webcomicgeek

Hurrah! Everybodies favourite apocalypse is back. Jokes, check. Foul language, check. Zombies, check. TZH is back with a very snazzy new look site and superbly drawn and coloured material. The big plot holes have been patched up with the sticking plaster of artistic brilliance as the chapters have been fleshed out with new material. The integrity of the original has been maintained and none of the good stuff has hit the cutting room floor. Yep, that means Maureen still gets to flame on. I’m indescribably happy ’cause its been a long wait for the faithful it also helped break my writer’s block (otherwise known as being too tired or lazy to write ). In honour of all the incredible hard work Jenny Romanchuk is artist of the month for March.

I’m just blown away by Alpha Shade. So much so I’m naming its creators Artist of the Month for December, even though it’s only the second of the month. This great Manga title by Christopher and Joseph Brudlos starts with a woompf dropping you straight into a war between two empires.

The comic is dynamic and action packed and although it does have some of the archetypal manga characters we’ve all come to love/loathe it carries it off with style and panache.

The artwork is fantastic, well drawn, well coloured and more importantly well composed. Each frame could easily be converted to film and carries the resonace of an action packed film in two dimensions. All this action serves to draw you in to a world were Great War stle aeroplanes share the skys with flying beasts an their riders. More importantly the creators have the courage to tear us away from the action and immerse the reader in back story. However, simply labelling it back story doesn’t really do chapters 2 and 3 justice. We find ourselves in the midst of an interdimensional cold war. Just as with the initial war you find yourselves bouyed along by the action and eager to have your questions answered.

This is a truly engaging title that has pretty much everything you could want in a comic, great art, a cracking story and proffesional production standards. If you need any more convincing check out their Flash Trailer and you’ll be sucked in to their world too.

As previously announced Jessica Mcleod is November’s artist of the month. After giving this some thought I realised I’d focussed on an artist in detail like this before and so I think it fair to say Otto Uhrwerk van Germain is Artist of the month for September. As I’m particularly rubbish and did’t post at all in October we don’t have an Artist of the month for October. Who will win webcomic of the year 2006? Any suggestions?

I’ve been toying with featuring an artist/writer of the month. Well this month I’m going for Jessica Mcleod. I think it may be because we’re expecting a baby that I’m overwhelmed by the cuteness of her artwork but that’s not the only reason. In addition to being adorable her work has a great sense of humour and the foul language stops the character’s cuteness from becoming cloying. Its the perfect antidote to endless Punisher wannabee’s and other badly written, badly drawn, ultra-violent trash. The artwork suits the material perfectly, is refreshing is its simplicity and to be honest anything more complex would take away from its charm. Out of all of Mcleod’s comics Activities for Rainy Days is the star and thanks to the character Frower I’m now trying to use undermuffin in conversations. Mungo Bean and Ghost Farm are just as good but so far they remain cute without the foul vocabulary.

Depot-13 is the website of artist Otto Uhrwerk van Germain (how much is that worth at Scrabble). His fevered imaginings have given rise to a number of strange little web-comics.

The base comic for all of his other work is The Pretentious History of Everything. As you would imagine with such a ponderous title this is a strip about creation from Big Bang to entropy I guess (though he hasn’t got that far yet). U.V.G. (I ain’t typin’ that every time) manages to tell this rather familiar tale with a lot of humour and some unusual twists. I particular like the telepathic Xiphods; super evolved horseshoe crabs. The art is of a high standard and individual panels benefit from repeat viewings as you always notice something new the second time around.

On a tangent from this comic we have soup the story of wise-cracking microbes in the primordial soup. Again from this most unlikely of settings U.V.G creates wry humour (stinking algae think their so cool producing oxygen). As with the above comic (I ain’t typin’ that every time, either) the artwork is of a consistently high standard though, as suits the subject matter, more Spartan. The layout eschews traditional box panels, the strip takes on the form of a chain of molecules (or some such science type thing that I know nothing about).

Perhaps more traditional in content if not in delivery is Rex Target Zombie hunter. While this comic is in its early stages it shows some promise and like most of U.V.G’s work it doesn’t take itself seriously.

Ottocomics is were the artists doodlings are kept; starring a cartoon gasmask wearing version of himself. These are the surreal imaginings of one facing creative block and are fairly amusing.

Finally that brings me to Uku. The artwork is gorgeous, the colouring and depth of detail is superb. The story itself has a lot of charm though it is an entirely pictorial narrative. Uku is, I presume, the title character but it could also be the alien seeming creatures within the narrative

U.V.G. (I still ain’t typin’ it) has a fertile mind and if all of the above were not enough he appears to be working on another strip ‘Terra Exodus’. If you like oddball humour backed by quality artwork check out Depot-13.