(no subject)
okay, I'm confused. What's so ... 360 about the XBox 360?
2005-12-18
GAM
Ah GAM
So even though CGU is on GAM, I'm really at heart a subscriber.
A review of the various GAM comics follows:
In decending level of "ooo"-ness when it updates, which is dependent on shininess, amusement value, plot involvement, and pacing.
bold = old school but still updating.
italics = new and promising.
underline = cool b/c it's something that I could never do.
- Dicebox. (Jenn Manley Lee)
OMG so beautiful in every way. The characters, the plot, the worlds, everything. Everything's in full color, all the characters are distinctive in body type and facial features, the backgrounds are positively vibrate with a sense of reality. Has since moved to http://www.dicebox.net
- Bite Me! (Dylan Meconis).
Good times, naturally. Snappy dialogue, clear characterization. I'm sad there's no more, but at least there was a proper ending, and it was time that Dylan moved onto other things. Art: starts off decent and matures from there. Dylan + #2 pencil = :D
- Chasing Rainbows. (Svetlana)
Shoujo manga done right. If you like Fruba, you'd like this. Currently on hold as Svet irons out plot.
- The Stiff (Jason Thompson).
<3 Let's just say it totally made my week to get to draw a Halloween pinup for it. I like it mostly for the line art that I can never do, and for the oddness that is the comic. Especially when compared to all the other girly stuff on the site. Currently updating with something else as he plots out the next chapter.
- Kismet: Hunter's Moon. (Layla Lawlor)
At first I didn't like it b/c the art looked like it was done in Paint, but then it got better and and better as Layla learned the ways of the Tablet and the ways of Photoshop. (Although I still like her other comics where she sticks to pencil and other traditional media). The world is rich and very well-thought-out, supported by various side comics and stories. The Hunter's Moon plot is intricate and told at a steady pace, with plenty of weekly drama to sustain us. It has the feeling of Sci-Fi done properly. She's on WCN now, so at least there's an LJ feed for when she updates.
- Bold Riley (Leia Weathington).
<3 Hot girls kissing, but taken matter-of-factly. Pretty inking. Everything has patterns and texture, and most envy-inducing are the panel layouts, how the text *fits perfectly*
- Arcana Jayne: Palladium
Okay, I'll admit it, I didn't really like Hair of the Dog. The pacing on that was weird and the artist changes were always ... meh. But Tango was excellent and Palladium is quite awesome. A new artist that gets the fantasy/ethereal *just right*, and the story looks promising.
- Hold My Life (Dale Ingram).
Vector graphics made using flash. Each update consists of images on one side and a narration on the other, and the narrative device is "Penny's Blog". There are links to actual fictional webpages created for the purpose of the comic. People change outfits, which of course means less recycled graphics which means more laboring in Flash. These definitely take a ton of time. Plus it's stylish and so very different from the general GAM stuff. The story's decent.
( and so on and so forth )
So even though CGU is on GAM, I'm really at heart a subscriber.
A review of the various GAM comics follows:
In decending level of "ooo"-ness when it updates, which is dependent on shininess, amusement value, plot involvement, and pacing.
bold = old school but still updating.
italics = new and promising.
underline = cool b/c it's something that I could never do.
- Dicebox. (Jenn Manley Lee)
OMG so beautiful in every way. The characters, the plot, the worlds, everything. Everything's in full color, all the characters are distinctive in body type and facial features, the backgrounds are positively vibrate with a sense of reality. Has since moved to http://www.dicebox.net
- Bite Me! (Dylan Meconis).
Good times, naturally. Snappy dialogue, clear characterization. I'm sad there's no more, but at least there was a proper ending, and it was time that Dylan moved onto other things. Art: starts off decent and matures from there. Dylan + #2 pencil = :D
- Chasing Rainbows. (Svetlana)
Shoujo manga done right. If you like Fruba, you'd like this. Currently on hold as Svet irons out plot.
- The Stiff (Jason Thompson).
<3 Let's just say it totally made my week to get to draw a Halloween pinup for it. I like it mostly for the line art that I can never do, and for the oddness that is the comic. Especially when compared to all the other girly stuff on the site. Currently updating with something else as he plots out the next chapter.
- Kismet: Hunter's Moon. (Layla Lawlor)
At first I didn't like it b/c the art looked like it was done in Paint, but then it got better and and better as Layla learned the ways of the Tablet and the ways of Photoshop. (Although I still like her other comics where she sticks to pencil and other traditional media). The world is rich and very well-thought-out, supported by various side comics and stories. The Hunter's Moon plot is intricate and told at a steady pace, with plenty of weekly drama to sustain us. It has the feeling of Sci-Fi done properly. She's on WCN now, so at least there's an LJ feed for when she updates.
- Bold Riley (Leia Weathington).
<3 Hot girls kissing, but taken matter-of-factly. Pretty inking. Everything has patterns and texture, and most envy-inducing are the panel layouts, how the text *fits perfectly*
- Arcana Jayne: Palladium
Okay, I'll admit it, I didn't really like Hair of the Dog. The pacing on that was weird and the artist changes were always ... meh. But Tango was excellent and Palladium is quite awesome. A new artist that gets the fantasy/ethereal *just right*, and the story looks promising.
- Hold My Life (Dale Ingram).
Vector graphics made using flash. Each update consists of images on one side and a narration on the other, and the narrative device is "Penny's Blog". There are links to actual fictional webpages created for the purpose of the comic. People change outfits, which of course means less recycled graphics which means more laboring in Flash. These definitely take a ton of time. Plus it's stylish and so very different from the general GAM stuff. The story's decent.
( and so on and so forth )