Premise: An Evil Demon slaying/horizontal panel layout comic by The Zebu
Number of Strips: 14 Pages
URL: http://khaos.keenspace.com/
Story-
So, you want a good read? A comic about demons? Demon slayers? Demons who slay demon slayers? Well look no further than a goodly chunk
of keenspace comics! Yes folks, this is yet another comic about magic swords, ninja, demons and evil corporations trying to create a one
world government. Fortunately this one seems to be getting the job done nicely. Due to this comic being only 14 pages
(2 of which are filler pages) the story has not yet fully developed into what I believe it can be, but what Zebu has so far is not half
bad. It starts with a passage of intrigue being read by a nameless warrior describing a horrible leviathan, which I can only assume is a
demon, and proving without a doubt that Zebu is literate (that's a good thing kids!). This nameless warrior appears to be the main
character, but turning out to be a little two-dimensional taking the stereotypical male role in the story. Eventually, an assassin named
Lango is brought into the plot hired by a shadowy evil corporation guy. You know the one I mean; you've seen him a good couple times in
other comics/videogames/movies/television. All the conflict revolves around a "magic sword" left by Eremon, Blade master and teacher of
the good ol' nameless guy which makes for an interesting, clichéd…but interesting, story. All in all, I can see this shaping up nicely
and making for an interesting read (if your into demons, swords and stuff).
Tips-
1. Throw something in there that's a little unexpected like a character who clashes with the main character but is in need of his help. Or a love triangle…mmm….triangles.
2. Don't make everyone so intelligent. There needs to be the occasional person that doesn't speak like he's educated just to mix up the dialogue.
3. For Pete's sake, give the main character a name.
Art-
I couldn't decide on a style. Is it anime? No one knows! This, however, is good. It means that Zebu is trying to create his own sort
of style which can be great. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the style and my eyes seem to gravitate away from the faces. My problem
is probably the roundness of the faces which is generally not a flattering characteristic of muscular heroes and villains. Also, it
would seem that proportions occasionally get skewed like on page seven where Lango's crotch is located about the height his navel should
be. Those things aside, the characters are quite consistent and well posed. The inking on everything was well done in my opinion, and
had a kind of scratchy quality to it that worked very well with the backgrounds. In certain places the lines looked weak or shaky but a
clever use of gradients and shading covered that up. So, while this is not my sort of style, I think many spacers and space readers
will enjoy the artwork in this for the most part.
Tips-
1. Practice different techniques and use different tools to ink so that those damn shaky lines can never desecrate your comic ever again.
2. Review the anatomy of human faces to fix proportion issues.
3. Add more pages to your site, like a links page and a sketch page.
I hereby decree that this fine example of blademaster-magicswordbattling-demonslaying-ancienttomereading comic goodness should receive a mark of 7/10
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