On Webcomicking

Yesterday I wrote up a small tongue-in-cheek article about the 3x Grind. Unfortunately, when I was using Nukees as an example, I may have inadvertently come across as insulting or condescending. That wasn't my intent or how I think of the other strips.

Back in 2001 when I created Tangents, I made multiple mistakes. I'd like to think I learned from these mistakes, and in a way I have; while I haven't started up a web comic since the comic ended, I did realize what I should do if I ever started up comicking again. Little things like creating a buffer before I started updating, or scripting out the comic for months in advance and then keep up on that script (and this includes scripting dialog - before I knew the storyline, I even knew somewhat of what happened for each strip, but not the precise dialog I'd use), and properly scheduling my drawing time. Finally, I realized that I needed to create a set panel size for the comic.

This is why I like the 3x Grind so much. Regular updating is important for the growth of a comic's art, establishing an audience, and so forth. And I look forward to Pimpette resuming her updates, for Mercury Hat to come off her vacation, Brockway to return from overseas, and so forth.

But Komiyan's comments in my Tagboard are also true, after a fashion. Making a web comic isn't about having an audience as much as telling a story. Still... we create these stories wanting to share them, wanting them to be read. Otherwise we wouldn't put them on the web.

My intent wasn't to make it sound like an exercise in ego. I just remember what I did back in 2001 and 2002, with larger strips to compensate for missed updates, and on down the line.

Also, apologies for the delay in Sunday's update. It will be up on Sunday's date but I doubt I'll have finished editing it before the mass of updates start at midnight EST. It will be up Monday morning, and there will be a regular Monday update as well.

Take care! And Happy Fourth of July.

Robert A. Howard
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Nine of out ten Kittens agree that Helen is too cute for mews!

(From Narbonic. Click on image to see full-sized image.)

Comic: Narbonic by Shaenon Garrity

(Note: Many of these links probably won't work unless you have a subscription to Modern Tales. Sorry, gang, them's the breaks. But you know, this comic is good enough it's worth the subscription fee.)

Usually when you think of mad science, you think in terms of twisted evil geniuses with gnarled henchmen and dire horrible plots that threaten helpless maidens that are the love interests of the dashing heroes. It was typical fodder for early horror movies. If the scientist wasn't evil, at the very least he was misunderstood, and his own creation often would be his undoing, harming him and his loved ones.

You definitely don't think of a cute blonde with pink glasses and a figure that's realistic rather than idealistic as the type to be a mad scientist. I mean, she might have the lab coat and the enthusiasm down pat, but she seems more sweet than twisted. And she gives "evil" an entirely new meaning. I mean, she's as evil as coffee. I mean, sure, it keeps you up late at night and if you've ever been to a Starbucks or Gloria Jeans you might be willing to sell your soul for a good latte, but you don't exactly think of coffee when you think of the great wrongs of the world.

Likewise, Helen seems more interested in gerbils and odd whims rather than ruling the world. (It would be like thinking of Tedd from El Goonish Shive as evil. Sure, Tedd likes to turn people into the other gender and sometimes he doesn't think things all the way through, but evil? Nah!) Most of her "evil" seems to be against her own henchmen (okay, Dave and sometimes Artie), and most of her evil plots seem to be more about thwarting the aspirations of other mad scientists. I don't see her as being all that evil.

Then again I'm not a government worker trying to deny her latest grant proposal or a telemarketer or traveling salesperson who stumbles across her. There may be more going on in the background that we're unaware of. Hey, it's possible... but it doesn't seem likely.

Art - Inking: 4 ribbons
Art - Backgrounds: 4 ribbons
Art - Coloring: 3 ribbons (honestly!)

As with so many other cartoonists, Shaenon's artwork has improved through the years. While there isn't the marked improvement of say College Roomies (and yes, it's been around nearly as long as CRfH!), there's also the fact that the early artwork just wasn't that bad.

Sure, Helen's gained a couple cup sizes since then and gotten far cuter, but I see that as more due to the art style evolving rather than Helen experimenting on herself. (Then again... it's Helen. For all we know, maybe she has gengineered a few... cosmetic changes.)

Shaenon has solidified her hold on what the characters look like. (Interestingly, of all the characters, I'd say that Mell has changed the least in design. Well, maybe Artie as well. I think Shaenon's gerbil design, while maybe not an entirely accurate representation of a gerbil, is perfect for Artie (and the strip).

Narbonic hasn't experimented with different styles of art; at least, Shaenon's art hasn't. She's released two books going from the start of the comic to the Island of the Ur-Gerbils, and in each book is a never-before-seen bonus story, the first drawn by her but inked by her husband Andrew Farago, and the second with art by Chris Shadoian (who was the cartoonist for Streets of NortHampton).

In addition, Shaenon has received her share of guest comics by various notables, including Maritza Campos, Andre Richard (of Jeepers), and Andrew Farago (gee, that Andrew chap seems to get around a lot, doesn't he! *grin*), among others. Still, Shaenon doesn't seem to examine other ways of drawing her comic; she's found what works and is sticking with it.

Background art for the comic varies. Narbonic will have strips with no background art at all; all we'll see are the characters and nothing behind them. This held true especially for the first year of Narbonic. However, Shaenon is gifted in drawing backgrounds and will use them in less dialog-intensive panels; it seems she primarily avoids backgrounds when they'll be unnoticed or will clutter the scene unnecessarily.

There is one Narbonic strip (the first Sunday strip) in color. (A second comic put out within the same first storyline has spot color.) However, each additional Sunday Shaenon has indulged in fan art, fan stories (I'm not exactly sure if you can call them "fanfics" per say, as I'm sure Shaenon has final say over if it's allowed or not - but she has some absolutely delightful stories being told on Sundays), alternative comic stories (including "The Astonishing Excursions of Helen Narbon & Co." which looks like it could easily take place in the Foglio's comic Girl Genius (excepting of course it predates Girl Genius by a year at least), and often Shaenon will draw the Narbonic crew introducing various fan art and the like, penciled in and detailed with colored pencil.

While the coloring isn't the beautiful shaded colors of College Roomies or Clan of the Cats, it has a simple elegance to it that I wish we'd see in regular strips from time to time. Further, Shaenon is able to emphasize mood and the like with the force of her penciled colors. She's able to do with colored pencil what other people use Adobe Photoshop to do, and that takes real skill. Not to mention it gives those strips a certain old-style elegance that is rather enjoyable.

Character Development: 4.5 ribbons
Character Chemistry: 5 ribbons

It's difficult not giving Narbonic 5 ribbons for Character Development. She's got four delightful and rich characters who have grown tremendously through the years. Sometimes this growth is subtle, as in the case of Mell Kelly. Sometimes the growth is much more visible, as with Dave. And sometimes... you're not sure what to think, like with Helen. If the comic were just about those three and Artie, then she'd definitely get 5 ribbons.

But she's also had some fairly static secondary characters, and some of these secondaries are important to the strip. While it's to be expected that not everyone grows... Helen's mom has shown no real change that I can attribute at all. She's exactly as she was when we first met her. Other secondary characters have changed and evolved... but she's static, unchanging. I don't know if she's unwilling to change or unable to change... and I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing for the comic. For now it gives Narbonic 4.5 ribbons for Character Development... but that's still damn good. Besides, perfection is a bore. *grin*

Possibly the most important character of Narbonic is Dave. (I almost feel like I'm talking about College Roomies... what is it about guys named Dave being so important? *wry grin*) The comic started with him and has often followed his adventures. What's more, we recently learned that Helen has been focusing her research on Dave; Dave is a latent mad scientist. And considering all he's done without having gone mad (including died and gone to hell), he has the makings of a pretty darned powerful one at that.

The revelation that Dave is central to the comic and to Helen herself shouldn't really come as a real surprise. There has been a meta-storyline creeping along in the background for some time, and quite a few clues from early in the comic. Whether it was the Dave Conspiracy's reaction to meeting Mell Kelly or Helen's mom having Yak-Face, a Star Wars toy of Dave's childhood, the clues have been building.

Helen herself is a tougher nut to crack (no pun intended. Honest! Please put down the gerbil inseminator...). For one thing, she's insane. While her insanity is often a gentle and benign thing, it can take some unexpected turns. Perhaps the twistiest is that Helen has fallen in love with Dave.

Oh, everyone wanted it. Everyone hoped for it. But thanks to the poor writing of Moonlighting and the shoddy acting of Dave and Maddy's characters (though that may be related to poor writing; what actor wants to be in a show where the writing is spiraling down in a tailspin?), there is a general misconception in today's society. If the main male and female characters of a series get together (and are not already married or dating at the time of the series), then the series will lose all romantic tension and will die.

The truth is that romantic tension doesn't end just because two characters hook up. In fact, it can easily increase. New stories can come about. New situations can arise. And with a year and a half left to the comic, Shaenon Garrity is showing the web comicking world that the Moonlighting Myth is just that; a myth.

Still, getting back to Helen, I suppose one thing that helps define Helen is her sense of adventure. She loves having adventures, whether it's sending her henchmen to the Moon to overthrow Professor Madblood or hitting the local bar to relax. Indeed, she'll try quite a few of her experiments, no matter how bizarre, just because.

Mell, on the other hand, has a whimsical destructive nature that outwardly hasn't changed. Indeed, in private and around Dave and Helen, she is plain old Mell, willing and able to destroy as much stuff around her as possible. However, Mell has discovered that she can get further in life through deception (ie, she acts nice to people to further her political aspirations). What's more, she cares a bit for Artie. As a friend, naturally.

Artie rounds out the cast, and while he may be diminutive of form, he's definitely not diminutive of intelligence, innocent curiosity, and let's face it, ego. He's responsible for the formula that helps transform genders. He also unleashed super-intelligent gerbils on the lab, which resulted in the deaths of most of the gerbils and the demise of Sir Pounce, whom rumor claims was actually a representative of the Kitten Collective and who is currently in Hell. Thus only nine out of ten kittens agree that Helen is too cute for mews. The last 10% of the Collective is busy planning the invasion of Hell to free Sir Pounce from servitude.

What? You didn't expect me to not mention the Site Mascots, did you? *grin*

Anyway, tangents aside, Artie is the closest thing this group has to a conscience or moral compass. He was the one who spoke last words for Dave upon his funeral (he got better). He's the one whom the Demons of Hell could not claim when going after Caliban. Indeed, Artie is the good genius.

In many ways, the Narbonic crew is family. Helen is in many ways Mell's mentor. I hesitate at saying she's a mother figure, but she's definitely in the big sister territory. Artie and Mell, on the other hand, are very much the siblings. Recent developments have expanded upon this a bit, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of this in the future, especially as Dave and Helen explore their own physical and emotional relationship. Indeed, this may drive a wedge between Helen and Mell, and create other interpersonal conflicts between Mell and Dave.

Basically things are rather touch-and-go at the moment. Shaenon is pulling all of her loose story ends together and building toward something big. This will naturally create conflicts among the Narbonic crew... and how these four have grown, and how much they care for each other will truly be what determines if they succeed or if they succumb to a darker destiny.

Story Continuity: 5 ribbons
Story Type:Comedic, Storyline, possible Epic
Story Style:Mad Science, Sci-Fi, Adventure

I suspect that Shaenon Garrity has long known what she was going to do with Narbonic. I don't know how much of the comic was mapped out at the time, or if she preplanned every little iota (though I doubt it, I've seen some of her scrapped story arcs which suggests that while the meta-story is planned out, the details are constantly shifting and changing).

Mell and Dave actually predate Narbonic. Indeed, there are college strips that could almost be considered a prequel to Narbonic (except of course for the fact that Mell Kelly is in those strips but Dave doesn't know Mell when he goes in for the interview for a job at Narbonic Labs. That said, those college strips don't have much bearing as to the meta-story of Narbonic, except to flesh out the character of Dave a bit beforehand.

Still, Story Continuity deserves 5 ribbons when you have little details from four and five years ago showing up now, as the story approaches its culmination. At the very beginning we had Dave working on a Doomsday Machine. And getting it working, at that. Back in 2002, we learned Dave made a Death Ray out of junk. And then... we find out all of this is so Helen can save Dave from his curse, the same curse Helen has, the Mad Scientist gene.

(Really, when you think of it, this would so fit in with a crossover with Phil Foglio's Girl Genius. They synch so well it's scary. And when you consider the gift of the Spark... and the genetic "gift" of Mad Science... it seems like a marriage made in Hell, with Caliban the unholy minister marrying the two. Or maybe I'm just being crazy. Maybe. *laughter*)

Further, things are coming to a boil. It seems more than likely that Dave is going to go insane, and probably in the next year. Perhaps Helen and Dave break up, and that causes him to snap... or Mell reveals the truth to Dave (or even Artie!). But for there to be a big climax to Narbonic almost insists that Dave be unleashed, in all of his terrible glory. His Dark Destiny awaits him.

I wonder though, who will save Dave. Will it be Helen, who loves him so much she's willing to find a cure that could very well drive her sane? Or will Artie manage to break through to the man underneath the madness? Or will it be the strangest of all saviors... with Mell Kelly reaching out to one who's been a foil and a bother for so long... but is still a dear friend.

But then, maybe Dave won't go mad. Perhaps the final culmination will be to protect Dave's sanity. Dave won't be the great nemesis that the story spirals around, but instead the focus of protection from some outside threat. Or it may be some other story or plot. I'm not sure, but it will definitely be a wild ride.

Rating: PG (The kittens are as interested in the comic as their yarn balls. Cute cuddly kittens that seem to be stealing some of that intelligence serum...)

Narbonic is rated PG. Swears tend to be censored with #%(&@s, nudity is covered up or hidden, and the sexual situations aren't enough to (in my mind) shift the comic to a PG13 rating. I don't think we've ever seen someone die a horrid, gory death (though a couple have gone to hell) and really, it wouldn't fit the comedic nature of the comic. The Kittens don't mind (except for Sir Pounce! *sob*...) so I doubt you will.

Punctuality: Monday through Saturday with a variety of content for Sundays, ranging from fan art to fan fiction, fan comics, haikus (those are fun!), and whatever Shaenon has on her mind.

I don't recall if Narbonic has missed any updates. It has gone on vacation and had guest comics up in its stead (and some of those guest comics have been rather fascinating, I'll admit). But I suspect Shaenon has some level of buffer built up for conventions and illness. Sundays I suspect are less solid, and we've seen instances where writer's block might have contributed to what she put up. It doesn't really matter though, as I enjoy contributing when she puts out a request for pictures or haikus or whatever else she wants to share in future Sundays.

Overall: 4.5 ribbons

I think the one thing I regret most about Narbonic is that it's ending in a year and a half. I've fallen in love with these characters, and I love reading about them. There are also plenty of stories that could be told. But I also understand why Shaenon might want to end the story. Better to end at the top of her game rather than when things have faltered and gone on too long.

Still, Narbonic is a superbly written and beautifully drawn comic. It draws in readers even though it's a subscription-based comic (in some ways I suspect Narbonic is one of the cornerstones of Modern Tales. I started reading MT because of No Stereotypes (which has since left MT) and Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan, but Narbonic made me glad I'd subscribed. I was getting my money's worth (I'd already read the archives to RoCR and NS, so subscribing was partly to show my support for two cartoonists I respect and partly insurance in case I missed a day). And I was also helping support another cartoonist, and a damn good one at that.

That's not to say Narbonic doesn't have its flaws. For instance, we have Artie's mortality. Artie is growing old. I look at that and I shake my head in disbelief. Helen's putting a chemical in the coffee that is retarding the aging process (if I am correct, it's the same enzyme that gives cancer its "immortality" though it doesn't cause cancer in and of itself). Also, Helen engineered Artie so that he had some human genetics. It allows him to accept the super intelligence serum without going insane. But why stop there? Why not tinker a little so that Artie would live a lot longer. Maybe not a hundred years... but 10? 20?

Of course, maybe Artie does have an extended lifespan, and he just is unaware of it. There were hints that Dave himself killed Artie or did something to keep Artie from having his life extended in the future. Future Helen (in a tank) all but stated Dave was responsible for Artie's death.

Still, as flaws go, they're minor. Shaenon has managed to balance her drama with levity. Even at its darkest, Narbonic will bring a smile to my face, and it seldom stays serious for long.

And when you look at it, that's pretty good for a story. If it makes you smile, if you enjoy it, then it's worth reading. And Narbonic is more than worth reading. It's a must read.

Just remember to e-mail Shaenon Garrity and insist that Sir Pounce be freed from Hell! For no Kitten, no matter how evil, should be in hell. Besides, do we really want the demons of Hell all tied up in ribbons when the Kitten Collective goes on their rescue mission?

Robert A. Howard
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