My first impressions of “Life in the Crescent” were ones of surprise. I originally surmised that the crescent in question would be a suburban one and this would simply be another personal blog outlining activities of the author’s daily life. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it actually refers to “Juniper Crescent” – a web comic (one of three) which the author produces and publishes online. The blog was set up originally as an alternative to the forums, and it is always nice to see something a bit different being done with the blogging format.
The design itself is fairly unimaginative – no graphics or snazzy title bars, but the green colour scheme is very pleasant and it is certainly easy to read, so no real worries there. All the links seemed to be working, so technically it seemed fine too.
As well as producing web comics, the author is also a writer and designer of video games, and although I am not personally familiar with any of the games he has worked on (adventure games), they all got great reviews. Some aspects of his work are discussed throughout the blog, though the majority of the content focuses on the web comics aspects. One of the nicest features is the “Web comic of the Week”, where the author selects his current favourite and states why. Being a web comic producer himself, he clearly knows his stuff and these reviews are always well informed and in depth. They would be particularly useful for anyone (like me) who knows little about the subject and would like an introduction.
Other than that, there are a few personal entries about what he has been up to and various news items which have caught his attention. While these entries tend to be a bit superficial, they nevertheless break up the rest of the content well.
Generally then this is a great weblog for anyone who has an interest in web comics, or adventure gaming. I am not sure if there is enough content here to hold the attention of a general readership, but it is all pleasantly written and inoffensive nevertheless. Incidentally, the comics themselves seem to be held in high regard too and are definitely worth taking a look at if you visit the blog.
Life in the Crescent