Reviewer: James Hatton
Title: N/A
Written by: John Kovalic
Art by: John Kovalic
Colored by: N/A
Lettered by: John Kovalic
Editor: John Kovalic
Publisher: Dork Storm Press
I’ve been writing these reviews now for three weeks, and this is the first one that I really was worried about. Mainly because the style of the book doesn’t lend itself to the way I have been breaking the books down. The art is very simple, and the story just as.. but for the sake of consistency…
STORY!
For the last umpteen issues, we’ve been following the love triangle of Matt, Kayleigh, and Gilly. Matt is our balding geek who is dating Kayleigh. Kayleigh is the girl everyone fears – she hates his friends, his hobbies, and generally makes a nuisance of herself. Then there is Gilly, the perky goth, who seems to be ideal for Matt, but they keep crossing paths every which way.
This is the basic problem with the book. Not that they are doing a love triangle concerning geeks, goths, and mundanes, but they do it every single issue. It’s like a crazy watered down geek laden version of Strangers in Paradise, without all the lesbianism.
The rest of the strips are all gamer geek related, and are starting to lose their charm. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy geek humor, and even write a web comic based on it, but this book has covered the ‘geek must have new book’ joke to death. When John doesn’t have an idea, that’s what he goes to. If you give him Lord of the Rings, he’s on it. Star wars, he attacks. Without anything new to grab onto, he jumps back on old things.
ART!
Dork Tower’s art is simple. It always has been. That doesn’t mean it’s not effective, though. This issue actually takes the time to give you two separate moping personalities and bounce back and forth between them, showing at least a new attempt at paneling for John.
OVERALL!
The extra ‘Clanbook: Mopey’ is cute if you are a fan of the White Wolf gaming system, and I generally only read one of the small strips in the back (Dr. Blink, for those who care), but unless Kovalic starts to move his long running triangle along, this book is going to move downhill pretty quick.
