I havent had a lot of luck finding good new comics
recently . . . Heck, I havent even had a lot of luck
getting ahold of the comics I read regularly. The most
recent issue of Blade of the Immortal sold out in 6
hours! My husband has vowed to stop telling his
friends how great the comic is, because hes sick of
not being able to buy it himself. Thus, I would like
to say . . . You should read Blade of the Immortal.
Unless you live in Tucson . . . In which case, hands
off!!!
As usual, I digress. Since I havent found any review
fodder on the comic shelves, Im turning to that old
standby... web comics! I love my web comics. I
especially love seeing Phil Foglio do the guest week
for Sluggy Freelance (now if only Girl Genius would
come out more than every 6 months or so, but thats a
rant for another day . . . ). And I love finding cool new
comics to add to my bookmarks. Here are two Ive found
recently which I think youll enjoy.
The first is Errant Story. If you read any Keenspot
comics and arent signed up for their premium,
ads-free version, youve probably seen ads for this
comic with its beautiful manga-style art. Errant Story
is written and drawn by Michael Poe, who was
responsible for Exploitation Now, a famous web comic
which I have never read. I hear that everyone who
reviews or mentions Errant Story has to say something
about Exploitation Now, so I did . . . Now on with the
review!
Errant Story is a cool manga-esque comic, drawn in
comic page format instead of a strip. It features
magic, teenagers with attitudes, flying cats with
attitudes, assassins with attitudes, and other fun
stuff. The world is primarily magical with a bit of
technology, namely guns.
The main character, Meji, is a young, half-elven
student of magic whose sarcastic outlook in life never
fails to amuse me. The things she says sound like
something I would say... if I wasnt afraid of getting
beat up. Her familiar is Ellis, the aforementioned
flying cat. He and Meji work well off of each other.
He seems to have little respect for her, and she
thinks he makes a good weapon for knocking out guards
(yes, swing the winged cat around by his tail,
weeeeeee).
Im still trying to figure out who the other main
characters are, as Poe has several stories going on at
once. The story has a great blend of humor with
serious storytelling. Theres a real plot going on
here, but that doesnt stop the characters from
cracking wise and getting into funny situations along
the way. In my mind, thats the best sort of story.
Pure humor wears thin over time, and a comic full of
brooding people just draws mockery from me. It seems
like the world is pretty well developed, too, and
well get to know it more over time.
The humor in this comic will appeal to manga/anime
fans and RPGers alike. I find myself laughing at it
almost every time. It is not a comic for kiddies, as
there is some strong language and sexual references
sprinkled throughout it in less than subtle ways. No
nudity yet, but lots and lots of violence.
The art is, as I mentioned before, beautiful.
Manga-style, without falling back on super-distorted
characters or the other sillier aspects of the genre
that chase some people away. The character and costume
designs are nice as well, detailed but not too busy.
Also, the action scenes are well drawn, not confusing
as they are in some comics.
Errant story can be found at and
is updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Poe rarely
misses an update.
For some pure manga/anime fantasy action themed humor,
check out Von Van Hunter. This amusing comic features
the antics of the title character, a big, dumb hero
who slays vampires, zombies, orcs, trolls, and
whatever other evil he finds along the way. His
sidekick is an as of yet nameless girl whom he
rescued, who is oftentimes amazed by Vons stupidity
and typical dense hero boy outlook on life. This is
not a serious comic, and the plot isnt too original
yet, but its very funny! I think Ive laughed at
every strip in this series so far.
Again, this is a comic with manga style artwork, this
time including such things as super-distorted
characters at time, the big teardrop on the side of
the head to show nervousness, etc. If you do not like
manga or anime, this is not the comic for you. The art
isnt as high of quality as Poes, and for a non-manga
fan, it will probably just annoy you. In the year and
a half archive, however, I can already see improvement
in the art, so I look forward to watching this
artists talent grow.
Van Von Hunter is an experimental project by Psuedome
Studios to test their ability to do a weekly comic. I
cannot find any NAMES on the Psuedome website for the
creators. This comic is updated every Sunday.