Mind Control Comics Forum

The writing staff on "The Friend Zone" has some interesting interpersonal dynamics…

(https://mindcontrolcomics.com/comics/images/friend_zone/i01/friend_zone-i01-p00.jpg) (https://mindcontrolcomics.com/comics/friend_zone/i01/preview)

Written by: Plutonian Knight • Art and Lettering: Octavia Moon

I had some trouble following exactly what was going on here. I think it could benefit from slowing down -- there was like 3 issues worth of content here.

I liked the art and characters, but I did have a little trouble following the initial setup of the interpersonal dynamics before the book. My main concern is it feels like the harem is about to be contested without having gotten to really enjoy it yet. Competing mind control can be a great story, but my personal taste runs more toward "everyone wins" by the end--allowing for mental alterations to what characters consider "winning".

I'll second that motion. 

I've had issues with PK's writing in the past, but I've never been able to be more specific than the kind of misgivings aired by the previous posters. Reading The Friend Zone, though, I think I've finally been able to put my finger on exactly why PK-written issues tend not to work for me, and it's not because they're bad or anything. It's because they seem to be trying to pull off something very ambitious, but uniquely ill-suited both to MCC itself as a platform/format, and to what I personally want out of MCC.
 
To me, PK's issues tend to read like first episodes of the kind of prestige TV dramas (or, indeed, comics series) where the creators trust their audiences enough that they keep their premieres free of the kind of  expositional spoon-feeding explaining every single detail about the world, characters and plot. For most of these types of serial fiction, this approach works, because audiences know the creators will be unpacking these unknown quantities over a span of a few days or weeks (or months, at the most). In the case of PK's MCC issues or series, though, this kind of opaque, non-handhold-y writing is a risk, because

A) the frequency of releases in most MCC series in general is slow enough that building the kind of slow-burning, narrative complexity that PK seems to be shooting for, ends up working against itself. The befuddlement I feel during a PK issue... chances are it either won't ever be cleared up, or that the next issue will take long enough to see the light of day that any intrigue built by the first issue has long since evaporated. Which brings me to
B): the complexity of the writing gets in the way of the titillation. There are plenty of MCC one-shots and first issues published literal years ago that I'm still hoping to see follow-ups to, because they hooked me so well. Generally, this is because the mind control or smut (often both) were extremely hot to me, and of course, they were well executed, both in writing and art. PK has worked with some of the very finest artists on the site, but because the motivations and actions of the characters in these stories are so hard to parse, the smutty/mind-controlly parts of these particular issues tend not to do anything at all for me, regardless of the amazing art.

To be perfectly clear; this is my very subjective reading. Daphne has made it abundantly clear that she (and her collaborators) make stories that they find hot themselves, and I'm a-ok with that. Given how much lovely content her editorial mandate has given me over the years I've been a reader and subscriber, it's clear that it works. In this case, though... it's not a question of the work not pushing my buttons (which, on the rare occasions it happens, I don't have a problem with), it's that I'm not even able to tell which buttons the work is trying to push. PK is clearly a talented, ambitious writer, but I really, really wish they would tailor their work to MCC's strengths as a platform/format, instead of its weaknesses.

I'll third it. I logged on the forums just to say this.

Let me see if I've parsed what happened.

Man gets magic script that makes things happen.  He uses it to get things going smoothly, little harem, show is accepted and is going well, then burns the thing before he can go power-mad, which also strips memory of what happened.  His rival? takes the magic script(Because of the lack of memory thing) and is about to use it himself, I presume.

Is that accurate?

By George he got it :)

Yup.  And now we see for certain that the minimally conniving bastard is the actual hack.  Projection, projection, projection.  Sad.

I hope the only worthwhile male character we've seen returns and reclaims his harem with a couple interesting new additions this guy is tormenting.

It is funny how often PK's male characters are absolute petty bastards though.