Clubbed

Posted: Tuesday, March 20, 2007
By: Steve Saville

Cover of Clubbed Creator(s): Caressa Weber
Publishers: Self Published
From: USA
Price:

There is no guarantee that you will ever be able to track down a copy of this comic simply because it does not exist yet.

Weber is hopeful but as yet unsuccessful; the version of ‘Clubbed’ that I am reviewing therefore is a photocopy of the pages that will make up the first edition [hopefully].

The fact that it is not as yet an actual comic means that a review is difficult as it still has yet to achieve an actuality and remains [until publication] an ambitious project.

What we do have though is a Manga style comic aimed at a teenage female audience. The storyline presented here is fairly straightforward. A young woman is trying to find a job and in desperation accepts a position as typist in a bondage club. At least I think it is a bondage club, if it isn’t then it is a club for deviants of some other related order. I am not sure that bondage clubs actually need a full time typist, but hey what do I know.

It has a kind of an “Ugly Betty” feel about it. In this case the protagonist is ‘largish’ and plain and she finds herself in a club full of sculptured hunks and sexy hunkesses.

The premise then is a good one and has huge potential. In this initial sample that potential has yet to be fully realised and the opportunities for genuine humour have not been taken up.

In fact the narrative appears a little disjointed, but that is not unusual in Manga. There is no real drama and therefore it is difficult to relate to the main character. The art work itself is fairly basic stylised Manga.

In short I think that ‘Clubbed ’has huge potential and is a winning concept but my advice would be to work on the dialogue and storyline and develop the humour before final publication. The other area that could well be revisited is the background. or lack of, evident in many of the frames. One of the most delightful aspects of Manga is selected attention to background detail. Some fine detail would definitely help ‘Clubbed’

Promising but not yet fully realised.

In a Word: Bettsian.



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