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It's a shame that the comics with the best art always end up updating once a week, if that often. I'm always antsy to see more and I'm always left waiting for weeks on end for some new stuff. Zap! definitely falls into this category.

Zap! is the tale of Zap Vexler, a happy-go-lucky fellow with a mucked-up memory and few friends in the galaxy. The story opens with Zap running for his life from the forces of the G.E.F. (Galactic Earth Federation), and the story never really lets down from that pace: it seems like something is always going on to poor Zap, especially when he finds his place on a ship full of people who seem to hate his guts. Unfortunately they have no choice but to put up with the sometimes immature and brash Zap, as the ship has chosen him as its captain - and nobody can change its enigmatic mind.

From the outset it sounds like the story will be a bit of a space comedy, and to an extent it is. There's a fair amount of humor, especially when it comes to Zap's antics and those of the ship's snide and sarcastic robot, whom Zap names Robot. Yet underneath the humor is a cohesive, continuing plot involving Zap's past and his apparent psychic abilities - a storyline made all the more interesting when a supposed pal from Zap's past, a grim man named Gunner, joins the crew for a spell. Gunner is definitely one of the neater characters in the story, and his revelations make the otherwise goofy Zap into a rather cool character in his own right.

Much as it relies on space combat for its thrills Zap! is a story about people. It looks to character interactions and the development of relationships for much of its action. It's a bit unique in how it goes about this, too, as Zap - at least so far - hasn't developed good relations with most of the crew, aside from the first mate Reona who is the obligatory love interest. (Don't worry, ladies out there, Reona is much more than just a romantic place holder. She has a Mega Man cannon on her hand. That automatically makes her cool.) Zap is constantly seen as a pathetic outsider when compared to the ship's old captain, Efrem, who went missing prior to the beginning of the story, and Zap's desperate attempts to prove himself worthy of his captainship are surprisingly endearing, if often stupid and wrong.

Watching the evolution of Pascalle's art throughout the course of this long webcomic is nothing short of amazing. It was decent at the start and has since blossomed into something amazing. There aren't many webcomics out there that can claim to have improved artistically as much as Zap! over the years. Unfortunately improvements in the quality of the art means each page takes longer to create, unfortunately, so the comic seems to move at a snail's pace.

But that's okay. I'll wait. Zap! has a neat enough story that I really want to see what happens in the end, and I'm willing to be patient if it means continuing to receive this kind of quality storytelling for free.

Learn more about this author, Matt Bird.
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