1-7-09

Yeah...I Got Nothin'

There are some people who, for one reason or another, just can't help pissing other people off.  Lord knows, the webcomics community has it's fair share of them.  In fact, recent studies have shown that the two preceding sentences made a whopping 68% of you immediately think of Scott Ransoomair, Bobby Crosby, or Tim Buckley*.  Believe it or not, I have been told that, on occasion, I am perceived as somewhat less than the darling champion of all that's right and wonderful in the world.  I have been called a "dick" and a "pushy asshole" at times.  The people who said so were obviously deranged, but even crazy people are entitled to their opinions.  Anyway, my point is, the more public you are with your opinions, especially if those opinions do not match with the popular trends, the more likely you are to be held as an asshole and a jerk.  The trick is to not burden the work of the person with preconceptions based on their public image.  Like them or not, Ransoomair, Crosby, and Buckley all three bring in solid, professional work.

The same can be said for Jay Naylor.  Naylor's alleged crimes against webcomics in general and the furry fandom in particular are many and storied.  To begin with, he's a conservative, which, as Carson Fire and I will both solidly affirm, is the webcomics equivalent of being a Goth at Westboro Baptist Church.  There are other issues, some to do with his comic directly, and others to do with character-direction disputes he's had with other furry authors.  The core of that goes back to the old Furry MUCK (Multi-User Chat Kernel) days, when folks were pretty free and easy with their avatars and personas.  This led to a number of persona characters being used in a number of the earlier furry webcomics, and the owners of those characters sometimes had disputes as to who the actual owner was.

To be honest, I don't give a rat's ass.  I don't review comics because I like or hate the author.  I'm not entirely sure how I come by my review choices, but it has nothing to do with my relationship with the authors.  Besides, I don't know Naylor.  I've never met him, and any information I have on him and his opinions is second-hand at best.  I am not in a safe place to criticize Naylor for being Naylor.

I am in a safe place to review his comic, however.  Better Days is the tale of twin siblings, Lucy and Fisk Black, and their mother, Sheila.  It is also an unapologetically critical and scathingly honest look at human sexuality, behavior, and relationships.  In almost every strip and every chapter, Naylor shows his readers that the cost of freedom is that people are free to take liberties.  Naylor almost gets away with his stark investigation because his characters are all anthropomorphic animals.  Almost.  One of the many controversies swirling around Naylor is chapter 10 of his tale, where the Black Twins, in a moment of mutual need, sleep together.  The incident was never truly revisited in the comic, but it colors the relationship between the twins from that point on.  Two chapters later, when the siblings are seen playing innocently with one another in a back-country swimming hole, those, whose minds are drawn to that sort of musing will wonder whether if they're only splashing.

You've got to admire the guy's courage.  Issues and sub-issues he's tackled in his comic range from mixed relationships to incestuous abuse of a child to modern slavery with everything in between, including an attempted rape that ends with an eleven-year-old boy brutally defending his mother.  Through it all, Naylor manages the issues and his characters' emotions in an honest and forthright manner.  Unfortunately, Naylor may be too forthright.  The characters often sit and discuss their emotions directly and candidly in ways that real people seldom do.  And it rings a little false.

The art, black inks on a white background, is beautiful to look at.  Some have said that perhaps it is too beautiful, noting Naylor's obvious appreciation of the female form, particularly from behind.  It is furry art, which many people have trouble with, just because they do, but some people have issues with comics in general, so what are you going to do.

On the whole, Better Days is a good read.  At the very least, it will make you think, even if all you think is "Wow, that Naylor's some fucked up shit."  Which is your right.  Even if you're wrong.

Better Days by Jay Naylor
Updates:  Monday, Friday
Caveats:  Strong Sexual Content, Incest, Conservative Philosophy
Rating: 

*Source:  National Institute for Dropping Names to Improve Google Score