konpaku: Random Poison Abridged

I think it’s time to talk a bit about comics again, it’s been a while. As I said before is Hiveworks a treasure trove for great comics and I’d like to introduce you to these two relatively new titles.
I’m not entirely sure why I chose the spooky theme for this though. [...]

Black Grass

This comic literally starts with something that goes bump in the night, so it was kind of also the inspiration for the title.
Black Grass tells the story of Reverent Abel Ruby (front) who besides being a preacher is also a medium (according to the description is he also clairvoyant, but that hasn’t appeared yet) and therefore able to interact with ghosts. One ghost in particular – Blue Valentine (back) gets him into a rather sticky situation involving hellish bureaucracy…

[...]

Headless Bliss

The Comic tells the story of Sinaj an incomplete story, created by a human, that tries to find meaning in her existence. On her way she encounters demon princess Annùn and the two of them become quite unusual friends. When [...]

Afterword

I hoped you enjoyed this little look into two great webcomics. :)
Have you read them?
Do you know others with similar themes?
Let me know in the comments below!

I know at least a couple of other comics with a similar theme, but on the one hand do I prefer focusing on two at a time with these things and on the the other hand do I think that they would work well enough on their own too.

Continue Reading: Webcomics: Chapter Two – Things that go bump in the night

As I can’t decide which Webcomic I want to present to you today and instead of continuing with the Gamers-theme from the last few posts, I’ll simply introduce you to a few animated variations of the comics I already told you about.

A not funny series

When I “re-wrote” the first post of this series where I told you about Nichtlustig (Notfunny) the German

one panel Comics by Cartoonist Joscha Sauer, telling the stories of his various characters. These include a Professor, his assistant and their strange experiments; Yetis; suicidal Lemmings, a killer-robot aspiring to become a kindergarten teacher, Mr. Riebmann, who lives in the wall beside his constantly annoyed neighbour and of course Death and his Poodle, who are the not so secret stars of the Comics.

I also mentioned that they had just

finished a successful Kickstarter campaign to animate the Comics as a Cartoon series.

So this of course is the first one I want to talk about – even if this will be boring for those who don’t know German, as they are only synchronized in that language.
With the Kickstarter Sauer wanted to be able to produce a whole series of animated comics, but aimed low and set it up for one episode first. The campaign funded that well that by now two of the six funded episodes are produced, with the remaining four being released in 2017.

As far as I know [...]

Miniaturized Adventures

After I recently talked about Looking for Group and Tiny Dick Adventures in passing it’s creators now released a new project, where the latter got a bigger spotlight.

Starting 31. Augist there will be a 50-60 seconds episode of the so-called Tiny Dick’s Briefs each week, with daily special releases during the release week [aka the week before that].
Additionally to the briefs with random (new) commentary by LFG star Richard will there also be an animated version of one of Sohmers other comics that I’ll talk about on a different day.

[...]

A cat’s tale

As I’m already talking about animated comics do I feel like a can’t leave out Simon’s Cat. Different to the other two that were (web)comics first and were animated later, was this one animated first before also releasing comic book versions – at least from what I know.

[...]

Continue Reading: Webcomics: Bonus Chapter – Animated

With PokémonGo being the topic all around I decided to add a little bonus chapter to the usual webcomic chapters here about an old phenomenon regarding the normal Pokémon games:

The Nuzlocke Challenge

The Challenge itself doesn’t have anything to do with webcomics, but I’ll get to that soon. First let me explain:

What is the Nuzlocke Challenge?

The Nuzlocke Challenge was created in 2010 by a bored student that by now refers to himself as “Nuzlocke”, when he wanted to change the experience he had with the Pokémon games.
Originally he set up these rules:

1. Capture only the first Pokémon you encounter in a new area.
2. If a Pokémon faints you consider it dead and release it.

To accompany his run for the Ruby-edition he started a webcomic called Pokémon: Hard-Mode. He shared this comic in different communities and they created the name “Nuzlocke” as a wordplay on the fan favourite Seedot/Nuzleaf of the run that he occasionally drew like John Locke from Lost.

Inspired by this, many others took up the challenge and modified the original rules and added a few more rules:

1. If a Pokémon faints you consider it dead and either release it or put it in a “Dead” Box on the PC.
2. Capture only the first Pokémon encountered in a new area, unless it’s a duplicate, then you have 1-3 more tries. You may re-catch a Pokémon that previously died.
3. All caught Pokémon must be nicknamed.
4. Healing items can/can not be used. Pokémon Centers are a must.
5. You can/can not catch any Legendaries.
6. If you encounter a shiny all rules are nullified.

This of course is not a complete set of rules as Challengers individualize them, so every run has slightly different rules, but you get the gist of it.

The Challengers

I put this into the webcomics category so I’ll introduce you to a couple of Nuzlocke runs that turned their experiences into comics. This is only a collection of the ones I enjoyed reading there are plenty more – even some that turned it into diaries.
There are some things – besides the challenge – they all have in common:

• None of them are finished and they update irregularly.
• The protagonist is either able to talk to their Pokémon or at least the reader is able to see their thoughts.
• Each update has about 10-20+ panels.
• Nearly all of them can be found on DeviantArt

Pokémon: Hard-Mode – Nuzlocke

The Original run I mentioned before was for Ruby. By now he added a run for Fire-Red and is currently running one for White, but you should read the others before that. The art improved greatly over the years and also the story telling. At first it’s just headwords/phrases that are drawn, later there is actual plot behind it. Still, some of the jokes are quite lame, but that’s also part of the charm of these runs.
As a start into the whole Nuzlocke business I’d recommend it, it is the original after all.

Tales of Sinnoh/Myths of Unova – ky-nim

Diamond/White runs [...]

Tala’s Nuzlocke Adventure – TalaSeba

Silver or Gold run [...]

Fire Red Nuzlocke – french-teapot

Fire Red run ;) [...]

The Pokédex Project – Effsnares

Leaf Green run [...]

Gijinka Nuzlockes

These are special Nuzlocke comics that turn the involved Pokémon into Gijinka’s – anthropomorphic Pokémon – some of them have an interesting background as to why/how this is possible, others simply use it as fact. In these runs there is either a Trainer capable of recruiting Gijinka’s or Gijinka’s getting together to build a team without any humans.

Until I came across these, I’m not sure I even heard about the concept – at least not by this name.
So if you want to try something different, you may want to give these a try:

Doubt and Trust – Nyapapa

Heart Gold/Soul Silver run [...]

That comic about that one kid – dejasquietplace

(sort of) Leaf Green run [...]

Last words

The very first Nuzlocke comic I read was Mira’s Leaf Green Nuzlocke by xXDeath-N-HellXx. It is/was a great run, but it hasn’t been updated in three years, so I left it out of the list above.

I hope you enjoyed this little look into different Nuzlocke Challenge comics.

Have you ever tried the challenge or read any of the comics?
Do you know any other comics of the kind?

Continue Reading: Webcomics: Bonus Chapter – Nuzlocke

With PokémonGo being the topic all around I decided to add a little bonus chapter to the usual webcomic chapters here about an old phenomenon regarding the normal Pokémon games:

The Nuzlocke Challenge

The Challenge itself doesn’t have anything to do with webcomics, but I’ll get to that soon. First let me explain:

What is the Nuzlocke Challenge?

The Nuzlocke Challenge was created in 2010 by a bored student that by now refers to himself as “Nuzlocke”, when he wanted to change the experience he had with the Pokémon games.
Originally he set up these rules:

1. Capture only the first Pokémon you encounter in a new area.
2. If a Pokémon faints you consider it dead and release it.

To accompany his run for the Ruby-edition he started a webcomic called Pokémon: Hard-Mode. He shared this comic in different communities and they created the name “Nuzlocke” as a wordplay on the fan favourite Seedot/Nuzleaf of the run that he occasionally drew like John Locke from Lost.

Inspired by this, many others took up the challenge and modified the original rules and added a few more rules:

1. If a Pokémon faints you consider it dead and either release it or put it in a “Dead” Box on the PC.
2. Capture only the first Pokémon encountered in a new area, unless it’s a duplicate, then you have 1-3 more tries. You may re-catch a Pokémon that previously died.
3. All caught Pokémon must be nicknamed.
4. Healing items can/can not be used. Pokémon Centers are a must.
5. You can/can not catch any Legendaries.
6. If you encounter a shiny all rules are nullified.

This of course is not a complete set of rules as Challengers individualize them, so every run has slightly different rules, but you get the gist of it.

The Challengers

I put this into the webcomics category so I’ll introduce you to a couple of Nuzlocke runs that turned their experiences into comics. This is only a collection of the ones I enjoyed reading there are plenty more – even some that turned it into diaries.
There are some things – besides the challenge – they all have in common:

• None of them are finished and they update irregularly.
• The protagonist is either able to talk to their Pokémon or at least the reader is able to see their thoughts.
• Each update has about 10-20+ panels.
• Nearly all of them can be found on DeviantArt

Pokémon: Hard-Mode – Nuzlocke

The Original run I mentioned before was for Ruby. By now he added a run for Fire-Red and is currently running one for White, but you should read the others before that. The art improved greatly over the years and also the story telling. At first it’s just headwords/phrases that are drawn, later there is actual plot behind it. Still, some of the jokes are quite lame, but that’s also part of the charm of these runs.
As a start into the whole Nuzlocke business I’d recommend it, it is the original after all.

Tales of Sinnoh/Myths of Unova – ky-nim

Diamond/White runs [...]

Tala’s Nuzlocke Adventure – TalaSeba

Silver or Gold run [...]

Fire Red Nuzlocke – french-teapot

Fire Red run ;) [...]

The Pokédex Project – Effsnares

Leaf Green run [...]

Gijinka Nuzlockes

These are special Nuzlocke comics that turn the involved Pokémon into Gijinka’s – anthropomorphic Pokémon – some of them have an interesting background as to why/how this is possible, others simply use it as fact. In these runs there is either a Trainer capable of recruiting Gijinka’s or Gijinka’s getting together to build a team without any humans.

Until I came across these, I’m not sure I even heard about the concept – at least not by this name.
So if you want to try something different, you may want to give these a try:

Doubt and Trust – Nyapapa

Heart Gold/Soul Silver run [...]

That comic about that one kid – dejasquietplace

(sort of) Leaf Green run [...]

Last words

The very first Nuzlocke comic I read was Mira’s Leaf Green Nuzlocke by xXDeath-N-HellXx. It is/was a great run, but it hasn’t been updated in three years, so I left it out of the list above.

I hope you enjoyed this little look into different Nuzlocke Challenge comics.

Have you ever tried the challenge or read any of the comics?
Do you know any other comics of the kind?

Continue Reading: Webcomics: Bonus Chapter – Nuzlocke

Remember when I told you about the amazing female leads in two webcomics and dubbed it Chapter One? Well, seems like you’ll be getting a belated Prologue today, as one can’t start properly before talking about the beginning…
That and the fact that I really like Prologues….

Anyway, as I mentioned in the Introduction were Fred and Notfunny my “gate way” into comics and Webcomics in general, but what really got me hooked on reading them was

Looking for Group

 

The webcomic by writer Ryan Sohmer and artist Lar (Lartist) Desouza tells the story of the elf Cale’anon (the one in the front) who just wants to be a hero, to do good, to help people, but is more often than not faced with decisions he wouldn’t naturally approve of. It’s not helping that the group he ends up travelling with includes the fourth wall breaking, easily bored, over-powered, homicidal and basically utterly ridiculous un-dead Warlock Richard (the one in the upper right corner), the witty and destructive priest Benn’joon (short Benny – in the middle with the staff), her Bloodrage father and scholar Krunch (on the left with the book), the crafty, bardic Dwarf Pella and bloodthirsty panther Sooba (both not depicted).

What makes this story fun is... [...]

When I first discovered it through a recommendation in The Forum I didn’t really give it much credit, the art was strange and the story was over the top, but the humour soon captured me – especially Richard’s, he’s so delightfully, well, Richard. [...]

By now the universe expanded far beyond just Looking for Group, there are now also NPC stories, telling more about characters that only appeared briefly in the main arcs in tales drawn by different unknown/young/new artists and the Tiny Dick Adventures, where Richard comments on real life happenings – with a twist.

Afterword

I hope you enjoyed this little look into my first long-term-commitment Webcomic.
Have you read it?
Do you know others with similar themes?
Let me know in the comments below!

For Pony!

Continue Reading: Webcomics: Prologue – Looking for Something

Remember when I told you about the amazing female leads in two webcomics and dubbed it Chapter One? Well, seems like you’ll be getting a belated Prologue today, as one can’t start properly before talking about the beginning…
That and the fact that I really like Prologues….

Anyway, as I mentioned in the Introduction were Fred and Notfunny my “gate way” into comics and Webcomics in general, but what really got me hooked on reading them was

Looking for Group

 

The webcomic by writer Ryan Sohmer and artist Lar (Lartist) Desouza tells the story of the elf Cale’anon (the one in the front) who just wants to be a hero, to do good, to help people, but is more often than not faced with decisions he wouldn’t naturally approve of. It’s not helping that the group he ends up travelling with includes the fourth wall breaking, easily bored, over-powered, homicidal and basically utterly ridiculous un-dead Warlock Richard (the one in the upper right corner), the witty and destructive priest Benn’joon (short Benny – in the middle with the staff), her Bloodrage father and scholar Krunch (on the left with the book), the crafty, bardic Dwarf Pella and bloodthirsty panther Sooba (both not depicted).

What makes this story fun is... [...]

When I first discovered it through a recommendation in The Forum I didn’t really give it much credit, the art was strange and the story was over the top, but the humour soon captured me – especially Richard’s, he’s so delightfully, well, Richard. [...]

By now the universe expanded far beyond just Looking for Group, there are now also NPC stories, telling more about characters that only appeared briefly in the main arcs in tales drawn by different unknown/young/new artists and the Tiny Dick Adventures, where Richard comments on real life happenings – with a twist.

Afterword

I hope you enjoyed this little look into my first long-term-commitment Webcomic.
Have you read it?
Do you know others with similar themes?
Let me know in the comments below!

For Pony!

Continue Reading: Webcomics: Prologue – Looking for Something

It’s been a while since I (re-)posted my introduction to Webcomics, but it’s about time that I actually turn it into a serial here on the Blog. Especially as today is Free Comic Book Day – and I can’t participate as we have our own version with different comics next week – and I’ve therefore had a super-hero-ish day on Twitter earlier.
And as tomorrow is mother’s day (over here?), I decided to start by looking at two comics with incredible female leads!

Strong Female Protagonist

A lot of webcomic creators use each others help to get over taking a break and I am fairly certain that it was either a guest comic or an advertisement from one of the many other webcomics I read that lead me to this one.

At first I wasn’t quite sure about Strong Female Protagonist by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag. It felt as if everything was just starting, even if it was already running for a while when I discovered it. The name of this webcomic might sound like a working title or just a note saying what someone wants the story to be about, but the story itself is so much more.

Main character Alison Green is a young woman that used to be an invulnerable, strong superhero, but retired to lead a normal life, yet that doesn’t really work out the way she wants it to.

[...]

Namesake

On the other hand there is Namesake by Megan Lavey-Heaton & Isabelle Melançon where main character Emma Crewe (front) is all but thrown into her “hero” life.

In this story, that I stumbled upon over at Hiveworks (a great source to discover new comics, by the way), we follow her journey into the world of Oz and learn bit by bit more about the bigger picture of what makes Emma special and what evil (?) lurks in the background.

Where SFP goes for realism, Namesake has a few very interesting Fantasy elements.

[...]

Afterword

I hoped you enjoyed this little look into two great webcomics.
Have you read them?
Do you know others with similar themes?
Let me know in the comments below!

Continue Reading: Webcomics: Chapter One – Reluctant Heroines

The first thing people think of when they talk about Comics are thin books full of colourful pictures that tell the story of different Superheros.
 What they usually forget is that it all originated from mere monochrome, one panel Comics – alternatively called Cartoons or Comic Strips – in newspapers.

With the rise of the Internet these kinds of Comics have become a rarity in print, but more and more available online. The format changed greatly, as Comics were no longer bound to size and the two achromatic colours. They now have up to three or more colourful panels to tell the joke (though there are still newer Comics following the old pattern). Depending on the series the panels and Strips are now also used for continuing story lines instead of trying to simply reach a punch line each Strip.

[...]

Still, my interest in Cartoons and Anime – Comics’ moving cousins so to speak – are what first drew me to its immobile counterparts.

An unfunny tale

I can’t really remember how it happened, but I think that on one of my trips to the Book Store to buy a new Manga, I discovered a book-like collection of Comic Strips that I just had to look at.

But who wouldn’t do that with a bright red book that had a clown on the cover, who had just cut off his own leg with an axe, while its titled claimed the content of the “book” to be “Notfunny”?

I certainly couldn’t resist picking it up and I still do not regret that I did.

Notfunny  or Nichtlustig as it is originally called, are one panel Comics by German Cartoonist Joscha Sauer, telling the stories of his various characters.

[...]

Webcomics for everyone!

The more popular the Internet became, the more common was it for artists to start their own Comic series online, thus creating Webcomics. By now the list of the ones I read on a regular basis is relatively long, though it could be longer if I continued reading some of the stories I’ve already bookmarked.

But this is the good thing about Webcomics: You can start from the get-go, see the first steps the artist took (and some of them were quite horrible to be honest), take a break from reading and continue where you left off without fear of the old Comics falling out of print and the whole series being rebooted with different content – though a few artists do re-draws after the story is finished.

One of the first Webcomics I ever came across was about a philosophical, and frankly adorable, bat, with a rather long alliteration in his name, which reads: Fledermaus Fürst Frederick Fon Flatter (Prince/Fürst of Bats Frederick of Flutter) or short: Fred  (English versions can be found on Tumblr.)

[In a Monday-Wednesday-Friday rhythm] German Comic artist Bastian Melnyk presents up to four panel stories starring the round bat and his friends.[...]

I guess I could keep going all day, but I stop with this minuscule look into the vast amount of Webcomics that I myself have yet to explore completely.

If you have any recommendations feel free to let me know, as I enjoy checking out new stories.

Continue Reading: Webcomics - An Introduction