Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Hooray for Boobies!

All the Ladies in the House

Art - The overall art and detail of the characters is good and, unlike the last few strips, that is to be expected secondary to there is not that much detail.

However problems do creep up: Jade with Bug Eyes is in panel 1 and the girl's hair just appears off.

The front part of Jade's hair is good but the front part of Miranda's hair remains odd as I don't know what it is trying to emphasize. It does not really help to show that her hair falls at that spot and is just as distracting. Plus Jade's ponytail shading starts to creep up throughout the strip. If you look at panels 1, 3, and 5 the shading starts at nearer to the tip, goes 1/3 of the way up, and then ends nearly 1/2 of the way up without much head position difference.

Oh and Miranda's eye brow moves in front of her hair in the final panel, when it was placed behind it throughout the whole strip.

Story - A good concept and a nice return to the inner workings of them working back for the magazine. Francis does have a good idea in trying to get more hits with sexy and Miranda is the right way to go. Jade does provide some protest to this but I find that having her glare at either Francis or Miranda in the last panel would have done better to serve the joke then just having her stare blankly like she hadn't participated in the conversation

Good first strip in an arc and I wonder if Marcy will make an appearance. Overall it's a boob joke, but we haven't seen one in a while so I'm cool with it (everyone can breathe now)

Lewd Negotiations

Art - First off I think Francis looks great in this strip. His detail is great as his sleeve is done well and his facial expressions convey the emotions of the conversation well.

Also, the background is done well as it has enough detail to show they've moved to a kitchen area instead of a random grey hallway.

Now . . . to Miranda. The shading of her hair is better as the shading of the left side isn't purely one darker color of grey. Her hands, yes, they are mittens and fused fingers; I can forgive Francis' because the conversation and hand position match, but with the quality of last week even just separating the fingers a little would have helped.

Also if you notice, and it's hard not to, Miranda's cleavage goes from A LOT, to a little, back to a lot for no real reason. Her folded arms shouldn't cause he shirt to shift up that much

Story - I think this strip does a good job explaining, both with real life tech babes and the characters themselves, the motivation going into this arc.

The punchline, like other posters said, is a little too similar to yesterday's. While the rest of the joke was a good set-up something along the lines of "You've got the technical side, I've got these" with her pushing out her chest would have kept the breast theme going without repeating the word boob again. Even if he didn't use the word boob for the second consecutive day and used breast it would have been better.

Overall this is a middle strip and for me just expands on the original concept of the first strip.

I AM pro-boob, just change up the vernacular as there is a rich tapestry to explore when it comes to the tatas. :)

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Ye Olde Texting

History in the SMSing

Art - I love that art of this strip as this continues the high detail art from the previous strip throughout the whole of this strip. The costumes remain great throughout and doesn't seem to take a panel "off", the quill pen is drawn great in both positions and I like how the inkwell is included in panel one, and the little things like the piece of paper and the addition of a beauty mark for Brent rounds out the whole scene nicely.

And to all the people who complain that I religiously remain negative about "mitten hands" look at this strip. This strips drawing of hands in a variety of positions is done well, with great detail, and continues through the whole strip. The reason I complain because I know THIS is the quality you can get and it falls back to "mitten" hands sometimes. If it was never done before I'd chalk it up to a lack of skill in that department, but it's not, as seen by this strip

Story - As much as I love to art the story was very meh for me. I get that it is the whole "modern idea in a past setting" joke but it wasn't anything too special for me to bring it above things I've seen before. I don't know or have time to learn Leetspeak so the final panel has no meaning for me. I'm not saying it is horrible it just didn't hit me as funny (paintball and ceiling light were horrible)

Plus to me the comparison of texting to trading notes right next to each other isn't a good one. If the strip was Brent writing the note, a rider similar to Paul Revere rides all night to deliver something akin to the note in the strip, then the scene of explanation would have been more apt a correlation.

I'm not trying to write the strip, well because I'm not that funny :)

Friday, March 27, 2009

I'm a Mac, I'm a PC, who the hell cares?

Hey guys,
Sorry about the updates, but I had one craptacular week, but enough about that and on to the update.

Podberry

Art - For the first three panels of this comic the art is done well and, like I said before, with the set pieces he's drawn hundreds of times before, it is to be expected. However, the hands and phone are drawn well in these panels.

My complaints are though: Francis' hair is not shaded (see previous comic as he did it there), Brent's chin looks a little bigger or his mouth is a little higher than normal, and Cole's hair isn't colored in for all the panels, as he likely uses Just for Men.

The one thing I do have to say is the last panel is excellent and probably the best thing Scott has don't since Brent's girly run from the Doctor Who arc. His hand is drawn great and facial expression almost screams out the SKREEE noise without any assistance from the words.

Story - Kind of a straight ahead premise but uses the canon of PVP well. If you've been a fan/reader for a while, as I have, it plays on the history well. I guess if you are new you wouldn't know why Brent is upset, but I think you just get the gist that he is upset for a very strong reason.

I know the last panel is a reference to something in pop culture, but I have no idea any help anyone?

A Matter of Honor

Art - The first panel of this strip probably surpasses the last strip in the last comic in terms of quality. The detail of Brent's costumes is excellent as his tie, collar, coat, hat and wig are superior without the appearance of tracing/reference picture that you get with some higher detail pictures in PVP. If there is one complaint, it is that I've noticed with the higher detail stuff there is little to no incidence of shading which is inconsistent with the rest of the strips and even this comic.

I like how the quality of the costumes continue for the next 2 panels, with the addition of Cole as well, and I really liked the slap with the piff noise as that is dead-on for the sound the glove should make.

The last panel back in the PVP proper world/time is good as well as I like the detail on Cole's hand and the blackberry as well as Cole and Brent's expression as it continues the "emotion without words" that Scott has been going well lately. Also, no/little eye shadow.

Story - Continues the previous strip concept well and uses the time travel/different dimension aspect well to show how Cole and Brent's dispute would have been resolved in other times and is a nice concept.

Again if you just read the comic for the first time or within the last few months you still wouldn't know why Brent was mad (no character profiles don't count because you shouldnt have to read from a different source to get the concept of one strip), but that is a small complaint.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Domo Arigato

No Thanks, Mr Roboto

Art - Solid art all the way through, but that's to be expected with Brent, Cole, and Francis being the main focus. The computer is drawn well and the shading is done well like yesterday to show the glow from the monitor. Also, the large eyes are done well without being too cartoony with Francis' stare at the screen.

Story - I never saw Battlestar Galactica, not one episode either of the new series or the older series. However, I did not have a problem with this strip because the pop culture reference wasn't so inside baseball where you wouldn't get the joke.

Also, the punchline is done well going from the pop culture reference to something tangible in the real-life that most of us agree upon and can find funny. Nice Easter eggs as well as Southworth makes an appearance in the final panel; it is funny that marigold43 is a 12 year old gold on Stardoll (I'm sure it is another of his friends though :) )

Finally, you can hear Scott's voice in this strip (his twitter opinion is the same as Brent's) but I liked this better then other strips where that comes through more as it is less preachy *cough*teenpregnancy*cough*

Monday, March 23, 2009

Ah the tough life

The Delicate Genius

I hope everyone likes my new style! :) I'll fill in the blanks after work today. Sorry everyone my pace is like that of a webcomic artist (more Ding! then PVP :) )

Art - This is technically the debut of the new character design for Scott Kurtz in cartoon form. He draws himself very well, take that for whatever Freudian thing that means :), and he looks good after losing weight in comic form

I liked the scene overall in panel one as the background is done well and the blank heads are good as I can understand the reason he doesn't want to draw 10-12 detailed heads. I don't like the hood but I understand that it's probably due to the real life person wearing it. The only thing "bad" is that she is not shaded like the rest of the strip with Scott.

Finally, I really liked Scott's shading of his own face as it does give the feeling of the computer's glow.

Story - I really liked that Scott did poke fun at himself especially after the scales being tipped towards the other side for the last year both with this site and some of the other shananagens at PVP itself and the whole "critics critiquing" thing that went down.

It was a funny punch-line with only one flaw I saw. I don't understand why the "yeah." was tacked on in the last panel. I understand that Scott gets pissed at the other line in that panel which is funny, but the "yeah." seems to not be needed. If it was either removed or put into a form of "YEAH!" to indicate the whole audience was getting rowdy the strip would have been perfect in my book.

On a side note (cue Stewie with "Oh heeere we go") As much as this joke does well to poke fun at himself this is why I don't have too much sympathy for cartoonists in there day to day drawing of their strips. If you check the day to day twitter usage of cartoonists it is pretty damn high and it's usually about seeing TV shows, movies, politics, and other things on the internet. Then that is sometimes followed about bitching about being late with a strip , which to me falls on deaf ears. Plus, how many trips around the country have these guys had this year alone? I know it's a "working vacation" but they have a pretty sweet job. It's not sour grapes but if you hear them bitch about the actual drawing I'm always reminded of the above.

Now on the other hand with people like Scott, Buckley, etc. I have a hell of a lot of respect because they are able to suport themselves with something they love with very little of a net. Also, I am sure that managing their merchandise and coming up with ways to support themselves and their family keep them up at night a lot more then it does me with my job. However, the ironic thing is you rarely hear (or read) complaints about that, I guess it's its the daily minutiae that we face everyday that we bitch about (especially on twitter).

Oh well it the end I guess it's a wash.

Prepare for me to delete this in the morning for the flame war it started :)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Thursday, March 19, 2009

For one shining moment

The Eyes Have It

Hey guys, Im skippy out early on work to watch BYU/Texas A&M and UConn/16th seed at the Wachovia Center in Philly, so my review is later

But as a spoiler was the joke in today's strip similar to that in Family Guy?

Seeing if anyone else thought of that.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I would have been upset if they were my thin mints . . .

Dropppp it

Art - The art again is solid throughout this strip as the shading is done well for the most part and the details of the characters are done well. I especially like Skull throughout this strip as the chewing motion in strip 2 is great and his "stuffed" faces in 3 and 4 are nicely done.

The backgrounds, while not detailed, convey they are in an office and give you a sense of where you are so I have no complaints.

My complaints REALLY are: Skull now has fused fingers in panel 3, Jade's hair is shaded weirdly but I chalk that up to "I guess shading darker "colored" objects is harder to do", and one of the lines of the cookie box gets dropped in strip 2, so it loses its shape/3D appearance.

Story - I don't know people's reaction to this strip (no response thus far) but I liked the strip as it reminded me of Vaudeville or old Warner Brothers cartoons where the scene went:

Stuff old man/woman: "Is that my Pie"
Funny Scamp/Stooge character: "Why yes it is"
Stuff old man/woman: "Well let me have it"
Funny Scamp/Stooge character: "Well you asked for it"
*Pie in the face*

You've seen it a dozen times but the outcome is satisfying and gets you and that's what this strip is. Overall I find it to be solid and not sucky.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Button Mashing (that's basically how I do my posts)

Special Moves

Art - I really liked the art of this strip. I know it is basically 5 set pieces with Brent and Francis (who he again has drawn multiple times together even in the last few weeks) the two controllers and the couch.

However, everything is drawn well and almost everything looks fully realized (see below). I liked that Brent is sitting with his legs out and the controller on top as it is not a usual PVP position. Also, Brent's "mitten hands" are acceptable and used well in this situation as it helps to emphasize the button mashing joke. Also, the shading is done great and Brent has minimal/no eye shading which looks a hell of a lot better.

My only complaint is Francis' fused three fingers in panel 2 and the lack of full coloring for the ball of the joystick as it doesn't look like shading just like incomplete "coloring"

Surge Fist

Art - I, as above, liked the art in this strip as well, but not as strongly as Monday's. I continue to like that Cole is now in this new, legs out position and it isdrawn well. Also, Brent is added well to the last panel as it doesn't seem too cluttered. Finally, the facial expressions of all the characters are perfect and if you take the words away the strip makes sense just from looking at the reactions.

The drawbacks of this strip are: Francis has the same position in panel 2 as panel 2 of Monday's strip, along with the fused fingers. Plus Cole's shading looks a little more heavy-handed then Brent's, especially in panel 4 with the close-up and goes from a subtle touch to major feature which shading shouldn't be.

Story - I chuckled at both of these strips because this is one of the levels of hell for a gamer. I like to play Madden (I don't know whether that is a good or bad thing to admit) and I HATE HATE HATE those guys that have 2 plays that work and you can't stop them. I barely play fighting games but I think that is something they face more. When you think you have skill and lose to a glitch or random luck its teeth-grindingly frustrating and I can totally relate to the strip.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Oh Webcomics and such

Hey guys, while I wait for PVP to update:

WE HAVE A NEW DING!!! and it looks as if he's gone back to the old way of doing things. I guess "writing" with other people's stories didn't work out the way he wanted to because most of them were "you had to be there". I look forward to him succeeding though.

*Edit - Apparently Rdy said this last Friday. Here is the credit stop sulking! :)

Also, dont forget the webcomic of our friend and fellow poster Jim Thorpe: The Suckerboys. I believe Jim is doing a great job and that his strip, even though it's new, is very solid and funny more often then he probably thinks it is :)

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Julia Childs Julia Childs Julia Childs . . . .

Five Times

Art - I did like the art in this strip due to the fact that Skull is drawn so well. His shading in the first 3 panels is great and the shading of the light coming into the dark bathroom(?) was great and showed how spooky the act of saying Candyman is. Also, the drawing of Skull in both the foreground and in the mirror is done well and Brent's facial reactions are done well for the role he takes in this strip

My problems are though: I don't know why Francis' was pushed into the 2nd panel as it just clutters the scene with someone who doesn't speak. Plus Brent's left hand has three fused fingers in panel 2 and the eye shading returns in panel 3.

Story - A clever little story and I like the story telling device of have the word handycam being so small as it can't be read/heard. This rings very true as little stuff like this you learn in your childhood can still scare the bejesus out of someone. (I still check the back of the car due to the "guy in the back of the car, guy flashing his high beams to warn the driver story)

I know that XKCD did something similar on Friday, because I read that strip as well. I have to give that strip a little bit higher rating but PVP's was done well too. Randall Munroe has a little higher level interpretation on things, and sometimes that leads to comics SAILING over my head, strips like Friday's were very clever.

Overall, solid strip of one-offs and probably the best week in a year. (HAHA the ceiling fell on his HEAD, he was changing the light bulb HAHA) Sorry had to get that out.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Placeholder #9

Match Points

Art - The art in this strip is done well, especially the lines underneath Francis' eyes demonstrating the extent to which he went to get rid of the points. Also, the Francis' crying is done well and skirts being too over-the top well, without taking away from the strip.

The only thing missing is in the last frame when the frame of the picture, seen in frame one, should have been in the upper right corner for continuity and break the gray up a little.


Story - A nice little story for me since I am an Xbox and Xbox Live user. It is a little frustrating thing to use all the points in you account, even though I think Francis is taking it a little too far :).

I like A Nonny Mouse's idea of having the special avatar being a weird point value because 250 points is a more even number and easier to spend (especially is you are a Guitar Hero/Rock Band fan)


PS - I checked Alexa for the first time in a while and PVPMMS has had a nice little spike in page views. So thanks to everyone for that. To see that stats go here the weirdest part is apparently we are big in South Korea, but hey the more the merrier.

Remember Uncle Jesse was VERY big in Japan, so South Korea I think you! :)

PPS - To channel Peter Potamus - Jim Thorpe did you get that thing I sent you a week ago?

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Man I'm a Comic Book Nerd

The Secret Origin of LOLbat

Art - I liked the drawing of the "Rock of Eternity" for LOLbat's origins and the memes that his power comes from are drawn well too. I also, liked the shading on this representation of "Shazam" the wizard. The only thing weird thing is that Willy Watson reminds me a lot of Kevin.


Story - A nice solid little homage to the Captain Marvel mythos and relating LOLbat to that. Tying his origin to that of other memes in history is also a clever way to tie the history of the internet to that of popular culture.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

At least there was no Ugly Naked Guy reference

The One Where they Play D & D

Art - I liked the D and D characters from the first two frames, but wish the background continued that good art. I know the cauldron or fire in the middle of the room is to add ambiance but the rest of the gray background doesn't go with the setting. Not a big flaw, but the other characters were done so well it could have been continued with the background.

The rest of the scene in the PVP universe is done well and I enjoy seeing our new "blue" Skull continue and his shading is done great


Story - I instantly knew the Friends punchline once I saw Ross and Rachel in the second bubble (fiancee likes to fall asleep to Friends I swear) but I didn't find the strip awful.

I enjoyed seeing Skull from a story sense too as having him being the dugeon master in the story (as opposed to Brent/Cole) makes the punchline more sweet and believable. If you wanted snarky/sarcastic humor Brent and Cole are the way to go but Skull can give you lovable oaf/stupid humor that can take an obvious joke and make it funny. I just wish I got more of Skull sometimes

Monday, March 9, 2009

Well Chick-fil-A DOES make a tasty sandwich

The Amazing Adventures of Brent Sienna

The only thing that REALLY pissed me off about this strip is now I have to get waffle fries on my way home from work.

Art - I do like how today's strip is drawn as both the diary and the background for Chick-fil-A are drawn well with great detail. Also, the moment between Brent and Jade in panel 2 is great as it shows legitimate sweetness between the two.

The only problems were again with the eye shadows that Brent and Jade have throughout the strip. Also, the square panels in the restaurant lost it's coloring in the last panel.

Story - Again I'm not a Doctor Who fan but this strip was funny without the references. First, the overall premise that a guy would want to keep a journal is funny and the fact that he does it because a female character from a TV show (as i found out through conversation) did it made me chuckle.

Also, I have bought a few things when I was younger because someone on TV or in a comic had or did something and realized they were only really fun because they were, well in a TV or comic. Plus, most of our days during the week are pretty ho-hum and it's the weekends that become fun. It is just remembering the details for a journal the next day that becomes hazy.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Face melting fun

Hey guys,
Since I just had a nice severe case of a sinus infection/ flu/ whatever the hell you want to classify it as I couldn't get to my computer at all.

But it does look like there has been a lively little conversation going. I'll try to finish the week of strips out over the weekend

Again I'll say Im sorry for the last few days.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Ombudsmen 2: Electric Boogaloo

Ombudsmen 2
Thankfully Scott hasn't updated yet, so I've caught up!

Art - Like many people have said the drawing of Dagwood is just off. Plus, for as good as the Rorschach/Popeye drawing was this homage to Doctor Manhattan is the other way.

The biggest thing that caught me is that Doctor Manhattan doesn't have (or rarely has) pupils and Dagwood has them clear as day. Also, the little piece missing from the edge of the picture (top in the 3rd from, bottom in the 4th) just showing a little sloppiness.

I think if their was one thing that I wanted to see that wasn't there for how great Monday's and meh Tuesday's strips is color. I'm not even talking about coloring the whole strip just a little bit of color ala Sin City and 300 that pops out from the gray background. Seeing a little swatch of red on the "Blockhead's badge" or that strange blue on Doctor Dagwood would have made the strips better

Story - Again I really don't get the references to the history of the Dagwood syndicated comic and it seems like it is a little bit of inside baseball. Would most people who read his strip, casual fans, know or care that Dagwood's creator has been dead for 36 years?

I get that he has to make a corollary to the character he's paying homage too but, like other people said, another character might have been a better choice.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Who Ombuds the Ombudsmen?

Ombudsmen

Let me just say that Watchmen was first collected graphic novel that I ever read and lead me to take a look at other main stream classic such as V for Vendetta, The Dark Knight Returns, and The Dark Knight Strikes again.

So I am looking forward to the movie and the idea of an homage to the comic/movie already gets a positive from me

Art - A very good homage to both Alan Moore's work and the original art of the cartoon's he is using in the Watchmen's place. He does well with his background's again and I like the city scene in panel 5. Also, he does well showing the run-down nature of the city and the detail of the apartment.

The final scene is done well, except the Garfield suit looks a little off to me.

Story - The story is great and the characters were chosen well the represent Nite Owl and Rorschach and the overall story is done well as it mirrors their encounter from the novel.

The one thing I don't understand is the underlying message that Kurtz is trying to pass. I know that he has tried in the past to get PVP syndicated and is a fan of Jim Davis but the "you stopped drawing" line took me from a straight Watchmen parody to wondering if he meant something else about syndicated cartoons.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Testing Testing

Vernon and the Midge

Art - Again nothing too horrible. The background is good enough to know where the characters are and they characters themselves are drawn well. However, it look as if the shading has been scaled back and I think I like this look better as it just looks clear

Plus, half the shading Scott does anyway is just plain weird

Story - I just plain don't get the joke.

I understand the set-up that it's ironic the "midge" (since he has no name) actually comes to like the idea that insulted him, but it's not very funny.

Even though the next strip explains to idea of what that awkward pause between the two meant did anyone chuckle at this premise?

Postcards for the Midge

Art - Well the shading is back but it is pretty good. Francis' hand and sleeves are drawn well in the last frame. The cheek shadow is gone or reduced which is less distracting. I liked the drawing of Brent's face in panel 3 as it showed good emotion but starting with Francis in that frame it's basically in CAD mode (sitting with their mouths open with some copy and paste of Brent in the last two frames)Francis' hand and sleeves are drawn well in the last frame

Also, the background in the first frame is great as we know we are immediately back in the office but it gets lost in the next 4 frames. Even if the background for those frames was just a zoom in of the first background it would still be better then dull gray walls

Story - Again like the previous strip I didn't get the joke. This is the last strip of the arc (I should know I posted this late enough I know the next one is a one-off) and it took the whole month of February. What was the ultimate joke or punchline? Brent and Francis talking about a picture of Midget with a mustache and everything returns to status quo.

While I do admit the IDEA of the joke is funny seeing Brent and Francis talking about it isn't. I think if we actually got to see the picture (likely Vernon and "the midge" recreating Francis' sketch) the joke and the overall arc would have been left on a better note

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