The Webcomic Overlook #6: Joe Loves Crappy Movies

Have you ever found yourself reading a Roger Ebert review, and found yourself thinking: “Hey, if only this guy could draw, this would make a kick-ass webcomic?” No? Then you, my friend, are a smart, well-adjusted citizen. For the rest of us who must satisfy our sick, sick craving, there is today’s subject, the little known webcomic known as Joe Loves Crappy Movies.

This webcomic doesn’t have a wikipedia entry, so short of venturing the online message boards, I’m going to have to play this by ear. “Joe Loves Crappy Movies” is a semi-autobiographical webcomic by Joe Dunn. According to the entry on his website, Joe is a graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York City. (Which, incidentally, is where the webcomic is based.) In his comic, he gives himself a totally unflattering appearance, which I have no doubt is what Joe looks like in real life. I mean, who would deliberately make themselves look like a toad in their own comic strip? Other than For Better Or Worse‘s Lynn Johnston, that is. He also gives cartoon Joe a permanent smirk on his face, which isn’t as endearing as real-life Joe probably thinks it is.

Nearly every webcomic follows a different movie for the day’s theme. Some strips show Joe and a friend going to a movie and making snarky comments like you or I would do (Ultraviolet). Some are parodies of scenes within the movie (King Kong). And some are gag strips with only a tenuous connection to the movie (Herbie: Fully Loaded).

The Webcomic Overlook #5: Irregular Webcomic!

I’m starting to think that this review is a jinx. I’ve reviewed four webcomics thus far, and three of them seem to be winding down. The Bad Webcomic Challenge, granted, was meant to last only 200 strips. But Year One, which I thought would keep on going as long as there were Marvel storylines to parody, seems to be coming to an end. And Carlos G. left a message on his Lowroad page that the webcomic is on hiatus.

I’m hoping that this trend doesn’t continue with today’s subject, though I do have my doubts. It is one of the most prolific comics on the web. A brief glance at its archive shows that, since its creation in 2002, a new comic strip has been available every single day. You may be impressed by its longetivity, but the sheer amount of comics created makes me wonder, sometimes, if the author isn’t cursing himself for even starting on the project. Today’s subject is a spoof of pop culture with grand ambitions on educating its readers.

Oh, and it’s made of Lego.

Most of the time.

Readers, I give you The Webcomic Overlook review of Irregular Webcomic!

The Webcomic Overlook #4: Lowroad

[NOTE: It seems that since I’ve reviewed “Lowroad,” Carlos G. has revamped his site, and it’s now “The Amazing Adventures of the Bottemleys.” The original “Lowroad” is still available for download at his site, but in *.RAR or *.ZIP format. Thus, this review is still valid. It’s just that all the links in this review ain’t gonna work no more. —- El Santo, 1/19/08]

[NOTE 2: I have uploaded the referenced links onto this site. All the links should work now … it just doesn’t go to the Lowroad site like they used to. — El Santo, 2/25/08]

So, it’s come to this.

When I began the The Webcomic Overlook, I wanted to avoid duplicating any of the subject in John Solomon’s excellent blog, Your Webcomic Is Bad and You Should Feel Bad. After all, there are tons of webcomics out there. I have yet to review such items as the long-running 8-Bit Theater, Brooke McEldowney’s Pibgorn, The Lore Brand Comics, the Lego-based Irregular Webcomic, and of course Dave Willis’ excellent Shortpacked!

However, I have a lot of catch-up to do on those strips. In some cases, I have to read up on a year or two of backlog. In other cases, I haven’t gone to the beginning to see the early days of the strip.

I am deeply ashamed that I have read today’s subject from beginning to end, and it’s all the fault of John Solomon’s review. To sum it up, he said that this was a terrible webcomic. He was right. Yet, there is some strangely compelling, some might say evil, power that manages to propel the reader to plow ahead, knowing fully that every additional page read was slowly eating away at his soul.

If you want to read a quality review, check out Solomon’s review. For the rest of you, I give you the Rooktopia review of … Lowroad.

The Webcomic Overlook #3: The Perry Bible Fellowship

Welcome back to the Webcomic Overlook. Today’s subject is a highly awarded webcomic. It won the Ignatz Award twice for Outstanding Online Comic. It also won two Web Cartoonist’s Choice Awards for outstanding comic. Despite its title, the comic is neither missionary literature nor a Chick tract. Today’s webcomic is Nicholas Gurewitch’s The Perry Bible Fellowship.