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A review by depleti
BUZZ! by Tess Stone, Ananth Panagariya
3.0
Well this was...weird.
I've been a fan of Tessa Stone since her Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name webcomic, and I'm really glad to see her getting professional work. Her art is so lively and energetic and she was a perfect choice to illustrate a story that incorporates words into the panels as art in themselves. The comic was all done in black and white with only yellow fills used indiscriminately and with no consistency, which isn't a bad thing. When I first glanced at the interior I thought it would somehow hurt my eyes or make it difficult to read, but going panel-by-panel isn't a big deal at all. It never bothered me once I actually started to read it.
Going in I had no idea what this was about. When I realized it was about spelling bees, but taken up to an extreme level (to the point there are back-alley spelling bees one could get arrested for), I thought it was cute. But then an astronaut speller turned into a monster with tentacles coming out of his mouth and spoken letters were actually used as weapons and it kinda lost me. There seem to be absolutely no rules to the world and it kind of left me a bit confused. I don't mind weird things but they seemed to just come out of nowhere? No lead up, no gradual introduction, just THERE.
But it was still fun to read, and I hope it leads to more professional opportunities for Tessa Stone.
I've been a fan of Tessa Stone since her Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name webcomic, and I'm really glad to see her getting professional work. Her art is so lively and energetic and she was a perfect choice to illustrate a story that incorporates words into the panels as art in themselves. The comic was all done in black and white with only yellow fills used indiscriminately and with no consistency, which isn't a bad thing. When I first glanced at the interior I thought it would somehow hurt my eyes or make it difficult to read, but going panel-by-panel isn't a big deal at all. It never bothered me once I actually started to read it.
Going in I had no idea what this was about. When I realized it was about spelling bees, but taken up to an extreme level (to the point there are back-alley spelling bees one could get arrested for), I thought it was cute. But then an astronaut speller turned into a monster with tentacles coming out of his mouth and spoken letters were actually used as weapons and it kinda lost me. There seem to be absolutely no rules to the world and it kind of left me a bit confused. I don't mind weird things but they seemed to just come out of nowhere? No lead up, no gradual introduction, just THERE.
But it was still fun to read, and I hope it leads to more professional opportunities for Tessa Stone.