Tales and Tribulations

Of late, Modern Tales has definitely been winning me back.

The site's design remains... well, not what I would expect from something calling itself "professional webcomics." Navigating to the latest updates requires extra clicks, trying to determine if you missed updates requires checking every strip one by one, and the design itself is a tad cluttered.

But, you know - I can live with that. Because MT has finally gotten it's groove back, with a ton of new content that seems perfect for the site. Being able to load the page and see over a half-dozen updates a day? That means the site is alive, and that is totally awesome.

The latest additions in particular have been a great crop. Not long ago I reviewed the brilliance that is Alma Mater - now that the rest of the line up has hit the page, I see that they definitely know how to pick 'em.

One of the other big winners that has really grabbed me is Steverino! The title character is a hopeless little guy who fails at life, and relationships, and yet makes for an incredibly charming read. It's odd, because normally I shy away from humor that revolves around failure, and people making fools of themselves - but Steverino is a modern Charlie Brown, still forlornly chasing after his Little Red-Haired girl, and I'm able to empathize with his heartache even while it keeps me laughing.

Now I'll just cross my fingers for Girlamatic to breathe again,and then I'll be a happy camper.

The Fundamentals

I was pleased to discover a new comic, Alma Mater, over at Modern Tales today. I was surprised to discover it - namely because I hadn't heard of it before, and MT has a tendency to pretty thoroughly hype new additions to the collective.

But there it was, updating 3 days a week, apparently available for mass consumption. With nothign to lose, I took a look - and was rather glad I did so.

It wasn't the strip's characters that won me over, though they are good, quality characters. It wasn't the humor, though it definitely had moments where it shined. It wasn't the art, though I really enjoyed it once I got used to it - and thought was especially cool on occasion.

No, what did it was that the creator, Whitney June Robinson, knows her material, and knows it well.

Given the name, one can pretty easily extrapolate that the comic is about going to school. But a comic could easily be set in a school without being about one, and in a lot of cases, setting is just that - background material, scenery, nothing more. Alma Mater, on the other hand, perfectly captures a lot of the school experience, and delivers that material brilliantly.

It may not have experiences that will tap into absolutely everyone's memories - what with being set at an all-girls secondary school - but it manages to capture a lot of the fundamentals, and that can be all one needs to connect with an audience, and win them over.