ZUDA GEMS – JUNK

Did better than some I guess. Junk that is. It’s still on my favourites list and I think you’ll be reading something else shortly about this one, but for now …

… I was thinking this entry in some ways is not too dissimilar to competition winner Pray for Death from a while back. Now I’m a big fan of Junk but not of Pray for Death and I was thinking that this goes some way to proving, if only to myself, that there’s only a cigarette paper between liking and disliking something. It’s certainly not a million miles between these two entries, yet one pings ‘Yes’ in my head while the other pings ‘No’. So all I’m saying here is, that as a creator there’s not much you can do to account for that. Whatever you’re doing – do it full on and hope for the best. If it doesn’t take this time and you still think you’ve done everything right, then try again. That’s also why you have to discern bad criticism from ‘bad’ criticism and I don’t think anyone can help you do that.

ZUDA GEMS – SHARKS+SHRINKS

Another 10 spot and another strip begging for an adult audience. Of course it was never going to be an easy fit for Zuda and it’s very easy to dismiss a form you can’t even recognise, but then I struggled myself! Looking back it just gets smarter and better looking by the day. Sharks+Shrinks by Gary Epting not only stands the test of time but actually gets more interesting as time goes by which is the reverse of my feelings for most strips. The more I look the more I see. Alas too late and another talent lost. We won’t have any more true stories from behind the swing doors, but perhaps ‘we’ are happy to settle for the safe horror and comedy of vampires and zombies. Ignorance is bliss.

This was the second part of a trilogy I had in my head, but it looks like Gary’s going to be a while on the difficult third ‘episode’, so you’ll have to satisfy yourselves with either this or with the first non-part namely A Spelunker’s Guide To The City. Go carefully now. You might strain your brain.

ZUDA GEMS – THE PASSENGER

The Passenger by Alexandre Vidal was ranked nine, nine for chris’sake. I still can’t figure out why this was ignored in favour of … well, I don’t know now as the competition details slowly disappear from Zuda! Anyhoos this was among the best of the early strips featured on Zuda, a single creator, some damn fine illustration, an understandable if not wholly original plot and just a real cultured vibe to it. This came in ninth – take a look and then take a look around the last few competitions. Now I know it has it’s faults – it’s not quick enough, it doesn’t have a sufficient hook on page seven which should have been the killer, and the language is a bit clunky. But the art. Oh the lovely art! Come back Alexandre wherever you are. Show them how it’s supposed to be done.

Well, what’s past is past, but this will always remain on my favourites list, well until Zuda decides to call it a day.

ZUDA GEMS – AGENT HAPPYDEATH

From the bottomless pit of despair that is tenth place comes … Agent Happydeath. This particular ten spot is still a crime scene so nobody move OK? I’m still laughing about the look on that pigs face when he say’s “Oh, cranky.” I know I voted for this but I’m still in love with it. It’s rough and ready, not even totally in-tune with it’s own concept, and that’s still one of the worst first screens ever … but check it out and give it some love.

Do you think that pig in the foreground has Irish sympathies?

ZUDA GEMS – ABSURDITY AT IT’S BEST

Whadat? Rewind selecta! Here’s where we turn the clock back for a moment. We’re not very far away from coming up to two hundred comics on the Zuda site. Who’da thunk it? And I thought I’d just take a couple of minutes to highlight of few of those strips that have passed by our eyeballs. These might not actually be my favourites, but looking again reminded me of a few things and you know I like to chat.

Absurdity at it’s Best was one I took another look at just recently. In the cold light of day and away from the heat of the competition some of these strips change … or maybe the way I’m looking at them changes. When I first saw this my desire for an adventure narrative was overwhelming so eight unrelated screens were not really going to cut my mustard. Now I’m giggling like an idiot at most of these thinking I’d like to see more. Too late huh? The screen above is still one of my all time favourites – I just didn’t give the rest of it much of a chance. If the whole thing had been a follow through of The Adventures of Tom the Potato then it might have got my vote – we’ll never know for sure!