Webcomic Book Club Full Reviews of Tween by A.P. Furtado

Art: Tween is lush. While there haven't been many characters yet, the art is vibrant, and it looks like a fantasy setting without beating us over the head. The background is probably the best part, in my opinion. It gives us a good idea of Tween as a place-whether we're seeing a healthy forest or a frozen wasteland, it looks realistic. Characters: This is a weaker point for Tween. Ehron and Pheebus are interesting (Pheebus is a funky looking elf, so there went that stereotype), and Ehron's a nice parody of the all knowing wizard. But Bijou is little more than a valley girl accent with a face right now, and Bad Mojo...well, he's too ridiculous as a villain for my taste. The only one who's really caught my attention is Eel bone, since he has a sense of humor while being evil. Hopefully seeing more of the story will improve the characters, since Furtado is currently near the beginning. Story: Right now, the story is pretty simple. An evil force is coming, and someone has to stop it. Tween gives it a twist, though, because evil hasn't been around for a long time...and what's coming is hardly organized. There isn't much of a story yet, but there's a lot of promise...I'm looking forward to what is coming. Writing: Tween's writing is decent. I'm not sure how it will progress, though; the humor is good, but I worry about the serious moments. The narrator especially worries me-I feel he could ruin any dramatic tension if he's used at the wrong time. However, we'll have to see what develops. There is a rudimentary sense of who is speaking-most notably with Bijou-so that, at least, is promising. Overall: Tween has a great deal of promise. It's a fantasy comic that has a sense of humor, and it's already subverted some stereotypes of the genre. But without something at stake, I'm worried that the humor will fall flat. 8 out of 10. Review by Benor Sun Dec 07 2003 12:31 AM

Art: The art in Tween was vibrant, detailed, cartoony, and all-around an eye-pleasing piece of work. It does a nice job of conveying the general feel of the comic, and the characters look like the slightly twisted stereotypes they're supposed to be. Probably one of the most immediately impressive bits of Tween, I've no qualms about the art. Characters: Ah, the charaters, the characters. As already mentioned, these guys are a bunch of stereotypes that've been twisted around slightly. We've got a wizard, an elf, a damsel, a powerful force of evil, and what looks to be a barbarian hero on the horizon. Even if he does think the main character's a troll. However the wizard's a druggie, the elf's varying between amusingly paranoid and hopelessly naive, the damsel's not going to be doing any screaming any time soon...unless it's over or with said barbarian hero...the powerful force of evil is hopelessly out of date, the one true classic remaining, and we'll see about the barbarian hero. Overall, they're not that deep or interesting, but they've enough of a twist to them to keep one's interest, for now at least. Storyline: Well, the beginning of the story was oddly reminiscent of Chicken Little, for me at any rate. In rushes the elf, gibbering about the return of Bad Mojo with all the vigor Chicken Little displayed towards her falling sky routine. And it's treated with about as much belief by the wizard as most people today would react to the news that the sky was falling. To be precise, none. Overall: "Tween" looks to be an amusing parody, though we'll see if it's destined to remain just another such parody or whether it'll go on to become something truly noteworthy. 7/10. Review by Luthorne Sat Dec 06 2003 11:48 PM

A review of Tween by Kajamir the Giant Tween, thus far, is easily the best of the Modern Tales comic batch I've seen yet. While very short like the others, I could actually see Tween being a real asset to a pay site. It looks damn good, harkening me back to beloved days of watching Ralph Bakshi's Wizards, which wouldn't suprise me as being a strong inspiration. Tween's art reminds me of mish mash of several things such as Wizards and Snarf Quest, though no singular instance. It's a nice mix of bright cartoonish fantasy that I haven't seen in a while, and certainly not online. I think the characters are quite appealing, and it's nice to see them not holding to simply a modern look in medievil garb. The inclusion of an ugly hero is applaudable, since it forces people to accept him how he is and like him for reasons of writing. The writing looks pretty traditional as far as a fantasy story goes, and I think that's the idea. There's some low key humor in it, but it's more the kind to make you smile than laugh. I particularly like how the evil monster tries to convince an ally to help him rule the world, but the ally boredly rejects the idea and insists on painting a watercolor than wielding great power. The only part I didn't like is the female co -star. As was mentioned in another review, she's a little too obnoxious in her characterization. I'd recommend that her valley girl snob personality be toned down a bit since she seems to like saying nothing inspired in particular at every moment. Short, sweet, and pretty eye catching, I give Tween an 8 of 10 stars based on what I've seen. Certainly a nice little creation as a first impression. Review by Kajamir the Giant Sat Dec 06 2003 11:05 PM

A bit of a shorter review this week because of the press of exams. No, not studying for them, but both of my Monday exams require work to be done in advance of the actual exam. ¬.¬ Enough whining on my part! ^_^ On with the review! "Tween" was... odd. While I like the story, I can't help but feel that it could be made a tad more cartoony. While the artwork is good, and while I always enjoy a good degree of detail, I believe that there is a point at which the level of detail becomes too much and begins to actually detract from the webcomic. This is one of those cases. The art isn't horrible, mind you, but it could stand to be a little less detailed, in my mind. The classic 'great evil returning' fantasy story can be done one of two ways: good and bad. A story either 'has it', or it doesn't. Tween happens to have it in spades. I find the ideas of a banja bean-smoking old wizard and an evil minion wizard who realizes the datedness of 'evil' to be a rather original, cynical, and amusing take on an old story. Speaking of the characters, I found some of them to be amusing, and most of them to be interesting. Pheebus is annoyingly naïve or paranoid at times, often alternating between one and the other in quick succession. In all, I've seen better, I've seen better, and this story is just getting started. With a little effort, Tween could be the bizarre, underground version of a McKiernan novel. Keeping this potential in mind, Tween gets a Seven out of Ten. Review by Xenix Sat Dec 06 2003 05:01 PM

"Dook. Its Salen's Comic Review, where Salen... uh... reviews comics. Dook. Onward valiant readers to the review of Tween!" "Tween, a comic that takes an old school artistic flavor, combines it with a story of good and evil, and liberally mixes in humor. Lots of humor. As The Phantom Critic stated, the comic reminds me a LOT of the film "Wizards" as well. About the only glaring thing I can say about the comic right now, is I wish there was more to read. But I'll get to that in a bit." Artwork: "The artwork for Tween is clean, its colorful, and really does seem to harken back to "Wizards". The style that people in the comic and the backgrounds definantly suggest an older style than you'd normally see, and for a fantasy based comic, in a mystical world... its probably pretty darn appropriate. I like the artwork. Its just really nice and clean. And it definantly looks 'fantasy'-ish." Characters: "Characters, not a ton here to mention, mostly because there just aren't a lot of characters in the story right now. You have an overstressed elf, a 'bean' smoking wizard, a female 'entertainer', an evil force, and an evil wizard and his pet vulture. Oh, and the narrator. Like I said, not a lot. While all the characters seem to have their own personality and things, some of them at this point don't seem very developed. Then again, that could be because there's just not as many comics as you'd hope for an 'epic' comic. One trait that all the characters (or a good majority anyways) seem to have is a sense of humor to them. Not like finding something funny at a time, but more a 'punchline' joke being thrown out near the end of each comic." Writing: "Remember what I said about humor? Well, thats mostly what the comic seems to involve around delievering. In some respects, it reminds me of Sluggy Freelance, with the 'Joke of the Day' in each comic. While most of the humor I enjoyed, I'm not sure it really is as funny as Sluggy Freelance. Plus, it feels weird reading an 'epic' comic of Good and Evil, and getting the amount of humor the comic tosses the readers way. I'm not saying its bad, I'm just saying that it feels weird at times. Thats all..." Plot: "It's Good verses Evil, with humor. And the story is just really moving right now. With the lack of a large volume of comics, it's hard to tell what direction the comic is gunna take, although I'd suspect a large amount of wise-cracks throughout it. That seems to be a constant." Overall: "So... what do I think of Tween? Its different. I could see reading every now and then. Its funny, although some folks might not enjoy the comedy as much as others. One thing I'm not sure I like is the large number of comics on each 'page' of the archive. For us on dialup... viewing all the comics can take some time to load up. But I guess getting a 'weekly' section of comics might be nicer if I was cruising on a high speed connection." "Still, other than having to wait for the comics to load up, I liked the comic. And the artistic style really is refreshing in a way. Its just a style you don't really see. So anyways, if you happen to have a Modern Tales subscription, consider reading this comic. It couldn't hurt." Score: 8.5 Shiny Swords out of 10. Review by Salen Stormwing Sat Dec 06 2003 04:54 PM

This is another strip with such a paltry offering of material, I feel it's way too early to give it an adequate review (this review covers material up to Chapter 2, Strip 2). "Tween" is a humorous sword & sorcery strip with a bit of an underground comix edge. It was reminiscent to me in both tone and appearance of Ralph Bakshi's film "Wizards" as well as Vaughn Bode's comic strip "Cheech Wizard". Artwork Let's start with the artwork, which was absolutely terrific. I love this kind of style. The designs, the compositions, the color were just perfectly suited for comedic fantasy art. When I reviewed the webcomic "Nodwick" (which I loved) the only quibble in my critique was with the artwork. Though the "Nodwick" art was good, it just did not quite have the magical zing that I yearn for in fantasy art. "Tween" has that zing in spades. Writing Alas, if only I could be as enthusiastic about the writing. Whereas the writing in "Nodwick" had a professional comedian's sense of ease and timing, the humor in "Tween" often felt forced, like it was trying too hard to be hipper than its own material (the Narrator was particularly guilty of this). I don't want to be overly harsh because some stuff was quite amusing. I loved Eelbone's reaction to Bad Mojo's "Blanket the world in darkness scheme". But more often than not, sequences of schtick went on for panels and panels, long after the comedic concept had been delivered. Characters The characters were more "types" than three-dimensional people, which is fine for this sort of genre. But so far, the heroes have failed to exhibit the necessary charm that would make their negative traits seem endearing. The panicky elf Pheebus displayed the bumbling initiate qualities and underdeveloped charisma of a Jar Jar Binks. The Wizard Ehron's drunken, laid back manner was fine for a start, but I'm hoping either a little more depth or a lot more comedy will be forthcoming from him. The sexy Bijou Bleu grated on my nerves a bit with her Valley Girl-like speak ("what-EVAH") and her impatient, jaded attitude toward everything. I was definitely getting that this is the type of character she's supposed to be--but getting it too much so. Again, I sensed the writer trying too hard to make sure we "got it" rather than letting the character breathe and respond a tad more naturalistically. Maybe this trio will grow on me. The story is still very young. A lot depends on the situations they are put it, the opponents they face, how their relationships develop, etc. Overall I guess the one interesting aspect of webcomic reviewing that is so totally unlike films or novels is that you're often dealing with works-in-progress, and perhaps a critic's comments might even filter back to the creator and have a positive impact. I really do want to love this comic and would probably follow this artwork down almost any path. It's got all the story elements I enjoy except the forced writing. Perhaps A.P. Furtado should lighten up, kick back, smoke some banja beans and just let the characters speak for themselves. Review by The Phantom Critic Tue Dec 02 2003 02:28 AM

Visitor Reviews & Comments

Tween is awesome. In my opinion it is the best webcomic out there. The art is fabulous. It has a great fantasy feel about it. The colors are very well chosen and actually have shading and depth. The story is great to. It has great humor every couple of strips. Unlike the other reviewers I do not believe the humor was forced at all. The characters are awesome. Tween has its own characters. Ehron, the Wizard, is not a person who conforms to a ritualistic must be perfect attitude. Pheebus, the elf, is like a splash of ice water (or maybe some Sierra Mist). He is far from the standard elf. Instead of being relaxed and cool he, as A. P. Furtado says, ...is a walking and talking bundle of combustible neurotic energy. Also elves normally are attractive creatures. But not in Tween. Tweens elves have droopy ears and large, almost beak like noses. In the end Tween rocks. Not only does it have fabulous art, a great story with lots of humor, and awesome characters, but A. P. Furtado puts out a new episode every week. Sometimes it amazes me how much some artist computers break. But A. P. keeps his computer, scanner, and story functioning perfectly. Review by Kroger Mon Dec 08 2003 10:37 PM

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