NYC2123

January 19, 2006 4:11 PM

NYC2123: The first full-length graphic novel for the PSP (also readable on all Internet browsers). Now comes complete with a futurama mash-up and a behind-the-scenes video of the illustration process (last two links go to youtube).
posted by Staggering Jack (9 comments total)

Interesitng art, but the writing and story are pure recycled cybercliche. The style's at its best with portrait-style shots.
posted by verb at 5:17 PM on January 19, 2006

So this is a reverse of Escape from New York?
posted by linux at 5:27 PM on January 19, 2006

Hard to make narration work for comics, and this is no exception. Love and Rockets did it, but that's because Los Bros. Hernandez were having fun with the convention. Still, kudos for anyone doing remotely compotent, free comics.
posted by Football Bat at 6:10 PM on January 19, 2006

Football Bat, my problem with the writing work in this one was that it seemed to dedicate far, far more energy to cramming i cyberpunk buzzword bingo points than giving me a character to connect with. "Major metro city destroyed by natural disaster, check. Character is a courier, check. Character meets cyborg, check. Character uses adrenal implants, check..."

I mean, sure, that's a genre convention... But I retain my right to sigh. :-)
posted by verb at 6:22 PM on January 19, 2006

I don't know why, but that illustration style, tracing directly over photographs, never appeals to me. Unpleasent memories of Ralph Bakshi movies I think.

And I second verb on the cyberpunk overload.

I do think the idea, comics on the PSP, and the resulting format are interesting though. Alot of potential.
posted by beegull at 9:06 PM on January 19, 2006

Still, kudos for anyone doing remotely competent, free comics.

Good call. While the writing might be cliched, it wasn't any worse than many of the print comics I've read. And I really like the idea of "amateurs" doing it themselves and putting out something that is not only competent but also free.
posted by Staggering Jack at 10:04 PM on January 19, 2006

Ah, man, speaking of amateurs, here's a proper link for the above"amateurs".
posted by Staggering Jack at 10:08 PM on January 19, 2006

verb: Yeah, I dig. I was just pointing out a different problem I had. Narrating a visual experience like a comic or movie is next to pointless, not to mention lazy, and it's the rare work (such as Goodfellas) that manages to pull it off, usually through the use of irony.
posted by Football Bat at 11:11 PM on January 19, 2006

I'm a little weirded out by the use of the Star Wars font when she's hacking into the building.
posted by heresiarch at 8:36 AM on January 20, 2006