(From Aikida, by Fenris. Click to go to the beginning of the latest storyline.)
Ok. Ok… why didn’t anyone tell me Aikida was updating again?! It’s all right, I’ll forgive you. Just next time, fuckin’ let me know or something.
Moving on, I’m really digging what’s going on in the story right now. I mean, it’s good. It’s better than it used to be, easily. Before, Aikida was sort of this meandering, self indulgent character drama with tons of tits and things that didn’t seem to have any driving story other than, “Aikida is hot, she’s got this demon thing going on, and she and Wade fuck a lot.” Which, for me, was enough. I mean c’mon, boobs (Sorry, Annie. I’m a dirty, dirty man).
But now, Fenris took a moment and plotted out a story. And you can tell. There’s tons of made up shit like that four-eared dog. What the hell is that, anyway? We’ve got the alternate reality jaunt thing going on, where the characters remain who they are but find themselves in a brand new world. You know the drill. It’s a very decent convention for being able to tell a brand new story when you have well-established characters.
But what’s important is that it gives Aikida’s half demon stuff a better context. Since she’s got that going on, and now finds herself in a brand new reality with Ambenesia, it changes the rules of how the strip runs its course, and allows this strange new setting for the weirdness to occur. Before, this was supernatural things going on in the contexts of regular life, with no really clear explanation of why. Which is important, I feel, even if it’s a vague one.
Regardless, I’m gonna conclude this semester-start-exhaustion-ridden ramble by saying the new Aikida is a lot more interesting as a story than it was before. Now there’s more than just tits and shit, and Wade’s new characterization is pretty badass. Not to mention the all important element of accessibility, since this new evolution of the strip will easily allow anyone to jump on and read. Keep it up, Fenris.
Also: I’ll be announcing the contest winner in the next couple days.