You must be logged in to post a review.
Please log in
5
People Reviewed This Item
By mistwalker86
Feb 26, 2010
I have followed RH Junior's work for several years now, and I have yet to be disappointed. His plot lines are thought through and his characters are believable and seldom one-dimensional. He accomplishes all this while maintaining his purpose of entertaining the audience. His ability to simultaneously create realistic worlds, cultures and scenarios is very rare and a real treat to find in an online comic. Though dramatic enough to enthrall adults, most of the story arcs also have an element of humor, keeping it lighthearted enough for younger audiences. I love his no-nonsense take on life, politics and religion (especially being a fellow Christian). He doesn't pull his punches and tells it like it is. The one thing I think could be improved upon, like others previously mentioned, is the art quality. It has been fun to see his art style mature and solidify over the years as he grows more comfortable with it. However, since he does not have a career devoted to these comics the art... More > quality does suffer somewhat. Considering the amount of time he devotes to comic creation, I think his art quality is as much as can be expected, and better than many others that claim the "online comic artist" title. Unlike another reviewer, I have the color copy of this book and it does not seem to have any pixelation or compression artifacts. Perhaps you had the misfortune to receive a lower-quality printing?< Less
"fantastic work that delivers" Having accidentally stumbled upon RH Junior some years ago as a stripling at college, I was immediately grabbed by his story-telling ability as well as the simple but lovable means by which the story is communicated. Tales of the Questor grabbed my adventurous spirit still alive in the hushed 6-year-old buried deep in my psyche, and no matter how many times I re-read it, still delivers both heart-warming morals, strength of character, nail-biting action and suspense, and a fascinating world broad enough for Lord of the Rings but cartoon-enough to keep it all-ages. I doubt this book will see much shelf time. That said, it does suffer from technical problems as listed below by nblydo902. Particularly with the interlude section. Being just the owner of the color version, I can only recommend what I know; the story rocks and will leave you hungry for more.
"As with any RHJunior production..." The characters and storytelling are amazing, engaging, and really draw you into the story. The few things you miss by being offline are minor e.g. not having the forums to decode the Racconian alphabet and the dialects. This is more than made up for by the speed of navigation (keenspace has always been dog slow). The problem with the book is the same as with all of RHJunior's commercial work I've seen: he's not a professional and can't devote his full time to it, he doesn't have an editor, and he's not a technical specialist. For an amateur it is an outstanding job but with everything I've bought from him I always say "If only he'd... it would have been so much better." That's not to say the work is inadequate; far from it. But if you start looking at it too closely or with a critical eye some rough edges are seen. No page numbers, and thus no table of contents. The resolution issue is the biggest problem. The images in the... More > book are precisely the images that are on the website in 96dpi. The book is smaller than the website so the pixels are smaller, but still the pixels are extremely visible, in a way that they're not on a computer monitor. The text's readability doesn't suffer, but for me it breaks the illusion that I'm looking into a real fantasy world. I realize that he wasn't planning on publishing from the start so didn't have a 300dpi colored version of the comic, and creating one could have been time-prohibitive, but still I can't help but wish for it. Some of the images even seem to have JPEG compression artifacts, which is incomprehensible to me -- why didn't he use the original uncompressed image? I suspect the resolution and JPEG issue won't be as noticeable on the B&W edition. I recommend buying that instead; you save a bunch of money and RHJunior gets the same amount of profit.< Less
"Outstanding." A heartwarming tale of adventure and coming-of-age. Gorgeous artwork and a powerful story that moved me to laughter...and tears. I highly recommend it.
"Wonderful" There is such feeling in this series. Ralph Hayes is able to put things on paper that I'm sure come from deep in his soul. He is an excellent writer and storyteller who has just about mastered the comic format. Tales of the Questor is a wonderfully told tale about the life of a misfit Racconan child pursuing his dream against all odds. The world that Ralph creates is thought out to the last detail, and I personally love this aspect. Everything fits together and makes sense. There are no plot holes. Not one. This allows the reader to lose him or herself in the story without much trouble. And what a story it is. Starting out in a small village, the story gradually builds up until it turns into something truly epic. It is impossible to read it and not hope against hope that the main character will defy the monumental odds stacked against him and fulfill his dream. If you have not read it, I recommend that you do. No matter who you are, I think everyone can find... More > something to enjoy in Tales of the Questor.< Less
