Webcomic Issue #1; The bite's as good as the bark!
This is just issue #1 and already things are heating up with the Satos with the amount of plot twists! Woof!
The Good:
The art style, the writing, the characters...all of it.
The art style has this sort of Looney Toon-esque charm to it; it presents itself as both gritty and cartoonish with a dash of realism every now and then which isn't an easy thing to do but when done well like here? It's visually appealing and really just inspiring. The way the characters are drawn averts the "Humanoid Female Animal" trope common in most furry works while still making them anthro; I respect that, big time.
Writing wise it absolutely doesn't disappoint, and the plot's intriguing; It's a gang war with focus on The Satos (or Los Satos, if you're Spanish like me), a group of dogs who basically act as family to each other despite being gangsters that eventually go from being lapdogs to their own thing. In this arc they face against Honey, a hardened rasputin-esque gangster who shook down one of their members...with a twist in the finale; I can't say much without spoiling, but all I can say is that the fact that he's just the arc villain means the author has much more up her sleeve...I mean, Doc wouldn't even talk about "Diego" when going over their potential enemies so lord only knows what he's capable of.
Of all the characters, Doc is definitely the most well-written and the Coo Coo Bois are the gang that caused this series to catch my attention, but I'd better stop there before I start gushing. This is coming from someone who usually doesn't like villain protagonists; you know a writer's good when they can get somebody like me to like such a character!
Other thoughts:
I definitely have high hopes for it in certain areas.
For starters, holy smokes I wish this issue lasted longer; although that could risk inducing Ending Fatigue so whether or not she chooses to is up to her, but I say this because know the author's hinted at the introduction at a lot of characters she's drawn alot of in the past during the creation of this issue, and its important to develop them as characters as best as one can.
I certainly do hope to see a little more of some of the gangs from previous pages; it would be a shame to see the Coo Coo Bois and Badilios be one-scene wonders, but given the other gangs covered by Doc? I know this series wont disappoint in that area, whether or not they are or aren't.
Conclusion:
On a scale of 1-10, I’d give this a 9 as it stands (which lets be honest, is a modest way of giving it 10). The writing is great and the character design and art style is just smashing. I highly recommend this to anyone, especially if they're into stuff like Saints Row or "The Warriors".
Satos ride! Bark and bite!
Webcomic Issue #2 (maybe 3 as well?); Too much bark, not enough bite.
When one starts off strong with their first issue like this did, it becomes one Tough Act to Follow...And I hate to say this, but NonPack is starting to come up short.
The Good:
One way or another, the story is progressing, and we're finally seeing some major players that the author has been drawing, hinting, and teasing at for years. There's a level of excitement that comes with seeing big names like Benji or even "Icedog" (who has not been seen at all by normal audiences until now), you know that the playing field is going to be leveled. Ontop of that, the eldritch elements are beginning to reveal themselves which is something I wanted to see some expansion on for a while...I've always had a theory Goset is having a hand in many of the supernatural happenings, from Karen's monstrous form to what appears to be "Icedog" reincarnating, which definitely becomes fun to theorize about given my previous theory.
The Bad:
Okay...a few things about this comic are beginning to bring it down...
It feels disorganized. I read somewhere that the plot between the Satos being on the run and then at a soup kitchen are two different issues? Regardless, this/these issue(s) are incredibly short compared to Issue #1 which is a major downgrade and a terrible move. Take this bit with a grain of salt, I'm still trying to figure that part out.
But I can objectively say one thing; the writing is getting rusty due to the author's complacency with first issue's hype...The story itself has begun to slow down to an obnoxious degree, and while I always encourage waiting to see where it goes, I have to admit, concluding off the issue just when the story begins to pick up is a really asinine thing to do as a writer; all this nonsense with Marcel and his kids, then you switch to the Satos and you end it as the fight between Marcel's henchmen begins and "Icedog" mysteriously comes back from the dead? The way it was all executed felt disorganized and just disappointingly nonsensical. You don't start off strong with a series, then just leave crumbs for the audience like that, only to finally pick it up and then just end it abruptly when things get good. Fans may try to justify it, but the comic's writing doesn't suddenly become good just because of praise, sales, or contrarianism to criticism.
Conclusion:
I'll let the author cook for now, but so far, this isn't looking as promising as it once did...Regardless of any external factors on the author's part, these problems with the comic are something that's worth noting and hopefully get fixed up. On a scale of 1-10, I'd bump this series' rating down to a 6.5; While I wouldn't go so far as to not recommend it anymore, I'd advise not getting too invested in this comic until it progresses a little more where it becomes more obvious where the writing is going...