Adventures of Dat Williams, the #2

Posted: Wednesday, September 26, 2007
By: Steve Saville

Cover of Adventures of Dat Williams, the #2 Creator(s): Nicholas Welp
Publishers: Self Published.
From: USA
Price: US $2.

For the second instalment in his Sci Fi/ horror comic Nicholas Welp has opted for a slightly smaller sized presentation and I must say the A5 format does seem to suit this title better. The more compact size does create a less vacuous feel and as a result the comic just feels denser.

The storyline itself continues to explore the concept of time in outer space to the extent of looking at exactly what does constitute life and death in space. In particular this investigation centres on a very interesting space suit that seems to be able to keep a person alive long after their physical form has been reduced to a pile of bones.
The most noteworthy aspect of this second edition is the development of the self depreciating almost self mocking tone that dominates the narrative. The use of humour is effective and does give the impression of a creator having fun in the act of producing a comic. It also makes it obvious that this is not a comic to be taken entirely seriously but it also serves to confuse as it is not really clear whether this is a serious comic with elements of humour or a parody. The line between the two is a little unclear and that does make for a perplexing read.

There are still some visual elements that jar. The scribbled backgrounds still give a rushed feel to many frames and often take attention away from the dominant image. The speech bubbles and lettering are often clumsy as is the fact that some of the cut lines in the cut and paste compilation are still visible.

On the other hand there is an interesting array of angles used throughout and there has been a definite tightening of the narrative.

Overall it is still ‘underdone’ as a finished product but hey what do you expect for two bucks. It still contains enough laughs to make it worth the cover price.

In a Word: Paradoxical.



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