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Please take some time to check out the random webcomic of the current page load! PLEASE BE AWARE OF HEAVY CONSTRUCTION!
Hello and welcome to the St. Louis, circa 1927. If you've been over enough hills to remember such times, you might recognize some familiar sights. The Culture of Prohibition lives in its prime and the populace has turned to the underground speakeasies for alcohol and social liberation. The skirts are short, the suits stylish, and no patron can be seen without their tilted fedoras. We are introduced to a world where jazz is the thing, criminals are legends, and sin is standard currency. At a popular gin joint called Lackadaisy, the owner's murder leads to a story of intrigue, mystery, and dark humor. Oh, did I mention that everyone is a cat? Must have slipped my mind.
Yes, Lackadaisy is a dreaded furry comic, a distinction that produces both squee and terror in its fans and detractors, respectively. Personally, I never try to judge a book by its cover, or the fur by its color, and I look toward quality over superficiality. So it may be ironic that I write of artwork as my first topic. I have to admire the author, Tracy Butler, for creating a painstakingly detailed world, especially one drawn in a traditional medium. It’s surprising that as much attention has been given the world surrounding the characters as the characters themselves. You can find your eye wandering to the leafy background of the woodlands or to the signs and shops that decorate the vaudevillian streets. The level of detail can be compared to the deep focus techniques in films. As I described before, Lackadaisy is drawn using traditional medium, mostly plain pencil on paper. This may seem archaic in the cyber world, but it only benefits in this case. The graphite views the world as a faded negative, an old movie from a bygone era with all except scratches on the film. This is surprisingly effective in immersing yourself into this world, in spite of its feline nature.
So what of these cats? Well, there are many to speak of. The loudest of the bunch is the rumrunner by day, musician by night, Rocky Rickabee. Being the most obvious candidate for Protagonist, this tabby fancies himself a romantic Robin Hood fighting for the grace of his majesty, current Lackadaisy owner Mitzi May. Ms. May is the widow of the former owner of Lackadaisy, an enigmatic figure known as Atlas. Lackadaisy has apparently fallen on hard times since Atlas was killed, his death causing a great exodus of customers and the influx of dangerous enemies to the establishment. These enemies include a trio of backwoods moonshiners whose illicit business crosses paths with Lackadaisy's, to violent effect. This embroils many of Ms. May's bar room associates including her flapper niece, Ivy, a gritty, Hungarian hulk named Viktor, and Rocky's neurotic cousin, Freckle.
I may be misrepresenting the comic, though, because it isn't much concerned with its plot. What you'll get is mostly dialogue. You might even say that it has a love affair with dialogue. Many of the characters use high-society vernacular which they will use even when it’s not especially necessary. I feel the comic would be better suited with more succinct dialogue than the slightly word heavy stuff. Besides the dialogue, many pages serve very little to story progression and focus on characters doing oddball events the author thought were interesting. This isn't necessarily a killer, but does cause the plot to play catch up and new characters are hastily introduced only to be forgotten a few pages later. This leaves the reader bewildered unless they do research on the character's backstories.
However, I digress. What this comic aims to sell are its characters; a meal the author has lovingly given the most attention. After trying a few mouthfuls I say yes, these characters are of a unique flavor. I'll admit that they are never boring and give credit that Tracy Butler has not resorted to often used caricatures when modeling her protagonists. The tragedy is that originality does not translate to likeability. Rocky is remarkably apathetic and routinely shoots off pretentious and overblown statements that are sometimes funny and mostly inappropriate. I'm reminded of scene in which Rocky sarcastically chastises his cousin's anxiety, keeping in mind that said cousin was involved in a gory shootout the previous night that was the direct result of Rocky's maligned foresight. This is not charming or respectable and only serves as moral indifference on the author’s part.
While I have my grievances, I want the readers to understand this comic is still in its infancy. So far there has only been about one issue of the Lackadaisy and there is a lot left to be done. It’s possible that any issues I bring can be solved during the comic's progression and personally, I believe there is better comic in here. That being said, I judge on what I see and what I see is beautiful art, a bizarre and unsettling cast, and hit-and-miss writing.
User: papallama
I love these cats. The art is great, showing considerable talent with a fun, energetic style, and the content is so much fun to read. Characters are interesting, situation is original, and I look forward to seeing much, much more.
Lackadaisy Cats - http://www.lackadaisycats.com/
Reviews
User: HomunculusHello and welcome to the St. Louis, circa 1927. If you've been over enough hills to remember such times, you might recognize some familiar sights. The Culture of Prohibition lives in its prime and the populace has turned to the underground speakeasies for alcohol and social liberation. The skirts are short, the suits stylish, and no patron can be seen without their tilted fedoras. We are introduced to a world where jazz is the thing, criminals are legends, and sin is standard currency. At a popular gin joint called Lackadaisy, the owner's murder leads to a story of intrigue, mystery, and dark humor. Oh, did I mention that everyone is a cat? Must have slipped my mind.
Yes, Lackadaisy is a dreaded furry comic, a distinction that produces both squee and terror in its fans and detractors, respectively. Personally, I never try to judge a book by its cover, or the fur by its color, and I look toward quality over superficiality. So it may be ironic that I write of artwork as my first topic. I have to admire the author, Tracy Butler, for creating a painstakingly detailed world, especially one drawn in a traditional medium. It’s surprising that as much attention has been given the world surrounding the characters as the characters themselves. You can find your eye wandering to the leafy background of the woodlands or to the signs and shops that decorate the vaudevillian streets. The level of detail can be compared to the deep focus techniques in films. As I described before, Lackadaisy is drawn using traditional medium, mostly plain pencil on paper. This may seem archaic in the cyber world, but it only benefits in this case. The graphite views the world as a faded negative, an old movie from a bygone era with all except scratches on the film. This is surprisingly effective in immersing yourself into this world, in spite of its feline nature.
So what of these cats? Well, there are many to speak of. The loudest of the bunch is the rumrunner by day, musician by night, Rocky Rickabee. Being the most obvious candidate for Protagonist, this tabby fancies himself a romantic Robin Hood fighting for the grace of his majesty, current Lackadaisy owner Mitzi May. Ms. May is the widow of the former owner of Lackadaisy, an enigmatic figure known as Atlas. Lackadaisy has apparently fallen on hard times since Atlas was killed, his death causing a great exodus of customers and the influx of dangerous enemies to the establishment. These enemies include a trio of backwoods moonshiners whose illicit business crosses paths with Lackadaisy's, to violent effect. This embroils many of Ms. May's bar room associates including her flapper niece, Ivy, a gritty, Hungarian hulk named Viktor, and Rocky's neurotic cousin, Freckle.
I may be misrepresenting the comic, though, because it isn't much concerned with its plot. What you'll get is mostly dialogue. You might even say that it has a love affair with dialogue. Many of the characters use high-society vernacular which they will use even when it’s not especially necessary. I feel the comic would be better suited with more succinct dialogue than the slightly word heavy stuff. Besides the dialogue, many pages serve very little to story progression and focus on characters doing oddball events the author thought were interesting. This isn't necessarily a killer, but does cause the plot to play catch up and new characters are hastily introduced only to be forgotten a few pages later. This leaves the reader bewildered unless they do research on the character's backstories.
However, I digress. What this comic aims to sell are its characters; a meal the author has lovingly given the most attention. After trying a few mouthfuls I say yes, these characters are of a unique flavor. I'll admit that they are never boring and give credit that Tracy Butler has not resorted to often used caricatures when modeling her protagonists. The tragedy is that originality does not translate to likeability. Rocky is remarkably apathetic and routinely shoots off pretentious and overblown statements that are sometimes funny and mostly inappropriate. I'm reminded of scene in which Rocky sarcastically chastises his cousin's anxiety, keeping in mind that said cousin was involved in a gory shootout the previous night that was the direct result of Rocky's maligned foresight. This is not charming or respectable and only serves as moral indifference on the author’s part.
While I have my grievances, I want the readers to understand this comic is still in its infancy. So far there has only been about one issue of the Lackadaisy and there is a lot left to be done. It’s possible that any issues I bring can be solved during the comic's progression and personally, I believe there is better comic in here. That being said, I judge on what I see and what I see is beautiful art, a bizarre and unsettling cast, and hit-and-miss writing.
User: papallama
I love these cats. The art is great, showing considerable talent with a fun, energetic style, and the content is so much fun to read. Characters are interesting, situation is original, and I look forward to seeing much, much more.