Roomies! really doesn't deserve much of a review. It's Cerebus Syndrome at its worse. Not only does the whole thing descend into a spiraling pit of Wangst, it gets hijacked towards the end to promo the next comic. Non of the characters are interesting here, which brings the drama down even worse. Oh, and it wasn't funny, either.
It's Walky! falls into another normally deadly trope: Narm, and BOY does it have it. The Wangst is still present, and when accompanied by its arch-nemesis comedy should kill the comic dead. It doesn't. By the time Walky really got dramatic, both Willis' writing and drawing had improved tenfold. The characters were far more well-rounded, and could support the Drama Bombs A LOT better than the Roomies! cast could. Hell, when the old comic's cast were brought over, they received far stronger development than in their own strip. Not to say it was all good. The Narm could get overwhelming at points (the Walky/Joyce relationship drama after Dina's death nearly broke my original Archive Binge). Sal's very reason for existing became endless Wangst about how much her life sucked. And the ending was more "meh" than anything else (it was still cool at parts, though). Best of all, when it aims for laughs, it hits the mark more often than naught.
Shortpacked! is the only one I've read while it's still running, and...well, it's a lot closer to Roomies! than anything. Unlike the first comic, when it's trying to be funny, it REALLY works. The Batman jokes are awesome, and while most of the Transformers jokes fly over my head, I can still catch the gist of most. Unfortunately, the drama doesn't work quite as well as in Walky. Once again, the characters are just not developed enough to work as anything but as an outlet for cracks about Fan Dumb and retail work. It did get better when Leslie entered the picture, but is still hit-and-miss. And then there's Amber and Mike...and we shall speak of them no more. Granted, most of it is easier to swallow with a Binge, but even so, it's just okay.
There, I just reviewed two comics that ended years ago, and one that I rapidly seem to be the sole remaining reader of. Well...see ya!
A bad comic, a good comic, and an okay comic
Three comics in one review...
Roomies! really doesn't deserve much of a review. It's Cerebus Syndrome at its worse. Not only does the whole thing descend into a spiraling pit of Wangst, it gets hijacked towards the end to promo the next comic. Non of the characters are interesting here, which brings the drama down even worse. Oh, and it wasn't funny, either.
It's Walky! falls into another normally deadly trope: Narm, and BOY does it have it. The Wangst is still present, and when accompanied by its arch-nemesis comedy should kill the comic dead. It doesn't. By the time Walky really got dramatic, both Willis' writing and drawing had improved tenfold. The characters were far more well-rounded, and could support the Drama Bombs A LOT better than the Roomies! cast could. Hell, when the old comic's cast were brought over, they received far stronger development than in their own strip. Not to say it was all good. The Narm could get overwhelming at points (the Walky/Joyce relationship drama after Dina's death nearly broke my original Archive Binge). Sal's very reason for existing became endless Wangst about how much her life sucked. And the ending was more "meh" than anything else (it was still cool at parts, though). Best of all, when it aims for laughs, it hits the mark more often than naught.
Shortpacked! is the only one I've read while it's still running, and...well, it's a lot closer to Roomies! than anything. Unlike the first comic, when it's trying to be funny, it REALLY works. The Batman jokes are awesome, and while most of the Transformers jokes fly over my head, I can still catch the gist of most. Unfortunately, the drama doesn't work quite as well as in Walky. Once again, the characters are just not developed enough to work as anything but as an outlet for cracks about Fan Dumb and retail work. It did get better when Leslie entered the picture, but is still hit-and-miss. And then there's Amber and Mike...and we shall speak of them no more. Granted, most of it is easier to swallow with a Binge, but even so, it's just okay.
There, I just reviewed two comics that ended years ago, and one that I rapidly seem to be the sole remaining reader of. Well...see ya!