More web comics
I've actually managed to get a little bit of web comic reading done over the last month or so, here and there, now and again, and I've finally ploughed through enough to actually have something useful to say about them.
Two Kinds is an extremely manga-styled comic (translation: if you don't like manga art, you probably won't like this one no matter how interesting the story may sound). And it is an interesting story. The general setting is similar to that of Black Tapestries, but instead of the more gritty and realistic tone of the latter, Two Kinds is a lot lighter in tone and setting and, despite how dangerous the characters may be, they do tend to be somewhat annoyingly "cute" at times.
The setting, again, is a world where a human hegemony lords over a mixed-species society. The "lesser" species in this world are the Keidran (generally anthropomorphic humanoids with similarities to distinct animal species) and the Basitin (anthopomorphic humanoids with a much more generic resemblance to something generically non-human). All species seem to treat others with, at best, scorn.
The main character, Trace, finds himself at the start of the comic in an amnesiac state and much of the first year or so of the comic follows his wanderings as he amasses a motley bunch of hangers-on and starts along the path of finding out who - or what - he was before he lost his memory. In the last year or so the comic has got progressively more interesting as more of the world and its civilisations is shown to the reader.
The most surprising thing about this comic, though, particularly considering the depth of the setting and the maturity of some of the characters, is how young its writer/artist is... as far as I can tell from the occasional birthday issue, he's still in his late teens! I'm definitely going to keep following this comic as I suspect it is going to get even better as it goes on.
I've also been reading (although I am not yet up to date with) The Wotch. It's a more light-hearted comic than most of what I've been reading lately, although it does go for quite long story arcs, but mostly it's fun. The main character, Anne, is a "wotch". Which is more than just a mis-spelling of "witch". The other characters are mainly denizens of that bizarre foreign place (to me, at least) that is an American high school. Most prominent among them are Anne's friends Robin and the strangely familiar Jason.
It's been going for quite a while, but there's a fairly new-reader-friendly "issue" starting here. It's a bit more light-hearted than the few "issues" preceding it, but does contain most of the regular characters. (The following issue is best left until the reader has caught up with the story to date, though).
The writing and characters are good... witty and often sarcastic. The artwork is reasonable enough although quite "cartoony". Definitely a good read.
Two Kinds is an extremely manga-styled comic (translation: if you don't like manga art, you probably won't like this one no matter how interesting the story may sound). And it is an interesting story. The general setting is similar to that of Black Tapestries, but instead of the more gritty and realistic tone of the latter, Two Kinds is a lot lighter in tone and setting and, despite how dangerous the characters may be, they do tend to be somewhat annoyingly "cute" at times.
The setting, again, is a world where a human hegemony lords over a mixed-species society. The "lesser" species in this world are the Keidran (generally anthropomorphic humanoids with similarities to distinct animal species) and the Basitin (anthopomorphic humanoids with a much more generic resemblance to something generically non-human). All species seem to treat others with, at best, scorn.
The main character, Trace, finds himself at the start of the comic in an amnesiac state and much of the first year or so of the comic follows his wanderings as he amasses a motley bunch of hangers-on and starts along the path of finding out who - or what - he was before he lost his memory. In the last year or so the comic has got progressively more interesting as more of the world and its civilisations is shown to the reader.
The most surprising thing about this comic, though, particularly considering the depth of the setting and the maturity of some of the characters, is how young its writer/artist is... as far as I can tell from the occasional birthday issue, he's still in his late teens! I'm definitely going to keep following this comic as I suspect it is going to get even better as it goes on.
I've also been reading (although I am not yet up to date with) The Wotch. It's a more light-hearted comic than most of what I've been reading lately, although it does go for quite long story arcs, but mostly it's fun. The main character, Anne, is a "wotch". Which is more than just a mis-spelling of "witch". The other characters are mainly denizens of that bizarre foreign place (to me, at least) that is an American high school. Most prominent among them are Anne's friends Robin and the strangely familiar Jason.
It's been going for quite a while, but there's a fairly new-reader-friendly "issue" starting here. It's a bit more light-hearted than the few "issues" preceding it, but does contain most of the regular characters. (The following issue is best left until the reader has caught up with the story to date, though).
The writing and characters are good... witty and often sarcastic. The artwork is reasonable enough although quite "cartoony". Definitely a good read.