The Belfry WebComics Index

For all you true Horror or Sci-Fi fans this webcomic is right up our ally. The first few pages reminds me of the likes of Creep Show. It also has the likeness of the old eerie and Creepy Magazine. Some of the pages look like Berni Wrightson drew them him self. As far as the art goes I love it. The quality of art is better on some pages than others. It looks like the artist has a little trouble keeping faces consistent. The color is very cool it looks like more time could be spent on it though. Actually I am glad the art is not any better because then I would probably have to pay to read it and I would.

I am not sure I would categorize these creatures as Zombies but they do look like the undead. I am so curious to see what happens to the aliens when transformed and that crazy cat gives me the creeps.


The comic has all the components of a great horror story. I checked out the bio of the writers and these guys are Rock Stars. They are professional writers that been writing comics for years. There is only 40 pages posted online so far it makes me wonder what the hell they have planned. It is way to early to to judge the story but I hope it does not flop. I am betting it wont.

The Horror of Colony 6 ROCKS! I am hooked and go through withdraws until the next weeks page is posted. I think it is on Tuesdays.

Peace Out,
Max

Alright. So here's a review for The Horror Of Colony 6. Just from the name it wouldn't be something I'd usually pick up, and yes this review is biased. The title sounds like a sci-fi B-film. But, when I open up the first page, I'm presented with some pretty good art and some pretty neat looking space ships. I like space ships. And the designs on these are pretty neat, and the way space is portrayed breaks the "inky black void" trope, giving an eager first impression.

So we open up with some pretty typical philosophical stuff. It kinda makes me want to cringe, some of the lines. If this had been a spoof or a comedy, then it would have been some straight humor. But it wasn't, so I'm expected to take it all seriously, including the line "...they desecrate the landscape with their garbage, their waste and their disrespect."

On top of missing a comma, the premise of this comic is as subtle as an elephant waving the communist manifesto at a US gun conference... While the elephant is on fire... and singing Poker Face.

So by time I'm at the second page, there's already some drama with one of the characters sleeping with another's wife. The next page gives me a melodramatic scene where Thao flips open Jarvis's helmet with a remote.

Now... I'm no expert on pressure suits and all, particularly space exploration and all. But why would someone else have a remote to ANOTHER person's suit?

Anyhow, we go on and the third guy tries stopping Thao, only to get his helmet flipped open too. After a scuffle, the remote is momentarily lost. New guy (who's name I can't recall) scrambles to find it, and eventually does. By this time Jarvis has managed to get up and stab the hell out of Thao with the shovel.

As the scene flips back to Jarvis, everything is hidden by shadows and outlined silhouettes.

Oh don't tell me. Jarvis is a zombie?

BINGO. And holy balls the guy had Thao's heart ripped out. +1 for gruesome and amazing art, but -5 for being totally obvious.

Alright, so at this point, we're moved back to the main complex where the "base" is or whatever. It's at this point that I begin to see, though impressively colored and detailed, some of the facial art and features are totally wonky. Things seem out of proportion, and there's a few "giraffe neck" moments. All in all not too bad, but again, I'm supposed to be taking this seriously.

But I can't take it seriously when faces like this are being made ( http://i53.tinypic.com/r1evsk.png ) Or find this particular page and look at the face that's being made right after it. I laughed, aloud.

So allow me to take a small break and say that, under normal circumstances, I would not be continuing this comic. Like the b-films that have preceded it with ghostly similar plots, it will most likely be entertaining to the mere enthusiasts of the genre. This probably, of all things, would have made a better PRINT comic. But this is the internet, and there are literally hundreds of new webcomics being made a day. Will they be better than this one? Well, not all. In fact, this one, in terms of art and willingness to stick to a legible (if not cliche) story, automatically rises above mediocre into "Alright", which is right underneath "Good" and "Awesome", and this automatically out rank the hundreds of MS paint comics that don't live past a month or so. But because it is a comic about, A) Zombies, and B) Space, there's not a good chance it will rise to the entertaining status of comics like Phoenix Requiem or Lackadaisy Cats.

As we go on the first SMART thing happens. Jarvis arrives at the space base and starts whacking the heck out of a window, but wait. This is a alien planet and the windows are six inches thick. Smartly, they stick him in the quarantine room. And before the usual cliche of a doctor entering the room, getting attacked, and all hell breaking loose, they decide to stay away from the guy for the moment.

Plus 5 points for obvious survival skills.

So as it turns out, the zombie virus is actually a slightly radioactive fungi that's inside Jarvis, driving him mad. Pretty gruesome and I actually got chills over that. I haaaate parasites or the idea of anything inside me.

And then suddenly BAM WE'RE INTRODUCED TO ALIENS. Wow. That was sudden. There's Josh. Running through a mall. Suddenly, aliens. Ookay, righto. I take it in stride.

And then Thao's cheating wife kinda ruins it all.

I mean... yes, the virus/fungi needs to get in somehow to move the story. But did it have to be because of the dumbass wife? She literally says, "They have a quarantine place! I can't let you in!"

And then she lets him in.

... *shrugs* Personally, for once, I'd like the origin of the zombie plague to be unclear. Maybe a robot rolled it and had some spores stuck in a fan or something? Or maybe the Thao zombie got in without anyone really knowing? I don't know, but the whole scene was played kind of harshly, when in fact it really wasn't anything special.

So from there it devolves into the typical zombie comic song and dance, albeit SPACE themed. I'm not sure if it helps it or hurts it, but it's there. Complete with big, bulky aliens speaking in broken English. (Taser not effecting well!)

I stopped reading because I was bored.

So... Let's get down to the technical bits. Story wise, typical. I can't judge it because it's been done thousands of times before. I can't even call the parasitic fungus original because I've read Lemony Snicket, but it does give me chills at least.

So with the story being flat as crepe, I move to the characters. Again, totally flat. I don't see "characters" here. I see interesting shapes given bits of dialogue. It's the difference between Robert DeNiro staring at a mirror, threatening himself with a dark menace, and Tommy Wiseau half-yelling across a room "You're tearing me apart Lisa!"

So again, things fall flat. But I will say that the coloring and shading is impressive and was the first thing that drew me in, no pun intended. It could use some better line work and closer attention to pose. Some of the stuff got kinda wonky at times, like the facial expressions.

Also, female's posses different lips types other than "full and pouting", just saying.

Anyhow, not the kind of comic I would read, but certainly the type that will keep the hardened zombie fan satisfied. To be honest I could poke fun at cliches all day, but the fact is that I can't really say anything more about it. It's a zombie comic, nothing more, nothing less.

All in all, a 6 out of 10. Not brilliant, but perhaps just a sketch over mediocre in comparison to the other drabble of zombie comics.

-LSC