Lots of webcomics reviews this week! Let’s just dive in.

Mr. Myth liked the Keenspot feature Zap!, particularly noting how quickly the artwork on the strip went from standard webcomic-functional to, in his words, “downright breathtaking”:

Zap may be one of the few comics where, as much as I enjoy the story, it’s the art that keeps me coming back day after day. …read more

On the other hand, he felt that Abstract Gender has “start[ed] to go downhill”:

There are a lot of webcomics out there that are trash, sure – and usually it’s because the creator is new at this, still learning how to draw, how to tell a story, how to make a joke. Ok, no problem – I’m not going to criticize them for still being in the middle of learning the process. Especially not when given how many strips started out weak but developed into something fantastic over time.

But on the other hand, when a strip has it, and is doing great, and then goes downhill… man, that sucks.
…read more

Zhi gave a fairly mixed, but finally positive, review to the WCN comic Zero Hunters:

The violence is unusual for horror webcomics and while the ‘lets do this’ guff palls somewhat I still found this testosterone-filled horror-show worthwhile. This a good mixture of a webcomic and I’m willing to ignore the cliches evident here and enjoy the dark side for a while. …read more

Aarin found School Spirit to be “simple, charming, and witty,” but had problems with the dialect spoken by the characters (and represented by deliberate misspellings):

My main obstruction getting into SS wasn’t the character designs, it was the thick, casual dialect I’ve heard spoken but have never read. I did top out in reading comprehension on my senior standards (helps offset my algebrwah? math) so once I said, “Hey, Mark Twain, Huck Finn, different words,” I was good to go. The actual dialogue beneath the language is well-paced and true to character voice, from elementary to subtle and not-so-subtle puns. …read more

Aarin also reviewed Bear and Kitten, which is apparently enjoying something of a sudden hit status on The Webcomic List:

If it isn’t for everyone, I wouldn’t know. It is for me. I love quirky, offbeat humor because it twists and displays a point within its contrivances. What that point may be varies from strip to strip. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t in-depth social commentary here, but it is clever shit with layers. …read more

Jack took a look at Annhilicious:

Oddball humor abounds and oddball art fits it like O.J. Simpson’s bloody glove. Wait. Scratch that. It fits like Michael Jacksons white studded glove. …read more

… and Bug Report:

Bug Report is a fairly new comic, actually it’s a VERY new comic, so I can’t pick it apart, so I’ll just say it’s a good start and can only get better from here. …read more

Extra Life was reviewed by the podcast “Two Cents in Sixty Seconds.”

Anne Thalheimer of Fleen reviewed Standard Deviation and Blue House Comics as part of a longer piece about webcomic mainstreaming. …read the essay.

Over at Time Well Wasted, there’s a new review of Greg Dean’s popular gaming comic Real Life:

Real Life has maintained its hilarity thoughout the changes in Greg’s life, up to and including his marriage to Liz, his move to San Francisco, and his recent stint in a culinary academy (that series was wonderful considering it’s a path I still think about now and then). He is a skilled artist who I think needs more recognition for his work. … read more

On his LiveJournal, The Ferrett posted a discursive review of The Mansion of E:

No, The Mansion of E is what the web was made for – a strange and alien little alcove where a dedicated creator doesn’t have to worry about an audience. Everyone’s got a publishing platform on the Internet. And God bless him that he does. …read more

There was also quite a bit of action in WCN’s Peer Review section this week. For example, Silly Daddy creator Joe Chiappetta recommended Innies and Outies to all and sundry:

Innies and Outties is a refreshingly entertaining slice of childhood. Leonard Cachola works hard to captured the heart of young kids in his comics, and as a father of three (and a former child), I’d say he is right on. …read more

Joel Rivers sent some love toward Dan Mazur’s Lummox:

The scratchy, cross-hatched art has a home-made, underground feel; refreshing in this modern, photoshoped age.
…read more

… and that’s everything I could find for this week (well, there was also this — who knew Randy Milholland was still bitter about the long-fallow, much-lamented, highbrow review zine, Webcomics Examiner. Wow. Did they give him a bad review, or something, or what? Funny).

If you write webcomics reviews, be sure to send me an email — joeymanley at gmail.com — and let me know!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2007 at 1:42 pm and is filed under Webcomics (Non-MT). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.