I know. I suck.

So it turns out I know how to complain about myself. I know I haven't posted in a week. This is for three reasons:

1. I was assigned a rather tough case for my firm (I'm not at liberty to discuss the details), but it required a number of hours at the office and by the time I got home I simply was too tired to want to do any reviews.

2. I was working on a revised review system. I've acknowledged that my review system does not lend itself to evaluation of humor. I know. Hopefully I'll have it by next review.

3. I was reading my next comic. It's a long one, but admittedly I finished it earlier this week.

For the Reels

Banner from Forthereels.com

TITLE: For the Reels
DATE OF REVIEW: 9/20/08

Misc. Info
URL: forthereels.com
Author: "Jon and Joe from Denver". Ha! Doubtful. I mean, seriously, you expect us to believe you're from Denver? As if.
Other Works: N/A
Started: December 27, 2007
Number of Comics: 36
Voting: WS100, BCX, TWC, TWL
Incentives: No
Incentive Updates: N/A
Genre: Humor, Films
Rating: T - Some gore and sexual humor
Notes: Reviewed by author request. This comic really clashed with my review because I traditionally review while listening to disc 1 of Stadium Arcadium, but after the second comic I had to go watch the V Speech on YouTube. Damnit. Oh, also, the first/previous/next/last buttons remind me of the ATHF movie intro.

Art
Coloring: Colored
Style: Computer generated
Effort: I'm a bit torn here. Yes, the art is crappy, but on the other hand it works for this comic. They may just be playing with special effects for backgrounds and their copy/paste keys must be on their third replacement, but things appear clear and neat. It's enough for you to get the references, at least.
General: I've resigned myself to not failing out this comic on art. Art isn't the focus here. I for one can respect someone with a good sense of humor who's lacking in the art department. That doesn't mean you net a high score for computer generated art though.

Story
Background: There is no plot. If you want some background, watch some good movies from the last four years.
Complexity: You can take this at face value. They're just throwing out one-shotters that make fun of movies.
Clarity: Some of these jokes you just won't get if you haven't seen the movie. In fact, you probably won't get most of them. In fact, you're probably not going to get any of the jokes at all on this webcomic unless you have seen the corresponding movie, even if you read the behind the scenes bit for that comic. Sometimes it's ambiguous even to those who have seen the movie.
Substructure: N/A
Draw: Film humor. There are a lot of inconsequential chuckles you'll get out of this, but unless you are an avid movie fan or just love this style of writing, you can still enjoy this, but you don't get the full effect.
Overall: There isn't really a story to be told here. Maybe I should have approached my Barista Girl review like this (I may look into it later), but what really is on the counter to judge is if any of the film humor is at all good. Well, the short answer is maybe. The long answer goes something like this: It all comes down to accounting for taste in the end, which is why I am loathe to do this kind of review. On one hand, movies are a fairly intrinsic topic. On the other, you will have a hard time laughing at all if you take this comic even slightly seriously, or haven't seen the movies. I suggest keeping Wikipedia at hand if you are not well versed in the ways of movies. You should be especially careful around the comics that give out spoilers. For that reason, you should skip the ones that point out that Quint gets eaten in Jaws, Hal betrays Dave in A Space Obyssey, or that he's actually dead the whole time in The Sixth Sense if you are not already aware of such spoilers. On the other hand, if you're the kind of person who likes to stop in the middle of a movie (when at home), or whisper to a friend (when at the theater), about how unrealistic something was, how else it should have played out, or wouldn't it be funny if [insert something you think is witty here] happened, then this comic is probably for you.

Upkeep
Update: No pattern. They warn you in the news post when they have a new one or an upcoming one. They seem relatively frequent.
Site Design: Okay, I really like this. The site gives you a multitude of functions, ranging from real movie critic scores (done by the brothers J) to the "Behind the Scenes" commentary on each comic (and thank you again- this is not a news post, it pertains to the comic!). Everything is easy to access and news is at hand on the main page. In fact, the only thing I don't like is that the page feels very crowded. Crowded pages are not inviting to new readers. Ah well, it's not like the movies have ever NOT been crowded. Oh right. And get a forum. Now.
Comic Navigation: All in working order. Main page has a nice 'select your parody' archive-like function that sorts alphabetically by parodied movie name. Very nice feature- makes finding a specific comic no problem at all. Bonus points for animated buttons. The archives are done by picture, which is even better.

Metascore
Art: 2. The art for this works. But simply being a utility doesn't make it perfect. The authors should consider looking into drawing their characters. I'm sure they had to put effort into these characters to even do them like this, but the comic is full of copy pasta and unoriginal positioning. Based on how much more dynamic characters look when they move and react every panel, it's something the authors should look into doing more often, even if the art isn't the focus.
Story: 3. As I said, the humor is funny, if you get it. A lot of these are just commentaries on other, more logical ways, films should have gone . Whereas others are just pure humor. Don't be surprised if these jokes are overused, cliche, or completely unoriginal. This comic is going to use some original jokes, but being a movie comic, chances you're going to see stuff you've seen before.
Upkeep: 3. You really had me going with that easy navigation, but the adverse effect that crowding your screen has on your readers is kinda like trying to enjoy a comic while someone has blaring music on. Using a sub woofer. Right next to you. Also, an update schedule would be nice, because without a rss subscription on the site, you're kinda left high and dry.
Final Grade: 3. Comics are funny. When you get them. This will be great for the wayward movie fan, but if you're not into that stuff (these are mainly classics, such as A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, etc) you won't get it. You won't always get it anyway. Ohh. Is that a double feature? Oh right. They like to roleplay a movie theatre. A nice touch. At the end of the day this will be something like several of the films it parodies: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, and Fight Club. A cult classic. By definition, loved by a very devout few. This will not get widespread appeal, but it's definitely worth a look. If you enjoy it at first, you'll probably like the whole thing.

Closing Remarks
Now eat V Speech!

I'm back. And I have less vengeance

So the review on Y2CL was a bust for two reasons.

First: it's a lagfest. To read any portion of that comic takes forever because they have crappy servers and way too many adds.

Second: I felt really bad about it. First, my tone was just incredibly condescending. Second, here's an excerpt: Not only is it intolerant, racist, insensitive, objectified women, constantly makes lowbrow toilet and sex humor, but the characters are less than utterly flat. They transcend the plane of boring, flat, unrounded, cliche, and scarecrow characters. They literally make no sense at all. These characters actually score negative on a characterization scale, and that's not making an insult. There's no 'rubric' column for something this utterly pathetic. The 'latest' update was somewhat amusing, so I thought this would be an amusing satire comic like xkcd. I was very wrong. Go to any page (I've only been through the first 40) and you'll see it. But on top of that, the page is so laggy due to miserable servers and loading pages with ads. he skips logic completely and treats fillers as canon, though I'm not sure if the storyline is supposed to have any logical backing since it features a naked fairy princess that seems to love the MC despite his constant jacking off with friends. Y2CL, which I would like you to remember stands for "Y2 Christ Light", alternates between utterly failing to produce a storyline (or any form of clarity, for that matter), and making nonsensical one-shots that make seemingly less sense. I pity the poor soul who ever lies eyes on Y2 Christ Heavy. Or normal for that matter. The comic is the epitome of low-brow "humor" that probably encourages the authors to keep their identities anonymous to prevent the mass suicide of their families.

Suffice to say I wasn't pleased, and I thought if I posted an entire review of that, especially one at an author's request, I'd only be beating a dead horse. The comic puts out some legitimately funny material in their later comics (much, much later), but anything involving its convoluted storyline should be kept away from at all costs. Their one-shots are pretty good though.

Alright, Alright. I'll bugger off this coil of thought and get working on that next review. Sigh. Burned most of the day reading that slow comic. v.v

Wow, that sucked. Oh well, let's try again.

For those of you who don't get today's blog reference, you can get it here. It was a placeholder quote for Kael'thas during beta test for patch 2.4.0 for World of Warcraft. I don't play anymore, but I can certainly appreciate some good developer based humor.

This is my first 'News Update' post. First off, I'll point out that I've permanently left Frumph.net now. I said I was moving out, but I'd still like to affiliate, and in response the site admin banned me and deleted all my reviews. Wow, that sucked. Oh well, let's try again.

Lucky for my I saved my reviews here, and I'll keep churning them out. I keep getting good suggestions that I look forward to reviewing, so keep emailing me with suggestions and I'll add them to my list (pictured to the left).

I had a lot of friends on Frumph.net, so I hope they visit me every once in a while.

I'm going to take this change to update you all with my system. Once again, you can look under 'Format' to see how I go about each review. If you search for stuff on my blog, you can either put "#" or "#/5" (example: 3; 3/5) and it will display all the reviews with that score. This also works with comic titles. I hope that will come in handy for my readers later.

The reason I titled this was not because of Frumph.net though, it's my bad this time. I felt my review of Misfiled didn't do it justice, I think it was because I was wiped when I wrote it. Expect a big update, but the scores to stay the same. Notice that I have also added a new comic to my list on the left, the list as a whole being a new addition.

I plan on taking things a little slower to pump out more quality reviews, but don't dispair, I still hope to put out at least one a day when possible (when I review longer comics this will, of course, not always be so: I was reading Misfile and Twokinds while I reviewed other comics, for instance).

I'd like to encorporate some good lulz for you though, and make this seem like an honest attempt to blog, so here we go. My try at being humand AND being funny. Let's see if I fail.

Listening to: Charlie (Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium [Jupiter])

What kind of beer does a murderer drink? (Hint: Not red rum.)
Answer.

Oh God. I'll never live this down...

Anyway, good day for now, see you next update!

Misfile

Banner from BCX.

TITLE: Misfile
DATE OF REVIEW: 9/18/08

Misc. Info
URL: http://www.misfile.com/
Author: Chris Hazelton
Other Works: N/A
Started: ?
Number of Comics: 1042
Voting: BCX. TWC?
Incentives: ?
Incentive Updates: N/A
Genre: Real Life, Magic, Transgender
Rating: PG-13 - Sexual themes and slight violence.
Notes: Reviewed by suggestion. Going in, the art looks pretty good. Not knowing much of the story ahead of time, the three main characters sound... unique to say the least.

Art
Coloring: Pencil/Grayscale
Style: Manga
Effort: Not bad. Art is, for the most part, clear and looks nice. The few times there are color it looks fantastic. The comic favors a lot of simple backgrounds. It could be improved, yes, but it is quality work. Sometimes character placement is a little awkward, but strong panel variation and impressive emotion ranges create distinct characters, each with their own set of mannerisms.
General: It should become apparent from the storyline rather quickly that there will be sexual themes here. That's to be expected. There will be less than church-worthy material here, considering the angels, but it's not central to the piece. I was happy to find that not only does the art make a strong presentation, but also that the comic didn't degenerate into transgender art. Overall the art is respectable and has refined without evolving much (not necessarily bad). I'd really like to see it colored (there were a couple colored pages under fan art- someone must have done a recolor), but we all have our vices, no?

Story
Background: A pot-smoking angel screws up and turns a high school guy into a girl, and a senior girl into a sophomore. They try to cover it up an get Rumsiel (the angel) back into Heaven so he can fix everything.
Complexity: I think John Solomon, another comic reviewer, makes a good point in one of his latest updates. While I tend to disagree with his manner of evaluation, he points out that a good writer knows his characters as he knows himself. This is certainly true of Chris, who answers questions in character that he receives on a separate email address, as the character Ash. Each character is very distinct in persona, and this is certainly not a comic of cliches. The author is a car enthusiast and knows a thing or two about cars.
Continuity: 24 fillers in over 1000 comics. Not bad. Comic flows throughout the story with no lapse in continuity.
Clarity: Clarity is fair enough. They tend to answer questions as they come.
Substructure: Split by books. Works well for archives.
Draw: The comic is a surprisingly interesting one. When I was first asked to review this, I had my doubts: I'll be the first to admit I was a little prejudiced against any TG comics. After reading it I realized that the real draw here is some actual realistic human interaction (very rare in modern comics), so even if the story isn't your thing (oh God, at first I wrote 'if the plotline isn't a turn on for you': the horror!).
Overall: Strong presentation for the story. Well rounded, deep characters help perpetuate the story, since the plot is literally what goes on in their lives. The story is not perfect. Characters do occasionally seem a little static, and often the story centers far more on Ash than Emily. One change may be more interesting, but that still doesn't explain why Ash has been the center of attention so often. The story itself doesn't have an end in sight, which isn't necessarilly a bad thing, but the fact is that there is no real driving force behind the plot. Oh well, you can't have it all I suppose.

Upkeep
Update: Updates every weekday. Updates have missed a couple times lately, I think they might have a new child in the family (based on news updates). I guess life happens, so it's excusable. It's certainly updating a lot more than many comics.
Site Design: Site design is strong. You'll get everything you need here and more with little issue. The Ask Ash feature is nice: you email the author on his alternate email account and he answers quests in character as the main character. Good to know someone knows their characters.
Comic Navigation: Buttons appear all to be in order. With 1000+ comics, I wish there was a search option. Archives are sorted by book number.

Metascore
Art: 4. This comic looks good. But aside from that, I fail to see much of anything wrong with it, but it lacks the "wow" factor necessary for a 5. Simple backgrounds and pencil grayscale are the art's vices.
Story: 5. Well rounded story, especially for characters. Here's wishing for a little more dynanacism and spotlight on the other characters.
Upkeep: 4. You get what you need and more. Could use some fine-tuning, but looks nice for the most part. Here's to wishing there was a more in-depth FAQ, and maybe information about the authors/general comic.
Final Grade: 4. Strong balance overall. I'm not surprised that this comic has a suitable following and holds 3rd on BCX. Its strength is in characters. Its weakness is in details. It has everything it needs to be a good comic, it has everything to be above average, but a lacking something to make it shoot up and above other comics, it's at a four. Realistic characterization are a big strength.

Closing Remarks
I enjoyed this comic a lot more than I expected. Today I received another comic request as well, so I'll add that to my list ahead of EGS (since someone suggested that I review that, rather than being author request).

Barista Girl

Banner from Baristagirl.com

Ed Note: Small typographical updates

TITLE: Barista Girl
DATE OF REVIEW: 9/17/08

Misc. Info
URL: http://www.baristagirl.com/
Author: "Ratchet DuPwah"
Other Works: N/A
Started: January 7, 2008
Number of Comics: Almost 100
Voting: No
Incentives: N/A
Incentive Updates: N/A
Genre: Work Humor
Rating: T - Heavy course language. By the second comic, this comic is sure to expand the vocabulary of young readers in a bad direction. A lot. Occasional violence. Rarely blood, but certainly murder.
Notes: Chosen by request. First "blog" comic. This will be the penultimate review of Season 1 of Read My Complaints. Be sure to join us for Season 2, which won't have any gap of time between it at all. I just thought I'd split them into seasons every 4 reviews for the lulz. More to the point, I learned what a "Barista" is from "Questionable Content", I think I should look forward to this. I'm a fan of sarcasm, and the first page seems to be a good sign for me.

Art
Coloring: Black/Pen; Inked
Style: Unique, some American influences.
Effort: Art varies a lot. It will go strip to strip looking good and back, varying with little rhyme or reason. While I have no trouble what's going on, and the style has definitely improved, it still has a lot of refining to do, as well as finding a 'happy medium'. Look into doing color: the few that you colored looked great.
General: People's clothes change. While they wear them. This can be confusing for when you're trying to get a hold of who is who. A lot of shirts say one thing in one panel and by the end it's cycled through several unique shirts. While this is amusing at first, it makes it very hard for a new reader to grapple with faces for new characters. I guess you don't need to know anyone but the main character? There might be other important characters, but with no names and little plot importance for them, they all sorta become faceless. Distinguish your characters and have a reason for them. That's not to say that Barista Girl doesn't do things right. Action scenes are nice, and there's excellent panel variation. The nice frenetic feeling that the comic gives off is good considering the action. Emotions don't often variate from 'bored', 'angry', 'annoyed', or 'stupid' though. Some variation would be nice.

Story
Background: Basically the story is about the pains of being a Barista. There isn't really a plot, so much as there is a girl dealing with a sucky job.
Complexity: This one's pretty flat. Nothing too complex, you can take it for face value here.
Continuity: It's basically like a story without a plot. It jumps randomly, and a lack of color makes it impossible to tell the time of day. Suffice to say, you could accept this as a series of running one-shot comics that are chronological and are all canon. The closest thing you get to a story is that at one point the BG quits and is unemployed a comic or two, then gets another. At another coffee shop. So close to character development... and yet so far. Lots and lots of fillers, though.
Clarity: Pretty clear. Nothing much to follow. You'd probably get it more if you're into indie stuff. And coffee.
Substructure: Once in a while there is a label. There was a 6 comic storyline, the title of which I can't use in present company (apparently I get thrown out if I go "overboard"). Other than that? Nada.
Draw: The main draw here is complaints. People like to complain, misery loves company, and people like to hear complaining. That's why I named my reviews "Read my Complaints".
Overall: I may have missed something, but I don't think any of the cast has a name. There's the main character, who complains, a coworker who isn't good at his job but gets paid more, and a myriad of customers, all of whom are depicted as idiots. I'm not saying it's not true (I've never worked in a coffee shop), but that's how it plays out. I find it ironic that she is continually called a Barista Girl, however, when a Barista's job is expressly to mix drinks, and she refuses to deviate from a set menu. By the by, this is basically a no-plot story about a girl who hates her job, and it just continuously cuts to another seen where the main character is seen suffering. Combined with the color scheme, it feels very emo. Bear in mind that while I say they could all be one-shots, they are all about the same person and I in chronological order, it's just that no event seems to effect anything outside its own comic. Without a plot, it seems a running chain of jokes that's purpose is only humor and violence. Or maybe humor as a result a violence. Since the author is a Barista (I assume, from the blog posts), this comic may be their way of venting. It's funny, if you're into people being mad.

Upkeep
Update: This comic updates pretty much without any warning. I had to search hard for a schedule: on the first comic, the "blog" update says it updates Mondays and Fridays. Aha! Looking at the dates on the comic, it's clear that there is no real pattern here. Three or four days feels like a good estimate for this one, but I've seen fluxes go from one day to seven as quickly as one comic to the next, and its follower.
Site Design: Okay, so BG is hosted by PPP (Papal Petrol Productions, which doesn't make any sense lest you simply wanted a bit of alliteration for the letter P. The Pope rarely deals in oil. So rarely, in fact, his oil glands have probably all dried up. But enough about names and elderly religious leaders.) and set up with ComicPress. Fair enough, but it feels very bloggish. To the point where I have serious doubts it's not a blog. You get a blog with author comments for every update, which is not uncommon, and below that blog responses. Well, I guess that throws the need for a forum out the window. On the other hand, they have a nice layout for everything else (they even have a shop: surprising in something so new, possibly suggesting a fairly devout fanbase). They have the standard "Contact", "Home" and "Shop", suffice to say, while an Archive and Forum are unneeded since they appear on each page. What IS shocking missing is some form of FAQ or Cast page. I think this is a must for webcomics: you need a place to inform your readers, especially new ones. People want to know what kind of comic it will be before it begins, so they can see if they will like it (in my experience, at least).
Comic Navigation: I'll be honest with you. I skipped down here just so I could say this one now. There is no latest button, and the only 'first' button is on the main page. Ouch. Aside from that, there is a nifty calendar with which you can quick nav to a date, if you know it. On that page, there is no forward/back, you have to click the picture to go to that 'post', at which you can navigate. A little confusing, but intuitive enough. The lack of buttons hurts my soul though, especially considering it can be hard to pick out. There's no search option, and while a 'first' button may not be necessary on every slide, and you can use the home button to get to the latest, it makes me cry myself to sleep at night knowing there's not one here.

Metascore
Art: 3. Art could use work. It's shaky, it's messy, but you can always tell what's going on. I've never had trouble identifying a scene. There are a lot of fillers, and there could be more effort, but that's clearly not what this comic is about. If you'd give us more story and less fill, and you'd put a little more effort in (those colored strips, where they were, were big improvements in my opinion)... and maybe distinguished between characters, I would kick it up a notch. I like the art on a core level, but some parts look downright ugly. To contrast, pages right next to that can look great. I think you need more time to refine your style.
Story: 1. Story is nonexistant. The longest running 'story' took 6 strips. It's pretty much all one-shots. Somewhere else in there there was a sequence of 3 that seemed to be more than just one-shots, as they were related.
Upkeep: 2. There is just so much to improve. This is a weak point. Make getting around a little easier for us, and I think it will help a lot. An FAQ or cast page would be an even better step in the right direction. A solid update schedule, though, is what I'm pulling for the most. The reason I'm inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt and push you up to 2 is that you did a whole lot right, but sadly these three things are pretty vital. I'm not saying 'slow down so that your fans have to wait', but I do think that having a schedule will not only make life easier on you (not in a constant rush to get your next comic out, and if you stack up, you can save them for later updates), but it will also make things easier for your readers when they know when to expect the next comic. The fact that you have a subscribe button here must be a Godsend: otherwise people would have no idea when to look.
Final Grade: 2. This comic has its ups and downs. While it may lack in the common areas of comic analysis, it has its strengths in something we can't measure, which is that it was designed to be a humorous comic. However, that is all a matter of taste, so I can't remain objective of it. Simply put, I'm scaling this comic with the best in the business, and on a scale of 5, 1 does not mean that you should avoid it like the plague. Look into it if it interests you. If you like violence, sarcasm, and anger in a comic, look into it. But what I can say is that if you aren't interested from the beginning, that is unlikely to change.

Closing Remarks
This isn't necessarily a 'bad comic'. If you're reading it for the humor of anger, then more power to you, but nonetheless, I grade hard and there are great expectations. Sadly, this comic, while good in its own respects, can only put up two indie girls fighting against public idiocy out of five.

Key

Banner from key.shadilyn.com.

TITLE: Key
DATE OF REVIEW: 9/18/08

Misc. Info
URL: http://key.shadilyn.com/
Author: "Flora Li"
Other Works: "Some Untitled Ragnarok Comic"
Started: February 7, 2007
Number of Comics: 147
Voting: TWC And BCX
Incentives: Yes
Incentive Updates: Weeklyish
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Real Life, Magic
Rating: G - Fun for the whole family. Apparently the author goes to great pains to make a certain wyvern not curse like a drunken sailor.
Notes: I have to admit, I love this author. Without even reading anything about her, her works, or the comic, the snarky self and character deification in the comics is just sarcastically entertaining to say the least. Not only that, but each time she writes a comment for a comic, it's a couple sentences. Something you might actually read. And it pertains to the comic! What a revolution!

Art
Coloring: Color
Style: Manga
Effort: Wow. That's impressive. Characters look nice, well done, and are easy to distinguish. Backgrounds are fantastic outside, though indoors gets the 'lazy gray' syndrome, which the author admits to. Another thing the author comments on is an inability to draw fight scenes. You'll get a couple good ones, but others indeed look static. Nothing big, the rest makes up for it.
General: Not only does this comic make good use of art skills, but it does a fantastic job with special effects. Blurs are great for making less-than-perfect backgrounds whole, and nothing feels out of place. The comic feels very natural and looks like the kind of art you would expect on a published work. I did note before that fight scenes occasionally look static, and once in a while people look to be photo-shopped in (maybe not far from the truth), but overall it looks fantastic.

Story
Background: There are three dimensions. The happy one where things are cool, the evil one where people are up to no good for sure, and the human one. I would assume based on the looks of Zimbabwe, Georgia, early 1900s Germany, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the current social state of affairs in Korea and Vietnam that we're the evil realm, but it turns out that we're not. They're "Daemonikhans".
Complexity: The author can indeed confuse you at times. It's definitely clear they have the story planned out, but the execution can seem a little weird at times. Characters, however, appear to have some pretty well rounded personalities.
Continuity: No fillers. At all. I like that a lot, because I enjoy this story. One story arc, so it all goes with the flow.
Clarity: My one gripe is with Clarity. You flashback with absolutely no warning and no way to distinguish. I was only able to tell from comic comments!
Substructure: Yes. Very well done.
Draw: This story is immersive. I have to stumble through a lot of comics, and even 100 pages can seem like a lot then. I had no such problems here. It's like watching a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat (not really, not so much adrenaline here), or even more so reading a really good book. You want to see how it plays out. I was shocked to find I was at the end of the archives so quickly.
Overall: The author presents us with two shortcomings. The first should be obvious: there's clearly not much creativity when it comes to naming things. "Daemonikhans" are evil. The macguffin of the piece is The Key (perhaps even the key to the plot). There's just no way someone from their realm could be good. But I guess social stereotyping is a bit of a leap, and since it was in character and not proven yet (almost to the contrary, it seems, as one major character might be an "evil" Daemonikhan), and it's understandable for one character to generalize a race ignorantly. The second is clarity. Without warning, and with no way to distinguish them, there will be flashbacks. There will be a lot. Read the comic comments or you can get lost. All the same, a powerful showing from the author in story.

Upkeep
Update: Wednesday and Saturday. And according to page info (which does not lie), she doesn't miss a date. Nice.
Site Design: Site design is great. Gives you everything you need and more, easy to access, intuitive interface. Chatbox is an extra plus.
Comic Navigation: Not only does this have the standard first/previous/archive/next/latest, it is organized in the archives by PAGE NUMBER AND CHAPTER. Somewhere, the Gods of organization have smiled upon this kindred spirit.

Metascore
Art: 5. From the get-go, I was disappointed that this author was making it so hard to complain. By the end, I was stunned by good effort, art, and update schedule. Very impressive. Work on placement and fight scenes, and watch out for lazy background syndrome: it's on the rise. However, the problems weren't enough to push you down to a four.
Story: 4. Story is somewhat hindered by the fact that it can skip without clarity. Characters also all seem to be not surprised by portals. Is it coinscience that everyone of relevance to another dimension lives in the same town and goes to the same school? I guess so. Otherwise, characters and story seem good.
Upkeep: 5. Fantastic is all I have to say. Dedication to updates, good organization, and a strong site make for happy fans.
Final Grade: 5. The 4 on the story just wasn't enough to bring it down. This comic deserves a fanbase, and I've never said that about any comic: if it was good in my book, it had a huge community of followers. I followed a link at random on TWC at slot 30. This was not expected.

Closing Remarks
I really wanted to hold off on giving something a 5 for quite some time. It's hard to get a reputation as a complainer if you praise someone, but upon reading this comic I was already feeling pressure to give it a 5. On top of that, once I filled out my own rubric, I found it also recommended a 5. Disappointing for me, good for you. For impressing me so much, I'm proud to award the author with my own poorly made QQ Award of Merit. Congrats.

Twokinds

Banner from TWC

TITLE: Twokinds
DATE OF REVIEW: 9/15/08

Misc. Info
URL: http://www.2kinds.com
Author: Tom Fischbach
Other Works: N/A
Started: 10/22/03
Number of Comics: 400+
Voting: TWC
Incentives: Yes
Incentive Updates: Weeklyish
Genre: Furry, Action, Drama, Fantasy, Humor
Rating: MA - Mature Audiences Only. Some violence, but sexual themes on numerous occasions.
Notes: I thought I'd start with something near the top of TWC. Something someone might recognize, but hasn't been reviewed. I thought I'd feel cheap if I chose the top comic for the first review. That comes later. So here's number two. Ironically, Twokinds.

Art
Coloring: Color
Style: Manga
Effort: 5/5. Each comic is clearly crafted with care. There are 'fillers', but it is pretty rare as of late. As soon as the comic started coming out in color, there was never a black and white. More modern comics have what appears to be computer generated skies for backgrounds. If not, they are beautiful. Sadly, it seems it will be hard for be to complain about Twokind's art.
General: Okay, so this probably goes without saying in a Furry comic that I consider MA, but there are numerous sexual themes throughout. I figured this note belonged here more than later on, because they're images in truth. Brass tax is, while they don't outright SHOW sex (they do get close), it is implied on a couple occasions and characters are often put in sexual situations. If you're not comfortable with that, this comic is definitely not for you. There is a lot of 'fan-service' for the furry fans, so don't be surprised about themes here. Overall, art looks good, characters are easily distinguishable. Has heavy anime/manga styles present.

Story
Background: To put things simply, the new leader of the 'Templar', a power hungry organization of mage-warriors, has amnesia and befriended a Keidran, an animal-person that the templar so fiercely oppose. Problems ensue when his old, cruel personality's life mixes with his new, friendlier life.
Complexity: There is certainly a level of mystery at several points in the comic, and it does well to keep it interesting. The writer clearly has a storyline he is following and knows what is coming, but keeps the fans speculating (as I've noted from a quick scan of the forums, there is a large amount of theorycraft at work).
Continuity: One plot. While split into chapters, the story is all literally one story, so it doesn't really have the ability to trip up here if written properly. It appears written properly.
Clarity: For the most part. On occasion things will happen without explanation, and at one point the story jumps without warning to a point distantly in the future of the current plot, then jumps back. It is not uncommon for things to simply be explained as 'magic'. While there are no plot-destroying issues, it could be cleared up.
Substructure: Might as well not exist. While split into chapters, there's no navigation to the different chapters and the chapters don't have unique arcs. There are chapter 'cover pages'. They don't make a difference.
Draw: The story is enough to keep you going, but you won't be interested in it at all if you don't like the genre. I'm really into comics for the story, so on a personal level, I could care less whether or not it's a 'furry' comic. What I can tell you is that the author puts in a fair amount of fanservice (something I and other nonfurries probably aren't interested in) when it doesn't interrupt the story, and that you won't crave updates unless you just adore this comic. It'll be a nice thing to look into, but a missed update won't break your heart.
Overall: Story's okay. It's not great. It's great in scope, it goes on a 'day-by-day' basis, so there will be normal events, and getting things done takes time. There are no major 'arcs', but there are different goals. Each character is given depth, motivation, inner-conflict, and goals. Background is provided often when needed to fuel the fantasy world that is largely unique, but following some general 'fantasy' themes (lacking any of the standard races but humans, of course, substituting two new races of its own). Brass tax? You'll see better. You'll like this more if this is your thing, you'll probably drop it immediately if it's not.

Upkeep
Update: Stated: Weekly. Actual: >2 weeks since last update.
Site Design: Site design is good. Has everything a site needs. Easy access to comic info, the latest update, archives, and forums.
Comic Navigation: Bad. This is what hurts you. It has the standard next, previous, first, and last, but with no method of searching, and since comics are organized by date and not number or any type of title, it becomes a real pain to find any particular comic. Because forum-goers are constantly looking to the past for information, I'm sure this hurts them (I see a lot of links in argument threads, those must be painful to find). Frankly, a search system or easy-to-navigate archive is vital.

Metascore
Art: 5. I hate to say it, but he did good. Watch out for the content though.
Story: 3. It's good, but it's not great. You'll enjoy the story, but it will not drag you on and on. Like any good comic, you'll want to read it in a sitting (impossible without a few hours, but you can get in a few sittings), but this one isn't the kind that makes you suffer when an update doesn't come around.
Upkeep: 3. Tom, get in the game and add a better way to look at the old stuff. And admittedly I noticed from old updates your personal life got in the way, but please don't say you update weekly if you don't. Haitus is better than leading people on.
Final Grade: 4. It's good. It's impressive even. If the author will fix their site upkeep, it'd really help. The author can't really help if their story doesn't have widespread appeal: that comes with the territory when you write about a stigmatized subject such as furries. On the other hand, he presents a strong story with good evolution of art and character development. Nice work.

Closing Remarks
That wasn't near as angry, depressed, or negative as I had hoped. I'll just have to try harder next time. Expect an update before Sunday ends.

Insert Comic Here

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TITLE:
DATE OF REVIEW: 9/16/08

Misc. Info
URL: http://www.unamused-comics.com/insertcomichere.php
Author: "Zack"
Other Works: N/A
Started: >2 Years?
Number of Comics: 58 One-Shots, 79 Story Comics. 137 Total.
Voting: TWC?
Incentives: N/A
Incentive Updates: N/A
Genre: Humor
Rating: PG - Some violence. Lots of guns. Nothing big.
Notes: Chosen by request. Important! This review only applies to the story: it will not address the one-shot section, but you can assume the art stays pretty constant there too.

Art
Coloring: Color
Style:Appears American
Effort: 3/5. Characters are somewhat detailed, he bothered coloring them, and there are simple backgrounds.
General: It's clear that the art isn't the focus on this webcomic, which is cool with me, because I really don't read comics for their art. From the get-go, the author approaches his subject with a bit of humor. Ouch, that forth wall was broken before it began. Panel 2. I guess he just didn't bother to draw it so the characters wouldn't know they're in a comic, since he started out without a background and in black/white. Bear in mind these aren't grayscale or solid black/white either. These are pretty good pencil sketches from the looks of it. Art develops as time goes on, but style remains almost exactly the same. Characters are almost exactly the same start to finish, and I've had no trouble telling them apart. Art is strangely rendered. It's nothing ruining, but it just makes it look like a little lower quality.

Story
Background: So two unemployed losers live in a studio where they make comics, but one day things go horribly wrong: a guy who uses cardboard cut-outs to distract attention gets them involved in a government scandal at Area 51.5. Problems ensue when a mad scientist with 3 arms gets his hands on alien technology.
Complexity: Face value. Most of these are pretty short-term jokes, there's very little depth to this story at all.
Continuity: It's one story arc so far. No issues so far except a few gaps in logic.
Clarity: The story is explained as you go, but a lot of things don't make sense... such as why there are zombies. Still, they spell out how the story's gone. It just doesn't follow logical sense.
Substructure: None. It's been pretty unnecessary at this point anyway.
Draw: The main hook here is the humor. The comic was obviously developed as a satire, so if you're going to be looking into this, that's all you need to really consider.
Overall: It seems the story has only begun. Sadly, it's not very deep. The comic thrives on short-lived humor and doesn't put depth nor scope into its characters. While there are differentiating personalities, they lack distinctness and thus we are left with a bunch of sociopaths and some cheap humor. It seems a zombie foreman is the most well-adjusted person on the cast, and he's a minor character who undoubtedly will not appear again. The comic is good for a quick laugh, but it is doubtful that the plot will culminate in any major plot development, nor character development. That is not to say the author can't change, this seems early on in the comic to judge, but based on the current pattern, it won't be good for anything but a chuckle (though that may be the goal). If you like this comic, it will almost certainly not be for the story (unless the concept of randomness is what makes you laugh). If you enjoy it, read the One-Shot 'Random Jokes'. You'll get about the same experience, but with no flowing story.

Upkeep
Update: Stated: Fridays for the story, Mondays for the one-shots.
Site Design: Shockingly, this is where the comic shines. Layout is nice, and well organized. You'll find everything you need with ease, but you'll get a broken link when clicking on 'forum'.
Comic Navigation: Again, I have all I need here. The archive button is nicely situated, each comic is titled, and you have all the buttons you need for such a short story. Comic navigation here is great.

Metascore
Art: 3. Again, it looks good. This comic has some nice stuff going for it, and I'm hoping that the art will continue to evolve. If it keeps up this rate, it will climb the scales, no problem.
Story: 1. The story is almost non-existent. It's a series of jokes that only loosely follows a plot. I dearly hope that, given more time, it will develop, but right now characters and story alike are bland.
Upkeep: 3. Looks good, you've got everything you need. Doesn't have anything special to make it stand out and give it the four, though.
Final Grade: 2. This comic is one of humor. If you don't like the jokes, you will get nothing from this comic. On the other hand, it is relatively new, it seems. I'm hoping the comic develops, but at this point it's just another face in the crowd. If the author doesn't give up it could be good. Put more work in.

Closing Remarks
My first two. Remember, I grade hard. I still feel a little bad about scoring such a new comic, but I'll probably get over it. Prospects could be good if the author develops more, but I get the feeling they're not headed that way with this comic. This is simply for the humor. There is sarcasm, there are things that don't make sense. That will make some people laugh, but it's definitely not universal, and on my grading scale that just won't get you above two s out of five.

Formatting

So I've seen a few people reviewing things here, but all of them seem to lack that luster of people complaining. Personally, I think when you give an author too much leeway in reviews, it makes people look a lot better than they are, and people end up expecting more than they get. To be honest, I don't expect anyone to read these, but I need something to do and reviewing comics is something I've wanted to do for some time now. I'm not going to only review the popular comics, and I won't skim the lowest rims of TWC and BCX for something to complain about. I'll give healthy spotlights to all sides of the spectrum, but mainly stuff that interests me (see note about not caring if anyone else reads these). So let's get started and I'll let you watch me complain. Before I begin though, I'd like to point out how I plan on doing this.

I put out one review by each deadline I note at the end of the last 'planned' comic. My first comic was 'Twokinds', which I noted at the bottom I'd have an update by Sunday. The corresponding comic review (the non spontaneous/unrequested one) will have another day you can expect the next one by. I may update sooner, but I give myself time because I don't plan on missing my goals. I hope to put out about one a week, but I will take requests and review the comic of anyone who asks for it via e-mail.

On a similar note, if someone would like to see me review someone else's comic, I'll look into it, but I won't guarantee anything. I will review any comic, but I prefer it to have built up an archive, because I feel comics need time to develop and refine before they are reviewed. (See notes in my review, an example of a relatively new comic I reviewed.)

If the requested comic is not too long and I think I will be able to do it without interfering with my other, planned review, I will try to do it immediately or as soon as possible. Doing a request/spontaneous review will not count toward my weekly planned review.

Requests for reviews may be directed to SidewinderReviews@gmail.com.

Image of the Banner Here!
Banner Source

TITLE: Self Explanatory
DATE OF REVIEW: This is vital. Things change over time. Check this, and if you don't think my complaints are up to date, give me a yell and I'll update said complaints.

Misc. Info *This comes first because it doesn't effect my grade.
URL: Main Page URL Here!
Author: Self Explanatory
Other Works:
Started:
Number of Comics:
Voting: If the main page of the site has a link to vote on a comic list, those lists will be listed here. I use abbreviations, so it will be something like "No", "TWC", "BCX and TWC", etc.
Incentives: Only if voting is a yes. N/A if not. Will be a yes or no if they give COMIC RELATED incentives.
Incentive Updates: How often are incentives updated? Again, only if applicable.
Genre: Key words for the type it is. Action, Drama, Steampunk, etc are good examples.
Rating: G - Good for everyone, PG - "Cliche Parental Guidance": Just a slight step up. Nothing severe. T - Teen, might include some graphic violence or the occasional sexual content. MA - Mature Audiences. Lots of blood, gore, sex, etc. I know I mix and match rating systems.
Notes: This section is actually usually for me. I will probably say why I picked it and any comments I have before I begin.

Art
Coloring: Black/White or Color
Style: Manga, American, Unique, etc
Effort: Based on the cream of the crop, how 'good' does it actually look. Let's be honest: Some comics are great but have poor art. I can live with that. Having simpler designs makes things look better. This is a spot where I complain about simple designs.
General: Any other notes. Interesting stuff about art, or general tongue-lashing.

Story
Background: Brief, one sentence summary of the comic. What I consider to be the most important part of any review.
Complexity: Some people like things that are face value. I'm not one. Is the story creative, unique, and actually more than people talking? One-shot comics won't do well here, but comics that have a storyline and use one-shot canon fillers should be okay.
Continuity: Does the story flow, or is it always something unrelated?
Clarity: Is the story clear? Can you tell how it got from point A to point B?
Substructure: Yes/No
Draw: Does it make you want to keep reading?
Overall: I'm going to be honest with you. This is the only area I actually care about. For that reason, I'll be complaining a lot here if I get the chance. The story is important.

Upkeep
Update: Two numbers here. One will be how often they SAY they update, the other how often they actually do. Bear in mind that this changes every now and then, so keep an eye on the date I reviewed.
Site Design: Is the site navigable? Does it look good?
Comic Navigation: For best results, have a 'next', 'previous', 'first', 'latest', and a 'search'. Bonus points for story navigation or random.

Metascore
Art: Graded against the cream of the crop, in my eyes. If it's being sold in comic book form with that same art, it is probably doing well here. Scored out of 5.
Story: Again, graded based on some vague approximation of 'merit'. I want to reserve the top scores for the most entertaining stories. I don't choose by genre and I try to keep an open mind, as all should be complained about in equal light. Scored out of 5.
Upkeep: This is probably based more on statistics than you'd think. Really it's a balance of scores I have set that each comic gets for achieving certain goals. For instance, if it has the buttons I consider prerequisite, it will get the points for that. This is a compiled score. Scored out of 5.
Final Grade: This isn't an average, though it borrows heavily from each. This will be end merit. Expect a lot of 3s. There a lot of GOOD comics out there. For better scores, it has to stand out and be more than just GOOD. Scored out of 5.

So there. If you want a review that has a better outlook on comics, read one of the other nice reviews here. There's a dedicated team willing to give friendly advice. I'm willing to be the ass who shows people what they need to fix. I grade on scales of 5 and I don't give the 'recommendations' (such as 'trash', 'read', 'follow', 'only if you're into this stuff', etc anymore because I realized that while it is indeed my place to judge, I can't make a solid recommendation for everyone, and % of 100 scores are too specific. What is the difference between a 84 comic and a 89 comic? Don't ask me. I can definitely tell you the differences between a 4 and a 5 though.) I plan on putting out a lot of 3s, and hopefully never more than a couple 5s. I hope I haven't read that comic yet.

So I'll hit post now, and then I'll post my first review tonight. What fun.