“Calamities of Nature” has one of the shortest archives of any of the webcomics we’ve reviewed.  That’s a good thing in my book.  Not because my attention span struggles with longer-lived (or more frequently updated) series, but because …. well, Piro actually explains it well in one of his earliest pages.  Yeah, reading the archives felt kinda like that.

I get that these funny animals are supposed to be outside of humanity and commenting on it; the problem is they’re too much a part of the civilization they’re meant to be mocking.  There’s the super-cool aloof one, the insecure one, the obnoxiously dumb one, and the outcast oddball one … all the standard “types” for a strip like this.  Turn them into people instead of funny animals and readers would be complaining about how stereotypical they are.  And none of them seem to really like each other very much.  The aloof one complains about how stupid the rest of them are; the obnoxious one treats everyone badly; and they all pick on the outcast oddball one.

Then there’s the fact that I can’t really tell what animals they’re supposed to be.  It turns out Harold is a pig (but I honestly needed a guest strip by a different artist to help me realize that), Ferd is a groundhog (okay, could have called that one as he is drawn to look at least a little like Bloom County’s Portnoy), Brian …. I mean, Aaron is apparently a dog (although I don’t think that’s every made clear; he looks like the dog on Family Guy if he wore oversized earmuffs that hid his eyes), and Alp is … well, even the character page says no-one really knows what Alp is.

The fact that most of the jokes aren’t incredibly original doesn’t bother me (didn’t Lewis Black do this joke a few years back? so much as the odd pacing of the comic.  Early on there are several jokes that take two pages to develop, with the downside that not only is the end of the first page not funny it also gives no indication that it’s leading to a second page. Not that I need to be spoon-fed directions to “turn the page” so to speak (insert your own “the reviewer is old” joke here … I’ll wait.), but something to show that the page is a set up for an upcoming punchline seems to be called for.

So … for me, this comic just doesn’t work. Odd pacing, characters I don’t really find interesting, and art that seems kind of squashed …  I’m going to have to give it 1 star for me, but your mileage may vary. Rating:

Calamities of Nature
http://www.calamitiesofnature.com
by Tony Piro
review by Anthony R. Cardno
(6 votes, average: 3.83 out of 5)

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Calamities of Nature is about the absurdities of life and ourselves. Politics, world events and regular gags are mixed together for a very enjoyable blend.

The art is serviceable and fun to look at with its broad crosshatching technique. Likewise, the colors are handled very well in the way that they are combined. They nicely round the figures and scenery out. Look at this mountain range; it wouldn’t be the same without color.

The characters have a nice range of personality. Aaron (the one with the headphones) likes to vent about those odd things we see in the world. Alp is the mad inventor with the read and green hat. Ferdinand (Ferd) has the baseball cap and is the kind of character who does things on impulse. Harold is the nice guy who is also sort of a loser. We can identify with all of them at one time or another.

I found Calamities to be amusing sometimes but not always. For example, the current story topic of soda preferences was good fun. However, this is a popular and successful comic so my preferences may not be the right standard to measure by. It’s worth checking out even though I’m only going to give it two stars. Two stars represents an okay and functional comic but does not stand out to me. Rating:

Calamities of Nature
http://www.calamitiesofnature.com
by Tony Piro
review by Delos Woodruff
(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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Calamities of Nature, by Tony Piro, is probably the most uninspiring comic I’ve reviewed for the fencers yet. So, for me, this’ll be a short review.

Four loserly funny animals with one-word personalities live in…I guess modern America. And go on statically-drawn wacky adventures, which generally involve…one character being dumb and the other one being sensible to no avail. The, uh, adventures tend to be things we’ve all seen before. Repeatedly.

It’s like current Garfield, only stretched out over nine panels and lacking a punchline. Seriously, most of these comics have no punchline. They don’t even try. When the characters aren’t standing around not being funny, they’re standing around not being socially aware. Hint: if you’re trying to push social awareness, try saying something that not everyone in the media is already saying. The most exciting thing about the comic is it’s anti-Christian sentiment, and even that is just parroted from other general anti-Christian sentiments (and only exciting because supposedly, as a Christian, I should feel mocked), complete with lack of realistic example…or punchline. Has this guy ever had an original idea in his life? I mean, he makes an entire story arc based off of a guest strip. Wait…this one might come close… The mad scientist stereotype isn’t completely clueless! Haha, get it? No?

Oh, there’s art, isn’t there? Pretty flat and colorless for being in color with 2-tone shading. Again, nothing Garfield hasn’t already done. It’s not bad, it’s just not good either.

I have no idea why this comic is called “Calamities of Nature.” But do I think all the characters should be parrots. Then there’d be self irony. Intentional, rather than unintentional. The evolution of the horse exhibit? Are you serious? Even hardcore evolutionary scientists admit that that chart is propagandist bunk and intentionally misleading. Notice how it shows ONLY the forleg canon and hoof for each species, a tooth, and an artist rendition? Yeah, there’s a reason for that. It’s called “the rest of the skeleton.”

Uhm, I give it a star for being a comic on the web? But that means I need to give a star to the grass I’m watching grow… Fine, I’ll give it two stars because he actually drew it himself and the site’s decent.

Rating:
“Calamities of Nature”
http://www.calamitiesofnature.com/
By Tony Piro

review by Sly Eagle

(5 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Ok, I’ll say it straight up front, so there are no misunderstandings -

I didn’t “get” this comic. What’s more, for my own reasons, I didn’t particularly like it, either.

I read it, and in some cases I re-read it, and can honestly say I didn’t crack a smile or find things that really made me laugh. Was it because the comic was horrible and I was constantly cringing? Not at all. On the contrary, the art was good (although to be fair it looked like a meeting between Walt Kelly’s Pogo and some of the cast from Bloom County - that kept throwing me off), and I didn’t see anything that would make me caution children or the overly-sensitive to not read it.

Still - I didn’t laugh. There’s usually three reasons for that not happening; (1) The humor is either terrible or sophomoric or (2) It’s extremely metaphorical or “in the know” kind of humor, or it’s (3) the same old, tired, “trying to be with it and socially relevant” humor that we’re buried in every day. I think, in this instance, it’s numbers 2 and 3. I’m not really an “in the know” kind of person when it comes to the current trends, etc., when you get right down to it. I also don’t like most of today’s political/sociological humor, namely because it’s overdone, overused, and at this point has become mostly trite, in my opinion. (Perfect example - the comic used with this post. Like we haven’t seen the “evil cops abusing black people” jokes about a thousand times? What’s the point? Or perhaps comic # 67 from April 21, 2008 - tried and true “loud, obese woman with cart full of high fat products” - one of them says “Pig” - that’s subtle, right? Let’s see, “Obesity in America” comic? Come on. Imagination, anyone?) The current line of strips is, apparently, making fun the foibles of being a “connoisseur” by having one of the characters become a “soda connoisseur.” Ok, perhaps a little funny, but after 3 and more strips, kind of drawn out.

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but does anyone else remember comics - even ones that spoke on social issues - using that little known trait of “subtlety” instead of the now used traits of “I’ll slam this RIGHT IN YOUR FACE so you can’t possibly miss my meaning,” coupled with “I’ll copy the same jokes/gags that most other comics of my ilk do, but I’ll change a word or two”? What kind of commentary must that be on the perceived education level of the readers?

Overall, not a bad comic, I guess - just kind of predictable and, for that reason dull, to me; definitely not one I’d re-read. If you’re a fan of that kind of humor, though, then I say in fairness, give it a read and make your own call.

The Doctor

Calamities of Nature, by Tony Piro

www.calamitiesofnature.com

Rating:

(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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