What Did I Learn?

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The Sixth Dimension by Sarah Mendiola.

What is the Sixth Dimension about? Well, the blurb is actually a little reavealing, so I won't spoil it here. Suffice it to say that the Socahtoans (the antropomorphic lizards shown in the comic thus far) are protecting something of great value. It's imperative that Lord Malavark, on his quest to take over the galaxy, not discover the secrets on Sacahtoa. It's pretty riveting storyline and blurb.

One other thing about the story is that you really get the sense that it's just starting. It opens up a universe of possibilities and we've only gotten a taste of what The Sixth Dimension has in store.

I happen to like the latest artwork the best (number 25) but there's a great freeness in the sketchy styles in the earlier earlier comics. There's certainly some use for switching the style up from time to time. I suspect that some of these style switches were the artist was trying to find her way. That can only be done by doing, so you can't hold it against her. I happen to enjoy it, as a matter of fact. The artistic process is always fascinating to me.

The style starts at full page color, moves back and forth between black and white and color, with some having just spots of color. I like the effect. Also, the pages themselves vary. It starts at full page and eventually narrows to about half a page width. There's a nice variety of panel layouts too. I find myself having to work extra hard not to rely on just a few types.

What did I learn? A well written description can really help drive interest in the work. It seems I will have to keep relearning this until I actually do some work on my own blurbs! And switching up the style of presentation does add to the experience of the story (as Mr McCloud's books discuss.) That's one of the benefits of being on the web; you are not locked into a certain look or presentation. Welcome to The Sixth Dimension.

Next week's review: FWIW.

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.