Too Angst-Ridden For Sci-Fi Original Pictures, Space Goth Has A Curious Future
This is the second post from Contestant #3; the assignment was to review one comic from a list of three randomly selected from the backlog of sites submitted by creators to Fleen for review. I, your humble editor, have not read the comics in question.
Don’t be fooled, journalists love giving bad reviews. One year I got stuck writing nothing but restaurant reviews. There can be only so many dishes that are “delicious” and “imaginative” before you’re clawing for some truly imaginative crap. The amateur Space Goth gives us something a little more challenging than that.
The title doesn’t exactly inspire high expectations; parody or worse, heartfelt championing. The setup is pretty hokey; two teenager girls waxing philosophical, lounging in a tree (grown museum-like inside a space station). Later, the story morphs into a mystery; a quest begun upon the discovery of an old flash drive. Recently in a letter to her readers, the creator explained the strange discord in the first half of the story by admitting the comic was not meant for wide publication.
Once the decision was made to actually take itself seriously as a comic, things started getting better. The story began expressing originality and invention in its settings and characters. The main character transformed from melodramatic goth-girl into a teenager lost in her own liberal arts talent surrounded by a world that values practical scientific knowledge. The marked improvement in writing and storytelling was encouraging.
Like first kisses, first comics are awkward and filled with bad reviews. Even the best comics have some truly humble beginnings. There’s some pretty amateur writing over at Space Goth, and only some of it’s early art is any good. But notice how she uses light and shadow and panel composition to create a very unique atmosphere. Composition can be tricky but Brenna nails it right from the beginning. She has a good eye and seems excited about the comic’s future and the on-going improvement gives us clues as to what we’ll find. With Space Goth coming back on Thursday after a guest artist break, it’ll be interesting to see how far she’s willing to take us.
I think this was the best written contestant review I’ve read yet.
By Chris Hastings on 04.26.06 9:40 pm
“Like first kisses, first comics are awkward and filled with bad reviews.”
Probably the best line out of any of the reviews.
By Horus on 04.27.06 1:20 am
Oh dang, the guest story ends mid-May, not this Thursday.
“The main character transformed from melodramatic goth-girl into a teenager lost in her own liberal arts talent surrounded by a world that values practical scientific knowledge.” Crap, you nailed it better than I could, and lord knows I’ve been trying to sum this silly thing up for ages.
By B. Zedan on 04.27.06 5:05 am
I like the way you stated the premise of the comic. Of the entries on Space Goth I’ve read so far (I read from the bottom up WRT the articles), I think you’ve done the best of stating it all.
Your last paragraph is also pretty awesome in that it covers quite a bit in a pretty succinct fashion.
Well done!
By Matt Buchwald on 04.27.06 7:27 am
The above comments are owned by whoever posted them. The staff of Fleen are not responsible for them in any way.