Monster Hunters Part 7

No complaints here.

I was expecting more of a "monster a day" series of strips, but this arc has turned out well. Looking forward to the conclusion tomorrow.

Monster Hunters Part 6

What a twist!

Alright, this one actually made me chuckle. Especially Brent's Egyptian pooping man symbol.

My only nitpick today is some of the punctuation. Francis in panel one should have an exclamation because he's, you know, exclaiming something. And Cole's line in the last panel sounds odd when phrased in the form of a question.

EDIT: Grammar has been fixed. No nits left to pick today.

Monster Hunters Part 5

It continues.

Seriously, the disappearing-reappearing ear pieces are bugging me. I'm not sure why they ditched their coats either.

Anyone else find the vertical strips on Brent's shoulders odd in panel 3? They look kind of jarring compared to the rest of that sweater.

Panel 4: Ouch...better watch for a bad case of Mummy Rot. I liked the "chomp" sound effect though.

Monster Fighters Part 4

Part 4.

Not much to say here, the punchline made me chuckle though. And Brent's earpiece has reappeared for some reason. 

My only critique is the pursed lips of Brent and Cole in panels 2 and 4 look odd.

Monster Fighters Part 2 & 3

Sorry for the delay, folks...had an impromptu day off which led to an impromptu road trip that took longer than expected. 

Part 2 doesn't really hold up, unfortunately. *Cracks knuckles*

As far as I know, Nilla  Wafers are an ingredient in Banana Pudding (more of a topping, really), but there's no banana in the wafers themselves. So I don't really get Brent's line in panel 1.

Does Cole look annoyed to anyone else in the 2nd panel? He seems to just be standing there during the exchange, like he's waiting impatiently for them to finish talking.

Alright, so they've got a PKE Meter...except it's not reading PKE.

They also seem to have lost their little headset pieces.

I know this is Kurtz reveling in some childhood nostalgia and I know this isn't meant to be a serious storyline. So I'm trying to keep an open mind here.

On a side note, I would love an 100x100 icon of Francis saying "You guys are @#*$&% retarded." for internet dramas. 

Part 3:

So now it's an MKE reader as opposed to a "Monster Detector", which in all honesty is a change I prefer. At least it's a nod to the source material.

I wonder who Francis stabbed with his plastic looking stake.

That's a nice monster hand though.

Monster Fighters Part 1

So I've heard of but never seen The Monster Squad. That is to say, I'm familiar with the premise of the movie and I guess this storyline will be an homage to it. 

One thing I don't get is Brent and Cole's earpieces. Are they nods to the movie? Because otherwise, lets get those boys some bluetooth. I'm not sure why Brent is wearing his "sneaking" turtleneck while cole seems to have stuck to his work clothes. The leather longcoats are a nice touch though.

As for the punchline, it's an old joke that works for the setup but didn't really do anything for me.

The Initiate

Alright, time for a good old fashioned Halloween story arc. I've always enjoyed these things, so I've got high hopes for the next two weeks. I'm really glad we've got a double sized strip, as the top 4 panels by themselves would have made for a boring comic.

As it is, I've only got one complaint today: Panel 5, Francis' right arm looks more skinny than usual. Maybe it's just because the kick SFX is overlapping it, or the perspective, but it looks like a stick arm coming out of his shirtsleeve. Also the combination of "Judo chop" left hand and "one finger extended" right hand strikes me as a bit off.

The Pits

I feel like there's a "funny" switch somewhere and Kurtz's inner child is mercilessly flicking it off and on. Today's strip delivers the goods, with some classic Brent and Jade interaction.

Panel 2 feels a little claustrophobic, but other than that, I've got no nits to pick today.

Uncle

And so Fart Week comes to a close. Monday we'll hopefully see something, anything, else.

I wish I had more to say about this week's series of strips, but there just isn't a lot to talk about when flatulence is the joke every day.

Nitpick: Cole's collar is doing that weird self-flip thing in the last panel.

Late Edit: Looks like the collar has been doing that for quite awhile...but I think it's more pronounced these days.

She who dealt it

See, this is a funny strip. I especially like "It's in my coffee!"

So the boys get a taste of their own medicine and a bitter taste it is. And from Miranda no less. I guess she has super-potent farts?

I have but two nitpicks with today's strip:

Panel 4: The extra shine on Brent's glasses is a bit odd. It's not...bad. It just looks strange.

Panel 5: Is Miranda smirking at the boys, or giving acknowledgment to the audience of her actions?

I have more to say, but I'm leaving work as I type this so expect more commentary later tonight, probably after midnight.

Update: Actually, nothing else to say.

Post Game Wrap-Up

Today's comic.

I know Cole is usually the "spoilsport" of the office, but I just feel bad for the guy putting up with this from his employees. Whatever happened to the Cole that could actually play the Boss Card?

I don't really have much to say here. It's nice to see the characters looking fluid though.

Nitpick: Shouldn't it be "let", not "left" in panel 4?

EDIT: I don't know my sports jargon, disregard nitpick.

Fart Week

Yes, yes...farts are art. We get it man, you find gastrological humor hilarious.

Panel 3 bugs me the most here. It feels like Brent and Francis have become finger puppets for Kurtz's views on the matter. Francis looking at the camera in the last panel doesn't help either. The whole thing just feels forced.

The Canterbury Tales was a bunch of people sitting around telling dirty stories, not sitting around having a fart contest. There's a distinct difference. 

Art nitpick: Panel 2, what's up with Cole's shirt collar?

No farting

This looks like the start of one of those "wacky hijinks" storylines that I remember so fondly from the past. My only complaint is a lack of Jade in the impromptu staff meeting.

Art is good, I especially like Marcy's death glare in panel 3.

Rock Band: Wind Instruments

Heh.

I have no problem with fart jokes, when they're done cleverly. This is definitely one of those times. I kind of wish Francis had his own Djork "costume" though.

An (almost) perfect week of comics that have made me quite un-sad.

Welcome back party

Man, commentators have already beat me to the punch for today's strip. 

At first this looks like an amusing stand alone strip about Francis' desire for ice cream cake. But as people have already mentioned, Skull seems out of character in his nonchalant about it. Hell, he even looks uncomfortable in the last panel.

I actually liked today's strip, but I agree with others that the punch line is ruined by Francis' second word bubble in panel 3. 

Art nitpick: panel 1...what exactly is Francis doing? I get the head sunk in/shoulders raised thing, but with his arms hanging limp it doesn't really work for me.

I think Mr. Kurtz is building to something big here. I just hope he doesn't take too long in getting to the meat of it, before suspense wanes.

Legofied

I could be mistaken, but this is probably the most expressive I've ever seen Brent be in a single strip. I have no snark today, for Brent has stolen it and made it his own.

Another great comic, Mr. Kurtz. Bravo, sir.

The Emo Knight

Hey, a background! Cool!

Hey, a funny comic! Awesome!

Nothing negative to say today folks. 

In response to rdy's comment on the previous thread: I assume Brent has the cup up to his mouth but isn't drinking yet.

Teppanyaki

Today's strip is amusing and all, but once again it feels like just as we're settling into a storyline, Kurtz grabs the remote and changes the channel.

It's been said before, but I'll say it again: The shift from white space to a fleshed out location is jarring. Apparently Cole and Brent are in the Matrix until one of them loaded up "Hibatchi 01" in that last panel.

Double Feature

Sorry about the delay in commentary folks, been having some trouble getting the internet hooked up at my new place.

Register to Vote: Cole as the overbearing father-figure again, eh? Aside from his views on teen sex, Cole seems pretty liberal so no surprise that he'd be an Obama man. But the punchline fell flat for me. I think it would've worked better if we saw whatever face Cole was making in the last panel.

Writing nitpick: The exclamation in Cole's dialogue in panel 1 should come after kids, in my opinion.

Indecision '08: Jade seems to be wearing a t-shirt now..or it's just an art goof. Not a big deal, really.

Unlike "Register", I actually found the punchline to this funny. I like the different ways the two kids express their uncertainty.

Brothers

Real life rant: Oh man, moving in the middle of the week and scheduling it around your work hours sucks.

Hey look, a funny comic!

Nothing negative to say on my end today folks. It's strips like this that remind me why I still read PvP.

We Are Not Alone

Check out Orange Crate Art for the ultimate in nitpick criticism of Hi & Lois.