Fleen: The Awkward Christmas Dinner Of Our Obligation To Existence » Does The Prevalence Of Booty Mean This Webcomic Should Be Rated ARRRR?

So Chris Baldwin over at Little Dee pointed us (and by “us”, I mean, “the population of the intarweb”) at a promising new strip called Pirate and Alien. It’s still relatively new, so hop over and take a look at the archive, then we’ll talk. It’s cool. We’ll wait.

Okay, first things: creator Tyson Smith is typically the art half of a brother act that has several comic/music/movie projects under its belt. Normally his brother Ian does the words, so it’s encouraging that Smith seems to have an ear for dialogue, and a strong enough sense of character that the titular Pirate (Filthy Jerome to you) and Alien (not yet named) feel like different people. He even left enough character over for the Pirate’s parrot, Bartholomew. The art has a loose, scribbly feel, like Tom Hart’s Hutch Owen with a more controlled line. Smith’s use of color in broad swaths is also pretty Hartesque, which isn’t surprising given the indy comic work that the Smith brothers have produced.

That link to Emily is important about now, because it’s got a hint of J. Otto Siebold in it, which you want to keep your eye on. It’s the common element between Smith’s work here, and the rest of his portfolio, which has a J. Otto-meets-John A. feel to it. It’s impressive that Smith is able to shift between such different styles, as most illustrators using the, uh, Illustrator style come off as highly derivative of Stephen Silver or those Esurance commercials (which themselves are more than a little derivative of everybody’s favorite Girl Spy; call your solicitor, Mr A!).

Where were we? Right: good characterization, art that evokes (but doesn’t mimic) some standouts in various fields, and booty. And thus far, Smith has avoided the cliches of ninjas and monkeys, so bonus points for originality! Oh, and Baldwin? Dee better be safe, or we’re going to have words.

Actually, Molly McCausland has Pirate and Alien linked from her site.

I wonder if Baldwin found it from our review of Tea For Three?

I absolutely love the art work. I absolutely don’t find the comic even remotely funny. Is it supposed to be?

Dude Ryan North was yellin’ about this strip weeks ago.

WEEKS AGO.

Next you’ll be telling us you “just discovered” Doctor McNinja or something.

It’s cool to see the popularity that Pirate and Alien seems to be gaining… at a tremendously fast rate.

I linked it before it was cool.

But it’s always been cool… so I linked to it before it existed!

I win!

Geez, everybody, haven’t you figured it out yet?

Omniscience costs more.

No, the comic isn’t supposed to be laugh out loud funny. It’s an episodic story and it supposed to make you smile and think. I’m addicted and I’ll keep reading. Emily is delicious. The Smith boys are real undiscovered talent.

They sure didn’t waste time getting into the t-shirt biz.

[…] Events, Gary First of all, Jephy McJacquespants got snippy with us the other day — mocking, even — and so we’re not going to give him the satisfaction of a full writeup of Dr McNinja, no matter how much he pimps it. We’re just going to quietly enjoy it ourselves. […]

[…] Reviews, Allison In honor of “Talk Like a Pirate Day” I’ve decided to review Pirate and Alien by Tyson Smith. I’ve known about this comic for a while, but have been waiting so it could build up a hearty archive of comics. Also, Gary has done a review of Pirate and Alien as well, but that was back in February so I thought a refresher course would be appropriate for today. […]

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Does The Prevalence Of Booty Mean This Webcomic Should Be Rated ARRRR?

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