By Kevin Johnson
Sub: division is a flash-based animated comic found on angrymonkey.
It follows the quest of a group of people who, in the wake of a massive
earthquake separating and sinking the entire state of California,
are trying to find a way to bring their homes back to the surface.
They've made a refurbished submarine their base of operations and
have some pretty wild equipment. One interesting item is the bubble
that inflates underwater and allows the user to enter without water
getting in (it was used so that one of the characters could sleep
in the bedroom of his submerged house). The whole comic has a noir
feeling and they each start with a news reporter giving a 60's style
report of the incident and the goal of the characters - bars rising
vertically and all.
"Each episode" should actually read "both episodes"
and is the first major problem with the site. With only two episodes
and no advertisement of a third the site is a little bare. There are
also no publication dates on the comics so there is no way to tell
what kind of frequency, if any, the comic has. Each episode takes
an 'en media res' approach but unfortunately neither really come to
any resolution. An interesting element is the use of in-comic "advertisements".
While the animation plays, little numbers will pop in next to objects.
When clicked, the animation pauses while an advertisement for the
product is displayed. Some ads actually reveal a bit of narrative
so the user can benefit from clicking them. However, they are not
real ads and nothing comes from them but a description of the item
so ultimately it's a distraction from the story.
Sub: division has potential. It has the look and feel of classic noir
and some parts of the plot play on that really well. The ads for now
are useless as the minor details they reveal about the plot could
easily be brought forth within the story. But with only two episodes
it's still an infant so it's hard to give it a full evaluation and
determine its future (although no indication of new episodes could
be taken as a sign).