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Wargs, Yay! and Werewolves...*yawn*
I'm starting the Halloween-themed post spamming early. It's a new tradition I just started: I love this season and this holiday so much-- and yet I've had so few enjoyable events in all these years that I'm just going to use this as an excuse to post about werewolves and fall and pumpkins and Halloween.
First, some admitted geekery: I am embarrassed to admit how much anxiety Peter Jackson's Hobbit was causing me entirely because of how he was going to handle the Wargs. I loved the LotR trilogy as much as anyone could, but I looked forward to how he would handle Tolkien's intelligent, evil wolves. The dumpy, hyenadon lunks that populated LotR were a major let-down. When Guillermo del Toro, in an interview with fans, promised to break Jackson-canon and re-make the Wargs as the lupine creatures described by Tolkien, I was thrilled...then sad when he dropped out of the project.
After months of watching the official blog and BTS footage there is finally some hope: the new trailer has some quick clips of the wargs:
These are not the clearest shots, but at least I can see that they are not the beady-eyed, bison-bodied creatures of LotR! Now I can relax and just look forward to the film.../geekery.
On the other hand, I found a web comic that had amazing promise: great art and a storyline that was about an alpha werewolf controlling his pack in the Big City. Described as a, "Supernatural Office Dramedy Romance about Murder," this sounded like a great series to follow.
I just finished reading the first five issues of this comic and...*Zzzzz....*
Walking on Broken Glass is a horror comedy supposedly with werewolves and action. Unfortunately, the creators have found a way to avoid any of those promises.
The story is self-indulgent: they assume the reader adores the characters from the first page so there is mugging to the camera (as it were), lots of "Moonlighting"/Willis-Shepherd style banter and an incredible amount of -nothing-. They talk. They angst. They flirt. Action? Nope. Monsters? Rarely. Werewolves? Argh. Aside from covers and one symbolic panel, the first werewolves don't appear until page three of the THIRD ISSUE! Almost 8 MONTHS after the comic's debut! Almost 60 pages into this comic and they finally appear in werewolf form! Oh, and it gets better: the werewolves are there for...wait for it (literally)...ONE PAGE. It seems like the artist hates drawing anything but humans. At her first opportunity, the wolves are gone. That's her choice, but why not do a vampire storyline...or a zombie or alien or ANYTHING THAT ONLY HAS HUMANS in it??
On page 12 of the third issue there is finally some actual werewolves and action. It only lasts a couple of pages, but let's face it: this is nearly one year into this slow-drying paint. The action is not bad...but the next thing you know-- they're all back in human form and that's the end of werewolves until the last couple of pages of the FIFTH BOOK (which is the first appearance of the hero of the story). Finally, the hero/alpha werewolf who spent the last two years (reader time) angsting and sitting and talking-- finally turning into a werwolf. Why, after all this time and through several action scene does he finally turn into a werewolf? To show the heroine that he really can change. Really.
What amazes me is that this book has a following. A Kickstarter campaign to raise money to print issue 4 had a $405 goal and raised $1,897. And from the reader comments you'd think this was THE MOST AMAZING WEB COMIC EVER!1!! If I had bought this as a comic, I would never have purchased a second issue. Certainly not after flipping through the second issue (no werewolves, no action), and I would have been pissed that the covers feature werewolves when the books are sorely lacking in that department.
Walking on Broken Glass ifeels like the result of too much fanfic and an artist who hates to draw animals. The art is technically quite good: she draws great humans and gets a lot of that animator-turned-illustrator expression into their faces (as usual, a bit -too- much of that). The premise of the story and the character descriptions are terrific. But NOTHING HAPPENS!
Examples: In issue 2 the first six pages are the main characters talking about doom prophecies and angst. After that? a six page paintball fight in the office (to lighten things up, I guess). This comic is updated once a week. That means 12 weeks into the second comic-- that is the sum-total of what happens. Talk. Paintball fight. The rest of the issue (another 9 weeks) is talking, a boring monster-kill (yes, they manage to make even something like that uninteresting, and without werewolves appearing), then more talking. A reader following this would have to patiently wallow through over twenty weeks of this issue to be rewarded with...nothing. Not even a single appearance by anything remotely lupine.
Even some of the action left me wondering. In the middle of a romantic talk (of course), a mugger in a ski mask sticks a gun to the heroine's head and demands her purse. A fight ensues, mugger tries to shoot them, the girl punches the bad guy once and then they let him go (not calling the police) by making him promise not to mug anyone anymore. He runs off, promising. Srsly.
Still don't believe me? Here's a pretty typical three page set from the middle of the series:
I wanted to like this series. Even being able to read all five issues in one sitting didn't overcome the ponderous, indulgent pace of this book. And just six pages total of werewolves over the span of two years, five issues and over a hundred pages just made it easier to walk away from.
First, some admitted geekery: I am embarrassed to admit how much anxiety Peter Jackson's Hobbit was causing me entirely because of how he was going to handle the Wargs. I loved the LotR trilogy as much as anyone could, but I looked forward to how he would handle Tolkien's intelligent, evil wolves. The dumpy, hyenadon lunks that populated LotR were a major let-down. When Guillermo del Toro, in an interview with fans, promised to break Jackson-canon and re-make the Wargs as the lupine creatures described by Tolkien, I was thrilled...then sad when he dropped out of the project.
After months of watching the official blog and BTS footage there is finally some hope: the new trailer has some quick clips of the wargs:
These are not the clearest shots, but at least I can see that they are not the beady-eyed, bison-bodied creatures of LotR! Now I can relax and just look forward to the film.../geekery.
On the other hand, I found a web comic that had amazing promise: great art and a storyline that was about an alpha werewolf controlling his pack in the Big City. Described as a, "Supernatural Office Dramedy Romance about Murder," this sounded like a great series to follow.
I just finished reading the first five issues of this comic and...*Zzzzz....*
Walking on Broken Glass is a horror comedy supposedly with werewolves and action. Unfortunately, the creators have found a way to avoid any of those promises.
The story is self-indulgent: they assume the reader adores the characters from the first page so there is mugging to the camera (as it were), lots of "Moonlighting"/Willis-Shepherd style banter and an incredible amount of -nothing-. They talk. They angst. They flirt. Action? Nope. Monsters? Rarely. Werewolves? Argh. Aside from covers and one symbolic panel, the first werewolves don't appear until page three of the THIRD ISSUE! Almost 8 MONTHS after the comic's debut! Almost 60 pages into this comic and they finally appear in werewolf form! Oh, and it gets better: the werewolves are there for...wait for it (literally)...ONE PAGE. It seems like the artist hates drawing anything but humans. At her first opportunity, the wolves are gone. That's her choice, but why not do a vampire storyline...or a zombie or alien or ANYTHING THAT ONLY HAS HUMANS in it??
On page 12 of the third issue there is finally some actual werewolves and action. It only lasts a couple of pages, but let's face it: this is nearly one year into this slow-drying paint. The action is not bad...but the next thing you know-- they're all back in human form and that's the end of werewolves until the last couple of pages of the FIFTH BOOK (which is the first appearance of the hero of the story). Finally, the hero/alpha werewolf who spent the last two years (reader time) angsting and sitting and talking-- finally turning into a werwolf. Why, after all this time and through several action scene does he finally turn into a werewolf? To show the heroine that he really can change. Really.
What amazes me is that this book has a following. A Kickstarter campaign to raise money to print issue 4 had a $405 goal and raised $1,897. And from the reader comments you'd think this was THE MOST AMAZING WEB COMIC EVER!1!! If I had bought this as a comic, I would never have purchased a second issue. Certainly not after flipping through the second issue (no werewolves, no action), and I would have been pissed that the covers feature werewolves when the books are sorely lacking in that department.
Walking on Broken Glass ifeels like the result of too much fanfic and an artist who hates to draw animals. The art is technically quite good: she draws great humans and gets a lot of that animator-turned-illustrator expression into their faces (as usual, a bit -too- much of that). The premise of the story and the character descriptions are terrific. But NOTHING HAPPENS!
Examples: In issue 2 the first six pages are the main characters talking about doom prophecies and angst. After that? a six page paintball fight in the office (to lighten things up, I guess). This comic is updated once a week. That means 12 weeks into the second comic-- that is the sum-total of what happens. Talk. Paintball fight. The rest of the issue (another 9 weeks) is talking, a boring monster-kill (yes, they manage to make even something like that uninteresting, and without werewolves appearing), then more talking. A reader following this would have to patiently wallow through over twenty weeks of this issue to be rewarded with...nothing. Not even a single appearance by anything remotely lupine.
Even some of the action left me wondering. In the middle of a romantic talk (of course), a mugger in a ski mask sticks a gun to the heroine's head and demands her purse. A fight ensues, mugger tries to shoot them, the girl punches the bad guy once and then they let him go (not calling the police) by making him promise not to mug anyone anymore. He runs off, promising. Srsly.
Still don't believe me? Here's a pretty typical three page set from the middle of the series:
I wanted to like this series. Even being able to read all five issues in one sitting didn't overcome the ponderous, indulgent pace of this book. And just six pages total of werewolves over the span of two years, five issues and over a hundred pages just made it easier to walk away from.
no subject
Disclaimer: Been years since I bothered to read them, my memory may be wobbly on them.
no subject
In the same vein, there are those authors who, because they don't -want- to write a sequel (but are pressured by fans, publishers and their agents), write a "fuck-you" book. "The Book of the Dun Cow" and "The Book of Sorrows" come immediately, painfully to mind.
no subject
In the mugger scene, I like how the guy says "If I see you again..." DUDE'S WEARING A MASK HOW WILL YOU KNOW?
no subject
Bwahaha on the ski mask! I was so eye-twirling about the over-the-top cliché of the ski mask and slap on the wrist solution that I totally missed the, "If I see you again..." goof. I picture a follow up gag where the hero boards a bus and this guy is standing next to him, still wearing the mask and looking very nervous. Or maybe the crook is working at a Ben and Jerry's or something. Laughs galore. Still no werewolves, though.
no subject
I should take a picture of the goofy werewolf hat I found for my "costume" for Halloween :D
no subject
At least the Hobbit Wargs won't be those fat, gross hyena things.
Are you dressing up Banjo, too?