Sekhmet Reviews – FACTION

in #art6 years ago

 

Welcome back, readers! Are you into virtual reality? I’m not. But let me tell you about FACTION, a comic that will thrill MMO gamers and VR enthusiasts, for sure. This will be a… 

Sober review

‘Cause  I am sleepy and when I’m sleepy I don’t drink and read, I guess. I just  don’t know exactly what to think about this comic, so I’m going to keep  my mind sharp as I put my thoughts down. Maybe I’ll figure it out by  the end of the review (of course I will). Disclaimer: I am a very long-time gamer, so I understand the great  pull of awesome titles and the host of feelings that go with the gaming  experience. I should also state that MMOs are not my thing: I am too  solitary and I also refuse to play for hours and hours, mostly because I  don’t have time for it – I’m too busy killing actual people. So, the  whole virtual reality thing seems silly to me. With that out of the way,  let’s get to the review. 

General impression

The word for this comic is “minimalist”, as art and dialogs are quite  lean. The plot, so far, threads very risky ground, as it is missing a  vital link to actual reality while seemingly exalting armchair warriors. 

Author’s description of the comic

 FACTION is a comic about high-stakes virtual reality and the people who spend their time in it.  In the game of MUlate, players are sorted into Factions and must  fight for domination. Emma Martina – a well known sponsored player –  has played MUlate since it first launched, but with her Faction on the  brink of elimination and mounting pressure from her sponsors, she begins  to wonder how long she has before she’s out of a job.   I’m glad that this  virtual reality has high stakes, because for the moment it looks like  it’s just a typical MMO game where characters get respawned when they  get “killed”. I find it very telling that the blurb points out the  connection between the game and reality, and, for the sake of the story,  I am hoping that Emma will actually be affected by the risk of losing  her job at a major level. 

Story

Emma Martina, a professional gamer, is supposed to earn her sponsors  loads of money thanks to her performance in MUlate. Apparently, though,  she’s a bit of a slacker: being invited to join a crucial fight, she  tries to pull out with a sad excuse. In time, we learn that she is being  ambivalent toward the way her faction is being run. Will she overturn  her incompetent leader? Will any of this bear any meaning? 

Characters

Emma Martina

Emma being cool – I wonder what she’s staring at Our protagonist is a yummy muscled-up woman who can fight  stupendously in a MUlate game, although it looks like she could hold her  own in an actual brawl, too. Emma appears to be resigned to the way  Faction Red works: members just do their own thing, leadership is  non-existent and she is (often?) called in to save the day. To me, the  most engaging aspect of Emma is that, while being a real pro during her  working hours, she also seems detached enough from her job to take it  for what it is: something she (hopefully) enjoys that earns her money,  but nothing to be addicted to. After all, life is not a (virtual) game,  and work should not be all there is to life (tell that to my superiors  or your boss, though, and they will give you a different story). A likeable character, not really rough, yet not too soft, she  generally keeps her cool and detachment, but she is kind enough to  Warsparks, a younger player who will likely inject more enthusiasm in  her life. Which makes me wonder: is Emma actually bored with her job and  that’s all there is to it? Does she have an actual life? Are the two  related to each other to such an extent that she might get into serious,  real trouble for not pleasing her sponsors? At the time of this  writing, none of this is clear, but I do hope that this connection  exists, as it would make her character (and the story) more compelling. 

Warsparks

Warsparks tells it like it is, but who’s listening? A character who may evolve into Emma’s  sidekick, Warsparks takes MUlate really to heart, to the point that I  rolled my eyes. Then again, when I was a teenager, I also took seriously  stuff that would make adults laugh. So, I’ll cut her some slack.  Warsparks is the voice of both innocence and reason, as she gets  frustrated over the lack of leadership in Faction Red. Maybe she wants  to be a star player like Emma when she grows up or maybe she just like  things to be run properly. What’s clear is that she seems like a nice,  outgoing and caring girl with a big gamer crush on Emma (although she  hasn’t asked for an autograph, yet). I hope this character evolves and grows into  more than a simple sidekick or just the logical voice in the mass of  chaotic gaming. 

Seong

Seong – A major dick? The incompetent boss of Faction Red, Seong comes across as a  self-important guy who can’t fight, can’t lead, but really enjoys  getting the social status and attention that come with power. In short –  your average manager. So far, so cliche’, although with a minor twist:  Emma made him the leader. It will be quite interesting to find out why  in the world she did that, especially since the current, minor hints,  don’t point to anything that may have forced her to do so. Maybe just a  misjudgement? It remains to be seen. 

Plot, dialog and pacing

In general, I believe that the comic would work better if it picked  up the pace and connected the dots from VR to reality really quickly. So  far, FACTION is already 35 pages long, but it hasn’t covered a lot of  ground – the basic info has been given, but not much has happened. The  plot is unfolding smoothly with an even pacing that works for the most  part, although it tends to be draggy. Dialog is rather dry and cuts to  the chase, which goes well with this type of comic: I certainly don’t  expect pompous philosophical discussions from a gaming story. 

Art

Art is really cool. I can’t stand the blurry filter, it really hurts  my eyes, but that’s personal tastes. The comic has a catchy style,  complemented by few, yet beautiful watercolors that give out a nice  dreamy vibe (I hate watercolors, so that’s telling). However, sometimes  minimalism goes a little too far: some faces (especially eyes) and  facial expressions are a little too hinted at, to the point of being  washed out. Panels flow masterfully and engagingly (you feel like you  are sliding into VR along with Emma only to emerge all suited up),  although fighting scenes are at times confusing. Overall, I like this  art very, very much, and I wish more comics would use it (so tired of  standard, pretty styles – I get it, you learned to draw cutesy and sweet  in art college and it’s hard to break the mold you and all of your  friends are stuck into, but come on, be daring, art is all about taking  risks outside your comfort zone and growing). 

Conclusions

My very personal issue with FACTION is that up to now I couldn’t get  invested in its characters and the story, because everything has been  centered around a generic videogame. Still, overall I enjoyed this  comic, and I will have another look at it once it’s got significantly  more pages. Check out FACTION, and vote for it on Top Web Comics! © 2017, Infected Blood Comics infectedbloodcomics.com 

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