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Pentavis Chronicles: Unearthing Project 10 #1
Publisher: Pentavis
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/23/2013 13:54:54

Lets dive into “Pentavis”. I won’t harp on the use of poser artwork in comics. It’s bad, it makes goofy expressions, and is a pretty good indicator of a poor comic. There are some straight up goofy facial expressions and repeated models in very empty backgrounds. If you want to hear more, go look up my review on Kinesis.

What really gets me is the lettering. Right off the bat my eyes were assaulted with some kind of loopy cursive font then some yellow backgrounds on font. This comic could have really benefited from someone with some kind of lettering experience. The dialogue boxes were so inconsistent that I was hard pressed to figured out who was speaking what.

The plot is hard to follow at best and suffers from a lack of development of each panel. The story is rushed and cluttered. In one page, we get a creature attacking a character, the resolution, and the next plot point or two. A lot of time the exposition is used as a replacement for any sort of interesting dialogue. I don’t know if I was dropped into a middle to the story, but for some reason it’s only 4 pages long (spreads, so it’s 8 “pages), but I still have no idea what’s going on.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
Pentavis Chronicles: Unearthing Project 10 #1
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Slave: the Graphic Novel
Publisher: Studio Stella Polaris
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/23/2013 13:15:03

Slave Staff: Greg Boucher (Writer), Justin Newberry (Lettering) & Aleksandar Bozic (Art) Overview: Conan the Barbarian meets Gladiator, but good. Review: So Slave is by the same company that bought us True North. Right off the bat we get a different art style. Very heavy on contrast (though that’s similar to True North). The quality is a lot higher in terms of fidelity and creativity from an artistic perspective. Some of the opening shots are composed really well.

Something that worked out REALLY well for RATO was that is an almost purely visual story. This one matches that. It has no dialogue until page 14. Gotta say, I’m a fan of the way they did this. We get a very intimate view of the hardships of all involve and I think the lack of dialogue actually added to that. It also allows us to focus on the world they are building. It seems very late Roman, but then we start seeing aliens and the like. Very nice mash up. There are spurts where there is dialogue and parts where they let the visual storytelling take over. It’s really a decent method to help manage the comic’s pacing. The visual storytelling allows them the freedom to jump hours or days, while when there is dialogue the flow of time is much more condensed.

The lettering is indistinguishable from professional work and it’s very readable. It is even fitted to the art style which utilizes a lot of line breaks. There were a FEW errors with the lettering. Sometimes they drew the speech bubbles to the edge of the page rather than to the edge of the panel, but that’s really just nitpicking.

It should be mentioned that the entire comic is done in black and white, but I don’t think it would be as successful visually if it had color. I always liked the works where there was moral grey area being employed and the art style was stark black and white with high contrast. It’s almost poetic (On page 23 this was in particularly good form as the art team employed inverted shadows to showcase a character’s silhouette.). The one issue I do have is that, while it is stunning, I don’t like the double page spread on page 28. It is a bit distracting.

The characters are well written. Quite a change between this and True North which has a lot of stock tropes. While the tropes are there, they are used better. We have the hard bitten gladiator, the softie who loves kids, the new slave, etc. These are rare archetypes to see and they twist them in ways that allow you to empathize with them. In just 40 pages we can see the seeds of legitimate character growth, which is something that is quite hard to do as smoothly as they did it. Some of the stuff you could predict, but even when you could predict it it was still enjoyable.

Something of note about the setting is that it is confident in it’s world. What I mean by that is that we don’t ever get long exposition as to what something is. In fact, I don’t recall any exposition. It just simply happens. I get that there are other species, but that’s not the focus of the story so they don’t tell me about it.

The story feels a lot like the tale of Spartacus, but different enough that it’s not a direct rip off or anything that dramatic.

So to sum it up: well written, very good art, and it has a certain charm about it. It’s worth a read if nothing else. There is a bit of a “Conan the Barbarian” in there and more than one allusion to Sparticus. I can’t help but think back to like some of the sketches from Heavy Metal now and again. Anyway, check it out.

Metrics Art: 8/10 (Good use of black & white) Lettering: 9/10 (Publisher grade) Plot: 10/10 (Character development and visual storytelling at it's best) Novelty: 7/10 (A new twist on an old thing) Overall: 8.5/10

PS: It's like 70 pages for like $2... that's awesome.

Review From: http://indycomicreview.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Slave: the Graphic Novel
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RATO Illustrated Plug Preview
Publisher: RATO Press
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/21/2013 11:32:38

RATO (Plug) Staff: Brian S Logan, Stefano Cardoselli (P/I), M R Dodson/Azurek Studios (Color), Bram Meehan (Letters)

Overview: So the 80's called, they want their scifi back.

Review: I have to admit, I love the 80s (see my black salt review for more on that). Let's start this review by saying that the art style is downright tantalizing. Kind of reminds me of Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl), Heavy Metal, Peter Chung (Æon Flux, Phantom 2040), and the like.

It seems like for every ounce of love put into the artwork, an equal amount was taken out of the lettering.

The comic preview is short (only 5 pages including the cover). It tells a story mostly though a visual medium, which is rare and interesting. I wish more people could accomplish telling a story purely though art. I would have bought and reviewed the entire comic (rather than a preview) except there isn't any more and it was added in July of 2012. Sadly this means that that's all we get to see of this one. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Metrics Art: 9/10 (80s called. They want to give you a metal) Lettering: 4/10 (Poor but not distracting) Plot: 8/10 (For a visual story with little text- excellent.) Novelty: 8/10 (Novel) Overall: 8.5/10

Review from: http://indycomicreview.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
RATO Illustrated Plug Preview
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Pink Pandas #1 FREE PREVIEW
Publisher: Pink Panda Comics
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/21/2013 11:13:24

Pink Pandas

Staff: Dave Farmer

Overview: Dave... we need to talk.

Review: So this is from author/artist Dave Farmer. Which... confuses me. It seems like it is written by and for girls. I mean it's called "Pink Pandas" and is covered in more sticky sweep pinkness than a 5 year old girl's room. I'm not judging, but somewhere between impressed and confused. Let's dive in and see what this has to offer!

So right off the bad my heart sinks. The artwork is grainy, low resolution, stock images or something with text superimposed over it. Letting is solid and readable, but the stock photography is... atrocious. When Brian Vaughan and Tony Harris did their award winning Ex Machina comic, they used staged pictures for the basis of their images and drew over them. No such inspiration here. Just low rez images put into panels. Once we get to the ACTUAL art, it's slightly styalized but mostly just bad. They look very realistic but often times the backgrounds suffer immensely from a lack of attention. Then there are some REALLY terrible gun effects on page 9 that make me just want to cry. This guy honestly has some talent burred under there, but he takes the lazy way out and just uses what look like MS paint effects to show us some gunshots. I... I really don't know what was going though his head at that moment. "Man, I have this gorgeously detailed piece, Better throw some low transparency grey over it and some black blobs." Come on Dave!

It's pretty clear off the bat that I am not the intended demographic. I'm not going to judge the plot harshly because it does what it sets out to do. It creates the image of two idealized rock star teenagers (or early 20s?) who are doing the girly girl thing. Then the main characters start swearing ("Crap!") and start pulling out shotguns and pumping bad guys full of led. Disconnect much? Who is this comic being written for? The little girl appeal of the premise is destroyed by the few swears and blood and gore that comes later. Anyone who would be able to enjoy the violent aspects of this comic would be totally turned off by the kid friendly premise.

At first I gave this book 6/10 for lettering... but then I got to page 5. From then on non-dialogue text starts showing up and I cringed. It's pretty bad. Red stroked black text in some san-serif stock font really just manages to hurt the eyes rather than impress.

Metrics

Art: 1/10 (Stock photos and sloppy backgrounds) Lettering: 3/10 (Good until you get to the onomatopoeia) Plot: 3/10 (WHO ARE YOU WRITING FOR DAVE?) Novelty: 1/10 (None) Overall: 2/10

Review From:



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
Pink Pandas #1 FREE PREVIEW
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Fracture #1
Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/21/2013 10:48:26

Fracture Staff: Shawn Gabborin, Chad Cicconi, Dave Dwonch

Overview: Good premise that is a bit squandered

Review: The premise is a nice twist on the secret identity trope. The protagonist is also the villain and has a mundane persona too. Lets see if they actually follow through on this.

Lettering is fine and the art, while not major publisher grade, is not outright bad. There are some weird expressions and over simplified actions that show a lack of dedication to dynamic posing, but overall it's ok. There are a few notable onomatopoeias that are actually pretty decent.

So the story does follow though a bit, but it is all cliches. You can kind of guess most of the plot. How is he all three? You guessed it, split personality disorder. It feels like a squandered premise a bit. Dialogue like, "Yesterday I was foiled again!" fall really flat and almost make me groan. Every trapping of a mad scientist villain is there and it almost feels like it's being lamp-shaded but they really play it to straight for me to believe that. There is a LOT of convince written into the plot. Like, "Oh, he never looked there so this whole story could happen". A lot of it feels forced.

There is a fun little bit at the end that gives an excerpt from the all important journal. Kind of a nice touch.

That being said, despite my let down that this would be an amazing use of a good premise, it's not a bad read. It's engaging, the premise is able to carry a lot of the story, and even though it's predictable it's never boring.

Metrics Art: 5/10 (Not major publisher grade. Does ok.) Lettering: 6/10 (Decent) Plot: 3/10 (Simplistic and predictable) Novelty: 7/10 (Good enough to carry the story) Overall: 5.25/10

Review from: http://indycomicreview.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Fracture #1
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C.u.p.i.d.s. #1
Publisher: Evolving Creations
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/20/2013 18:03:47

C.U.P.I.D.S

Staff: Charlie McCarrick, Carlos Gomez, Francisco Perez, and Albert Deschesne

Overview: I'm in love.

Review: So first off, the art on this book is amazing. It is very much in opposition to the more traditional Jack Kirby of art we see so frequently in modern comics. It’s very sleek and very digital. They used the space of their panels very well and the artist has a GREAT sense of color. The characters are expressive, utilize dynamic poses, and make good use of their motion.

Another thing worthy of note is that even though we have a LOT of female characters, they don’t look like Barbie doll. Their proportions are deformed, but not into some crazy unrealistic standard of beauty. They are still attractive and confident. Way to go!

The story is novel, involving greek epics, a big of scifi, and war. It’s a big thing to expect from a story with a cheesy name like C.U.P.I.D.S. I don’t think I’ve laughed thus far at a comic and this one was really the first time I did. It’s got a quirky, modern, sense of humor that appeals to the Joss Whedon fan in me. It takes the concept of cupid shooting arrows into lovers and blows it up into a James Bond/Kim Possible-esque adventures for a more mature audience (a few swears were dropped into it).

I dug the characters. They had personalities, they had flaws, they had quirks, they had little details in their personality. Finally! Someone who can write a decent character I can emotionally invest in! I actually enjoyed the villain and the first issue left me wanting more. I know my rule is “one and done” for comic series, but I might have to read more of this.

One of my only gripes is that the lettering is really small. I had to blow it up to read it correctly. But that’s a single sour drop in an ocean of wonderful, so don’t let that detract from it.

Metrics Art: 10/10 (Come for the art, stay for the story) Lettering: 5/10 (A little small. Otherwise good.) Plot: 8/10 (I said stay for the story right?) Novelty: 9/10 (Finally something NEW and not based on "So there are these superheroes...") Overall: 8/10

Review for: http://indycomicreview.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
C.u.p.i.d.s. #1
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One-Man Preview
Publisher: Warrior Innkeeper Creative
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/20/2013 17:26:17

116043-thumb140One-Man Staff: Paul Johnson and Benjamin J. Kreger Overview: Thought it would suck. Totally wrong.

Review: I gotta admit that I totally went into this book saying, "Oh man... a good stinker I can rip apart!" and well... I was wrong. The art style is quirky and bizarre, but it works. We're quickly dropped into an alien society filled with rich details, races, conflict, and humor. The lettering worked and was very legible. There are a few cliches played for humor, but they are more lamp-shaded then used in earnest. I am not entirely sure of the connection between the aliens and our bearded protagonist, but it was a short little preview. From what I saw- I liked. I don't know if it's my style, but it defiantly has that je ne sais quoi that a lot of indy comics today are missing.

Metrics

Art: 9/10 (Quirky but expressive and a lot of fun) Lettering: 6/10 (I can read it and it was good) Plot: 7/10 (Nothing new, but the universe is rich) Novelty: 7/10 (The art style speaks a lot to this) Overall: 7.25/10

Review from http://indycomicreview.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
One-Man Preview
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True North #1
Publisher: Studio Stella Polaris
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/20/2013 16:59:34

True North Staff: Greg Boucher and Guillermo Hansz Overview: Tired concept, luke-warm execution, but still worth a read.

Review: So I'm gonna start this with the art. It's never outright bad, but it gets real close sometimes. An awkward perspective here, a bad shadow there, and little things are in this comic. It's styalized I suppose, so I won't harp on it to much but sometimes the characters are drawn a little weirdly. The lettering is pretty uninspired. It doesn't do anything for me but it's legible and I suppose, so it does what it needs to. It should be noted that Guillermo Hansz, the artist, has a fantastic grap of dynamic posing and frames his motion very well. You can see the understanding of anatomy in every shot he draws, despite some of the awkward posses and facial expressions (which can be really creepy...). There are also a few reused panels which I though was in poor taste (see page 21).

The story really leaves me kind of confused. Like I get the idea behind it (which has been done to death), but it all feels like someone's attempt to cram as many "cool" characters into a story. Sure they all have personalities and whatnot, but it feels less like that is a result of genuine good writing and more because they all fit their stock superhero archetypes. You have the outsider protagonist, the tough vixen cat girl, the suave lancer, future love interest, etc. The plot is basically superheroes are outlawed and people hate them. A bar is home to a group of them and after a run in with some thugs, he joins them.

There is some real thought behind this, however it's execution often falls flat. There is a scene where a bunch of anti-superhero skinheads are picking on a superhero and their allusion to being like Nazis is handled with all the subtlety of a brick going though a window during Kristallnacht. Some of the dialogue is handled about as well. It seems a lot like the characters are instantly familiar with each other of the get-go with some minor stock conflict to bog it down.

A kind of interesting feature is that the comic gives you music suggestions for different scenes. It's very scream-o and, while it fits with the comic, isn't really my flavor. You can see a lot of inspiration came from that sort of music in this comic (heck, the main character looks like he might open for one of those bands mentioned). At least their is some novelty in that.

I won't say it's not worth your time, it is, but sometimes I wish they had opted to go for a more polished approach. There are two blank pages at the end of the PDF which I assume are meant to be filled because the scene just kind of runs into a wall and stops. Hey... it's free. Give it a look.

Metrics Art: 7/10 (Sytalized, but never outright bad) Lettering: 5/10 (No innovation but you can read it) Plot: 4/10 (Nothing new but a decent set up) Novelty: 5/10 (Plot is tired but at least they had that song gimmick) Overall: 6/10

Review from http://indycomicreview.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
True North #1
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Division M
Publisher: Joe & Rafa
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/11/2013 23:14:16

This only thing I can imagine is that this comic was written by someone who doesn't speak English as their primary language. The very first text bubble doesn't make much sense. It’s quickly followed by psudo-English for the remainder of the comic. Words are simply missing from sentences (“It seems star wars’ stuff.”) I think I was able to get the jist of it.

In terms of lettering, things are fine until they get sloppy and cut off a word or two.

As near as I can tell, someone outlawed superheroes and the two main characters work for Division M.

The art goes from pretty cool to total junk. Inconsistencies in the physical characteristics of the characters does little to help this (example: One of the meta humans has blue eyes which turn to light green ones). Some pages (like page 10) clearly have a few hand drawn pieces superimposed on a digital matte background and have the basic drop shadow effect on it. It gives the impression that everything is floating and the perspective is always a bit off. It’s the mix of digital and hand drawn elements that clash so angrily that make the artwork look sloppy. There is some real potential here, but it’s a vision only halfway realized. A lot of it looks like some concept art or maybe a storyboard that someone tossed some color on.

In terms of the premise, it’s sadly been done before. SHIELD, STAR Labs, Task Force X, Checkmate, SWORD, Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, MIB, etc. I dare say it’s been done to death. This is nothing new and has nothing unique about it down to the types of superpowers they encounter.

Metrics Art: 3/10 (Not offensively bad) Lettering: 5/10 (Nothing special. A few slip ups) Plot: 3/10 (Couldn't understand most of it due to grammar) Novelty: 1/10 (Nothing new under the sun) Overall: 3/10



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Division M
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Mid-Night Detectives
Publisher: Mists Detectives
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/11/2013 22:23:17

Disclaimer: This was not intended for my demographic, but I reviewed it anyway.

So let’s get into the worst part. I’m pretty sure they did their cover & credits lettering in Microsoft Word (and not a new version). However, that’s the worst of it. In-panel it’s pretty decent and it’s actually readable.

The art is half way decent. Not professional grade, but close...ish. For an indy comic that didn’t look like it had a lot of funding behind it that’s just fine. I mean there were a few scenes where it was clear the artist fell asleep or something, but it’s acceptable.

The plot is formulaic, but when lines like “Let’s rob and trick them!” are uttered by a ripped, naked dog with a spiked collar- that kind of flys out the window. To call it heavy handed would be a bit subtle. Then again, I gotta keep in mind that this is probably not meant for my demographic. For kids... yeah, it’s just fine. Plot is easy to understand, characters are identifiable, and everything runs like a train on train tracks. No points for novelty though. I think I saw this plot in Rescue Rangers or something.

I just love how at some points there are just random zebra and bald eagles trouncing around the city.

However, even for a kids comic there are some pretty hefty flaws. Some poor grammar choices stick out to me, everything is SUPER convenient, and names just get thrown out every 10 seconds. The writing (again, even for a kids comic) is really weak and basic on a level that some kids might find insulting. The staff seems to overlook things plotwise. Like on page 23 it’s randomly mentioned, “I have a smart wife” (referring to another character). You have seen these characters for a while and it’s suddenly mentioned in passing that they are married.

Anyway, it’s ultimately harmless. Kids will probably enjoy it. Kind of a throwback to like the early 90s tv shows.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Mid-Night Detectives
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Black Salt: The Origin #1
Publisher: Ratti Entertainment
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/11/2013 22:00:10

Black Salt Staff: Chad Boudreau, J.C. Grande, and Santosh Kumar Rath Overview: The 80's called, they want their kung fu movie back... in a good way.

Review: So apparently Black Salt is adapted from a screenplay for a movie so that sets some precedence as to why it looks so professionally done. Looks like there is a bit of a budget behind the comic (if not- good job! You fooled me!).

Typesetting and layout wise it looks like something you’d see from one of the big publishers so full points for that. There is some weird pixelation with the PDF version so what would have been a flawless review kind of gets the wind taken out of it but it’s not very distracting.

The title of “black salt” didn’t exactly SCREAM 1980s china shaolin kung fu action movie, but hey- it’s not a bad genre choice. They almost lampshade 80s kung fu action movies. The dialogue is sufficiently campy, the expressions and poses are exaggerated, and some cliche lines actually just add to what is ultimately a homage to this sort of thing. Not sure if this is what they are going for, but that’s how I took it.

When we flash forward to present day I can almost SMELL the 80s & 90s on some of these character designs, though they are a more modern twist. On occasion we get some weird body proportions, but what comic isn’t rife with those right? Seriously, this reads like a more modern episode of like a mash up of GI Joe and Ninja Turtles or whatever cookie action show you watched when you were a kid (if you are in your 20s now...). This is complete with contrived acronyms, cops pulling out ridiculous swords and fighting scuzzy looking villains. And believe it or not, I am not hating on this- it’s actually a lot of fun. I’m totally down with the whole “80s action movie” thing. Hell, I could see a young Steven Seagal in this comic’s movie adaptation because his machismo would be right at home.

Now I can’t say the story leapt off the page and grabbed me. I’m not super enthralled. I’m more excited about the dose of nostalgia I got reading this. I’m sure there is more to this than is just here and it’s kinda cool they are going headlong into some kind of movie, collectible line, and all that. I don’t know if there is a premise here to really warrant all that, but I’d be willing to see what they come out with before passing judgement.

Metrics Art: 7/10 (Professional) Lettering: 8/10 (Professional) Plot: 5/10 (80s/90s Nostalgia classes) Novelty: 3/10 (Nothing new, lot of old) Overall: 5.75/10



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Black Salt: The Origin #1
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Kinesis, Issue 1
Publisher: Zephaniah Comics
by Scotty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/11/2013 18:53:03

"Kinesis" Zephaniah Comics: William Council Overview: Some hilariously horrifying artwork and some massive writing faux pas

Review: Oh god. Let’s get into this. So first off this comic uses Poser artwork. Not like, “Oh man, you’re such a poser” but this. While it looks good on that site, what you normally get some weird uncanny valley 3d models. This comic suffers for poser-syndrome in the worst possible way. The character’s faces are as expressive as some of those robots you've seen walking around. The teeth and lips come out as weird, the scenes all looks extremely empty (containing ONLY the characters so it looks like a ghost town), and most the characters are the exact same height.

Also... the face of that baby will haunt my dreams forever. It’s like something out of a horror movie.

The lettering is passable. You can read it and it doesn't bother me. At times it can become hard to read due to the slant on the font. Then again some of the onomatopoeias in this comic are just downright unimaginative (“CLANG”). The text bubbles are bizarre at times and seem to switch up whenever the team remembered to add them. Overall, it's readable though.

The plot is downright schizophrenic and juvenile. The first few pages jump from talking about how they are the “fastest flyers” to crashing to a flying vehicle and almost killing person before the cop.. wags a finger at them? Then jump cut to some girl? Then jump cut to 22 years ago? This continues pretty much until the end.

The author also violates one of the cardinal rules of writing. Maybe this is the limit of his poser artwork but he tells us things rather than showing it. We get these text boxes explaining what the characters are doing rather than using the visual medium he is working in. The ends up producing lines like “Once again Cassiopeia reaches into her pouch and selects a creature”. This happens again and again rather than the artist actually showing us what happens. It’s really distracting.

This problem is compounded by dialogue that serves only to speak to the reader. This is like if I went to the kitchen and said out loud, “I am hungry. What sort of sandwich should I make? I don’t like rye bread, nor do I like wheat. Perhaps white.” If I’m the character, I know this and I don’t have to articulate this to the reader. This goes back to showing, not explaining.

Exposition is tossed in willy-nilly on the bottom of the panel on occasion to give us some background information whenever the writer remembers to fill us in on something. Characters gain powers willy nilly and limits seem to be arbitrary and ill-defined. This causes me to not understand what “danger” is. As a reader I can’t empathize or identify with these characters.

Hell, if you’re still with me at this point I’ll say buy this comic just to look at some of the fascinatingly creepy faces that end up on the pages for some reason. Some of the best are on: page 6, bottom of page 12, and the top of page 14.

Metrics Art: 1/10 (Horrific faces are bad to the point of it being funny) Lettering: 3/10 (Readable but not "good") Plot: 1/10 (schizophrenic and juvenile) Novelty: 1/10 (What novelty?) Overall: 1.5/10 ~Link to Product~



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
Kinesis, Issue 1
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Tim and Lynne 1
Publisher: Cremona Publishing
by Scott G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/11/2013 15:47:18

"Time and Lynne" Cremona Publishing: Garth Cremona, Wayne Cambronero Overview: Weird art, decent premise, old twist on new thing, but ultimately falls flat.

Review: So as we start reading this one, the first thing I note is that this is clearly an indy comic in terms of artwork. They go for a fresh approach that ultimately falls flat. The background is done in grey-scale/black and white while the character are all rendered in white. The artwork in the background is a bit sloppy at time (white artifacts, etc) while the characters are VERY clean with strong lines. There are some really sloppy mistakes (like the cups on page 7, the seat on page 13, gas can on 15) This makes it seems like they just traced pictures or something. A lot of it looks like traced stock art perhaps? The style & level of detail varies wildly as a result. Overall, this is a pretty novel approach but ultimately fails to impress.

The text boxes are gradient white->blue boxes that generally exist independent of the panels themselves. They use a thing almost comic sans san serif font which doesn't detract or add anything to this comic. The premise is a serial killer falling in love with another one. They do a good job getting in the mind of a killer, though only superficially (like the writer watched too much CSI or Dexter). Exposition dominates the first 10 pages or so and the plot hurries along at the pace of a man fleeing the cops. The dialogue is sophomoric and I found myself saying, "No kidding" most of the time the characters use actual dialogue (a lot of it is inner monologue). The second half of the issue felt like a parallel to the first half, which basically had me sleeping by the end of it to see what happens after we get the second story (which is essentially the same as the first).

I didn't notice any spelling mistakes but a few more editing passes would fix lines like, "Time to drop unlucky for some off". Use of period was inconsistent

There were a few clever lines. "Which knife to bring" make me chuckle a little but a lot of it felt predictable and expected. The characters feel very similar and rather shallow developmentally. We get to see the surface of these characters but we don't get any deeper than "they are serial killers and they keep trophies". We get a few details, but nothing to make me empathize or even remember them beyond "the guy and the girl". Their designs are simple and ultimately forgettable (mostly thanks to the art style).

Metrics Art: 3/10 (Sloppy) Lettering: 5/10 (No issues) Plot: 4/10 (Few chuckles but mostly snores) Novelty: 3/10 (Newish spin on old concept) Overall: 3.75/10

Review Available at: Indycomicreview.wordpress.com



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Tim and Lynne 1
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