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Be Gentle

 
 
Miss K
00:10 / 01.02.05
Hi there,

I'm writing to introduce and ask for opinions on my webcomic Askance Glance, which I'm serialising on my weblog.

The first episode first appeared in a small press anthology comic in the 90s, but my lazy and truculent nature prevented me from finishing it until now. I dug it up recently and liked it enough to give it another go.

It will be five chapters in all, the first two are available now:The concluding three chapters will appear in the next few months. I'd really appreciate constructive criticism, savage mauling, anything...
 
 
CameronStewart
00:24 / 01.02.05
Wow - to be honest that was a LOT better than I was expecting it to be. Nothing against you specifically, but, you know, the usual standard of webcomics is pretty low.

But this is actually rather good, despite your self-deprecation. There's more than a few drawings in there that I really like a lot.

My only real criticism is your decision to use a font for your lettering. I think the typeface you've chosen is a bit cold and really detracts from the overall effect of the strip. I think this story screams out for the charm of hand-lettering, but I have no idea how confident you are doing that, so at the very least I'd pick a font that resembles hand-lettering. www.blambot.com has a few decent comic-booky fonts.

I look forward to seeing the remaining chapters...
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
00:49 / 01.02.05
I really like the aftermath of the blowjob in part 2 - there's an air of Videodrome-esque body horror and residual panic about the whole thing. The THRILL POWER OVERLOAD you've borrowed from the old 2000ad layout is a really great touch, too.
 
 
Miss K
07:07 / 01.02.05
Thanks kindly people. I'm having a blast with this so it's good to know that it somewhat pleases!

Cameron, I SUCK at hand lettering and opted for sterile, but legible this time. I take your point about the hand lettered feel. I'll go to Blambot and get a new font for chapter 3. Ta for the tip!

JETUH, thanks for spotting the 2000AD reference. The inexplicable change to full colour on the last page is also a nod to the early days of the comic that started it all for me.

"residual panic"? Welcome to my life....
 
 
sleazenation
08:21 / 01.02.05
A lot of fun so far, although I did wonder if I had missed something between page 8 and 9 of part 1... gotta agree with Cameron too - fonts that work in books or magazines rarely look good for comics...
 
 
Nelson Evergreen
11:02 / 01.02.05
I found myself too busy admiring everything else about this strip to even notice the lettering. Good stuff.
 
 
A fall of geckos
15:08 / 01.02.05
Really nice ugly-beautiful stuff...

The covers are good too - they remind me of the covers of design books rather then comics.

All very cool.
 
 
sleazenation
15:22 / 01.02.05
If only more comics had similar design orientated covers...
 
 
FinderWolf
15:39 / 01.02.05
Just took a quick look (sneaking it in at work) and it looks terrific - great art! I'll read more and post more extensively about it soon... thanks for sharing, Miss K!
 
 
Sean the frumious Bandersnatch
22:09 / 01.02.05
I saw this on warrenellis.com last night and really liked it. Cool to know that it was done by a fellow Lither.
 
 
Krug
01:45 / 02.02.05
To be honest I was expecting crap, I don't read any webcomics and the last one I read was something by a fellow 'lither which I really liked.

This is very good, that last colour page is a nice touch. I'm hooked.
 
 
Miss K
09:03 / 02.02.05
In the words of John Merrick, "thank you thank you. you've all been so kind".

Really, I'm very grateful for your positive reactions. It's interesting that it exceeded your expectations of webcomics Krug and Cameron; I agree that there's a lot out there of variable quality, but some gems as well, like http://lowbright.com/Comics/comics.htm

Krug, what was the previous one by a fellow 'Lither that you liked?

Gecko, sleaze, the covers were kind of inspired by the beautiful design on Andi Watson's Oni Book covers, like Breakfast After Noon. Glad you liked!

sleaze, I get your point about pages 8-9 of chapter 1. Someone else pointed this out as well. It all hinges on you having spotted, like Jake, the name on the doorbell on page 2. Bit optimistic on my part. Live and learn.

Part three will be ready later this week or early next.
 
 
Just Add Water
10:38 / 02.02.05
Nothing much to add except: I like it. Looking forward to see how it proceeds. Yes.
 
 
Sax
11:20 / 02.02.05
If I'd bought this on spec in a comic shop I certainly wouldn't have felt short-changed, and I'd probably pick it up again the next months. So, yes. Good stuff.

Interesting that at least two posters here have suggested that they expect webcomics to be crap. Is there a general perception that comics published on the web are of a general lower standard than print editions?
 
 
grime
15:37 / 02.02.05
nice stuff!

I like the way it cuts quicky back and forth between characters, with nice, very human, chunks of action and dialogue. This ties into the title nicely.

The art reminds me of some of the more crazed matt wagner stuff i used to read way back when.

I was going to mention the font as well, just not quick enough. serifs are not your friend.

I also really like your "Dragnet" logo.

keep it up!
 
 
Billuccho!
21:22 / 02.02.05
Wow. I really loved part one, and part two was also good but felt a bit lopsided and confusing at times. Still, it's a really good little comic.
 
 
Krug
22:41 / 02.02.05
Miss K: I'm not sure who it was and I remember very little about it. It was a nice little love story. I think the guy's first name was Daniel or Duncan something like that. Sorry.
 
 
miss wonderstarr
22:58 / 02.02.05
I only read part one, cause it's late.

Artwork very nice, oddly enough I prefer the depictions of objects to those of people. The former look really truthful and well-observed, the latter more generic. The punctuation of still life close-ups -- coffee pot, ashtray -- gives a very pleasing rhythm, fragmented yet elegant somehow. It reminds me oddly of the manga I've read -- the samurai manga actually -- the way you can cut to a lily floating on a lake, or a fence and then closer to a bird on that fence, as a kind of wandering away from the main action. Similarly, I enjoyed the wandering away to Cleve in the club for a panel at the end -- it gives a sense of narrative confidence, that you are in control enough to follow a character miles away, and just offer a snatch of their life that ties in with the surrounding frames.

In "plot" and character terms, obviously there was no grand driving plot at all, and I guess that's part of the subgenre you're working in -- that slice of life, weirdness-in-mundanity milieu. Perhaps it's asking too much to ask a great deal of character after one chapter, but I didn't feel that your central protagonist was more than a hapless everyman, and the Cleve/girl on stairs scenes were a little bit too Sandman "Game of You": wow I moved into this crazy house and there's a cool drag queen who's really generous and campy, and a kooky kid sitting in the dark.

What I liked most was the moon at the end! It reminded me of a Charlie Brown I once read where said satellite comes up with a "What Me Worry" Alfred E Neumann. Again this break into the unexpected and playful suggested a confidence on the author's part, which I enjoyed -- the feeling that the story isn't just some meandering autobiography but has the capacity to surprise.
 
 
XXII:X:II = XXX
05:21 / 03.02.05
Don't know whether my voice carries any additional weight after all the previous kudos, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it greatly. Your style at many points reminds me of Marc Hempel's (Gregory, Tug & Buster, chunks of Sandman, especially "The Kindly Ones"). I liked how you played around with the reader's (at least this one's) expectations at the start of chapter 2, since it's expected that this story is from Jake's POV and thus that these images we see are from his dream (and, I suppose, as Cleve fails to mention the initial images to Roy, they could well be), but the angle of the initial image of Jake as seen from Cleve's window would seem to imply that we're in Cleve-land (arf arf) from panel 1. That's some admirable comic fu you sport there. I also liked how the sequence when Jake awakes is almost exactly repeated between the dream sequence and the reality, save for the addition of boxers.

I'm guessing that the house itself is serving as some sort of metaphor, since you've got the Butts in the middle, Cleve (being a dual term both for a separation or cut [vaginal imagery? a reference to the crack in the bathroom?] and for a coming together [Cleve and Jake? Jake and Clarissa? Clarissa and Cleve?]) on top and Jake (perhaps a reference to the older term for a joke, or sometimes the male of a species; is this some Anglophonicism of which I'm unaware?) on the bottom. I can also see a possible allusion to the Holy Trinity in these three characters, though which is which may be a matter of some contention. Again, maybe it's my hopeless colonialism or maybe that's the joke in itself, but whatever it is for which poor Clarissa takes the piss in school about her name is lost on me.

I predict that there will be some sort of head-butting between Roy ("king"?) and Jake as the alpha males of this equation, and that somehow despite his anemic appearance Jake will come out the dominant one, with Roy being cast into a Lucifer Descending role. Nevertheless, I don't necessarily see a storybook ending with Jake and Cleve hooking up and adopting Clarissa to raise as their own with a new last name being in the cards.

Too much analysis? Or am I onto something? I'm afraid I sometimes have a knack for foretelling plot twists just before everyone else figures it out; I hope that doesn't skeeve your plans any.

I guess I like this more than some might since it has some relevance to issues in my own existence, though to what extent will likely depend on how the story turns out, both yours and the one I'm living.

Anyway, keep us notified of any developments. It's always good to be reassured we are in the company of eminently creative, intelligent people.

/+,
 
 
miss wonderstarr
06:24 / 03.02.05
Jake (perhaps a reference to the older term for a joke, or sometimes the male of a species; is this some Anglophonicism of which I'm unaware?)

Probably unintentional, but "the jakes" is a toilet or bathroom.
 
 
Miss K
07:54 / 03.02.05
Just Add Water, Sax, Grime, many thanks!

BillR, part three will be equally lopsided, but will dress to the other side, so hopefully it will even out... Thanks!

Krug, not to worry!

kovacs, /+, thanks for your indepth analyses. I'm indebted!

Kovacs, I really relate to the Zen allusion you draw with regard to my focusing on the inanimate. I hadn't made that association before, but I think that's exactly what I'm trying to achieve. I would say tho, that while it's not yet obvious in part one, there is actually a strong narrative line at work here (part one is simply masquerading as slice-o-life). The Charlie Brown reference made me chuckle. I remember that story too, with the baseball rash . WRT to the Sandman link, yes I see this now, though I actually only read Sandman for the first time a month or so ago, would you believe, years after I wrote the first part of AG. There must have been an infrapathic link at work.

/+, you are onto a great deal, though obviously I'm not going to tell you exactly what A lot of your analysis of the house dynamic and the pseudo religious / sublime nature of the trinity is something that I think I had in the back of my head, as is the sexualised nature of the overarching metaphor. I'd never thought of some of the allusions, especially the naming ones, that you draw out though. Isn't the subconscious wonderful?

Thanks for your continuied support. Things unravel a bit in chapter 3, which is very much Clarissa's chunk. They take the piss out of her name at school because it is rather too posh and archaic, by the way.
 
 
miss wonderstarr
08:16 / 03.02.05
The Charlie Brown reference made me chuckle. I remember that story too, with the baseball rash

Yes!
 
 
Axolotl
17:01 / 03.02.05
I was very impressed by this. If I'd bought it in a shop I'd be picking up the future issues. I think generally the first part was stronger than the second, though I'm not sure why. Quality stuff Miss K.
 
 
Miss K
10:23 / 14.02.05
Hi everyone,

I've finally managed to finish part 3 of my magnificent octopus.

You can access part three here, or all catch up on all three parts to date from this landing page.

Enjoy please. Both criticism and praise are welcomed!
 
 
Miss K
17:38 / 11.03.05
Hi comic buddies,

I've just posted part 4 of this five part story.

you can also catch up on the previous parts to date from this landing page.

Both criticism and praise are as ever welcomed!
 
 
FinderWolf
19:23 / 11.03.05
I still need to really sit down and read this. Just skimming the first few pages while at work isn't enough, cause I really liked what I saw. I'm glad you bumped this!
 
 
Miss K
08:57 / 12.03.05
So am I
 
 
Benny the Ball
09:46 / 12.03.05
Just read the first four parts, will write more later as have to leave shortly - but I really like the art work - as Kovacs said above, the little incidental objects are fantastic. I loved the repeated image of Jake looking up at the crack in issue one.
 
 
Bastard Tweed
02:04 / 13.03.05
I am genuinely and pleasantly bewildered by where you're going with this story. I can't tell how much of what's happening is "really" happening within the context of the narrative and how much is fantastical abstract allegory. I'm intrigued and can't wait for the final chapter. If it remains an ambiguity, that's just fine, so long as it's not for want of reading the ending.

I, too, second the assertion that it has positive echoes of certain manga techniques, in particular the juxtaposing of scenic panels with more active panels. I've long found an odd, indescribable beauty in the way random objects accumulate on tables and counter tops and it's nice to see that there seems to be someone who agrees with me on that count.

Please, do keep up the good work. I'm sure we're all pulling for you.
 
 
Tamayyurt
14:46 / 13.03.05
This was just fantastic! Most everyone is praising the art (and with good reason) so I’m just going to say that I love how you gradually introduced color into the comic (with the arrival of the Game Gear.) The same could be said about the more stranger elements in the story, you’ve managed to introduce them seamlessly, at first in dreams, then in the imagination of the little girl, then just full blown… and I’m still not sure if it’s all really happening or if poor Jake is cracking up (sorry). You’re characters are all realistic and likeable but still odd enough to make them wonderful and the story’s got me totally engrossed. Nice job all around. When’s webisode 5 out?

If you’re taking requests, I’d love to see Cleve in Modesty mode again.
 
 
Billuccho!
15:26 / 13.03.05
It's a fantastic little comic, yes. I can't wait to see how it wraps up.
 
  
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