The Future of Comics: Electric Sheep

When I opened The First Word of Patrick Farley's Electric Sheep comics, I was expecting a standard webcomic. I was very surprised that instead of formatting itself as a "normal" comic, The First Word is a sidescroller that uses simple lighting effects and motion design. This was entirely new to me–I thought standard webcomics were considered fairly modern, but this felt like something completely different.

I enjoyed how Farley seemed to be playing around so much with new media to explore what a comic is. It really opened me up to think about what new possibilities might be with merging traditional storytelling and technology. The transitions were especially amazing to me, like the stream of different animals evolving. I did think Farley went very over-the-top with the lighting effects when sex came into play (I found the comic hard to take seriously at that point), but overall, the use of art was definitely something to study.

One area where the comic fell short for me was the overall theme and story. In the thumbnail on the Electric Sheep site, Farley says that The First Word is about sex, drugs, and global climate change. Because the hominids never talk and the comic is so short, however, I think having so many different themes packed into the comic weakened its narrative. I had a hard time understanding what Farley wanted me to focus on while reading. Regardless of narrative issues, though, The First Word was definitely an interesting experience.

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