A review of Those Who Dance On Feathers |
| First Published: 2005 - Onward |
| Format: A5, Staple bound. |
| Number of pages: 32 pages per issue |
| Age Rating: U |
| Price: £2 |
| Availability: Purchase at the Sweatdrop Studios website. |
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Introduction Those Who Can Dance On The Feathers is the story of two boys Kokoaripiku and Sanyo, who are both searching for the Secret Garden. It's a tale of friendship, and of learning to trust. It's about taking risks in order to succeed, and there's just something about this comic that tells me there is more in the air than simple friendship when all said and done.At this present moment there are only two characters in this issue of the series, the two boys. Together they travel, and have to put each others lives in each others hands on the way, and learn more about each other. This comic is all about friendship and trust. In real life people need others in most cases in order to survive and prosper. This comic explores these principals especially trust since it's the perquisite of friendship and therefore everything else.
Art & Design Denji is a young artist in the making, her skills and style are still developing and there are things which could be improved. But that being said the art is quite cute, and there's a good range of skills already on offer. Denji's characters anatomy is reasonable, and hands tend to be the right shape, if not a little small.Characters faces are also quite expressive as they should be, but heads tend to be on the slanty side. But characters overall look cute, have nice hair and the costumes are well thought out and imaginative. The main flaws with the human aspect of the comic is that the artwork is sketchy, sometimes even scribbly and scratchy. It would even appear that some of this has been done in Biro or just left in pencil. There are also areas which appear to have been sketched inked over and the sketch lines haven't been erased. The comic would have looked a hundred times better with crisp, clean and varied line art. As it is most of the line art is made up of monotonous thin lines which is a shame. The layout of the comic and its frames do this comic much better justice I'm glad to say. The panels are well thought about, and they are varied and dynamic. The dialogue is placed well and not just plonked anywhere, speech bubbles however could have been bolder, as it is they can blend into the rest of the monotone line work. The background scenes are good too, they aren't as sketchy as the characters, and they have just the right amount of detail, not too much or too little, the management lines and tones are also ok. There is however a couple of areas done in a real dark tone, which appear to have been applied in several pieces, and these lines show up. Overall this comic isn't too bad, the art is flawed but it is cute. The storytelling aspect of this story is well ahead of the art though. Denji however has a long career ahead of her though and we all start somewhere.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF SWEATDROP STUDIOS, & SARAH BURGESS AKA DENJI. Review by Wayne Hallows |
