Running With Freaks

Review of the comic Run Freak Run: A Gothic Online Comic by Silver Saaremaeel and Kaija Rudkiewicz

Lenore, Chuck, and I in the void here give four and a half blood sacrifices for this title, folks. It was damn good.

Here is the description provided by the Run Freak Run website:

"Run Freak Run is about a 17th century Inquisitor with superpowers hunts monsters, witches, and ancient beasts in the name of the Church, but starts having serious doubts about her employer and profession after the hypocrisy she witnesses."

Really, this comic is spectacular and spectacularly gay--well, lesbian.

The comic follows Inquisitor Two

(<- grumpy looking nun over here) through many exciting battles, humorous exchanges, heartwarming relationships, and hard decisions between loyalty and self-definition.

Our dear Inquisitor Two is a sarcastic, clever, and reluctant hero who only follows directions in a manner she deems fit. Which, obviously, leads to some disagreements with Her Majesty, Inquisitor Two's leash holder. Alonso is her sometimes comrade in arms. The Witch and gal pal is also endearingly passionate. Who doesn't love a relationship that starts off along the lines of "Die, bitch" and other (literal) curses (she's a witch what do you expect).

The comic is filled with simple yet elegant artwork. Just check this shit out! It's expressive and captivating.

The creatures are imaginative, the villains are sundry, and the resolution is amazing (No, I won't tell you how it ends, you'll just have to read it!). It all adds up to a wonderful read in just nine chapters--perfect for an afternoon or weekend binge read.

As much as I love and adore this comic (seriously, I do.) I feel no review is complete with out it's criticisms and no piece of creative work is without its faults. Thus, THE NEGATIVES.

1). It's too short.

No, wait, listen. I'm not just saying this because I wanted (desperately) more of these characters and this universe. This story could have only benefited from being fleshed out. There was so much to explore and every thing developed quickly. Which brings us to...

2). Events and conflict happened on a hair trigger.

"Mac, this is an ACTION comic, what do you expect, nitwit?!" I know, I know. But there's something to be said about build up. While jumping into action is a great way to hook readers, it shouldn't be used at every twist and turn.

3). The Main Boss Battle lacked.

For all its action scenes, it lacked a serious fight between our protagonist and antagonist. I was prepared for epic-ness and received epic-ish-ness (still loved it, mind you, it was still great.)

-1). It's fuckin' poetic.

This isn't a strike against the comic in anyway. It's a major plus. If their goal was to make an emulation of folk tales and fables by using poetic language, symbolism, and repetition, then they nailed it like an old school construction worker.

-2). "Enter Late, Leave Early."

There is a saying in the writing community--specifically screenwriting--that helps prevent drag or boring, useless parts: "Enter late, leave early." While I did say that they could have fleshed out the story and that some scenes entered too late, their exits were wonderfully placed. Throughout the entire comic I wasn't looking to skip ahead to the action or meat of the story. We are given all essential information right off the bat and are never given a long enough break to get bored.

So yeah, four and a half blood sacrifices from us three in the Void.

If you like dark and creepy (which, I hope you do because that is the main theme of this blog.), gay happy endings (again, this is a queer blog run by a queer Void creature.), and complex female characters then check out this comic at Runfreakrun.com.

If you like it spread the word. If you really like it, support the creators and purchase a print or pdf ebook copy of the comic (price is by donation).

All illustrations were created by the Run Freak Run team and can be viewed on their extras page on their website, Runfreakrun.com.

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Fare Thee Well,

Mac Abre