2011 WEB COMIC REVIEW 46 (REVISIT): EBEN 07

WEB COMIC ALL STAR CHAMPION

WEB COMIC: EBEN 07
CREATOR: DBETHEL
 UPDATES: EVERY WENDSDAY

ARCHIVE: IT'S BROKEN DOWN INTO CLASSIFIED FILES 10 to 40+ pages.

Today I will be reviewing a comic did before last year. It is none other then "Web Comic All Star" Champ of the year EBEN 07. I decided to review some comics over because I'm trying to keep those that do well in the spot light. That's why I came up with Web Comic All Stars. It well be tough, there are so many web comics out there. But I will do my best to give the best and most fair reviews to all challengers. Last time Eben 07 scored a cool 9.5! Can he go any higher... or lower? I changed my review system some so it will be hard to score a overall perfect 10 score. The last time I saw this comic the bomb shell was dropped that Eben was a clone, oh snap!So lets start the review already.

 PROS: Eben 07 as with the last review, has a great story to along with his signature art. His web site is has a even better page design, a cool web comic template, plus more info and links then a year ago. His blog keeps you informed of his latest moves like his "APE" Tour appearance that was a modest success. I also found reading most of his archive that he gives great commentary with each update. A unique thing about this comic is you jump in on any mission, because each chapter does stand on it's own. It's almost like reading a whole new comic each time! The just gets better!

 CONS: He only updates once a week.

 LAST WORD: This comic still rocks and the present chapter " Three Ring Bound" looks like it is building to something special. but my favorite chapter is still "Goo Finger" and the "Love Of Russia"! In the last review I didn't understand his chapter lay out before but with some tweaks he made on his site from my last analysis-- it now makes perfect sense how he does this declassify each mission system. After the web comics I've seen or reviewed I still haven't seen a comic like this one. He has made moves to get his fans copies and collector art pieces to further enhance his popularity. This comics only real weak point is his update frequency, but some improvement with his popularity couldn't hurt. Being last years champion DBethel, you recieved a 1  point bonus. That gave you a boost, you were really a 8.5 or 8.87500 to be exact.

OVERALL SCORE: 8.5   CONCEPT: 10 Pure genius. This missions envolving secret Janitors that clean up the scene after spies! Some how when I reviewed this before I didn't see that they were Janitors, I thought they were the spies. Egg all over my face! Then again I did not see the page that explains all this... at least I don't recall. But don't get it twisted-- these Janitors can kick butt! ART: 10 The art style is very good and polished. It also doesn't look similar to most of the art styles I have seen online. He draws backgrounds a bit more than when I was viewing  his past work. COLORING OR SHADING: 9.5 The coloring is still spectacular with a good use of shadows and motion blurs here and there. There is just no "wow" colors like I've seen in some web comics like Drowtales. In other words-- color affects that take it to another level.   WRITING AND SPELLING: 9.5 The classified files were a little confusing at first but now that I get it, the story flows pretty well. Grammar looks good but I saw a few misspells. They were not in the comic-- they were in some of his blog post.  WEB PAGE LAYOUT: 9.5 Another thing he improved in. This web comic page template fits perfectly! Info this time around was even easier to find. With this much stuff on the page it still manages to load fast. ENTERTAINMENT: 10 This comic is a whole allot of fun to read. The declassified files page "archives" even have some new ones I never saw before.   POST FREQUENCY: 6.0 This comic updates once a week in color, on every Wednesday. Not bad but I've seen comics with color update 3-5 times a week. But if it's not broke don't fix it. POPULARITY: 6.0 With a page rank of 4, this web comic does better than most but it still hasn't moved up that much since I reviewed it before. It has fans that do comment but no where on the level of  "Wayrift" or "1977 the web comic" that can average 20 to 50 comments a post.

KudoSurf Me!

2011 WEB COMIC REVIEW (REVISIT) 47: THE PATH

WEBCOMIC: THE PATH
CREATOR: JAMES RIOT
UP DATES: MON-FRI AND SOMETIMES RANDOM
GENRE: FANTASY/ACTION
ARCHIVE: NOT NUMBERED BUT I WOULD SAY EASILY OVER 60

Welcome to another web comic  review. After reading another web review blog I noticed that with so many web comics out there it just aren't enough reviewers to go around. I was wondering if I should stretch my limit and see if I cant double my current pace. I have something that might work but I need a bunch of comics to try it on. This won't be one of them. I wasn't sure what to think when I first came across this one. It was a  comic on that Wevolt site that I recently took a look at another comic on there, but it now has it's own Comicpress site. I did something I rarely do. I read the whole archive! It's called The Path.

PROS: A very entertaining story! The art work shows some shine and the characters give good stage presence! The web page is now upgraded and it looks real good. The creator has a knack for making you hungry for more. The suspense is off the hook!

CONS:  A parental warning may be needed and I can't tell what page I'm on.

LAST WORD: The Path has taken a major step forward with a new bad ass website.This comic surprised me. It's pretty good! After reading the whole archive I think that nothing bad really stood out enough to make me stop. There may be some mild language( I can't remember) but nothing too bad. I thought I read something a bit over the top...so I guess some mom might throw a fit of what her child is reading. The creator was thinking of making a kids version (Do that). I highly recommend this one.

OVERALL SCORE: 9.0 CONCEPT: 10 THE PATH is about two main characters Kat Williams and Chance Mcgavin. They appear to be human but are so much more. They are posed to stop a threat of apocalyptic proportions. The thing is--these threats are mythological monsters. I couldn't of done a story in this genre any better. ART: 8.5 The art is well done. The backgrounds don't knock you out the box but they give just enough atmosphere to each scene. COLORING OR SHADING: 9.0 This where the artist really shines. The coloring looks old school at first glance but it breaths life into this story. The use of shadows highlights are done very well! WRITING AND SPELLING: 10 The story has a nice pace to it. The spelling and grammar  seem perfect. WEB PAGE LAYOUT: 9.0 Wow the website looks good, real good It loads good and not ad heavy. This is not the best web comic  template but this such a leap from the website before. I'm sorry if I'm gushing a little.My only gripe is I can't tell how many pages he has now. ENTERTAINMENT: 10 I can't believe I read the whole archive in one sitting. I guess each post had just enough story and ended with just enough suspense... not easy to pull that off. POST FREQUENCY: 9.5 Another score I'm impressed by. For me--posting five times a week in full color is boss! That being said this artist does a nice job posting one panel updates. Very clever. Only one comic does 5 pages a week and updates with bonus material on the weekends and that would be  WayWard Sons Legends. POPULARITY: 4.0 I didn't check PR yet but 259 people like the Path on Facebook, as well 15 followers.That's okay for now

2011 WEB COMIC REVIEW 45: DROWTALES (REVISTED)

WEB COMIC: DROWTALES
CREATOR: Yan "Kite" Gagne, Mary Kite Garren(colorist and more) There are others from last time I don't see listed for some reason?
UPDATES: Main story is updated daily or so they say...
STATUS: Last Updated Dec. 17
GENRE: Fantasy Anime
ARCHIVE: Main story is 1430 pages!

Can't believe this year is almost up. Oh well at least it was better than last year! Today's web comic is another I reviewed last year. It's called...Drowtales which is a site that hosts numerous web comics, several of which take place in the Drowtales universe; a world based on Yan "Kern" Gagné's interpretation of Drow elves—including history, cultures, world, and evolution of subspecies. The "main" featured comic is called Moonless age written and drawn by the site's webmaster Kern and revolves (mostly) around Ariel Val'Sarghress, her upbringing and later quest to find a friend who has been banished. A number of different spin-off comics are included on the site, featuring stories taking place in the same universe while focusing on different aspects or giving details on the back story of events that happened before Ariel's time. In addition, the site hosts several different and unrelated elf/furry based comics, independent of the Drowtales universe.

PROS: This web comic has the best page template out there I believe! You have to see this page to believe it. Tell me another web comic that has this changing background feature, when you change the page. It's also well organized, loads fast and has a huge archive to devour! One of the best fantasy stories I have come across.

CONS: The creators are bit aloof, I guess especially if your a new reader. You won't hear too much feed back from them. They may be very busy though. They don't have a blog you can communicate with them or talk to each other about the current update.

LAST WORD: I honestly haven't been able to read the whole archive because all of the different story lines. That in it self can be a little confusing, but this comic has a great story and the art is outstanding. If the creators were a little more forth coming they could have easily won web comic of the year! This is one of few comics that totally earned the high overall score below with out me manipulating the numbers a little to round it off. It would of got a 10 if this comic showed how many readers it had like WayRift. The page rank is just so so.

OVERALL SCORE: 9.5 CONCEPT: 10 Drowtales is about 7 different stories spanning the main story Moonlight which about Tales of the people born into the Moonless age of the elven history and how they will shape the future of this underworld gone into chaos.ART: 10 ART:10 Great on every level. Despite the change of artist the quality doesn't drop off. Even though I am a little hard on manga the art style doesn't remind me of any other of this type of style. COLORING OR SHADING: 10 Also great and on a high level. Better than most published comic books from Marvel or DC! WRITING AND SPELLING: 10 Well written and easily understood. Spelling and grammar check out just fine. WEB PAGE LAYOUT: 10 Still the best web comic template online. Loads fast  despite there is a lot to take in. Well organized and there is much to see and read here. Info is easy to find. There is art galleries, games, animations, media, forum, news and more. So much to see so little time. ENTERTAINMENT: 10 This comic is way more entertaining then "Penny Arcade" unless if you don't like fantasy. There are multiple stories that branch off from the main story and even the one story that is on hiatus, still has a archive of  1179 to keep you occupied. POST FREQUENCY: 10 Hmmm... They post daily or so they say. I'll give them the benefit but I can't totally verify this ether. But even just 5 days a week in full color with this quality of art... is boss! POPULARITY: 6.0 This comics only real weak spot. I can't tell how many readers it and it still has a"page rank of 3" Not bad but this comic should have a page rank of 5 or higher. I know PR is not everything but those sites that do get get high PR get huge amounts of traffic on a normal basis It still boggles my mind that some of the most crappy drawn and written comics have the higher page ranks? They must all link together and promote like crazy even paying for hits or something.

KudoSurf Me!

2011 WEB COMIC REVIEW 44: TWOKINDS(REVISTED)

WEB COMIC: TWO KINDS

CREATOR: TOM FISHBACH

UPDATES: EVERY WENDSDAY

STATUS: LAST UPDATED NOV. 30 2011

ARCHIVE: WOW 632 PAGES!

This is now the time of the year I revisit those comics that I was impressed by I will still review new comics but these will be the priority. Today's comic is comic I read a couple years ago and enjoyed it. This time I'm reviewing it again  so let me see how it stacks up. The comic is called TwoKinds...


PROS: The art is top notch as well as the coloring. Manga lovers will love the the way the artist draws the animal/humanoid like characters and the way he writes this story. The story isn't to hard to follow and yet it's very deep and character driven. His site well organized and I was able find everything I needed to easily write this review. Over a 600+ archive for a new reader to dive into!

CONS: I think due to the artist going to college and working, his updates maybe held hostage for donations at times(Not that I blame him), but I could be mistaken. I only read his donation paragraph twice and that's what it sounded like. Tom only updates once week. The story on the surface sounds too familiar to something I played or read with a character losing his memory at the beginning of the chapter.

LAST WORD: I could of swore he had his own website last time? A fantastic comic, I'm glad I found this one again! The characters are interesting and the story does remain fresh while exploring the racial tensions between the races. Sadly this comic could have scored a higher overall score if it updated more and if I had more to judge it's popularity on. I went mainly by it's page rank but fan comments could of helped out here a little. It was the same as last time I reviewed this one. I did notice he that he is number 4 in the top web comics list. His overall score is about the same but still very good.

OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 CONCEPT: 9.0  Twokinds is a webcomic that takes place in a world conflicted with racial tension, primarily between the human-like Humans and the animal-like Keidran. A deep moving story except for the part about Trace losing his memory and struggling to regain it. I've played too many role playing games with the same type of beginning story, I guess. But I'm glad the story is so much more than that. ART: 9.5 Tom's manga style is  top notch and polished. He's also not scared to draw backgrounds. *Note: His was already good in his first chapter but he got progressively better by chapter 12. COLORING OR SHADING: 9.5 This is also top notch but I have had a chance to see some comics that are a little better. WRITTING AND SPELLING: 9.5 The spelling and grammar check out good. The character writing is good but sometimes it was little choppy or I had to read some lines over a few times, to understand in the first chapter. WEB PAGE LAYOUT: 9.0 This site is well organized and put together. This is even more impressive since he uses web comic host like Keenspot. Everything is easy to find and the archive is huge. The site loads fast and there is no waste of space. The design on the archive pages is simple, but works. Some nice links like deviant art should give new and old readers some more things to look at. ENTERTAINMENT: 9.5 The story at first looks a lot like I read before, but the building tension between the races and underlining love story is pleasant surprise. I will read this one from beginning to end. Tom did a great job here! POST FREQUENCY: 6.0 It's not bad that he updates once a week in color, but more updates would have been better. He does stay on schedule however. POPULARITY: 6.0 With a "Page Rank of 3" this web comic does okay. I think perhaps with a blog or a comments field, it  could do better. Tom does have forum and does web chat but it may not be enough for promotion. This comic is now number 4 in the Top web comics. So he has done some promotion.