|
Repairs still ongoing...
Just a heads up, I'll be working on the car again today so the second review won't be up (if I have time to write it up) until late today. Currently it looks to be a ball bearing or CV Joint. *sigh* To think I'm doing this instead of working on research papers and the like.
BTW, initial work on the site has begun (as you can no doubt tell). There are currently Review Archives available at the end of April and May (June will happen when June ends *grin*).
In addition, I've narrowed the borders a bit (due to some complaints on too much text) and plan on putting navigation buttons on the side (and keep some on the bottom). Also, I am looking for the font type of the title logo (I've lost track of what it was), so if anyone knows what it is, please let me know on the Tag board. Enjoy!
Addendum: Car repairs are on hold while we order parts. Needless to say, I was able to get a second review up. Hope you enjoy it!
Robert A. Howard
-------------------------
Black before it was cool!
 (From Gossamer Commons. Click on image to see full-sized image. Warning, dialog may cause laughter, giggling, or rolling of eyes. Viewer caution is laughed at.)
Well, here I am, tied to my chair and forced at tiny spear-point to write up how wonderful Gossamer Commons is. Little tykes insist or they say they'll mark me to death. *eyes the local fae population*
I've been enjoying GC lately. The revelation that Keith is marked for death just for accidentally seeing a young fae entangled on a grate is most unfair. But that's life for you. We often hear that you get what you've got coming to you, that bad people suffer for their actions, but we see the opposite more often than not. The rich unscrupulous bastards appear to get off scott free, and the little people succumb, time and time again, to disease, accident, murder, whatever. Things just seem so unbalanced at times, and Keith's fate suggests once again that fate is fickle and perhaps on the take.
Malachite has proven to be one of the most diverse and amusing characters, even if it's his unfortunate job to kill Keith. He even admits that it's unfair that Keith has to die because Garrison lets his daughter Sonata roam around unattended. (I am most amused at the concept of duct-taping the young lass to a desk until she's older. But I won't bore you with details as to why.)
One of the nice things about this comic, which uses stark representations of black and white in a truly artistic measure (so many people use greyscale or color and make it look so damn spectacular that when someone jumps the curve and does something like this, it stands out). It isn't even just ordinary black and white lines, but a deliberate act of shading with black and white to become something that stands out.
It matches the storyline. This could easily have devolved into a talking head comic. But we have frequent shifts of perspective, deliberate changes of angle, and more. The art deliberately takes a step away from "talking heads" (which can work, and can work quite well) and into a field of difficulty that has to be applauded.
And while the dialog may be a bit much (why hasn't Trudy shown up yet? Just how many stairs does that boy have? Or is Trudy currently dancing on Keith's steps? *wry grin*) it is truly hilarious (especially that little dig that feels like it's aimed at Questionable Content - Indy music sounding like shit when it hits the mainstream. Heh) and gives us another glance into the head of this truly unique character.
So go. Definitely read it. Because it's more than worth the price of admission (well, not that you have to pay, but you know what I mean!)
Addendum: Eric just revealed in the Tag board Trudy's in the shower (which I suppose also explains the singing...) and I suppose Trudy just went right to the bathroom and shower rather than chat with the nice man Keith is talking to. Oh, and hi, Eric! :)
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- They're blue.
 (From Anywhere But Here. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
Jason Seibels was surprised at my review last week. Or rather... he was surprised to get such a positive review at that point of the story. Things were coming to a boil in the comic, and a major plotline was just starting up. (He thought that reviews would come up after today's strip. Which I suppose they are. Now.) In fact, this week he posted vague warnings that the strip was going to edge into the R-rated stuff, but not to NC17. And the big thing he was warning about was swearing.
Specifically the F-word. Several times.
Up until now, Jason had a rather amusing little way of dealing with cursing. Instead of the usual little #(%&s made so popular in newspaper strips, or having the first letter and then underlines afterward, or even typing in the word "bleep" (which, btw, is one of my favorite curse words. You have to see the expression on someone's face when you go "oh bleep" or tell them to "Go bleep yourself" *grin*), he blacks out the curse entirely.
In a way, this emphasizes the swear further than typing it out, but it's also an amusing way of dealing with swears. It's like the government got a hold of the strip before us and is protecting us from evil and corrupting swears. *grin*
Which led us to Tuesday's strip with Chris being so upset at not being taken up on her offer of sex (again) that she swears loud enough to overwhelm those little black boxes. (I can just imagine a little black box huddled in the corner of the comic shivering in fright. It's going "oh dear, Big Brother is going to be sooo upset at me... if they hadn't cut our budget then I could have gotten a dozen of my brethren together to help cover that up... oh dear, oh dear." (Yes, I kind of envision those black boxes sounding a bit like Piglet in Winnie the Pooh.))
Yesterday's strip was also cute, with the hero surprised that Chris thinks he can kiss. And then of course the Han Solo moment. "Scruffy?" Heh. It had to be deliberate. I mean, we just left a Star Wars movie (even if it wasn't that great of a movie, but it had plenty of scenes for Chris and our hero to make out during), Chris is dressed like Leia during the Slave Girl sequence, and she calls him "scruffy." This of course gets him to go after her.
And then today. He asks her what color his eyes are. And she doesn't know. She doesn't know what his favorite dessert is. Or his favorite musician. She doesn't know him and she's been throwing herself after him, and he's just another of the guys she's going to throw herself after and have things fall apart and wonder what's wrong with her.
He doesn't want that.
Chalk one up for the decent guys of America. He manages with a simple question to break through her anger and no doubt self-disgust and makes her realize that he is interested in more than just a quick roll in bed. He's interested in something long-term. He wants to know her. He wants her to know him. And then, if they do end up in bed... it'll be more than just a quick roll in the hay.
Jason hadn't intended on having this happen now. It wasn't supposed to happen for another year, and he thinks that a year's been cut out of the comic (it's mentioned in his blog). I don't see that actually. The rest of that year can still happen. Things can go slower between Chris and our hero (*eyes that title*... we have to come up with a nickname for him or something, calling him "our hero" all the time is getting old. Chuck? Nah... he feels more like a Mark... hey! He's on Keith's forehead (of Gossamer Commons)!) and more of that back-story can be told.
Of course, maybe I'm just resistant to the idea of an extremely cool and exciting comic ending earlier than anticipated.
And so this story ends, with a kiss on the forehead and the girl going "wow" (I'm reminded of an old (and now far enough in the archives that you have to pay to see it) 9 Chickweed Lane, in which Amos explained why he couldn't kiss Edda goodnight, for fear that he'd lose control with the passion of the moment sweeping her away... and she's left wild-eyed and dazed and walks into her home and tells her mom "Wow, Amos really knows how to kiss goodnight").
Indeed. Wow.
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- |
