JETX! Not to be confused with the Disney-owned action show block. Or the casino game. It’s definitely not a Sonic Fan-Fic! Just a re-skin of its characters as humans. But that’s not why you should check this out. It’s how this comic takes full advantage of GlobalComix’s PanelFlow! And how adapting the feel of a Sonic style game adds to it.
JETX: Forget the Furry Fandom!
My first impression of this comic is, why is everyone just a Sonic character as humans and different names? To illustrate: a spiky speedster, sidekicks, Eggman, robots, and Chaos Emeralds. For crying out loud, there’s even a Metal Sonic! Granted those supporting characters aren’t totally echoes of Tails and Knuckles.
But they almost were! I had to wonder if this was trying to say: nuh-uh, these characters are humans, not furries!
Anthros!
Whatever. That is to say, I’ve seen too much fan fiction of Sonic character palette swaps. I almost thought my GlobalComix “For You” algorithm needed more tuning. Especially since this got 100% rating.
Warning: I Have A Bias
Thing is, I’ve been trying to read comics I know I can like. And some of the things that are popular are things that I just don’t like. And I already got through Invincible and Scott Pilgrim! The PanelFlow feature at least made those phone efficient. Especially since their publishers didn’t wanna translate to Vertical Scrolling.
Gotta compete with Kindle and Hoopla for phone use anyway.
What was I talking about again?
Oh right! Even with that feature, I still get bored! Indeed, many publishers don’t take full advantage of it either. It’s just surrounding panels of a page with no real sense of momentum. Or when they do, dialogue and story pacing can’t match it. Like in the Energon Universe’s Scarlett.
I’ze a Zoggin’ SPEED FREEK! If you ‘entz gotz no mo- mo- WAZZA ENERGY, youz ‘ent worth ma time!
The more I read JETX, the more Neckbreaka got his fix. As a bonus, I saw the effort Zak! put into the process.
All in the name of delivering the speed and impact of a Sonic level! With a touch of other platformer games.
JETX: Gotta Go Fast
So apparently, this series is inspired by the needle mouse and Mega Man. That explains the power-ups from some other crystals.
In any case, Zak! is an aspiring indie game dev. So this feels like hype for a game he’d like to create. Got some steep competition with some jesters and Freedom Planet.
In any case, the premise and central concept is a simple one. Mad scientist wants to take over parts of the world with some MacGuffin. And this Eggman meets Dr. Wily is as dangerous as he is theatrical. But since the military can’t stop him or his robots, the speedster Jet Stream steps up with his friends. It’s just that this time, this…Malicious Fingers? Whatever. He’s collecting bits of the meteor that killed the dinosaurs.
Somehow Jet can harness certain energy to go fast and be super tough. Plus with certain crystals he finds lying around he-
Zoggin’ git on wit it!
Baby Steps On It
So yeah, this isn’t anything deep and it doesn’t have to be.
In other words, all you need to focus on is how Zak! takes full advantage of his mediums. The regular pages on platforms like Comic Fury and Tapas are just that. Nothing special, just full pages of content. Honestly, the early chapters didn’t have that good a pace…Or make a lot of sense in hindsight.
But when events ramp up, especially in the later chapters there’s more effect for a sense of immersion. There’s more anticipation, more tell by showing. By Chapter 5, there’s a real sensation of the effects and tension between Jet and his Metal Sonic. First with the sound effects, and then with the reactions in the environment. As a result, a big reveal of Biomech’s threat unleashes. And the next pages don’t let that up. Every little thing like speed lines, panel layouts, character placement, and line trajectory choreograph the battle’s intensity.
Unique to GlobalComix
But now for the biggest presentation of Zak!’s dedication. There are times when the fights and scope of settings is too much for regular eye movement. Like when a charged laser blast moves faster than Malicious can talk. Only for the next panel to reveal that Jet became even faster than that.
How? Through PanelFlow, Zak! shows a new way to sell the effect of Jet’s power-up. Normally, if a reader goes to the next panel, they would start as Malicious half-finishes gloating. But with PanelFlow, they instead see that Jet has moved faster than light with a zip sound and crackling energy. By the time they see the entire panel, Jet has already decked Biomech after just firing the laser.
This gives them a full empathetic link of Jet’s power in sequence rather than seeing it all at once.
After that, readers get a bird’s eye view as Jet slams Biomech across a landscape. PanelFlow allows them to view it in sequence, like smaller guided panels. This gives each transition a feeling of the weight and speed Jet throws into his blows.
I have seen very few comics use PanelFlow like this. The only other one I can think of is in Daniel Warren Johnson’s Transformers. And that was from a team involved in a big successful publisher. The fact that one lone artist earns that comparison speaks volumes of Zak!’s dedication.
JETX: Passion In The Making
I guess that “For You” algorithm has me figured out.
Above all, this level of cartooning is takes twice as much effort to create immersion comparable to video games. To think I almost thought this was barely disguised fan-fiction.
But maybe applying yourself to the things you love can express how they make you feel. Because not gonna lie, this feels more like a Sonic the Hedgehog comic than some official ones.
Nevertheless, I have to wonder if Zak! plans on making JETX a game, he doesn’t burn himself out like in his hiatus announcement.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always, remember to look between the panels.