10.28.07
In Which I Ramble About Comics And Cartoons And Things
…and in doing so, break a long-held tradition of not posting anything straightforward for serious.
In any case, I’ve had a ton of thoughts pertaining to webcomics and print comics and JAPAN comics, and felt like vomiting them onto the inter net. Yes? What?
Today, though, I’ll just talk about Sinfest.
Sinfest (sinfest.net) is a comic on the inter net by a guy by the name of Tatsuya Ishida. His work is extremely professional, with stylish characters and clean inks, and seems like it would belong in a newspaper in some twisted, bizarro world. That’s what is at once charming and frustrating about it; it is often much funnier than newspaper comics (which is to say, at a minimum, funny at all), with thinly veiled satire on modern society— but at the same time, this newspaper quality, which requires that the characters remain the same so that the formula succeeds, prevents any real character development from actually happening.
It’s especially evident in the story arcs where Slick and Monique are obviously getting closer and more intimate, but the experience of building the relationship is immediately negated and reduced to zero by the end. For instance, in a recent story arc, Slick decided to start trying to be “good” rather than “sinful,” and it is ruined by Squiggly’s “intervention.” (the Devil was there too, but Squiggly’s direct method of dealing with Slick was more effective, at least in the short term). Monique instantly decides to no longer bother with Slick, and everything is back at square one.
Now, is this something Ishida is trying to say? Like, a lesson in futility? Could be— but I really doubt it. As mentioned, Sinfest works best with such a formulaic structure. That sounds bad— but the truth is that it also allows for a variety of stories about similar struggles to be told. In this sense, it is the same as classic comic strips like Calvin and Hobbes— you can always count on the characters to be there, unchanged, the same Slick with his eyes always covered, Monique, always single and playing around with the hearts of men, et cetera et cetera.
Whatever man, when I started, I really just wanted to complain about how the story arcs never get anywhere. I can see the point to it, but eugh, argh, geez.
That’s all for now. I’ve already written more than I wanted to. See you… next time?
Varies said,
October 29, 2007 at 8:54 am
Nice piece, it’s cool that your perspective changed while you were writing it. I write a lot, and I’ve noticed that doing so helps me develop my ideas in a way that sitting around and thinking about stuff could never accomplish.
In regards to sinfest, I would say that it was one of the first [web]comics that I read with any regularity. My interest has waned a lot since then (perhaps for reasons that you’ve described), but I still check back from time to time to see what Slick and the ‘Nificent ‘Nique are up to. While the presentation is old school all-the-way, I find the stories and the characters to be as modern and relevant as any I’ve ever seen in any comic.
If any one is interested in starting a webcomic regimen, SINFEST is a good place to start! Check it out today at sinfest.net! (Contrary to the name, it’s actually very heartwarming)