Zuda Reviews for June 2008

So I'm finally getting around to doing the reviews. Have you ever wondered why I do the Zuda reviews or talk about Zuda or other web comics? Yeah, I really should explain that and when I finally get around to posting my views of TPBs VS monthlies VS webomics and what I see for the future of my comic reading hopefully it'll be a bit more clear. The short version: I like webcomics and if by mentioning sites like Zuda, DrunkDuck, SmackJeeves, or whatever else I can encourage a couple readers to check them out I would be happy. Because I think a lot of great talent is out there waiting to be discovered by readers looking for something new and exciting.

But enough about that, I want to leave something for the post I keep talking about. :) So on to the reviews...

Cursed Planet -- An interesting sci-fi/horror piece (from what I can make of it) but I found it came off a little too amateurish in terms of art and storytelling. There were a few parts I thought could have been left out (the needing new pants part and the resulting "eww") or could have been drawn better (the breathing fire for instance, that panel should have been drawn more dynamically for greater impact).

Dual -- First off, I really liked the art here. Some nice dramatic angles, rich colours, and overall beautiful stuff. At first I thought the story was pretty standard until the whole "eating" scene started. I was pretty taken aback by that and I kinda liked that feeling here. I think this is a strong contender for my vote.

Love, Lust and a Giant Killer Turtle -- The first 6 pages didn't really connect with me but the last 2 turned it around slightly. The art is a nice cartoony style that is well done. And the dialogue is pretty funny. I'm just not sure, after seeing these 8 pages, that it's something that would keep my attention for very long. Still very good work though.

Mime -- I really liked the art here. It's a great style that matches this comic well. The downside, I'm just not sold on the whole clown/mime fight and these 8 pages don't really sell the book enough. I think this book falls into a pretty usual place for me, something I see that might be interesting but the 8 pages given just aren't enough to sell it to me.

Mister Crimson -- One of the few "hero" stories this month (not that any other month has had very many of them). Again, this book relies on the intro paragraph to sell this book as something more than the 8 pages show. Because I didn't find the 8 pages really showed something new. The art has an interesting style to it but I felt it didn't really bring me into the book.

Psychopath: A Love Story -- I was actually very intrigued by this one. Maybe it's my history of reading superhero comics but I kinda liked the ideas here. Clearly the "hero" is not entirely stable and looks pretty bad off but when you look at characters like Batman, real people being heroes, you kinda expect some of them to be like this. And after just 8 pages I'm actually intrigued to see where it goes from here. It goes in my list of contenders for my vote.

Red Ice -- This one seems to be getting David's seal of approval. Unfortunately I don't feel the same way but I guess that's what Zuda is all about right? :) I just found this to be a little too choppy. I had to go back and forth trying to figure out who was talking and what was happening. Things just didn't seem to flow for me and it seemed confusing at times. But again, it might just be me. The art was solid and the style seemed to fit the story. But I don't think this makes my list of possible vote getters.

S.Type -- At first glance I expected to really like this story. I thought the idea was interesting the art was pretty good (not great but solid enough with a cartoony style that fit). But about half way through I realized it was just too "in-jokey" for me. I'm not a huge horror/zombie movie fan so their dialogue and such started going over my head. Maybe someone who's more into it than me will understand what they're saying but I thought it was a little too much. So by the end I was just looking for the next book and feeling a little disappointed by this one. But I can see it getting a core audience that it speaks to.

Sam 3.14, PI -- I have to admit that I didn't expect much going into this one. I mean, it's a book about a robot P.I. with a human brain which features ninja kangaroos. But I was actually entertained by these 8 pages. Yes, some of it comes off as cliche (by that I mean the jokes are cliches as the whole film noir P.I. thing has been spoofed many times) but it was still fun to read. Though having said that, I'd be surprised to see myself sticking with it for very long. It seems like more of a fun story for a "What the..???" type book but not something I could really get into.

Sharks+Shrinks -- Definitely the most alternative of this month's books. On the one hand, I applaud books like this and Zuda for putting them out there. On the other hand, I just can't practice what I preach as I just can't get into it enough to vote for it. I just look at each page and can't get into a flow of reading it. Which is too bad, I wish I could be more progressive but I'm still stuck liking a more classic style. So unfortunately, I'll be passing on this one as well.

So that's it, it's looking like it will be either Psychopath or Dual for me. What do you think?