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Sailor Sun is one of my guilty little pleasures among comics I read. It doesn't have a deep storyline or anything. Instead, it follows the adventures of two characters who make a living (as it were) as actresses in fan fiction and guest comics. It's an interesting concept and I wish Rudderham had actually focused more on that side of the story. Instead, the fanfic and guest comic aspect seems secondary to a story that stutters and coughs with water contaminating its fuel line.
Still, I like the characters. This is part of what's kept me reading. We have Bay, who in true Transformation Comic fashion is a guy transformed permanently into a girl and who wants to become a guy once again. While we've seen a flashback comic of when Brad became Bay, we never saw Brad before the change (another thing true with most Transformation comics). We also have Honey, a sweet and rather insecure young lady who is from an alternative future and is a genius to boot. Still, while she has book-smarts, at times she shows a rather endearing and naive part of herself that makes her truly human. And of course we have Teri, a talking cat who is as stupid as Honey is intelligent. It should show how idiotic he is that I'd gleefully load this cat into a trebuchet and launch him into Garfield.
Unfortunately, the cast is left to carry the comic. The comic suffered several hiccups early on with fan art and guest comics taking the place of actual storytelling and I'm left wondering at times what is actually a part of the story and what could just be cast on the wayside. Seeing as the comic doesn't take itself seriously, that's not too big of a deal, and if you're looking for a quaint and amusing comic that doesn't always try to make sense, then you'll enjoy Sailor Sun.
Continuing on the theme of axioms from yesterday's Secant... there's certain things you never say. One of the most classic is "it can't get any worse" or any variation therein. Thus I look at TwoKinds and the bright and chipper tone of Flora as she lists off all the horrible things that they've gone through with each town they visit... and then Trace's response... and start looking for a bomb shelter because there's nukes on the horizon.
I must admit to being conflicted by TK. The blatant portrayal of the animalistic Keidran as akin to the American Indians (to the point of there being a "thanksgiving" celebration, recently banned, as well as humanity being from overseas) got on my nerves. While it's tradition to steal from history and work it into fiction, I prefer it to be less obvious. But I'm also absolutely fascinated as I watch Trace's descent from the innocence brought about by amnesia. What we know of his past shows a truly evil individual, and he's walking step by step down that path once again.
I even wonder if the love he has found for Flora, of a species his considers inferior, can temper the darkness in his soul... or if it may end up fanning the flames and bring forth an even greater darkness. For man has done some of the greatest evil in the name of love. I may have some issues with plot from time to time, but TK is still a truly intriguing look into prejudice (some of it seemingly justified at that!) and love, and helps raise the question: if an evil man loses his identity, is he reborn? Or is he destined to walk in darkness once again?
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Recently I commented on the dearth of truly unique comics out there. Most comics tend to focus on humanity and on rather mundane worlds. Even the epic tale Unicorn Jelly, by Jennifer Diane Reitz, had a human element in it for that sense of the ordinary to help offset the truly alien nature of the world they were in. But I'd be sadly remiss if I didn't mention another comic which in many ways is even more alien than Ms. Reitz's work.
The Chronicles of Avernyght is the latest work of Mary Mevis, of junkRiot fame, and has created a fantasy comic that is truly inspired. While it has some classic fantasy trappings (such as an evil queen ruling the land), the cast are animated rag dolls, and their very souls appear to be dreams. The artwork itself is dreamlike and evokes a feeling of other that can make this comic a bit difficult to get into. The lack of familiarity and the alien nature of the characters can make it difficult for some readers to relate to the characters. But if you're a fan of the fantasy genre, then it's a welcome addition to comics you read.
Writers can sometimes get pigeonholed into categories depending on what they write. That is especially true for webcartoonists as they spend years crafting a single tale. Thus it's good to see Mevis step outside the warm familiarity of the teen romance genre and work on something that challenges her storytelling and artistic skills. No doubt in time as the story grows further, it will fill the epic trappings it has donned and Mevis will prove she's a master of this genre as well.
One of the things I've long enjoyed about Order of the Stick is its tendency to poke fun of numerous traditions. One such tradition has already been skewered by Sluggy Freelance in the KITTEN II story-arc: the fact that unnamed characters tend to die. Still, two unnamed soldiers had managed a nice long run with the heroes and Lord Hinjo since Azure City fell to the hobgoblin army.
Naturally, it's Elan (being in many ways a traditionalist, due to his bardic upbringing) who drags out the old axiom that nameless soldiers who remain behind to hold off the enemy always die. They ignore his sage advice and send him off to protect Lord Hinjo and comment at how foolish that belief was. They have names. One reveals her name as she cuts down some nameless hobgoblins, and just as her comrade (whom she'd previously asked out for a cup of something) was about to reveal his own name, he gets run through.
Staying with tradition, we have the dramatic death scene unwind, and with his last breath he reveals his first name to his friend... and suddenly is fine. I mean, it's stupid. It's crazy. It can't work. And it's hilarious and pokes fun at many "traditions" that have arisen in comics and literature. The guard deciding to save revealing his last name for an emergency is just icing on the cake. It goes to show that Rich Burlew remains on top of his game with his delightful parody of fantasy and of comics in general.
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When I first started reading Red String, it seemed fairly straightforward. It was a story about Miharu and the love she finds with Kazuo, whom her parents have arranged she marry. Her friends seemed secondary to the tale, primarily there to support her and build on Miharu's story. So when we learned that Reika had suffered from some hateful gossip in middle school, it was an interesting twist that helped flesh out Miharu's friends, and give them a life of their own.
RS is in the midst of a side-story at the moment that's fleshing Reika's tale out further; initially I didn't even realize it was a flashback, and thought the boy was Aizaku Hiroshi, whom she'd been crushing on for a while now. And I have to admit I was surprised to discover that Miharu wasn't the only one who dyed her hair; Reika also dyes her hair, if not as blonde as her friend, and continues to do so even as Miharu has returned to keeping her hair black in order to avoid standing out at her new high school. While the dyed hair helped symbolize Miharu's rebelliousness and individuality, with Reika I sense it was more to move away from her old self... and be reborn as someone new.
I can't help but feeling like history is repeating itself here. Indeed, Hiroshi even mildly resembles the boy responsible for the rumors that ruined Reika's reputation once already. More than this though is the fact that RS is moving away from a story about Miharu and her destiny, and more of an ensemble cast of Miharu's friends, giving us glimpses of their stories as well. It's a welcome addition to an already fascinating story.
Exiern initially looks like a traditional Transformation Comic. However, the barbarian hero(ine) Typhan-knee (which means "he who hunts by the piercing light of the northern ice stars" in the northern tongue) finds being female a nuisance, but isn't as fanatical in hating it as Misfile's Ash or fascinated by it like EGS's Tedd. Indeed, the comic has taken a tongue-in-cheek look at fantasy and at barbarian heroes.
But there is another reason why I've grown interested in this comic, and that's because of its art. Like a number of amateur artists, Drowemos (the creator) hated his artwork. To be honest, it was rough in places but no more so than the early works of such cartoonists as Martiza Campos or Jamie Robertson. However, Drowemos decided to do something about it, and hired outside artists to draw the comic for him.
Studio Boom (the artists) get paid through donations to the creator (as well as paid memberships to the uncensored portion of the site), and redrew the start of the comic as well as continued the story where Drowemos left off. While this allows him to continue the story, the sudden switch from professional art to Drowemos's amateur work is jarring and may throw off some readers. Indeed, Drowemos may have been better off doing a complete rewrite and starting the comic fresh. Despite Drowemos's less-than-spectacular art and rough storytelling, the comic is worth reading if only to enjoy its parodying the fantasy genre (as well as barbarian heroes).
It's odd but there are few truly alien worlds in science fiction. Instead, it often uses common settings familiar to readers, writers, and artists. Other races tend to be more human than not. There's nothing alien about these worlds. An exception to this can be found in Jennifer Diane Reitz's classic Unicorn Jelly, a story that starts as fantasy and evolved into epic science fiction with a twist of mysticism added like lime to Mexican beer. Reitz's art was rough in places early on, and the full dark majesty of the phenomena known as "Stormfall" was never expressed to her satisfaction.
Recent updates in her newest story To Save Her have altered this. This tale of alternative timelines and dimension travel brought us to a world preparing for the onslaught of Stormfall... and then watch as a fortified Worldplate crumples as the avalanche of Stormfall crashes into it. Reitz's artwork has evolved to the point that we can grasp the power of this event and reminds us of just how alien this universe is compared to our own.
I only wish other artists would indulge in the creativity that avails them with the drawn media they've adopted for their storytelling. There are worlds their readers haven't imagined out there... if the artists but dare step out of their cozy worlds and try something new.
 (From For Better or For Worse. Click on image to see it full-sized. But be sure to have some antacid handy.)
It takes a lot for me to stop reading a comic. Having been both a storyteller and a failed cartoonist, I understand the amount of work that goes into creating one of these strips. I also have come to understand that no matter what I think, it's the cartoonist's story. They are investing a portion of themselves into this work, and I'm not one to take pleasure in insulting that story or the work behind it. I've only deliberately stopped reading two comics in the past, and one of those I started reading after a two month break.
Thus it's with... considerable distaste that I'm putting aside a comic that is among the oldest of the storyline comics I've read. For Better or For Worse predates the Internet (or at least the World Wide Web). It predates even my own interests in writing, and was a childhood icon, showing the life and times of a small Canadian family. Perhaps it was a tad simplistic at times, especially as the world around us grew in complexity, but there was a simple wholesome joy to the comic that shined through and kept me reading.
That purity has been sullied. The comic is descending into the worse form of storytelling, when the author forces her own interests and desires onto the characters rather than letting them tell their own story. And by that I am talking about the contrived romance growing between Elizabeth and Anthony.
Part of the problem lies with Johnson's own storytelling skill. She has, over the decades, crafted a young lady who is vibrant, beautiful in body, mind, and spirit, and intelligent. I've watched as she opened her wings and took flight, leaving the nest and establishing herself elsewhere. And then I watched as Johnson took a net and captured her young wayward swallow and dragged her back to the nest and away from the community and freedom she'd claimed as her own.
The homesickness she felt was sudden, unexpected, and artificial. It truly felt like Johnson decided one day to wrap everything up in a box with her created family all together again. That meant of course that young Elizabeth couldn't be allowed to create her own nest elsewhere and had to be brought home. And the character has shown this. We've seen how incredibly unhappy Elizabeth has been since she came home. The character has been miserable, and I don't think it was because Johnson was writing her as such, but rather because the character herself was struggling against her creator. Having written before, I've experienced when the characters try to take control of the story, and I've seen how when you let them, it can result in some truly spectacular stories. It's a scary feeling letting them take control... but you have to trust in them. They know best.
Instead, Johnson decided to continue her plan to wrap everything up and next in line was to have Elizabeth "fall in love" with her high school sweetheart Anthony. Unfortunately, Anthony has not grown as a character. He's slowly rotted in the mulch Johnson planted him in, his roots slowly dying and his leaves withering. Fans started calling him "Blanthony" and worse. I've watched as he existed in an unhappy marriage and muddled his way through... and realized the truth about this one-dimensional character.
He's a "Nice Guy." Note the quotation marks. This isn't a good thing. "Nice Guys" aren't (to put it simply). I suppose I should explain. A "nice guy" is a quiet and seemingly decent individual who inevitably ends up passed over by girls and life in general. The reason for this is they don't try. Instead they blame others for their shortcomings. Girls don't choose them because they "prefer jerks." Bosses don't promote them because of "the old boy's network" or the like. These "Nice Guys" are passive-aggressive individuals who ultimately have only themselves to blame for their shortcomings.
I should know. I was once one of them. I grew a spine and outgrew it. I am to blame for my shortcomings. Thus I (the former pot) can tell when the kettle is black.
Still, just being a "Nice Guy" isn't a death knell for character development. I grew a spine. So could Anthony. And it seemed almost like he was going to, when he protected Elizabeth from an attack and sexual assault one summer... and then he threw it onto the fire and gained the disdain and disgust of millions of fans when he then emotionally assaulted Elizabeth and all-but stated that he, a married man, was interested in her.
Here we have, a young lady who had just suffered an attack that literally wounds the very soul (and having been the victim of both being assaulted and of sexual harassment, I know how even an unsuccessful attack can leave someone shaken for weeks afterward... it is a violation, a loss of security and of knowing the world isn't safe anymore...) who then had the man who protected her, who saved her... turn on her and ask for something she didn't want to do. Anthony wanted her to be "The Other Woman" while he left his wife.
Back then, Johnson didn't have complete control over Elizabeth's character (I think it took lobotomizing the character to gain that control) and the girl showed understandable horror at the offer. Anthony immediately went from Hero to Heel and in many ways became no better than the man who had attacked Elizabeth physically.
Sometime between then and now, Johnson managed to crush Elizabeth's spirit. Anthony became "desirable" (despite the fact several other men who were considerably more mature and fleshed out (ironic when you consider Anthony's been around for far longer than them) are interested in her) and Johnson started a game of cat-and-mouse, of teasing Anthony just out of Elizabeth's reach and then Elizabeth just out of Anthony's reach. No doubt this was a lame attempt to get the fans to root for this contrived relationship. Instead, it made me reach for the antacid. I'm a romantic at heart. I believe in the happily-ever-after and in true love and all of that... and I detest this little "union."
So we have Elizabeth and Anthony kissing and happily together during some party or wedding (and as the story continued down this route I started missing updates and haven't paid as much attention as I normally do, which shows you that Johnson's storytelling skills have faltered in recent months as she forces this story along) and finally I realized something, I have had enough.
For Better or For Worse was a childhood icon. I grew up with it. I've watched the cast grow up and grow old in some cases. I've watched as pets were buried and as grandparents died. And I've realized that not only have I grown to detest the story of Anthony and Elizabeth... but that this disdain has spread to the others. I've watched as April broke up with her boyfriend... and then recently got back together with him (in an odd parallel to what's happened with Elizabeth... though where Anthony is a passive-aggressive jerk, April's boytoy is just a teenaged twit who deserves a backhander) (and yes, again it shows that I, who normally have a memory for details such as character names, have forgotten his name and have little interest in looking it up). I'm not sure if any of the characters truly interest me anymore.
FBoFW has gone for the worse. I now shudder when I see it on the newspaper and fold over the top of the page to avoid reading it. And while I normally don't prescribe to the notion that fans have a right to insist on where a story goes... Johnson, you should have listened to them. But it's too late now.
Goodbye.
Robert A. Howard
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