A review of Ghost Cat
By Kajamir the Giant
Our selection this week is a rather simplistic webcomic featuring three young people, their zany stereotype pirate/landlord, and a cute floating dead cat which does little else than... float around and look cute. Really, that's all there is to this comic. It aims for humor, but I didn't feel too inclined to even make a chuckle reading it. It's like a soda that's been left sitting open too long. Sugary, but flat and unsatisfying.
There's discernably little to no story in Ghost Cat. Just weak gags with the occasional bit of romping around by the kids. A setting like this could work for syndication (a haven of canned laughter) or with actual funny jokes. But Ghost Cat just doesn't manage it. It's rather dull really. There's little action, and when there is, it feels abridged. (You'd think a sequence with zombies vs rednecks would've been more fun.)
The characters are equally empty feeling. Each of them has one defining gimmick and no background whatsover. The naggish female dealing with guys she can be mean to without concern, the tech head, and the goofy idiot. All of them, rather forgettable. Mr Shingles actually might be a show stealer if there was something to take, since he has a strangeness inherent to him that makes him at least amusing. Ghost Cat is, well... I wrote in a previous review (Commander Kitty) that comics that use cute characters need to have more to said characters. Because if the character is not judged cute enough by others, it's a waste to use it. Ghost Cat is cute, but completely boring as well. He doesn't get any funny jokes, he doesn't really speak, and he just floats there in each scene looking mindless, usually doing little to nothing. He's a true gimmick, and a poor symbolic bulwark for this comic as much as he's ironically befitting.
The art is alright. Mostly clean looking. However, it's mainly just a lot of talking scenes and very little action. I feel cut and pasting might have actually worked just as well here. I also couldn't shake that the goofball friend of the trio looked like Brock from Pokemon. The anime-ish look is tired here, but servicable.
There's not much to comment on Ghost Cat. It's about a two hour read from the start at this time, so it's easy to look through, but it feels very bare bones. The characters page isn't even up yet, if ever. Ghost Cat needs one thing above all else. Actual content. It's about as interesting as eating plain potato chips or wheat flavored oatmeal. Palatable, and that's it. I can't recommend it unless you're looking for something that lacks edge and has all the originality of a midseason replacement sitcom.
While it doesn't do things in a way to say to me 'eye sore!', it fails to prove itself exciting for the reader. I'm giving Ghost Cat a 4 out of 10 stars. There needs to be some actual material here. And sometimes being adequate isn't enough. |
