A Stinking Corpse by Furman
WHAT'S TO LIKE:
This is a stunning visual piece. Each panel could stand on its own as a fine work of medieval art. I'm reminded of the images that awed me in TSR's old Dungeons & Dragons hardcovers in the 80's. The lines are intricate, and the human forms are pristine - damn shame about those dead daughters - wastes of shape. This comic is so pretty to look at, it seems almost tragic that some of the art is obstructed by the word balloons and boxes.
WHAT IT LACKS:
While the plot itself isn't bad - I mean, I love the idea of a zombie warrior fighting hordes of sword-wielding lycanthropes and taking on daughter-slaughtering druids - the final product doesn't feel much like a comic. There is very little sequential work from panel to panel, and I really feel these images would work best as illustrations for a narrative short story. Then, there's the dialogue - the protagonist speaks as though he is a modern, haughty teenager in a zombie-warrior's body ("Screw you"? Really?). Another case in which a fantastic artist seriously needs the second voice of a writer or, at the very least, an editor
One other gripe, and I'm admittedly nit-picking here, but the lettering really needs some attention. The words are set awkwardly in many bubbles, even aligned justified in oval balloons, and the shred-edged balloons used for the protagonist really are not well-designed and barely contain the words, especially on screen 8. in panel 3 of screen 7, these types of word balloons aren't even connected to the protagonist with tails in an apparent effort to spare the art of some really nicely drawn statues. I understand the motivation to leave all this beautiful work exposed, but, again, this is supposed to be a COMIC.
MY ZUDA RATING:
3 Stars - Gorgeous to the eye. Static to the brain. Obvious talent in need of script assistance.
MY VOTE?
Nope. Next!
2 comments:
I disagree with the review (this comic is in my top two), but it's damn cool another person is reviewing Zuda. Welcome to the club. :)
I'm in agreement on the lettering. It does seem a damn shame to have to cover up such nice artwork...
Still, my only gripe is the dialogue. To be honest, it's why I haven't yet commited a vote to it.
I think the art is really the draw on this one. The face on the daughter on 5 is particularly impressive to me- although there are several equally impressive panels and details throughout.
This piece is so far beyond Furman's last two entries in both art and writing. The improvement is astonishing and I gotta applaud him for that.
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