Digging Deep

(review by Kiana S)

I first came upon the online graphic novel Digger by Ursula Vernon by finding this list (Problem Sleuth, is there, too), and its description intrigued me. Digger is the story of Digger, a tough, pragmatic wombat, who has tunneled far away from her home, the warren, and ended up in a strange land filled with magic, gods, demons and talking snails. She first finds herself talking with a statue of Ganesha, who's trying to figure out what forces brought her to the land of Rath.

Digger isn't quite as silly as other online graphic novels. Despite being humorous and having plenty of quips, you get a sense of seriousness from the story, and I think that comes from some of its content. The characters Digger comes in contact with are the type of people she's never had contact with, and she's learning how to respond to the stimuli of being in this strange land.

Almost everyone Digger meets is a little strange, at least from her perspective. The first character she meets is the benevolent statue of Ganesha that represents said god, and he's just as curious as she is as to why she ended up in his temple. Digger can't even remember why she dug away from her home in the first place, and the god is very persistent in trying to help her out.

She also meets a hyena with no name, exiled from his savage tribe, and a child who consumes, and appears to be made out of, shadows.

The land is an interesting hodgepodge of legends and religious figures from across our world, including the Ganesha statue, as well as Druids and natives. The author's included inspiration from folktales from around the world, including Brazil and those of the Balkans.

Digger is a character who is totally out of her element in the land of Rath. Her species is a pragmatic one, with their beliefs based off of hard work and what they can see. Digger has to put her more realistic sensibilities aside to understand and survive in a place based off of legends and curses and witchcraft. She's not only a foreigner, but someone who's forced to grow in a way that she wouldn't have otherwise experienced.

The setting is curious. We've ended up in this magical land that has properties not even fully understood by gods themselves, in a time period where electricity and modern invention obviously don't exist. The natural world is very pertinent in this story, and most scenes take place outside or underground as Digger comes into contact with strange and sometimes terrifying beings. Of course, not having any modern conveniences like cellphones and the internet makes it especially difficult for Digger to figure out how to get home. The librarians and mapmakers haven't even heard of the place where she's from and didn't think wombats actually existed, making the rift between Digger and her home even larger.

The plot is engaging in that it drops little petals of information at a time. Throughout reading I was so curious about what could possibly happen next, and what could be discovered, hoping for explanations. Things are typically implied with ominous conversations and suspicion from those who don't trust Digger's arrival, and I slowly became more immersed in what I was reading.

This comic can range from funny to creepy, and the art style seems consistent despite whatever atmosphere is apparent. Black and white through and through, it has this nice relaxed sketchy style that is experimental but cohesive. Vernon's experimented with different types of panel design and degrees of character simplification.

Most people, I think, would relate to Digger in how she reacts to her situation. I think most people believe that they're practical, and how she manages to deal with getting thrown into a world she doesn't understand would be a sanity that most people would hope for themselves, those basic desires being getting home and not getting killed. Even as a wombat, her character design is very simple and has a lot of empty space, perfect for people to project themselves onto her. The black and white style also adds to the "amplification through simplification" theory that's outlined in Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud.

Vernon's word balloon designs stay very consistent, even in heated moments. Sometimes the shapes will change, depending on who's talking, such as the statue of Ganesha, who's word balloons stay consistently angular and square-ish compared to everyone else's round ones. Some characters have a different typeface that alludes to the strangeness of their voices, such as the creepy Skin Lizards whose disjointed typewriter font makes them all the more skeezy.

The artwork can be really beautiful which contrasts the simplicity of most of the characters. The environment is important to Digger and her species, and she normally uses it to meet her own goals. In this new place, she has to bend to its rules.

Digger is such a cool story. I thought I'd get bored reading it from its first few pages, but it only became more of a mystery that I found myself trying to understand alongside our eponymous character. There are some twists that you wouldn't expect thrown in and some really heart-wrenching moments. You can easily fall prey to getting wrapped up in this world and it's characters, and it's likely you'll see someone in this story that's like someone you know in real life. There's a reason this novel has won numerous awards. Check it out!

Wind and Wasteland

Writing and art done by Alex Chow

Reviewed by Sammie Mifsud 

While I was perusing through the good old internet, I found the web comic Wind and Wasteland. This was created by Alex Chow. When I dug deeper into the contact information on the author's website I found out something super cool. He is actually a graduate of Sheridan College's Classical Animation Program. 

Wind and Wasteland is set in the year 2073. There was a huge war and by the time it ended in the year 2042...most of the world's population had perished. Those who survived tried their best to rebuild society but that came to a stop after a group called the "Sunny Days Liberation Front" terrorized civilians. In year 2073 the biggest city had become an extremely dangerous place to live. 

Miranda Kline is the main character in Wind and Wasteland. She may look like your average day 19 year old girl, but she is actually much more than that. She was made into something called wraiths. Miranda dedicates her life investigating Sunny Days Liberation Front and hopes to stop it once and for all. 

                                                       

What first attracted me to this web comic was the absolutely beautiful art. It really drew me in and once I saw it, I couldn't really stop myself from reading it. The art style, at times, is very roughly done. Not only that, there is not much color used overall. The color that is used the most is red. Other than that the comic is mostly done in whites and a grey scale. 

While reading Wind and Wasteland I realized it was quite serious, from the overall art style to the way the characters spoke. Initially I was surprised when I came across a change of style that was a lot more cartoon like and funny. At first I was not sure I liked it too much, I thought it took away from the mood, but then I realized that it helped lighten things up a bit. It gave some of the characters more of a personality. 

 Something else that I noticed was that the speech bubbles would occasionally change. They are normally black text in a circular, white speech bubble. There is a scene where Miranda is listening to someone over a radio. This person's voice is not seen in this speech bubble, it is seen in a light red speech bubble instead. Not only that, when there is a loud sound, like a gun shot for example, the sound effect is in big red letters. The text also changes when the sound effect is electronic, it won't be in red like the "bang" for example, it would be in green. I really like the way this was done. The color red is a very aggressive color and it is used to represent aggressive actions. Like the sound of someone getting hit or the sound of a gun being fired. 

In my opinion, I thought this comic was fast paced. The panels seemed to use the action to action transition most of the time. This was another thing that I really liked about the web comic; the shape of the panels. They kind of match the rough art style of the overall comic. The panels do not have perfectly straight lines and the they were occasionally randomly placed on the page.

On top of that, some of the panels even looked like they were not finished. Sometimes the panels would even be overlapped over one another.  

Even though this web comic is not yet finished, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I am looking forward to reading the rest. Wind and Wasteland is an action packed comic and I loved every aspect of it. I definitely would recommend this to those who appreciate unique and beautiful art styles and those who can be a little bit patient (considering it is not finished). 

Rabbits are also involved

Ava's Demon

Writing and art done by Michelle Czajkowski 

Reviewed by Sammie Mifsud

Being a comic book lover, it is somewhat surprising that I never really stumbled upon any web comics that interested me, considering there are a vast amount out there. So, to put it lightly, I honestly had no idea where to start when looking for one. I did what any person would have done...I went to the Google search bar. I am not going to lie, I went through what seemed like hundreds of websites (it was probably only three). I finally came across a website called Topwebcomics and the name pretty much says it all. There was an abundance of really awesome looking comics and that is when I found myself looking at one called Ava's Demon. At first, I didn't really know how to feel about it. But once I started, I couldn't stop. 

Ava's Demon is a science fiction web comic created by Michelle Czajkowski. She not only is the author, but she also did all the art by herself. Which I think is pretty impressive. Ava's Demon is about a 15 year old girl named Ava. The title of the comic is pretty self explanatory. Ava has a demon attached to her, and the demon's name is Wrathia.  

Wrathia takes joy in manipulating Ava's actions, which causes her to have a tough time in school. Everything escalates pretty quickly from this point on when her school planet is completely destroyed. Luckily she escapes with two other students from her class; Maggie and Odin. 

        

Initially what brought me to this comic was the art style. For me, the art in a comic is what really sticks out. I fell in love with the characters and how they looked. Not only that, the colors are something to take note of. Ava's Demon is filled with a range of beautiful colors. One thing I noticed is that the colors become a huge part of the story. They connect to the characters and set the mood throughout. For example, when someone makes a pact with a demon, some of their physical appearances will change. Like their hair color, eye color, skin color, ect. They will change in a way that they appear to look more like the demon that they have made a pact with. Ava makes a pact with her demon Wrathia, which causes her hair, her eyes, and her skin to change to a more red color. Maggie too makes a pact with a demon named Tuls. Before she made the pact, it is said that she used to have brown hair. After the pact her hair changed to a green color and her skin will occasionally take on the appearance of bark, to match Tuls' nature like presence.

When I first went on the website it had a drawing of a book and when I hovered over the image with my cursor the words 'Start Reading' popped up on my screen. I then clicked on the image and it went straight into the comic. What I really like about Ava's Demon is that the author made it look like an actual book. Not only that, but it felt super interactive. At the end of each chapter there was a video that could be played. It was a summary of what happened, it had moving pictures and beautiful music.This is the video used in  Chapter One of Ava's Demon. 

Ava's Demon was like nothing I have ever experienced. I was not only reading the comic, it felt like I became a part of Ava's world. As cartoon like as the art style may be and as fictional as the story is, it felt so real. It may have had its sad moments but there was always something to lighten up the mood. This web comic was overall really enjoyable and fun to read and I honesty recommend it to anyone. 

For a 15 year old girl, Ava has quite a way with words

                       

No Problems Here

(review by Kiana S)

You are one of the top Problem Sleuths in the city. Solicitations for your service are numerous in quantity. Compensation, adequate. It is a balmy summer

evening. You are feeling particularly hard boiled tonight.

What will you do?

I've ended up at MS Paint Adventures a few times, a collection of different comics by Andrew Hussie, but could never make it more than a few pages into any of the stories. A friend recommended I read Homestuck, one very popular tale that's still in progress on this website, so I did and found that I enjoyed it. I began to wonder what other treasures MS Paint Adventures might have held...

I only glanced at the other stories though, and kind of dropped off the site because other things, like my life, got in the way.

I came back to MSPA this year and decided to take up Problem Sleuth. Problem Sleuth is the harrowing tale of three detectives, Problem Sleuth, Ace Dick and Pickle Inspector, who are inexplicably locked within an office building and are trying to figure their way out. Originally conceived as a noir story, it takes many surreal and ridiculous twists that actually begin to make sense as you read on.

Problem Sleuth is such a fun story to read, and I think it's power comes from not only its visual style, but by the cool way it manipulates its narrative elements. This story is presented as an interactive fiction game, although you don't actually get much choice in what happens. You, the reader, click on pre-written commands that dictate what the characters do, although the characters that you play also have their own will to a degree. They can refuse to perform the commands that you "enter" if they think your idea is stupid.

Since "you" are the characters, most of their personalities come from the actions that they're willed to do, and their reactions become what makes up the other half of who they are. I'd even warrant saying that "you", the enterer of the commands, becomes a character in itself, since whoever writes what happens next drives the story forward. As far as personalities go, the titular Problem Sleuth is our charming everyman, and the character we first meet and play. He sees himself as a hardboiled detective who works tough cases, although he doesn't get much work as he is confined in his office.

Ace Dick is the second character we meet and is originally presented as Problem Sleuth's arch nemesis neighbour, and is responsible for initally locking Problem Sleuth in his office (note: not the building). He's the tough brute of the crew who uses his strength to fight, yet is very uncreative when it comes to solving problems.

Pickle Inspector is the tall, third playable character who is much gentler than his counterparts. He has an exceptionally strong imagination which is particularly useful, and even though he is more socially awkward than the other two, he's more polite and not as hard-boiled as his compatriots.

These three characters make up that symbolic group of three that's seen in a lot of stories and fairy tales, like The Three Little Pigs or Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Each one has their own separate personality that comes together as a complete set, a triad, and one character can make up for another's weakness, especially against a common enemy (in this story, the Mobster Kingpin).

The setting of Problem Sleuth is pretty interesting in that it doesn't seem to take place in a specific time, although determining the location is a bit simpler. Problem Sleuth himself likes to imagine himself as a hard-boiled Prohibition Era detective, although there are plenty of references to modern pop culture and somewhat futuristic devices. As for the location, the characters seem to operate in two realms: reality and imagination. The characters can enter and change location by traveling through suspicious electrical windows that lead to a fake outside city location. They can also enter this alternative world of imagination with a fair amount of alcohol consumption.

Trying to keep up with how these worlds work can be a little difficult, especially since these characters move between them pretty easily and often. Hussie uses complex settings in his other stories, and it although entertaining, it's completely absurd. I think the archetypal triad of characters are supported by this complicated backdrop because it gives this group of three a set of obstacles that is much more complex than, say, having their houses blown down by a wolf.

Language-wise, the writing is hilarious. The vocabulary used is great, with there being plenty of words I've never seen or used that give just the right amounts of sarcasm and wit.

Some favourite sentences:

"Ace Dick ate the candy corn. He is an unimaginative lout and all-around wet blanket!"

"A pair of funny looking hands places a pie on the windowsill to cool. You recall the CRITICAL MISSION detailed in your briefing. YOU MUST ABSCOND WITH THE PIE."

"The Q*Berts are enamored of your rowdy, no-nonsense brand of ruffianism. Your superiority has been clearly established! Q*HEARST appears to be especially smitten!"

Problem Sleuth also takes great advantage of its medium. The internet can support more than ink on paper, and even though most of Problem Sleuth's panels are static images, there are lots of cool panels that range from subtle animation to more ambitious shots such as dramatic close-ups that are heightened by bold flashing colours. Only with the internet is this kind of interactivity possible, utilizing using both animations and the ability to click through pages to make it a visually stimulating experience.

The art is drawn pretty simply, and apparently not with MS Paint at all, but with Photoshop. The characters and their surrounding environments are mostly black and white with some varying greys for shading with pops of colour for emphasis. As mentioned in Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, the use of black and white over full colour emphasizes them not as objects, but as actual characters which lends us, the audience, the ability to enter this simply drawn yet complicated world as participants instead of viewers. I'd like to point out that we almost never see colour on the characters. Sometime there's colour in certain outfits they wear, but it's almost always kept to objects and stat metres.

The artwork specifically does have that MS Paint look, albeit a little more polished than the average doodle one would usually make. The lines have that pixelated look that makes its connection to the digital world more obvious. Its rough style makes it little grittier, possibly going back to the original noir theme of the comic.

What's interesting in this story is that there are no word balloons. Everything is written in a second person point of view, and what the characters feel or how they react is expressed in the panel and in the written caption of the image. When the characters interact with each other, it's through motion alone. They never actually talk to each other since the description of what's going on is always given back to "you", the character who actually plays each of the three.

Sometimes Problem Sleuth uses panels within a panel, but mostly, each panel acts as its own page. It feels like more happens typically in each of these panels rather than those in a physical graphic novel, possibly because the author decided enough has to happen to warrant clicking on to a new page so often. They have a simple rectangular design, yet in action scenes they sometimes become more agitated and crazy within the confines of the shape.

I really enjoy reading Problem Sleuth because it's just fun. The animations are exciting because they add something different to traditional comics, and the whole plot just gets stranger as the comic continues on. The writing makes me laugh (and even learn some new words) while the art is simple enough that it's charming, and when big twists in the story come along they're made even more significant by the contrast. It takes a long, long time to read, and it can be hard to keep up with what's happening, but it's completely worth it! Check it out!

CUCUMBER QUEST

by Gigi D. G.

review by Danielle Morgan Racine

I was sitting with a group of friends, it was basically a night out with the guys, when I asked about web comics. A group of deep voices all simultaneously exclaimed “CUCUMBER QUEST” and were very excited by how cute it is. Of course I had to look at it.

Cucumber quest is literally a story about the adventures of bunny children.

Bunny.

Children.

BUT WAIT, they're magic bunny children.. obviously. 

Cucumber is exceptionally gifted and magic and gets accepted to the best school in the world. However, when he is expecting to be moving to school the next day, his mother gets a letter from his dad saying otherwise. The Doughnut Kingdom is under attack and Cucumber is the only one that can save the world.
I can't help but get Adventure Time vibes from this. Everything in this universe is quirky, and named after food. The dialogue is excruciatingly children's book-like, yet funny which makes it fun to read. The story moves pretty fast, and I could see it being something that's good for preteens. It deals with the struggles of growing up and accumulating responsibility as he has to go out into the real world. It also pokes at sexism. Many people tell Cucumber that he must be the hero over his little sister Almond and that he must be the strong one, when all he wants to do is study. In reality Almond is fierce and brave and much more of a hero than her brother, but no one believes that because she's a little sister.

The art style is cute and very cartoony yet unique. The colouring is a little toned down and not very vibrant unless there is an action scene. Light pastel colours symbolize good, happiness, peace, and children. Dark, bold, and haunting colours symbolize evil.

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The story itself can be serious at times, the cute cartoons help tone down the seriousness of the story arcs. Also, the childlike cartoons are fitting to the fact that Cucumber and Almond are (bunny) children on adventures. You follow Cucumber which means you're viewing the world through children's eyes.
When reading Cucumber Quest I was filled with the simple joy I get from children's books. It's dark and serious yet, the cuteness of it all is a relief from that. It's inspiring, quirky, and very unique. 

Romantically Apocalyptic (that title speaks for itself)

produced by Vitaly S. Alexius
worked on by many others
review by Danielle Morgan Racine


Conventions, perhaps one of the greatest ways to waste away an entire week or weekend. It’s a place where like-minded fans and artists of the geek culture community put down their hobbies and leave their nooks to socialize. It was at a convention that I met Meeshka, who was selling her husband’s art and books. I became so captured by the art style, how beautifully decrepit the scenery he often painted looked, and the way it looked with the apocalypse attire of the characters with some sort of goofy speech bubble. She told me about Romantically Apocalyptic and how it was a web comic, but also available in hard copy. After buying some posters, I went home and found it online.
http://romanticallyapocalyptic.com/0
Romantically Apocalyptic is a highly detailed web comic set in a dark apocalyptic dystopian world. It follows the story of Zee Captain and his squad Sniper, Pilot, and Engineer interacting with the wasteland that they are left with.

 I am The Captain.

The year is 20__ something something.
I stopped counting a while ago, and therefore not sure what day it is.
Humanity is virtually wiped out in a nuclear holocaust.
Me and my last squad: Pilot, Sniper and Engie, live in the wasteland ruins of tomorrow.
This is my story.
I am captain.

Vitaly S. Alexius describes the comic as "a high-detailed graphic novel that combines delicious servings of: end of the world / life in a dark post-apocalyptic dystopia, and twisted humour" Everything mentioned in this sentence is definitely accomplished. The leader of the squad, conveniently called Captain, is an extremely dramatic, possibly insane, self-centred source of constant comedic relief. He views the world as his, and everyone and everything he meets to be his too. It is ironic the way that there’s death everywhere yet the comic is so full of humour. For example, there is a frame where after discovering the film Titanic Captain recreates the scene where the lovers are pretending to fly on the ship with Pilot.

 However, some of the story telling is a bit inconsistent and at times forced. Those who get into it for the story might be disappointed, it doesn't go as deep as it probably could have. There aren’t very many speech bubbles either, much of the writing is either below the image or in a passage below the entire page. It’s voiced, which is nice because you can listen as you scroll down the images, but it doesn't feel as immersive as it would otherwise. It feels more like a picture book than an actual comic. Your brain isn't working the way comics force it to, you’re just looking at pretty paintings that have a story behind them.

When I say pretty, I mean gorgeous. The whole comic looks like concept art. Every single “panel” looks like it could be a standalone poster and truth be told, I am obsessed with it. Some people have a problem with the way that this style is achieved. Alexius uses models that are photographed in high lighting in the positions he will want the characters to be in. Then, in photoshop, he paints over the models. With the environments he does the same thing with photos he takes of some actually abandoned or creepy areas. This method to me isn’t any less of a process of making art. I don’t think it matters if he didn’t draw the characters or setting by hand, they are his photographs and he still has to mesh them together in a composition that is functional and beautiful. He still has to play with the colour harmonies in order to get the right feel, and it is still gorgeous. There is a distinct use of colour. Lots of blues and greys, in other words, cold and dead.
Due to the fact there isn’t much text within the actual “panels” much of it feels like aspect to aspect and moment to moment transitionally. This enables you to take in the vast environments Captian in the squad visits, and in a way does feel like photography. It also adds a certain peace over it all, there isn’t much urgency making it easier to appreciate the humor. It feels very “Yeah, this is what the world is like, so what?” (Especially the way Captain befriends skeletons). Because the main characters are all wearing mask, it is also fun to point out which of them would be similar to a certain member of your friend groups. It’s very easy to fit yourself in one of their rolls. For example, I, Danielle Morgan Racine, would very much be Zee Captain.
Romantically Apocalyptic is just overall fun. If you go into it light heartedly without expecting anything I think most people would find something to enjoy. There’s something quite charming and entertaining about watching a group of grown men, some more insane than others, dressed in full gas war attire in a dead world turn out to be a group of manchildren discovering everything, arguing over what’s left, and annoying each other. It’s gorgeous, It’s funny, and it is a light read (or listen) if you’re in it for fun. The downfall, is if you’re in it for a serious engaging plot you won’t find it in the story you see on the comic itself. For that you have to go searching the archives of the internet where analyses have been made and questions have been answered.