On updates: I’ll keep this foreword short ‘cos I wasn’t actually planning to write anything today. I just found a new webcomic to read called Head Trip. I’ll probably write about it next week after I’ve gotten up to date with it, which is a nice segue into my update schedule. I don’t have one. Since I have decided I want this particular liveblog to last more than three entries, I’ve decided that I’m (probably) going to (force myself to) write new entries on the weekends (Friday, Saturday and maybe Sunday). Since I am in the middle of a comic, you get a rant on two completely different comics. Enjoy.
I have two gems for you today: The Other World
and Universal Compass [Trope Page]. Both are pretty decent webcomics, but they both have one fatal flaw. I have no bloody idea what the hell is going on.
That sounds a bit harsh now that I’ve actually written it, but it’s true. The Other World refuses to answer any of the questions it forces you to ask. I know vaguely what it’s about, and I understand that it links up with some of their other comics somehow, but I still don’t understand what the hell is happening in half the strips! Take this, for example. It’s strip 83 (the most recent one). It took me almost half an hour to figure out what happened in that strip, and even now I’m still not sure if I was right!
There is a 95% chance that I’m just being an idiot and not realising something obvious but even if I am, clarity is hardly TOW’s strong suit. Then again, I get the feeling that that’s kind of the point and it is on hiatus so it’s entirely possible that all the answers that I’m struggling to find just haven’t been written yet... actually, if that is the case, it explains an awful lot...
But I digress (sort of). Even though I’m not 100% certain what’s actually happened in the comic (Or even 90%. Or 80%. Or even 70% now that I’m really thinking about it), I do like the characters and plot we've seen so far, although I can’t quite decide if I want it to continue because I enjoyed reading it, or because I’m desperately clinging to some hope that if it continues I’ll find out what the hell it’s all about. Same difference I suppose.
Now, Universal Compass on the other hand...
Before I start ranting about walls of text and poorly explained plots, let me just say this. This comic is beautiful. This is the very first page. I saw the image somewhere on TV Tropes and followed the links. So far, I haven’t really enjoyed that plot, and the characters are just the teensiest bit flat and static at the moment (a big no-no in my opinion since most of them have only had a couple of strips each to really show their personality), but I’ll be damned if I don’t love the style of it all.
Take these pages for example. Granted, it’s not up to the standards of say, Ever Blue or Unsounded, and it does look better on my iPhone than my PC (what? My bed and my couch are way more comfortable than my desk), but that starscape is just so good to look at...
I’m one of those people of the opinion that reading a comic because of how good it looks is like playing a game for the graphics (i.e. A BAD THING), but that’s probably exactly what I’m going to do and hey, it could always get better. Right?
Jokes aside, check them out if they sound good to you (links are in the first line as always) and feel free to tell me if I’m being an idiot for not really getting the point of either of them. That’s it for this week folks, see you next weekend.
And again, thanks for reading.
Comments
