Saturday Review May 2nd: Kexx

Open The Cabinet Of Curiosities

Come Take A Peek Inside!

And here we find a strange specimen of the comic species, known as Kexx. This odd and alarming creature is a puzzling thing, but it has its moments of disturbing beauty.

You're never quite sure what's going on in this piece. What you do know is that they are gods, and that they are not kind to mortals. If they care at all, they destroy those they care about. And things get worse from there.

The creation of a fellow by the pen name of Fig, Kexx can be found here.

The Rating

Interesting, even clever at moments, but a little short of the mark.

The Raves

I have to say it, this story aims high. When it begins, it's in short, sharp jabs of image and word, clean and sharp as new knives. The themes it deals with are some of the darkest, and in the first few pages you keep reading the same way you watch a car wreck. It's sharp, incisive, and draws you on page by page. It doesn't let you look away or find the pleasant bits; even when there's 

humor, it's of the blackest sort.

The ambition is impressive.

The Razzes

Unfortunately, that wonderful ambition is somewhat hindered by an experimental streak that's been allowed to get way out of hand. There's a serious disconnect between the art style and the subject matter, giving the whole piece the feel of a bad acid trip or a fever dream. I mean, one of the main enemies occasionally has a green duck's head for no discernable reason, and when cute chibi characters start saying 'you need to die now' you begin to feel really, really off kilter.
It wouldn't be so bad if the storyline was easy to follow, but it's not. At all. I've rarely read a story that went in so many different, disconnected directions. Some of those directions are good, even interesting, but you spend so much time trying to make sense of it that at times it feels like more trouble than it's worth.
The fight scenes really don't help either.Very pretty, yes. And also very, VERY confusing.

The site design for Kexx could also use some serious work. Aside from some very minor changes of color, NO work appears to have been done on the site design, which really doesn't help the comic look good. If you have a nice piece of art, you don't hang it in a rickety plastic frame. The creator would do well to do a lot of work on their site in order to get it look classy. It's hard to be impressed by a site that's in default font and no format work whatsoever.

The Revue

If you want a trip down the rabbit hole, this is it....you were warned.