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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herremann the Wise" data-source="post: 4263879" data-attributes="member: 11300">Match Eleven / Piratecat vs. Ycore RixleARWINK’S JUDGMENTPiratecat / Fast LearnerGood comic fantasy is hard to write, and I’m usually one to groan when I see a comedy-fantasy set-up. Despite my reservations and a rocky opening where I was left struggling to find my feet, you’d really sold me on the genre by the end. In fact I think my favourite thing about this story is the fact that I know I’m being set up for a joke, but I’m still pleasantly surprised and amused by the punchline. The “Does your Verminox have brown eyes” actually had me giggling at my computer. I think it works because there’s a sensitivity to the humour – it exists outside of the joke, and I feel like our nameless protagonist is going on a journey (albeit one that doesn’t really feel resolved in the ending)Ycore Rixle / UntitledThe world-building here is excellent, bringing the city of Sarnise to life in a series of deft brush-strokes and details. The voice of the piece echoes the lush decadence of the city, and while you brush up against the absurd there’s a certain surety that carries things through. The build of the narrative is great, but I felt somewhat let down by the all-too-convenient return of Tara to save the day. The irony is that Rhys has certainly grown into a character that feels like he deserves to be with Tara as a reward for his character arc, but that climactic moment actually makes it feel like he’s getting out of jail free. JudgmentI think the round goes to Piratecat, but man, I flip-flopped on this one. I started Ycore’s story thinking Piratecat had the edge; by the middle of Ycore’s story, as the voice grew more confident and the wry absurdity more controlled, I thought the character arc and growth of Rhys was going to bring this one home; With both writers doing a great job with the words and images, the final decision finally came down to which story satisfied the most (or left me unsatisfied in the right way), and Piratecat’s ambiguity just pipped the flawed-but-effective ending of Ycore’s story at the post. THE JUDGMENT OF HERREMANN THE WISEThese images were again somewhere in the realm of science fiction and fantasy – a test for our two competitors to come up with something extraordinary.Piratecat has a way of presenting things that you can’t help liking. The perspective of our aberrant “hero” is fantastic and bizarre to read but completely and utterly fascinating. On the one hand I loved it, on the other, I wished there were more and on the other tentacle, I’m glad the piece was kept short and tight. An excellent interpretation of the images.Ycore Rixle has perhaps gone a step further in presenting an other-world both broad and tangible. The scope of the world was majestically presented. Unfortunately, the actual story for me was a little too languid and in parts almost too slight. Perhaps this is the danger of this set of pictures. To treat them with seriousness and depth you need to have room for the world (which you did and did excellently) but also the drama of the story (which could have been better). I love what you tried to do here and on one level I think you succeeded. However, the story as a whole did not have as much punch as I think it deserved.As such, Piratecat gets the vote for me but boy was I impressed with what Ycore Rixle was doing.MALDUR’S JUDGMENTPiratecat: For some reason the monster in your story reminds me of the thing under the umbrella in the order of the stick. Cute but deadly.Ycore Rixle: dreams and nightmares, interesting ideas.Judgement: Due to the slight haphazard feel of Ycores story it goes to Piratecat. As that story was "more polished".FINAL JUDGMENTPiratecat in a 3-0 but again, that score does not seem to reflect the closeness of the contest.</blockquote>

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