One a very special Zuda watch, we learn a whole lot about Midnight. It turns out he’s a sensitive man who loves his grandmother and vampires. He’s a powerful defender of decency and is not afraid to admit when he is very very wrong. Tune in and we all grow closer together and tear down both emotional walls, and the egos of various Zuda creators.
We also see that Steve doesn’t get dirty names very often. Like at all. Even the obvious ones.
Strips mentions in this show (let me know if I missed any)
Rex Libris (not a web comic but still awesome)
I have to disagree with you guys about Hopeless Youth, I think it is one of the few strips that actually delineates believable characterization in the 8 page limit. I also think that it is unfortunate, but probably true, that a strip needs a fantastic hook (meaning monsters, heroes, aliens, or meaningless punching) to grab the reader’s attention as opposed to a good story. With today’s mind-set and short attention span half of what are now considered literary classics would have never been read. Also, I think it was Jason who didn’t like the art on The Unconscious Life, while I don’t necessarily disagree with the critique, I wished you would’ve pointed out what was weak about it. All in all, I think you guys do a great job at giving objective criticism on the Zuda Competition and I wished other podcasts would give Zuda a little more attention. By the way my favorites this month are Blood hunter and Hopeless Youth; neither of which are extremely original, but both are well-executed and in the end execution is what matters.
–Jernell
I really enjoy your Zuda reviews. It’s great to hear more considered opinions and ones that even make me think twice. The only thing I couldn’t quite reconcile was how anybody could think Blood Hunter was well drawn or laid out. Astonishing!
Always happy to please, Jernell!
With Unconscious Life, the line work and characters themselves are inconsistent and of average to poor quality. The eyes on the faces of most characters are uneven and seem to be falling off in places (page 7 for example, her eyes are all over the place).
And the gun on page 8 is a good example of poor line work. Shaky and uneven do not necessarily mean stylized.
It might have helped to have another person for inking, as something tells me the underlying pencils are actually more competent than the inks on top of them. Also, the coloring is quite nice, another area that the creator seems to have success with.
Thanks for the feedback about the Unconscious Life. Now I have to go back and study the strip, especially the pages you mentioned. This helps me develop an eye for weaknesses in my own work!
Thanks!
–Jernell
Another greatly entertaining look at the Zuda competition. I am both anxious and terrified to hear your comments one day if my entry makes it to contest. But it is because I love your commentary that I kept coming back here each month to see what you think about the competition. Keep those podcasts coming! 🙂
And don’t forget: in-between Zuda Watches, we’ve got great commentary and reviews on other things going on in webcomics!
Glad you like what you hear, this month’s will be coming in a more timely manner, so stay tuned!
Also, was thinking about the podcast and I think it was Brigid (could be wrong) that said she had a theory that black and white doesn’t work at Zuda. Well, two of the instant winners, Night Owls and Street Code, are black and white. And Road, one of the contest winners, is also.
BTW
I’m curious to know what you guys think of the instant winners. Over the summer we’ve had Street Code and The Imaginary Boys as instant winners. I’m just curious to see what you guys think about them.
Well Grifter, I can’t say about the Imaginary Boys because I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, but I did read Street Code.
With my normal preface that I don’t normally read slice-of-life comics, I really didn’t like this one. I felt like we got a stream of unrelated story arch, only they weren’t full arcs. It was like the middle part of several stories, with no beginnings or endings.
Thanks for the kind words about Janggar guys. I wish I had found this podcast sooner. And take heart. You will be seeing more of him.
And thanks for mentioning my real name. I sort of cringed every time you said Stevapalooza. Sometimes you don’t realize how stupid a screen name is until someone actually says it out loud.