| Violet CLM |
Oct 19, 2004 10:30 PM |
Doubble Dutch and Ninjajazz have had a long standing rivalry since one or the other of them joined the JCF, a rivalry which is dramatically mixed with the angst of unwanted affection, and which has recently come to a head (after DD's failed attempt to make herself superior by being elected President of the JCF) with a DUEL OF COMICS. Unfortunately, neither of the comics are all that incredible, so I'd say it's a safe bet that Pinglag wins. Let's take a look at the more recent of the comics, the one which is trying to take over Ninjajazz's thread and FAILING MISERABLY.
COMIC NAME:
"Doubble Dutch-Chan vs. Ninjajazz-San-Chun-Kun" or something like that.
COMICS DONE DURING REVIEW:
1 (hopefully a oneshot).
PLOT:
The plot seems to be that Ninjajazz is a Ninja, and that Doubble Dutch is a bad ninja. Dutch presents an unusual spin on the old godmoding story by making both characters godmoders, having her own character be the bad guy, and even losing. This does not make up for the fact that the plot is really rather threadbare. Two characters, with no more character development then "I'm an evil slave of Bush", "Ninja Master" and "I'm Ninja!" fighting is not all that interesting. The Deus Ex Machina appearance of Batty Buddy's Girlfriend adds little to the storyline, especially as the righteous mind of Ninjajazz seems to be forgetting about Dutch's evil master, the anonymous "Bush". All in all, a weak effort at a plot, introducing more elements than it ends up taking care of.
SPRITES:
The sprites for the comic are not actually all that bad, though I end up not being sure which gender Dutch is, and assuming both. My main quibbles are Ninjajazz seeming to have so many more poses than Dutch, and Dutch's bizarre light attacks - for some unknown reason, they come in two different colors, and I'm not really sure what they're created by. Dutch holds no sword or lightsaber, light trails (and later DBZ Powers) just appear out of his or her hand. A final blow against logic comes when Ninjajazz's final attack is also red, confusing it with Dutch's earlier red things. All in all, while the characters themselves don't look too bad, the special effects seem somewhat illogical, and it can be hard to figure out what's going on in a few panels.
BACKGROUND:
There is no background. The historic fight between the two angsty rivals is presented in an empty white space, without scenery of any kind. With no work being spent on the background, why should readers care about the story itself? One look at the white space is enough to depress anyone.
HUMOR:
Doubble Dutch has a strange sense of humor which sometimes works and sometimes gets people mad at her. One can only assume that the comic itself is some sort of joke, intended to put a ridiculous spin on the battle it so loosely portrays. Otherwise, jokes are a little thin - seeing the word "Ninja" in every other panel is only funny for so long, especially when it seems to actually mean "Perfect in every way". The appearance of Batty Buddy's Girlfriend, however, is amusing, though only if you are intimately familiar with the signature scene, which is currently ranked somewhat below the actual post scene.
TEXT:
One of the worst parts of this comic is the text. Both characters use plain black text on the white background, with no boxes, balloons, lines or any other means of indicating which character is speaking, or indeed whether the text is meant to be speaking at all. The text could for all I know be part of the background, which is not as purely white as I first thought, and is constantly changing. My dilemma is made worse by the faces of the characters, who rarely open their mouths when talking. Tut.
OVERALL:
This comic is mainly focused on humor, but even that humor relies on the idea that the comic is a joke, which can not be taken for granted. In summary, Doubble Dutch should not have attempted to take over Ninjajazz's comic thread before it could even get started, and should have simply pressured Radium to make Pinglag. Pinglag would beat both these Ninjas in a fight any day.
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