By Wesley Wong
Everythingjake is an online comic strip that follows the adventures
of college freshman Jake Bruno, and his friends Kelly Rose and Faith
Robbins. A new strip is released each day, usually consisting of four
to nine panels. The strip is done by Mike Rosenzweig, a FIT dropout,
and aspiring comic book artist: "If you're an editor, why don't
you drop me a line? I'll work work for peanuts. And I give great head.
Really."
The comic strip is hand drawn, but uses computer text for the speech
elements. Other than that, the strip resembles any other newspaper
comic. After hearing Scott McCloud speak about the online innovations
in comics, everythingjake.com is somewhat of a disappointment. There
are no attempts at non-linearity or divergent plot lines. Instead,
it appears the author is simply drawing his comics as if destined
for print, and then scanning them into his computer and posting them.
Instead of trying to craft a new online comic form, the author seems
to be reinforcing the standard comic format. Each strip is presented
on a black background, as if to isolate it and make the user forget
he is viewing a web page. The flashing banner ads, however, detract
from this technique. At the bottom of the strip are navigation arrows
that allow you to move between separate episodes.
The only instance where the site that shows an awareness that this
is a digital and interactive space is the inclusion of a message board.
Here, readers can post comments and critique the author's work. The
site also includes a detailed description of each cast member to get
the new reader quickly acquainted without having to read through all
of the previous issues. If we evaluate www.everythingjake.com
against its print peers, then we can see it as a successful comic.
The artwork is sharp, and the author shows improvement as the issues
progress. The plot is likewise interesting to college students like
myself. However, as an online comic it is a weak showing, and does
not take any risks in experimenting with new modes of storytelling
that the medium allows. As you read the author's bio, it becomes apparent
that this is perhaps a result of his aspirations to become a print
comic artist.