Zuda Review: Zamir

What's to Like:
Pablo Zych puts down a quirky and enthralling artistic effort with Zamir in the September '09 Zuda competition. The style is evocative of children's stories dark in tone and memorable. Just browsing the pages, particularly during the forest scenes, the feel is reminiscent of Where the Wild Things Are. And that's a good thing. The creatures are sufficiently strange and ephemeral to make Guillermo del Toro jealous, and they are well-suited to the nightmare tone Zych is trying to establish in his story. I found myself revisiting Zamir a number of times after the first read, just to examine the hypnotic visuals.

What it Lacks:
Unfortunately, as is often the case on Zuda, the story does not rise to the level of the art. The general notion of a quest through a dark forest to find a witch who kidnapped our hero's son absolutely fits with the visual stylings visited upon us by Mr. Zych. However, the pacing is choppy at best, as too much set-up is crammed into the 8-page Zuda submission. I would love to see eight screens packed with Zamir's travels through the forest, rather than endure a contrived device to get him to the witch's house and establish what is to come. This art deserves patience on the part of the creator as much as the readers. Let us savor it! Additionally, the scripting is poor. The tone and content of the characters' speech is not consistent with the setting, particularly during the interactions between Zamir and the witch. This is another classic example of a skilled artist with bottomless potential who will benefit immensely from collaboration with an experienced writer of similar talent and tastes. A writer to pace this story in a suspenseful and mood-inspiring manner in combination with adding true flavor to the personalities of the characters - he or she would make ALL the difference in this submission.

My Zuda Rating:
3 Stars. I initially rated Zamir 2 stars but, upon a few re-reads, it really grew on me, and I think the art alone deserves 3 stars. This work is a good writer away from being 5 stars.

My Vote?
No. While I would love to see another submission from Mr. Zych, I have no interest in following this particular story.