Full Reviews of Van von Hunter

of Van von Hunter by Pseudome Studio

Darn it, I'd hoped this wouldn't happen. When I discovered Van Von Hunter, it was much better than it is now.

The story is of the meatheaded-yet-competent Van Von Hunter (formerly known as Van Von Vaughn) who goes around the land hunting and destroying evil. In his travels, he gains a few companions and Nemeses, all with their amusing quirks.

With the exception of the very beginning, the whole package is done in a very professional-looking manga style. Lines are crisp and clean, and the inking is very well done. It conveys a good sense of atmosphere. At least in the first half.

Jokes are also great. In the first half. Using a deft mixture of dimwitted (but fabulously determined) enemies as well as jokes-on-the-fly and physical humor, there were several moments where my head hit the keyboard from laughter.

Then something happened. It was around the time that this comic got picked up from Tokyopop. It became sloppy. Backgrounds were more stark. Jokes strated to stem from one-shots and pop-culture and manga references rather than conflict and character. Instead of dispensing of monsters in unusual and comical ways, the characters just stand around now, talking and boasting, usually with the final panel being something to the effect of "Whoops! That didn't go as planned." It's becoming predictable.

So my advice to the creators of this comic is that I know you can make some excellent jokes. Just have Hunter and the Flaming Prince go toe-to-toe again and stop making insipid one-shot strips. I know you can do it.

Review by Cobra Thu Jan 27 2005 09:05 AM

There's a huge problem with this comic, and it's very easy to spot. The parody is too thick.

Art: A deliberate attempt at aping anime and manga style, Van Von Hunter's art comes off as....decent. There's some proportion, and the creator has decided not to parody certain aspects of anime, like the giant breasts that women tend to have. But the problem with anime is that it tends to avoid any work it doesn't need, and Van Von Hunter feels the same way. We could get more detail for the art, but sadly, none is forthcoming. And 'chibi art' almost always marks the parts that are supposed to be funny-which is too bad, because some of the good jokes get ruined by that effect.

Story: Rather minimal. VVH (shortened for ease of typing) wanders around a lot, dragging his deliberately unnamed and slightly unwilling female accomplice with him. He is chased by the Flaming Prince, who keeps trying to crush things in his hand as a demonstration of his power. Unfortunately, without a firm story to hang on, a lot of the parody falls flat, so this is a major issue with Van Von Hunter.

Characters: Van Von Hunter is a walking parody, but at least he's considered competent in his field. Even good. The girl who travels with him, on the other hand, basically acts like the reader, as she continually points out the easier and more sensible route. And the Flaming Prince....well, he's a dead-on parody of an anime villain's appearance, but his behavior is more annoying than funny. The same goes for Vengeance Joe, who isn't even that consistent of a bother.

Writing: As I said before, the parody is too thick. The best kind of parody doesn't just lampoon its subject, it also loves it. Van Von Hunter doesn't seem to have any disdain for anime in general, or the anime horror genre in particular, but it does have too much of "Huh? Look at that! Isn't that a silly thing?" A more subtle touch would improve things a lot, such as explaining why certain things are commonplace, or why townsfolk seem unable to defend themselves in any way.

Overall: I think the basic idea for Van Von Hunter is sound, but the execution needs a LOT of work. For a humorous take on anime horror, I rarely laughed. 3 out of 10.

Review by Benor Mon Jan 24 2005 06:35 PM

Everyone seems to be to mean to Van Von Hunter.

Van von hunter to me, is rated a 10 outa 10. Its SO funny, and even though the beginning art is a little rough, it gets better later. The story (Though theres not much of one) Revolves around Van von Hunter, a girl with no name, and a second girl (A little girl, by the way)with no name who is extremly powerful and evil, so ppl are to scared to kill her. But Huner and friends go around and destroy evil...stuff. The evil guy (Which is one of my uber favorite characters) is the flaming *Snicker* Prince. He's a total screwup and his partner and advisor(Who's a little boy) thinks and does pretty much all the thinking. Okay... so It doesnt have much of a plot. But its made in "Slayers" style, so who needs one? Its funny all the way through, all the characters are recognisable, and always extremly different from each other.

Those who discribe the online version as sloppy and not to funny, lie. Its still very funny, but' of course, the creators began a manga from TOKYOPOP, so thier work load is a BILLION TIMES heavier!!!!!! Its amazing, because thier online manga is still up, and thier still producing more, while making a manga of thier own. I'd say they must be extremly talented to do so. (Dont critizise them so harshly if you cant think what thier going through by the way)

So 10\10 for thier online work!!!!!!

Review by Turtle Wed Apr 13 2005 04:37 PM

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