web comic review

So I need to be more active in my blog, and I think one way I'll do that is through reviews of things like web-comics, movies, and books. Really just anything that I feel like talking about I guess. So I decided to start off by reviewing the comics in a comic community I found out about called Koala Wallop.

Koala wallop is a small community that consists of 6 main comics that update on a semi-regular basis. They're a lot more artistic then what you normally find, and most of them are of just a much higher quality then what you'll find just fallowing links from one comic to another.

The first one I want to review is called Dresden Codack. I've decided to start with this one because its probably Koala wallops' most popular comic and the one I found the community through. If you go and read through the archive of it, you'll find several things to be true about Dresden Codack.

1) The art is continually growing and changing styles. This is one of its major strong points if you ask me. While plenty of web comics and print comics evolve over time, you can tell that Aaron, the writer and artist, is constantly refining his work and experimenting with new styles and themes.

2) This comic is smart. Now, this is kind of a win-loss for DC if you ask me. While I can certainly appreciate striving to go beyond the typical gag comic you might find anywhere, sometimes it goes a little too far into obscurity.

Exhibit A: A good example of its anything but typical humor.

Exhibit B: A comic that unless you're aware of these semi obscure references, you'll spend a lot of time on Wikipedia.

so you can see where the problems may be.

3) Dresden Codack has updated about 30 times in the last two years. So to say that you'll be waiting quite some time before the next installment is an understatement. Now while this does bring in negative points, I really don't have much room to complain. Each comic has a lot of time and thought put into it, and it shows. Its much more gratifying to have a comic that updates infrequently and is 95% Gold then one that updates regularly and like clockwork, but has large areas of mediocrity or even just plain bad updates.

While Dresden Codack may not update regularly, it does always tend to provide you with something. Aaron often gives his readers what he calls "stall comics" which consist of his stick figured alter ego. They're simple, but still good and funny in the same type of humor you can expect from Dresden Codack. Its a refreshing substitute to the typical filler art you'll get at other sites.

Although, in recent news Aaron has declared that he will be quitting his current job to focus on the comic full time. This should be interesting, as he has promised continuous weekly updates. Hopefully this will work out for him, as I could see this going in either extremes for DC.

Should the increased updates bring in enough revenue for Aaron, we can expect a great deal more comics. Currently DC relies on simple donations, along with sales of prints and T-shirts which are a new addition. Its a solid way of making money that I have no problems with. I can tell you right now that if I had the money to spend, I would probably help myself to one or two of the T-shirt designs and possibly a print.

All around I have to say that this is one of the highest quality comics online. Its continuously expanding and evolving, and each update is something to look forward to. I would certainly recommend this to anyone.