Woo! Review time!
Yeah, Las Lindas is all shiny and well drawn, but...
The story really is bad. Actually read through it and note how most of it makes no sense. A lot of the characters are unlikeable, and the main one, Mora, who you are meant to connect with just feels like a monstrous bitch.
It seems they are attempting to build a world around the comic, but the majority of the time it's just all an excuse to show off more barely concealed, oversized boobs.
Apart from that, there is another big issue I have with the Katbox comics, which I will bring up in The Eye of Ramalach.
Precocious. Yes, I do read it, but the whole thing has started to annoy me. Read as it updates, it's not too bad. Read it end to end and you realise it's about a bunch of stuck-up brats who can get away with murder and treating their classmates like dirt just because they are slightly more intelligent.
The overall feeling is that the artist is doing the comic as a wish-fulfillment of his own school days. He wishes he could have gotten away with this stuff and got one over on his peers. It makes reading a little unpleasant, especially seeing as the majority of the time, despite their behaviour, there are no negative repercussions.
On a more technical level, he's been drawing it for a few years now, and the art has not improved. The style he's gone with doesn't lend itself to improvement much, but it seems he's reached a level he is comfortable with then just left it at that.
Overall; not a bad comic, passes the time, but read it bit by bit.
stephanodude wrote:Vg cats
Yes. I can only fault this on a few things. The art is great, and you can see his progression. The art shifts several times trying new stuff and mostly coming out on top. Most strips are absolutely fantastic, and a must-read for everyone.
Downsides - It is rarely updated, and the archive isn't as well laid out as hoped. It's a better archive than most, by saying what each strip parodies, but this is one of those comics you're always searching the archive to show someone a particularly awesome strip, and needs maybe a thumbnail.
Another of the big ones.
Art has progressed quite a lot, though the story has gone off the rails a little. It's no longer a story about a group of friends encountering racism, etc. It's now become a lesson in naked anthros. Some might say thats not bad, but it is nice to have some story back in there.
A decent enough read though, I've been through it quite a few times to kill a day or so, and my main issue is the update schedule. It bounces all over the place, occasionally updating at random, then two in a week, then nothing for several weeks. I understand the artist may be busy, have stuff going on or is just plain procrastinating. But he has a newsbox under the strip for a reason. If it's going to be late, say so. Let your readers know if it's not updating for a few weeks.
Too many comics just stop and the author drops off the face of the earth. It takes seconds to add a newspost to let us know you're not dead. Please use it more often.
Right then.
Another Katbox comic, and to me one that shows the big issue with them. Updates. Most of the Katbox comics seem to have suddenly stopped updating, they'll do it once a month or something, but a regular schedule has just gone out the window. Yet they still ask for donations. "We're not actually working on comics, but if you donate, we might." is the message that seems to come across.
The original Eye of ramalach was good. Art progression, not too bad a story. The artist was finding their feet. It progressed, wasn't a terrible read, then the updates slowed and stopped. In itself not too much of an issue. The biggie? Apparently the story has been taken right the way back to near the beginning again. Last I checked, the archive had gone, it's updating but comics that had already been posted.
So what is going on?
Well, the artist recently had a big donation drive to kick off a new comic which is based on donations. We get this much money, another page goes up. Now it looks as though Ramalach has been taken back, so it doesn't need the story finished for a long time. It can regularly update with the massive stack of stuff that was removed from the archives, so the paid comic can be concentrated on.
Now this is conjecture, of course, but why else would several hundred pages disappear then start reappearing on a set update schedule? Looking at their forum, there is no mention of the restart, so it loooks as though complaints have been stomped on.
Conclusion: It used to be ok, I don't mind artists trying to make a bit of cash on the side, but sidelining your entire strip and holding a new one to ransom pushes the limit a little.
A good one. The art hasn't progressed that much, but it suits the feel of the comic.
My main concern though, is that I have no idea who I'm meant to be sympathising with. Yeah, the hamster dude is a Hitler-variant. He is obviously bad. But his chief advisor seems to have morals, one of his supersoldiers had feelings for the doctor. The doctor herself was tormented by what she'd been ordered to do. And the "heroes" are running around knocking off the sympathetic bad guys one after the other. To add confusion, the heroes have had setbacks, and when Grey recently got beaten up in a fight, red seemed completely nonchalant about his friends pain.
As it progresses, I find myself feeling the heroes are dicks and rooting for the bad guys. I'm not entirely convinced this is what the author intended.
Read it. The artist is an architectural student, so a lot of the buildings are stunning. The cathedral is beautifully made. The story is engaging, funny, excellently paced and the art is excellent after the first few months.
Seriously, there are few webcomics I've read and loved from the start, and this is one of them. Highly recommended.
It isn't quite dead, it gets the occasional update, but sadly nowhere near enough.
Also a good one, and updates right on the button. Good humour, good art. Read it.
Dodgy writing, ok art. There's not really much to say about this one. Brian Daniels wrote "Fur Will Fly" which inexplicably managed to survive for years, despite it mostly making no sense and a lot of terrible art. He has improved over time and can pull some good stories out of the bag but often it seems like he's cruising anlong on auto until another good idea hits. Which is a shame. When the writing is good, it can be excellent, but otherwise it hits mediocre. If he could maintain the excellent level, he could be onto a winner.
Misty Caldwell, the artist is improving. When you get to see some of her sketches, it almost seems she may have hit a level where she is actually a lot better than is shown in the comic, but she's maintaining a set level of art posted.
Anyway, the story; Some of it makes no sense, the introduction of the human girl seemingly had no purpose. It apparently occurred for the hell of it. The story has some heartwarming moments, some bits with decent comedy, but the whole thing fluctuates from good to awful and back again.
What to say that hasn't been said a thousand times? The art starts off ok, then hits a plateau. If anything art regresses. As time goes on, the lineart gets simpler and backgrounds disappear. It has a very political feel to it. As you read, you're getting a lot of Naylors beliefs thrown in. At times, it seems the main characters are acting as a soapbox for his rants.
There are some moments that are funny, a load of drama, and it is worth hanging on through the incest arc. Now, I'm not saying it's terrible, don't read it. It has massive flaws, but it is one of the webcomics everyone should read and make their minds up over.
Same as Better Days, but slightly less coherent and less incest.
There are a few issues, such as one of the young children fantasizing about being a tall, busty nurse. Seems slightly wrong.
