Zuda Review Snipe Hunting/ I'm familiar with the southern variant

Snipe Hunting is another March Zuda comic done by Ian Williams (Mookie Blaylock) and returning Zuda vet JM Ringuet. Here is the synopsis: Snipe Hunting is an Americanized imagining of the infamous Dytalov Pass Incident. After a group of campers are mysteriously found dead, the "haunted" woods surrounding the coastal New England town of Narranghassett are teeming with paranormal investigators, FBI agents, and curious locals - each confident of the underlying cause of the deaths (Aliens, Terrorists, Jesus, Indian Curses...etc). The longer they search for clues in the woods to support their individual theories, the further they descend into the depths of paranoia, hallucinations, and intense mania. Will one theory be proven correct, or is everyone caught in a violent game of snipe hunting?

It's all right to be left holding the bag, just as long as you don't let the cat out of it.  Using the snipe hunting tradition/metaphor and mixing in some real life weirdness with the Dyatlov Pass Incident is a great start to build a story from.  The story starts off with paperboy Malcolm noticing the headlines talking about mysterious deaths blamed on a compelling force. When then see a benched Malcolm thanks to a coach that either hates him, or is crazy enough to worry about blowing a 18-0 lead in the sixth inning of a little league baseball game. I'm beating on hatred. Screen 2 is also the screen where you get a cuts of pork image in one of the panels, and a inclination Malcolm might not be right in the head. Later, he sneaks out of his house and leaves a 'dear dad' letter that talks about baseball being a red blooded sport  and no pink tea. 3 screens in and the story is already getting creepy as hell, which is a good sign in Sci-fi/horror story. It's start's getting surreal on screen 4 where Malcolm stumbles across two-headed men, evil looking clowns, and pumpkin-heads playing baseball, with a baseball that has a face. Malcolm is the star player in the game -of course- and wants to celebrate, which leads the characters he's playing with to make a dark turn and bring forth the horror element. Their appearances change into more gruesome characters  and 'they' go on a bloody rampage killing a UFO believer, while Malcolm sobs and hits his inhaler. Screen 8 is a full screen shot that shows a demonic crazy looking Malcolm covered in blood, with the corpse of the UFO believer beside him, and a image of the Dytalov Pass map behind him in the art. The text on screen 8 "since honest men are in the slime" accompanying the shot of Malcolm on his knees in a puddle of blood makes you think maybe the kid isn't a crazy/possessed/mind controlled killer after all. Along the way the possibility of a Indian curse causing the deaths is also worked into the story.

All the slaughterhouse imagery conjured up by the words and shown in the pictures will have you wondering what does the other white meat have to do with it? The ending sequence over the last few screens could be too revealing depending on how the story plays out, if future twists are reminiscent of High Tension, or Blair Witch Project 2. It could also be too much mystery if readers try to follow the clues and the story resolution doesn't match-up. Then again the ending could be left wide open enough that any or all of the above synopsis suspects could be responsible. The story is really a Sci-Fi/horror mystery, all the clues need to add up on the last screen no 'deus ex machina' endings need apply. The 'butcher boy' mind-set Malcolm seems to be operating with is either a red herring, red flag, or a little bit of both.  The 8 screens here really set expectations high, but with all the interlocking mystery over what's going on, I'm expecting one hell of a payoff should Snipe Hunting carry on. Regardless of future directions, the 8 screens of various possibilities for whats really going on come together for this submission. I'd particularly like to see more with the locals -maybe- the ones who think it was Jesus, or terrorists.

The writing delivers on the 'freaky shit going down' vibe I'm sure the creators were going for. JM Ringuet is an artist who does excellent work and the excellence continues here. Readers do have to pay attention to catch everything going on in the art, even then it's no sure thing you caught everything. A 8 screen submission with a high re-readability factor -genius! The colors fit the comic well, and all lettering is completely readable. Concerns about how it all plays out aside, It's a great start to a mystery I would enjoy reading on Zuda.

Zuda Review Leon and the Savage Fountain/ The lead character could be straight out of a cannibal exploitation film

Leon and the Savage Fountain is another March Zuda comic done by WEB99, w.a.r28, and klortho. Heere is the synopsis: Leon and the Savage Fountain is an epic tale of good vs. evil. The story is set on the backdrop of the New World, 1513. Leon has the misfortune of of traveling across the North Atlantic Ocean, with a crew of murderers and thieves, in search of myths and legends. The Fountain of Youth is said to keep old men young and bring life back to the dead. King Ferdinand II of Aragon demands this treasure to be not only the King of Spain but ruler of the world. Ponce de Leon will find this treasure thus making his king immortal and unstoppable. Long Live the King!

Have you ever seen any cannibal films? Yes, this does have something to do with this comic. Cannibal Holocaust, The Mountain of the Cannibal God, basically any one in the genre and you'll get the thematic feel of this comic right away. Noir style stories make an appearance this contest, but this was a surprise which made it a more interesting read.  Take out the cannibalism/exotic wildlife snuff film elements and you're left with some unsympathetic in the extreme bastards going 'exploring', pillaging and plundering the native people they encounter all along the way. You can also mix in the tone of Alan Moore's pirate comics EC tribute from Watchmen. It's the classic set-up of showing someone so horrible (in this comics case Ponce de Leon) that however awful their final fate is readers cheer it on. My problem is I don't know if this comics creators meant for Ponce de Leon to be such a villain, or they were intending Ponce to be a 'anti-hero'  and got cross of my Wolverine-types hatred. To me a character that has his sick men killed and thrown overboard, shoots a crew member in the head for being afraid of ghosts, and shoots a native child to show he wasn't a demon, lost anti-hero status back at 'has his sick men killed...' I don't mind reading stories where the main character is a villain, but trying to put a anti-hero spin on it would decrease my interest. If the evil is Ponce de Leon, and the good is the native people/ anyone but Leon, then this comic will have a regular reader in me. If Ponce is going to get a little redemption treatment in the storyline they have planned, that would be too much shades gray characterization for me.

Some of the opening text box thought balloons show a military man fanatically devoted to his king and country. In addition to being great writing (art and words in this comic are equally kick ass) it can't help but remind you of the self-justifying excuse of various atrocities committed 'in service to my country'. The story starts off bleak and gets even starker still. In some historical based comics I believe sticking as close as possible to real world history makes for the best story. In Leon and the Savage Fountain I think the story making up it's own history from this point on in 1513 would be the more interesting way to go. The magical element of the fountain of youth is already there, and otherwise Ponce de Leon dies from a poisoned arrow in 1521. Ponce de Leon finding the fountain and making the King of Spain immortal would definitely be a departure from history!

The text and dialogue make Ponce de Leon a memorable character, along with the high quality of art make this a very professional looking submission. The best screen of the comic for me is the splash page on screen 3. The previous screen lead up to it in the dialogue, and then in a well designed screen you see scores of dead bodies sinking in the ocean from a bottom-of-the-sea view. The art reminds me some of Marc Silvestri inked by Art Thibert. The homage studios look is still alive. Various other elements in the art from the George Washington Crossing the Delaware-esque silhouette in the top panel of screen 5, to the Where the Wild Things Are attired native boy shot and crawling back to his people on screen 8. The colors match the story, and all the lettering is readable. My concerns about the future treatment of Ponce de Leon considered, this is a horror comic that can send a legitimate chill down your spine. Not the kind of thing you find competing every month on Zuda, it's a shame it isn't higher ranked.         

Zuda Review Aleksander Christov: Assassin/ I thought it was wetworks, 'wet affairs' sounds slightly...

Aleksander Christov: Assassin is another March Zuda contestant currently ranked first place done by J9Naimoli and kenfrederick. Here is the synopsis: This is the story of a boy named Aleksander, who was raised by an abusive and alcoholic father, in Moratovo, Russia, during the cold war era. When Aleksander is faced with a decision of survival, he is launched into the biggest fight of his life – one that leads him to Leningrad and propels him from boyhood to the life of a skilled mercenary for the KGB’s Department 13, dealing in “wet affairs” such as spying, kidnapping and assassination. It is in this organization that Aleksander's every kill, or decision not to, unknowingly impacts the events of the cold war itself.  

The last line of that synopsis portends a bit of  'Forrest Gump style' choice seat for history story-telling. It could make for some sweet narrative twists and turns seeing Aleksander Christov unintended, or intended consequences. Hindsight being 20/20 there are any number of opportunities to work the lead character into the history of the Cold War. The historic aspects of this story is a draw to me because I'm such a history fan. The reason being back in my grade school days it was one of a few classes I was a lock for top marks. I have a appreciation for it only a report card payout of $10.00 an A  in my tween years could instill. Should Aleksander Christov: Assassin hold on for a win integrating real world history is one of the draws to keep me coming back for further updates. I hope this comic doesn't rewrite actual history for it's own world, beyond the possibly obligatory who was that masked man on the grassy knoll scene.

Enough about future possibilities, the 8 screens themselves had a surprising 'slice of life' quality to them considering the title implied action/adventure genre. This is owed to some fantastic art, scripting, and colors that fit the story. Letters being legible always a plus on Zuda. With the right amount of research, or actual Russian roots, it would be a fascinating story just to see a 'hard knock life' kid growing up in the U.S.S.R. Add on the promise of KGB skulduggery suspense this could be one of the more impressive titles to win a Zuda contest recently.

The 8 screen introduction to Aleksander shows readers a young teen having to hunt for food, and dealing with an abusive father. It lays all the groundwork for the ironies of life to be introduced later. His father taught him how to kill, wanted to be in the KGB, and ends up dead after a confrontation over a gun in the last screens. Text box thought balloons generally irk the hell out of me, but the ones here were well written, and not too lengthy. The realistic portrayal of domestic booze fueled violence was more griping than many Zuda offerings, right down to young Aleksander trying to escape out of a window, but being unable to. I once wrote in a review "if your going to do a western comic, you need to know how to draw a horse" so I appreciated the well drawn animals in the hunting part of this. The screen layouts don't do anything flashy, but they do tell the story in a straight forward way any reader will enjoy. A classic cliff hanger ending that leaves readers wanting to know what happens next, means it's no surprise this comic is fighting it out for the win.         

Caption this/ People that make your skin crawl

                                 

AFTER THE ORGY

Rielle Hunter & friends... on a bed... now say eeeeewwwww in a Jim Varney voice. 
Putting Kermit through something like that, GQ should be ashamed of themselves, the bastards. 

Zuda Review Night at the Western/ When a nameless narrator doesn't set the mood

Night at the Western is a March Zuda competitor done by lancebailey, CesarSebastian, and fonografiks. Here is the synopsis: California, winter, the late 1980s: lost on their way to bigger things in Los Angeles, a small-time conman and a thief reluctantly stop over for the night at the run-down Western Motel, in the agricultural hinterland. What should be just a short rest on their way to the big city becomes a wrong turn toward death itself. It is a detour one of them will not survive, and the other will never forget. Nick, the greedy conman, is drawn into what seems like an easy $10,000 scheme by Laura, the pretty night manager of the motel. He figures one quick score on the way to Los Angeles won’t hurt. Our nameless narrator, tired of a thieving life and hoping this will be his last job, follows reluctantly along. As the tension comes to a boiling point, the pair find themselves dragged into a plot that neither of them understands, unwitting players in a high-stakes game with opponents far more desperate than they. Nothing at the Western Motel is as it seems. Before sunrise, more than one person will be dead, and the lives of everyone will be turned upside down by a collision of lust, greed, jealousy and desperation. The plot twists, and twists again. With a full cast of honorable thieves, desperate criminals, disturbed relatives, and a femme fatale whose depths nobody understands, Night at the Western is a crime tale that pays homage to noir classics such as The Postman Always Rings Twice, Detour and Blood Simple..

You have some nice text box narration in this comic starting out, and some nicely design screens in the art. The beginning screen has some sepia-tone 'picture' panels which show the Western back in it's halcyon days of glory along with a modern day (for the story) sign having some busted lights, a nice set-up to seeing just how run down the place is on screen 2. There are some nice uses of shadow throughout the story, and lighting a character by the lights of a vending machine. Letters are all readable, the colors fit the story. It's not all good. This comic goes for too much text box narration to invoke the noir feel and fails to avoid the standard pitfalls of the genre.

For me the biggest deciding factor in whether or not a noir style comic works is how it handles the inner monologue of the lead character. With movie voice-overs and comic text boxes you can't do too much repetitious, or non-sequitur thoughts. Even what -mostly- worked for Frank Miller in Sin City comics got to be too damn much for a movie. It's not prose with pictures (moving or not) you don't need to rely on text box narration to describe a character when readers can just see the character for ourselves. You have something you want readers to know? Show it in the art, or tell it in the words, but don't do both in the same panel. This happens more than once in this comic with the narration description of people readers can see in the comic what they look like. it's not like the various descriptions added any particular insight, for example: Nick's general shiftiness/ reaction to Laura is well established by the art and character dialogue. It's not a bad thing 8 screens into a story to let readers imagine for themselves just how much of a bastard somebody is.  Screen 7 has the text box narration describing a kids crazy laugh as: It was the laugh of a lobotomy case, meaningless and loud, and as he laughed, his head nodded up and down like a jack-o-lantern on a stick. It also included some Sfx: HuhhuhhuhHuhHuh HUHHAHAHA! I liked the background didn't change for these three panels and the passage of time was shown by the dancers movements towards then away from the little boy. All that thoughtful descriptive laugh commentary was needless and detracted from the story. Have the letter go crazy with putting that laugh sound effect on the page, with even more/bigger font  than what was actually done. Comic fans see a character laughing crazier than the Creeper they can figure out for themselves the kid has problems. It's a comic ease up on the noir tribute speak and play up those kooky cool sound effects. The comic ends with the nameless narrator getting all reflective about his little brother Frankie who was abused by the other kids because of his disabilities. 'Nameless' tracked them down so now they leave Frankie along. It wasn't much of a insight to character, and unless Frankie is going to show up in this comic just more unneeded narration. I get the kid brother 'identify with' tie-in with the crazy laugh kid, but it wasn't much to end on.

Having a nameless narrator doesn't do much for the atmosphere here. The Continental Op had a title, and Clint Eastwood in the 'man with no name' Dollars trilogy had a variety of monikers. If a character has a name (at least a title) that stands out I can identify with the character better. The more I can do that, the more likely you are to get my vote on Zuda because I'll want to see what happens next.

Once again this is a comic that is synopsis snake bit. The synopsis actually did a good job of setting up the mystery, it's a pity the comic didn't hew closer to it. "It is a detour one of them will not survive, and the other will never forget" is a good line that had me wondering while I was reading who was going to get killed. Maybe Nick was going to die, or maybe the creators were going to pull a switch and have the narrator killed off and Nick take over narration duties? My looking forward to being surprised was over by screen 4 when it's revealed Nick dies. You can have suspense where readers wonder who killed one of the main characters. You can have suspense where readers wonder which main character gets killed, and who killed him. Zuda readers which would you find more suspenseful as the story goes along?

Night at the Western isn't a bad comic, it just tried too hard to establish noir cred. Less narration, more leaving things up to readers interpretation of the art, and I'd like to see these creators back again.