Hi
Been thinking about making a thread like this until. Well right now, lot's of online videos rank films in a series or Novels by a novelist and I decided since @MK_Wizard has a sizeable enough portfolio. I will rank Every comic made by her.
The only real ground rule for this thread will be MK's Frankenstein won't be ranked as that's currently a novel and I want to wait a bit longer before I give my thoughts on it.
I also wish to state there are no bad MK_Wizard comics they're all solid and worth your time. Just some I personally like more than others.
Coming in at number 5 is Heart is Art and Word Is Bird:
Word Is Bird is a fun comic about how Kakapoo's evolved into an intelligent species and live daily lives that are much like our own. It's technically a spin off of another comic called 'Cupcake War Machine'. Sort of like how Bally and Friends is a Spin off of Space Pack or how Frasier is a spin off of Cheers. The main thing I like about this comic is the fact that the characters canonically watch Hawk and Flo Adventures on TV.
I'm kidding this was done as part of an art collab from Last year ^. The art itself is fairly decent. The expressions are some of the highlights of these strips and there's a sense of life to the characters. I put Heart is Art here too due to the fact that it's very similar to Word Is Bird. It's a one shot about embracing creators over AI art. That and because it's a one shot I don't have as much to say on it compared to the other comics on the list. They don't have many panels per update and are soft of like Garfield comics where there's 2 -6 panels. Heart is Art has a few more it's effectively a Word is Bird special of sorts.
Word is Bird primarily focusses on the author's experiences with raising kids. Which is very relatable to someone like me who looks after their baby sister frequently. One strip I often think about is Episode 145 on Tapas called 'Sleep schedule' Which has one Kakapoo running round the house excited with no sleep and another Kakapoo exhausted after taking a nap.
MK's good with comedy but I always felt her strengths were best served with reinterpretations of existing source material or Deconstruction pieces that take a fresh new approach. Word is Bird does make me chuckle most of the time and it is worth a read. It rarely fails to be relatable It's only real 'shortcoming' if you can call it that is the fact that comics higher up the list for me personally are much better. Psychoborg had the benefit of all the improvements MK Wizard made in her artistic journey. Word is Bird doesn't really exist without Cupcake War Machine and WIB never hit the same kind of popularity MK's Jekyll and Hyde was able to reach, so it's legacy is somewhat limited.
Number 4. One last Ride
This is a very well executed One shot comic about a Young man on a train journey. It has a well executed plot twist and due to the fact it's simply a one shot it doesn't quite hold the same weight or importance as well the top 3 comics on this list. It's hard to talk about this one without revealing it's plot twist. All I can say is go read it if you haven't already. It was an entry into a somewhat recent Tapas contest.
Number 3: MK's Jekyll and Hyde
This light-hearted take on the Robert Louis Stevenson Novel Was I think the first comic MK ever published online. It's racked up a rather impressive 1.8 Million views on Comic Fury and from total views alone is currently MK's most successful work. Even though Cupcake War Machine was the comic people would rather pay money to successfully kickstart.
Mk's Jekyll and Hyde Is a great comic that holds up surprisingly well given it was the first attempt at an online comic series by it's author. The characters are memorable, likeable and well executed. I love MK's depiction of MR Hyde, he's a crass stubborn loveable oaf the type of character MK loves writing and to be honest most of us love reading. That might partly explain why the other two comics in the top 3 have Crass, Stubborn loveable oafs as protagonists. I genuinely really like how Jekyll and Hyde both learn how to be better people as a result of spending time with each other. Everyone feels like an alternate version of the Original Novel characters and it works incredibly well as a What if Take from a writing stand point. The only thing truly holds MK's Jekyll and Hyde back is early MK_Wizard could have some stiff looking art at times and occasionally the backgrounds can look a bit empty. The art does have one classic highlight though. Jekyll's Spaghetti hair as I like to call it is still glorious even in 2024.
Number 2. Psychoborg
Psychoborg is what would happen if you took Game Of Thrones, made a better version of the She-Ra Reboot and threw in a bit of Cupcake War Machine for good measure. Artistically it's MK's best work by quite a wide margin. It's very well written and surprisingly subtle at times in a way comics rarely accomplish. The main strength of MK Wizard is how well her comics are written and I would say that if you've never read any of her other comics this or Cupcake War Machine are the two best places to start. Astra (The main character) is a 'Champion' for a Kingdom called Luminous and Psychoborg (The title character) is the champion for 'Ominous'. Things seems peachy on the surface but there's a seedy underbelly to the Kingdom and much of the comic is about the royal drama the characters go through. It has a bit of a Mortal Kombat vibe going on especially since this is MK's first Adult rated comic. There's swearing profanity and plenty of violence. There's much more to come but so far it's a blast. The car chase was epic, there's twists and turns and left hooks for anybody that likes unpredictability. It's another hard one that's difficult not to give away plot twists for.
- Cupcake War Machine
I always wondered what the sequel to Arnold Schwarzenegger's Last Action Hero would look like. At the end of that film after admitting he's tired of being shot at and blown up as a film character. Warrick in Cupcake War Machine is who I think Jack Slater would have gone on to become. Trying to change into an unfamiliar and more peaceful career in a bakery, either that or try knitting like Sylvester Stallone did in Demolition Man. This comic Got nominated for an Aurora award and won a DD award last year. It also successfully funded volume 1 as a Kickstrater project.
Cupcake War Machine is a genuinely funny, Well written and sincere comic about living life with PTSD. Warrick's experiences are very similar to that of real life soldiers that have survived combat. The supporting cast is very strong. Stella the baker that helps Warrick, Peter the Priest the Kakapoos which are so loveable and likeable somebody should give them their own comi- wait. The head chef Bon Bon is really likeable and the character designs here are very strong. it reminds me a bit of the original Star Wars Trilogy or Total Recall but in a Western cartoon sort of art style. CWM's only real weakness is it's early art can be a bit stiff and flat but it's later art steps up considerably. There's a good wide shot panel of Peter running later on I have a soft spot for and it came out a little bit after Jekyll and Hyde and ended just as MK got to grips with comic art. one of the most satisfying aspects of this comic is reading all the way through and seeing MK's transformation as a comic creator. Then reading Psychoborg shortly after late CWM- Psychoborg feels like when MK Wizard went up a level as a creator. It's a journey well worth experiencing.
