Comics / Digital Comics

Kukuburi

By Andy Doan
September 6, 2009 - 18:24

Kukuburi the web comic follows the ongoing adventures of girl who suddenly finds herself along with her pet chameleon trapped in a outrageous fantasy world. After the obligatory “Where am I” and “Why can my pet talk” we’re taken (at break neck speed) into to the equally obligatory “You’re the chosen one” and “you have the power to save the world, but don’t know it yet” scene. By the twentieth page we’re introduced to the main villain and well upon a journey of discovery and a host of characters who she meets within this bazaar world.

Kukuburi created by Ramón Pérez represents the first comic that I have sampled from Transmission-X comics. As can be expected from the group the site is well designed and perfectly matched to the theme and style of the comic. Links are easy to find and understand with nothing out of place. The site itself does almost nothing to take away from the experience of reading and enjoying the actual comic. Updates happen on a set schedule that is posted for the fans to follow. Serious props go to the creator for the display of various pieces of fan art. These guys understand what they need to do and they execute it perfectly. Aspiring web comic creators will do well to follow the example Transmission-X sets with every individual comic released.

The look and feel of the art ranges from seamless to beautiful. Cartoon like matte background and lack of depth bring characters and set pieces into microscopic focus. So clean and polished it shines. Characters fill the panels most times removing all elements of scale. It’s in relief of this when we’re shown the the grand stage that the story takes place on. Landscapes set adrift in a sea of mirky pastels, cliffs come into focus to reveal sleeping leviathans as bearded otters drift by like flocks of birds.

Although beautiful and well executed I couldn’t escape the feeling that I’ve seen a lot of this stuff before. The character design is mix between a Disney and a Miyazaki film. The strangest thing about this fantasy world where anything is possible is the familiarity of everything within it. The layout of the panel is not well suited to the medium. I find my self constantly scrolling up and down to try to take in the action from a single page length panel. This action constantly throws me off the rhythm of the story.

The sense of familiarity that I felt with a lot of the character design was echoed in the story line. I willing to admit that it might be the design elements leading me to see that in the story because it nothing specific. The story follows along the standard “chosen one” that almost every fantasy story since “A New Hope”. It could be from the way that even by page 131 (currently) very little about the characters and story have been revealed further then their immediate situation. So far I have no real sense of who the characters are and why I should care about them so I have been force to apply my own ideas with only the design to go by.

Ultimately I feel that this work wasn’t designed for me. Aside from it’s beauty I can’t escape the feeling of familiarity with everything introduced in this world. Don’t get me wrong there is a great adventure story here. I can imagine this really rocking the world of some post-Potter 14 year-old. I think anyone who has spent most of the 90’s as an adult will find this piece a little too immature. Those of us who have absorbed Nausicaä and Akira are not going to get the same kick as those who grew up with Hogworts and Romance angst ridden vampires.

For now I’m going to stick with this twice weekly serial. For one thing you can’t beat the price (free) and the art alone is worth twice what their asking (joke). I hoping that by page two thirty one the creator has shown a reason for a those of us licensed to drive when Mr. Cobain checked out something to stick around for.

Kukuburi can be found at here. also check out Transmission-X for more freely distributed web comics.

Rating: 6 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12