A Review of Hereville, Issue 1
By Benor | May 15, 2008
Hereville is a comic with an interesting subject matter to me; that is, an unfamiliar one. The first issue, “How Mirka got her Sword,” spends a lot of time talking about living in a Jewish community, though when and where is unclear-and as far as I can tell, deliberately so. However, it’s not about the community, as much as I would find that interesting. Instead, it focuses on one resident, Mirka, who seeks to become a great hero, regardless of her culture’s view of her gender or the lack of dragons and ogres to slay.
The art for Hereville is interesting to me. Unlike most webcomics, it has a deliberately limited palette, using only red, black, white, and various shades of brown. It’s a striking look, and I think it usually works for the comic. For the most part, the art is quite nice-I especially like the detailed backgrounds, which make the more realistic parts of the comic even better. But the characters aren’t quite as realistic-normally this isn’t a problem, but it leads to a problem with their mouths. Often, when a character is speaking, they’ll open their mouths very wide, and they look like a Muppet. This is more of a problem in the beginning than in the recent pages, but it can still be seen.
As I noted in the beginning, the story for the first issue of Hereville is about Mirka, who wants a sword she can use to fight supernatural creatures with. On the surface, this seems like a silly wish, and this is reinforced by most of the other characters. However, Mirka saves an odd looking woman, who tells Mirka how she can obtain a sword to use against monsters. For the first 10 or so pages of the comic, I thought that Mirka’s “sword” was going to be a metaphor-a reference to how Mirka became confident in herself, and fought against others. In retrospect, this idea seems silly, considering how combative Mirka is from the start, but the setting is very realistic, up to a point. Mirka’s encounter with the woman, however, introduces magic and the supernatural, and while the story doesn’t suddenly become high fantasy, it starts to take on a very different tone. I think the story is quite good, myself-as jarring as the change in tone is, it still seems appropriate, and works well to me. I do wonder if future issues will have as much of a focus on the supernatural, though. I think the time the comic spends on the community (such as the explanation of its Shabbat rituals) serve an important purpose in grounding it in reality, and I wouldn’t want to see the comic move too far away from that grounding element.
The characters in Hereville don’t get a lot of definition in the first issue of the comic. We get a clear sense that Mirka herself is rather headstrong and argumentative, as is her stepmother Fruma. And Mirka has more than one argument with her brother, Zindel, especially after Mirka becomes set on getting a sword. Beyond that, we don’t get to learn much about the characters-but as an introductory issue, that’s not a knock on the comic. I just hope that when the next issue starts, we get to learn more about the characters outside of a stressful situation.
I think the writing of Hereville is strong, though there are a lot of elements that don’t get explained. For example, we are introduced to Fruma, Mirka and Zindel’s stepmother, on the first page, and see her again in the Shabbat section. But while he’s mentioned several times, we never meet Mirka and Zindel’s father. We also don’t learn the location of Aherville, or what time it’s set in-though we can reasonably assume it’s in the 20th century, since electric lights are in use. All of these things create a sense that there’s more to tell, but they also become a little frustrating, like we might have missed a page that explained it. Of course, these things might be explained when the first issue ends and the second begins, but I wonder. However, I also found myself being absorbed in some of the details-I thought the Shabbat section was especially charming, and some of the arguments Mirka and Fruma had were very amusing.
The best way I can describe Hereville, from my perspective, is as a brief glimpse into a culture I don’t know about from experience, with a little magic mixed in. Fortunately, the comic also has a strong story to go with this glimpse, which makes it more than an interesting look. Some people might feel like there isn’t enough information in Hereville, and I can understand that concern. But I enjoyed the comic a good deal, and I’d like to see what the second issue will be like. I give it 8 out of 10.
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Odd-Fish Review
By Master Flare | May 3, 2008
I’m not exactly sure how I stumbled across Odd-Fish. Regardless, it has stuck in my mind for quite a while, probably from a combination of it’s atrocious puns and well done black and white art. I’m glad I have finally gotten to the point where I can review it, even if it has taken a while.
As previously mentioned, one of the many things that stands out to me about Odd-Fish is the black and white art. I’m not sure if the comic is done with pencils and ink or just has it’s levels adjusted in Photoshop, but the details in the comic is where the artwork really shines. The sheer amount of crosshatching and shading that is hand drawn on each character and piece of scenery is staggering, and these details are almost never muddled or unclear. There has been an evolution in the art over time, as the artist gets more settled into what style he wants for the strip, but even the beginning art looks professional. Another note about the art is how the artist makes the strange sea-going creatures not too horrible freaky. They are still identifiable and quite naturally complex looking (such as in the case of all a prawn’s thin and intricate legs), but yet they are not scary like many ocean critters look. For example, while the manta ray always has it’s huge filtering mouth open, you never get disturbed by the fact that you are looking halfway down his throat. Also going back to the prawn example, he manages to make the prawns look distinctly male and female, such as making the female prawn have a smaller, cuter face and giving the male prawn… I don’t know, antennular flagellum (?) that look like a mustache. While I might not be able to describe it properly, it works remarkably well.
The characters and plot in this strip are a bit lacking, but considering this is a gag-a-day comic, that doesn’t bother me terribly. The most frequent characters we see in the comic are Lovecraft, an octopus, and Howard, a pufferfish. Lovecraft is rather out there in what he does, so Howard works as a straightman. In some ways both characters seem a bit innocent, like young teenagers just starting to get into trouble, but I believe they are actually older than that. It might be nice to have a little background on their work situation or relatives, considering we have seen little Howards and Lovecrafts in some earlier strips.
One of the areas that stands out to me about Odd Fish is the writing and humor. Perhaps other reviews at CSB do not like puns, but I appreciate them. Puns are where I believe the creator does the best, as those jokes are the most accessible. The puns are usually new, although some are supposedly old, like “whale weigh station” instead of “railway station.” I believe I like the more original ones better, as the mentioned oldie took me about two days to get. The name of the comic itself is a pun, with “Odd fish” being more British slang for an eccentric person, and the comic is very much about a pair of quite peculiar fish, with the octopus Lovecraft being a prime example of that. Even the name “Lovecraft” itself is a joke of sort, referencing H.P. Lovecraft and his horror creation Cthulhu and possibly the octopus’ frequent engagements the more sexual realm.
Apart from the puns, I think the humor in Odd-Fish can get a bit hit or miss. Some jokes reach into the absurd or surreal, then others are so obscure you need you need help from other readers to figure out what you even need to Google to understand the joke. If you can figure out Raving Mad and what the images might have to with a rave, you get a hundred internet points. Seriously. The narrowness of who the jokes are supposed to appeal to affected my enjoyment of the comic after a certain point.
If there are any problems that I have with Odd-Fish, it is that I don’t know what audience the creator is trying to reach. At some points the story and jokes are very childish, such as Howard needing to believe Manta Claus and falling in love with a naval mine. But then you literally go to the next page, and there is whole strip centered about prawnography. While said comic is certainly my favorite of the bunch so far, and certainly highlights the character of the strip for (I can relate to how moronic pr0n is, it has two terrible and amusing double en trades, and it plays on the chatspeak word pr0n0gr4phy), it just seems like an odd juxtaposition of ideas. First we are talking about something presented in a kid-friendly way like Manta Claus and peace on Earth, and then we jump into an extremely adult joke. For me, it gets in the way. I don’t really want kids jokes in my adult humor, and I certainly don’t want “male enhancement” references in anything I would show the kids in my house. Fortunately, the jokes have been getting both more mature, defined, and subtle as the strip continues on, but I still find that the more innocent comics ruin things by comparison to the well crafted gags.
I feel terribly torn on my opinion of Odd-Fish. On the one hand, I like the humor and the amount of effort that goes into the strip. On the other, I dislike the obscurity and incongruence of the characters acting both ‘adult’ and childish at the same time. At this point, I am going to have to give Odd-Fish a 6 out of 10. There is definite improvement, but the awkwardness needs to be cleared up before I can enjoy it fully.
P.S. One minor gripe: the layout is generally good, although possibly a bit image heavy for people with slower internet access. But my bigger concern is that the archive page is hard to find. It isn’t in the top page navigation bar, it isn’t with the comic navigation bar, and instead in a tiny box on the right-hand side. This made it difficult to find the comic I wanted for my links in this article.
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Such disturbing sea creatures.
By Benor | April 21, 2008
I think that Odd Fish has one of the most fitting titles I’ve seen in a webcomic. Not just for the fact that the characters are odd, but for the fact that the whole tone of the comic is gently surreal. You won’t get a lot of big laughs from it, unless you love puns (and the occasional pop culture or internet culture reference.) But it has some very interesting takes on sea life, which pop up more as the comic goes along.
The art is quite beautiful for Odd Fish. It’s all in black and white, which is a fine idea, because of the hand-drawn shading used for the comic. The creator also has a fine command of anatomy for sea creatures-usually the characters are presented with human traits (such as having a computer or being on a psychiatrist’s couch), but they are still accurate fish aside from this, as far as I can tell. The whole comic has a wonderful hand-drawn feel, and I really enjoy it.
There are only a few consistent characters right now. Howard, a puffer fish, feels like the straight man for the comic, as he consistently finds himself reacting to Lovecraft’s antics. Lovecraft is an octopus who indulges in some very strange behavior, but he’s not quite the typical “wacky” foil to Howard-some of his behavior seems like actual ignorance, rather than lack of forethought. This gives his actions a more innocent quality, so they’re not as grating as a deliberately “wacky” character’s would be. There are a few more named characters, such as Hugh Manatee, the unlucky sea mammal, but most of the action revolves around either Lovecraft or Howard, or both of them.
The writing for Odd Fish is all about humor, and it swings between really obvious fish puns, and more surreal and/or disturbing jokes, that aren’t as specific to the characters and their environment (such as the attack of the tiny zebras.) The puns just made me groan, though they were almost redeemed by the artwork for them. Other jokes, such as the “rescue” of a bagpipe and a misinterpretation of an appendectomy, were either disturbing or amusingly subtle. On the whole, I think the humor isn’t that great, but it stuck with me longer than I expected, and even the worst of the puns at least had some nice art to go with them.
So how is Odd Fish? To be honest, I think it’s a very subjective webcomic. If you’re not that interested in puns, or turned off by them, then Odd Fish is not for you-you might enjoy the art, but the humor will leave you cold. But if you can tolerate puns (or even enjoy them), then it’s a wonderful comic to look through. Personally, I tend towards disliking puns as humor, though I can stomach them, and I think that Odd Fish’s art made them much easier to stomach. It should also be noted that while the art can make the characters look warm and inviting, this is not really a comic for kids-there isn’t anything too violent or sexual (which I’m thankful for), but jokes like watching “prawnography” or Lovecraft’s apparent interest in tentacle hentai make me think it’s aimed at adults. I give Odd Fish 6 out of 10.
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Next Review: Odd Fish
By Master Flare | April 8, 2008
So, we’ve updated a little bit here on Caught Stealing Brains, but not quite to the point that I wanted. Unfortunately, other issues kept pounding me. Hopefully they will get put up shortly, so in the mean time…
Our next review is:
Odd Fish
I feel like anything I have to say about this webcomic would spoil your reviews of it. All I will say is that at this time, it is a little short. See you all sometime in the future!
Topics: Review Hub, admin announcements | No Comments »
Fun in the sun? That depends.
By Benor | March 27, 2008
Caribbean Blue is a comic best taken in small doses. This isn’t because it’s hard to swallow, or particularly shocking. Rather, it’s enjoyable in individual comics, but taken as a whole, there are serious problems with the characters and the story.
The art of Caribbean Blue has definitely matured from the beginning. There’s a sketchy quality to it, even though it’s colored, but the shape of the character’s bodies have improved with time-in the beginning, they all looked squashed and stumpy. Now they’re closer to real humanoid forms, though occasionally they’re superdeformed for a joke or two. That occasional switch, along with the huge eyes and barely existent noses, are clear signs of the comic’s manga style. For the most part, I didn’t have an issue with this-Caribbean Blue is not the worst in terms of aping Japanese comics, and it has improved with time. The one area of the art that bothered me consistently were the townspeople-or to be more precise, the vast majority of the townspeople/tourists. While I can understand wanting to save time by doing less work on the character who will only be around for a few pages, depicting all of them as lumpy white things, with a round head and a face, irritated me all the time. Even if it’s not supposed to be their literal appearance, it still smacked of laziness, and I think it’s a habit that should be dropped by the creators. Especially since I enjoy the backgrounds for the comic, and I think I’d enjoy them more if the crowd scenes weren’t seas of white.
It should also be noted that Caribbean Blue doesn’t always have the same artist, but all of the ‘guest’ artists have a manga-influenced style, even if their specifics differ. The only significant change that I saw was the dropping of color, and I didn’t mind that. It’s a nice extra, but not a necessity.
The story of Caribbean Blue is something that should really have its own section on the website. What we see in the comic are two catgirls (or as they are called in the comic, ‘nekocat’) who have come with their friend, a full on cat, to a caribbean island. This leads to them learning that nekocats are the subject of a local legend, and meeting the only one who lives on the island. The story is probably the weakest part of Caribbean Blue, and not just because it has many familiar elements. This is a story we’re walking into the middle of, and the references to the past only make this more aggravating. The regular cat of the trio of main characters used to be human, but he was transformed by…something. We aren’t told how he came to meet his two friends, or what they’re on vacation for. To continue the connection to Japanese manga, it’s much like coming in at the 5th volume of a manga series. It’s possible to pick up the broad strokes of the plot, but a lot of details are lost from the first four volumes.
Most of the characters are done in broad strokes as well. Nekonny wants to become human again, and he keeps trying to take dirty pictures of his female friends. Yuki is the more responsible of the two catgirls, but sometimes will be mean. Tina is kind of an airhead, but usually well meaning, even if she does have a mischievous streak. And Maya is sensitive about her place on the island, and not that happy about no longer being unique. The supporting characters are just as broad-Paco Taco is a jerk (and apparently incompetent to boot), Rose is pleasant but stern, and Alice is helpful. The rest of the islanders and tourists are literally whitewashed into one mass, which I touched on earlier. It’s possible that the three main characters would have more depth if we were able to follow them from the beginning of the story, but I doubt it. I can’t say I was irritated by the characters being so simple, but it does make the comic suffer when it’s read in long stretches.
Probably the saving grace of Caribbean Blue is the writing. This isn’t to say that it’s amazing or a revelation. But it is amusing, and rarely takes itself too seriously. I wouldn’t say that Caribbean Blue’s writing would make it enjoyable for all-it employs a lot of manga and anime cliches. But it handles them well enough, and that makes some of the more questionable things (such as the shallow characters) easier to swallow without complaint. However, the writing doesn’t address every issue, and it has serious problems with pacing-it’s been all of 3 days in the comic, as far as I can tell, and that’s after 100 comics. There are also some typo issues-nothing huge, but a spell check might have been in order.
In the end, I have to recommend reading Caribbean Blue only a page at a time. That’s an unusual recommendation, but after reading through the whole archive, taking large doses of the comic is much like trying to fill every moment of a vacation with activities-it’s not as satisfying as you might expect, and in the end you’re less rested than when you arrived. But reading a page a day, it’s generally a more pleasant and relaxed experience. I give Caribbean Blue a 6 out of 10, with the caveat on how it should be read-if you read in large chunks, it’s more of a 5.
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Kookaburra sittin’ in the ol’ gum tree…
By Xenix | March 20, 2008
It’s good when a comic gets a song stuck in your head, right?
Right?
Kukuburi is a fascinating little comic with a surrealistic bent. It seemed to carry that bent with it from page one, as we watch the start of Nadia’s day. It is never so bizarre that the audience gets completely lost, though. While I did spend a page or two going, “Huh?”, my confusion was always cleared up by the following page. I do like the multi-page updates, as well. They seem to allow an author to do those “huh?” pages and then immediately follow up with some explanation without leaving the reader hanging off the edge of a cliff.
The story is just beginning, but I find that it is a wonderful take on the surrealistic genre. Most comics either treat the surrealistic as exactly that and keep it at arm’s-length from the characters, while others might leap head-and-shoulders into the deep end of reality and possibly leave the audience floundering in their wake. Kukuburi takes the surreality (is that a word?) in stride, so while it is decidedly odd, it has a definite feel of the familiar, both through Mr. B’s sense of returning home and from Nadia’s belief that this whole mess is a dream.
I’m really looking forward to where the story is going, and I really love the use of symbols for swearing. I usually don’t, thinking of it as a cop-out, but with the style of Kukuburi, it fits! I think it helps that they usually come all by themselves and not in the middle of sentences. It serves as a lovely little exclamation point for a given scene.
The art is bright and vibrant, even when being dark and gloomy. It feels like a cell-shaded cartoon and the only really odd bit is that Mr. B seems to be so much more detailed than anything else in the comic. All of the Chapeau Brigadiers have a smooth lines and smooth shading lines and not much in the way of surface textures… and then Mr. B comes along with his rough-edged coloring, lip-wrinkles, and generally leathery skin.
Maybe I’m just reading more into things, but I like to think that this means that Mr. B is slightly more ‘real’ to the audience than everybody else is. Especially since we start off the comic from his perspective.
Kukuburi willingly drags a 4.5 out of 5 from me. It’s a little quirky, a lot of fun, and what can’t you love about a bubble-pipe-smoking, fez-wearing chameleon named Mr. Bojangles?
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Next Review: Caribbean Blue
By Master Flare | March 10, 2008
I realize things are a bit slow in CSB land, but a number of things are going on in the background while we put up with content slumps. First of all, I’ve disabled the visual editor for writing posts. I changed this because it was causing too many issues, such as crashing and losing content and whatnot. If you want to turn it back on again, just change the settings in your profile.
Another thing that will be updated are the permalinks to posts, so if you link to a specific post on Caught Stealing Brains that URL may be changing. I will also most likely be cleaning up the sidebars, if not installing a whole new theme, for the site here. Eventually I will also make it so that you can get to Caught Stealing Brains from csb.peskybrain.com or something similar.
However, not to disappoint our comic reviewers and readers, our next review is:
Caribbean Blue
Aside from Caribbean Blue being an Enya song, Caribbean Blue is a manga-inspired comic that originally was called Nekomimi no Densetsu, or ‘Legend of the Catgirl.’ It has since moved hosts and changed from Portuguese to English. This is another comic where I will have to warn you about artistic style shifts, as there are some black and white pages that I believe were commissioned out.
That’s all for this update. I believe this and next week count as Spring Break for many of you, so hopefully we can get some more reviews done in time for next week!
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My Kukuburi review!
By Benor | March 8, 2008
Kukuburi is a beautifully drawn comic, with wonderfully surreal landscapes and characters. And even though there’s a serious tone to the whole comic, the art keeps it form becoming oppressive or stifling. However, the other elements of the comic aren’t quite as strong-and I worry that as we learn more about the story and the characters, the art alone won’t be enough to keep my interest.
As I’ve already mentioned, the art for Kukuburi is excellent. To me, it compares to some of the best art I’ve seen in printed comic, and in a good way. The colors are rich, but not overwhelming, and every panel seems well placed. So far, my only major concern is with the perspective, which can become quite dizzying. I understand the reason for it, since most of the comic is set in a very odd and alien place. But it doesn’t always work, and I have trouble enjoying the art when I have to decipher what the creator is trying to show. They also have a tendency to draw out scenes, showing more of the scenery and characters than they strictly need to. I wouldn’t call this a flaw, at least not yet….but if the trend continues and the pace slows down further, I’ll start to get worried.
Right now, the story is rather mysterious. We are introduced to the main character as she goes through an abbreviated version of her normal routine, The story picks up when her normal routine is disrupted, and it just goes off from there. And for 63 pages, quite a bit has happened so far, even if most of it is half-explained at this point. I do wonder where the story is heading, but at this point in Kukuburi, the only thing I can be sure of is some kind of battle between good and evil. Whether that battle will be interesting or cliched, I’m not sure of yet.
Right now, aside from the art, I think the characters of Kukuburi are the strongest point. This isn’t because of their great personalities-we haven’t had the time to develop most of those. But every character has a distinct visual look, and just enough traits to be memorable. My favorite so far would be the antagonist, unnamed but very interesting. He also has the most dialogue (and probably the most coherent, to boot) so far. I hope he turns out to be as rich as he seems so far, because I will be very disappointed if I’m proven wrong. Others are quite interesting so far-I’d love to find out more about the Brigade de Chapeau in particular. But we’ll see if these actually pay off, and when we’ll get some of the names for the characters.
The writing for Kukuburi is, so far, entertaining. The dialogue is snappy, the pace is nice, and I’m certainly interested in where it will go. But that is what worries me about Kukuburi. A lot of hints have been dropped so far, about both the overall nature of this new world, and about the protagonist and her enemy. Very little has been spelled out so far, such as the Brigade de Chapeau-what is their goal? What can all of their hats do (since it’s been shown that the hats are more than just a fashion statement)? And what special quality does the protagonist have that has brought her into this odd place? All of these are unexplained for now, but show a great deal of promise. I do hope that we don’t see too many cliches in the explanation-not that something familiar is automatically bad, but I would hate to see such interesting ideas come down to a by-the-numbers struggle between good and evil.
Kukuburi is a comic that has gotten off to a good start (especially with the art), and has a great deal of promise. Will that promise be fulfilled? I don’t know, and that’s my biggest worry about Kukuburi. But I think this is something I’ll closely watch, and I certainly hope it will continue to entertain. I give Kukuburi 8 out of 10.
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Next Review: Kukuburi
By Master Flare | February 27, 2008
It’s a middle of the week update! Why? Well, I wanted to be sure that the next comic coming up would actually update on time, and not have you reviewers ending on a cliffhanger. On that note…
Our next comic is:
Kukuburi
Again we have another just budding comic, but at least for once the comments related to the pages don’t aggravate the hell out of me. I definitely endorse Comicpress for anyone planning to do a webcomic in a blog.
Otherwise, I’m not sure what to say about Kukuburi that wouldn’t be a spoiler, aside from that I keep wondering about the name and if it is some bad Japanese translation of “kookaburra.” In any case, see you all at the next update, which should be around March 9th or so. Hopefully we will be all caught up by then.
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Dume review
By Merc | February 24, 2008
The goofball and the straight man is a duo that has been played over and over, in movies, cartoons, and yes—webcomics. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
In the case of Dume, the title character is the goofball and the straight man is his roommate, Rand. Dume is always under Rand’s skin, whether it’s intentional or not.
The artwork in Dume is the strongest point. Each character looks different, and the designs are all appealing. The expressions are good, both facial expressions and body language, and the interactions between the characters seem natural rather than staged.
The writing for me did not work as well. And unfortunately, the writing is always more important than the artwork. Any poorly-drawn feature can be won over with writing, but it does not work the other way.
Dume himself I found to be very annoying. I think it’s because he’s too much of a goofball. Rand, while less annoying, didn’t make that much sense to me. I keep waiting for him to beat Dume for being a pest. It could just be that grew I tired with the formula—Dume would do something to annoy Rand, Rand would be annoyed. Rinse and repeat. It did get more interesting when there was a longer storyline and more characters came in. I would have liked to see more of Sylmar and his sister. The comic also was more interesting when it became really bizarre, such as Dume bringing a whole surfing wave into the apartment.
Overall, I’d have to give it 5/10. It has great artwork and great potential, it just needs to stop being so repetitious.
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