You can now subscribe to Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes (A Tribe Called Quest) on iTunes as a free download. Or hop over to make5wishes.com, an official site that resembles the free-hosted fan website of a clueless teenage girl. Right down to the Google ads and disregard for attractive web design!
You can even "Sign Up" there. For what, it doesn't say. Perhaps a demon-ridden box that can only be dispelled by the imaginary musician friend of your choice. Perhaps junk email from Nettwerk.com.
Sorry for the forthcoming spam, flintstone@yabbadabba.com. But it was in the name of research.
Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes (A Pimp Named Slickback) episodes aren't a terrible concept when viewed in something akin to the intended format. Print can be unkind to Camilla D'Errico's art, here verging on the amateur webcomic level--rubbery bodies, faces that don't look their age, generic backgrounds--but seen one panel at a time, it's oddly appropriate.
Likewise, it's not Joshua Dysart's best and his rain-based metaphors need work (okay, a lot of his metaphors probably need work), but it's an emo parade for an emo age group. And the story, such as it is, does pick up once the happy wish-granting demon appears and the reader is no longer trapped alone with protagonist Hana's endless angst. Hey, Hana! Maybe the futility of life isn't the reason you don't have real friends. Maybe you don't have real friends because you suck.
Until Hana learns a Valuable Life Lesson, tune in to Episode 4 for the unintentionally amusing bit where Hana rags on an old jazz guitarist because jazz music is dumb and slow. Old music suxxorz compared to Avril Lavigne! Yes, a scene so pathetic that even Imaginary Avril Lavigne is embarassed to be part of it. And Imaginary Avril's embarassment is understandable; a manga where her biggest fan is a delusional, mopey little muffin who doesn't know shit about music... just doesn't seem like a particularly effective sell for the brand, no?
