Octupus Prime

I read Octopus Pie for my web comic. I'd normally say I've read web comics before but I feel after reading Octopus Pie, I'm not so sure that statement holds up.

I say that on the basis of only reading short little one offs like Cyanide and happiness and similarly short one offs with rotating characters like Penny Arcade. Octopus Pie felt like a different format altogether, albeit still a web comic.

Luckily for me, the author had just finished a story arc where the "gang" goes camping. So I had a digestible little bite of the pie. (I'm so sorry) From what I can tell, its a fun mix of this happened to me and my friends mixed with a bit of cartoonish antics with a hint of the author's view of themselves projected on the page. I would even say it felt more like an illustrated blog of sorts, and I like the feeling of it. Of the similar things I've read this year, like Asterios Polyp, this felt really genuine and reflective than auto-biographical. I suppose that comes from the ongoing, evolving nature of the strip. Moment to moment happenings and less that the the story is contained in one arc.

Girl Power

I know I say it a lot on here but, WEIRD.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, and I'm still not sure. Its probably the mix of hard working city girl with devastating dominatrix and the lack continual story with the intercuts of sexual technique that left me kinda uneasy. It's a different story even without the very segmented and individual little scenarios that play out in such a short time.

I'm doing my senior thesis about a blowup doll. This is still pretty weird to me.

Although weird, I enjoyed the episodic like sequencing in each book. It felt almost like a a variety show. Here you have some story, here you have your how to's in feminine hygiene and male castration. I had a chuckle at the clever little paper doll gag near the beginning and I think its that attitude thats the most endearing. Taking a taboo and placing it in a medium where its more digestible.

As for being a comic for women by women, as a male, I can see where it happens. The contrast of the inner dialogue of making casual grocery and to do lists while running the dominatrix routine feels pretty there to me. It was also there for me when the character was just lazing about the house talking about Tom Petty, cookies and ice cream, being unconcerned with her appearance.

It was a fun one off read, I just wished there was a bit less mutilations of the genitles, That part of the story didn't sit well.

Asterios Polyp

Asterios Polyp was a fun read. It was a little tough in the get go, not knowing what the book was supposed to focus on, but that discovery was apart of the fun. I only read it through the once, but after a few pages in I sort of ascertained the style and flow of what was going on. Weird stuff was going on. The narration by the unborn twin brother was weird. The almost Tarantino style of telling the story was weird. The different styles of art for the characters was weird. But all those weird things were really cool.

One weird thing that kept happening was all the little details that kept appearing and disappearing. It took a while for me to start letting go of these little hangups of things that seemed important at first introduction, but then left the story never to be heard about again. Primarily the twin brother idea and the video recording of everything came and went without much consequence. I can see it as character building and growth for Asterios to let someone in that deep, but that could have been just about anything else.

I was also a little weary abstract ways the author decided to start each chapter. The illustration there felt really whimsical but didn't quite resonate with me right away. Not like certain scenes where Asterios became hard blue lines not unlike his blueprints and Hana became pink organic shading, those were a great way to show their personalities in contrasting and harmonic ways. I also enjoyed the contrast between the university area and the midwest area. For a shorter story, much was done in the basic art style to do some heavy world building.

Overall, I was very surprised at the ending but enjoyed it none the less. The art was fun and the story compelling and I would recommend it to others. Specifically others who are full of themselves.