Zuda Review NewBot/ Simplicity in storytelling is a virtue

NewBot was created by Chuck Harrison and finished 2nd in January at Zuda. Here is the synopsis: A new world waits for a small integrated circuit. Superficial visions appear as our NewBot realizes that it’s not alone. There are more. Blockades are breached as communication is achieved. Obstacles materialize in our electronic heroes path. NewBot is a comic on the subject of the creation of a tiny integrated circuit with a metallic exterior and lustrous green eyes. NewBot is a narrative about how something new perceives the world around it. Binary is the only language used. 01010110100010101000101000110101

01001000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110010 01101111 01100010 01101111 01110100 00111111 

I was tempted to do this whole review in binary, but I figured that would be madding. The most important thing I got from this comic -besides the awesome robots- was how charming straight forward storytelling can be. The robots speaking in binary was a nice touch, equal parts cool and cute, but for the most part this is a silent comic. Silent comics are harder to do than works with dialogue, whatever story you want to tell has to be easily readable in the art, so any reader can figure whats being said. There is bound to be variations, but a general consensus on what's going down needs to be attainable. Here a new little robot is created, his creator introduces him to his brother robots, the inventor gets too happy/excited and has a heart attack then dies. The other robots are confused about what happened, start to gather around, and ask the NewBot, who tells them their inventor is gone. The old bot's blame NewBot, their eyes turn read, and as the comic ends NewBot seems to be facing a angry mob that irrationally blames them for their creators demise. You can  take the story a number of ways depending on your point of view. It can be just a cute little robot facing a hostile world you empathize with, or you can get more serious and see this story as a example of the dangers of a angry mindless mob, unjust persecution, and scapegoating justification. The secret of success of this silent story is the basic plot can be followed, but each reader is going to project their own feelings and experiences onto the lead character. It doesn't just 'work' on any number of levels it works on each individual readers level. If you've ever in  your life felt singled out as the fall guy, you can root for NewBot. If you like cute little characters trying to make their way in the big bad world, you can root for NewBot. It's a robot so anyone and everyone can identify and cheer him on. 

SIMPLICITY AS A ILLUSION 

It's never as easy as it looks, every panel, and the composition there of matters. The only color in this comic is the eyes of the robots and their chest plates. Which  came in handy in the depiction of the robots anger later on in the screens, even at the start strong narrative decisions were made. These robots creator's face wasn't seen till screen 3 which was a nice split between NewBot's P.O.V. and the inventor's. You also see physical comedy as NewBot shakes with fear as it is first picked up and doesn't understand what is going on. NewBot's surprise is shown when it is presented before the rest of the robots. NewBot's 'Hi everybody' meeting of the rest of the brood can't help but remind you of the first day of kindergarten when kids begin their school attending odyssey. When the inventor first starts to have chest pains (and presumably drops dead)  it's a surprise considering the tenor of the previous pages. Things go from light and fluffy to deadly serious -but the cute art work remains. To do something like that without it being a glaring juxtaposition takes story-telling skills that deserves even more appreciation than a second place finish. By the end of the 8 screens Chuck had got me to care what happens to NewBot next, especially as it is a well done cliffhanger danger ending . Having readers wanting to see what happens next is the most important quality a Zuda creator can hope for, so that even if a competitor doesn't win the contest readers will still want to see the title live on.
If you haven't already checked out the strip, give it a read and see if you don't want to cheer the little robot on!

Zuda Review War Of The Fallen/ If you have pretty young people, and a ancient evil -they'll get together

War Of The Fallen finished in the 4 spot January on Zuda it was created by Quinton J. Bedwell . Here is the synopsis: Hannah Sephan is a normal girl attending a University in the quaint town of Northwood Hills. Her goals and everyday life is much the same as any young woman her age. When fellow college girls start disappearing she begins having horrific dreams of their mutilated corpses warning her of impending danger. She dismisses the dreams until the disappearances get closer to home and the dreams become more ominous and violent. The FBI's Agent Frank Shepard, is sent in to investigate the disappearances when he discovers that everything leads back to Hannah. Their destinies collide spiraling them both into a web of intense secrecy and suspense. The closer they get to the truth the more they realize that what's going on is infinitely bigger than either could have imagined. There is an ancient evil residing in Northwood Hills that has been patiently waiting and searching for something that could tip the balance in a war that has spanned the ages. Soon, Hannah's simple life of books, friends, and fun is transformed into blood, gore, and war.

GATHERING OF THE HEROES

The first thing I noticed was you couldn't read the font in small screen, and its not that easy to read it full screen. There is a lot of dialogue, most of which is well written, so ease of reading would have been a improvement on something already well done. It starts off with a nicely done establishing shot that moves into Hannah and her friends having a conversation about some missing  girls. The dialogue is handled very well reveals useful facts, and the banter moves along characterization. Hanah has the classic 'bumping into each other scene with F.B.I. agent Shepard, and a good use of silhouette with her friends telling her way to get that number. This goes along with the 'kooky old professor type'  Professor Locke who's giving a lecture coincidentally enough on the 'fallen'. Hannah falls asleep in clash and has one of those ominous dreams of the missing girl coming back as a monster and repeating "I wanna go home" and "all your fault" over and over again. The lettering style fit the creepy dream, and the whole way the sequence was framed was a nice touch. Screen 4 is the stand out screen here. Half the screen is Hannah's confrontation with the dream monster girl done with all angles askew, the other half of the page being her taken to a hospital depicted in level rectangles. The coloring isn't horrible, but it is 'just good enough to pass' colors are too rich considering the subject matter. Very good dialogue, and great screen design are this comics two strong suits.

EVERY CLICHE IN THE BOOK, BUT DONE WELL

I'm not kidding about that cliche business this comic has every element of the 'supernatural horror/chosen defender' genre shoe horned into these 8 screens. Even with all that it still got a favorite from me because it combined so many horror standards together so well. That's part compliment, and part wish on my part that instead of putting everything but the kitchen sink in this comic, Bedwell had left a few influences out to put more of a original spin on what he had in the title. I'm no comic reading novice, or purist -I know there is nothing new under the sun, and the wheel doesn't get reinvented too many times when it comes to stories. More of a effort can be made to put your own spin on things within the submission so readers can see them, instead of waiting for that fabled 9th screen. Hannah wakes up in the hospital with Shepard by her side in the course of the conversation they mention Locke moving the story along. On screen 6 some mysterious looking men in black arrive and start killing their way towards Hannah. A nice touch on the part of the creator was a Jay Leno monologue included since he was on the TV one of the soon to be dead humans were watching. Screen 7 is a nice suspenseful screen (Bedwell does great layouts) plenty of long shadows, turns out the men in black are monsters, and as Shepard and Hannah hide behind a curtain the two monsters are beheaded with a loud SPLATT! Readers don't actually see them beheaded, just two shadows behind a curtain, then two headless shadows, then a man with a really big sword.  The last screen is the reveal of Professor Locke moving aside the curtain holding the sword saying he believed Shepard had some question. Locke is also the one who arranged for Hannah's protection, and spoke Latin just like the monsters. It's a action cliffhanger ending, to set up the characters future struggle. I would like to see this creator back again with a more focused title giving readers more of his take on a genre, instead of making sure all the parts of a horror heroine story get thrown in. 

Zuda Review Beyond The Borderlands/ If only the comic had been more like the synopsis

Beyond The Borderlands was a January Zuda contender finished last in a nine comic race. It was created by Brian McLachlan, here is the synopsis: In a low-fantasy world, heroes wander Beyond the Borderlands of the civilized kingdoms looking for adventure. Tree-man Norn and sword scholar Moriarty Muscletooth find an empty graveyard that leads them to an even creepier empty town. Jellyfish Cove has been cursed by the MerKing with eternal winter. While the town is mostly abandoned, there is one sorceress who has plans to fight back against the fish folk. Meanwhile the wandering heroes uncover threads of a deeper plot afoot.
This is a sword and sorcery story of intrigue and action. The setting is a pseudo-feudal world where people of various skin tones mingle. There is a sense of history with ancient legends, ruins and thriving cities. People commonly take up the wanderer's life when they don't want to be nailed down to their parent's profession. Think of adventurers like musicians in the real world. Some are wannabes, some are DIYs, some are rock stars and some are has beens. It's just the monsters that will kill you, not the heroin.
The Jellyfish Cove story arc follows a group that's beginning their first great tour. Spoiler alert - In the full-length story you will meet parasitic vampires, a werebadger and a beautiful young necromancer with a heart of gold.

BORDERING ON BOREDOM

The synopsis biggest hook was recasting fantasy adventurers as the musicians of our day, but this high (good) concept wasn't realized in the 8 screens. Too many screens were wasted on tip-toeing through the tulips -so to speak- to get to the mausoleum on screen 4. The two lead characters are  Norn some kind of fantasy  creature -could be a wood sprite- and some other unnamed wizard sort  spend the first half walking and engaging in some pointless dialogue. They spot a mausoleum and wander off -slowly- to check it out, arguing between themselves if they should give it a look. Some of the back story of the synopsis is revealed and you see some 'sword scholar' magic on display with the human looking of the two using his powers. None of that adds up to enough reason to spend half the comic on set-up, it's a fantasy comic the characters should have been walking through that door by screen 2. It's only 8 screens in a Zuda contest, you need to hit the ground running in the telling of the story if you want to win. The colors are okay, lettering is legible,  the art has moments of showing a Mike Allred influenced style that's not a problem to me. The pace does pick up during the exploring of the mausoleum, turns out a sarcophagus is empty and the cemetery hidden beneath has had all the bodies removed  by underground tunnels leading to the surface, which established a nice mystery. The pace immediately gets slowed down again by the comic ending on the adventures following tracks to the abandoned snow-pocalypse town of Jellyfish Cove. I understand the characters following the clues to solve the mystery, but the last screen was so devoid of good layouts/dramatic action it left me wondering why I should care what happens to this comics leads? If your going to end on a abandoned town  do something a little atypical in the layout from the rest of the comic to let readers see something screwy is going on.  Having 4 itty-bitty squares showing empty beds and abandoned food  is less than impressive, it's boring. Nothing about the last screens layout would ever reach out and grab readers, and you want to end on a high note.

A full screen of a creepy looking snowed in town would have had more impact on readers instead of the 'one side of a small Rubik's Cube' style ending McLachlan went with.

IF THEY HAVE THEIR OWN FORM OF SPEAKING IT'LL MAKE MY FANTASY COMIC WORLD MORE REAL RIGHT?

Where things go wrong is Brian McLachlan trying to create his own slang to help add realism/ extra layers to his story - I guess... It's been done before and failed before on Zuda instead of striking a note of originality it just turns off readers who don't get what the characters are talking about. It also isn't needed in only 8 screens save the experimental dialogue for if you win, deliver as good as story as you can without a self imposed handicap of oddball fantasy speak. The classic example in this comic is the line "Help me a hand" which just sounds awful. I used to play D&D, I've read Lord of the Rings, I understand the feeling of wanting to immerse readers into your world by having unique dialogue, but you have to fight it. It just doesn't work on Zuda because of space limitations, it's not that big a draw in these types of stories anyway, and there are always a few who wonder if it was written so clunky in spite of a creators effort instead of on purpose. Having your own terminology for a comic on Zuda doesn't do anything but make it harder for you to win past contests have proved this. The best part of this comic was Norn in the tunnels. The coloring was well done, and his thought balloons made him sound like a regular person. The more fantastical elements included in a story the more 'real earth' your characters should sound as a counter balance. Norn's thoughts in the tunnels were perfect "Many men mine for gems and gold, but bodies...? What creeps within this crypt?" see those lines had the flavor of made-up medieval, but weren't twisted around so much as to make readers think the creator was trying too hard. If the 8 screens had shown more of what was in the synopsis in a dynamic way, less ostentatious dialogue,  the comic would have finished higher than it did.

Zuda Review Pavlov's Dream/ Spending eternity in Candyland

Pavlov's Dream was a January Zuda comic which finished sixth, but is set to continue on off Zuda here. It was created by Shari Chankhamma and Kelsie Yoshida. Here is the synopsis:  The afterlife is different things to different people. To some it's a fiery pit of doom and suffering, others envision it as eternal paradise, and some don't believe it exists at all. Brothers Sasha and Micha never gave it much thought until the day a living shadow enters their lives. Of course, no one believes the tall tales of a sentient shadow Sasha spins, not even his elder brother, until it sweeps both boys away to the land of the dead, a place that is everything and nothing like they'd been told.
Once there they must find their way back home with the help of their new friend and a dead pet goldfish with a penchant for blowing bubbles, avoiding the dangers of a world where just about anything can happen, few things are what they seem, and possessing a pulse makes one a tempting target. But that’s just the start of their adventure, because when the afterlife spills into the land of the living, things really start to get messy.
Now it’s up to two young boys, a wayward spirit and a fish to set things right before the whole world unravels around them. 
 

WHEN CUTE AND CREEPY COME TOGETHER

It's not my go-to genre, but I can definitely appreciate the quality work in this comic. It starts out with Sasha doing shadow puppets on the wall, then the shadow comes alive. It was a well designed screen with very well rendered characters. One of the unique aspects about this comic is Sasha starts out speaking in pictographs as he tries to explain the weird happenings to his family. Sasha doesn't actually speak in words until screen 4, and that doesn't happen till Micha sees for himself the shadow boy on the wall. Between the funny pics and character expressions it works to make readers more curious as to what's going on. Seeing that actual words will be used is a sign in and of itself to readers things are moving on to the next beat of the story. Picto-speak isn't that easy to pull off but it works to convey the excitement of this young child in a more expressive way than just a bigger font could pull off. It also fits into the characterization that Sasha can't slow down enough to be really understood by anyone till his bother knows he is telling the truth. A smart bit of narrative there that takes advantage of the medium of comics. The dialogue-dialogue also fit all of the characters and was just as well done.The colors also aid this comic in pulling off the story-book feel, not too harsh, not too light -it just fits the story.  You have a nicely done action sequence of the shadow boy turning into a bird and leading the brothers into a bureau that happens to be the gateway to the afterlife.

ALL THE PRETTY COLORS OF PARADISE

The afterlife Sasha and Micha end up in is actually a fairy tale landscape style place with big yellow leaves and mushrooms all around. It's a nice -but not surprising- twist on the standard gloom and doom of the afterlife. I also appreciated the technical details of the story AKA effective use of comic book short hand. The creators have the good sense to leave what's unnecessary in the gutters between the panels. As the brothers and shadow boy make their journey to the portal to the land of living  I enjoyed how changing the colorful background conveyed a lot of travel in few panels. The comic ends with the boys crossing paths with the goldfish mentioned in the synopsis and readers get the impression the little band is finally completed and the rest of the story is about to begin. For younger readers, or older readers going for a more up-beat story book read they will probably enjoy this story. The only real failing is it doesn't have that cross over appeal a story like this needs. How many times have you read something and said to yourself 'it isn't normally my kind of thing, but something about this story makes it stand out from it's genre/style confines and grab me as a reader'? That hook that expands creators predictable audience is missing from this comic. If your more into story book tales that skip the grim -then do give this comic a shot over at it's new home.

Zuda Review Phantom Sword/ The amazing technicolor fantasy adventure

Phantom Sword was a January Zuda competitor done by Nick Edwards which finished in the third spot. This is the synopsis: Henry, a young, adventurous boy and his guardian Gumb take on a quest that could be their greatest yet. They once again run into the notorious demon wizard, Shanks, as he corrupts the forest and turns the once good creatures against them. Through use of Gumb’s book of monsters and the power of Henry’s Phantom Sword they must slay and capture the beasts of the forests. Yet not all the creatures can be defeated so easily. Therefore the duo must take on multiple quests in order to obtain the necessary trinkets, armor and weapons needed to slay or free the beasts. As these events unfold and our heroes get closer to Shanks’ lair we start to discover more about our intrepid adventurers, the mysteries behind the Phantom Sword, the secrets of Henry’s father, Gumb’s origins and Henry’s forced premature jump into adulthood. Phantom Sword mixes epic fantasy, a buddy movie and the smaller more significant accounts of a young boy becoming aware of the world around him.

THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A SID AND MARTY KROFFT TV SHOW

Gumb is a egg shaped fuzzy, wuzzy, with magical powers, Henry is the young errant knight on a  acid trip crusade. The thing that stands out most about this comic is the coloring work. The star characters stand out like a neon sign in a already colorful back drop. They're looking for a forest god named Gregory and they find him on screen 3. The character design on Gregory is as tripy as the other characters, it serves to draw you into the story. Turns out Gregory has a translator -who's an owl- who offers our heroes a quest. Henry accepts the quest with a flourish as he pulls  the Phantom Sword out of it's scabbard and readers find out some evil forest flower is tainting everything causing the woods and woodland creatures to rot and die. The comic has a good pace that moves right along through the story without wasting screens. Shanks is a demon believed to be responsible for the evil plot and the art works well with the character narration to tell the story. The reward for this quest added some humor to the comic. With a bag of gold, and a bag with badges on it offered, while Gumb wished they had heard what the mission was about before accepting it. The lettering was done in a fun style that stood out on the page. It ends with Henry coming face to face with a huge -fairly scary- monster summoned by Shanks, and Gumb being knocked out cold by a lighting bolt.

WHAT CAN WHIMSICAL FANTASY DO FOR YOU?

The most impressive quality this comic has is how well Nick makes use of the 8 screens you have in a Zuda contest. You have a good bit of story with no drag assing around till you get to the payoff confrontation at the end. It's not my go-to genre, but I do appreciate the effort that went into this comic. It is more of a all ages/younger readers tale in style, and it didn't have enough elements for adult readers to grab me. No lines or jokes that worked on two levels and would be a wink and a nod to grown-up readers. For younger readers I don't think it would be challenging enough. Scary monsters and a powerful sword are nice, but a more complex/convoluted plot line would have helped not hindered this comic. Everything was well put together but more background on the two lead's, lines aimed at older readers, or more expository dialogue would have made me feel there was something here for everyone instead of just younger readers. As it was, this comic either missed my age group -or I'm too old and grumpy to embrace the whimsy.