Webcomics Wednesday

by Hal Bent

Hooray! It's finally Wednesday, and we all know what that means.

Well, beyond that...

It's Webcomics Wednesday! 

Today is a special Webcomics Wednesday because not only is this a great webcomic, but the creator already follows the DCR on twitter (@theDCR if you are not following, for some bizarre reason, to get updates and send me hate-messages).  He is the Lunar Baboon, and although by  my posting blogger name is BostonSportPage.com (my "other" blog full of that boring sports stuff) and he's from Toronto, there were no scathing messages cursing me for my existance after the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in spectacular fashion--oh yeah, sorry to everyone in Chicago...it was hockey grief, and I'm sorry, your Blackhawks were the better team and deserved to win). You can stalk the site on Facebook as well (https://www.facebook.com/Lunarbaboon).

Anyway, the Lunar Baboon is (I stole this description off of Tumblr)  "a series of strips where an older man reflects on fatherhood and life. Very often these strips are very cute and sweet, but they can fall anywhere in the vast spectrum of humor, sometimes being quite morbid or downright gross." (Also, occasionally some animation in the panels).

I find it smart, funny, and always entertaining.  As the father of 10 & 11 year olds, I love the young child humor in the strip as well as the relationship laughs.  Here are a couple of great, recent examples of the strip:

FINE.

Something tells me that my lovely wife has one of these "though-storage" thingys. ;-)

GHOST!

TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2013 AT 12:15AM

This one had me laughing...so creative and funny. Love the blue ghost's expression as Pac-man comes tearing through the street towards him.

So check out the Lunar Baboon, its theDCR Webcomics Wednesday Approved!

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Webcomics Wednesday

by Hal Bent

Wednesday may have been a little off-kilter having to commute to the big city for training at the 9-to-5er today (and yesterday!), but Webcomics Wednesday always gets me in a great mood.  I am always amazed writing for the DCR and seeing the so many newspaper comics that churn out unoriginal, rehashed, outdated junk when there are so many great creators working their butts off to produce fantastic work. 

Just like last week where I shared Hyperbolic Dystopia (check it here if you missed it), it's a kick to know that a few new readers are finding some great, under-the-radar work.  I even got a shout-out and link to the DCR from the creator.  Most surprisingly, he referred to me as a "nice gentleman".  I should print the facebook post, frame it, and give it to my mother.

Of course, these creators are laboring to create art, often without pay, without a huge audience, and crammed into their nearly non-existent "free time" they do it because of inner need to create, just as mankind has done since the dawn of reason.  Those are the webcomics which draw my attention and eyeballs and I love to feature here at the Daily Comics Review on Webcomics Wednesday.  Some days, a fellow just needs to drop the snark and appreciate achievement.

THE LAST COWBOY by Zoe Coughlin
Website: http://www.thelastcowboycomic.com
About the Creator: The Last Cowboy is a bi-weekly (updated Monday and Friday) sci-fi webcomic written and drawn by Zoe Coughlin.
CHARACTERS:
Professor Adsila Bell: A human professor in space in a futuristic sci-fi world where humans are a dying race.  She was 
 recently gifted a robot, Sparky. 
Eve: A young human on a pink alien planet having escaped from a horrible laboratory of yet unknown purpose. Living on the planet with roly-polys (big--like bigger than people big--native bugs).
Luna and Laney Silva: Mom and 8 year old.  Mom is head of a robotics company, where the professor is now in her employ in space observing a pre-tech alien species (aka the prime directive --or General Order #1-- for Trekkers like me!).

STORY:
Chapter Three is kicking off this week, and the webcomic began in June 2012, so there are two  completed chapters to catch up with and be ready for the continuing adventure.  The premise revolves around humanity suffering from "Roswell Syndrome" where contact with extra-terrestrials (initiated by the Moon landing), cause every human to be infected and unable to bear children.  The population is under 500 million, while there over 30 billion aliens including "big-bug aliens", "giant bird-like dinosaur-type aliens", and fluffly dragon-like aliens, and humanity is on its way to extinction. 

I'm a sucker for sci-fi, and especially smart sci-fi.  This webcomic is well-drawn, well-paced, and the dialogue is head-and-shoulders above some of the so-called "sci-fi webcomics" I shake my head at, close the tab, and never bother with again.  These fan-boy fantasies with their zero-G boobs, cheesy pop-art, and NSFW art (and not-suitable for anyone "dialogue").  This webcomic has strong, female characters, no gratuitous fluff, and beautiful visions of planets and extra-terrestrials. 

Again, it's exciting to follow a great webcomic early on its (hopefully) long run. So enough with my babble, and onto the webcomic:

Here is the Chapter 3 "On Your Marks" cover, setup with a depiction of the alien linguist, GabeRoss:

Eve emerging on the Pink Planet:

Some Alien Overview Material (smartly done!):

and, finally, some history from class with the Professor teaching human history:

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Webcomics Wednesday

by Hal Bent 

I may be busy--I'm still mourning that one of my favorite websites (and comic book nerd site), Comics Alliance, was shut down by parent company, AOL two weeks ago--but I gotta get excited each Wednesday because I love my Webcomics Wednesday!  I get so excited about highlighting these hardworking Internet heroes, so I don't have any time to waste and need to get right to this week's fantastic find:

Hyperbolic Dystopia: by Barry J Gardner
WEBSITE: http://hyperbolicdystopia.com

I read this fairly new webcomic (it kicked off last fall) and instantly knew this webcomic "spoke to me". Maybe it was title, maybe it was the vision of the future that is over-run with watchers (seriously, privacy is such a concept of the past), maybe it was the smart dialogue and distinctive artwork, or maybe it was a bit of all of those wrapped together.  Whatever it was, I feel like I am getting in close enough to the ground floor and am eagerly awaiting to see where it goes in the future. It's fun, but serious. I like not having to deal with juvenile jokes and boobs spilling out all over the page (not that I'd complain, but some pages just go for "gratuitous" without adding to the story or fitting the characters).  From what I've read so far, it looks like a fun ride.

Main Characters: 
As the webcomic is still fairly new, I don't know all the details on all the characters yet, but  am excited to see what happens in the future.
Winston Copperhead: the man with the hammer,  but is he able to lead a revolution?
Aldous Jimenez: He has already helped Winston but what is his game? Fellow renegade? Part of authority? An inside helper? And where did he get that awesome futuristic talking koala?
Dr. Thaddeus Faust: The mad genius? The brains behind the power? Pure evil? Not sure yet.
Tod: All powerful leader of the future with a Napoleon complex along with a serious fetish as a keyhole peeper (he has cameras everywhere...I had to go there) to go along with his stature. His world is high tech for his control and low tech for the plebes. 

About the creator:  Great post by the creator on his blog here: A great example of a creator who is driven to create and not letting the realities of life get in the way by working to make it happen.

OK, again be sure to check out Hyperbolic Dystopia at: http://hyperbolicdystopia.com, and remember that it was the Daily Comics Review on Webcomics Wednesday that gave you the scoop. Enjoy!

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Webcomics Wednesday!

by Hal Bent

Welcome to Webcomics Wednesday, my favorite day of the week. Today I have a great comic that I've done my usual to--that is, I stumble across the website, then go back to the first comic online and read them all in one afternoon, which was my Sunday afternoon. So without any further delay, it's a great day for webcomics!

Snap Crackle Pop by Kit Fox

WEBSITE: http://homeofthesnap.blogspot.com

Tagline: "A comic about a girl and her monsters"

You may already know her work from: http://elephantblue.deviantart.com/

About the Webcomic: Kit Fox created Snap Crackle Pop as (and I quote) "my comic is a semi-autobiographical bit of nonsense, adding dragons, demons, giant spiders and various monsters to the tasks of everyday life."

Seriously, that is a tough combo to beat.  Add in Mordak the Cactus (cacti?) and his dim-witted brother, Randall; boyfriend, Adam; Morgan, the buff demon Lord of Hell; Bacon, the Flying Pig; and, of course, my personal favorite: Finn the Dragon. 

Finn and Bacon are demons sent to corrupt Kit, but are really just kind of lovable, nice-guy demons, so Morgan is sent to handle the job.  

The artwork jumps out at the reader, as it is very unique.  Sweet, yet funny, it's a captivating read that has the reader anxiously awaiting next Wednesday for their installment of the webcomic.

I found the site as a recommendation from the first webcomic I featured here at the DCR, Puck by ElectricGecko (I'm not cool enough to know his real name) over at Puck Comics. So many thanks for the recommendation, and now enough blather from me and onto some Snap Crackle Pop:

and, finally:

OK, check it out--it's a great webcomic and you'll have years to catch-up on if you start now.

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The Daily Comics Review: WebComics Wednesday

by Hal Bent

I was all excited to focus on webcomics last Wednesday because I love reading all the different webcomics that so many smart, dynamic, hard-working, and especially talented writers and artists have out on the internet.  I got a great shout-out from the creator of Company Man Comic, Frank Jordan on twitter (he's found on twitter at @CompanyManComic), which is one of those little things that just make my day. If you missed him on last Webcomics Wednesday, my profile of his webcomic is here.  As always, you can find the Daily Comics Review on twitter at the easy to find @theDCR so you never miss an update to the site here.  Feel free to tweet at me or join my loyal readers in the comments section to comment, add your thoughts, or just tell me I'm an idiot (I say dumb things sometimes, I admit it!).  

Unfortunately, when I start going through my bookmarks looking for webcomics to highlight now, I find myself losing hours of time as I remember interesting webcomics that I catch-up on, and others that I find, and catch-up on some archives, and BOOM!, I'm running out of precious time (but thoroughly entertained!).  So today just one feature for WebComics Wednesday (but its a good one):

My Life with Fel by Kenno Arkkan:

Website: http://www.mylifewithfel.com

About the comic (from website): My life with Fel is a webcomic made by Mexican Freelance Illustrator Kenno Arkkan (Alonso Fernandez). Updates every Sunday! (yay!) My life with Fel is the story about a not so average boy, who meets a not so average girl, in not so average circumstances, and live their not so average life at the pace of their peculiarities. Its about relationships, about what we are afraid to do, about videogames, about pop culture, about society, but specially, about love. This is Kenno's first webcomic experience, so it's very flexible and "playful" with aspects some webcomics (or comics in general) don't or are afraid to change. Try not to puke.

My take: MLWF is an interesting webcomic about an average Joe (or Al, as its his name) and his roommate/lover/girlfriend/troublemaker/companion Fel who is a genetically mutated feline hybrid super-soldier who is one of  many scattered (or escaped, or lost) other animal hybrids.  The comic is smart, well-drawn, interesting visually and stylistically, and has a great sense of humor.  It took a while to get the plot moving, and I like the action in the webcomic, but MLWF is never afraid to get silly, which is an important part of the allure for me.

I like how the illustrator and writer Kenno Arkkan moves about within the story with some creativity and not being overly linear in the storytelling.  The stories entertain, and I love the strong female characters and ability to mix drama and silly humor.  MLWF is beautifully drawn, and the evolution of the art going back through the archives does a great job showing the growth of the artist and the lack of fear to try different techniques.

* * *

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You'll Love These NUTS

Webcomic of the Week. That is what this post is about and you will be reading about this week's Webcomic very shortly. Like right after you finish reading this sentence or start ignoring this sentence.


Assorted NUTS! is a comic created by Nick Barrameda. It follows the adventures of seven friends, each with their own personality and problems. While Mr. Barrameda has been drawing Assorted NUTS! since his high school days, it made its first official public appearance in the college paper, The Benildean, where it won Best Comic Strip of 2006. Mr. Barrameda attempted to sell issues of his comic at a Phillipine comic con, but sales were not as expected and, like the rest of us, turned to the internet. Assorted NUTS! will celebrate its one year anniversary as a webcomic this May.

Assorted NUTS! features wonderful art that is vaguely reminiscent of Anime and Manga, however, beneath the initial impression it is clear that there are many influences. Mr. Barrameda told me that others have pointed out that his art style is influenced by Sailormoon and Archie Comics. I don't know about that, but the art easily surpasses most comics, print, online, or otherwise. It is done in the familiar four-panel style, so the first three panels are generally set up for the punchline in the fourth. While I can't begrudge the choice to go with such a proven set-up, I would like to see someone try a different one. If nothing else, it is done in a vertical rather than a horizontal strip, eliminating the chance that a reader might read the punchline before the set-up because they simply glanced in the wrong spot on their screen.

Assorted NUTS!, like all Webcomic of the Week winner so far, is a comedy strip. Following the lives of seven friends, all with wildly different personalities, it isn't hard to imagine all the wacky situations that could come up. From sight gags to word play to characters that just don't get along, there is no shortage of comedy in Assorted NUTS! While some old jokes are used, they aren't beaten to death. In fact, with such a variety of characters, Mr. Barrameda could have several weeks of comics and not use the same joke in the same way twice (I'm looking at you Andy Capp and Marmaduke).

The main critizisms I have are that the backstory for the comic is very extensive and could be imposing to new readers. The individual comics usually have a stand-alone punchline that can be understood without knowing the history of all the characters, but to truely understand the entire comic, it is necessary to know each of the characters and their history. While this may not be a problem for readers that have been following the comic for a few months, it does to newer readers.

If you want a smart webcomic that has a cast of characters unlike most, start reading Assorted NUTS! Once you start reading, you won't want to stop.

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More Human Than Human

Here we all are again. Another Saturday and everyone's expecting a new Webcomic of the Week. As each Saturday rolls around, I regret choosing that name as I have yet to find a Webcomic each week since I started. While it may not be a true weekly event, it's still something you can't find on the other comic strip blogs. That's why we're the best, we strive to bring you new and exciting ideas. Incidentally, that is also why you should give us some money, otherwise how will we stay in business? Magic? Don't be silly, magic is just something that money buys.

But I digress, here is the Webcomic of the Week this time around.


This week we have All Too Human by Jesse Cline. All Too Human focuses on the office life a monkey. It's kind of like Dilbert but with talking monkeys. Cline's inspiration comes from his time working at a large accounting firm and how psychologically crushing it was. After a few years he just got sick of it all and decided to do what he always wanted, cartooning. He has been drawing and writing since September of '08 with the original title of Walking Upright but he had such disdain for the writing and drawing that he relaunched in January as All Too Human. He dislikes the earlier work so much that he wouldn't even share it with me. He has posted a few early comics in his blog, comparing them to the more current work. Judging from theses few originals, he has come a very long way in a few short months.

The art is on par or better than most syndicated comics. Currently there are only two updates a week, but Cline has stated in his blog that this is to build up a reserve for when he is unable to write new comics. The normal comic is not in color, but one color comic is done a month as a Sunday comic and they look as good as anything you'll find in your local newspaper.

As I said earlier, the strip has a distinct Dilbert feel. Chester, the main character, is more like Wally than Dilbert as he slacks off and tries his best not to work. Chester is constantly beset by more ambitious co-workers and his bosses are always deriding him for not doing his work. While I have not seen a storyline as one would normally be thought of, there is some continuation of the plot from strip to strip most of the time. Currently, Chester is being mentored by another monkey that is successful (I think). He is teaching Chester how smell is an important part of being successful and doing trust falls.

My main criticisms are that there has been little information given about the other characters that have appeared. This could be due to the fact that All Too Human is a relatively young strip (less than 30 posted so far) or a deliberate action on the part of the author, I hope not because I think it could improve the quality of the experience greatly. There is no need to improve the art, except to have more color strips; but I understand that Cline has a limited amount of time.

If you're looking for a quality comic poking fun at the crushing reality of office life, I recommend All Too Human by Jesse Cline. It may not be daily, but it's as funny as anything out there.

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Just What Is An Underfold?

Well, I'm not sure what an underfold is, but I do know that The Underfold is the Webcomic of the Week. Probably almost all of you don't know about it yet, mostly because it's pretty new.

As to why it is called The Underfold, the writer/artist Brian C. Russell, tells me that the name comes from the fact that Sunday editions are printed on index cards with drink labels on the outside, hence the comic is under the fold. Maybe not as clever a name as Dinosaur Comics, but that's just because it doesn't have dinosaur in the name.

The comics themselves are generally formatted the same as regular comic strips. There are four panels and the first three set up the punchline in the final one. What I like about it is that the jokes generally make fun of themselves. Mr. Russell has a firm understanding that legacy strips like The Born Loser, Beetle Bailey, and Blondie have essentially destroyed the usual comic strip punchlines. His strips don't talk about how much it sucks to have a job or bitch about having a boss that acts like a boss. He pokes fun at himself and his own creative process. About how if he doesn't want to draw it, then it disappears from the reality of the strip in the next panel. It's refreshing in a world of the same recycled jokes to have another fresh perspective to go alongside Jeffery Rowland of Overcompensating and Wigu, Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics, Chris Hastings of Dr. McNinja and Wes and Tony of AmazingSuperPowers.

The art isn't as good as some would like, but in the short amount of time Mr. Russell has been posting his comic on the web, the art has improved immensely and I'm sure it will continue to improve(I must say that it is much better than I could ever hope to draw, so he gets a free pass from me).

The only major gripe I have is that each comic is labeled as an episode in a season. I'm not sure how many episodes Mr. Russell decides to have in each season, but if he keeps making new comics I think that this system will become unwieldy even though he does provide a title for each comic. But that is his own system and he may have good reason for using it.

So, I urge you, if you are looking for a new webcomic that doesn't suck and isn't a manga, to check out The Underfold. It may not be the best comic out there, but it's better than pretty much anything you'll read in a newspaper.

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Can Robots Get Drunk?

Holy Crap, Legally distinct but similar to Batman, character! It's Webcomic of the Week! A sight not seen since last month!

Yes, it's true, I have been lax in bringing you a webcomic each week that doesn't suck. The truth is that it's much harder than I thought. Also, I have been doing other things, and have been a bit lazy.

Well, here we go, another webcomic that you may not know about, plus it doesn't suck! And it's not a manga!


Robot Martini is actually a site that has multiple comics. Here's the thing: they are all pretty decent. Not the best, but certainly better than most strips that get printed. They have a science-fiction theme, but the punchlines aren't necessarily related to sci-fi. So, if you like variety, but don't like to visit multiple sites, I recommend that you head on over to Robot Martini.

If you don't enjoy it, don't come crying to me, I don't make'em.

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Space Moose: Coast to Coast(in Canada)

Another installment of your favorite, well, my favorite feature: WebComic of the Week!

That's right, with another Saturday comes another recommendation.

This week's choice isn't a webcomic per say, but it is a comic and it is on the web. It was originally published in a student newspaper called The Gateway. Unfortunately, it is not a current, but it is funny and possibly offensive to some people.

Space Moose

Space Moose was published for 10 years in the University of Alberta's student newspaper. Obviously Canadian school don't care what you say in the student paper, cause Space Moose regularly crosses the line and always nudges up against it. Not all the strips are colored and the art isn't particularly well done, but the punchlines are guaranteed to make you laugh, cry, or at least make you think.

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Yet another new feature!

Here we are again. You there wanting to read some funny shit. Me here trying to write some funny shit. Well, this time I'm just going to point some funny shit out. You see, the newest feature, confined to Saturday for now, is the Weekly Webcomic(horrible title I know, but I've said before I suck at titles). I'm going to scour the internets and try find a webcomic that doesn't suck or possibly make fun of one that does suck. You'd be surprised how many webcomics are out there that are terrible or out of date.

But I've found one for you this week, unfortunately I can't really post the comic on this page. You see, it's called The Happy Penis. Yeah, you read that correctly. I've been reading the archives and it can be really funny or really gross, sometimes together. If you don't mind looking at drawn penises I highly recommend this comic for you.

The Happy Penis

Please leave comments if you like this feature or if you hate it. But only about the feature, not about the choice of the week, I understand not everyone wants to see penises that act like people. If you are one of those people then check back next week for the new choice.

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