You ever have that one love affair that haunts you for years? You get together, have some great times together, everything’s going great, and then BAM! you lose your heart when they suddenly break up with you without warning. "It’s not you, it’s me." So you go your separate ways, swearing you’ll never fall for that routine again, but a year or so later, BAM! they’re back, and you’re head-over-heels and bound for heartache. Well, Tauhid Bondia‘s back on the scene with a new webcomic, the Good Ship Chronicles, and here I am like a fool, head over heels again.
I first encountered Bondia’s work through Spells & Whistles, a satirical fantasy comic that he started, cancelled and restarted at least three times. It was funny, it was clever, it was controversial at points, and even though none of the storylines ever got close to completion, I just couldn’t stay away. And there was his stint on Team Special Olympics’ And It Don’t Stop — even though the comic didn’t stop until it reached the slam-bang-finish, Bondia’s stint on it as a collaborator did much earlier. And in there as well, Suzie View, which he and Erik McCurdy created for six months between 2004 and 2005 in a bid for syndication. Also announced, promoted and currently shelved is his Lowdown Joe Brown.
And you see, there’s the real source of this whine. Bondia comes up with very funny scenarios and very creative plots, and dammit, I’m greedy and selfish and I want to read the whole thing.
So here I am and here we are, 21 pages into the Good Ship Chronicles, a satirical take on the tired field of space opera as seen through a "mockumentary" day-in-the-life-of lens. It’s got simultaneously likable and despicable characters, strong character design, and funny writing. It’s brand new, and it’s already sucked me in.
So here’s my plea, Mr. Bondia: Don’t break my heart again. You’ve got something strong started here. Don’t stop up until the credits roll.
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