Dresden Codak

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Rating Summary

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Background
Back when Dresden Codak started, it was a simple gag strip. Even then it was pretentious --check out this strip parodying Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle-- but it had not yet descended into the depths of Webcomics Hell.

Downfall
Then, Diaz began inserting his retarded transhumanist fantasies into the strip. What little good the webcomic first had was immediately drowned in a sea of talentless drama. Diaz is apparently incapable of making convincingly deep characters or to make himself appear as anything more than a physics-obsessed nerd.

Author biography
The author is as bland and boring as the strip he created, as evidenced not only by his empty Facebook account, but by his about page, which includes precious little information about himself except that he was apparently "born from the remnants of a supernova." Guess what Diaz? EVERYONE WAS. Everything is forged from the remnants of dead stars. I guess you were trying to make yourself seem like some kind of special little blossom. Too bad this wasn't exactly the most special way to prove it. Tell me you were forged from the remnants of a ham sandwich and then we'll talk.

Art review
Decent. However, the artistic elements don't work with drama, and were clearly intended for use in a humorous piece. In spite of the fact that Diaz uses his drawing talents to (at this point) draw his lead character Kimiko in various states of dress (and undress), his art doesn't make you want to claw your eyes out. At least, excepting the times he includes too many words in too many panels, or (as already mentioned) he takes precious time and space to include Kimiko's naked ass as she hurdles through space, dead, or sometimes alive, apparently depending upon his mood.

Ah, yes, and then there's panel orientation. Too much of it is overwrought. It is often difficult to discern which panel should be read first. Aside from these points, the art is not the major failure of this strip.

Writing review
The writing is this strip's major failure. His characters lack substance and serve only as vehicles to further Diaz' transhumanist wankings. This strip was better when it was a lighthearted humor comic. The new plot is boring. The writing doesn't work with the art. Basically, Diaz can't write his transhumanist storyline to save his life. He needs to either go back to a simple humor setup, or hire a good writer to pen his fantasies. Maybe if the writing didn't suck at working with the subject material so badly, it could even work in its current form.

Links

 * John Solomon's first review of Dresden Codak
 * John Solomon's second review
 * Another review of it.