awe, so sad. thanks for all the votes guys!
@empiredog it was a blast battling you, I hope we can do so again in the future, when our skills have improved. take it to finals for me you wascally wabbit!
@citronrobotlord - I really really really liked the first page here! The beginning was almost poetic! Good use of dynamic panels and camera angles! Altho, my only problem was that the ending was an itsy bit abrupt, but hey! Still a fun read!
@empiredog - I saw you coloring this at hangouts and I was like WOW. Einga is such an adorable and mischeivous critter! And I love Baby's faces! What I am gonna say is, I really don't dig too much the paneling, like, I think the story could have benefited from different shapes and all, but that is just me!
Citron: I loved your first page, the visual of BB sliding down the mountain made me laugh and I thought the text was quite poetic. I can definitely see the type of vibe your going for. Though as others stated its not the strongest in terms of technical skill, it's definitely not terrible and the story is what's most important and kept me engaged. In regards for story, I felt like this was leading up to something a bit bigger then what it ended up with - I thought the ending was funny, but I think it was the massive build up to a simple gag. Your comic is very slow paced due to not that many panels per page to spread it out, I think this comic would have been a bit better if it was more condensed. Age old quality over quantity. I love BB and want to see more of him I think he is a fantastic concept.
Empire: impressive turn out for just a week deadline. However it's a disappointment that the story doesn't hold up against the page count and full colour quality. As others have voiced, there's a lot of questions your comic brings up that characters literally ask about but are disregarded. There's no plot structure at all and nothing really happens. That said I do like your character, you've brought across a hyperactive mind and short attention span well, but doesn't really come across as some "evil spirit" he claims to be, mischievous maybe but not evil. But maybe you gotta be pretty evil to electrocute a baby. Don't be discouraged though, I see a lot of potential.
i love how these comics have kind of similar endgames.
citron: BABY BARBARIAN!!! best new character 2016. calling it now
your pages may not have the highest quality, but the writing is simple, charming, and is exactly what you think would happen if baby barbarian would come across a cute, seemingly friendly bunny. (and that's not a bad thing!)
empiredog: your comic is SO GORGEOUS. like kozi said, though, a lot of "because plot" seems to happen. why is this baby barbarian running amok? where are they? are they on a busy road or are they in the country? again, nitpicking, but just things to consider for future rounds!
CITRONROBTOLORD- Your art may not be the most polished, but you more than made up for it in story. The opening pages of your comic read like something out of a high fantasy adventure book, and Baby barbarian's tumbling intro made me cackle. You definitely kept to the fantasy motif, and despite his intimidating size still kept baby a...well, a baby! Speaking of, if your ending is any indication, it looks like that adorable baby face is anything but innocent!
EMPIREDOG- Gorgeous gorgeous art. Your comic is definitely the opposite of your opponents. You strength is definitely in your technical skill and use of colors, but where your comic suffers is your story. It just...didn't make much sense. Why is baby barbarian holding a dog? Why does he take a swipe at Einga? When your little guy makes a break for it, and baby doesn't give chase, why include that if its going to go nowhere? It just seemed like alotta dead ends cobbled together which left me with more questions than answers.
Citronrobotlord's comic has the vibe photocopied self published comic: A bit sparse and rough around the edges with a very "hand done" look, but charming as heck, combining silliness with a mock-grandiose tone. Might be good to do away with the spot color and greyscale, anything that screams "this was done on a computer," (whip out some tones and/or hatching) and go all the way with that look.
(is.... is Einga gonna be alright?)
(Also, I'm going to be THAT person and remind you that "it's" is short for "it is" while the possessive form of it is "its."
As for Empiredog.... Einga, you sure walked right into that one! I'm not sure what you were expecting. OOOH it's a painterly comic! The ability to do simplified painting and have it still look like a simplified painting instead of half finished is a good one. WELL, the first few pages pull that off a lot better. Some do look more unfinished than simplified, and some come up rather flat. I'm sure with more time, or a shorter script that will allow you to do another pass, you'll do a lot better.
Thanks so much for the critique guys, and for the kind comments, I didn't even think Baby would be such a hit. I will definitely continue to play with the character win or lose!
I wish I could vote on your comic @empiredog cause I'm in LOVE with your style! how did you get nine full colour pages. jeeze! baby does look a bit less buff than I imagine him but other than that you really got his personality down. not that that would be that hard I guess, cause he's a baby. but regardless I am impressed. I want you to win but I want to win! D: These Feelings! what are they!
Citronrobotlord - It takes an open mind to appreciate the comedic level of amazing that Baby Barbarian is, and you did not disappoint with your first challenge! I adored the small details, such as the little deer being crushed, and the expressions you created with Baby's face reminded me of so many hilarious Vines. Loved it! There's not much more I can say regarding things to work on that haven't been said already, such as anatomy and consistency, however I did get a little lost between pages 3 and 4, so I would suggest reviewing panels while you're working to ensure the story remains fluid.
Empiredog - Einga is so cute! Your colors are so pretty and vivid, the panel capturing Einga running away from the explosion at the top of page 4 really caught my eye; great job with contrast! This story really flowed and the personalities were conveyed very well! It's already been mentioned, but be careful of the story becoming too forced and putting in panels that don't necessarily follow the fluidity, even though they support the end of the story (Einga being the fluffy animal Baby is now infatuated with). Overall, still excellent story telling and art to boot!
You guys were both amazing! Looking forward to seeing much more!
Citronrobotlord - I fucking love your character. He's unique and ridiculous. Your comic felt a bit rough around the edges, but you established some interesting shots and fun perspective. I feel like had you polished up the boarders and drawn a bit more detail this comic would be some radical shit. I wanna fight the hell out of this baby someday soon!
Empire dog - The colors are wonderful in this. I enjoy your character and the story idea of them just playing a "catch me if you can" game with the baby. My only suggestion and working on your dialogue. It comes off a little bit awkward at times and not natural. I hope you keep up with this dynamic between Einga and Baby Barbarian being friends of sorts. It seems like they can really play well off of each other for future storylines!
Wow both of your comics are great I wish the both of you could pass!
@citronrobotlord; Baby Barbarian is just such a funny character in and of himself it was so much fun to read your comic. I really like how you kept everything from the panels to lettering hand drawn it really gave a nice overall feel to your art. The use of blue just for lightning was really neat as well. If you could work a bit more with backgrounds and anatomy I think it'd really help you.
@empiredog; Wow. You got so much done this round both drawing and coloring wise. The backgrounds work great with your comic and you really don't get lost at any point in the story. Work a little more on consistency and anatomy and your comics will go from great to amazing I'm sure.
Oh man! These are both so stellar I can't even believe it! I loved how each of you highlighted qualities of your partners without over shadowing either character and that made the comics flow nicely. Can't wait to see more amazing things from both of you cause I love me some beef babies and fluffy beings.
@citronrobotlord: Man, your name is fun to type lol. And OMG the sheer ridiculousness of your character and this comic has me on the floor. I really hope you stick around and keep making comics on VOID even after the tournament, because this stuff is golden! My main advice to you would just be to work on your anatomy and keeping characters consistent in different poses, from different angles, and across panels. There were a lot of weird issues with Baby Barbarian's arms, especially. But man, you keep this up and you'll be going places in no time! XD
@empiredog: I said it in Hangouts, and I'll stand by it: your work is looking SO GOOD. The colors are gorgeous, the detail feels just right, and the overall feel of it is very painterly in the best way possible. Your story was cute! I think you could have condensed it a bit and gotten more impact out of it, though. I also think you could work a bit more on making Baby Barbarian more consistent across panels, and maybe work in his anatomy a bit to make him look more muscular? But maybe you intentionally left him kind of soft looking since he's a baby. Either way, you've definitely got skills, and I can't wait to see what you come up with next! I'm enjoying this character and want to see them grow and develop with MOAR COMICKXZS!!!
Good luck, and see you BOTH after this round is over (meaning whoever loses better get right back up and do some regular comic matches ;D)!
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