The Comic Alliance Issue 2: Thorina!

CJ:

Welcome to THE COMIC ALLIANCE! This is the show where I have hand-picked the best of the best, also the most aggressive comic lovers that I can get to record with me, also totally not making up something until I can come up with a tagline, THIS IS THE COMIC ALLIANCE!


 

Sponsor: TeeFury!

NEWS Discussion:

CJ: Female Thor!  Press Release

 

 

COMIC Discussion:

CJ:  Death & Return & History of Superman

 

COMIC Discussion:

JD: Has the comic culture lost its luster? Has the recent flood of Comic culture in the mainstream media caused what was once so precious to so many to not be so special any more?

 

Sponsor: ThinkGeek!

 

Alex:

 

Review #1 -

 

Title: The Eldritch Age

 

Creator: JF Dubeau


 

Summery:

 

The Eldritch Age is a long form, story-based, fantasy web-comic. It is set in the far future, after the Industrial Age and after the Information Age. The story focuses on Ydriss, the daughter of a Drakestrian (dragon rider) who is tasked to carry a dragon egg on a pilgrimage to become a dragon rider herself. On her way she meets with other characters making the pre-requisite friends and enemies along the way.


 

Opinion of the Narrative:

 

Pros:

The story at it's start is simple and easy to understand. It isn't overly bogged down with exposition or narration, the actions of the characters unfold naturally, and at no point does it feel rushed. The characters also feel very true to themselves, maintaining their own distinct personalities and while they stick to form, for example Xander is the happy go lucky curious kid, they are not locked into stereotypes.

 

Cons:

the only “flaw” I found is that in ten pages the female lead, Ydriss never gives her name nor has it given by anyone else, nor to her and Xander have any sort of mutual introduction. That may change later on, but it is generally a bad idea to go so long with no name to your main character, unless that is the point of the story.

 

Opinion of the Art:

 

Pros:

 

The art has a rounded organic feel, the characters feel 'soft' in their designs, which lends itself nicely to the story and it's pace, and it is easy to tell what it is we are looking at. The colors are bright and vivid and are no dulled even when darkness falls, but is not so saturated as to be an eyesore. The majority of the coloring is earth tones, and the vividness makes them feel lush and alive.

 

Cons:

 

Some actions are at time unclear, on occasion a character will be shown moving but it is difficult to discern why they moved and what action they are attempting to perform, however it is not so bad that it makes the story unreadable and is something I believe will be improved with practice.

 

Any critical problems/ Advice?

 

The one thing I would strongly advise is that why the creator is able, to switch to a site or layout more conducive to web comic. As I did have difficult at one point finding the actual start of the comic. There are some character intros/illustrations near the start that once on them the 'next page' button disappears. I found that to avoid this I should start at the most recent pages and click the 'start' link from there, rather than starting from the original link I was given.

 

Recommended for?:

 

I would recommend this web series for anyone who likes mid-evil sword and sorcery stories with a calmer pace and more grounded characters. The art work is visually appealing and would appeal to all ages including children. As such I would also recommend it for parents who want to share their love of comics with their children. However parents should always check the content before hand to make sure they themselves find it suitable.

 

Where: theeldritchage.com


 

Contact: [email protected] / twitter.com/comicalliance

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