Optical Sloth

Ruffians #6

Aw, dammit! I was having such a good time with this series, really getting into the characters and wondering where this whole thing was heading. Then Brian had to go and put himself in the comic. This has always struck me as a fairly ridiculous thing to do, especially in a case like this where it's a fictional comic. Sure, Dan Clowes or Chester Brown showing up in a story of theirs isn't the worst thing in the world, at least in the autobio stuff. But this... blech. This issue starts off with Scar walking up to the front door of the home of Brian Canini. You may be thinking that we get all sorts of answers to the story here, or at least his presence moves the plot along. No and no. Brian does mention the origin of why Scar looks the way he does (he looks like a teddy bear Brian had as a child), but that's the extent of the useful information we are given here. Unless you're curious about the life of Brian, as he does go into why he moved out of Ohio, which is fine if that had the slightest bit to do with the actual story. At least there's a big old prison brawl in the last few pages (after Scar "wakes up" to find himself back there), but it can't save this issue. At the end of the issue you're exactly where you were at the end of the last issue, and that's a hard thing to ignore in an ongoing series like this. Maybe when all is said and done this will have some significance to the storyline and I'll be proven an idiot (not the first time), but for now I say again, blech. Oh, and don't think this means I've given up on this. Not by a long shot, it's still a lot of fun and I'm still wondering where this is all headed. This issue by itself just didn't do a thing for me, that's all.

Ruffians #5

This issue seems to represent a bit of a lull in the series, which I suppose makes sense if you consider the fact that it's entirely inside the prison, so what exactly can a hitman, bent on revenge, do in there anyway? In this issue Scar wins some cigarettes, gets the crap beat out of him, and meets his "lawyer", in which we get some hope that he might get out of all this yet. All in all a decent issue, not something that does a whole lot for me on its own, but probably as a piece of a larger whole it'll make everything run together more smoothly. That's assuming, of course, that the series is going to keep moving right along. The steady pace of these things coming out has kept me, cynical as I can be about people giving up on their various comic series, hopeful about there being a beginning, middle and end here, as well as a will to keep it all moving. Go Brian go!

Ruffians #4

Things just keep getting worse for Scar, as this issue shows him entering prison and immediately picking a fight with one of the most powerful guys in the place. Which I've heard is sometimes sound advice if you find yourself stuck in prison, although maybe not the best idea for an unarmed three foot tall bear. There are also a few flashbacks in here, showing us a bit more why Scar cares so much to avenge the death of his friend, and a few new characters get introduced who are already in prison. Hey, the guy's a hitman, it makes sense for him to already know people in the place. What can I say, I still can't wait to see what happens in the next issue, and that's all I can ever ask from a series.

Ruffians #3

What, did you really think that fight scene was over with just because it got interrupted? This issue has the best of both worlds, as there's plenty of mayhem to go around and we get the answers to some burning questions. Like why the hell does Scar wear those giant boxing gloves anyway? Did Malt have something against Black Jack? And who is the woman who comes to his door? OK, one of those questions has no relevance to the larger story, but it's up to you to figure out which one. Another excellent, fast-paced issue, nothing to complain about here once again.

Quote: New review for Ruffians #3 by Brian Canini. Yeah, I know I just updated his page last week, but I was anxious to see where the story was going.

Ruffians #2

OK, I'm offically over my problems with the main character of this story being a three foot tall bear. Watching him getting his ass kicked for the better part of an issue will do that for me, apparently. While the last issue set up the story, this one was all action, with Scar confronting the assassin who killed his friend (a giant gorilla named Malt) and them both shooting and stabbing their way through each other and the issue. Great pace, good fight scene, nothing to complain about here, unless you wanted more character development or something, in which case move along. I just got issue #3 and 4 today, so obviously things are going to move right along from here. And kudos on the choice to drop it down to $1.50 and lose the color cover. Sure, it looks a whole lot better the other way, but this way there's more of a chance for people to just pick it up and give it a chance. Besides, the eventual collected edition can have a fancy color cover to make up for it...

Ruffians #1

Oof, look at all those old timey scans down there. If I had all the free time in the world I would rescan all that nonsense, but that's exceedingly unlikely. I always love getting stuff from people whose work I saw years ago, whether or not I liked the old stuff, because it always does me some good to see that people really do stick with this comics thing through thick and thin. This one is an uneven effort, but it has its moments. This is the story of Scar, an assassin that's pictured on the cover. Yes, the giant blue bear with the boxing gloves, which is a large part of the problem. He's portrayed as a hardcore killer who doesn't blink to torture a man for information about his murdered friend, but... well, just look at him. Terrifying isn't the first word that comes to mind. The story, if you can ignore the teddy bear aspect, is done really well. Scar finds his friend (another assassin) dead to start the comic, and Brian makes excellent use of flashbacks interspersed with the real time action in a bar, keeping everything moving at a good pace. We learn a bit more of the backstory of his murdered friend, get to see him torturing a guy in a bathroom for information, and get a solid impression of Scar as a tortured soul. The art, though, was the best pleasant surprise of the book. If you look at the other samples they look somewhere between amateurish and so-so, with backgrounds existing only in your mind. This time around there the settings are tremendously detailed, the people look more like actual people and everything is just... bigger. This makes you believe that it's happening in the real world. Until, that is, you get back to the big teddy bear, which is obviously something I wasn't able to fully get over. Maybe it gets explained to some satisfaction in later issues, and he did send #2 along with this, so I should have a review for that one up in the coming weeks to help clarify. If you can get past the bear and like a (potentially) good mystery/suspense/action story, it's well worth a look.