Issue 217 Reviews

[Deleted]

Well, I didn't see a review board, so I thought I'd make one .

Reviews for the first part of my series, When the Weather is Grey, would be greatly appreciated.

[Schefflera]

Reviews for the first part of Ikkin's and my "Hubrid's Attempted Hero Heist" would also be appreciated. Whee!

[Tyrannitar]

Review for Sanity Obsolete, what is now, 5: Time, would be nice. This one's done with a different artist: Darky, 13blackdragons!

[Dan]

Reviews for Part 1 of my series, Sight also requested! Thanks.

[Tashni]

- Some Comic Reviews -

No n00bs is good n00bs - Cute, another "why are we all doing this?" plot comic. I liked the Yurble, he was funny with all this positions. The Ixi was good, too, but the skittering legs needed to be more faint, as it is it looks like it just has 6 legs. But it was amusing, and the art good.

Sanity Obsolete - Woah, "Futurama" flashback there with the commercial. Heh, "Good news, everyone!" followed by extremely bad news. *snicker* Er, moving on to your comic . . . The art was very nice! I like brushed artwork, and the Lupe was drawn very well as looking like a puppy without being a baby. I liked that, and the joke was really cute. You got a snort out of me. (Don't tell anyone I told you that.)

Legends of Neopia - Hehehe, we all must bow to the power of usukis and plushies, I suppose. The art, OH, I am green with envy. Forest green, actually. But the art is good, I like the panel with the bori asking endless questions. It was all well executed. Good job!

Blast From The Past! - Woohoo! That's one small step for a NT writer, one giant leap back in time for all of Neopia! . . . or something like that. I liked the joke simply because I support all things old. It was cute, though. The art was pretty good, too. The swirly affects in the middle panel were good, to make it mysterious.

I'll be doing new series reviews tomorrow. I'm too tired right now.

[Nimras]

Reviews for my series Chronicles of the Court Rogue: Rivalry would be greatly apprecated. This is the last chapter... www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=140245&issue=217

Hubrid's Attempted Hero Heist
by Ikkin and Scheff.

*sniff sniff* LISHA!!!!
Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way... I think it is a great opening for a series (11 more chapters?!?) Once I figured out that it didn't happen in Scheff's normal NeoUniverse it made a lot more sense. That's what I get for thinking of it as a "Scheff and Drea... Wait, who else wrote this???" story.

Heh, blame my fever, all day yesterday I was at 100F, today I'm down to 99F.... So I really hope I'm making sense and writing what I'm trying to say.

[Kat]

Any reviews for my new series, "After the Dance" would be so gosh darn appreciated. Kat may try squeezing in some of her reviews though.

[velveteen]

Thanks for the review, tashni! I've been inundated with neomails from old players squealing with excitement/nostalgia. haha! Pepernoten for you. cheers

[Huntress]

After a bunch of short stories, comics and a series I finally managed to get an article published. Which is neither helpful nor has much of a point but I wrote it for fun and to entertain people so there... some comments on "Mysteries of the Deserted Fairground" would be really nice :3

[Star]

Please may someone review Lucky Streak? And yes I know it's slightly confusing!

[Nut]

I felt like reviewing comics today.

Comic Reviews

[glow=blue,2,300]Sanity Obsolete: Time?[/glow]
Very nice comic! The art is very good; it has a very smooth, friendly style. I like how the Lupe is drawn as a young, scruffy pup.
Panel One: The reader first reads the text in the upper left corner, then drops their eyes to the teacher’s expression of genuine joy, and finally reads the word balloon, noting the three pets shown in the classroom before moving on to the next panel. I must say that I really like the way the teacher is drawn; she looks almost as if she expects her students to be happy to hear her ridiculous announcement. The teacher’s statement seems absolutely absurd; I’m sure plenty of people can sympathize with a slightly exaggerated crazy teacher. The shading is very nice, subtle yet distinct, though I think that dark colors are a bit overused in places. The dark shading on the brown creature in the foreground makes it a little hard to tell what it is, and although the shaded parts of the text box in the corner of the panel is a nice idea, it’s a bit difficult to see the black lettering in the darker area. Of the pets in the classroom, the blue Kougra stands out the most; I wonder if it would have been better to put the Lupe in the front seat to direct attention to him. Little details like the teacher’s necklace and the pieces of chalk on the blackboard make this panel enjoyable to look at.
Panel Two: The Lupe has a great dejected expression here; the look on his face clearly tells the reader that he means the “sigh”! The dark cloud over his head emphasizes that, swelling out of the panel’s border.
Panel Three: The Lupe perks up! I love the expression and the little lightbulb over his head. These two panels work quite well separated by the slash of space between them.
Panel Four: The punchline comes quickly here; it doesn’t take a moment to get the joke! The way the Lupe wields the mallet is emphasized by his pose; it looks like he is steadying himself on the panel’s border. The defenseless clock seems to shy back into the wall, afraid of its imminent fate. The mallet is rather dark, to the point of looking like a flat shape with a solid color, but it’s still obvious what it is: big heavy clock-smashing tool! The final panel gets the point across quickly and effectively.
Overall: This comic is good for a quick laugh, and the art is smooth and pleasant to look at. The joke is rather absurd if you stop to think about it, but it’s still pretty funny. Good work!

[glow=blue,2,300]Blast From The Past![/glow]
I found this comic not so much funny as interesting. This comic’s real audience is old Neopians who remember the pre-makeover pets, and I can’t say I’m a part of that generation. However, any references back to it are fascinating to me.
Panel One: This comic has very nice linework throughout. It has a distinct style with its wobbly, curly lines. The Eyrie looks pleasantly plump in a regal way, and the Kyrii’s curly hair and thinness exaggerate the pets’ designs nicely. I like the Kyrii’s groggy, just-woken-up expression. ^^ I like how he’s subtly yawning, although the edge of his mouth looks a bit too close to his left eye. The fact that the Eyrie is looking straight down was a little distracting to me, as I would have expected him to be looking at the Kyrii while he’s speaking. The art is quite nice in this panel, though, and very original. ^^
Panel Two: Very good panel overall! The word balloon works well positioned right in the middle; it would have seemed unbalanced if it were placed at a side or a corner. The wavy bulge effect and the mist at the corners emphasize the wiggly-line style, also making clear that the panel shows the Kyrii’s dream. This works much better than what I think most would do: simply putting the art inside a “dream balloon” panel with bubbly borders. The text is also clear and quick to read, yet gets the point across. “I was a ball of fluff. You had horns!” is an excellent way to describe the pets of old; going into much more detail would have made the panel drag on too long. Very nice!
Panel Three: I like how the Kyrii is drawn in this picture. Its curly hair and distinct style just make it fun to look at. However, the Eyrie looks rather compressed, losing the girth that it had in the first panel. Also, I’m not sure that the question mark above the Kyrii’s head was really necessary. It appears to be questioning the Eyrie’s accusation of “Weirdo”, but could also be simply wondering what the dream means. I think that the expression could stand on its own. The Eyrie’s naiveté at the possibility of it having looked different in the past is what makes the comic funny. And, of course, there’s the afternote—a tribute to Neopets’ progress!
Overall: The comic is nicely drawn and interesting. Older users probably burst out laughing, newer users would stare at it and agree with the Eyrie’s final word, and others simply marvel at the fact that Kyriis and Eyries were once very different pets. On a whole, it’s a very good comic! Congratulations for getting it accepted! ^^

[Tyrannitar]

Thanks for the reviews Tashni and Nut... I noticed you commented on the artwork a lot, but I'm afraid that 13blackdragon's excellent artistic skills will probably only be for one comic as she is rather busy.

[Deleted]

I'm taking reveiw requests for Short Stories and New Series.

[velveteen]

wow! thanks for the review, nut! I really appreciate all the input I can get. Thanks for being so thorough!

[Dan]

r said:

I'm taking reveiw requests for Short Stories and New Series.

Could you review my series, Sight? Thanks!