The next comic up WAS Puppets and Strings, but the link I was given doesn't seem to work.

So, Naive is up to bat!

http://www.drunkduck.com/Naive/index.php

I understand that this comic is more or less based on real life people, friends and such of the author. Therein lies the comics biggest weakness but perhaps if your a fan of the comic that is the biggest sell point.

Anyway, as I flip threw the pages i find myself feeling like an old boring bastard for totally failing to get the jokes. Half of the time it feels like I'm reading a bunch of in-jokes that I'm not supposed to understand and the other half the strip ends with a punch line that i get, but one that doesn't get me to laugh.
Often the jokes poke fun of recent events, movies and games that was released at the time. But now a joke about a obscure title such as "Trauma Center" for the Nintendo DS isn't very funny. Therefore the whole archive feels dated if read now.

The art (or in this case graphics) is pretty nice. The colors and shading work well. Overall i get some sprite comic vibes from it all as figures and poses are re-used but im not really bothered by it.

I notice that the author is influenced by Manga/anime as so many other artists, using some cliche manga jokes and japanese words. (Shame on you!) The comic thankfully doesn't look like a standard formula A manga however, but if that is unintentional or not i don't know. Odds are pretty high though that this comic aims to be one of those oddball manga comics that are just so super-crazy and silly and random and.....so on and so on.

So to conclude, This one is a hit or miss comic depending on your taste.
Personally i don't get it. So miss for me. But i absolutely wouldn't say that the comic is crap. I realize it's just not my thing.

SCORE: 2/5

All categories are rated on a positive number if I liked it. The more, the better. Negative points means I didn't like something. Some categories are made up on the spot. But ending up with a positive number is a good thing.


My thoughts almost echo VegaX in some respects. But...

Art (-1): Back and forth, back and forth. Between what? Between being flat and uninteresting to just being flat and dull. At the start, we have some what I could only describe as Paint comics which just turn me off in the first place. Later the artist picks up with what I can only guess is Photoshop and maybe a tablet. But, the art never changes over the course of time. Consistancy should be worth a point, but not when it looks like the artist (Aqua_ng) doesn't really try to do much with it. What it suffers from is an artist who just wanted to be silly and draw something without really working hard at any of it. What kept it getting a lower score is consistancy in vision and characters. Problem is, its a stale old type of rendering I see on too many web comics these days. The art failed to grab me.

Story (+0): No story. Seems to be about random things.

Characters (+0): The characters seem to be just about people in aQua_ng's life more or less. People I don't know, and people the author only really touches on loosely, more in a generic sense. All characters seem to be there just to support the authors view (which is the main character) or the joke. No points either way.

Comedy (-2): This is an example of what not to do if you want to bring in readers other than close friends and a few people who believe they 'get it'. The jokes were trend based, inside jokes and gamer grammar. Things in the authors life that he believed were worth comically chronicalling. It just doesn't work here.

Standoutishness (-3): This comic floats in a sea of comics just like it, bringing nothing new, nothing unique to the field. A new angle is needed if the author is serious about comicing. Re-invention and hitting on something unique and bold is what aQua_nx needs to do. There are soooo many comics out there that do what the author is doing, but are doing it better (see Greater Than Colon as an example ). The author really needs to rework and put more effort into making his art stand out and not being just another web comic artist drowning in what is becomming a much larger sea by the day.

Laxticity (-1): The tilting category magic-8ball says that I just felt this comic needs some effort to make it standout. It rubbed me the wrong way; like 80% of the web comics out there. Inside jokes and personal journals of comic things in one's life work if you work at em. I feel that everyone has a right to express themselves, which is what makes art so great, but unless you are eccentric you want people to like and continue to enjoy your work rather than shrug thier shoulders.

Total: -7; Ouch. The comic,as it is just doesn't work. It is made for a very very small click of people (friends? family) and not really a larger broader audience.

'Naive'

Art: 3

The art has improved from the begining of the comic. He does a lot more with backgrounds and shading now, but its still not completely there. His style is somewhat Manga-ish, but not completely, althrough he does throw in several emotions and cliches of that style sometimes, such as the large heads when angry, the red temple vein, and this mouth: :3.

Though the drawing itself has improved, I think I prefered the thinner lines from near the begining of the comic compared to the thick lines that are used now. Perhaps the better drawing and the thinner lines can be brought together.

The characters all look different and have various poses that are portrayed well, if not a little stiff looking at times. Though far from professional, everything seems to be relatively well drawn.

Writing: 2/12

There isn't much of a story here, but that really isn't a reason to count off from the writing. It seems to mostly just be about average life with some surreal moments tossed in (a 72 hour TV special on Popcorn Chicken and dining with various video game/comic book/movie villains, for instance). For the most part its pretty random humour, but there are some cases of storylines and an overall feeling of continuation through the background of the strip, such as them 'Emo'd' Storyline near the begining.

AQua_ng does seem to put time and effort into making this comic, so I'd feel bad giving it too low of a score or taking too much off, but unfortunately most of the jokes fell flat for me...they just didn't work. I didn't find too much of it funny and a few of them I just didn't get. Quite a few strips referenced things that I have no knowledge of, but maybe someone who has similiar interests as the authour would find these strips funny.

Also, the characters seem to be rather flat.

Overall: 3 out of 5

There's nothing that really sets this comic apart.

I doubt I'll be coming back to read any more of it for some time, but I might check in on it in the future and see how its doing then.

This comic just really wasn't for me, I'm afraid to report. I think there's still a lot of room for improvement, but I also think the authour is up to improving and will improve.

If you're looking for a solid storyline that transcends every page, dont look for it here, besides it doesnt really need one. This seems to me as a semi random / slice of life comic, put in real life experiences mix it with anime expressions and random events and tada, you get naive. I found reading through out the whole thing as an entertaining one (especially the pick on the emo arcs, that was just funny, i always wanted to do that myself).

Artwise we get expressive facial expressions and funky color shadings, youd be blind not to like those things. Character poses need to be less stiff looking though, specially if drawn standing up. Theres a need to improve on anatomy on the general, although the author doesnt aim for the realistic ways of proportions it would still definitely help in improvement later on.

I dont have problems with references to inside jokes and all, its actually funnier when you try to piece out the jokes behind it. I didnt get some of those video game references though, im not much of a gamer these days so on that part the humor gets lost to me.

I personally like the cameos in the bus arc, makes me wish i had faved this sooner so i could have been in it.

lemon_king's review of Naive

Color:5 of 5
The colors really fit the scenes, and are very bold. When needed, shading is there. The colors really pop out. Like a stain.A good stain.

Art:4.5 of 5
Everything is drawn nicely. The backgrounds don't have anything messed up with them, and are always drawn in proportion. Expressions are noticable, and you can actually tell when the person is talking. It works nicely. There could be more detailed backgrounds in some spots.

Writing:3 of 5
Humor is all over this comic. Every pannel has a laugh. Story arcs don't last forever, and personalities don't change from comic to comic. Just enough violence, and exciting enough to keep you interested. Sometimes, lots of words are crammed into a single pannel. Overall, it's good enough.Enough

Updates:2 of 5
Over 50 pages so far, but updates don't come very often.Sometimes, specifically in the action comics, the pannels are too small, and you have to look back to see when it was last updated.

Overall:4 of 5

It's a action-packed, could-happen comic that can entertain you for hours.You can always tell how much work the author puts into this comic. Definately one to check out.