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REVIEW: Doodze Chapters 7-9

Last time on Doodze… The gang, after being chased by a monster in the woods, fall down a hole!

Will Eddo become a hero? Will Brucker get his gold? Will Moolawg gain confidence in his magical powers? Will the reader guess that I’m doing this in a 1950’s announcer type voice? Probably not.

Anyway, here’s the chapters seven to nine of the web-comic, Doodze.

So, the gang fall down a hole and after rummaging around for a light, they find that they have been separated from Russcorn and Bussy. We also discover that the creature that chased them was in fact a Wood Troll. With no way back the way they came, the group decide to press in in search for the gold. Which they find. Rather quickly. Yeah. I’d have thought it would have taken a bit longer than that. Still, at least there’s no more audience teasing going on.

The gang’s triumph is short lived, however, as a Jurkze attacks them. After vainly trying to fight it off, Moolawg dispatches the creature with magic. Very easily. It’s literally: ZAP, then hideous evil vanquished, job done. And his reasons for not doing this sooner? Sometimes he forgets he has magic powers. And I don’t mean like he has amnesia or something. He just gets so nervous it slips his mind. I think this guy is really crap at what he does. Ron Weasley with a broken wand was a better wizard than this guy.

So, the gang press on, only to discover a cave filled with Jurkzes! Oh no! They try to leave quietly but the Jurkzes hear them and give chase. Moolawg tells the rest of them to press on while he holds off the oncoming horde. What follows is… is… I can’t even say it. I don’t want to say it! I… A Lord of the Rings parody bit. *sigh*

Moolawg stands before the Jurkzes and says “YOU… SHALL NOT… P-” and then is overwhelmed by the monsters. This is stupid for two reasons. One, the web-comic is described as Lord of the Rings meets The Smurfs. Which is fine… until you actually reference either of them! It’s great that it’s inspired by it, but if you’re going to compare it to Lord of the Rings, then don’t quote it! And two, “You shall not pass” jokes have been done to DEATH! We all liked it, we all joked about it, we all said it over and over again but now the time has come to stop. Stop. Stop it right now. It’s no longer funny. OKAY? Alright. Good. Moving on.

The gang, minus Moolawg, find themselves surrounded by Jurkzes (Making Moolawg’s sacrifice rather unnecessary), but are saved by another group of tough, adventuring Doodzes. They tell the gang that they are from another city on a mission to the Doodzes village, apparently to talk to Moolawg. They all leave the caves and are attacked by an army of bugs! Boy, these guys cannot catch a break, eh? “But wait!“, I hear you cry. “What about Bussy and Russcorn?“. You really care about what happened to them? You’re sure? Alright.

Bussy and Russcorn awaken outside near where they were attacked by the Wood Troll. But before they can get their bearings they encounter the most terrifying, evil, bloodcurdling thing you could possibly imagine… A LITTLE GIRL! AAAAHHHH! RUN! FLEE! Wait… what? A little girl? A human girl? Why? Why show us that? Over the course of the comic, humans have been talked about in whispers and rumors. A footprint alone invokes terror. Humans have been so built up that I was starting to be afraid of them. So why show them? Why not just keep them as this legendary mystery, that was way more effective!

So the little girl grabs Bussy, only for them all to be attacked by the Wood Troll. The Troll carries the little girl away and Bussy and Russcorn decide to go and rescue her. Why? Because Bussy said she was a good person (despite being grabbed by her) and he is an excellent judge of character. That’s it. Never mind that we have been given no clue that Bussy is a good judge of character so far, apparently this is all the motivation they need to go after her. Nevertheless they do manage to rescue her and it is revealed that she is looking for her family, so they decide to go looking for the people they lost together. Oh, happy days.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Doodzes manage to escape the caves and debate whether or not to go back for Moolawg. This would be the perfect time for Eddo to step up to the plate, prove that he is a true hero and say that they are going back for him. What a shame he does the exact opposite and acts like a cowardy cowardy custard. Which brings me to an important point.

At the beginning of the story, Eddo wants to be a hero but when placed in danger decides he is not cut out for it. And because of that, he has become a bit of a coward. Which is fine, clearly we are meant to see him change from a spineless twerp into a hero. But if that’s what he’s supposed to become… then why make him want to be a hero in the start and then change that? Why not just make him a coward right from the word go? This makes it seem like Robin White didn’t have the full story in his head when he started writing, which was probably not the case but that’s what it looks like. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, we then get a weird moment then Brucker implies that Palu only came along because he is in love with Selissa. Which is an odd thing to say seeing as how we were never given any indication that Palu felt that way.

At that point, they decide to go back for Moolawg, right at the same time that Bussy and Russcorn come back sans little girl for some reason. With the gang (mostly) back together, they venture forth into the great unknown to find Moolawg. So what were these chapters like? Okay, I guess.

Truth be told there are some infuriating bits in these chapters, but they are few and far between. Plus the humor and the dialogue is still impressive and laughter inducing. At the end of the day, all my complaints fall under the heading of “mild to serious nit-picks”. Nothing to worry about. Mostly. So, see you next time, same Doodze time, same Doodze channel (Yes, I know that doesn’t work. Just go with it)!

 

What did YOU think of Doodze? Was it as sharp as a Sh’leeps horn or was it as annoying as “They’re taking the Hobbits to Isengard”? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter. Remember to check back as there will be more reviews on the continuing adventures of the Doodze in the future.

About the author

Scott Meridew