Now here's something of a novelty: a full colour small press comic. It doesn't look 'printed' per se, and it's not produced on an Inkjet... so the nerd in me is interested in how this was manufactured; the production method involved and how others might be able to make use of it... I suspect that there some form of colourcopier involved, but whether that's a 'home', 'office' (ahem) or 'shop' variety, I'm unsure. There's a distinct possibility of the latter as it's a little pricey, but whatever the circumstances Richard deserves a hearty slap on the back (the intensity of said may indicate your level of jealousy) for pulling this off.
Richard J Smith is making a good name for himself in the UK Small Press. His prolific levels of productivity, his nifty cartooning and overall high 'funnies' level have seen to that. This particular comic matches most all his previous output on these criteria; it's a good wee comic and there are a few good chuckles to be had on the way and I recommend it to you on this basis.
But... oh, that accursed reviewer's but (butt?)... There's something that's just 'not quite there'.
Richard's cartooning is full of life - the lines have energy and the gags are well played but...
It could 'read' better. Now, I don't mean that the panels do not follow one another, I don't mean that in some way the story is unclear... all these things are good and work fine - it's more to do with construction and composition.
On the whole there are set 'scenes' within the comic, each lasting a few pages. These are framed with scene changes and the occasional 'splash panel' but generally, all the action takes place within pages of 6-panel grids featuring a variety of 'mid shots'. Unfortunately this does little to accentuate tension or humour. The instances where this approach works best is in gags that require an amount of 'static' action (waiting for a reaction, for instance). It does not serve the screaming and leaping about that is in evidence in a lot more of the comic - all this action stuff 'reads' a little flat.
While this the comic reads 'OK' and is fun, and there's nothing inherently 'wrong' here it is just 'OK'. It misses out on something that could make it a much more visually exciting. Richard could take his work to a whole new level if he were to put more consideration into the pacing and layout of the comic on a page to page basis and in its entirety. I suspect that it would also allow the reader to be drawn into the comic to a greater degree, heighten the emotional intensity and allow the gags more room to deliver the punch. It would probably also make the comics longer as a whole - which may be no bad thing.
Also, although this is a full colour comic, I have to admit I am not all that convinced that it adds a lot more than, say; a layer of grey (spot colour) separations and deft use of line weight. It helps to separate out the individual items in the images, but it is not really used to reflect the mood (atmospherics), nor change the pace of the comic (density of colour variation used); the palette of colours remains about the same all the way through. It is used separate out speech - the word balloons are at times colour coded for each individual, and there are times that this works well, but overall it doesn't appear to have an colour scheme in mind as such.
Now, this review may seem a little too hash, and I would not want any of this to put someone off thinking about buying this comic. You should want to buy it - it's a laff! - You'll enjoy it!  I whitter on like this because I think that Richard's comics are at the border of becoming something really desirable. I believe if he pushed it that little bit further he could be a force to be reckoned with.... then you'd really see something!
mooncat