Shonen Beam

[chapter link]

These backgrounds are actually painful. They make it hard to read. Speed lines are bad enough in action scenes; don’t use them when a character is standing still. (Page 6, top-left.)

Niko’s nervous polygonal hair is pretty amusing. First time I’ve found a positive in the art.

Did I just compliment the art? Nevermind. What a disappointing full-page action scene p17 is.

To illustrate my point about the backgrounds, I’ve taken the time to examine the background of every panel in this chapter:

Total (% of 90 panels):
Drawn – 20 (22.2%)
Effects / Speed Lines – 41 (45.6%)
None (no room) – 7 (7.8%)
None – 22 (24.4%)

If you’re anything like me, effect/speed lines and no backgrounds (when space is available) are the same problem, which would mean that to you, a whopping 70% of the panels in this chapter were substandard. As far as I’m concerned, that’s just not acceptable for a series in a major magazine.

Final Flash: It’s not as though the art is detracting from a good series, either. Something needs to improve quickly.