Sep 10 2008
Panda Days #1
Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Welcome to my comic book review blog - thanks for tuning in. Today is Wednesday, September 10th, 2008.
Today’s Issue:
Panda Days #1 by Jason Dube (Scattered Comics, Waiting For Something To Happen.) This is my first Indie review - it was produced completely by our fearless leader at SCCG (The Sacramento Comic Creators Group.) And when I say completely, I mean completely. This is a self-published venture, so Jason did everything from conception to print.
Premise:
It’s difficult to describe exactly what the premise of Panda Days is because it jumps around through a few different sets of characters. On the most basic level, there’s a girl named Panda fighting some ninjas. But there are also relationship issues and a whole thing about dreams and a meta comic. We’ll get into that in a bit.
The Good:
First of all, who doesn’t enjoy watching a girl fight ninjas? Panda Days is also scattered with humor - something that I think is essential for any great story. I also really enjoyed the implications of the dream aspect. You know what? There’s no way I can talk about this without giving it away, so I’m sorry but [Spoiler Alert]. There is a character named Mocha who is writing a comic book based on dreams he’s been having about this girl named Panda fighting some ninjas. Basically, he’s writing the comic book that we’re reading - and I really enjoy breaking down the fourth wall like that - a meta comic if you will. At the end of Panda Days #1, Mocha actually encounters Panda, leaving us with a huge cliffhanger of “Woah - how did that happen?” It brings out the ideas of who is really a comic book character and who is real. I’m not sure Jason intended to get this deep - but exploring these conceptss is something I really enjoy.
The Bad:
The art did something that initially I thought was cool - it sort of bursts out of the panels at times, which creates a cool effect. But sometimes that makes it difficult to figure out exactly what’s going on (running into the classic “which balloon do I read first?” dilemma). I think a piece of that is the fact that the comic is printed in black and white. I saw a colored page of the comic on Jason’s website (http://scatteredcomics.com/) and found it much clearer. There are also a few spelling mistakes - enough to be distracting - that I doubt would get past an editor in a mainstream comic book. My biggest issue with the comic is this scene in the middle that deals with the relationships of some characters that I don’t know. All of a sudden, we’re in a new location surrounded by brand new characters. While apparently tangentially related, I don’t feel like Jason stretched this scene out enough for me to understand what it had to do with Panda. He quickly introduces a few new characters and describes their relationships, but didn’t go into enough detail for me to care about what they were doing (though that could just be my bias of generally not caring about relationships). Finally, on a related note, I felt that many of the characters were a little shallow - but for no other reason than Jason introduces 8 characters (and some ninjas) in a 16 page story. There simply wasn’t enough space to develop any of them - so I look forward to seeing what else we get to know about them in the next issue!
The Noteworthy:
I’m beginning to notice a pattern with this new format I’m trying out - by the time I get to “The Noteworthy” section, I’ve already mentioned everything. Please make sure to leave me some feedback about the format so I can know how you think I’m doing. A few things I’ll say again: The comic was created completely by Jason Dube - very impressive. The comic is printed in black and white. Oh - here’s something I think Jason won’t mind if I announce - Panada Days #2, which will be in full color, is coming out soon! Ah yes, and all of Jason’s work, including Panda Days #1 can be found on his website. Once again, the URL is: http://scatteredcomics.com/
My Recommendation:
If you need a complicated plot or detailed characters, then I would skip Panda Days (at least until more issues come out). But definitely check it out if you like meta comics or ninjas or guys fighting because of their relationship troubles. Also, you should buy Panda Days if for no other reason than because - as comic book fans - it’s important that we support the Indie comic book industry!
That’s it for today and my first review of an Indie comic book. Make sure to let me know what you think - I do these reviews for you. Also make sure to let me know if there are any comics you’re thinking about picking up that you want me to do a review of first. Coming soon by request: The Captain America Omnibus and EVERY Deadpool comic EVER (both quite daunting tasks - you’ll have to give me a bit of time.) As always - thanks for tuning in - see you next time.
-Searnold
