Simon at Webcomic Musings reviews Hereville. The review is positive, but critical. He thinks my muppet-like jaws are a bit too much, drawing most of his examples from the early pages. I have to admit, I agree with him about that; especially in the first 20 or so pages, my devotion to big muppet-like mouths goes too far (if such a thing is possible!), and prevents me from using appropriate expressions. (In my opinion, anyhow.)
Simon is also critical of the Shabbos sequence:
The plot looks like it will be an interesting one; it’s the first I’ve heard of a Jewish dragon-slayer, much less one who looks to be about twelve or so (unless I’m mistaken, which I often am). The upshot of this is a unique viewpoint for the main character and a really novel setting and personality for people. The downside of this is that right as the Marilyn Manson impersonator reveals how Mirka can get started on the path toward dragonslayerhood, the plot gets interrupted for The Great Muppet Shabbat.
(A side note: challah is delicious bread, and I wish I lived closer to a Great Harvest store so I could buy it more often, but after seeing this page, I will spend the rest of my life checking my loaves of bread for ethereal possession or possible interment of small young girls.)
The downside of any comic that cuts the action in order to present a tidbit of information in earnest (as opposed to Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams novels, which play such up for laughs) is that the reader generally feels cheated. It may be interesting, it may be essential, but it’s not what the reader came for. It’s like when I went to Subway recently and they mixed my order up with another person’s, so I ended up with roast beef and mustard instead of peppered turkey and mayonnaise. Sure, it was still a good sandwich, but it’s the principle of the thing.
Steven Bergson, of Jewish Comics Blog, emailed me:
I understand his point, but personally I not only didn’t mind the “interruption”, but enjoyed it. I don’t think one has to be Jewish to appreciate that section of the story, but when one is Jewish (even if non-observant), one understands that in “real life”, shabbos is a kind of interruption, but one that (usually) one looks forward to. Mirka isn’t the type of character who would ignore shabbos just to hunt trolls (there are priorities, after all) and I think it would be dishonest to purposely leave out shabbos from her narrative since it is an important part of the character’s life.
I can see both their points. I wanted to really get across how central and important shabbos is in Mirka’s life (and the lives of most folks who live in Aherville). And I wanted to “show, not tell” — hence, many pages were devoted to shabbos. But it’s one of the things that I know could throw some readers off, so I certainly understand Simon’s criticism.
Anyhow, thanks to Webcomic Musings and Simon for his review, and to Steven for his thoughts.
I thought the interruption was integral to the way you were telling the story, that Mirka belongs to an actual functioning community with traditions and schedules, which are not disrupted just because the protagonist has an adventure to go on.
I love that!
Don’t I know it. Especially when, the first time I read it, the night after Shabbat lasted months because the strip went into hiatus.
That said, to me it’s kinda like Monk and his obsessive-compulsive attributes. Does it bog down the plot? Maddeningly so. But the show wouldn’t be Monk without the lead character and his obsessive-compulsive attributes. And ultimately Monk prevails not in spite of these obstacles but because of them.
Similarly, Mirka prevails not because she rejects the traditional norms of her society, but because she embraced them enough to receive various forms of wisdom from her step-mother. Ok, maybe her knowledge of Shabbat wasn’t specifically tested in the final confrontation. But I saw the Shabbat sequence as one more aspect of Mirka’s receiving instruction from her step-mother.
Plus, Shabbat provides the setting for Fruma’s best line: “How tragic no one has asked your opinion, Mirka. Polish!”
I thought the shabbos bit was one of the most interesting bits. I can see how someone might not like the interruption as derailed expectations can be annoying, but I think it is a matter of individual taste rather than being a flaw with the comic. I think it’s just one of those “can’t please everyone” situations.