For those that don’t know, Penny Arcade (the webcomic. Yes, I’m starting a thread about a webcomic, roll your eyeballs back to the front if you please:p) recently made three new storyline comics, producing only the first page of each, and asked viewers to vote on which one they’d like to see continued. The three storys were :
Lookouts
Automata
Jim Darkmagic
Jim Darkmagic was very light, and not particularly interesting for me, but the other two were really good, in my humble opinion. I voted for Automata to be continued, and so it seems did the majority of people, but I’m also pleased that they found a way to continue Lookouts (which was a great concept) – another webcomic team will be handling that one so I’m curious to see how it goes.
I’m not educated enough on the art of illustration to be able to comment on the visuals of Penny Arcade, but the writing for both Automata and Lookouts was tight, economical and mature. I think the PA duo are just getting better and better all the time.
Did anyone else enjoy these few strips, or am I just a gushing fanboy?
Lookouts has a podcast to go along with it if you want to follow how they developed the story. Linky http://www.penny-arcade.com/padlc.xml
And the word they were looking for was ‘bestiary’ (even I knew that).
I voted for Automata. They originally published an Automata teaser in the first or second Penny Arcade collection a few years ago and I was always hoping they’d go back to it. Now that they have (and it won), I’m just giddy.
I thought Jim Darkmagic was mildly interesting, but too much like regular Penny Arcade to be considered for a special comic series.
And Lookouts is just dumb. I know they love doing stuff like CTS and Twixt and Catsby, but that shit is never funny and worse, it’s usually boring. I know Mike has to let his inner artist out sometimes, but why do it with the regular strip?
I wanted “not Jim Darkmagic”, so I voted for each of the others once. It had the feel of their daily fare, just longer and w/o a final punchline. It could fill a few comic books, but the other two showed how much more they could do.
Automata is a clear departure from their historical offerings, and the way the one page offers film-noir styling, implied backstory, and a load of potential was pretty attractive.
Justin_Bailey: I have to disagree with you on Lookouts, but then, I like CTS and T&C. To my eye it does share some artistic stylings with CTS, but IMHO the storyline is original.
They’ve made my Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the past… wow! Decade I guess.
CTS isn’t supposed to be funny. Neither is Lookouts. Neither is Automata, from the one page we’ve seen of it. Aside from “Not supposed to be funny,” I don’t really see any other connections between CTS and Lookouts. Even less between Lookouts and Twixt and Catsby. I’d also argue that T&C is much more Jerry’s artistic outlet than Mike’s. T&C is all about the absurdly verbose (and hilarious, IMO) dialogue. CTS is the polar opposite: wordless, and generally much more serious in tone. I do think the CTS material would work a lot better if they ditched the whole “Gabe with a cardboard tube” thing and just did it as a straight samurai story. Having this guy in a pacman kimono and a packing tube undercuts the more serious tone those comics tend to aim for, and not in a good way. But other than that, I really like the CTS stuff Mike does, and it’s the sort of thing that for years has made me want to see them do some longer form comics. So I’m pleased that they’re doing this, regardless of which storyline they picked.
That said, I wish they’d gone with Lookouts - I like it when Jerry’s writing goes all Tolkeinesque, and I doubt that Automata is going to offer much opportunity for that sort of flourish. Noir writing has it’s own thing going for it too, of course, and I’m interested to see what they’ll do with that, but I think Lookouts would have played more to both of their strengths. Not really sure about the artist they turned the project over to. A little too Mary Blair for my tastes, but I’ll keep up with it none the less.
Jim Darkmagic could have been interesting, too. Looks like Scott Kurtz might be working in that vein, with his Binwin Bronzebottom stuff that’s been popping up in PvP lately. I wonder if Mike and Jerry are giving him any input on that, maybe giving him some of the ideas they had for the Jim comics.
But CTS used to be funny, as you said, at its core its a guy in a Pac-Man kimono running around with a cardboard tube. The seriousness of the strips has really made me start to hate the CTS. They’re beautiful drawings, but four strips of the CTS drinking tea is too much. Last Rites was the last good CTS story in my opinion, because it actually told a story.
But Catsby & Twisp isn’t for you, of course.
[It started as a response to when Kevin Smith claimed Jersey Girl(?) “wasn’t for critics”. Jerry joked, “We didn’t even know you could do that! That makes it so much easier.” So they produced a comic that was intentionally opaque. But it turned out to be wildly popular, so they brought it back a few times.]
I voted for Lookouts, because I liked the idea a little better. Although I’m kind of disappointed with the result. I know they wanted to do Automata already anyway, and I think it’ll be good too.
I voted for Lookouts and now I wish I could take my vote back. I really don’t like the artist they handed it over to. It’s not… bad exactly, but I can’t tell what the hell is supposed to be going on! Did one the kids die in today’s strip or was he just pinned down by the giant rooster? (Talk about sentences I never thought I’d type…) I don’t know who Becky Dreistadt is but the art seems kind of Kyle Baker-ish to me.
Also, I can’t stand CTS but I love T&C! It’s so wonderfully absurd and pretentious at the same time. This was Twisp and Catsby’s very first appearance. I love the expression on Gabe’s face in the third panel.
I voted for Lookouts, but I’m not really sure about this guest artists. As for what’s going on:
In the last comic, the scout leader got swiped by the basilisk’s tale and he went down. In today’s comic, he’s still face down on the ground and the boys are running away with their eyes squeezed shut. Blond kid got swiped and pinned by the monster, and apparently the troop leader managed to stand up again and is… lecturing blond kid? Doesn’t look like he’s going to lift a finger to help him.
It really looked like blond kid got turned to stone back in the 2nd strip though. His eyes get all wide and he’s looking in the direction of the Basilisk just before it appears, and then there’s a stone statue that looks like him, and he’s not visible in the next frame. Guess it’s just poorly drawn though.
Anyhoo, I like the concept and story, if not the art.
“What men must know, a boy must learn.” If the kid’s gonna survive, he’s got to figure out how to free himself.
It’s a very interesting premise, but I have to agree, the guest contributor is really not doing anything for me. The first strip that Mike and Jerry did was really compelling, but the rest isn’t so much.
That makes me angry.