Update and Caveat Lector: The comic recommended in this post is by David "CrikeyDave" Smith. Since making this post, I came across
a callout post alleging that Smith was guilty of sexual and other harassment against the writer, including soliciting cybersex when she was a minor. (The post also details abuse by other people, one of whom sent the writer a death threat. So, you know, be prepared for that if yo decide to click through.)
I don't think I'll ever be able to verify or falsify these claims. However, I do know that Smith is prone to crude sexual humor and at one point self-described as a "perv." Furthermore, in general, the risks associated with publicly making such allegations against someone who's as popular (in his niche) as Smith tend to outweigh the benefits. So I'm willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt.
So where does that leave us? I'm not comfortable saying that CrikeyDave is definitely an abusive scumbag and we should never support him or read his work at all. Again, I'm giving the writer the benefit of the doubt but I don't actually know for certain that her accusations are true. At the same time, given how plausible the accusations are, I'm no longer comfortable with the glowing recommendation I give his comic in this post. Read on at your own risk or just skip ahead to August. Stay safe out there, friends.
Your regularly scheduled (and, except for a sarcastic strikethrough, unedited) pitch continues below:
Okay, fair warning: The comic I'm about to present is incomplete. Its last new page was the end of Chapter 11 in 2019. The last official update was in April 2020, projecting a return in May of the same year, but that came and went with no revised ETA. Last word from the author/artist was a comment from July 2022 saying, "My scheduling and mental health for the past few years have been all over the place, but MAiZ is still very important to me, and I'd like this to get to a nice decent conclusion when I'm able to." He's still active and posting MAiZ art on Twitter, but unfortunately Twitter is Twitter.
That caveat established, I present for your reading pleasure MAiZ by David "CrikeyDave" Smith. (
homepage,
page 1) It stars Melissa "Meli" Meni'ak, a would-be archaologist searching for the answers behind a stone fragment she possesses that enables her to summon a magical staff. Co-starring, and (theoretically) keeping Meli from getting herself killed, is Jaz Jumpstart, a boy adored by the local younger kids for his heroism and his ability to summon a magical shield--
without an artifact like Meli's. Jaz wears a stylized skull mask because
some people (Meli) tend to get freaked out by the fact that he's human.
Oh, uh, did I mention that the characters other than Jaz are anthropomorphic critter-people? i'm not a furry,
you're a furry. If that's a turnoff for you, I'll understand. But I urge you to give it a chance anyway, mainly because of the strong character writing.
As in most of my favorite stories, the core is the characters, who stand up off the page every bit as much as Sigrun or Pavel or Ludovica. Of course, there's the intelligent and powerful but overambitious and common-sense-deprived Meli, and the strong, plucky, compassionate Jaz. Rounding out the supporting cast are Ray, the cantankerous shopkeep; Cam, Jaz's adoring young fan; Gruff, the "dog"-loving bandit whose ambitions exceed his intellect; Bullseye, the stone-cold paramilitary lieutenant; and Tuug, her put-upon assistant. They're all heavily archetypal, but even the comic relief characters have hidden depths. (No spoilers, but keep your eye on Cam as you get toward the last couple chapters.) Oh, and you'll see occasional references in the comments to Wolf and Vix, fan favorite characters previewed years in advance on the comic's Tumblr (most of which was accidentally deleted) but not meant to be introduced until chapters that haven't been released (yet).
Here's a listing of most everybody important except the kids.Speaking of no spoilers, I want to talk about the ending. But first I need to talk about the pacing. One of the reasons I recommend this comic, especially to aspiring comics writers, is that once Smith finds his groove with the writing, the comic becomes a master class on pacing. Every page moves something forward (be it the plot or a character arc) and leaves you both wanting more and satisfied with what you got. There are no filler pages. There are cliffhangers, but no
cheap cliffhangers. Certainly nothing worse than Minna has inflicted on us.
And that's probably why I'm not upset about the ending. I mean, the series hasn't come to a proper end, and Smith does intend to pick it back up at some point as his work-life situation allows. But the last page
is the ending of Part 1. It ends on a positive note--a cliffhanger, yes, but one that stands to turn the tide of the current crisis and enable Meli and Jaz to save the day and continue their quest. I'll be disappointed if Smith never gets back around to the comic (though not as disappointed as he will, I bet) but I'll still be satisfied with what we got.
Okay, but how 'bout the artwork? We all like our comics pretty. Lucky for us, MAiZ is one of the best-looking comics I follow. Apart from some early rough edges, the art is consistently appealing even as it ranges from cartoony and comedic to darkly serious. One thing you'll want to keep in mind is that, for most of its run, the comic is grayscale. Color is saved for chapter covers and special occasions, which can be just
brilliant (case in point, with spoilers:
page 187). It switches to full color around the start of chapter 9.
You can see
a quick sampling of MAiZ art in
my Mastodon post for this month.
And now for everyone's favorite part of the recommendation, the content warnings!
The comic is pretty much rated PG for scary scenes and fantasy action violence, several off-panel murders, and credible threats of murder against children and the elderly who have already been beaten up. A brutal war in the not-too-distant past is hinted at, and may or may not have involved genocide. There's also the threat of animal predation; one of the two animals involved suffers slapstick comedy violence, and the other is at the center of a pee joke.
If the comic ever continues, Vix may eventually be responsible for adding suggestive themes to this list. Then again MAiZ is already a lot more family-friendly than much of Smith's other work, including some of the MAiZ-related art posted on Tumblr. So who knows?
Here's where I would put a nice, succinct summation if I were a good writer. Anyway
go read MAiZ.
