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A review by meepelous
The Guild by Dan Jackson, Felicia Day, Jim Rugg
4.0
Picking up this comic I was a bit torn. While I was a pretty die hard fan of the web series back in the day, the art in this book did not look very good. I mean no disrespect Mr. Rugg, lord knows I can't draw, but your sense of proportion kept breaking me out of the story.
That said, there were a number visual things I did really appreciate. I thought the panels in this comic were really good. Lots of dynamic angles and good text placement. I also liked how he switched back and forth between two styles depending on whether he was showing in game or real life scenes.
And of course the story I discovered was awesome! It definitely took me back to the days of the original web series. Felicia's writing is fast paced and overflowing with strong personalities. No space is wasted at all. I whizzed right through it and was left with that love/hate feeling of suddenly finding yourself back in the real world again.
For those of you who have somehow managed to exist without hearing about this series. The Guild was a web series that debuted on youtube in 2007. While the later seasons were released on windows platforms, they are now all available on youtube, hulu and netflix. The series follows the lives of Cyd Sherman (AKA Codex)and her guild The knights Of Good as they balanced their real lives and their MMORPG lives.
I would highly recommend both the web series and this comic to anyone who identifies with gamer culture in the least. Each of the characters is just so unique and funny, and the pacing is just so tight - I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this, unless they are completely cut off from gaming of any kind.
One final plug for the comic in particular, I can't close this review out without pointing out one amazing plot point. Cyd Sherman is not always the strongest female character, especially to start out with, but at the start of the comic she is in a really bad relationship, and rather then romanticize the guy who is just using her she ends up dumping his ass and burning all the music she wrote for his band. Which accidentally leads to his cello catching on fire!
I can't count how many times I've started reading a book only to realize that the leading man is a complete jerk and often emotionally abusive to boot. It a serious cultural problem that we romanticize these horrible people and it was such a breath of fresh air for one of them to finally be called out for their shit!
That said, there were a number visual things I did really appreciate. I thought the panels in this comic were really good. Lots of dynamic angles and good text placement. I also liked how he switched back and forth between two styles depending on whether he was showing in game or real life scenes.
And of course the story I discovered was awesome! It definitely took me back to the days of the original web series. Felicia's writing is fast paced and overflowing with strong personalities. No space is wasted at all. I whizzed right through it and was left with that love/hate feeling of suddenly finding yourself back in the real world again.
For those of you who have somehow managed to exist without hearing about this series. The Guild was a web series that debuted on youtube in 2007. While the later seasons were released on windows platforms, they are now all available on youtube, hulu and netflix. The series follows the lives of Cyd Sherman (AKA Codex)and her guild The knights Of Good as they balanced their real lives and their MMORPG lives.
I would highly recommend both the web series and this comic to anyone who identifies with gamer culture in the least. Each of the characters is just so unique and funny, and the pacing is just so tight - I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this, unless they are completely cut off from gaming of any kind.
One final plug for the comic in particular, I can't close this review out without pointing out one amazing plot point. Cyd Sherman is not always the strongest female character, especially to start out with, but at the start of the comic she is in a really bad relationship, and rather then romanticize the guy who is just using her she ends up dumping his ass and burning all the music she wrote for his band. Which accidentally leads to his cello catching on fire!
I can't count how many times I've started reading a book only to realize that the leading man is a complete jerk and often emotionally abusive to boot. It a serious cultural problem that we romanticize these horrible people and it was such a breath of fresh air for one of them to finally be called out for their shit!