» Review - Kirby's Fan Mail

Introduction
Kirby's Fan Mail is a sprite comic written by hatkirby. Not featuring a defined central storyline, Kirby's Fan Mail is a collection of "fan mail" to Kirby answered by Kirby within each strip of the comic. Some other characters make appearances to read the letters including Mario, a character known as "Insigna," and others. The reading of each letter is usually followed by an answer or some sort of joke.

The Positive Aspects
This comic is a good example of a well constructed sprite. The models, text boxes, backgrounds, etc. are all very cleanly arranged; the text is clear with very few blatant errors in grammar and spelling. There are only a few examples of these elements clashing or the flow of the comic being difficult to follow.

As for the writing, the comic is obviously oriented toward a younger audience. It's kid-friendly and only once in my reading did I come across dialogue that was potentially suggestive. In a way, it suffers for this. It's not necessarily bad as much as it is limited in the subject matter. Much could be done in expansion in that regard.

The comic throughout retains a basic flow of "Kirby reads a letter" and "Kirby answers a letter". While that can become repetitive, the comic does have a quality of consistency, and readers seem to enjoy the general formula in the comments each strip receives. In some instances, other characters are introduced and read the letters. Their presence is often unnecessary, but the extra characters do add some depth to the aforementioned format.

The Criticisms
Kirby's Fan Mail suffers from a few pivotal shortfalls that, if corrected, could lead to growth in the readership. First and most important is the lack of a regular updating schedule. It has as many as eleven updates in a single day but then sometimes doesn't update for months. A commitment to update at least once a week is strongly recommended, as would setting up a regular update schedule so that a comic queue might be built up rather than posted all in a single day.

I never found any of the comics to be particularly funny, that possibly being a by-product of me being outside of the target audience age range. Odds are if you aren't among the very young, you aren't going to get much more than a smirk. Again, much can be done to expand the subject matter. You can write a G rated comic and still appeal to all age groups. Another concern is the occasional lack of a coherent joke. Sometimes it seems like a strip ends without the joke being conclusive, or it has little or nothing to do with the letter. More in-depth planning and revision would help correct these coherency issues.

The Conclusion
When I read Kirby's Fan Mail, I didn't find it interesting, but I didn't find it boring either. I recommend it to younger individuals that are fans of Kirby and Kirby games. To those that don't fall into that criterion, you're welcome to give Kirby's Fan Mail a try, but you'll likely want to go find more mature reading.

- Brent