Webcomic Book Club Full Reviews of Unicorn Jelly by Jennifer Diane Reitz

[OOC] *hums to himself, going about trying to get through a few reviews in his spare time* [/OOC] Well, Unicorn Jelly was one of the webcomics that I nominated, and I'm a bit sorry that I wasn't here to give the review on time. ^_^;; However, better late than never. I feel that Unicorn Jelly is one of the better thinking webcomics out there, if not one of the best. It starts off with a very 'fantasy adventure video game' style, but quickly takes off from there. What I found most interesting is how the story progressed from such humble beginnings to literally universe-spanning proportions. The ideas and concepts increase in potency as the story progresses, constantly adding more and more levels of thought and meaning. Even somebody just reading webcomics for fun and the simple pleasures of story and art can get something out of Unicorn Jelly, which makes it rather unique in terms of webcomics. 1/0 didn't exactly have a 'soft and fluffy' side for more casual readers, and such a softer side broadens the base appeal. The artwork was fantastic for being pixels and being in the style that it is. It makes the story read differently than it would with, oh, an anime look, for example. The 'video game' look lends itself well to the epic storyline and world-changing actions. The background information... woo... I was blown away by what I saw there. Take a few hours to stroll through the entirety of the Unicorn Jelly site and you get a brainful of information not only on Unicorn Jelly itself, but also on the concepts embodied within and the thought processes of the author. Overall, any webcomic can use help and additional work, and Unicorn Jelly is no exception. Despite its shortcomings, I still find that the underlying ideas come through and, most importantly to me, it tells a good story. I give it an Eight out of Ten. Review by Xenix Thu Mar 04 2004 07:17 AM

Hmmmm....I'm afraid I have to say that Unicorn Jelly was a bit of a let down. Story: The idea was very fantastical....and could theoretically have been the greatest story ever told, but there just wasn't enough development. Huge portions of what was happening or information that the reader needed to know were just blatantly left out. And entire strips, even up to three or four at a time, were nothing but drawn panels without a bit of text to convey what was happening or how the characters felt. Character interaction, I feel, is a deep and essential part of any story. This comic should have taken much longer to be filled out, instead of moving at the breakneck speed it did. Characters: Cute. Simple. Boring. I simply....didn't care. The Jelly, who seemed a main character at the begginning, soon became a part of the background. It's like the artist herself just didn't give a damn about him anymore. And most of those who showed up the writer just didn't bother to give any sort of history on. They were just....there. This is understandable with extra characters who just provide filler....but what about the main characters who keep the story moving? Other than hearing of the witches mother, we knew next to nothing about her. Sad, really. The Art: The artist herself proved several times throughout the strip that she could easily make the look much much better, but most of it was just scribbles and lines drawn here and there. There was less effort than could have been, and the artist just didn't have enough pride in her work. I would have rather waited longer for better looking strips than get crap on a regular basis. Overall: I get the feeling of reading a book intended for a child rather than an older audience with Unicorn Jelly. It's simplicity completely detracts from what could have been a great webcomic, and this rather upsets me. I can understand how making a strip might be hard work on the artist, but at least some effort needs to be made to keep it decent. Review by Roland Scythe Sat Feb 21 2004 02:26 AM

"Xaila's too chicken to do this herself so I'm doing it for her. She's read 'Unicorn Jelly' when it first came out... and ended up... well... I'll tell ya as I go along. "And now... the review of 'Unicorn Jelly' as told by Oralee Hoa!" "Art and Characters: The characters in 'Unicorn Jelly' are fairly stale and flat. I mean you can tell who's who... for only so long. Only in the color comics do you see the real differences. Reminds me more of a storyboard concept sketch than it being the actual character design. "But the setting... this is probably where Reitz makes up for the lack of character differences and design. The backdrops for things like the 'world plates', and everything else are wonderful, detailed and truly amazing... why didn't she use it on the characters is rather beyond me." " Story and Writing: The ideas used in 'Unicorn Jelly' are grade A. The only problem is that its too much too soon to be honest. One was prone to getting lost quickly. Very quickly. This lead to the unfortunate part of Xaila getting fed up and leaving the comic alone for awhile. Perhaps if Miss Reitz had slowed things down instead of reaching for a goal. A well thought out comic would be better than a quickly rushed one. "How it was written in the comic was understandable - to a point. Personal feelings direct me to say that 'Unicorn Jelly' shouldn't have been formatted how it was for the content it was presenting. Too much in too little space equals confusion and being lost even more. Kinda felt really lost and confused with this comic and it killed the possibility for enjoyment." " Format: I'd like to note that personally, 'Unicorn Jelly' was possibly better suited for a larger comic format than its tiny strip form. Or even better... as a novel. There is alot to it that was just too much to be put in image format." " And lastly... Overall: Read it... got fed up and sick of it too fast. Tried to give it another shot and just got annoyed. Too much. Too fast. With too little reward. Ideas need to be expanded or shortened to suit and a possible format change is suggested. Out of 10 stars... I have to give 'Unicorn Jelly' two and a half." Review by Oralee Hoa Fri Feb 20 2004 10:57 PM

Art: Passable. Despite the simplicity of the art, I could tell the characters apart...and some of the scenery was very nice. But aside from a few exceptions, the characters didn't have many details-and the cute looks quickly began to grate on me. Story: Easily the best feature of "Unicorn Jelly". The concepts behind this comic were very interesting, and I'd love to see more of it come out! While a lot of science fiction writers have focused on crystals in some way, I thought that "Unicorn Jelly" did it in an innovative way, and I do wish more of it had come out. Characters: There isn't much here, I'm afraid. At the beginning, it's fairly easy to tell the characters apart. But they soon begin to blur; none of them really stick out, except by appearance. And with the exception of the non-humans, the appearances are very similar. More than once, I began to have trouble with the names; I understood they were referring to separate people, but the people themselves were indistinct unless they were seen. I think they could have used some of the work that the story got. Writing: I nearly stopped because of this. At the start, at least, the writing for "Unicorn Jelly" is horrid. Sentences are badly constructed, strips recap the story before the story gets to start...I winced many times. It improves a little, but it's a LONG time before it even approaches what the concepts need to make this work. Pacing was a big issue; some sections of the story took forever, while others got rushed or skipped entirely. And the story is severely hampered by the writing. So many segments of the culture could have used at least some explanation, and none was given. Very sloppy, really. Overall: I loved the basic ideas of "Unicorn Jelly", but that's not enough. The storytelling needs a lot of work to do those ideas justice. I give "Unicorn Jelly" 4 out of 10. Review by Benor Fri Feb 20 2004 10:29 PM

A review of Unicorn Jelly By Kajamir the Giant I checked out Unicorn Jelly lil over a year ago; followed it for a few strips and then never bothered to read it further until now. It struck me as more hyped than it really should've been even then. In time, I forget I ever read the thing at all. Now, I've been thrust with the opportunity to look at it more in detail, and I can't say I'm terribly moved by this piece of fiction upon further study. I was informed by several fans this comic was on league with the sophistication and thought of 1/0. While Unicorn Jelly has more intelligence than the average webcomic, it's not particularly involving or interesting. It does not compare to 1/0 in the least, nor arise much sense of fascination. Unicorn Jelly suffers greatly from the 'back seat driver' syndrome several webcomics have, a condition I've mentioned in previous reviews. You just don't really feel any reason to care much about the ongoings of the character's and their lives. It's more like reading a dry account read by someone else who skips the details and mentions things of little import with the occasional bit of something fantastical added in for spice. As such, a focus within the writing and direction feels labored, maybe trying to be more than it claimed. I don't know so much that bad design is behind this, as much as bland execution. Things feel rushed and the development that exists, formulaic. Tedious comes to mind. I really didn't find much enjoyment here. Now, I haven't checked out the bigger lay out that Phantom Critic mentioned, nor the Alternate Universe links (whatever those were... a more immediate guide within the comic would have been nice), but it occurs to me a lot of this outside the comic material is just thorough layering to hide something less inviting inside. I didn't look at the supposed encyclopedic background on Unicorn Jelly because that's a poor way to illuminate the story. If I can't find the information that's relevant within the comic itself, why would I care to leave the comic and make a college semester of studying this thing? For purposes of casual reading and in my instance, reviewing, this is not a plus at all. I don't mind it otherwise but it feels, hmm, a bit much here to warrant having it. I think the art was passably nice. The characters are, for better or worse, cute and cuddly. By the same point however, they're rather bland looking, all of them overshadowed by a much more thorough and defined background. That's all well and good, I suppose, but I'm here to read about the characters. Cardboard cute images seem right in step with Unicorn Jelly. Characterization is a bit weak. The characters, maybe by the seemingly rushed pace of the story, occur as dull and poorly defined of themselves. That is to say, while you do get to know the basics of them, they don't strike much a chord, lacking a spark of life. I think the only scene I can recall that felt intriguing in regards to a character's development was the young witch's tale of having her idea crushed by the magecratic system already in place. But to mention the character as only 'the witch' and not by name, shows rather well the generally forgettable characterization. There are so few instances or reasons to care about anything here, well, it's truly disappointing. I also have a bone to pick with the layout within the comic's. The small boxes allowed only a pittance of writing space, and too often, a sentence was hyphenated and running into the next panel with no other distinctive breaks. I had trouble several times telling who was talking or if a sentence had ended. Unicorn Jelly is a sizable let down, but I postulate this is much from the sheer amount of hype I've seen for it in recent times, as much as how honestly dull it is. That anyone compared this to the simple genius of 1/0 seems unfathomable to me. Unicorn Jelly simply fails to deliver on multiple levels. It attempts to be deep without being particularly thought provoking or interesting. I sadly give it a 3 of 10 stars. Disappointing, and little else. Review by Kajamir the Giant Wed Feb 18 2004 05:19 PM

"This week on Salen Reviews Too Many Comics, our favorite ferret takes on Unicorn Jelly in a fight that's straight out of Dragon Warrior! Ok, maybe not." "Either way, this week's comic, Unicorn Jelly was sort of a suprise for me. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from it. Ok, I had a hunch it was probably going to be something fantasy based sort of like out of a Dragon Warrior video game. Mostly thats because there are Slimes and Jellies in DW, and well... it seemed like a good guess. But what I got was a much larger story of survival from a doomed world, and other stuff too." Artwork: "Artwork can make or break a comic. The art itself isn't very impressive. Hmm. No. Let me revise that. The character art isn't very impressive. The large background scenes with ships, and cities, and world plates and what not... now those are impressive. Especially since the artwork is done in a rather basic mouse drawn style." "The character designs though, they really don't help the story much. The slimes and jellies are cute, but the human designs... its just something thats sort of brings the overall enjoyment of the comic down. Usually there is enough to tell one character apart from another, but some times its still a pain to say "Who's that supposed to be?"." "One of the good things though is the artist does do some motion based comics. And those are pretty nifty, since they sort of give you an idea of how cool the scene is. Sometimes it's used very subtle like, in the margins, where little crystals sparkle to show that they're being used as fuel. These moving comics tended to jump out a lot more than the rest of the comic, and really put a bit of spark into it." Characters: "Now, if the art was hit-or-miss, adding this to a hit-or-miss set of characters. Most of the main ones seem to be ok and you can tell them apart from others, but sometimes the sheer volumn of characters in the comic who are only around once in a while really drags down the story. Its almost like reading a Robert Jordan book, where you get a TON of characters thrown at you, and you have to figure out who they are." "Chou stands out as probably one of the most interesting and recognizable of the characters, mostly because she speaks in a different 'font' than everyone else, in a very analytical style. Its probably a good thing its easy to recognize her, since she plays such a large role in the comic." "And Uni, the unicorn jelly... You know, I really started to wonder what happened to him after I noticed he was just gone from the comic. Considering up to that point, the jelly was pretty much around all the time, it just seemed weird for him not to be there. And the story never really tells you WHAT happened to him, only suggests what might have happened." "But... really, while all the characters were talking about this or that, I really just couldn't get into what was going on too much. The characters were ok, but I just couldn't seem to find a way to come out and say "I'm worried about these characters." I wanted to try and feel something of concern about the characters, but all that I ever did was hit the NEXT button in the hopes that something might distract me from how indifferent I felt for most of the characters." Writing & Plot: "The writing and plot though, are much larger than the art would let on. What seems like a small story is a huge story of doom and survival. And there's a LOT of information on the world, how things work, designs, and just a multitude of other widgets and whatnot. And if the comic was a psuedo-science book, it would be required reading for the folks who live in that world, but unfortunately, technical insight doesn't really make for the greatest for dramatic writing. Don't get me wrong, you're showered with info at points, but I just can't say I understood much of it, nor how it all related to what I was seeing." Overall: "Call me easily confused, but I guess reading a comic should be less of about learning technical stuff, and more about enjoying the characters and their actions. Unfortunately, I just couldn't seem to do that with this comic. Maybe I just didn't have the desire to really enjoy the comic. Or maybe it was just too much info in too little of a time. At over 600 comics, it can be quite a feet to read it all in the span of a day." "Is the comic worth a look at for someone new? Maybe. I'd probably suggest reading it 50 comics at a time. Read the first 50 comics. Does the comic have your interest? Yes? Read 50 more tomorrow. No? Go find another comic out there. If you want fantasy-based comic, go read Mixed Myth. Want a good space-based comic, go read Freefall." "Don't think that the comic isn't worth at least a small looksee though. Hey, you might like it. Anything is possible. But its not something I really enjoyed. But at least it was had some neat dramatic background scenes in some shots. That has to count for something." Score: 5.5 cute jellies out of 10. Review by Salen Stormwing Tue Feb 17 2004 10:17 AM

"Unicorn Jelly" Review Summary I would seem to be the ideal audience for "Unicorn Jelly", being a fan of Sci Fi/Fantasy stories and enjoying philosophy enough to have majored in the subject in college. "Flatland", Lewis Carroll's "Alice" books and Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker" books are all personal favorites that combine philosophy and fantasy in fun and ingenious ways. I heard good things about "Unicorn Jelly" and was really looking forward to this philosophical fantasy. Unfortunately, I just didn't connect with "Unicorn Jelly" at all. While on one hand I respect the intelligence and care that went into crafting the meticulously detailed universe, I found the actual reading experience to be quite tedious. I didn't really care much for the characters and the plot was rather convoluted and uninvolving. "Unicorn Jelly" is a science fiction epic involving a witch Lupiko, her adopted daughter, a logically minded hybrid crystal-human named Chou, and Uni, the cute unicorn jelly of the title. We follow these characters through low-key initial adventures that expand to cosmic proportions as they become involved in a Noah's Arc-like exodus from their doomed planet and re-establish civilization living in conjunction with jelly beings on a new world. Art The strip had a bitmap-style, pixelated look, having been crafted by a mouse directly onto the computer. What was so odd about the artwork though, is that unlike nearly every other webcomic we've reviewed, in "Unicorn Jelly" the buildings and backgrounds came off far more impressive than the characters. The various ships, devices, landscapes and diagrams often looked amazing, despite the limitations of the pixelated mouse style. Examples: Strips 390, 426, 435, 602, 615 Unfortunately, the figures and faces of the characters were very weak and unappealing. The jelly beings were cute though. "Unicorn Jelly" occasionally used limited animation in a very effective way. A couple of good examples (among many): Strips 54, 358 There were also several very imaginatively designed elements, such as the Shatterel Storm and the Bellwalker Vehicles that moved via the production of sounds. Characters The main weakness for me in "Unicorn Jelly" was the lack of well-rounded or appealing characters. Reitz includes on her site very detailed character pages with lengthy personality descriptions, but within the actual story, the characters didn't come off convincingly as living breathing personalites, but more as story props. Though superficially distinctive, they all shared an overall blandness and just didn't always react to situations or to each other like real people would. They seemed to mostly operate in two gears, melodramatic emotionalism or professorial exposition. My favorite character (and is some ways the main character), Chou, was an ultra-rational Mr. Spock-type figure who said things like "I observe great agitation in you." Although her dialogue was often cornball along those lines, at least she felt more genuine for who she was supposed to be. Story/Writing Like most science fiction, "Unicorn Jelly" introduces a lot of faux-scientific concepts and history. This is something I have no objection to if it helps add a sense of background reality to a fantastic world. But this material often impeded what little narrative momentum existed. I'm just more interested in becoming involved in a riveting story than in learning about all this background stuff. Reitz includes an almost encyclopedic amount of supplementary material for the diehard fans, so she really could have freed up the main story from much of this. After about strip 250 or so, I had great difficulty keeping track of whom exactly was doing what and why, and kind of surfed through the rest of the story in a stupor of marginal interest. Even during a sequence that should have thrilling--when the world was coming to an end--my degree of plot comprehension and emotional involvement was lacking. All of these characters I really didn't care about were running around frantically, scrambling toward ships, engaged in combats and talking about alliances, conspiracies and betrayals that just washed over me like random noise. One persistent note of irritation was the constant use of the pseudo-curse word "Farg" by nearly every character. "What the farg?", "farging this", "farging that" really got on my nerves by the end. The only part of the entire lengthy epic that really engaged me was the young witch Lupiko's brief retelling of the creation of her incantation-free, more efficient broom based of rational design. http://unicornjelly.com/uni085.html This was the only sequence that seemed to really integrate the much touted theme and struck a universal psychological chord. Here was a smart kid wanting to impress her elders and trumpet her own genius by showing off a new way to do things. There was probably more of the real Jennifer Diane Reitz in that one very human sequence than all of the other cosmic baloney. Themes This is the area where "Unicorn Jelly" really should have shinned. I was slightly offput at the start by some of the introductory remarks made by the author. I guess I'd rather discover the themes of a work myself than be told bluntly that it's about "the meaning of Ideals, and the curious and sometimes conflicting mental tools of Rationalism and Mysticism". Also, being informed that "Every event in the story is important, and has meaning, even if it may not seem so initially" smacked of extreme pretentiousness. It should go without saying that any good author/artist has carefully selected every element in their work for a reason. In Strip 42, the mysticism vs. rationalism theme is brought up explicitly. Can mysticism be reduced to chemicals or, by its very nature, is it something irreducible and "mysterious"? This is a fascinating topic, but I wasn't able to glean much on it from the comic. Though much is made plotwise about the conflict between the Alchemists (the scientific/rationalist approach) and the Witches (the intuitive/mystical approach), I didn't find a whole lot of meaty exploration of the core differences between their respective approaches to reality. For thick readers like myself who just didn't "get it", author Reitz generously includes an "Understanding Unicorn Jelly" section, which details the hierarchical levels of complexity at which the webcomic can be appreciated (conveniently fruit-coded). But if an author needs a separate section to explain to readers how to appreciate her work, then it's likely failing on some basic level of communication. Overall It required an enormous amount of "sisu" (determination) on my part to get through the archives. But don't get me wrong; "Unicorn Jelly" is no juvenile dud like "Shifters". Reitz is obviously extremely intelligent and well read (she includes lots of literary quotes, puns and references beneath the strips); I just didn't find her to be a very engaging or effective storyteller. As fully detailed as the jelly-history and crystal-cosmology may be, as brilliant as everything may tie together thematically and structurally on every level of cosmic fruit, if you don't care about the characters, none of it matters. Review by The Phantom Critic Mon Feb 16 2004 05:51 PM

Offsite Review Summaries

"Unicorn Jelly is a web comic by Jennifer Diane Reitz. The comic is known for its epic storytelling and retro-style computer art. (The comic was drawn entirely in DPaint 2, a paint program from 1985.) The comic often deals with issues related to homosexuality, feminism, transgenderism, existentialism and promotes the acceptance of minorities. Unicorn Jelly can be read online (free of charge) or bought in two volumes. The comic has ended, but Reitz is currently drawing an independent sequel, Pastel Defender Heliotrope." more... Read Full Review by Wikipedia contributors at Wikipedia Mon Aug 30 2004

"Unicorn Jelly is a completed story, one that begins as a simple adventure, but gradually evolves into an examination of the meanings of faith, loyalty, family, government, religion, and society as a whole." more... Read Full Review by Matt Trepal at Comixpedia Sun Aug 03 2003

Visitor Reviews & Comments

Ugh. I second Rufus. What a waste of time. Review by Alexds1 Sat Nov 06 2004 10:57 AM

Ooh a lot of bad press here... Well, i can't say i'm surprised at the negative reactions to this one. Whilst reading it i lost count of the ways in which it could be slated to the general public. However, as messed up as it is, i enjoyed it. Firstly, i do love a good bit of character development and plot continuity, which this was possibly lacking, however, Unicorn Jelly seemed to be a different sort of comic. Originally its usually all about becoming one with the characters, sympathising with their quirks or enjoying some classic escapism. Unicorn Jelly however was much more... (trying to think of good analogy) Ahh! Think computers. Whereas Windows provides an amazing service, with limitless potential, its converse, the Mac is often described (in unendearing terms) as a computer 'experience', a challenge to use and enjoy. Reading this comic was the closest i've come to that description, and unconventional storytelling as a whole, in a long time. Instead of becoming one with the characters and embracing all the joys escapism can offer, your given a more meaty, but relinquised, view of Reitz' created world. Its almost as if she experienced it in real life, then simply recreated it for others in the form of observations and doodles. Anyway, if you don't have the constitution to read it through then it probably won't be worth it, but if you can get into the flow it most definately is. If nothing else it offers some lovely philosophical ideas that can be enjoyably mulled over. Star rating? As a comic, a generous 5/10, as an enjoyable experience, 8/10! Review by Chibbon Sat Sep 18 2004 07:59 PM

Unicorn Jelly... Not one of my favourite webcomics ever, but it was something different. A fascinating and complex story - well, the first half, anyway; the second half is not as good, but still incredibly interesting. It's difficult to decide whether to be more impressed with the art or with the originality and depth with which the UJ world is created. The art starts off looking shoddy but gets better - and the quality is very impressive towards the end - the fact that it was all mouse-drawn on the computer making it doubly so. The use of animation in places is really well done, as well. The weak point is characterisation: the cutesy style of character depiction doesn't always work and the characters don't excite much sympathy, really. They're completely upstaged by the world they exist in, and it's the world that makes the story rather than the characters. It's been a year or so since I read it, I think; but it still sticks out in my mind as something strange, disturbing, and utterly different from just about anything I've ever read before. The term "flawed genius" exists to cover works like this. Review by The Entity Thu Aug 26 2004 03:07 PM

Just a reminder to those who enjoyed Unicorn Jelly--positive reviews are also welcome and encouraged. Review by Furilius Pitch Thu Aug 19 2004 12:38 AM

Unicorn Jelly was badly drawn and poorly written. There was no dramatic arc, merely a haphazard succession of fragmentary, unrelated moments. The tiny monochrome style was painful to look at. The author's limited cultural perspective and tenuous grasp of history did not provide a stable foundation for philosophic inquiry. I found the story bereft of adventure, comedy, romance, fun, peril, magic, and vivid characters. For a work supposedly set in a different universe, the symbolism was obvious and heavy handed. The Unicorn urine pool was particularly unimaginative, as it plainly represented the estrogen drug Premarin, derived from pregnant mare urine. The author has a long record of eschewing and denigrating religious beliefs, so it was a bit odd to detect a messianic element in Unicorn Jelly. The "creatrix," it seems, is a jealous God and cannot abide imaginary competition. While erecting and toppling straw men might be satisfying for the author, discerning audiences are less likely to greet such ill conceived fare with interest or enthusiasm. Overall, Unicorn Jelly was shallow, pointless, and unrewarding. The hideously busy web page design undercut the graphic simplicity of the strips. The often extended texts beneath the comics competed with them to deflating effect. The titles and quotes (some of dubious validity) interrupted the story's flow, not there was much to begin with. In a word, garbage! Review by Cantstandya Wed Aug 18 2004 11:05 AM

Unicorn Jelly was well intentioned. Sadly, its attempt to be massively creative and original ended up making it a confusing mess. Many of the plot points seemed to be more or less an alternative lifestyles statement/agenda from the author, who IIRC is Transgendered and who lives a polyamorous lifestyle with a number of other men and women. I don't like being preached to, something this webcomic did a number of times throughout its run. However, the worst part of the strip was when the original land the story took place on was destroyed. It became a confusing mess of multiple characters at a point where they really weren't needed. And then the comic did not properly stop, but continued after this, becoming even MORE confusing with nonlinear storytelling going backwards and forwards in time with even more chracters thrown at you. It went on around 100-200 strips longer than it should have. It was like the Hulk was in the movies. It went on too long, tried to be too preachy and creative, and ended too far after when it actually should have. Review by Captain Rufus Fri Jul 23 2004 12:41 PM

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