This week’s review deals with Geeks Next Door, a webcomic done in the finest tradition of “overused cliché” meets “very low grade anime.” Even a cutting edge (heh) show like Teen Titans would be ashamed of this comic.

That’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it?

Strange as it may sound, I came into reading it with a pretty positive attitude – I envisioned something witty and clever, and was fairly well disappointed on each count. The art, especially, is hastily and poorly drawn and I spend a lot of my time saying things like “WHAT THE?!” and wondering why (a) someone’s head just became a giant, red demon head with fangs or a fang filled mouth going after a muffin, (b) when it was that acceptable comics meant you displayed little or no talent or imagination in the craft and reused terrible forms of drawing or animation or (c) why none of these people (including the guy who wears glasses) seem to have been born with a nose! Pretty much every Pokemon™- type anime cliché is here for the asking, if you’re a fan of such things. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m not. It’s a bit hard on the eyes when the characters don’t look the same from panel to panel, even in a basic sense.

The characters, too, seem to be pretty much one dimensional, as is the plot. The comic on 4/2/07 ended with the female character saying “…I don’t know” to the question asked, “What will the comic be about?” That seems to hold pretty safely the same throughout the comics themselves. Not that there’s anything wrong with one gag comic strips, but a little more continuity might have been nice. The characters themselves are also pretty cliché, (that’s my new word for the day, and probably the only French you’ll ever hear from me) in that you have the bearded, bespectacled guy who does RPG’s (just once – just flippin’ ONCE I’d like to see someone who looks and sounds like Mr. T saying, “ALL RIGHT SUCKA! DON’T GIMME NO JIBBA JABBA AN’ ROLL THAT 20 SIDED! I SAID REFLEX SAVE, FOOL!”) and whose favorite pastime is signing out gigantic piles of books (gee, THERE’S a big deviation into new territory); the girlfriend who is prone to being a complete spastic case, is tempermental and for some unknown reason spends a lot of time with her tongue sticking out between her teeth like some weird cat-person-thing; and the obligatory crude, girl chasing “Stereotypical clueless guy as a friend” character (Barry is his name, if for some reason you don’t see it my way and don’t know who I’m talking about) that we’re all familiar with from endless reruns of insipid formula sitcoms.

Wow…I mean, I’m reeling from the new ground being broken here in this comic. Wait a second while I catch my breath!

And of course, there’s the fact that, as with seemingly all webcomics these days, you have the pointless crude jokes; Barry saying air conditioning feels good ‘on his sack’, the cursing or foul language for no apparent reason or point, and general lack of imagination overall.

What’s that? Too harsh? That’s what you get for asking my opinion! If you want “make me feel good no matter how inept I may be” stuff, go watch a preschool channel. But I digress….

Are there good points? In that respect I’m reminded of a “non-motivational” poster I saw once that said “Mistakes: It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.” ( Despair, Inc.™ ) If you substituted “webcomic” for “life” you’d pretty much nail it on the head. The good point is that if you’re looking for a webcomic that’s intelligent, fun to read and decently drawn, this isn’t it and it’s a very good demonstration of “this isnt it,” too.

So there you have it. Enjoy! And remember, it’s my opinion and so….ahhh skip it. You’ve heard it before and I’m sick of disclaimers.

The Doctor
Rating:

Geeks Next Door
by Jessi Bavolack and Matt Pascal
http://www.geeksnextcomic.com/
review by The Doctor

(3 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

 Loading …