A review of Cybercrush |
| First Published: 2005 |
| Format: A6, Staple bound. |
| Number of pages: 12 pages per issue |
| Age Rating: U |
| Price: £2.50 |
| Availability: Purchase at the Sweatdrop Studios website. |
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Introduction Cybercrush is the first comic to be published by Joanna Zhou under the Sweatdrop logo. The story itself is about a girl who gets a crush on some guy called Marcus after finding his picture in a dress she buys from Ebay.She tracks him from the post mark on the packaging, but she gets more than she bargained for... It's a cute little story, and also a reminder that things on the internet might not be a clear cut as they seem.
Art & Design Joanna has a lovely, cute but yet robust art style. It's the sort of thing that could be used in any subcategory of manga; shoujo, shounen, you name it, it would probably work with this style of drawing. Because not only does it look solid but it's also full of emotional expression.The background images are fairly good throughout the comic and have simplified details. Some of the perspective on some of the exterior images is pretty bad though, and these stand out like a sore thumb, roofs, and fences seem to be going off in different directions to the lines of the houses they are on or surround; this can spoil the look of the comic since the character drawings are so much better. This comic is in full colour so any tones, shading or background management lines are also in colour as well, and the overall effect is quite pleasing to look at. The soft style shading is of a good standard. Frame layout is well thought out, with a good choice of frames and placement, and the story is easy to read and flows because of this. My main complaint though in the design area has nothing to do with the artist though, but the print finishing involved in the production of this book. Firstly the printing is so badly out of position that the book can't be trimmed properly, so it makes the binding look poor because all the pages protrude from the cover. The staples are in the back cover of the comic not in the centre of the spine; and the spine has been cut through by the scoring wheels of the folding machine used to fold the cover. Worse still the pages have been dog eared since purchase and the book costs £2.50! It feels like it was made at home. In fact judging by the lines in the print this has been on a home inkjet. It has to have been! Overall then, artistically and story wise this book is perfectly acceptable even with the errors in perspective. Sadly the manufacturer has let this book down badly. I buy books no matter what, but the more discerning buyer will want a perfectly manufactured book with no defects for their two pounds fifty. The poor production just doesn't do Joanna's work justice!
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF SWEATDROP STUDIOS, & JOANNA ZHOU. Review by Wayne Hallows |
