When it comes to Goth cartoonists on the Internet, I feel that while Kai Decadence is one of the first that I got really interested in, it’s Arden Wachowski who’s the more talented of the two. Generally better sense of anatomy and while their comics aren’t always so polished, there’s something of an interesting story and angle not commonly found in Anglophone North American comics. As they’re Canadian, Cold Hard Teeth is more interesting than say Captain Canuck.
The latter’s a Canadian superhero as conceived by actual Canadians, but while the stories he appears in are serviceable, Cold Hard Teeth blows the waters off of it because it’s not only more readable but also has a more interesting premise. It’s about two musicians who go Goth upon realising that they’re monsters, also they’re into bands like Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy which makes the Goth angle all the more authentic and sincere. In ways those written by non-Goths don’t get immediately.
There’s a gulf of difference between something like DC’s Black Alice and the characters at Cold Hard Teeth, or for another matter Courtney Gripling’s Goth makeover. Courtney being this character from As Told By Ginger, but like I said earlier Gordon’s and Tanner’s Goth makeover is sincere as their author actually got into Goth punk music at some point and stuck to it. For all its faults, it’s really well-written and it’s refreshing in a sea of bland superhero stories.
Kai Decadence’s stuff tends to be more sexualised, in the sense that he fetishises not only muscular men, but also bodybuilders and it shows in the way he draws cartoon characters. The less is said about his fursona, the better. While Kai Decadence is one of the earliest I got into, Arden Wachowski’s better even if their art’s not always polished but is at least interesting.
fynm 