[media] - Comics, Comics Comics!

May 7, 2008

In this post ('Cause it gets truncated in places): About WT #365, and some comic reviews - DAR, Hereville and Zombies Calling! (also a Daily Jam)

[update] ARGh somthing with my jerry-rigged blog code is screwing up (don't have time to fix it right now), here is a manual permalink: http://www.wastedtalent.ca/node/894

I met my goal of getting WT #365 up tonight, even before 10pm! WHOO! I feel really bad about this week's post. I mean, it was late (but with good reason... it's double long, come on!) and only the little bit at the end is funny. But I really couldn't find another way to get this information out to you in an efficient way. I mean... in a way that everyone would read. This really is a critical period for Wasted Talent, I really want both me and the comic to survive the transition ;__;

NOW on to more fun things!! I came back from Stumptown with a stack of books that's almost higher than the one I brought to sell! (NOT GOOD!) So I've been happily chewing through this pile of treasures :)

FIRST UP a big big shout out to DAR. She was only selling mini comics but her comic is SO AWESOME so you should go read it. I wish I could have as much guts as Erika :3

OK next up is: HEREVILLE!

The author, Barry, was my across-the-way neighbor at Stumptown. Hereville is "Easily in the top 3 comics about troll-fighting orthodox Jewish girls". But in all sincerity, the book is awesome. I mean, awesome in such a way that I wanted to read it slowly so that I could spend more time reading it... you know? I was genuinely excited for the plot to advance!

The story is the epitome of a fairy tale... except that at every single place where Barry has the opportunity to do something cliche, he surprises you. The plot is so tight, that it's really a delight to read.

Hereville is painted in a limited pallete of henna-tones that really comes to life in print. You can read part of it online, but the online hasn't yet caught up to the full story-arc included in the book (especially the troll, which is the best part!!). Still, you should TOTALLY GO read what is there now, and the book is worth the investment ;)! Looking forward to future episodes, Barry!

Last on my first pass of books (oh I have many more, don't worry), is something that I just couldn't NOT buy at Stumptown. The author wasn't there (;__;) but I've been itching to get my hands on the title for weeks and weeks now.

ZOMBIES CALLING
is the first published work by Faith Erin Hicks. Ms Hicks is a fellow Canadian (Halifax!) who is probably best known as the author of the webcomic Demonology 101.

The premise of Zombies Calling is pretty simple: Zombies attack a university and Joss has to save the day, armed only with her knowledge of Zombie movies! It's a concise story, with start to finish held between the covers, but it's very fun. I was actually a bit thrown with how short it is, I think mostly because it's in "manga" format. We all know that in most manga you can tear through 200 pages and very little actually happens ;) ZC is not like that, it dives right into the action and wraps 'er up at the end.

One of the first things that caught my eye when examining the book is the lack of gutters. As in, every single page is full-bleed, and between-panel gutters are minimal if they're there at all. It's interesting, because the omission of gutters gave me a worried/suspenseful sensation right from the start... like a Zombie movie! Otherwise, the art is GORGEOUS. I mean of course it is, it's Faith Erin Hicks!! I am just in love with her inks and her distinct style.

I think the only thing that really disappointed me was that when I got to the end, I came out wishing there was more character development. I view that as a good thing, personally... I liked the characters enough that I wanted to know more about them. Especially because I know that, from ICE that she is SO GOOD at character development!

Anyway, yay for Zombies Calling, yay for Canadian webcomickers hitting the press, hope to see much much more in the future! :D

That's all for today, now to just determine which of my pretties I want to read next!