SvartiKotturinn
Since: Sep, 2013
11/25/2014 00:00:00
Fisk doesn’t help his friend kill himself, he actually talks him out of it. It’s pointed out on Original Life by his guardian angel.
Bishop999
Since: Feb, 2011
01/30/2016 00:00:00
^His friend's survival is only stated by said guardian angel in a dream sequence, so we can't really take that for a fact. That said, he certainly doesn't just passively stand by as the review seems to imply. Yelling, angrily refusing to be party to something like that and leaving is pretty much all you can morally expect from someone in that situation, and it's shown to affect him pretty strongly.
SvartiKotturinn
Since: Sep, 2013
03/14/2016 00:00:00
The angel appears with his friend in Heaven after Fisk wakes up though.
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A Flawed Magnum Opus
In Better Days, Jay Naylor bares his true self in a way seldom seen in webcomics. The downside of that is that Naylor's true self seems to be borderline racist [1], aggressively conservative [2], and generally a douche [3]. Looking past these flaws reveals a greater story of the main characters overcoming hardship and remaining true to themselves.
Overall (+10):
The art style does not disappoint. It's consistently attractive.
Plotwise, things vary a bit more. Chapter 3 was positively touching. By showing us the characters going through these trials, Naylor builds up the sympathy that makes us care about what happens when they grow up and go off to war. As the twin author-stand-ins try to find their passions in life, their struggles become our own. (The same could be said for the Tommy subplot; he's just such a nice guy, I can't help but sympathize.) Bringing together so many threads and retaining the essence of Fisk's and Lucy's characters is certainly impressive. It was also nice to see the Nikki subplot finally wrapped up in Chapter 15. Naylor proves himself as competent a storyteller as he is a drawer of porn.
Also to his credit, Naylor's treatment of incest and rape were more nuanced than his ham-handed forays into other subjects.
Flaws (-1):
[1] Stereotypical treatment of Jews and black people.
[2] The political spiels in Chapters 4 and 8 were unwelcome.
[3] Spoiler: Fisk lets a suicidal friend off himself. This is never brought up again. See also, Naylor in real life.
Score: 9/10