Ladies And Gentlemen! Hurry Hurry Hurry! Come See the Tale Of WYIHN!
In an interesting new take on the Prince and the Pauper tale, the white-bred suburbs darling and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks are thrown together, changing both lives. Wyihn is a tale driven by interpersonal challenges and internal struggles, a story about people in a very real sense.
The creation of a dreamer by the pen name of Bloomer,
Wyihn can be found here.
The Rating
It's a beginner, but Wyihn stumbles along gamely.
The Raves
As a comic, Wyihn takes on a real challenge of exploring inter-cultural and interpersonal reactions. While it misses the mark, it's a noble goal to be going on with. And the art is quite lovely; a sweet, innocent style that puts me in mind of Mary Engelbreit. The art style is lovingly crafted, with attention to detail and a good grasp of many of the artistic aspects of comic art; texture, framing, visual narrative, anatomy, pose and the conveying of emotion. The style is rich and yet visually open and airy, lending a whimsical sense to the tale.
The style continues in the writing, with a gentle sense of humor and well-written dialogue, especially in family situations. The beginning of the comic really had me interested.
The Razzes
Unfortunately, the piece never did much with that early possibility. As I read, I found myself flipping between pages, thinking 'why am I reading this?' and then wondering why.
Finally, I pinned the reason for the emotional reaction down. None of the characters were holding my sympathy. To be frank, I had no reason to care about any of them.
Basically, Wyihn is Scalped done with pre-teen children in Suburbia. There's none of the violence, but there's all the moral ambiguity, self righteousness and lack of a hero. One of the heroes is, honestly, a whiny baby, and preachy on top of it. This makes him very hard to like. It's okay for a character to start that way, but they're supposed to grow through the story, and so far that isn't happening. At all.
To make a powerful character, you have to make one that has three things: a personality, a motivation, an emotional hook. You have to create a person, give them something to drive them, and then give readers a reason to identify with them. Get those three things, and people will read avidly. Now, that's nice to say your character has to be a nice person. 'Dexter's' emotional hook was the thrill of vigilante justice without consequences; the classic anti-hero. That can work. But many of the characters in this piece are missing either an emotional hook or a driving force, or both. And the personalities aren't always that interesting. Fix the writing, and I think this comic can go a long way.
To get better at character writing, do some research. Start reading about the craft of writing. Also, read a few books on psychology. Find out how people really act in given circumstances. I recommend the article
'How Do You Build A Strong Character' by Sophie Novak. And then, of course, there's people. Go to cafes and really watch people interact. Try it on the bus. Read a lot about other cultures and see how many masks human psychology can wear. Use what you learn to write people, not characters.
The Revue
It's not one I'll read obsessively, but in a few years this creator has real promise. Keep on trucking Bloomer!
