Deadly by James Fosdike is another comic fighting it's way through March at Zuda, currently ranked 3rd.
Here's the synopsis: When the earth became barren and the air toxic, almost all its people abandoned Australia. Only the indigenous population remains, refusing to leave while attempting to resuscitate a dead land. It is a dangerous task. The wildlife have become twisted and mutated with a taste for flesh. Breathing the air will either kill you or turn you into a living nightmare. A lone terraformer rescues a child that can breathe air. He wants to know why, but the kid's not talking. He'll find out before the week is through, if he can stay alive.
First off James said this comic was originally done to help indigenous kids with reading difficulties which of course is a very cool objective to have. Keeping the words sparse helped make it a easier read, and also helped the suspense filled pace. I have a speech impediment/ lisp and years ago my speech teacher used comics to help me learn how to 'talk right' as we say down south. I would read the comic to her and she would help me pronounce the words. I had a cool teacher I just hope she liked The Flash as much as I did back then. So I know first hand how useful comics can be to help kids learn.
You get extra 'warm my cold black heart' points for that.
The colors are great, letters readable, I enjoyed the script and premise, art is great just not enough of it. Too lite on the panels, but I liked reading your promise of more panels to come should you win. Everyone can't be Caanan and put all those panels on a screen, not have it feel cramped, and kick arse artistically speaking. Some stories just work better with the old stand by of 5-7 panels per screen/page. What's been tried on Zuda more than once and hasn't worked yet -is the 1-2-3 panels per page thing. Why should I repeat something that has been mentioned more than twice in your comment section -simple added emphasis. It's a suspense filled read the first time through, on repeat readings you wonder where the other panels are at. That's the biggest complaint I have, but it's a serious one.
Panel count aside their are some awesome images here.
Some nifty examples from the comic to show you what I mean:
Screen 1 both panels. We get a nice establishing shot that stirs up those feelings of dread, and a boy trying to make a fair instead of playing with his wii. That's kind of a tip off what direction this story is going in right there.
Screen 2 panel 2 the way this image was done was very impressive. You just had to click to the next screen, to see if the kid was going to be okay. Unlike with Dirty Mile and the baby anarchists, I want the baby geomancher to live.
Screen 3 now that's Art, I don't care who you are. Very impressive/ striking image. How many times will I use the words 'very impressive'? As many as it takes... as many as it takes...
Screen 4 Their is not much text box narration going on, but the panels we have serve a good purpose of moving the story along. Very impressive images here, great artwork. I also want to say neat sequential sequence in the second panel with the goggles reflection. The snake is showing in the reflections moving even closer to eating the kid, I enjoy stuff like that.
Screen 6 If James wanted to get all poetic on us saying how this image (being cut out of the snakes belly) was akin to the boy coming out of the womb/ being reborn. You could just go with Kick ass art too. Only problem with this screen too much blank black space.
Screen 8 ends with a cute image of the kid looking at his reflection and a 'had to be break a rule for you' mystery introducing line. Rules what kind of rules, vote for it to find out in screen 9!!!
What the hell was up with screen 5???
Were their formatting issues for Zuda or what??? That was a lot of blank black space letterbox borders for what real reason? If it's going to be a full screen shot why not go with bigger characters and take up more space on the page.
All that aside I'm glad your ranked as high as you are James, a very well done story just needed more panels and less blank space. 4/5 and a fav for being so very impressive.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
DANGO LIVES!!!!! -and continues to eat everything in sight!!!
Love the dango, by Amber Stone was a competitor on Zuda a few months back, got my vote but didn't win. Well I am beyond thrilled something so cute and subversive has lived on you should really check it out if you haven't already. it's funny -damn funny.
Dirty Mile Zuda Review/ I hope all those kids get ran over by a tank
The Dirty Mile is a comic by Jason Smith III fighting it out at Zuda this month.
Here's the Synopsis: Concrete ecology. Post-Collapse. That sliver of city along the river called the Dirty Mile. What looks like a strip of empty brownstones is really home to a community of children. One of those kids, Martine, heads their ad hoc line of defense, the Angels. While Marine is busy fighting off attacks from thieves, predators and outcasts like former Angels Melvin and Tookey, Mayor Cruz has her eyes on the Mile. She's seeking re-election, and Housing Director Robert Hausman's going to give it to her with a massive urban renewal project. They're going to raise Phoenix Lane from the ashes of the Dirty Mile, even if he has to burn the place down himself to do it. But even if the citizens have forgotten those kids, the city hasn't. And they've been learning some damn hard lessons.
It looks like you have a bunch of kid rebels fighting amongst themselves and of course against 'The Man' in the form of Mayor Cruz. It reminds me of DMZ, Freak Angels, and maybe a little of Gulch in these first 8 screens. The letters are fantastic I really enjoyed them. The art really fits the story well, their can be no real complaints about it. The colors have the faded look I associate with Lynn Varney before DK 2. So far it's 4/5 stars and a fav.
Some nifty examples from the comic that show you what I mean:
Screen 1 Panel 1: We open on an establishing shot (OMFG!!!!) -I like establishing shots because they help a reader figure out right away where the story is. It always helps if your first panel is well designed, establishes a good pattern to follow.
The dialogue we get to follow between Karen and Hausman in these first few screens is very well done, great job on that part of the writing.
Screen 2 Panel 5 Love the letters here with the 'Bang' sound effect, and the coloring job. White is the color that most pops out at you in comics, so just a well put together panel and screen.
Let's talk about Martine and company, and how the story is going to be set up in the future if it wins, or lives on elsewhere. Gulch and DMZ do a great job of leaving the question of who are the good guys open to interpretation. If the story goes the angels with dirty faces poor wittle heroes route, that would be predictable and not much of a thrill to read. If it's more of a mystery, (or even better for a twist the mayor is the hero) who to root for that would grab me as a reader. The fact they have other lord of the files wanna-be's who have turned on them is a very nice story element. It is a credit to the writing all of these various forces are intro'ed in the 8 screen limit so well.
The color scheme is more or less impressionistic which suites the comic so well especially on screens 3 and 4. From screen 5 one of the kid's is named 'Spanky' Little rascals -meet- the little radicals. I enjoyed the rainbow hues on screen 5, and I really enjoyed the last panel on this screen. top notch screen composition throughout. Screen 6 set's up the Tookey side of the equation and shows the great pace of this comic.
Screen 7 shows us the Mayor, and screen 8 gives us a nice little cliff hanger denouncement. "We only have the boxes we live in, and die in" My questions about who the author intends the heroes to be aside, we get a lot of action in these 8 screens, Everything is very well done most esp. the pace of the story -it fit's the 8 screens allowed like a glove. If only I could know some of these wild boys brats would meet their fate....
Sfx: CRUNCH!
Sfx: CRUNCH!
Sfx: CRUNCH!
4/5 stars and a favorite it should be ranked better than it's current 8th place.
Here's the Synopsis: Concrete ecology. Post-Collapse. That sliver of city along the river called the Dirty Mile. What looks like a strip of empty brownstones is really home to a community of children. One of those kids, Martine, heads their ad hoc line of defense, the Angels. While Marine is busy fighting off attacks from thieves, predators and outcasts like former Angels Melvin and Tookey, Mayor Cruz has her eyes on the Mile. She's seeking re-election, and Housing Director Robert Hausman's going to give it to her with a massive urban renewal project. They're going to raise Phoenix Lane from the ashes of the Dirty Mile, even if he has to burn the place down himself to do it. But even if the citizens have forgotten those kids, the city hasn't. And they've been learning some damn hard lessons.
It looks like you have a bunch of kid rebels fighting amongst themselves and of course against 'The Man' in the form of Mayor Cruz. It reminds me of DMZ, Freak Angels, and maybe a little of Gulch in these first 8 screens. The letters are fantastic I really enjoyed them. The art really fits the story well, their can be no real complaints about it. The colors have the faded look I associate with Lynn Varney before DK 2. So far it's 4/5 stars and a fav.
Some nifty examples from the comic that show you what I mean:
Screen 1 Panel 1: We open on an establishing shot (OMFG!!!!) -I like establishing shots because they help a reader figure out right away where the story is. It always helps if your first panel is well designed, establishes a good pattern to follow.
The dialogue we get to follow between Karen and Hausman in these first few screens is very well done, great job on that part of the writing.
Screen 2 Panel 5 Love the letters here with the 'Bang' sound effect, and the coloring job. White is the color that most pops out at you in comics, so just a well put together panel and screen.
Let's talk about Martine and company, and how the story is going to be set up in the future if it wins, or lives on elsewhere. Gulch and DMZ do a great job of leaving the question of who are the good guys open to interpretation. If the story goes the angels with dirty faces poor wittle heroes route, that would be predictable and not much of a thrill to read. If it's more of a mystery, (or even better for a twist the mayor is the hero) who to root for that would grab me as a reader. The fact they have other lord of the files wanna-be's who have turned on them is a very nice story element. It is a credit to the writing all of these various forces are intro'ed in the 8 screen limit so well.
The color scheme is more or less impressionistic which suites the comic so well especially on screens 3 and 4. From screen 5 one of the kid's is named 'Spanky' Little rascals -meet- the little radicals. I enjoyed the rainbow hues on screen 5, and I really enjoyed the last panel on this screen. top notch screen composition throughout. Screen 6 set's up the Tookey side of the equation and shows the great pace of this comic.
Screen 7 shows us the Mayor, and screen 8 gives us a nice little cliff hanger denouncement. "We only have the boxes we live in, and die in" My questions about who the author intends the heroes to be aside, we get a lot of action in these 8 screens, Everything is very well done most esp. the pace of the story -it fit's the 8 screens allowed like a glove. If only I could know some of these wild boys brats would meet their fate....
Sfx: CRUNCH!
Sfx: CRUNCH!
Sfx: CRUNCH!
4/5 stars and a favorite it should be ranked better than it's current 8th place.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Zombie comics with a twist on Zuda, or anywhere
This is going to be a bit of a sideways rant.
Just thought you should know.
It is also a preemptive plea to future Zuda contestants.
I could have called this post 'the shit I'm tired of and why I'm tired of it'. I didn't because 'shit' would imply their was something really bad about a story in question when that may not be the case. The art/colors/letters could all be fine, but the genre story just doesn't thrill me anymore. I could have called it 'the stuff I'm tired of and why I'm tired of it'. I didn't because I would rather the title not bitch about what I don't like, but offer a little hope-slash-prayer for what I want to read at Zuda from the new submissions, or anywhere else.
What I am beyond sick of:
Zombie stories.
I read The Walking Dead and I liked it, until everyone else started bringing out the zombie stories and I realized I got tired of the zombie movie that never ends. Does this mean I want no more zombie stories -like ever??? Course not. It does mean I'm tired of reading anyone and everyone's reinterpretation's of George Romero necrophiliacs wet dream cult classic trilogy.
I'll use Zuda as an example because, that's where the lion's share of my focus is at the moment.
AEON OF THE DEAD- Babe rides around on a horse and kill's zombies with a sword. The art is great, the story: more after the end of the world zombie killing. The strong point is Kenny the horse. A zombie comic about a horse, I don't think that has ever been seen before -like ever. It also would put me in mind of the classic comic Neil the horse, and bring some of the charm of animal characters that Re-Evolution brought.
Surprise me. Impress me. Make me want to spend money on a dead tree edition of your comic High Moon did it you can too!!!!
Another Zuda zombie comic, for another example. SAFE INSIDE Rebel kids in a walled off city fighting against the man with zombies at the gates. I'm guessing the kids break out, the zombies break in, and the powers running the city help bring this about through there own fascist incontinent incompetence. I think I've seen that a few times before. What would be a hell of a different twist: a zombie story where the zombies never show up -not ever. This was talked about some in the comments section of that comic. I would love a zombie story without a zombie in it, just for the twist value along. Kind of like a heist movie you never see a heist in. The first time a zombie shows up in Safe Inside it's going to get really tired really fast.
For me to read a zombie story at this point it has to have a decent enough twist, or I'm not going to enjoy it enough to keep reading.
Just thought you should know.
It is also a preemptive plea to future Zuda contestants.
I could have called this post 'the shit I'm tired of and why I'm tired of it'. I didn't because 'shit' would imply their was something really bad about a story in question when that may not be the case. The art/colors/letters could all be fine, but the genre story just doesn't thrill me anymore. I could have called it 'the stuff I'm tired of and why I'm tired of it'. I didn't because I would rather the title not bitch about what I don't like, but offer a little hope-slash-prayer for what I want to read at Zuda from the new submissions, or anywhere else.
What I am beyond sick of:
Zombie stories.
I read The Walking Dead and I liked it, until everyone else started bringing out the zombie stories and I realized I got tired of the zombie movie that never ends. Does this mean I want no more zombie stories -like ever??? Course not. It does mean I'm tired of reading anyone and everyone's reinterpretation's of George Romero necrophiliacs wet dream cult classic trilogy.
I'll use Zuda as an example because, that's where the lion's share of my focus is at the moment.
AEON OF THE DEAD- Babe rides around on a horse and kill's zombies with a sword. The art is great, the story: more after the end of the world zombie killing. The strong point is Kenny the horse. A zombie comic about a horse, I don't think that has ever been seen before -like ever. It also would put me in mind of the classic comic Neil the horse, and bring some of the charm of animal characters that Re-Evolution brought.
Surprise me. Impress me. Make me want to spend money on a dead tree edition of your comic High Moon did it you can too!!!!
Another Zuda zombie comic, for another example. SAFE INSIDE Rebel kids in a walled off city fighting against the man with zombies at the gates. I'm guessing the kids break out, the zombies break in, and the powers running the city help bring this about through there own fascist incontinent incompetence. I think I've seen that a few times before. What would be a hell of a different twist: a zombie story where the zombies never show up -not ever. This was talked about some in the comments section of that comic. I would love a zombie story without a zombie in it, just for the twist value along. Kind of like a heist movie you never see a heist in. The first time a zombie shows up in Safe Inside it's going to get really tired really fast.
For me to read a zombie story at this point it has to have a decent enough twist, or I'm not going to enjoy it enough to keep reading.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Dusting off the blog....
To anyone who maybe reading this (hi sis), I will be moving my comments over to my old seldom used blog here. Now why am I doing this when so many other people already do such a good job blogging about Zuda, you ask??? Just to name drop a few you have:
Richard Pace
Bryy
Liz
ill
MPD
I really don't write reviews it's more of a open letter to the creators of the comics in question, about what I like/don't like about their comic. Instead of a read this/ don't read this because-- massive. I would rather my comments stay on Zuda proper there with the comic they are about. The new character count limit on Zuda for comments has driven me off into the blog hinterlands to join my brethren so to speak. A upside is now I can curse like a sailor without having to worry about making the Zuda Mod's life any harder -infrequent contributor does that enough as is. I didn't get around -yet- to posting all my views on last months comics thanks to the flu.
*Flu takes a bow*
Between still feeling the effects of the sickness (while listening to the Disturbed song of the same name), and my med's, I only intermittently (Men are from Mars -what???) know what planet I'm on. All this is going to combine to make me a little more punchy the usual -hence the previously referenced 'cussing.
Or maybe not.
Reviews are forthcoming, assuming of course Flu doesn't win.
The evil bastard.
Richard Pace
Bryy
Liz
ill
MPD
I really don't write reviews it's more of a open letter to the creators of the comics in question, about what I like/don't like about their comic. Instead of a read this/ don't read this because-- massive. I would rather my comments stay on Zuda proper there with the comic they are about. The new character count limit on Zuda for comments has driven me off into the blog hinterlands to join my brethren so to speak. A upside is now I can curse like a sailor without having to worry about making the Zuda Mod's life any harder -infrequent contributor does that enough as is. I didn't get around -yet- to posting all my views on last months comics thanks to the flu.
*Flu takes a bow*
Between still feeling the effects of the sickness (while listening to the Disturbed song of the same name), and my med's, I only intermittently (Men are from Mars -what???) know what planet I'm on. All this is going to combine to make me a little more punchy the usual -hence the previously referenced 'cussing.
Or maybe not.
Reviews are forthcoming, assuming of course Flu doesn't win.
The evil bastard.
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