Thread "Louder Than Bombs" in forum "The Webcomic Review Forum for the Webcomic Review Comic on the Web"

Posted at 7:03PM, Mar. 26, 2010

We loved the art, liked the premise, hated the writing. What about you guys?

Posted at 8:03PM, Mar. 26, 2010

Your review was fair. At the least, the art is fantastic and deserved to be praised.

Of course, I gotta say– this wasn't the comic for me at all. :( Past the fact that I'm a woman that's not very fond of fanservice as a key element in a comic. There's a lot of… I don't know how to say it– resentment in LtB's humor? It kinda made me feel hated. >_> I couldn't get very far into the comic before I gave it up.

Posted at 9:03PM, Mar. 26, 2010

Oooh, harsh. I'll try to defend our comic. First off, it seems you didnt read past the first thirty strips (the ones done a whole year before the next 50). It's kind of when we hit our stride. I'm just guessing cause of the comics your chose to crop into your backgrounds. Second, I formally apologize for the fact that we don't use typical webcomic fodder (gay jokes, internet humor, gaming humor etc) to win over the masses that flock to webcomics in read the same crap every day. Also, I'm not sure why you tend to use a comparison to newspaper strips as a bad thing. Liberty Meadows was an amazing strip and I brought the funny like no one else. The ultra-masculinity that we portray in the comic is a satire about super manly men that grunt and have balls on the hitches of their trucks. Get over it. Don't take this the wrong way, we're not insulted by the review. I mean, a review is just a review. We can't really take someone seriously when they say we're just going for shock value when he makes jokes about gay people or guys throwing up on other guys. Seriously. Seriously? You ever read Electric Retard or Morning Glory? THOSE are for shock value. Yeah we're different and proud of that fact. Now excuse me, while I draw another shock value drenched comic.

Ps. Ann

Sorry if you felt hated, the comic isn't meant to be that way. We're just making fun of grunting ignorant men. :) Sorry if you felt misrepresented as a woman. Don't give up on us, we're still learning. Thanks for the praises on the art though :) I try hard to give you the best you deserve ;)

Posted at 9:03PM, Mar. 26, 2010

Oh, and before I forget. This is from a FEMALE fan of the comic

tsquared_ @mcfadyn No problemo! Keep up the awesome work with LtB, I like the direction you guys are going stylistically.. very unique!

Made my heart warm. :)

Posted at 6:03AM, Mar. 27, 2010

McFadyn finding a woman who is okay with your comic does not make the attitudes it expresses okay, any more then finding a black person who thinks all other black people are criminals would justify having a racist attitude.

Mcfadyn if your aim is to mock the attitudes of sexist men, then you aren't erally hitting the mark. The comic is told entirely from the sexist mens point of view. We never here a woman having her own opinions, thoughts or desires. Women are only shown to exist in terms of how they relate to men, they are never people in their own right.
You don't disprove or mock the men's sexist attitudes, since your portrayal of women just seems to show that in the world of your comic the sexist characters views are correct.

Your comment of "I formally apologize for the fact that we don't use typical webcomic fodder (gay jokes, internet humor, gaming humor etc)" seems like you are trying to make a straw man argument by putting words in our mouths. We never said we wanted you to be more like other comics, nor did we imply it.
We said that your humour generally lacks a snappy punchline to deliver the joke effectively.
Also sexist portrayals of women and alpha male characters who only see females as objects is NOT original material for a webcomic! Have you not heard of Least I Could Do? (If you haven't, you are lucky, its dreadful!)
Lots of webcomics are based on sexism, fan service and geeky main characters trying to get laid.

If you make a comic that shows women as having no thoughts of their own and no use beyond pleasing men and then do numerous strips complaining about not being able to get laid/a girlfriend, people are going to start thinking you have a problem with women, whether you intend it or not.
There is a distinction between mocking something and just recreating it.

If you want to know how to mock alpha males in a way that is HILLARIOUS, then go check out last weeks review for Smug I Could Do, a comic which utterly demolishes the whole alpha male/mary sue protagonist concept.

Shock value can work, but we found the attempts to shock in this comic just seem forced and to be covering up for week jokes.

Also….what the hell were you thinking with that strip with the man holding a razor to a crying woman? When I am trying to laugh at jokes I dont want images of crying women being threatened! Talk about a tonal shift!

But on the plus side, we did praise your art and layout. Stylistically, Louder Then Bombs looks awesome. But the writing is simply not up to the level of the art.

Posted at 11:03AM, Mar. 27, 2010

It's funny that you suggest we only read the first thirty strips or so, because initially we actually kind of liked the strip. It wasn't long before the thirty comic mark that we started to run into what we didn't like, and from there it didn't seem to really get any better.

Firstly, you DO resort to typical webcomic fodder from time to time, particularly gay jokes (anal sex texting, girl-on-girl action with peanut butter, she-male porn on craigslist…). Also, the comparison to newspaper comics is basically to say that the humor, regardless of subject matter, feels bland and unfunny, which is typical of most comics you read in the newspaper. Of course, as you point out, this doesn't apply to every one, but it's more the exception to the rule.

You said that the ultra-masculinity in the comic is a deliberate satire. I don't doubt that this is your intention, but the execution doesn't flow terribly well. If you are making fun of manly men, it sends mixed messages to address one stereotype, such as viewing women as little more than a blowjob machine, and mixing it with stereotypes that are not befitting alpha males at all, like crying after sex, concern over meeting the right girl, and general existential despair that seems to go beyond irony. If you're setting out to make fun of guys with balls on the hitches of their truck, suggesting that there is more to them than that is not a good way to go about it.

I wasn't the one who suggested that your comic was based in shock value, so calling me hypocritical (unless there have been any pages of Harkovast with gay men and vomit that I've missed) is rather unfounded. It's easy to see what Hark is talking about though, particularly in the page with the woman being held with a razor to her throat - it is completely devoid of irony, and doesn't even feel random; it's just a guy threatening a woman with a knife, telling her that she's wrong. One can't help but wonder what exactly the joke is, unless of course it's the "because you're a woman" punchline, which felt more to be thrown in for good measure than an actual joke. I did, however, say that I felt the humor was bland, and that the comic struck me as more bitter than satirical, and I stand by that.

Still, neither of us could praise the art and its general style enough. As far as that goes, yes, you are doing something great and fairly unique. Past that, we thought the jokes floundered and bitter sexist overtones masqueraded as jokes.

Posted at 9:03PM, Mar. 27, 2010

I'd just like to say that I love it that you guys stick to your guns and explain your reasoning on reviews. I really enjoy when there's a conversation like this and your willingness to explain exactly what you think.

Posted at 5:03AM, Mar. 28, 2010

Thanks, Dr Luck!
I actually like it as much as you do! I am always pleased when somebody offers defence of their comics so we can have a bit of a discussion on the issues we raised.