I swear we had one of these, but I can't spot it anywhere, so I guess I'm making one.
It's kind of old, but I wanted to give my impressions on a #1 issues: Seekers of the Weird. Standard no spoilers policy is in place for my descriptions.
I went for Seekers of the Weird because its cover looks like a promo for one of those old adventure shows the Venture Brothers parodies; a pulp, 40s-era archaeology sort of thing (and I think the grown man on the cover is wearing Jonas Venture's signature outfit in a different color scheme). I didn't have any advance knowledge of what the book was about, so I just bought it on the strength of an interesting cover. Let that be a lesson to the industry.
The art style is not one I find particularly sexy--the lines go thick in places that are weird to me, like the inker's pen had a leak or something--but the visual storytelling is extremely competent. The first page of the book has five panels, and they should be an example to anyone who wants to tell a story through sequential art. The first panel is of a boy wearing a sweater vest sitting on some bleachers outside a building whose three flagpoles tell me it's a school, if the bleachers left any doubt. He is reading a book and his toes point slightly inward, so I can tell he's a nerd, and in case that wasn't obvious, he's reading a book with a very well-realized expression of boredom on his face. He does not want to be where he is.
The second panel is of some girls playing, uh, lacrosse, or whatever the sport with the butterfly nets is. The girl in the foreground is glaring at the goalie with a jaw clenched so tight there's no question she's doing anything but focusing on the goal of making her next shot, so we know she's focused, competitive, and athletic. She's wearing long pants and the other two girls are wearing shorts, so I guess that's the female equivalent of shirts versus skins.
Unfortunately, in panel three, she trips on another girl's feet (that'll learn her to stare at the goalie instead of where she's going), leading to a pull-back shot of panel four revealing her shot went high over the net and is headed for the boy with the book. In panel five, he looks up with dumb, slow, cow-like lack of awareness as the shadow of the ball closes in on him, so we know reflexes and snap decisions are not his strong point.
It's all very strong art, and I don't know why the writing on the next page had to ruin it with some of the clumsiest dialogue ever. Whoever wrote it had no respect for either the artist or the audience, because I'm barely exaggerating when I say this exchange follows:
Boy: I am bad at sports!
Girl: I am good at sports, but bad at school! Also, you are my brother!
Boy: You are my sister, and I am good at school, but, as established, bad at sports!
Girl: School is difficult for us, but for different reasons! Also, we have an estranged uncle!
I'm being a little unfair to the writing, but not by fucking much. Every line is painfully crafted to deliver backstory in an awkward and forced manner. I will give it credit to say it tries to characterize Maxwell and Melody, but it does so primarily by reducing them to single characteristics--she's athletic and he's bookish--which doesn't win any points with me. I guess making the girl the physical character is an attempt to reverse gender stereotypes, but meh.
I can't spoil the plot for you because I don't know it. Monsters appear, and bad things happen, and I think there's some kind of portal, and a dude shows up (I don't need to explain who he is, do I?) with a double-barrel pistol that shoots flaming skulls that turn into centaurs, except the human half is a skeleton and the horse half is a snake made of smoke. I honest to god don't know. A monster wants something the kids' parents have. That's the best I got.
So yeah. I don't intend to buy the second issue. The first one had its chance and blew it. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn something about the art of visual storytelling, but if you want a story, then I can't recommend.
It's kind of old, but I wanted to give my impressions on a #1 issues: Seekers of the Weird. Standard no spoilers policy is in place for my descriptions.
I went for Seekers of the Weird because its cover looks like a promo for one of those old adventure shows the Venture Brothers parodies; a pulp, 40s-era archaeology sort of thing (and I think the grown man on the cover is wearing Jonas Venture's signature outfit in a different color scheme). I didn't have any advance knowledge of what the book was about, so I just bought it on the strength of an interesting cover. Let that be a lesson to the industry.
The art style is not one I find particularly sexy--the lines go thick in places that are weird to me, like the inker's pen had a leak or something--but the visual storytelling is extremely competent. The first page of the book has five panels, and they should be an example to anyone who wants to tell a story through sequential art. The first panel is of a boy wearing a sweater vest sitting on some bleachers outside a building whose three flagpoles tell me it's a school, if the bleachers left any doubt. He is reading a book and his toes point slightly inward, so I can tell he's a nerd, and in case that wasn't obvious, he's reading a book with a very well-realized expression of boredom on his face. He does not want to be where he is.
The second panel is of some girls playing, uh, lacrosse, or whatever the sport with the butterfly nets is. The girl in the foreground is glaring at the goalie with a jaw clenched so tight there's no question she's doing anything but focusing on the goal of making her next shot, so we know she's focused, competitive, and athletic. She's wearing long pants and the other two girls are wearing shorts, so I guess that's the female equivalent of shirts versus skins.
Unfortunately, in panel three, she trips on another girl's feet (that'll learn her to stare at the goalie instead of where she's going), leading to a pull-back shot of panel four revealing her shot went high over the net and is headed for the boy with the book. In panel five, he looks up with dumb, slow, cow-like lack of awareness as the shadow of the ball closes in on him, so we know reflexes and snap decisions are not his strong point.
It's all very strong art, and I don't know why the writing on the next page had to ruin it with some of the clumsiest dialogue ever. Whoever wrote it had no respect for either the artist or the audience, because I'm barely exaggerating when I say this exchange follows:
Boy: I am bad at sports!
Girl: I am good at sports, but bad at school! Also, you are my brother!
Boy: You are my sister, and I am good at school, but, as established, bad at sports!
Girl: School is difficult for us, but for different reasons! Also, we have an estranged uncle!
I'm being a little unfair to the writing, but not by fucking much. Every line is painfully crafted to deliver backstory in an awkward and forced manner. I will give it credit to say it tries to characterize Maxwell and Melody, but it does so primarily by reducing them to single characteristics--she's athletic and he's bookish--which doesn't win any points with me. I guess making the girl the physical character is an attempt to reverse gender stereotypes, but meh.
I can't spoil the plot for you because I don't know it. Monsters appear, and bad things happen, and I think there's some kind of portal, and a dude shows up (I don't need to explain who he is, do I?) with a double-barrel pistol that shoots flaming skulls that turn into centaurs, except the human half is a skeleton and the horse half is a snake made of smoke. I honest to god don't know. A monster wants something the kids' parents have. That's the best I got.
So yeah. I don't intend to buy the second issue. The first one had its chance and blew it. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn something about the art of visual storytelling, but if you want a story, then I can't recommend.
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