The fifth print collection of Questionable Content is here! Ha ha WOOO! Butts
Volume 5 is a different size than the first three (but the same as Volume 4)! It's now easier to hold and more fun to read and each page is half a comic! There are plans to reprint the first three in this format sometime in the future. This means original format... your days are numbered.
Jacques continues to move forward in developing his story and his storytelling skills, mixing snark, twenty-something drama, farce, and poignancy (along with fart jokes).
Never quite knowing what to take seriously and what to take as a joke setup can defuse both sentiments, but Jacques handles it well.
If sometimes the characters are difficult to distinguish (esp. the boys), the characters themselves are unique, and the book reads far quicker than its thickness and comic count would imply.
This is the last one I have as a physical book and it makes me sad. But I can always go find where it left off online and catch up! Haven't read the webcomic in ages!
And so the great Questionable Content binge comes to an end. The fifth volume of QC shows an artist who continues to mature in his storytelling as well as introducing some new characters (Cosette, although not by name, and Marigold). Sven gets an intern/conscience and Faye starts to open up some more. There are several laugh out loud moments, including the last comic in the collection, featuring Pintsize and Momo.
The themes that I know will be coming up are still being explored, including Marten and Dora's relationship and Faye's drinking. And here's me thinking that webcomic writers just made stuff up on the day ;-). There are seeds being sown that will be reaped hundreds, if not thousands, of comics down the line. It'll be a while before I get to binge on paper again since, as of the time of writing, volume 5 is the latest paper collection available (and also, I know what to expect at the end of volume 6, so I may well wait until the one after before buying more).
But for now, I was trying to persuade myself that I have many real books to read, but who am I kidding, I'm going to go online and pick up from where this leaves off.
The author does a great job of building both his characters and the quasi science fiction world they live in. Stories are driven by relationships with people that you quickly grow to care about