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Red String #6
Red String Volume 6
Published by Strawberry Comics, this volume contains chapters thirty-four through forty-one. Treat yourself to the high-quailty of a printed edition of your favorite series. You also get some cool extras including a foreword by Megan Gedris of Meaty Yogurt and I was Abducted by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space, the Actor's Dressing Room spoofs, and bonus art.
(B&W, 256 pgs.)
(B&W, 256 pgs.)
256 pages
First published January 1, 2011
1 person is currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Gina Biggs
34 books44 followersGina Biggs has been creating comics for over twenty years and recently resides in Portland, OR. She is the creator of the sci-fi romance series,
Love Not Found
. Other notable works include Red String (Dark Horse Comics, Strawberry Comics), and Erstwhile Fairytales.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 4, 2016
To Biggs credit, she can depict some pretty emotional stuff when she sets her mind to it. What she lacks, at times perhaps, is a complete understanding of the things she's trying to depict: namely, depression and how encompassing and crushing that can be. At times, characters such as Makoto or Miharu present as a mouthpiece to the author's supposed views on these serious mental health issues, but they come across as misguided, misinformed, or just plain cruel... and these characters are never called out on this. Blaming Kazuo, shaming Kazuo, dismissing Kazuo for something that has completely destroyed his life and happiness. She does a fantastic job of depicting this and the ultimate descending of Kazuo's character into crippling depression is painful to watch simply because it is well done. But the other characters' reactions to such things are more flawed, especially as they're presented as ultimate truth, rather than a flawed observation from flawed characters. (Calling him a coward or a wuss, shaming him for not standing up for himself when he CAN'T, blaming him for his actions when he has been completely destroyed by an abusive relationship... victim-blaming is rampant in these volumes, and although at times it doesn't seem intentional, overall, it's pretty disgusting to see especially when coming from characters we're meant to sympathize with, i.e. Miharu.)
I'm not saying that Kazuo should have a free pass for his behavior. But at least some more sympathy and support would be better than calling him an idiot or a fool or a coward or full of crap.
On a more positive note, the artwork continues to improve and the pacing is for the most part pretty solid. There are some hiccups, but overall the story flows nicely from one to the other. And unlike in the earlier work, you can actually tell the characters apart.
The author being completely enamored with Makoto continues. He was originally meant to be a minor character who stood in the way of KxM for a while and then eventually went away. But then somehow he became Biggs' favorite character. Unfortunately for Makoto, Biggs forgot to give him much of a personality beyond being "in love" with Miharu (although his actions are more infatuation than love... really, you fell in love with a picture, Makoto?). He's bland bland bland bland bland. And the epitome of Nice Guy (not meant as a compliment: http://www.shakesville.com/2007/12/ex...), who never faces any flaws or trials aside from someone being in the way of his GIRL ~*~*~*~*~*~. As such, he presents as utterly boring and uninteresting. But of course we have to love him ~*~*~*~
Nope. No dice. He's boring, uninteresting, and even with all those pages devoted in an attempt to give him an interesting or varied back story utterly falls flat. Boo hoo, silly rich boy got dumped. Life is soooooOOOOoooOOOOooo hard for him. The attempts to ret-con his original introductory behavior is half-assed and eliminates any attempts to give him some kind of character growth (I thought that's what women wanted!!1 vs. Wow I was an ass and now I've grown up and can recognize my mistakes ................ which is more interesting/realistic? No, heaven forbid Makoto have any flaws).
Snort.
On a happier note... The progression of Eiji and Reika is interesting and satisfying to see. I've always been a sucker for friendships that evolve into something stronger, and I feel like Biggs handles their relationship and progression well.
Hanae and Fuuko's interactions are also something I really, truly enjoyed: the concept of taking things further, progression of relationships, jealousy and flirting with other people, and less happy things like weight issues and societal expectations.
I'm not saying that Kazuo should have a free pass for his behavior. But at least some more sympathy and support would be better than calling him an idiot or a fool or a coward or full of crap.
On a more positive note, the artwork continues to improve and the pacing is for the most part pretty solid. There are some hiccups, but overall the story flows nicely from one to the other. And unlike in the earlier work, you can actually tell the characters apart.
The author being completely enamored with Makoto continues. He was originally meant to be a minor character who stood in the way of KxM for a while and then eventually went away. But then somehow he became Biggs' favorite character. Unfortunately for Makoto, Biggs forgot to give him much of a personality beyond being "in love" with Miharu (although his actions are more infatuation than love... really, you fell in love with a picture, Makoto?). He's bland bland bland bland bland. And the epitome of Nice Guy (not meant as a compliment: http://www.shakesville.com/2007/12/ex...), who never faces any flaws or trials aside from someone being in the way of his GIRL ~*~*~*~*~*~. As such, he presents as utterly boring and uninteresting. But of course we have to love him ~*~*~*~
Nope. No dice. He's boring, uninteresting, and even with all those pages devoted in an attempt to give him an interesting or varied back story utterly falls flat. Boo hoo, silly rich boy got dumped. Life is soooooOOOOoooOOOOooo hard for him. The attempts to ret-con his original introductory behavior is half-assed and eliminates any attempts to give him some kind of character growth (I thought that's what women wanted!!1 vs. Wow I was an ass and now I've grown up and can recognize my mistakes ................ which is more interesting/realistic? No, heaven forbid Makoto have any flaws).
Snort.
On a happier note... The progression of Eiji and Reika is interesting and satisfying to see. I've always been a sucker for friendships that evolve into something stronger, and I feel like Biggs handles their relationship and progression well.
Hanae and Fuuko's interactions are also something I really, truly enjoyed: the concept of taking things further, progression of relationships, jealousy and flirting with other people, and less happy things like weight issues and societal expectations.
Displaying 1 of 1 review