# ISO, a good read that needs just a bit more.



## RedSavage (Dec 20, 2011)

Another entirely tl,dr comic review and critique. This time on ISO, a gay furry themed comic by the creator of The Class Menagerie, Vince Suzukawa.

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When you have a bit of writing and art that neither cares itâ€™s pandering to an audience, nor makes excuses for it, then thereâ€™s a small space of acceptability and perhaps even, oh I donâ€™t know, maybe even a bit of admiration for its tenacity.  For example, there's really no excuse for the gratuitous amount of booty and breasts in Lowrider magazine, and no matter HOW much you tell your mother you're just reading it for the cars, she knows youâ€™re bullshitting her. Yet the moment you actually fess up and say, â€œYes, okay, I pick this magazine because it has more than acceptable amounts of booty and breasts, but the cars donâ€™t look so bad eitherâ€, then thereâ€™s a slight awkward silence followed by a long sigh when your mother realizes that her little boy has finally grown up, immediately being followed by a whoop of cheer at the thought of you hopefully moving out of the basement by time your thirtieth birthday next year. 

In a way, this comic is like Lowrider magazine, in that it has some pretty good stories and characters trapped beneath all the strong and attractively portrayed men. 

In Search Of, or simply ISO, a gay-college themed anthro comic. Now, stop me if this sounds familiar, but the story is about an incoming Freshman named student, Cody, a body builder who uses his strength as kind of a denial-defense of the fact that heâ€™s gay and so far in the closet he could have tea time daily with Mr. Tumnus, if only it wasnâ€™t for the fact that the satyrâ€™s pantless body would probably send Cody running and screaming from his own hormones. 
Collegeâ€™s (or Universities for you overseas people), are an easy way to portray the sudden amount of freedom and life changes a person is going through, but it does seem to be a common trope in the fandom. ASB is another example of furries in college, and I have to admit that the only other clichÃ© that I see more of than the nervously gay college Freshman is the â€œfurries working in/with/around the porn industry (Off topic, but this is a particularly old one, dating back to the start of Sabrina Online). 

But Iâ€™m getting off topic here. Just because something has been used doesnâ€™t mean it canâ€™t be interesting. Action movies are all about explosions and car chases, but itâ€™s in the way the director mixes it up that determines whether itâ€™s interesting or not.

In a nutshell this comic is more or less about Codyâ€™s denial about his sexuality and how he copes, whether itâ€™s through his aggression or sheer pig-headedness, despite the fact that heâ€™s a damn insecure person. From that angle you can one of two directions you can take such a comic. You can either play it straight (pun intended) and have one entirely melancholy comic about the struggles of being a homosexual, or you can add sing-a-longs and turn it into a Broadway musical and then later release it on DVD.

No, Iâ€™m joking. The other way you can do it is to lighten the tone. Make it a bit funny with a fair amount of humor poked at being gay and the hoopla that comes with it, and there certainly is a bit of that in the comic, and it does it well. I can honestly say the comic made me laughâ€”particularly when Codyâ€™s straight and narrow friend chants â€œDo the hokey pokey and tune your best friend out" while Cody himself discusses a few sexy details about his significant other with another pal.  In the sense of being a gay-humor themed comic, ISO reaches the mark and perhaps exceeds it. They jokes are neither over sexualized nor downplayed with what is the best happy medium one could hope to achieve. The characters themselves are clear and quirky and compliment the humor as well. 

But however there are quite a few problems with the comic, and yes, some of them do have something to do with the nature of the comic and the audience itâ€™s meant for, and there's a certain split on how a somewhat unbiased reviewer is supposed to go about reviewing the comic. On one hand the reviewer (aka ME) can loosen up and see the comic through the mindset of who it was intended for, judging it based on the fandom's criteria, but on the other I have to admit to himself that because I'm NOT part of the intended audience, there will certainly be things I'm fairly critical of in a matter of fact sense, simply because I know thereâ€™s going to be certain plot or visual elements in said comic that I donâ€™t get or particularly care for because there is no real reason for it outside of pandering to the certain audience, of which Iâ€™m not part of, once again.

Now, I suppose, and the act of pandering to an audience isn't in itself an evil thingâ€”referring to Lowride magazine which does actually does have some pretty cool cars in itâ€”unless of course youâ€™re trying to tell me that a pornographic sex scene in a comic is an essential part of the story and in no way pure fan-service, yet in the same breath saying that youâ€™ve excluded said sex scene from the online version of the comic and is only to be seen in the â€œHard Copy High Fidelity Special Editionâ€ version of the comic available for purchase to those 18 and over, in which case suck a sock because Iâ€™m not falling for it and anyone who has half the wherewithal to tell when a story has meandered merely for the sake of some late night fornication will know better too. 

If that last bit sounds bitter then rest assured, it is. I donâ€™t mind a comic that shamelessly uses sex to attract a readerâ€”just donâ€™t have the arrogance to tell me itâ€™s anything but.


But Iâ€™ll be honest and give points to the author, Vince Suzukawa, ISO doesnâ€™t hold such an air, and its print copy in fact holds, as far as I know, nothing more than a bonus, somewhat unrelated story arc that is unnecessary for full understanding of the comic.  But since I only read the online version cause Iâ€™m a cheap bastard, for all I know it could be a 32 page porno extravaganza, but I highly doubt that as the comic doesnâ€™t seem to rely on unnecessary sex to â€œdriveâ€ the story, (aka tease you enough in promises that if you can survive ten pages of horrible storytelling and dialogue then youâ€™ll get to see the â€œgoodsâ€), because ISO is fairly modest when portraying outright sex and has a pretty damn engaging and funny story. A good point. 

However, when it comes to trying to portray sex appeal, ISO doesnâ€™t give a damn, which brings up the messy critique of character design and the somewhat shameless fanservice in the comic. The majority of the males in the comic are hugely ripped and look as if theyâ€™ve all taken enough steroids to start a modern day Thunderdome, and they spend a good amount of time shirtless or doing manly things for the camera, flexing and whatnot. And this is where thereâ€™s that split. Half of me KNOWS this is meant for the sheer enjoyment of people enjoy seeing buff fur-characters, yet the other half of me finds it a bit unnecessary and perhaps bored at just how uniformly â€œbuffedâ€ the characters are. Other than the inevitability of anatomy getting a bit difficult at times,( though ISOâ€™s cartoony style does forgive this more often than not), it gets hard to tell some of the characters apart. Codyâ€™s best friend is a tiger, and I kept getting their dialogue switched because I couldnâ€™t always tell them apart unless I was getting a shot of what pants or shirt (mostly pants) they were wearing, which again allows for more fan service. People have different body types. Thereâ€™s different types of big, strong, and attractive, and there could have been a lot more done with it in this comic. 

Another thing that irritated me, though sometimes impressed me, was the authorâ€™s experimentation with panel layout and metaphorical representations of some of the conversations. At times I found it damn hard to read because of esoteric styling of the long conversations, but at other times it finally broke the tedium of those long talks and awkward situations when dealing with sexuality. More often than not, however, I was just begging for a proper comic page, particularly during the dual-occurring conversation between Cody, Jeff, and his straight friend, and Doug and her sister, talking about the same date. It took me more than several pages to try and decipher the organization of the pages, and even then it wasnâ€™t consistent. Yet, when the author does it right, he does it well. In one scene, instead of being presented with a back and forth of talking animal heads in a rather haphazard but well portrayed conversation, the characterâ€™s banter was portrayed by an imaginary tennis match. I found it both amusing and fitting, and was one of the better examples of the authorâ€™s tinkering with the style. 

Now before I get into the final criticism of the story, I have to have some words about the character Jake and his Australian accent. Quite frankly, itâ€™s horrible. Not that Iâ€™m saying itâ€™s inaccurate. Iâ€™ve been to Australia and some of those bogans sound absolutely ridiculous, and I loved every second of it. But thereâ€™s a difference between HEARING an entertaining accent and READING it, and I have to say it was a downright annoying to try and read the phonetic-pronunciation spellings of Jakeâ€™s every accented word. Trust me when I say that by holding a bit of restraint and simply slightly altering a word or two a page while throwing in the tiniest bit of lingo will give the reader the proper voice speaking in their head while reading Jakeâ€™s dialogue. You donâ€™t need to slap it over our heads every chance you get. Thereâ€™s doing it right and overdoing it, and Jakeâ€™s accent was so overdone I can only compare it to a meatloaf thatâ€™s been left to cook for three days, so stuck to the metal pan that you need a chisel to scrape it out. (Yes, Iâ€™m exaggerating, but the point Iâ€™m trying to make is that Jakeâ€™s accent was exactly that. Exaggerated.)

Now, the last bit, and the final prognosis for the comic. Is the story satisfying? In short, yes. Thereâ€™s a beginning and a middle and an end, and it is tied togetherâ€¦ for the most part, and itâ€™s whatâ€™s not there that thatâ€™s leaving me the slightest bit unsatisfied whenever I read to the ending. What happens to Dougâ€™s sisterâ€™s crush on Cody, despite him being gay? Where on Earth did the conversation with Codyâ€™s parents go, the one thatâ€™s merely hinted at in the ending? What happens to playboy Jakeâ€™s urge to get serious, only to realize that his reputation precedes him and prevents many from taking him seriously? Does he get over this? Does he grow up?

The fact that Iâ€™m genuinely interested in the answers to these questions says something about how Iâ€™ve grown fond of the characters through the things they do and the way they act, which is what every comic creator asks for, but I couldnâ€™t help to feel the slightest bit of disappointment at not getting to see more of the charactersâ€™ arcs being wrapped up neater, or simply being elaborated on. However, whether this disappointment is in the story for not addressing such things, or simply because I missed the characters and wanted to see more, I canâ€™t honestly decide. 

~cc


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## JacquesChat (Dec 20, 2011)

I can agree with your "it leaves a lot unanswered in the end."  But I still think it's a good read. Good review. 




> ...thatâ€™s leaving me the slightest bit unsatisfied whenever I read to the ending.


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## Tidal (Jan 3, 2012)

I love this webcomic. I read all of it in one weekend, and it is one of my favorites. When I make my one comic one day, this will be the comic to which I set my own's standards.

Wonderful art.
Well developed characters.
Good plot.
Unique panels.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes it! :-D


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## Jonny (Jan 9, 2012)

I really enjoyed it too. As a furry AND a gay person it really resonated with me. I'd love to read more of this sort of thing.
I liked the more experimental panel layouts too. They didn't always work as well as they could have but I'm glad the guy tried.


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## Smelge (Jan 9, 2012)

Mr Tumnus didn't live in a closet. It was a wardrobe. Closets are part of the building, while a wardrobe is a piece of furniture.

GAWD


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## RedSavage (Jan 9, 2012)

Smelge said:


> Mr Tumnus didn't live in a closet. It was a wardrobe. Closets are part of the building, while a wardrobe is a piece of furniture.
> 
> GAWD



QUIT BEING SO PEDANTIC SMELGE GAWD


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## Smelge (Jan 9, 2012)

CoyoteCaliente said:


> QUIT BEING SO PEDANTIC SMELGE GAWD



HOW CAN YOU BE SO UNCONCERNED WITH SERIOUS FURNITURE MISNAMING? THIS IS FUCKING SERIOUS!


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## Kurasuki (Jan 9, 2012)

Wasn't too sure about this one at first, as comics (furry or not) that centre around gay relationships have either turned out to be porn, straight out angst drama-fests or porn with angst drama-fests in between sex scenes.

But gave it a shot anyway and I've ended up enjoying what I have read so far, the accents though are really keeping me from sitting through and reading it one go. I'm dyslexic so reading isn't always the easiest thing to do, the accents make reading for me exceedingly difficult. True enough I can completely hear the voices and accents playing through my head, but sometimes I can't make head or tails of what the heck is trying to be said when attempting to read it.

I haven't gotten through the whole series yet so can't comment on the ending =x


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## RedSavage (Jan 9, 2012)

Smelge said:


> HOW CAN YOU BE SO UNCONCERNED WITH SERIOUS FURNITURE MISNAMING? THIS IS FUCKING SERIOUS!



I DO WHAT I WAAAAAAANT


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## ryanleblanc (Jan 11, 2012)

Hi CC! Thanks for this review, I'm actually liking ISO a lot. It's funny because I stumbled across it a long time ago, but didn't bother reading it because the characters were a bit too bulked up for my taste (and they still are). However, after reading your review, I gave the comic a shot and it's actually quite good.

So yeah, thanks for swaying my opinion on the comic, I look forward to your next review.


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## DJ-Fragon (Jan 20, 2012)

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=ISO

ISO is pretty cool, I agree. =P


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## lobosabio (Jan 20, 2012)

Well, yeah.  Without ISO the world wouldn't have standards.


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## Ley (Jan 21, 2012)

;kjslfj

CC I snorted laughing here and there XD but the review prodded me to read.. it's actually pretty cool :> I love your reviews


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