SYNCANDI is a sci-fi multimedia web/digital comic. Subtitled “real love in a synthetic world,” it portrays a moment of existence for Sync, an augmented human who has, over time, become 90% synthetic and Ikkyu the synthetic human healer Sync has kidnapped in order to extend her own life.

Sync takes Ikkyu into an “abandoned experimental zone”, Genies Res, to await her death as freely as she can manage. They are, of course being hunted by the corporate overlords. Ikkyu meets a shaman who may be the key to healing Sync.

The art is better than average, but not great. I’d call it a talented amateur level. Characters sit upon the backgrounds, rather than within them. The story synopsis having been established on the website, is then sort of ignored for what is supposed to be a romantic interlude between these two synthetic humans…without any effort made at building the relationship.

Let me overthink this for a moment. Ikkyu is a healer. It stands to reason that she’s naturally empathetic. It’s well known that patients develop profound emotional attachment with the medical professionals who treat them. It would, therefore, seem like a little effort needs to be made for this “relationship” to not seem kind of..icky? But Sync is supposed to be the tough, but fragile, non-verbal type, ala Xena, while Ikkyu is clearly meant to be the obvious femme to Sync’s butch. With their relationship established when we reach Genies Res right at the beginning of the comic, there’s nothing to tell us how they got to this place where they are both okay sleeping with each other. In a print comic I might allow this. There’s no excuse for not taking some time to walk us up to this point in a digital offering. 2 pages, and we’d be in sympatico. 4 pages and we’d feel the characters at a much deeper level than we do.

The story is told through digital comics and multimedia. And it has some interesting features. The website includes a story trailer and a music video which, if watched alone is a mere curiosity, but watching it after issue 4 of the comic, where I left off, could very well be the next “issue” itself. The site also contains a blog which contains Ikkyu’s Journal, which gives readers insight to the story from another perspective.

The story has updates monthly.

Highly influenced by cyberpunk and Japanese culture, the story itself is available in English- and Japanese-language versions

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Character – 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 6

Overall – 7

Syncandi is a decent enough idea and with a few small refinements in future issues, could become compelling. All it needs is a little depth and a little polish.

Thanks to Roberto of STUDIO SYNCANDI for the review copy!

Every once in a while, a comic comes along that is so beautiful you just want to run around with copies and hand them out, screaming “READ THIS! READ IT RIGHT NOW!”

I Thought You Hated Me, by Mari Naomi is one of those comics.

I Thought You Hated Me is a tale of female friendship from  elementary school through adulthood, with all the trials and tribulations possible. Naomi’s stripped down art and short-vignettes highlight key pieces of two lives, from which we can extrapolate all the other emotions and experiences that fill a life. Like an incredibly sophisticated pastry, you could peel layers from this book for days and still have more layers to look at.

I read this book in one gulp, something I almost never do anymore. Paging through it with an urgency that surprised me, I needed to know where it would wrap up. And my thought upon completing it was that it was absolutely beautiful.

I Thought You Hated Me is a triumphant story of love and life shared between two people and a much-needed look at the complexities of female friendship.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
LGBTQ – 3

Overall – 9

I recommend this book highly. It’s available for pre-order on Amazon for a low $9 and you can read preview pages at Retrofit Comics. It’ll make a great gift for your best friend. ^_^

Thanks very much to Mari Naomi for the review copy. It was a real treat to read this and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

About a year ago, it was my very real pleasure to read and review Fantasy Sports No. 1 by Sam Bosma. It had everything I ever wanted from a kid’s comic. “Giant robot evil undead conquerors, wizards, treasure, skeleton hordes, tea, adventure, puzzles, and basketball. Gosh, this book was so wonderful.” I have been on tenterhooks waiting for the sequel, Fantasy Sports No. 2 and now that I’ve read it, I have to say…it’s even better than No. 1!

In Volume 1, we met Wiz Kid (“call me Wiz”) an intern of the Archmage, who is out and about plundering with her boss Mean Mug. In Volume 1, they are having some office politics issues, but when we see them again in Volume 2, they appear more partner/partner, than boss/intern.

They find themselves in Barbel Bay, a town populated by humans and fishpeople all of whom share a deep loathing for the Mages who, they say, destroyed their town some years ago. Wiz isn’t entirely convinced, but she’s appalled at even the thought that her people were the aggressors. She and Mug lose their treasure and are forced to enter a volleyball tournament to regain it. During the tournament they – once again – deepen their teamwork. I won’t tell you the ending, because there is no good reason at all for you to not get this delightful book and give it to a kid who loves comics or your local library, or keep it on the shelf to re-re-read from time to time. ^_^

The color palette is a little different this time, full of reds and blues and purples, but still very far from primary-colors one expects in children’s comics. It gives Barbel Bay a unique feel of it’s own.

And the story….oh my goodness can Sam Bosma tell a story! In 50 pages, he crams in so many levels of meaning, plot, character development and room to grow. Neal Stephenson could learn a lot about telling densely packed stories with brevity from Bosma. Before I give this volume to the library, I’m definitely going to give it another read or two. It’s that good.

Once again Wiz Kid is a fabulous protagonist and this time, Mug steps up to be the mentor that he hadn’t previously been. But he’s not a bodyguard – Wiz is hero all on her own with her own physical skills and mental wherewithal. She makes a terrific role model for all of us. As for the fishpeople,  there’s always something to be learned from other cultures. The lessons we learn here are sure to come back and help Wiz and Mug on their future adventures.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Character – 10
Story – 10

Overall – 10

Treasure and giant clams and teamwork and shadow history and shiny champions and fishpeople and magic! Volume 3 will feature field hockey. I can’t wait!

Thanks ever so much to Nobrow Press for the review copy. <3