Webcomic An otherwise amazing comic ruined by contrasts
At first glance, Unsounded seems like it could be one of the best webcomics out there. It has a great story, likeable characters (unless they're meant to be hated, or Sette), fantastic art, updates regularly, along with an occasional twist or clever use of webcomic format, certainly make it the cream of the webcomic crop. Unfortunately, it is still not the thing for me, and as annoying and sad as it is, not something I could ever enjoy.
This is because of the lightyears-far contrast between the art and the story, one that makes me think of a less extreme Happy Tree Friends that does not play itself for laughs. The artwork is bright and colourful, with cartoonish characters: it overall looks like it would be straight from a far more cheerful comic - almost certainly something children could read without all that much worry. The story is not one like such: instead, it quickly gets incredibly dark and disturbing, full of death and gore, with some of the most sickening villains in fictional history - one that would require a far more realistic, gritty, and dark art style to carry it through. But when the art is as bright as it is, the true magnitude of the story comes completely unanticipated and strikes the reader to the face like a grimdark hammer.
Perhaps for some people, such an emotional wrench is a part of the comic's charm? For me it makes it far too much to be able to read: I soldiered through it for the purposes of this review, but will not be picking it up again afterwards. Which, like I said, is a terrible shame: the comic is top-notch otherwise, and I would so love to enjoy it as much as everyone else here seems to.
Webcomic There are webcomics and there is this
I will be honest with you, I'm writing this review as pure propaganda. This thing is good and it's so good, even people without an interest in webcomics or comics or graphic novels should at the very least try this one out for a couple of pages and see how they like it.
Look at this page
. There is something special here.
I enjoy webcomics, but with almost all of them there is the element that this is fun, but it's fun created by a person in his bedroom. Most good webcomics, are good for what they are and who they are made by. But there are a few, just a very select few that transcend that and become not only a good graphic novel for anyone professional or no, but good as a piece of creative art. And Unsounded is one of those things. Every page is beautiful aand created with love and detail. But it's not just the art, the person who makes this has vision and you can see that the beauty fits into that vision. The characters are detailed and have so many dimensions that it's clear they aren't just things created for you to enjoy but people with a story to tell. I have a low tolerance to buying into people's fantasy worlds, I don't want to know names or places or things, but here, gradually as I read through the story I realise I do. I want to find out more than this place.
This is a work more enjoyable and on a higher level than many bestselling books and films. My criticism would be that whilst the jokes and play between Sette and Duane are very entertaining, maybe the humour takes away slightly from the grandeur of everything. Still it's welll written and based on deep characters, so it only fails sometimes in comparison to pages like this. To get a feel check out the quote and picture on its page Unsounded. I've never seen the point of buying a webcomic book before, but Unsounded is something to own.
The mad thing is, this is written and drawn by just one person. And it updates regularly, with multiple pages. How is this possible?
Out of interest the two other webcomics that I consider transcendant are possibly Girl Genius and a The Phoenix Requiem. Goblins is fun but it feels like it's rightful place is as a webcomic.
Webcomic A Singular Work of Fiction
The last reviews for Unsounded were written in 2012 and 2013- since then, there has been nearly 10 years of weekly updates, multiple chapters began and completed. And Unsounded is (as of this writing) currently updating chapter 17, which will be the completion of the first half of the story.
Since these first reviews, Unsounded has expanded into a world-arcing and world-shaping story, while still retaining the sharp insight of its first chapters. Characters are achingly human and messy, imperfect and beautiful in that imperfection. The true strength in Unsounded is, and always has been, how these flawed people interact and somehow make things work- or not work.
The art only improves, in my opinion, as Cope has been experimenting and pushing herself for the last 10 years. Clean paneling, thoughtful symbolism, beautiful painting, creative world-design, making use of a beautifully vivid color palette that many an artist would be afraid of. If you're a new reader, by chapter 3 you should know if this is your jam or not- chapter 1 introduces you to our leads, chapter 2 introduces you to the tone, and chapter 3 begins to firmly cement the main thrust of the rest of the comic. Take your time, Unsounded is a comic you savor. So get to savoring!