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Here is the next instalment of my webcomic reviews as promised. Within this post I am talking about my top 3 webcomics that discuss movies, video-games or media in general. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

As in my previous post review on World of Warcraft webcomics, you will find that my favourite comics will be at the top of the post, with my least favourite at the end. Of course my own personal opinion on webcomics may vary from your own, as I have an odd sense of humour.

Theatre Hopper http://www.theaterhopper.com/

Whenever I am wondering what new movies will be released in theatre this week, or what movies are great or horrible, I go to the Theatre Hopper webcomic. The artist behind this is Tom Brazelton, who has a quirky sense of humour and seems to have a discerning taste in movies.

He draws a weekly webcomic that reviews the current movies in mainstream media. He has created a few characters that ridicule and comment on the various aspects of movies, from their cast, plot lines or even the hype behind them. What really hooked me to reading this comic was Brazelton’s wonderful breakdown of the Twilight Series movies, from Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. Most recently he has been doing comics about the Scott Pilgrim Movie, which of course amuses me to no end. He highlights the large influx of bandwagon jumpers who now believe they are the “all knowing” sources on everything Scott Pilgrim… Glad to see someone else can attest to this oddity.

It is a highly amusing webcomic, especially if you don’t watch too many commercials or tv and want to still keep up to date on whatever movie is inundating the box offices at the current time.

Rating: 8.5/10 – It has great content, humor and keeps me laughing. Basic art, but that isn’t relevant to the awesomeness of Brazelton’s jabs at silly movies.

And of course, here is my favorite comic that emphasized the complete ridiculousness of the sparkly vampires.

WAH – Woody After Hours http://www.woodyafterhours.com/

This webcomic follows an aspiring late night talk show host, who seems to have the humour of Craig Ferguson and Conan O’Brian. It is an amusing webcomic with decent artwork and updates fairly consistently for a newer comic (which of course makes me actually like it even more). The main character’s name is Woody, and his talk show is Woody After Hours, or WAH for short. His supporting cast include his producer (Isabel) who faithfully attempts to help Woody’s career, Woody’s Camera man (Joseph) who seems to have quite a past and has now settled for Woody’s show, and Woody’s Wife (Renee) who elusively is always working on her laptop.  Other amusing additions to the cast have been the ONE audience member named Timmy, who was kidnapped into watching. Among the debacle of random and somewhat questionable guests on his show, Woody has also reached superstar status for his drunken dancing on Youtube. Of course you will have to read through the comic to see what I mean…

All in all it is a good comic, and worth while reading if you appreciate late night television talk shows. Though if you are searching for a particular comic within the website, it can be difficult since items are not happily tagged. I suggest start from the beginning though – it only started in 2009. There are also various Public Service announcements about life lessons and such that intermix through the storyline, which provide helpful and sarcastic advice. . .

Rating: 7.5/10 – Could be updated more often, and needs some work on the plot-line, but all in all its humorous and great art, and if you like horrible puns, this is your comic.

Another VideoGame Comic http://www.digitalpimponline.com/strips.php?title=avw

While this webcomic doesn’t update half as much as I would hope, it still is worth a read. It has some good artwork, and while the plot-lines are not always continuous, it still provides a satirical look at the video game world. The story-line follows a guy who works for a video-game testing company, and is thus nicknamed Player 2 by his other coworker aptly named Player 1. The characters in this comic don’t just play the games with regular controllers, it contains a fantasy like reality where Player 1 and Player 2 actually immerse themselves into the game. Of course as with any video game, one must have a Damsel in Distress, and within this comic there is a fire-ry red head who goes by the name of Damsel who takes on that role.

This comic is not limited to making fun of specific video game makers, they equally poke fun at old and new games alike, while keeping you engaged as the reader by making the characters relatable. You will see references to Super Mario Bros., Modern Warfare 2, Halo, and many more!

Even most recently, this webcomic took advantage of the Scott Pilgrim mania reaching across the Internet, with a quaint comic that brings to light the various inconsistencies and paradoxes that occur within the Scott Pilgrim book, comic, game, and movie franchise.

Rating: 7.0/10 – Good content and humorous, but due to the inconsistent updates and non-continuous plot-lines it is hard for a reader to keep up.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I read quite a few webcomics, and I plan on posting a few of my favorite ones each week, with a little synopsis. Another interesting fact for the day is that I love playing World of Warcraft. WoW has been one of the best ways for me to deal with days that I have a migraine and can’t concentrate, or on nights that I have insomnia. While I won’t go into detail about my Human Paladin or my Blood Elf Mage, I know there are plenty of other people that are interested in reading webcomics and story lines that cater to the fantasy MMO or RPG style gaming. While there are plenty of sources of satire about World of Warcraft (WoW), and the glitches, format and the rules of the world, I have found that there are three webcomics that I can relate to and often find quite literally ‘Rolling on the Floor Laughing’ funny.

Not to worry if you aren’t a World of Warcraft or Fantasy gamer, I will posting the cute, adorable, geeky, technology and humorous webcomic in the near future.

Cheers, and enjoy

~Deanna

My Favourite World of Warcraft Related Webcomics

Looking For Group http://www.lfgcomic.com/

Have you ever wondered what the life of a character in World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons, or various other fantasy worlds is like? Well within Looking For Group, there is a satirical view of those fantasy worlds. This comic is created and drawn by the Canadians Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza (from Blind Ferret Entertainment). The art is fantastic, as is the storylines and attention to detail. Comics from Blind Ferret Entertainment continually up my expectations of web comics.

Within the webcomic, you follow the main character Cale’anon, who is (what I presume) a blood elf hunter. Other characters include the always amusing antics of Richard (an undead warlock) who loves show-tunes and death, Benny (an orc priestess), Pella (a dwarf warrior), Krunch Bloodrage (tauren). The storyline seems to follow the lives of Horde characters, which can be a helpful introduction to Alliance loving WoW players, as the Horde is not necessarily evil. The characters each have their own quirks and meet their own leveling challenges…

Through the LFG Comic’s storylines, there have been various adventures and antics that have undertones of humor while still keeping the reader engaged within the fantasy world. It has commonly become a source of amusement to me, to read about Richard the warlock’s evil nature conflicting with the more gentle and cute existence of a bunny. Also Hctib Elttil, a odd little red goblin, Tim the troll, and Toyk the Gnome all add to the fun. Basically, if you have ever played a role playing game online, or have ever had a friend that has been obsessed with World of Warcraft, you will likely find this comic a hoot. And aside from the wonderful storylines, you will find a fantastically drawn comic!

Rating: 9/10 – The art is great, the story-line is well thought out & they update quite consistently.

Non-Player-Character (NPC Comic) http://www.npccomic.com/

This is a fabulous comic about the life of a female World of Warcraft gamer named Lisa, her life and her two WoW playing sentient cats who conitnue to be coaxed by a squirrel mocking them from their window. Lisa recently has had to deal with the trials and tribulations of getting a job,and how that interferes with gaming. Meanwhile, Lisa’s cute blue cats Chloe and Bink have been leveling her priest, and also have been making quite a bit of money gold farming. The plot line is full of surprises, mainly due to her cats’ obsession with creating a feline supremacy in the world of Azeroth. This is a great read for anyone ever hooked by WoW gaming, and the difficulties of keeping up gaming with Real Life (RL).

Possible Spoiler: Bink the cat (in my opinion the less adorable natured of the two) has been battling the bulge due to snacking while gaming. Most recently, Lisa has been dealing with the problems of getting kicked out her guild, her cats have been working on a soap opera documenting her arguments with her boyfriend as he knew that her guild was booting her.

This comic has both the geeky World of Warcraft humor that makes me smile, while actually relating real life examples of gaming, and tossing in a side of a fantasy world where cats can actually speak!

Rating: 8/10 – The artwork is well-done, though basic, but the amusing antics of Lisa’s cats, and the relatability to the characters make this webcomic a worthwhile read. It doesn’t update as consitently as other webcomics, though it does have a story-line that is quite memorable.

Gold Coin Comic http://www.goldcoincomics.com/

This comic is done from the stance of an in-game character, and his Healer companion within what seems to be a standard MMORPG game, like World of Warcraft. Their quests are documented, along with the oddities of gaming, and even on occasion have Final Fantasy character cross-overs. If you are a RPG gamer, you will find that this comic will have a few humourous panels that you might be able to relate to. While the art isn’t as well-defined as the previous two comics, the content and plot-lines are amusing, especially in the introduction of NPC’s (Non-player Characters) and how it must be for those poor unfortante individuals stuck perpetually in-game.

Rating: 6.5/10 – This comics is drawn quite basically, and has several humerous parts, though due to its scattered plot-lines and chapter segmentations, it is difficult for most readers to keep up. All in all though, it still is a great comic for any RPG’er, as it has relatable humour. (Also, the ads on the sidebars are really ugly and disturbing at times – I might have given this comic a better rating and chance, but there is only so much I can handle raunchy advertising on a site)

Through the wonders of the internet, the comic book has a way to be shown to the world without the limitations of the traditional paper publication process. Over the past few years I have come to favor the webcomic format over the paper comic book format, this has been especially due to the ability for me to discover new comics easily online, as well as the fact that many webcomics are updated a few times a week. This makes most of my early mornings filled with enjoyable reading on my laptop or iPad, while I sip my tea.

The webcomics I read span from cutesy adorable, to Japanese influence, quirky comics that have detailed character development and plot lines, to plain out geeky (including World of Warcraft, Academic and Robots).  You would be surprised how many fantastic stories have been written via webcomic format!

I have been commonly asked what my favorite webcomics are and why, which has led me realize I should just write a post about it, instead of explaining it in small snippets of twitter or facebook conversation. Over the next little while, I will be writing a little synopsis or review of the various webcomics that I read. Hopefully you will enjoy the comics as much as I have.

Here is the list of my current webcomic reviews – there will be more to come later.

Webcomics: About Movies, TV & Gaming

Webcomics: World of Warcraft

Cheers,

Deanna

I have been testing out the Panasonic RP-HC500 Noise Cancelling Headphones for the past few weeks.  I have taken these lightweight silver headphones with me to various pubs, coffee shops and libraries to test out their ability to mask out talking and ambient sound around me while I try to study or write.

Panasonic RP-HC500 Headphones While Writing

The Pros:

These headphones are very clear in the treble and mid-range, with the ability to have the volume turned up quite high without distortion.  The bass sounds are good, yet there is room for improvement, in comparison to the Bose Quiet Comfort 15’s.  The earcups that wrap around the ear, are extremely comfortable, and allow for even my loop earrings to fit inside the headphone cup.

I was skeptical at first that headphone cord would not be long enough, yet it has not bothered me at all, and the headphone cord length seems to be the perfect length while working with a Macbook Pro sitting on your lap while drinking coffee/tea/beer.  The headband portion of the headphones has a comfortable squishy headband that keeps my head from hurting, and there is enough extension room in the headband to allow for large heads or even large hair that you dont want to muss up.

The noise-cancellation is wonderful, and does a great job of cancelling most sounds in the ambient environment.  As I will note below in my Cons list, the high treble frequencies of pop music are unavoidable with this headphones, and those sounds still seem to seep through the comfortable bubble of silence that these headphones provide.

The Cons:

As I mentioned before, the bass range of these headphones in comparison to the Bose Quiet Comfort 15’s could be a little better, though in comparison to every other headphone I have tried so far, the Panasonic RP-HC500’s are far superior. Sound-wise, the noise-cancellation is great, though background music at a coffee shop or pub isn’t completely cancelled by the headphones.  Unfortunately, it seems like most of the lower frequencies are cancelled, but the very high treble of the pop music or bad 80’s rock doesn’t go away.  You are left with a comfortable cone of silence, with the occasional burst of Cindi Lauper’s high pitch voice coming through.  I would have to say in comparison to almost all other noise-cancelling headphones, these are wonderful, though a bit more adjustment to eliminate outside ambient music would be fantastic.

Other problems with the headphones, in comparison to the Bose QC15’s include the fact that while the headband portion is quite comfortable, there is almost a tension that could create a headache over a long period of use.  The earcups hold very close to the head, and seem to create a pressure just behind the temples for people who may have a very large head. By large head, I mean someone who has more than a 24″ Inch head circumference an inch above the ear.

The Verdict:

All in all, I am extremely glad I bought these headphones, and have been thoroughly enjoying the noise-cancellation and wonderful sound that they have provided me.  @nachoman, from http://blog.nachbaur.com/ has taken to borrowing these headphones while he has been working on his Apple iPhone App development, and since he has a much smaller head circumference that I, he is able to fully appreciate these headphones without “large head” headaches.  So my final verdict on these headphones is: Wonderful headphones for $209 Canadian dollars, amazing sounds, great noise-cancelling, and comfortable for your ears.  If you have a large head (hat size 24″+), you likely will get pressure headaches after 4-6 hours of straight headphone wearing.  If you are looking for a cone of silence, with no outside noise in the least, you will want to get the Bose Quiet Comfort 15’s instead, though at $350+ it may not be worth it. These headphones are completely worthwhile, and I plan on keeping them for a while.  Plus they come with their own hardshell carry-case that makes tossing them into my laptop case a breeze.

Have a great day everybody!

Ciao

Deanna

I have been searching for the past couple months for a good pair of Noise Canceling Headphones. Not a pair of ear bud style ones, but a nice comfortable pair of ear-cupping anti-background noise headphones.

So the search began with trying on one of the most expensive headphones on the market, the Bose Quiet Comfort 15’s.  The 15’s are the newest Bose headphones on the market, and replacing the Bose Quiet Comfort 2’s.  I went over to the Bose Store at Pacific Centre, and tried on these thick cushy headphones, that seemed to just melt onto my head with the weight of a feather.  I turned on the sample music tracks provided by the wall mounted music player, and began to listen to some of the clearest audio I have ever heard.  The salesman for Bose stood beside me spouting off all the technical mumbo-jumbo about the headphones, yet all I wanted to do was listen to the music being played.  Turns out that noise-canceling was not activated just yet on the headphones, which is why I could still hear the salesman blabbering on.

Now, I am not one to just throw $350+ away for a pair of headphones that are simply comfortable and have good audio, I wanted to know what made these headphones so darn expensive.  So I asked. When the overly cheerful and almost robotic sales guy turned on the “Airplane Noise Simulation” of the cacophonous imitation of a jet engine taking off, I couldn’t really see how putting these headphones on would simply make the noise go away.  I doubt even my earplugs I use for travel or sleeping wouldn’t be able to mask the loud airplane racket emitting from the store’s speaker system.

I took the headphones, and put them on my ears only to be absolutely amazed.  The loud track that mimicked ambient sounds of a noisy airplane cabin no longer  rang through my head, nor could I even hear the salesman talking to me.  All I could hear was the gentle guitar strums and crooning of the folk singer on the mp3 playing on the sample audio track.  It was pure bliss!  How did I ever survive without a pair of these.

At a $350+ price tag, I of course wanted to think about this before purchasing these headphones.  Most noise-canceling headphones have a rechargable battery pack that clips into the headset, yet these Quiet Comfort 15’s take one AAA battery to power the noise-cancellation, which will only last about 30 hours worth of listening time.  Sadly, when the battery dies, so does the sound of the music or audio you are listening to.  On the other hand, it is a much better option to just pop in an easy to find AAA battery than have to bother to wait for your battery pack to charge, especially when you are on an 18+ hour flight with turbulence and crying babies around you.  The headset also comes with a handy-dandy carrying case, to protect it from getting broken (and to protect it from people like me, who toss a wide variety of heavy objects into my luggage, not being cognisant of what else I have in the bag).

I was very excited to get my very own headphones, and aye! there’s the rub; There were no Quiet Comfort 15s left in stock.  The store offered to sell me a pair of the Quiet Comfort 2s, and when they got the 15s in stock the store would call me, and I could then go through the hassle of returning the 2s and finally getting my hands on the 15s.  Well, that is simply too much of a hassle for me! I only go downtown once a month or so, and I wasn’t about to make a special trip just to return a set of headphones at a later and unknown date.

Since I now have what you may call a Gold Standard for what I expect out of a noise canceling over-the-ear headphone, I am now in pursuit of a pair of headphones that are comparable to the Bose QC15 headphones, that are in stock either online or in a store.

Wish me luck!

~Deanna