Segunta entrega (tiras 301-600) de este comic (gratis en la página del autor), que sigue las vidas de unos amigos totalmente en plan Friends, con sus cosas del día a día. Muy entretenido aunque a veces peque de falta de contenido. Pero se deja leer.
This book collects strips 300-599 of the webcomic Questionable Content. QC should be read in order, so check out Volume 1 or strips 1-299 first.
This collection features a lot of my all time favorite QC material. Raven (added to the coffee shop staff at the end of the last volume), becomes a more central part of the cast, Martin's mother pays a visit, Hannelore is introduced, Faye's background is revealed, and an important relationship starts. Even better than Vol 1, QC remains a fantastic comic and is easy 5-star material.
But as with volume 1 I have issues with the print collection itself that brings things down slightly. Everything I said there applies, so from that review:
"Rating the collection itself was very difficult. The comics are four vertical panels, and shrinking them to the size needed for printing really takes some of the impact and details out of the art. It also makes the text extremely small. Readable, but not comfortably so.
But the production value keeps this collection worthwhile despite the above. The paper and printing quality are very high, and the author has added small comments below every strip and there are some sketches here and there. This is worth getting, both to flip through your favorites and to support the comic, but it really is much better to read the material online first, which is sort of a shame to have to say when reviewing a printed collection."
To borrow a quote from Babylon 5: "This was the year that everything changed." Marten and Faye finally settle the "will they/won't they" question, and the strip moves on from there. The artwork is a lot more consistent here than in vol 1, but it does still show a steady improvement.
Looking at strip #313, the commentary says: "I think I was already foreshadowing the character of Hannelore here in panel three". I really hope that he meant panel 2 (the lady who vacuums at odd hours) rather than panel 3 (the murder-suicide)!
This book has some guest strips at the back, but they're comics that Jeph Jacques did for other comics rather than the ones that other people did for QC. I think that's a good way to go; there are Sluggy Freelance books where I'd happily ditch all the guest strips by other creators.
The second three hundred strips of the excellent Questionable Content see the format shift. We finally get a resolution to the will they/won't they thing between Faye and Marten and the introduction of the rather awesome Hannelore. The art starts to mature as well and by the end of this volume we start to see the characters as we know and love them today. The cast also starts to expand as not only Hannelore appears, but we start seeing the family of our already established cast, with Marten's mum, Dora's brother and Faye's mum and sister. This starts to make our cast start to feel like rounded people with real lives that we care about (especially after we find out about Faye's history) and this is something that Jacques has been very good at maintaining to this day. So still early days but evolving rapidly.
i love reading all these strips again! in this volume we find out what's going on with faye (DUN DUN DUN) (that was pintsize making doom noises.) we also have the first usage of the phrase "math is delicious!" what really makes it for me is jeph jacques' commentary at the bottom of each strip. the guy kills me. love love love love love. hurry up with the 3rd collection, jeph!!
It started off as a boredom thing at work, a distraction, but it is hilariously written and extrememly smart and so addicting. I couldn't get enough, and over the course of a few weeks I read the entire series!
Definitely a fun comic. Jacques has a knack for banter that keeps the strip moving. In this volume, a secret from Faye's past is revealed, and Marten's love life takes an unexpected turn. And there're fart jokes. And music references by the bushel. Looking forward to volume 3!
I feel as though the strip has very much matured with this volume. The story line is expanding and the group of characters is becoming more rounded. I really enkoyed this volume.