ComicBookMovie's long running fan-fiction, the 717 universe, is a great reminder on why fans should not be hired by a comic company. Whether it be dragging writing, odd dialogue, or constant tonal inconsistencies, the fan-fic never fails to deliver. Perhaps one of the most notable aspects of his writings, is his desire to inexplicably change gender for characters. Either way, there's a lot to dig into here, so let's get to it.
Writing Style
After reading through 717, one thing stook out like a sore thumb, his writing style. I understand that the general idea of having to write comics in prose turns people off, but the writing can at least be colorful or interesting. Throughout any volume of 717, there is never any liveliness to the writing, it is always such a bore to read through. Moments that should be a paragraph are dragged out to two entire pages. This aspect of 717 is arguably one of the weakest parts.
Dialogue
Kevin Smith the author is not. Perhaps biggest weakness of the fanfiction is, the dialogue. All the dialogue in the series just comes off as.. odd. Quite a bit of the dialogue feels just unnatural, heavily reinforced by the characters strange behavior. All the conversations never really feel as if they have meaning to them, instead trying to quickly proceed to the next event.
Plot
Plot is perhaps the one thing I can't fault the author for, with any plot there is the potential to craft a great writing out of it. So while there may be other faults with the fan-fiction, there are still some interesting story ideas that as concepts work.
Characters
While the plot may be passable, the characters are not. Instead of being actual characters, most end up being reduced to caricatures of their comic selves. The characters never really feel like true characters, alternatively feeling as if they ARE being written by someone. They act so wooden and staunch to one characteristic that it really brings down the whole story at times.
It's disappointing to see one of the most frequently submitted fanfictions be so mediocre. It really leaves a desire for a revival in the fan-fiction section so that there can be more variety in selection.
Overall, while the writing may have some flaws, it's at least readable to some extent. But the poor characterization, dialogue, and writing hurts it quite a bit. If I had to give it a final score, I would give it a 2/5 for the effort put into it.