Thursday 9 July 2009

Lilly MacKenzie and the Mines of Charybdis - Web Comic

Lilly MacKenzie and the Mines of CharybdisLilly MacKenzie and the Mines of Charybdis Web Comic PageHow best to describe this. . . A beautiful Space fairing, Ginger, half Scottish, half African American beauty, who kicks some serious butt and hangs around with a vertically challenged, pink haired engineer of sorts, who appears to love her unconditionally but is happy just to be friends go on an adventure into deep space with possibility of no return. . . . Sounds good to me are you interested yet?

Writing
As the above suggests this story is pretty involved and hooks you from the very start and then rolls along at a nice pace allowing you to take in the scale and scope of the galaxy spanning storyline. The characterization through the story is just sublime. Cosmo is by far my favourite character so far although Lilly also really cool. Simon Fraser(The Creator) has a fantastic imagination and his attention to the fine details of the Science Fiction he has created just blow me away.

Art
Simon Fraser is both the writer and artist of this wonderful webcomic and his style is an absolute joy. It reminds me of Barry Windsor Smith with a slice of Brian Hitch or Alan Davis and a topping of Steve Dillon and Kevin McGuire. Now Simon has been around for a good few year working on Stuff for 2000AD, IDW and various other things. Be sure to check out his Nikolai Dante stuff.

Updates
Weekly

Links
Lilly MacKenzie and the Mines of Charybdis - Web Comic
Simon Fraser's Website
Act-i-vate
Nikolai Dante Semi-Official Website

Recommended if you like
Alien Movies, Total Recall, 5th Element, 2000AD, Star Trek etc

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Celadore - Web Comic

Celadore Webcomic at Zuda.comPages from Celadore WebcomicSticking with Zuda for this one. This was another one I kinda missed. I remember reading the original eight pages and thinking that is was nice but do we really need a Buffy Junior. . . Turns out we do and Celadore is Buffy Junior and a whole lot more.

The Seemingly familiar story of a strong sexy female Vampire hunter begins as it should, with her fighting a couple of vamps, but before you know it the story flips over and gives us the mesmerizing adventures of a prepubescent vampire hunter with a supporting cast that has something for everyone.

Writing
Fast paced adventure that slows down every so often to let you catch your breath. We have vampires, Fairies, Monsters and much more. The first arc introduces us to the main characters and effortlessly presents their personalities, backgrounds and abilities without the usual flashback nonsense(I've been over it a few times and it still surprises me how quickly I became familiar with the cast). Some really interesting twists and turns make this comic one to watch. Writing this I've read about 120 pages and now look forward to reading it on a regular basis.

Art
This is a weird one. At first glance I thought "nah, not for me" then I thought "kinda suits the tone of the story" which lead me on to "this is actually pretty cool" and now I'm all "I should try and draw like this guy". The style of the art has a Saturday morning cartoon feel mixed with a bit of Mike Avon Oeming of "Powers" fame. Bright and colourful but dark and shadowy when needed.

Links
Celadore Webcomic (Flash Plug-in Required)

Recommended if you like. . .
Buffy, Harry Potter, Saturday morning cartoons etc

Monday 6 July 2009

High Moon - Web Comic

High MoonHigh Moon Comic pagesOk now, where to start with this one. High Moon , was one the first winner of Zuda's monthly competition. I initially never looked twice at as the original 8 pages never looked that good. How wrong was I? I took another look at it the other day and was absolutely blown away. I must be a bit slow on the uptake because i totally missed it.
Now on to my review. .
Werewolves . . . Check. Vampires . . . Check. Cowboys . . . Check. Three of my favourite film genres all wrapped up in a handy little flash webcomic along with Native American spirits/demons and some really strong characterisation and storrytelling make this one of my new fave webcomics. And should, in my opinion, become a new monthly printed comic under the vertigo label as it ould fit perfectly in that line.

The Writing
Really good, Twists and turns around the old wild west in ways remnicent of the Unforgiven movie mixed in with Buffy the Vampire slayer. Throw in a smattering of Steampunk, or a bit of wild wild west. . . . nah, scrap that i dont want to sour your conceptions of this great comic.

The Art
As I've said above I did not dig this when I first saw it but the art rally grows on you and suits the style of the story. Kinda reminds me of Dan Brereton of Nocturnal Fame, but with a smoother finish, not as angular as Brereton. Dark and brooding suits this perfect.

Updates
4 Pages a week on a 15 week schedule, Now also in printed format.

Links
High Moon Online Comic (Flash Plug-in Required)
Creator Blog
Zuda Comics

Recommended if you like. . .
Westerns, Vampire Moves/comics, Blade etc