Cricket Joe is a webcomic by local artist Ray Toh. I was handed a flyer as I passed his booth in STGCC and decided to check the comic out.

The flyer had the first few panels of the comic printed on it. The loosely drawn art style – almost careless at times – was not compelling at first glance. Neither were the lapses in grammar at the start. The grammar nazi in me was about to come loose, but I slapped it down and checked Cricket Joe out on Facebook anyway.

Yes, the comic is hosted on Facebook, and each panel is an individual photo loaded into albums labeled by chapters. There’s currently just Chapter 00 up for viewing now, and even that is incomplete. It does, however, give you a good look into the quirky world of Cricket Joe.

The comic is described (verbatim) as thus:

“Cricket Joe. The first and only human that works in the big, Alien infested bounty hunting industry. Nickname Cricket, given by his trainer who approved his license as a bounty hunter. Small in size but agil in speed gain him the rights to join the physically demanding industry.”

Cricket Joe‘s setting is not overtly sci-fi. There are no finely detailed flying cars. There are, however, a multitude of odd creatures, and certain undeniably futuristic elements, such as a robot receptionist and a flying-lamp-as-guide.

The story opens with Cricket Joe being called upon to bail a friend out. This friend is a dinosaur. Later, Joe is somehow roped into appearing in the ring in an as-yet unexplained competition.

The story arc is nowhere near even getting started, but I like what I’ve read so far. Using Facebook as a host is a great idea since you get to look at each panel up close as well. I’m looking forward to the next update of Cricket Joe!

(Photo: Cricket Joe)