Moist: Humidity Rising

*spoilers ahead for the Dr. Horrible Moist webcomic* Well. Certainly not what I had hoped for. It gave an origin story for Moist, true; but not with that comical yet tragic touch the original blog (indeed, even the Captain Hammer comic) had. I'm not wild about the visuals- better than I could draw, but somehow the characters just weren't... themselves- some bad language (those of you who know me can probably tell that the Lord's name in vain in the first panel is a turnoff), they "realistic-ed" the fun, cartoon-physics punch from the Captain Hammer comic, and the characters were... kind of out of character. Moist didn't have that pathetic, lopsided, but somehow comical expression, if you know what I'm talking about; Hammer kept his lines from the first comic, but I'd expect him to soak it up... be a big ham in the background, for the press, at least. And Horrible talking about taking Hammer down at the end? He looked like... dare I say it... Hammer himself, in his stereotypically heroic pose. Somehow I hoped for... bonding? Lovable "wimpiness" in a way? A little more Horrible-esque self-battering and/or humor? He was taking himself so seriously... and not the way Dr. Horrible usually did. More like some kind of buff he-man. And, surprisingly, they did not play it for jokes. You can be funny and dead serious at the same time, as Joss Whedon proved in the web original.

The good thing about it? At least now we know that Moist is a) Horrible's henchman, officially, and b) runny, not sweaty. Although the conjecture about that last one was part of the fun...

That all said, I am grateful to Zack Whedon and Farel Dalrymple, if the credits are correct, for providing the fans with some more Dr. Horrible material and a few questions answered- plus even more Horrible press. It did not appeal to me; but I'd bet you money that someone out there is going to love this. Therefore, it was probably worthwhile. And I thank them.