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PTF Reviews StartUp #1

Started by PTF, July 25, 2018, 09:55:26 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

PTF

 Let' s see $13 dog bed, $10 flea and tick spray for carpet, $10 flea shampoo, $25 flea pill, $15 depo allergy shot. All for an eighteen year old dog. And people wonder why I only review old and free comics...


But enough of my problems it's time to review STARTUP ISSUE ONE

Renee Garcia-Gibson is a single mother, a stenographer, and also over three hundred pounds. And after a day of jeers, jokes, and embarrassment, Renee is offered a chance to kick her life into overdrive. This is StartUp.

The Good

The writing: It's a neat concept and I really like Renee. It's hard not to root for a good person who just is taking grief from everyone. Her son, Malcolm doesn't want to be seen with her at school, single mom, mocked by everyone, and just nothing seemingly going her way. I like how her being a stenographer is worked into the story, like her knowing who The Cloud are and how they navigate around the law. And The Cloud is an interesting idea, a bunch of people who just want to fight heroes. And she has a great hero moment with how to deal with Glut. It's hard to not like a character that perseveres in a universe that seems to enjoy making her miserable.

And the story does what a first issue should do. Introduce the main characters, plot, theme, leave wanting more. We get a good introduction on who the supporting cast will be (son, grandmother, love interest) It's a good origin story. The humor is good, the story pacing is excellent, Renee narrating was a great idea for the story.

There is lot of moments in this comic that I think most people can relate to with how being different can lead to low self-esteem, lack of luck in love, and just various forms of embarrassment or harassment. And Darin Henry dealt with it extremely well.


The art. I'm going to be honest, I have a lot of problems with the art from Craig Rousseau for this issue, but it's not all bad. Renee is drawn well. When StartUp gets her powers the action's really good. I like the blurring of her to show her super speed. Renee looks good throughout the comic (baring the inking). And there's even a fun bit of background where a man is taking picture of Crunch while a female looks angrily at him and a family covering their eyes.

The coloring and lettering. It's okay. The colors are nice and bright. The lettering is good. I think my favorite is the school kids on page 4. I think they do cover up a bit of a major problem I had for this issue.


The Bad

The art. Out of all the Sitcomics that I've read, this is the weakest of all the art. The best way to describe it is...wonky and inconsistent. Heck, just check out the candy bar on the first page for that! The people in the background are just distracting. I don't mind if you give dots for eyes or just go super simplistic...if you're consistent on it. And by that I mean, you have people in the background, they don't have noses. At least keep it that way for the page. We're not even getting that the next panels. People are missing noses, mouths, and ears. An example is page 13. And they just...weird. Like the kids on page four. What's up with that blonde kid's nose?

And the art really doesn't show the action in places. Take when Glut knees Dr. Dow. It doesn't look like there is any impact. Compare it to when Renee is fighting The Cloud and Glut.  Some times the art is just...When Renee was late and barged into the courtroom, I had no idea that yellow thing was her purse. The cat in Dr. Dow's office just...it looks like a fox in one panel when it's not looking demonic.

And the inking does not help. Take Grannie Rosa. It looks like she got punched in the eye! Lines and lines on people. Yeah, they are important to distinguish age and emotions, facial expressions. But it goes overboard on several pages. Page seven sticks out as bad.

I just couldn't get into Craig Rousseau's artwork.



What I learned from What I read.

First they threw stuff at Santa Claus and then laugh at poor Renee? Why does Philly dislike the overweight so?
  • Who are you to talk Officer Sam Rollie Pollie? You've got some love holders on you, too!
  • Dr. Dow's cat is a demonic metamorph with a realty phase shifting collar
  • Wow. A superhero trying to hide their identity? Been a long time since I've seen that.
  • The Cloud is Henchmen Uuber.
  • Pennywise has the formula for instant weight loss. That's why they all float.
  • Super Strength is not one of Raider's powers.
  • Dawson Miller—PROSECUTOR OF VILLAINS.
  • Wolfbarker was Mr. Rollercoaster's defense attorney.
  • Never be late on a payment to a super villain.
 
Overall: Yeah, out of all the first issues I've read of Sitcomics this past week, this is the weakest. Mainly because of the art and inking.

Here's the thing, I consider art the most important thing of a comic because, well, let's be honest, if it doesn't look good or appealing your probably not going to stick around for the reading. 

I really like the writing, StartUp herself, the humor and social commentary. There's some good ideas focused on. The dialogue and narrative are superb. I'm not a fan of the art, but I wouldn't call it hideous. It's not the Jughead art that nearly drove me insane. Just a little below average for me.

I'd give this comic a C+


And there you have it. Overall I've enjoyed reading Sitcomics. They're fun and well written and I mostly really enjoy the art. Again I recommend going to the Sitcomics home page and taking advantages of the three downloads. Sitcomics themselves are cheap in a market where it costs an arm and leg to pick up multiple titles.

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