Webcomic Book Club Full Reviews of Flipside by Brion Foulke

Art: The art in Flipside is, obviously, like the comic itself, a work in progress. Overall, it's fairly good art, though the stiffness of the action scenes, which the artist, as per notes, is obviously aware of, and attempting to improve. Beyond the action scenes, a few other things bugged me...the two-dimensional appearance of the Man-eater's sword, for example. Still, overall, a job fairly well done, with an artist that seems to know what they need to improve. Characters: Well, the ostensibly main character, Maytag, is someone that tends to act meek and mild-mannered ordinarily, but, when donning a jester costume, tends to act brash, confident, and domineering. Unfortunately, said jester costume is almost always on, and it doesn't really go into the transition. Is the suit merely a psychological thing? Is it magic? Or does she simply like to pretend to be meek and demure on occasion, removing the suit to have some fun? It's not really explained, and nor is the sense of mystery heightened. Overall...the characters are mostly realistic, but I'd really like for there to be some more development. Story: Hmm...the story isn't so bad, I suppose. It does seem a bit bland, thus far, and things often seem a bit stretched...the reasoning usually explained in the notes the author often leaves at the bottom of most pages. It didn't really draw me in or entertain me that much...but it's decent enough, I suppose. Overall: Flipside is a webcomic that seems to be a bit lost in its development at time, a perception somewhat aided by the notes. However, the notes also give the impression that the artist knows what they're doing wrong, at least to a degree, and are trying to improve. So, for a somewhat average strip that seems to know where it needs to improve, Flipside gets a 6/10. Review by Luthorne Tue Feb 03 2004 06:27 PM

I would like to apologise in advance for the shortness of my reviews lately. I've just been too busy. Flipside is a bit slow, although it has a very interesting story. I appreciate the author's attempts at making something HAPPEN in every page and his artwork certainly improves from issue to issue, the style is getting exquisite. The characters of Flipside are very interesting to explore. I like Bernadette's conviction to her peers and I like her development. One thing I'm disappointed with, however, is the lack of exploration of Maytag without the Jester suit. I love the concept of Maytag, her trademark naughtiness contrasts well with Bernadette's levelheadedness, but... I'd like to see more of her without the mask. The storyline is pretty linear, but very good. That's really all I CAN say about it. It could use more... character development, though. Flipside stays quite true to its genre. I love the concept of putting characters in the "interview chair" for people to ask questions. It adds depth to the character. Unfortunately, questions CAN get repetitive... I give Flipside a 7 outta 10 for great effort, artwork and storyline. There's plenty of room for improvement, though. Review by Catty Dewclaw Mon Feb 02 2004 12:49 AM

A review of 'Flipside' by Kajamir the Giant Flipside is an evolving and rather well illustrated strip featuring a split personality jester girl with a surprising amount of social experience under her cap (and tights) with the time spent with several medieval themed companions. Flipside looks really nice in terms of an anime style after several chapters, but it feels kind of directionless in a way. I would say it's less a story and more like an account of Maytag the jester's day to day experiences. The end result is decent, but feels lacking. To mention it again, the best trait about Flipside is the art. In the first several chapters, well, don't take those parts for the overrall effect. The creator quickly gets a lot better, and the imagery is often very interesting, save for the usually sparse backgrounds. Characters look pretty good here, but there's an occasional strange bit. I originally thought Moss was a woman, and after Maytag survived the Maw monster, it looked like she'd suffered a certain unsightly damage to the chest area. The creator includes side notes which often speak about rushed work and uncertainties in what to do. You can really see Flipside as a growing thing of the creator's artistic talent. Quite remarkable, really. Story wise, it doesn't do so well. Things are, well, too unexplained at times and characterizations is very weak. You don't get to learn much about the characters save on a basic level (though more is hinted) and their mission seems kind of ho hum given the genre. Really, there's not much to hook a reader in here concerning the plot and story. You have to mainly like Flipside based on the art quality. As a neat touch, the author includes many side notes. They help explain things without getting too much in the way, but certain sidenotes just don't seem really worth mentioning, such as the description for each spell being cast. Really, you could imply what's going on just as easily and the idea behind the magic doesn't seem terribly interesting in the first place. I would have liked to seen something more in depth, like Rules of Make Believe's Gorge System descriptions. Flipside oft does descriptions as though trying to market it for some basic RPG game. I'm about little over halfway through Flipside at this time, and I'm thinking I'll probably continue reading it, but maybe on a lazy day. Flipside needs a lot of work in the plot and general characterization department, as if it's not really being all it can be. The overall effect, despite the really nice art, is essentially middle ground in terms of an opinion. I give Flipside a 5.5 of 10 stars. Review by Kajamir the Giant Sun Feb 01 2004 03:53 AM

"Tada... its another comic, another week, and this ferret's done all his work, so lets get to this week's comic, Flipside!" "In the beginning, it was a comic, in a fantasy world. And in this fantasy world was Maytag, a girl, not the company. But, then it gets sort of complicated, with mages, assassins, magic, and manga influenced art. Add into that a story of revenge, and other stuff... and well... I have no clue what to write next. So off to the next section..." Artwork: "Art, thats what makes or breaks some comics, and this time, Flipside is manga-influenced. You can see it in the character designs and how some of the pages are set up and what not. The problem is the artist isn't quite as sure about what to do as you'd really hope. Things change somewhat, odd angles are used, or a scene just doesn't come together as well as you'd hope. It does improve over time. By Chapter 25, there's a lot better laying out of scenes and shots, but first you have to get through Chapters 1 through 24. Main problem with the art is just the stiffness of the characters in general, during the first 8 chapters." Characters: "There are quite a few characters. Maytag is the center, but you still have a few characters who get quite a bit of screen time. One of the problems though is your never quite sure why a character acts a certain way (if it weren't for the little footnotes occasionally under each page) or if you do find out, it can sometimes be a VERY long time to get that information. Till then, your just sort of left hanging. And to date, I'm still not exactly whats up with Maytag or why her personality changes all the time. Maybe thats just one of those mysteries we haven't uncovered yet." Writing: "Its ok. Its nothing I'd really write home about though. Then again, I couldn't write my way out of a wet paper bag. But overall, I guess this is probably the thing that doesn't work quite so well for Flipside. Its a decent comic, but sometimes I just wish it would suprise me more, instead of being just sort of there. Its not bad, but it doesn't do anything for me. Its like I was reading a book that I was only slightly interested in. It was interesting to see how things turned out, but this might have been better had I skipped the parts in the middle and got right to the good stuff." "But I can't write my way out of a paper bag, so you'll have to decide for yourself." Plot: "This goes along with the writing. The major arch takes you a while to get through, or it does on a dial-up account anyways, but it sometimes feels like a chore to go through it all. Anyways, at least it tries to keep things interesting." Overall: "Ok, this isn't a bad comic. Its just not a great comic either. Its just... a comic. Maybe later on, it'll be worth reading more of it, but right now, I just can't really see recommending this comic as anything more than something to check out on occasion, if you've got nothing else to read. There are other fantasy manga-ish web comcis out there that just seem to have more pop and zing than Flipside. So maybe that's hurting my judgement of the comic." Score: 6 out of 10 Jester Hats. If you like Flipside, check out Van Von Hunter, Mixed Myth, and Poisonwind! Why? because they're all good comics that are either based on manga, fantasy, or both. Review by Salen Stormwing Sat Jan 31 2004 05:35 PM

"Flipside" is a somewhat meandering fantasy yarn, focusing primarily on a mischievous female jester named Maytag. Artwork Maytag is certainly a cutie, and I enjoyed most of the drawings of her, but overall, the artwork was sub-par American sytle Manga. The anatomy of the figures often didn't look quite right. I could see that effort went into the props and background details, but the final images lacked a certain grace. Maybe I was seeing too much effort, because the compositions just didn't always come together very artfully. The artwork did improve greatly over the course of the archives and my opinion may change if the artist keeps on improving. Characters Like a few other webcomics we've reviewed, the interactions between the characters seemed very childlike. It didn't come off like a world of adults interacting but more like a bunch of teenagers flirting or trying to one-up each other. The friendship between Maytag and Regina was certainly the highlight, and introduced some genuine human elements that I could relate to on an emotional level. Story I really struggled through the first 8 chapters. Regina confiding in Maytag was the only portion I really got into. But by chapter 9, the plot felt like it was finally kicking into high gear and an actual nemesis began to threaten the heroes in an interesting way. By Chapter 14 things got even more interesting. By Chapter 22, the major story arc came to a moderately satisfying conclusion and then the main group of characters got kind of dispersed. I still have some interest in following them, but I'm not exactly riveted at this point. Extras The extras were awesome! I don't mean that to come off as a backhanded compliment. I really found the creator commentaries at the bottom of the page most endearing. He admits to continuity errors, weak artwork, or how he has illustrated things differently over time. These brief editotial snippets were enlightening and as entertaining as the strip itself. Plus they you could read them while the art was downloading. There was also an extra sorcery lesson strip that was adorable. I wanted more informational comic strips like that detailing aspects of the world. Overall Right now, I can't say that "Flipside" is a must read, but if the story and artwork continue their steady improvement, I can see it eventually growing into something special. I think the author has a very detailed world and magic system in his head that we get glimmers of, but the actual narrative and character psychology demand a higher level of sophistication. Review by The Phantom Critic Fri Jan 30 2004 11:36 PM

Ah, yes, I remember this webcomic from some number of months ago. I read it, saw that it updated slowly, and lost interest in following it. It's interesting to see it again as a reviewer and not just a reader. Art: The art for "Flipside" is a little stiff at first, but overall very readable. It could stand to be better in some places, but it is, in general, very nice. My one recurring complaint is the way the author draws profiles. A head drawn in profile, especially Maytag's, seems to have a mouth and nose that jut several inches out of the rest of the face. It's a tad disconcerting to look at, is all. The colored pieces are very nice, and they give a good idea of what the characters should look like, which is a plus. Characters: I like some of the characters, but others leave me wanting to try and look at them from the side to see if they're cardboard cutouts. Maytag seems interesting enough, and Moss has been intriguing from the beginning, but a lot of the characters seem only ankle-deep. The trio of assassins at the beginning, to name three. The sudden explanation behind why Moss is the way that he is and the manner in which he got that way is a bit... well, it's a bit of a let-down. That part of him could have been delivered better. Personally, I liked the husband-wife face-off and I feel that it, and all the little character details leading up to it were nice, if a bit heavy-handed. Story/Writing: The plot is okay, I like some of the facets to it in regards to magic, and it generally has decent flow from chapter to chapter. Not the best, but very nice. The writing is also adequate, and I've not many comments on it, good or bad. Overall: I like Flipside. It's a bit blotchy in places, but it's basically a work-in-progress, so a little dust is to be expected. The comments that the author gives help to show where they're improving or experimenting, as well as giving little insights into the mechanics of the world. Worth keeping an eye on, despite the flaws, as it has a heart and soul to it uncommon in today's webcomics. 7 out of 10. Review by Xenix Tue Jan 27 2004 08:32 PM

Flipside has a good story concept, but the execution needs a LOT of work. Art: The art for "Flipside" is passable, I'm afraid. The characters looked very similar with a few exceptions. I had no problems telling them apart by clothing, but by design...it's hard to see. And while some of the locations were interesting, they soon became very similar. It may be a fantasy setting, but that's hard to tell. Things do improve later on, fortunately; the shading in particular pleased me. Characters: Very dull, I'm afraid. Maytag is only defined by her gimmick-putting on her jester costume makes her sexy and confident, while real clothes leave her somewhat shy and unassuming. And even then, the gimmick isn't that good...we see her with the jester costume more than without. A great deal more. At times, I began to forget she wore something else. Bernadette is probably the only one with much of a personality...the rest only get simple motives. The exception was Moss, who was genuinely nasty and unpleasant. He's hardly an appealing character, but at least he forced reactions from the rest. And very late in the comic, we get an idea of why he's so mean-unfortunately, the presentation of it nearly ruined him for me. Story: As I said, Flipside has a good concept of a story-the core of the previous story arc would have been quite interesting. But the presentation stifles a lot of the impact. Though the two real players are neutral, I felt like they kept getting yanked into alternating "good" and "evil" roles. I can appreciate when characters switch roles, but not this abruptly...and more importantly, not this often. I'm also left to wonder where the story is going from here....other than picking Maytag up, there doesn't seem to be much on the plate. Writing: This doesn't help much either. The dialogue is tolerable, but I never really enjoyed it...and there were a few times that it made me cringe. I did like the time in the temple, since that had the only times of real suspense in the strip. For a while, the author had me in suspense...and even the ending was satisfying, since the characters seemed to have escaped death without a deus ex machina way. but the rest of the time, I wasn't satisfied with what I saw. Overall: I liked the creator's commentary at the bottom of each comic, since it gave me a view into what they were thinking when they made each page-and the mistakes they saw with it. But the comic itself didn't impress me. I give it 3 out of 10. Review by Benor Mon Jan 26 2004 08:04 PM

Visitor Reviews & Comments

Art: (As others have stated) the art was stiff at the beginning, but the backgrounds and landscapes are absolutely brilliant! Throughout the development of the comic we see an increasing improvement of the art style. Towards the last few chapters the art seems to flow much better than at the beginning. Characters: There is a moderate amount of character analysis, although it would be good to go in depth an unearth mysteries surrounding Maytag, Bernadette and Regina, but it may be revealed later on in the story. The interviews are an original and insightful way for fans to 'communicate' to the characters. Story: It isn't boring, in fact there is quite a lot of action in all the chapters. In some places (especially early on) it is quite fast paced, many interesting sword fights and mysteries. I think that in some places there should be more depth though, especially before going on a whole new tangent. The story is excellent, it makes you laugh, get angry (due to the fantastic characters)... Overall: Well, Flipside is one of my favourite web comics, the story (although patchy in some places) is still well-rounded and the characters build upon this. Maytag is definitely an unforgetable character :D I give it 8/10. Review by Merrin Tue Apr 20 2004 05:19 AM

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