Malefic

Malefic follows an ensemble cast as the try to survive hell wrought Armageddon. The story begins with a small group of survivors recounting the first days events as they try to understand what is happening. But what chance do a farmer, an unemployed geek, a junkie, a hooker, a pharmacist, a part time DJ and a couple of telephonists really have?

This review is gonna come easy since it is a comic I already follow. I'll review this comic on two things, writing characters and art work.

The story: In a nutshell is the apocalypse through the eyes of the protagonists. Theirs never walls of text which is a huge plus. Not even in the beginning of the comic does this problem occur (which is freaking rare for new webcomic creators) The beginning of the story is told through first person narration which I honestly prefer cause it helps set a mood. The writing in Malefic is always interesting. When you think you know what's gonna happen. You're most probably wrong.

Characters: I must say most of the characters aren't likable in my opinion. Except for that chubby guy who pulls a hulk lol. But this isn't a bad thing story wise. A major theme in this story is survival. And it's portrayed very realistically. When a life is threatened you won't hesitate to be a complete asshole to save your life. For example on this page http://www.drunkduck.com/Malefic/index.php?p=725543
I mean seriously... What an a** hole! So yeah, characters aren't about always about being liked, if you hate them after reading, that's a really well done thing too.

Art: Now here comes the part where my review will start to get negative. I wouldn't be harsh, if I thought the artist was really doing the best he possible can, but on his profile he has another webcomic called Genejoke's sketch pad or something like that. He has some pretty amazing drawings, mainly in simple pencils. My guess here is, either he rushes through with his comic pages, or hasn't learned to use his tools well yet. Things I'll give positive notes on. You do see a high level of improvement and the artist is really good at perspective (also rare in webcomics) But the sketchyness of some of the line art can be eye bleeding at times. And the coloring can be sometimes just way to busy. But it is improving.

Overall: Really good story. Decent characters. Improving art that could use some work. I highly recommend. I rate this comic 7/10

Story: A group of survivors trying to continue surviving during the Apocalypse. The story works really well for what it is, and the author really has a good grasp on pacing and cliffhangers, which he uses to his advantage quite often. And not just cliffhangers at the end of chapters, but it seems like at the end of each page, there is something that makes you NEED to see what happens next. This comics greatest strength, in my opinion is its use of tension and cliffhangers.

Characters: The characters are fairly basic, but that's what works with the story, so no complaints here. We don't really know all too much about who they were before the end came, and nor should we. With this sort of story, all the characters motivations are just to survive, and the fun comes in seeing how differently they react to these horrific situations, and what leanghts they will go to stay alive. You can really see the civilization in these characters breaking down with the chaotic enviroment.

Art: It works well for the story, but with a bit of improvement, the comic could really be taken to the next level. The coloring and the lines can look a little messy at times, and things can look a little 'off'. It doesn't really detract all that much from the enjoyment of the read, but its the only really obvious problem that I felt needed pointing out.

Overall: A highly enjoyable, exciting read. I recommend it.

First of all, Thanks for you two for taking the time to write reviews of Malefic.
Second, wow! great reviews.
Some may say huh! 7/10 ain't great and so on but...
I am a realist, there are far better artists out there producing some stunning comics and they make my art look terrible. That and I am NOT a writer, so although I have not written all of Malefic, the lions share that is reviewed is my writing or has a large amount of my impact. I do not say that to detract from what Malcolm aka Jabberwockyjones is doing but his work is more recent and it is with the chapter we are doing now where his voice will really come through and I think it makes the comic better. chapter five; Gift wrapped was his first script for Malefic so if anyone has noticed a difference please say.

Now to address the criticisms.

Someone
I wouldn't be harsh, if I thought the artist was really doing the best he possible can, but on his profile he has another webcomic called Genejoke's sketch pad or something like that. He has some pretty amazing drawings, mainly in simple pencils. My guess here is, either he rushes through with his comic pages, or hasn't learned to use his tools well yet.

I agree. Several reasons/excuses. I am new to making comics but not to drawing, whether it is portraits, still life, character designs for traditional role playing games. I have been drawing all my life and self taught and never have I been much good at colour work of any sort, which is why I colour Malefic to make me do that which I am not good at. Also never wanting to wait I rush on through the pages to get the story out there, something I am trying to do less of but there are so many ideas for Malefic I just want to rush ahead.

Someone
The characters are fairly basic, but that's what works with the story, so no complaints here. We don't really know all too much about who they were before the end came, and nor should we. With this sort of story, all the characters motivations are just to survive, and the fun comes in seeing how differently they react to these horrific situations, and what leanghts they will go to stay alive. You can really see the civilization in these characters breaking down with the chaotic enviroment.

I took this as a massive compliment, the characters vary in depth but we haven't had much time to really learn about their pasts as yet, some of these things will come up later but the story is more about who they are and how they act as you so rightly pointed out.

Malefic is a story about the apocalypse and the survivors that fight swarms of demons to survive.

The story starts of pretty simple and the idea behind it is pretty simple. It is 2012 and the world is going to hell, literally. The ground splits open and demons spill onto earth. It is an interesting but nothing that we haven’t seen before. What works really well is the characters and their way they go about surviving.

The writing is decent and fast paced but some of it can get disjointed. However it improves greatly the further the story gets along. Dialogue feels believable but can get pretty corny at times. There is some slight humor and comic relief which is good. I really like the theme and there is some cool plot elements in the comic.

There are some of the evil dead type of stuff going on. Like Greg with the big chin and the punching of demons in the face/ shotgun to the face. I like some of the characters and where they are headed. Dan and Lois are especially interesting. But some of the other characters seem to be there for demon food. There are a few cliché plot devices but it works as expected.

Ok for the art, I’m not going to say its bad but it feels very minimal and very inconsistent. Some pages look fantastic but then a few pages later it looks like a doodle. The line art is quite nice and gets better. Crayons however are bad. I feel like the coloring started off as distracting but it ends up getting better. Every scene is pretty readable however I feel that it needs more black and contrast to it to better fit the mood. I’ve noticed the text boxes and bubbles are kind of messy and need some work.

Pacing is a little funny. Some pages have walls of text making it more like reading a book then a comic. Also some text boxes don’t seem to flow to the next and that makes it hard to know who is talking when.

So for my final thoughts I would say it is a pretty decent comic. It has good horror elements to it and the gore parts work well. I’m not too into these types of stories but this one works really well and doles out plenty of cool moments. Some of the characters are interesting but many of them are your run of the mill types. The action parts of the comic feel like they need work and some of the dialogue needs to be a little less corny.

My three word description
Basic Bloody Intrigue

I wanted to read this comic because Genejoke had impressed me with his cleverness on the forum so I thought his writing would probably be interesting as well. I wasn't disappointed either. He tells an intense story about survival at the end of the world.

The writing is really good. I like seeing the story from different characters points of view and then having it all come together. Other than that there is much room for improvement. The art is down right ugly but functional. I never had any trouble understanding what was happening and that's important. I did see some color work that was very beautiful. My man here is capable of doing some amazing things. There are some little things like typos that could be easily avoided. I call for more quality control.

I gotta give props on the creature designs. The monsters are cool.

I give Malefic 3 Mayan prophecies out of 5

This was the first comic I've reviewed that I read every single page of. Maybe I'm just a sucker for these kinds of stories (random people brought together by crazy circumstances, and then going on an adventure), but I think it has serious potential and is worth reading.

Characters
We don't know too much about the characters yet, but I enjoy following then on their journey. Louis and Dan have the most standout personalities (some of the others are a little bland). I especially like Toby, though.

Writing
The writing is generally OK, but sometimes it just didn't cut the mustard for me (and I don't mind unusual use of language, as long as it works). The story is supposed to exist in the modern day, so I held it up to a little higher standards of realism than I usually do with comics. For example, I don't think people would stand around talking and making snappy comebacks as much as they do in Malefic if they were actually being assaulted by demons.

Story
I really liked the intro, explaining how all the characters came together. It's not all totally plausible or believable, but it kept me turning the pages and wondering what would happen next.

Art
It is obvious that the artist knows how to draw, but it feels so rushed! I can see that the artist understands perspective and the human body, but he or she seems to quickly scribble it all in with sketchy lines. I understand what it's like to want to get your story out as fast as possible, but it would look so awesome if each page was crafted slowly in loving detail with the artists true potential. Also, I was impressed with some of the shots. The artist has a knack for dynamic angles and dramatic composition, but it kind of goes to waste when it's scribbled in and colored so loosely. I'm also not a fan of using computer blur effects on an otherwise obviously hand-drawn comic. The monsters also look awesome! That was another are where you can see that the artist can draw, and it makes you wish they'd spend that much time and effort on the whole comic.

Overall, great concept and interesting start to all the characters. I'm looking forward to seeing more detailed drawings and character developments in the future!

I really appreciate all the reviews, even the negative comments. Perhaps especially the negative, it gives me a better idea of where to aim to improve.

Someone
For example, I don't think people would stand around talking and making snappy comebacks as much as they do in Malefic if they were actually being assaulted by demons.

Hah! Yeah, something that gets addressed(in a way) a little in the next chapter.

Art - 5/5

The art starts off as very sloppy sketches, filled in with rough coloring jobs and put on top of rough backgrounds. You could still make out the characters and it wasn't unreadably bad, but it certainly detracted to me.

And then suddenly, it shifts to a very clean, moderately detailed style. Fewer rough sketchings with cleaner lines and coloring, readable facial expressions, and more effort seems to have been put into the scenery. It's much better than the start. I believe the author mentioned that he'll be improving the older pages gradually, so that's definitely a plus.

I give it great marks for the new art, so if you haven't read it yet, let me assure you: It gets better.


Writing - 5/5

The story starts off with the various characters explaining how they got into a big mob. Then... Well, it's chaos as they try to find safety from the army of bloodthirsty demonic monstrosities, going to shopping malls and warehouses and everywhere else.

The writing really shines with the dialogue and pacing. Even in the areas where they stop and talk, it still feels like something is happening. There is no time wasted in setting up the current situation and telling you what's going on.


Characters - 4/5

There are too many of them from the beginning. I had difficulty keeping track of all the random peoples' names and eventually ended up just relying on their appearances to decide whether I'd seen them before.
As the story progresses half of them get destroyed in gruesome fashions thanks to the kill-happy demonic entities running around all over the place.

As for the demons, I can't help but think they could use some kind of uniformity. Right now there's huge pink things that spawn giant maggots and look sort of like those aliens in Starcraft, and then on the other side there's blood-red guys covered in spikes and claws and eyeballs all over. This might be explained later on, but at the moment I find it a bit confusing.


Conclusion - 10/10

Malefic is a great comic with a great story and enjoyable characters, I definitely recommend it.

Thanks for a great write up, just made my day.

The demons... Yeah they will become a bit more uniform later but there are potentially as many species of demon as there are lifeforms on earth. But yes you will start to recognise some and learn more about them as the characters identify them.