"Out There" at http://outtherecomic.com Monday through Saturday since 6/12/06.
"Out There" is a slice of life comic about the life of Miriam and her friends. This comic features realistic humor developing from the characters as they interact with each other. A group of twenty somethings hanging out in a bar. So why does this fifty three year old man like this strip?
The strength of this strip is in its cast. Lead by beautiful flighty Miriam, with her boss/best friend practical Sherry, the guy Miriam picked up on her cross country trip mysterious John, Miriam's boyfriend Chuck, the bar's regular Clayton, and Chuck's roommate James.
R.C. Monroe understands the characters, not gags, make this strip special. The writing cleverly exploits the emotions and experiences of Miriam. But the writer often tries to say too much within the limitations of a one tier strip. Squeezing in a fifth panel when most strips have three or four does not help. The comic often looks crowded and too wordy. Perhaps a two tier six panel strip would allow the cartoonist to spread out the dialogue, give it a more open look, and add some room for visual action.
The artist makes clever use of the cramped limited space. Thanks to the characters design with oversized heads, faces fill the panel forcing the reader to focus on the characters' emotions and inner thoughts. Monroe knows how to place characters inside the panel with maximum effect, often adding power to a punch line. The strip can look sketchy. But adding more black and shadows might make better looking art, it would also distract the reader from focusing on the characters' faces. So the current style fits this strip well.
The website is well designed with easy to access archives and a forum where the cartoonist answers readers questions. The focus of the site is where it should be, on today's comic.
Story strips are most successful when they make the reader eager to learn what happens next. "Out There" does this. And whatever happens next it is sure to be entertaining, even for an old guy like me.
This review was originally published on the Wet Ink forum. The forum is now closed.
