Court is adjourned, finally….
I have tried to rewrite this review many times and no matter how I do it, it never seems as honest as this one. So here goes. I didn’t like this comic, really, at all, nor would I recommend it to others to read. Why? Here’s why:
1. It has all the earmarks of a Harry Potter knock off, for one, complete with spooky locales, scary people (two she ran into in the library looked like zombies with eye sockets instead of eyes, or as though their eyes had been torn out) and bizarre happenings. All I could think of as I read it was waiting for someone like Snape to show up, or Nearly Headless Nick to come by and make a joke and then go off again, or a book to scream in Harry Pott….I mean, sorry…Antimony’s face. I was surprised she wasn’t named Hermione, to be honest. The comic also was very dark, much like the Potter books became. There is real, concrete evil in the world - I don’t need to be immersed in it in a webcomic. That was a definite turn-off, just as something like The Care Bears is a complete turn-off at the other extreme.
2. Characterizations - The characters themselves seemed like contrivances, honestly, in the way in which they were created and seemed to develop. (Read that as “unimaginative”) Antimony reminded me way too much of Daria, a character from the old MTV days who I simply could not stand in any capacity. If you don’t know who Daria is, look her up and you’ll see what I mean. Never smiles, you can almost HEAR her speak in that flat monotone, and you get the feeling she tolerates the people around her who aren’t as “with it” as she is. I kept having the urge to reach into the comic and slap her and tell her to get OVER herself. I can’t help but wonder who it is that actually identifies with a character like this? Her “best friend” is every bit as bad, not only being the obligatory anchor for Antimony but having all the earmarks of also being a romantic interest, (oh, yay) as is the “guy who turns into a wolf and still talks” - standard inclusions for stories of this nature.
Suffice to say just once I’d like to see a happy, well adjusted person in one of these comics who still has odd things happen to them instead of the typical “smarter than everyone else/out of step with everyone else” character like they have here. Contrary to popular opinion not every intelligent or learned person is either (a) totally out of step with reality, (b) a complete social pariah or (c) cynical and depressed sounding because the people around them are just SO un-intelligent.
3. Far too much of the supernatural/mystical/mythological stuff to even make for an enjoyable read. One comic in particular has her talking to one of the beings who supposedly come to take any and everything away that die. I believe they are called “psychopomp.” (I hope I get geek bonus points for knowing that, or something) As expected, almost no one else can see them, and so that makes her “special,” somehow, rather than the horrified person she’d be if she REALLY saw supernatural entities of the kind described here. In the beginning of the webcomic she gets an extra shadow, and then - surprise! - it starts to talk to her. Of course, she takes it in stride and helps the shadow out. Excuse me? Fiction or no, isn’t that just a bit of a stretch to expect people to swallow? She didn’t even bat an eye, as though this stuff happens all the time. It smacks of shoe-horning to get to a desired point, rather than good storytelling that brings you there with the characters. Kind of a “Even though it makes no sense at all, I’ll have her just ‘oh well’ the extra shadow so we can get rolling.” Sloppy.
4. The overall background and coloring was drab, and then some. If depression were expressed as a comic, this would be it. Can you imagine actually ATTENDING a school like that? God help you. I have yet to see one, myself, and pray no one would ever send their child to such a dreary, dark place as the school depicted here, fiction or no. It makes me wonder, at the risk of being offensive, just exactly what issues the author is dealing with, themselves.
I’m sure there are people out there who think that this comic is just the living end. To me, it’s yet another send off of established stories, mediocre art work and a comic that tries FAR too hard to be something symbolic, heavy, and dramatic.
I give it 1 star. Rating: 
The Doctor
Gunnerkrigg Court
http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/
by Tom Siddell
review by the Doctor
(16 votes, average: 1.81 out of 5)
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August 8th, 2008 at 9:14 am
It’s interesting that you really picked up on the Antimony character enough to ‘hear’ her voice in your head. Even though that vibe was not something you liked, it still had an effect on you.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:04 am
I didn’t “hear” it as much as the style reminded me of my most hated foe, Daria. Antimony (besides being totally ridiculous as a character in terms of knowledge, experience, etc, for her age, as you said) was, to me, a very close match. The flat voiced, cynical “tolerate these mere mortals only because I have to” characterization has, and probably always will, make me smoke from the ears.
I’m not sure why, actually - it just does.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Despite me being at odds with your opinions, I gotta say that hatted, bescarfed smiley you got there is wicked adorable.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Thank you! I found it one day quite by accident -
and I actually have a scarf like that, hand knitted for me by my wife. (Our moderator has seen it, actually) I have others I’m going to include from time to time, just for variety.
I’m not going to use the image at the beginning any more, though, as no doubt it’s copyrighted and I don’t want to infringe. (The icons and such were made and freely distributed, so no worries!)
And as for being at odds, hey - if we agreed ALL the time, what would people say?
I’m very particular in what I read and don’t read. That plays into it, too.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I second the motion on how adorable the Tom Baker smiley icon is. He was my favorite Doctor.
I think I see why you and I are almost always at opposite sides of each comic. “I’m very particular in what I read and don’t read.” I’m largely the opposite. I’ll give anything a try, and am usually able to find something enjoyable in 97% of what I read.
And yet, for a few weeks there, I still felt like the grumpy old man of the group …
August 8th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Don’t mistake “particular” for “closed minded,” however. (Not saying you are, just heading it off) I have tastes and such that are not extremely varied, is a good way to say it. I’m willing to give it a try but if it falls outside of that band I’ll either not really like it but not give it a bad review because it’s mainly just my own dislike, or (as in the case of this one) it falls outside the categories but still had things in it that I simply didn’t like and didn’t think were done well.
Does that make sense?
August 9th, 2008 at 1:57 am
That absolutely makes sense.
I’ve been accused of being too accepting / too non-critical (if that’s even a phrase) by friends of mine. But even out of the good reviews I’ve given on this site, I can think of only three of those I go out of my way to read as soon as they update.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I can understand that - part of the running joke between Delos and I actually is along that line - he gives me the business for firing straight from the shoulder and with all weapons, and I harass him about being the “Eternally Neutral” and not wanting to hurt others’ feelings.
In truth, neither extreme is good, and I think we all do fine in our reviews and opinions, personally.
August 10th, 2008 at 2:40 am
…did you even read the comic?
I always figured Antimony was depressed and out-of-touch because her mother just died, not because she thinks she’s better than anyone else or anything. She also gets more in touch and less depressed as the story goes on…kinda like time is passing and she’s recovering.
Your review weirds me out. I’ve always found this comic to be fun and light-hearted.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Oh, I don’t know - did you read the comic? Yes? Well, then we’re even.
Reviews give opinions. I gave mine. (On a great many more aspects of the comic aside from Antimony’s character, incidentally) You gave yours when you “always figured” why Antimony was depressed or “thought” the comic was light hearted. Isn’t that amazing? We both have opinions and they differ, and they’re allowed to.
Why my review would “wierd you out,” though, I have no idea and am not qualified to comment on, even though I am The Doctor.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I dunno… Like I said, this is a comic that puts a smile on my face 98% of the time and has always wowed me with its artwork, so seeing it described like this made me wonder if there’s some other Gunnerkrigg Court about a girl named Antimony that I don’t know about.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Sly Eagle, you must understand that The Doctor’s gruff, sarcastic exterior is merely a front. Inside, you will find a kind, wonderful soul. The kind who loves his momma and makes toys for cancer-stricken children at the hospital. (A-ha! I have decoded his online monniker.) Why would he want to spend time in a dark and gritty world like Gunnerkrigg Court when he can spread the world with gumdrops, rainbows, and happiness?
I have half a mind to let him borrow my care-worn Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales book. And then I will laugh as he weeps and rocks himself to sleep in the corner when he gets to the part where the princess, who’s been turned into a toad, digs a grave for a fallen knight as the webbing between her fingers bleed and rip open. (Actual text.)
Oh, yes… I will laugh.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I doubt you’d laugh. Actually, you’d probably walk away quite embarrassed when I made you aware that I am VERY well versed in the original endings of children’s stories and fables, and it irks me no end to see them changed to make them more happy and friendly.
“Sarcastic and gruff?” If my response was sarcastic and gruff, someone changed the definition. I answered in a manner befitting that all-demeaning question, “Did you even read the comic?” That says “If you DID read it, you’d NEVER have your obviously uninformed opinion.” Well, wrong again - there isn’t another GC, I did read it, and my opinions stand. I can see the line of thought, though - I mean, really - two individuals read a comic and come away with different opinions? The very idea.
Compared to the things in this world that are really “dark and gritty,” Gunnerkrigg is nothing but a very pale reflection. It’s like comparing a candle to the intensity of sunlight. I don’t feel badly, though, since I see Delos and his dissenting opinion on the wonders of GC are also coming under attack. I feel honored to be in his company.
And incidentally - you were right on two things - I loved (and love the memory of) my mother very much, and I do care a damned lot about other people and seek to ease the pains they suffer as we all walk along the road together. If that means you think I live in some kind of Care Bear world, well, then I can’t help that. I can assure you, I do not, by any means.
Anything else?
August 11th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I don’t feel badly, though, since I see Delos and his dissenting opinion on the wonders of GC are also coming under attack. I feel honored to be in his company
See? I wasn’t kidding about taking on the heathens. We will drive you out of your foxholes with our righteous anger! And then … I dunno, tea and crumpets later.
I hope you didn’t take any of the above too seriously, btw. Just trying to poke holes in your cultivated “Curmudgeon of the Century” facade, you friggin’ softie.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Maybe I shouldn’t comment on blogs. I’m developing a track record of people taking things I say (type?) poorly when I don’t mean to be mean/angry/etc. >.>
Also, I think people mistake me for a guy. <.<
August 11th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
No way, Sly! You stay! Stay here! The more the merrier!
This is the most fun I’ve had at Comic Fencing since I signed on.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Fine, then. I’ll go comment on your review.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Oh heavens no - by all means stay. I don’t think any of us get all upset for real - we give each other the business and from time to time have to remind each other that there are real people here. If we drive people away, then that means it’s gotten WAY too serious for being reviews of webcomics.
Rule number 1 of type is - printed word conveys feeling in a most sucky manner
Rule number 2 is - see rule number 1
No worries!
August 11th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
So in a way, it’s like Fight Club?
August 11th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
I have no idea, having never seen that particular whatever it is.
More that from time to time, when we may get prickly, it’s because we’re real people with real feelings. That’s not the same thing as someone getting all offended and upset/angry, though, by a long shot.
For myself, if that line is crossed, I simply stop commenting
August 15th, 2008 at 2:07 am
Wow did I miss a great deal this past week!
August 15th, 2008 at 7:27 am
See? That’s what you get for missing meetings!
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I don’t really feel you’re fair in comparing it to the Harry Potter series. Sure it has ’spooky locales’, ’scary people’ and ‘bizzare happenings’ - but you’ve just described the contents of countless stories. Harry Potter hardly has a monopoly on them.
Antimony does start out a little bit chilly, but as has been said she opens up a bit as the story progresses, and her attitude dosen’t seem out of place in somone who has come to a strange place after losing their parents. Oh, and she’s smiling in the last panel of the picture in this review, so you kind of contradict yourself there.
As for the supernaturalism, well… it IS fantasy after all. Mythology is a big part of the story, aswell as the overarching theme. It sounds like you’ld prefer to read a comic about an ordinary boarding school - which wouldn’t neccesarily be a bad comic, but its so far removed from this that it’s silly to compare the two. Same goes for the ‘drab’ backgrounds - the fact that it is entirely unfitted for a school makes us wonder [i]why[/i] a school is decorated that way. Maybe its just me, but given the other mysteries the school has held, it wasnt my first instinct to blame a lazy writer.
Oh, and regarding Antimony’s reaction to the ‘psychopomp’: she encountered them when she was a child, and her mother told her there was no reason to be afraid, and given that the beings never gave a reason to believe otherwise her reaction isn’t so unusual. Same goes for the shadow - it never hurt her, and she was by then already used to the occult. I’m not sure what other reaction would have made sense.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I will address one point - I didn’t choose the comic that was used in my review. That was done by our esteemed Moderator.
The other points, being personal opinion, I believe were valid and well explained. Some will agree, some won’t, and that’s the reason we all have opinions, after all, isn’t it?