What Did I Learn?

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Eekeemoo by Willy MJ

This comic pushes a few boundaries. I have to prepare you before you view it; I can't quite follow what's going on at some points and I wouldn't expect you to. I was quite relieved to see this comment by Willy MJ: "I came up with the idea for eekeemoo when I was travelling in South America a few years back. While I was on one of those really, really painfully switch backing train rides through Peru. I put down it's plot, where it was going to be set and how the narrative was going to be told (silent and symbolic). But that was it!

... So when I chose eekeemoo as my Sketch Book Adventure and began to draw it. I knew where I was going and how I was travelling there, but not what I was going to see. That's what makes eekeemoo so refreshing for me as a comic artist. It is a real stream of conscious piece and I don't know where the incidentals of the story will take me."

Incidentally, this comic is not silent. Oh sure, there is no dialogue in the normal sense but as you read it through you'll hear sounds in your mind. I kind of imagine a brooding yet energetic soundtrack with spots of intense, overpowering sound. I can also clearly hear the characters falling, swimming and even picking things up.

The vertical presentation is quite interesting with its symbolism and stark black and whites. It creates a very unique sensation as you read through the episodes. On the Flight Forums, there is even a comment made that even though there is no snow where the commenter lives, they can feel the snow. That's a pretty powerful effect on your audience.

One thing I want to get back to is that stream of conciousness thing mentioned in the review. He knows where he's heading with the story and he's revealing it as he pleases, which is a very relaxing way of experiencing a story. There is a certain line of thinking that everything must be planned out to create a good story, with its three act structure and rising tension methodically implemented to drive the story faster and faster toward its conclusion. Eeekeemo is a nice counterpoint to that.

What did I learn?
What sort of background music would represent my comic? What other senses can be encouraged and engaged in my audience as they read it? Am I telling the story my way or am I rushing through it because I think it's supposed to be done that way? After you read through Eekeemoo, you may wish to read the full interview on WillyMJ.com and follow the series in the Flight Forums.

Next week's review: BreakPoint City.

Previous Reviews

Battlegate| Butterfly| Good Ship Chronicles| Evil, Inc.| Madscott| Jefbot| Chronicle| Sheldon| Stardrop| Theater Hopper| Knave| Lullaby| High Moon| Metadawn| Dead Days| PC Weenies| Ask Maridee | Tiny Folk | Gordian Algebra | Starslip Crisis | The Front | Coffee Time Comics | Patches | Little Creature | The Horrible Pirates | Serenity Tales | Crashlander | Girl Genius | This Is Me | Handle With Care | SuperFogeys | Copper | Eskimo Dave | Real Life | Chateau Wonderful | Count Your Sheep | Breakpoint City | Eeekeemo | Boxcar Astronaut | Zip and Li'l Bit | Wally & Osborne | Jump Leads | Dr. Sheep and the Aardvark | Station V3 | Dresden Codak | Lab Ratz | Toyzville | The Boids | Cow and Buffalo | Casey and Scotty | Just Outside | The Pretentious History of Everything | Tia's World | Quirks | Patrick Grey | For What It's Worth | The Sixth Dimension | Max and the Gorilla Goon Squad | Rainbow Orchid | Neko and Neko | Lions, Tigers and Bears | Spacequint | Lessons In Fire Safety | Corrupt Hardware | Enker's Tale | The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo | A Rusty Life | You'll Have That | From the Margin | Jitterati

About These Reviews

I love comics and I'm always looking at how I can improve my own work by examining other creators' works. It's such a wildly diverse field that it's not advisable to make sweeping generalizations and ignore special circumstances and subjects.

There's a lot we can learn from one another. And while there are many forums where you might discuss this, I haven't found any lengthy discussion on what we can do to make our comics more successful. There are a few good books on the subject but the aspiring webcomic creator is forced to learn by sheer brute force practice how to adapt his/her personal style to the medium. This is not as efficient as it could be.

Also, there are literally thousands of webcomics but only a handful of places where you can find decent, regular reviews. The focus of my reviews will be on trying to determine what is positive, successful and worth emulating about each comic. You might even get hooked on a given comic you read about here.

You may also wonder where the 'criticism' is and where the negative things about the comics are pointed out. As a matter of fact, I did mention some dissappointing issues with layout and such in my initial reviews. I quickly came to the realization that it's easy for any viewer to know what they like and what they don't. I don't need to call extra attention to the negative. I have, on a few occasions, emailed a webcomic author with a few ideas for improvements but there's no need to make that information public.

I'm not trying to sugarcoat anything, mind you. I just wish to have an open discussion about what good comics do. Hopefully, more voices will join in.