Comic of the Month

[Linebyline]

One thing I think is interesting about this comic, and I guess again I'm coming back to the villains, is that it's unusual* to have the heroes be better at navigating politics and bureaucracy than the villains. Usually  it's villains who are good at manipulating The System™ in their favor and the heroes who are at the whims of a seemingly arbitrary and capricious bureaucracy, but here it turns out that People Skills™ are the heroes' salvation and the villains' Achilles heel. Kind of fitting for how the villains are defined by their toxic personalities and the effect that has on those around them.

*Unusual among things I have read and remember, at least. I'm not terribly well-read.

[Keep Looking]

Linebyline, you make a great point!

Man, I just caught up now and yeah............ I'm invested now! It's even better than I remember, and all the politics and bureaucracy is presented in a surprisingly engaging way. It's a pity it's on hiatus!

[Jitter]

Well, it’s October now! I almost forgot because of all the excitement about YoinkTober, now ongoing in the Events Board. But, who wants to recommend a comic for this month?

[Keep Looking]

Well, it’s October now! I almost forgot because of all the excitement about YoinkTober, now ongoing in the Events Board. But, who wants to recommend a comic for this month?

Sorry for the late response as I had a busy weekend, but I'd be happy to take this month if nobody else wants to

[Jitter]

Great, pleae do Keep!

[Keep Looking]

Alright! Now to find a webcomic I follow that has NOT already been featured on comic of the month!

[Keep Looking]

Okiedokes!!

So the comic of the month I am featuring for October is:

Castoff

By Star Prichard

First Page
Latest Update

After getting kidnapped and dragged halfway across the world, scaredy-cat Vector finds himself a long, long way from home. Now, with the help of a short-tempered bounty hunter, a happy-go-lucky cartographer, and many more unlikely friends, he has to try to make it home in one piece.

Castoff is a webcomic about a boy who makes people run away, a bounty hunter who should be dead and magical happenings that nobody can explain. It has mystery, magic, political corruption, found family and a vibrant and expanding cast of characters.

Personally, I love the found family themes and the different character interactions, but I'm also invested by the mystery that is starting to unfold about our characters' pasts and the world which they live in.

The comic is fairly tame as far as warnings go - some pg-13 violence (blood but no gore), swearing and allusions to traumatic childhood events but no extreme violence or sexual references. There are some hints at developing romance or attraction but the story focuses much more on platonic relationships over romantic ones.

Castoff updates Mondays and Fridays and is not currently on hiatus.

[Linebyline]

Me, when Arianna first shows up: "I kinda like this character."

Me, several pages later: "I do not like this character."

I'm only on ch 2 pg 10 at the moment so I'm excited to see where this goes. It's very engaging so far. Thanks for the rec!

Edit: Me, 5 pages after writing the above comment: "I think I like her again now??"

Edit 2: Chapter 2 page 49 and now I really like, and also hate, this character. :')

[Jitter]

I think it’s safe to say the character writing is good 👍

[Keep Looking]

I'm glad you guys are enjoying it!

[Jitter]

Yeah so I’m in chapter 5 now and I have understood Castoff is a fantasy spinoff of Stargate SG1. Not only are there glowy yellow eyes, but that is a Goa’Uld hand device!

[Linebyline]

I'm looking at chapter 8 page 31 and it's made me think that the art is getting really, really good. Easily on par with Phantomarine and Suihira. Similar style to Suihira, too. Character designs tend toward the round and...cozy, if that makes sense. And the facial expressions are great!

[Jitter]

I think Vector looks a lot like Numair in several pages

[Jitter]

Oops, up-to-dated! I love Castoff, thanks for the rec!

[Linebyline]

Oh, that's awkward. I got caught up and then forgot to put it in my RSS reader. Oopsie!

Interesting stuff on the last few pages expanding on the hints dropped earlier about the nature of elves. I don't know if it's a spoiler but I'll tag it just in case:

Spoiler: show

So "elves" are just humans who've lived in areas with a lot of magi ore for enough generations that the magic starts seeping into their blood. The colored ears and eyes are just a side effect of that.

Reminds me a bit of how, in Tolkien's work, most of the fantasy races were actually related and not totally distinct species (which explains the number of human-elf hybrids). I somehow remember this being especially true of Hobbits and Men, but I don't recall why. (Most of my knowledge of Tolkien's Legendarium comes from half-remembered Stack Exchange posts, since I've only read Hobbit and LoTR once each. I do have Unfinished Tales but I bounced off it.)

In any case, I think that relation is going to be a lot more plot-relevant in Castoff than in, say, The Hobbit.

Anyway, who's got November?