglio doesn't use any outside advertising on their comic pages (especially as Google Ads would probably have non-stop ads for comics by the Foglios, no doubt), but the comic stands alone as a lure to draw people in.
Nor do I know of anyone who doesn't like Girl Genius. The artwork is superb, the storyline is intricate and involved, and it is often funny even when it's being dramatic. (Really, one of the few other webcartoonists I know who has perfected that art is Shaenon Garrity of Narbonic fame.)
What's more, we care about these characters. We want Agatha to survive, to find happiness. We're curious if Giglamesh will meet her again and if his affection for her will outweigh the inevitable anger at being deceived about her supposed death. We even wonder as to what happened to DuMedd, who just recently met Othar Tryggvassen (a rather insane hero who wants to kill all Sparks - the people with the "mad scientist/creator spark" to stop the ongoing insanity caused by these individuals.
That's part of what I like about today's update. Agatha and Othar parted under... less than polite circumstances, what with her pushing him out of her airship and his shooting at her as he fell. (In fact, her being where she is now is partly his fault, for damaging her airship.) So when she recently saw Othar in the audience of the Heterodyne Play she was taking part in, she froze up. (Of course, the play must go on...) What was worse, when the play ended and they stepped out for a curtain call, there was no sign of Othar.
That didn't last long.
Othar seems to have made peace with her because of her being the daughter of one of the Heterodynes, but Agatha is left fearing for the lives of her new associates, whom she has saved twice now. After all, Othar still wants to kill all Sparks... and quite a few of the people in Master Payne's Circus of Adventure are Sparks.
Of course, maybe he knows about the Sparks in the Circus... and because they're fairly controlled they remain under his "need to kill" radar. Or maybe he's visited the Circus so often to keep tabs on them....
Anyway, the ride continues to get more and more interesting, so definitely join in now! Before the popcorn runs out!
Robert A. Howard
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