I astound myself each time I spell this comic's name correctly without checking.

I'm pretty lame.

http://www.drunkduck.com/Elijah_and_Azuu/

Well I've got to say...although Inkmonkey is kinda known as a legend on Drunk Duck for his 900+ page comic, and when the site was down we got all kinds of people asking where this comic was and when it'd be back...this just doesn't appeal to me. I mean, inkmoney's current art is really nice. The characters have clearly defined features and stuff, this really doesn't get me interested. It's just too many characters and too many things happening. That's part of it.

I couldn't really begin to tell you what plot problems this comic has or what story elements could be improved because overall this is just not my type of comic. It's funny to me sometimes, and I appreciate the humor, but there's something else...

So I suppose the question I should be asking myself is why don't I like the comic? Is it the art? Not really. I mean, there are backgrounds and the only major problem with the people is that their bodies are too thin and their heads are kinda big and sometimes the arms look akward or stiff. The coloring is nice. It might be because of the limited room space that every area seems to have which gives this a soap-opera feel. But the text is readable, and the gags are pretty good...

Sorry, just not my thing. I dunno why.

I'm a big fan of the comic myself. The writing is funny, the art is good, the only real complaint I have is that sometimes the characters seem to have a few... kinks. Like there's something not natural about their bodies. An anatomy thing. Other than that, I like it.

Back in the old days, I never managed to get into Elijah and Azzu... and much like ccs1989, I could never quite put my finger on why that was. And yet, since the 'relaunch' of DD, I've been really getting into the grove of it. I think it was just a case of 'right time, right place.'

The art works quite well, although like others have mentioned, there is a certain amount of awkardness about the characters - heads too large, arms to stiff, that sort of thing. Still, the colouring is great - last time I was reading it, it was just black and white, but Inkmonkeys use of colour is great.

Ye gods, over 900 pages?! O_o

Errm, right... from a random selection of various cartoons in the collection, the style is certainly interesting, the characters and proportions are usually well defined (though in comic #968 the guy on the right looks like he might be bending his arm into rather painful angles! http://www.drunkduck.com/Elijah_and_Azuu/)

It's also impressive to see so many comics in a series when they're all (or mostly?) coloured, and the shading/highlighting looks good too.

The humour also seems to work for the most part, and is likely to appeal to those who have an open mind and like demons/angels/thingies

Gibbo
Ye gods, over 900 pages?! O_o

Over 900 STRIPS. Still pretty impressive though.

.: SpANG! :.

I've been reading Elijah and Azuu since it started on DrunkDuck so thankfully, I don't have to read over 900 comic strips in one sitting. :D But I've always followed Elijah and Azuu and I'm sure that if I've been doing that, then there must be something that entertains me about it.

I think with Elijah and Azuu, there's a mixture of slapstick humour and...not sure if there's a term for it but humour that relies on the interaction between archetypal characters. It's isn't bad or good, just an observation. Although I think because of that, it appeals to a wider and possibly younger audience with some of the jokes relying on previous knowledge of the characters.

As for the art, it has greatly improved over the years although as others have said before me, there's something stiff about these characters. I'm not 100% sure if this is the problem but from what I'm seeing so far, everyone has some really really straight backs. Their fingers also seem to always line up with one another so that they're either straight out together (creating a flat palm) or clutching something (with each finger tightly knit together.) There's also a few proportion problems as well but I think the stiffness of the characters can be greatly reduced if they're sort of relaxed a bit. Most people do not have such straight posture or fingers neatly lined up like that.

Chores call so this ends my review.

.: Black Kitty :.

Simply put, I'm a fan of this comic. I write "this" because for the life of me I can never quite remember the name. So I finally added it to my favorites so I wouldn't have to keep searching for it. Now about that review...

ARTWORK - perfect for the comic. Its not the visually-stunning-type of fine art seen in some other really popular strips, but it works perfectly with the writing. Speaking of which...

WRITING - writing is the most important thing to me in comics and I think this is some of the best. Always clear and easily understandable without being dumbed down. The characters voices are distinct and the dialogue moves very smoothly.

LAYOUT - average, I guess. But its the least important thing to me, so not a negative at all. 2x2 grid panels is great as long as I don't have to scroll. And I don't. Its all good.

I am (now) a regular reader.

SpANG!

Gibbo
Ye gods, over 900 pages?! O_o

Over 900 STRIPS. Still pretty impressive though.

Many strips put just as much or more content into a single "page" than than the people who are ostensibly making something to be printed. I think you're implying that 900 pages on the comic book section of the site would somehow be inherantly more impressive than 900 pages on the strip side, which isn't always true. It's a case by case thing.

E&A is classified as a comic STRIP, so I see no argument there. And yes, I was speaking in general terms.

.: SpANG! :.

SpANG!
E&A is classified as a comic STRIP, so I see no argument there. And yes, I was speaking in general terms.

So as GoAK is classified as a "comic story" the individual pages should be called stories?

The whole system of dividing the site into two sections is suspect to begin with; it seems to imply that strips do not tell stories, or at the very least that strips do not have the same caliber of content.

radarig
So as GoAK is classified as a "comic story" the individual pages should be called stories?

No, a story is not usually self-contained in one page. That's why it's called a story, and not a strip.

radarig
The whole system of dividing the site into two sections is suspect to begin with; it seems to imply that strips do not tell stories, or at the very least that strips do not have the same caliber of content.

Most strips DON'T tell strories, and by that I mean arc a storyline together. Sure there are some exceptions, but most strips are self-contained.

As far as "caliber" goes, that's your hang-up, not mine. I enjoy and revere strips and stories on the same level of entertainment. As long as they are well written and well drawn.

Now, we are getting off topic, so if you have a review for E & A, post it. If you'd like to debate, use the proper forum.

.: SpANG! :.

I deleted all the stupid out of this thread. I mean, what the hell people?

This is a comic review thread. Not a "why the hell is Ink's comic popular" thread. A comic's reputation is NOT a viable subject for review. You are to review a comic based on its own merits, not based on what other people think of it.

It was a bad idea to make a post that wasn't a review. And Ink, that was a really bad way to respond.

If anyone makes another post that isn't about the merits of Ink's comic as a comic, I will lock this thread.

Thank you. Now play nice.