Post by: Jitter on July 14, 2021, 05:51:45 PM
If the comic gets or already has a lot of following, discussions dedicated to it can of course be opened separately too.
I suggest we start in August. Who wants to go first? This opening post will show the agreed “presenters” and works for the upcoming months.
Reserve your month now!
2023
January - Linebyline - Daughter of the Lilies by Meg Syverud, colors by Yoko Weaver - https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/part-1-a-girl-with-no-face
February - Linebyline - Immaterial by Sarah Ellerton - https://www.seraph-inn.com/immaterial.html (avalable to read on this site and on Webtoon)
March - Jitter - Bad Space by Scott Base - https://www.badspacecomics.com/
April - Linebyline - Harpy Gee by Brianne Drouhard - https://www.harpygee.com/
May - thegreyarea - Rising Sand by Ty Dunitz and Jenn Lee - https://risingsand.glass/comic/rising-sand/
June - Keep Looking - Sleepless Domain by Mary "Cube Watermelon" Cagle - https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/
July - Linebyline - MAiZ by David "CrikeyDave" Smith - Note! Controversial author, see presentation post on page 26 of this thread
August - Jitter - War in the Shade - https://warintheshade.wordpress.com/
September - dmeck7755 - How to be a Werewolf - https://www.howtobeawerewolf.com/comic/coming-february-3rd
October - Keep Looking - Castoff by Star Prichard - https://castoff-comic.com/comic/1
November - Jitter - Chirault by Varethane - https://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=0
2021 - 2022 below!
August 2021 - SkyWhalePod - several works by Anath Hirsh and Yuko Ota - https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=1237.15 (https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=1237.15)
September 2021 -
October 2021 - Keep Looking - White Noise by Adrien Lee - http://www.white-noise-comic.com/comic/1-0 (http://www.white-noise-comic.com/comic/1-0)
November 2021 - Róisín - Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio - https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/index.php (https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/index.php)
December 2021 - Thorny - Digger by Ursula Vernon - https://diggercomic.com/blog/2007/02/01/wombat1-gnorf/ (https://diggercomic.com/blog/2007/02/01/wombat1-gnorf/)
January 2022 - Catbirds - Warm Blood by many artists (written by Josh Tierney) - https://warmbloodcomic.com/ (https://warmbloodcomic.com/)
February 2022 - Thorny - Freefall - http://freefall.purrsia.com/ (http://freefall.purrsia.com/)
March 2022 - RanVor - Blonde Sunrise by Mana - http://www.blondesunrise.com/ (http://www.blondesunrise.com/)
April 2022 - JoB - The Sword Interval by Ben Fleuter - https://m.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/sword-interval/list?title_no=486 (https://m.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/sword-interval/list?title_no=486) (note, it’s on Webtoons, use JoB’s link for page on p 11 of thread if this doesn’t work)
May 2022 - Vulpes - Widdershins by Kate Ashwin - https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/sleight-of-hand-cover (https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/sleight-of-hand-cover)
June 2022 - Linebyline - Phantomarine by Claire Niebergall - https://www.phantomarine.com/comic/01-the-horizon-line (https://www.phantomarine.com/comic/01-the-horizon-line)
July 2022 - Keep Looking - Shaderunners by Alex & Lin - https://www.shaderunners.com/comic/chapter-1-cover
August 2022 - Linebyline - Suihira City of Water by Riana Dorsey - http://www.suihira.com/comic/1
September 2022 - Gwenno - Mystery Babylon (aka Kick Girl) by Val Hochberg - http://www.kick-girl.com/?comic=chapter-1
October 2022 -Linebyline - Freelancer by Martin Kirby - https://freelancerscomic.tumblr.com/
November 2022 - Keep Looking - Tiger, Tiger by Petra Nordlund - https://www.tigertigercomic.com/tiger-tiger/001 note! Tiger tiger has some nudity including full frontal, as of Feb 2023 sex is hinted at but not shown
December 2022 - dmeck7755 - Gifts of wandering ice by Olga Makarova - https://giftscomic.com/index.php?comic_id=0
Here’s how we do it:
The work to be presented as Comic of the Month
- has to be accessible online for free
- has to be understandable to a reader proficient in English (works with no language or very little reliance on language are ok in addition to works mainly in English)
* if you have a very good candidate that is not in English, we can discuss whether it would nevertheless be ok, however let’s get started with easily accessible ones
- has violence similar to SSSS canon or less, i.e. no outright gore
- has other content (sex, substance use etc) generally in the pg-13 / teen audiences bracket - note content warnings!
- a work that has been dropped before ending may be ok if you think it’s worth nevertheless, but in this case make sure to let everyone know it is or appears to be discontinued.
- it can be a work that has been recommended on this Forum and/or the Disqus comments previously
Note that links to works with Mature or 18+ content may be removed by Forum staff with no warning.
The entry should include, at minimum:
- name and link, obviously
- genre
- short description of what it is about
- how long / short it is, is it currently ongoing and how often it updates.
- why I read it / like it / would like to recommend it
Content warnings
Make sure to include any content warnings needed, and rating if such is available, or your own estimate for a rating if if you don’t think it would be G, OR a statement that no content warnings are needed
- content warnings can be put into spoilers, if you feel it’s beneficial for the story to allow people go in without knowing them. However, even when this is the case, content warnings must be included when needed. When spoilered, people can decide for themselves whether to check them or not.
- if you are unsure whether warnings are needed, please reach to me or another member of the forum staff for advice
- content warnings may be added, or the entry removed for lack thereof, if necessary
Content warnings are intended to help the reader understand what they are about to see, and be able to choose when, or whether, they wish to see such content. Warnings are needed for content that is likely to be disturbing or distressing to some people. Typically content warnings include (source: https://trigger-warning-guide.tumblr.com/triggers (https://trigger-warning-guide.tumblr.com/triggers))
Rape and Sexual Assault
Abuse (physical, mental, emotional, verbal, sexual)
Child abuse/pedophilia
Animal cruelty or animal death
Self-injurious behavior (self-harm, eating disorders, etc.)
Suicide
Excessive or gratuitous violence
Needles
Pornography (including child pornography)
Incest (including any and all elements of romantic or sexual relationships between family, tonal in theme, thought, or activity)
Kidnapping (forceful deprivation of/disregard for personal autonomy)
Death or dying
Pregnancy/Childbirth
Miscarriages/Abortion
Blood
Mental illness
Issues marked in red are right out here. Several others are only appropriate in very specific situations and with no direct depiction. Conversely, blood and violence don’t require warnings here, up to level similar to SSSS canon.
In addition, let’s make sure to mention if the work includes religious or political themes, or anything that is drastically different than the reader is likely to expect. In other words, don’t trick people into reading it! We don’t want to throw another bunny comic on anyone. (The bunny comic would be eligible, but only with proper description).
Recommended also
In addition to the rules above, the following would be reat but are not required:
- if the comic is currently ongoing and has some sort of comments section, post the link to that nd encourage people to comment there. It is very important for the artists to get feedback and hear from people who are following their work!
- if you can post some samples of the art, it would make a great addition to the entry
Post by: RanVor on July 15, 2021, 07:14:51 AM
Post by: Jitter on July 15, 2021, 07:41:26 AM
Post by: Vulpes on July 15, 2021, 08:08:54 PM
Post by: RanVor on July 16, 2021, 05:07:47 AM
Ran, would you like to book a spot a few months from now? Also to ensure you will get back to it :)Uhh, maybe? Not sure about it, but it would be a good way to stop me from chickening out... I'll think about it.
Post by: Songbird on July 16, 2021, 11:48:01 AM
Will the one presenting a comic need to do anything besides the initial presentation? Any directives about length and hiatus status?
If it's just presenting something and being done and no one has recommendations I can steal one of the previous recommendations I have in the webcomic thread (I read too few comics). Here's an example of the format I've been using, with a few modifications and spoilered to not take up thread space:
Spoiler: Sample comic of the month post • show
About the images, it'd be advisable to upload them to a different server just to not leech bandwidth from the original sites.
Post by: Jitter on July 16, 2021, 12:20:32 PM
I think we would at minimum need:
- name and link, obviously
- genre
- content warnings, and rating if such is available, or your own estimate for a rating if if you don’t think it would be G, or a statement that no content warnings are needed
- short description of what it is about
- how long / short it is, is it currently ongoing and how often it updates.
- why I read it / like it / would like to recommend it
The presenter is not required to do anything else, but the idea is to read together and discuss, so I would usually expect that the presenter participate in discussion about it.
I don’t think we want to set much limits on length etc. I suggest we can manage with:
- has to be accessible online for free
- has to be understandable to a reader proficient in English (works with no language or very little reliance on language are possible)
* if you have a very good candidate that is not in English, we can discuss whether it would nevertheless be ok, however let’s get started with easily accessible ones
- has violence similar to SSSS canon or less, i.e. no outright gore
- has other content (sex, substance use etc) generally in the pg-13 / teen audiences bracket - note content warnings!
- a work that has been dropped before ending may be ok if you think it’s worth nevertheless, but in this case make sure to let everyone know it is or appears to be discontinued.
Anything else we should add to the “rules”? I will edit it into the opening post when we are satisfied we hae a reasonable system to get started. The rules may be tweaked if needed based on experience.
Note that links to works with Mature or 18+ content may be removed by Forum staff with no warning.
Post by: Róisín on July 16, 2021, 08:39:30 PM
There is adventure, interesting relationships, a well realised and detailed background world, lots of humour both verbal and visual, and occasional visceral horror. Oh, and Jaegers. With hats.
Post by: SkyWhalePod on July 16, 2021, 09:01:58 PM
Post by: thorny on July 16, 2021, 11:29:29 PM
- a work that has been dropped before ending may be ok if you think it’s worth nevertheless, but in this case make sure to let everyone know it is or appears to be discontinued.
What about one that came to its planned end some time ago?
-- I'm thinking of Digger.
Post by: Róisín on July 17, 2021, 02:54:09 AM
Post by: JoB on July 17, 2021, 10:05:07 AM
I would like to suggest Phil and Kaja Foglio’s steampunk fantasy ‘Girl Genius’. I can’t make links, but maybe someone with more internet skills than I would like to do more detail.Well, links to first (https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021104) and latest (https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php) page I can sure do.
Details, erm ... I almost stopped reading it when I ran into the supposedly-villaineous faux-German-speaking Jägers (https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050513), but am quite glad now that I didn't ... has a Nordic troll-hunting short (https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/funextras/stories/dovrefjell.php) for an extra ... also, Buck Godot, though that series has dropped off the website by now ... ?
Post by: Songbird on July 17, 2021, 10:32:38 AM
Songbird, that is great! I would say less than this would suffice, but all of this is helpful!
I think we would at minimum need:
- name and link, obviously
- genre
- content warnings, and rating if such is available, or your own estimate for a rating if if you don’t think it would be G, or a statement that no content warnings are needed
- short description of what it is about
- how long / short it is, is it currently ongoing and how often it updates.
- why I read it / like it / would like to recommend it
The presenter is not required to do anything else, but the idea is to read together and discuss, so I would usually expect that the presenter participate in discussion about it.
I don’t think we want to set much limits on length etc. I suggest we can manage with:
- has to be accessible online for free
- has to be understandable to a reader proficient in English (works with no language or very little reliance on language are possible)
* if you have a very good candidate that is not in English, we can discuss whether it would nevertheless be ok, however let’s get started with easily accessible ones
- has violence similar to SSSS canon or less, i.e. no outright gore
- has other content (sex, substance use etc) generally in the pg-13 / teen audiences bracket - note content warnings!
- a work that has been dropped before ending may be ok if you think it’s worth nevertheless, but in this case make sure to let everyone know it is or appears to be discontinued.
Anything else we should add to the “rules”? I will edit it into the opening post when we are satisfied we hae a reasonable system to get started. The rules may be tweaked if needed based on experience.
Note that links to works with Mature or 18+ content may be removed by Forum staff with no warning.
I agree with most of these, but didn't understand the sentence about working with no language. You mean idioms and highly local expressions?
I've got a suggestion for the guidelines. It's not a hard rule, but a recommendation: Include at least one image of the said comic in the presentation.
It not only drivers readership but when it comes to comics art is at least half of the work. It stands in for the narrative voice, lets people get an immediate idea of the tone. The art is easily the most time-consuming aspect of doing a comic, ignoring it is ignoring the authors' effort. If they didn't care for the visual aspect they wouldn't pour that much effort into it.
For people not very familiar with BBCode we could stick a template in the first post. We got a beautiful code tag for that. Eg:
Code: (Replace *TEXT LIKE THIS* with the comic information) [Select]
[size=14pt][b]*TITLE*[/b][/size]
[img]*IMAGE URL*[/img]
[b]Read at[/b]:[url=*FIRST PAGE URL*]Page 1[/url]
[b]Synopsis[/b]
*ADD SYNOPSIS HERE*
[b]Content Warnings[/b]
[spoiler]*HELLO WORLD*[/spoiler]They'd have to just copy and paste, then fill it like a form.
Following this exact format wouldn't be obligatory as long the post follows the guidelines.
Post by: thorny on July 17, 2021, 12:43:37 PM
Post by: Jitter on July 17, 2021, 07:14:48 PM
As for the no language, I have “read” a brilliant work that has no text whatsoever. It was a while ago so I’ll have to see if I can find it still, but it’s possible! I am also imagining there could at least in theory be a work where several characters speak their own language, but it works even if you don’t understand all of those. So I didn’t want to make it too specifically about being works In English.
SkyWhalePod, you are in for August! It doesn’t matter if the work has been recommended before, we haven’t had a community reading effort before so having it as “comic of the month” is new in any case! Actually I’m looking forward to getting some of the works with a lot of fan overlap introduced here, I haven’t really got around to checking most of them yet!
Róisín, would you like to go for September with Girl Genius? We can make the links for you!
Post by: Jitter on July 17, 2021, 07:17:41 PM
Post by: thorny on July 17, 2021, 07:28:44 PM
As for the no language, I have “read” a brilliant work that has no text whatsoever. It was a while ago so I’ll have to see if I can find it still, but it’s possible!
Was the central figure an immigrant?
If it's the one I'm thinking of, I agree that it's brilliant; but I'm afraid I'll be no help in finding it online, because I took it out in hardcopy from one of the local libraries. I also don't remember name or author, though if you need those I could probably find it in the library again; they don't have so many graphics that I couldn't just look through the shelves.
Thorny, an already finished work is fine! It has the added benefit of no risk of getting canceled in the middle of everything.
OK! Maybe I'll ask to do Digger in one of the winter months, then, when I've got more time; unless somebody else wants to get to it before I do, which would be OK too.
-- this whole idea looks like it's going to a) be a lot of fun b) be mind-broadening c) have the potential to keep these boards busy indefinitely.
Post by: Songbird on July 17, 2021, 08:14:29 PM
As for the no language, I have “read” a brilliant work that has no text whatsoever. It was a while ago so I’ll have to see if I can find it still, but it’s possible! I am also imagining there could at least in theory be a work where several characters speak their own language, but it works even if you don’t understand all of those. So I didn’t want to make it too specifically about being works In English.
This sounds brilliant and I'd like to read it if you can find it (it's a lovely potential future comic of the month!), but disagree with making that a requirement because that's a narrative-type niche. Conventional comics are about dialog + art, not just art. It'd be very hard to find other comics of this type, and I don't think that's what people envisioned when the idea was brought up. Imho this works well as a recommendation, not a requirement.
Post by: Jitter on July 17, 2021, 08:44:16 PM
I’ll try and see if I can find it again… it wasn’t about an immigrant, it was a story of a girl and lamps and lost castle.
Post by: thorny on July 17, 2021, 09:42:12 PM
I’ll try and see if I can find it again… it wasn’t about an immigrant, it was a story of a girl and lamps and lost castle.
Ah. I'll have to see if I can find online the one I was thinking of!
ETA: got it! The Arrival, by Shaun Tan. Described as a children's book, which surprises me. Available online at comiconlinefree; but I'm not at all sure that's a legitimate site approved by the authors. Does anybody know?
Post by: Songbird on July 17, 2021, 09:56:12 PM
Oh no no, comics in English are ok! But also comics that are not in English, but are understandable to a person speaks (or rather, understands) English. My point is to not exclude comics that are not in any language :)
I’ll try and see if I can find it again… it wasn’t about an immigrant, it was a story of a girl and lamps and lost castle.
Oh. Then I'm absolutely for it!
I'm looking forward to that comic and the one thorny mentioned. They'd be great comics of the month, interesting yet probably relatively unknown.
Edit: I can't help to think of Kochab (https://www.kochab-comic.com/comic/prologue-00) when thinking of a comic about a girl, a lost
And wow, The Arrival is gorgeous.
Post by: thorny on July 18, 2021, 09:32:09 AM
I'm looking forward to that comic and the one thorny mentioned. [ . . .]
And wow, The Arrival is gorgeous.
I don't know if it's available to read online anywhere legitimate, though. The one place I found looks suspicious to me.
Post by: Keep Looking on July 18, 2021, 11:17:41 AM
I don't think comiconlinefree would be a site supported by the author, though (just given the name of the site if anything) - I've only ever seen The Arrival in print, so I think you have to actually buy the book. Still, if you have the money it's definitely worthwhile, and even if you don't, if you look up 'The Arrival Shaun Tan' online you can see some of the illustrations from the book, which are truly beautiful.
Post by: thorny on July 18, 2021, 01:47:52 PM
ETA: if you've got the money, yes, buy it! It's definitely worth it. But if you're broke, you might be able to read it for free from the library.
Post by: Jitter on July 18, 2021, 02:30:40 PM
Since there haven’t been any comments on the “rules” I guess they are ok for the first iteration ao I’ll copy them to the starter post. And @SkyWhalePod you are on for August!
Post by: SkyWhalePod on July 18, 2021, 06:08:13 PM
Since there haven’t been any comments on the “rules” I guess they are ok for the first iteration ao I’ll copy them to the starter post. And @SkyWhalePod you are on for August!
Roger roger! I'll set an alarm. Excited to be a part of this :D
Post by: Sc0ut on July 18, 2021, 07:37:51 PM
I was one of the proponents of this activity and the part I was most excited about was actually hanging out in the comments with the rest of you! I think of it as going to a different pub or park with a familiar group of people. If there is interest in this, I would suggest adding a "rule" that says if the webcomic is ongoing and has a comment section, we are encouraged to comment there (as well) for the month when it is featured. As an artist who publishes their work online, I can tell you that there is no fuel like people expressing interest in what an artist posts! This kind of support can go a long way towards seeing more good comics out there.
Well, regardless of that, I would like to claim September :)
Sorry if I was unclear, I'm very sleepy right now but I'll be happy to clarify anything tomorrow if needed!
Post by: Jitter on July 19, 2021, 02:03:37 AM
I hope it will be different from the recommendations thread that is mostly a list of titles and maybe a couple of comments. The intention is that a work being the Comic of the Month will prompt Forumites to read it at the time (as opposed to “I’ll check it out at some point” I least tend to do…) an thus generate more discussion and hopefully steady following, at which point there can be a thread dedicated to that particular work.
And you are in for September!
Post by: Jitter on July 19, 2021, 04:18:07 PM
Post by: SkyWhalePod on August 01, 2021, 10:31:11 AM
My comic recommendation for August is actually an artist duo recommendation, because all of their free online works have been posted to the same website under the moniker
:sparkle:Johnny Wander (http://www.johnnywander.com/) :sparkle:
This is the webcomics page for writer+comic artist team Anath Hirsh and Yuko Ota, two first-generation Asian Americans whose work is influenced by global mythology (leaning toward Asian), anime and manga, among other things. They're very funny people and I've been following the stuff that comes out on Johnny Wander since it launched back in 2008.
There are a couple of different Hirsh+Ota comics available to read on Johnny Wander:
The original comedic one-page autobiographical comics (http://www.johnnywander.com/autobio/i) that started the project. These are all completely safe for work, except in one or two cases where some strong language might be implied (but not explicitly written). These autobio comics include Yuko's travelogues to Japan and a little bit about how Ananth's family celebrates different Indian holidays, as well as lots of goofs from their early adult lives. If you like Scott Pilgrim, you'll probably like this art style and sense of humor.
(https://i.imgur.com/sic0ZTC.jpg)
They've also written long-form comics though! Lucky Penny (http://www.johnnywander.com/luckypenny/lucky-penny-001) is another Scott Pilgrim-like story about a young woman with, uh, humorously awful luck. It's light, it's cute and quirky. Penny (the main character) likes romance novels, so there are some sort of steamy but still PG-13 frames. Some mild/strong language too, if I recall correctly, but nothing obtrusive.
They've also dabbled in some short fiction (http://www.johnnywander.com/fiction/girl-with-the-skeleton-hand-1) in which they develop a character who falls in love with Death -- they wound up loving the character so much that they put her in their current long-form comic, which earned a Reuben award in 2019:
Barbarous (http://www.johnnywander.com/comic/barbarous-chapter-1) is Hirsh and Ota's current project, and the most 'serious' one to date. By which I mean, they've put a lot of work into developing an interesting universe with interesting, complex characters (as opposed to writing goofs about their cats). Barbarous is sort of an urban fantasy, magical realism story with aspects of myths from all over the world woven in: a young woman has left a prestigious magic academy and is trying to pull her life together by working as a super at an apartment building. The more we learn about her past, and the past of her big beast man co-worker, the deeper into the magical universe we're drawn. The comedy is still there, but there's a lot of heart and drama as well. Might be some strong language every once in a while (I don't remember) but otherwise it's a pretty safe read.
Somebody recommended Sakana on here a couple of months ago, and I definitely think that fans of Sakana will like at least something that Hirsh and Ota have published over the years!
-- I guess, to follow Jitter's guidelines: everything except for Barbarous has been completed, and Barbarous just started its second 'season' of the story (really just the next act) on Thursday, so it's actively being updated. Everything is completely in English. I would call Hirsh and Ota's genre autobio/comedy/manga-esque/urban fantasy/magical realism (I am not great at genre tags though). Pretty solidly PG-13 if not G most of the time, and I don't think there's any content to warn about. I've loved Yuko and Ananth's work since I was a teenager, and they've inspired me and gotten me through a couple of rough patches. They're just a good time, they make me laugh, they got me into webcomics and kept me there. Yuko's art, particularly her standalone pieces, is lovely as well. Both the Johnny Wander comics and Minna's comics have similar senses of humor and similar physical comedy, which I think is part of what drew me to SSSS in the first place (that and the languages aspect), so you all are probably going to find something in Yuko and Ananth's work that makes you giggle!
Post by: Jitter on August 01, 2021, 11:08:12 AM
I can’t dive in at this minute, but I will check all of it out! The current storm sounds particularly interesting.
Post by: thorny on August 01, 2021, 02:46:26 PM
Need to get some other things done today, however, even if it is raining again -- thorny, do not read the whole thing right now!
Post by: Jitter on August 01, 2021, 06:30:10 PM
http://www.johnnywander.com/comic/she-only-likes-real-coffee
It’s a one-off so no spoilers on any story
Post by: muidole on August 01, 2021, 06:33:35 PM
Post by: Athena on August 02, 2021, 04:21:07 AM
Post by: Opaque on August 02, 2021, 03:33:35 PM
Post by: Jitter on August 03, 2021, 04:46:27 PM
Oh and the short story with the ghost mice is sooo adorable!
Post by: catbirds on August 04, 2021, 02:03:00 AM
I'll definitely continue once my schedule frees up a little!
Post by: thorny on August 08, 2021, 05:01:16 PM
Are we going to talk about these, beyond mentioning their existence and whether we like them or not? Presumably so; this isn't going to take us very far if all we're going to say is 'here's a neat comic'. But how, when some of us are caught up on any given work and others may not have started it, or may only be a few pages in? Shall we use spoilers for any more detailed discussion?
Post by: Jitter on August 08, 2021, 05:26:01 PM
I suggest we use spoilers. Also especially for ongoing comics we can start a dedicated thread.
I’m also caught up as of yesterday. It’s great!
SNIPPETI SNIP
Discussion about Barbarous has been moved HERE: https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=1247.0
Note the separate thread contains spoilers!
Post by: Jitter on August 12, 2021, 06:03:08 AM
Post by: thorny on August 12, 2021, 08:51:30 AM
However, aside from that: sure, let's have a thread for Barbarous. -- Judging by previous history, there may be a long gap between chapters; but the new chapter's just started, so it should have a while to go.
Post by: Jitter on August 12, 2021, 09:02:05 AM
But, I'll move some of the latest comments to a Barbarous thread.
EDIT so it's here now: https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=1247.0
Post by: Jitter on September 01, 2021, 02:10:18 AM
Who wants to take October? Or you can book a later month if October is not good.
I would also like to invite further comments, the Barbarous storyline has its own thread which hopefully will go on as the comic does. But comments on earlier comics of the month are allowed on this thread, so anything you wish to say about Johnny Wander either now or later, is welcome here!
I still haven’t read all of the autobio comics, but I’ve particularly enjoyed the travel logs when they go to Japan and Hawaii :)
Post by: Keep Looking on September 01, 2021, 08:35:24 AM
Post by: thorny on September 01, 2021, 08:40:19 AM
On Johnny Wander:
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on September 01, 2021, 10:38:44 AM
Thorny, which one of the winter months? You can have any after October!
Post by: thorny on September 01, 2021, 04:18:42 PM
Thorny, which one of the winter months? You can have any after October!
Can I tentatively take December? If it turns out I can't I'll let you know; but I expect that I can.
Post by: Jitter on September 01, 2021, 04:24:09 PM
Post by: thorny on September 01, 2021, 04:41:43 PM
(You don't want to see my Lists. I've got this on my fridge:
https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/todo-2 ]
Post by: Jitter on September 03, 2021, 04:48:26 AM
I can "pinch hit" over the weekend if Sc0ut doesn't show up, but let's give them a bit more time.
Post by: Jitter on September 05, 2021, 01:17:54 PM
So, the Comic of the Month for September 2021 is Alice Grove by Jeph Jaques. Jeph also makes the massive Questionable Content, but Alice Grove is a one story standalone that was published in 2014-2017. Alice Grove is a special thing for me personally, because it is the first long form webcomic I followed, which in turn probably was a big influence for the fact that I took up SSSS when I did.
It’s available either on its own site: https://www.alicegrove.com/ page by page, or in 50-page chunks in https://www.questionablecontent.net/alice1.html
Alice Grove is a post-apocalyptic mystery science fiction story that takes place a long time after a cataclysm. The apocalypse events are distant background rather than actively present, but there’s something left behind… And when a blue-skinned kid appears, Alice has to work out why and how to get him back. There’s some action, but overall I would call it a mystery rather than an action comic.
The art is fairly cartoon-y, clear and colorful but not particularly beautiful. It serves the story, no more no less.
There is some violence and a little female nudity (which, due to the nature of the art, isn’t that detailed) but nothing very upsetting. I suppose it would be rated T for these reasons. I could read it at work, but depends a bit on the work too :)
It’s divided into chapters so when discussing something that could be a spoiler, state “spoilers, Chapter 1” etc.
It’ll be an interesting reread for me too, I haven’t read it since it was finished so I may look at it differently now, having been spoiled by SSSS in its glory after that. I hope you guys like it too!
Post by: thorny on September 05, 2021, 04:46:50 PM
It’s available either on its own site: https://www.alicegrove.com/ page by page, or in 50-page chunks in https://www.questionablecontent.net/alice1.html
From the first link:
Quote
We're sorry
Service is temporarily unavailable. Our engineers are working quickly to resolve the issue.
Hope it's back soon. The other version seems to be trying to download all 50 pages simultaneously and I don't know whether, on my connection, it's ever going to succeed in getting there at all. I'll go do something else for a while (which I ought to anyway) and see in an hour or two whether it succeeded, or whether the other site is back up.
-- later: the first chunk of the 50-page version did load eventually, except for halves of two or three panels. And here I thought I was going to get something done today.
Post by: Jitter on September 07, 2021, 10:12:55 AM
The second link is indeed loading all 50 pages when it opens so it probably doesn't work too well for slow connections. I have quite a good fibre nowadays so it didn't occur to me to warn you.
Post by: thorny on September 07, 2021, 10:44:19 AM
Post by: thegreyarea on September 13, 2021, 05:24:17 PM
And he art isn't awesome, but serves the story well enough. Loved the "weird dog" part! :D
Post by: Vulpes on September 26, 2021, 12:11:08 PM
I seem not to have made the link between Gavia and the dream-loon until this reading. *forehead smack* As a biologist, how could I miss that?
Jaques seems to be making some grand point about the state of humanity, but I'm not sure I quite get it, or perhaps I don't buy it. On one hand, he seems to be saying that we're horrible, violent creatures that need external help from some benevolent I'm-not-sure-what to overcome our base human instincts; on the other, he seems to suggest that with just the right balance of scarcity & resources, we can live harmoniously. Those messages are at odds, which may explain my confusion.
I'm curious to hear what others made of it!
Post by: Keep Looking on September 29, 2021, 08:15:04 AM
And man! It's my turn for Comic of the Month on Friday!
Post by: Jitter on September 29, 2021, 02:50:15 PM
Spoiler: show
Post by: thegreyarea on September 29, 2021, 06:15:43 PM
First, I liked it, even if it's a bit confusing sometimes, be it on the story itself or on those contradictions Vulpes mentioned. I guess it deserves a rereading.
Second, there's too many things left unexplained...
Spoiler: show
The end... No, the whole story seemed a bit rushed to me. It looks like "Hey, I have this bunch of cool ideas and will make a story right away!" It has some concepts that could result in a great story, and also would benefit with better art, but that may be just me.
All that said I enjoyed the story.
Oh, and really apreciated that it was dedicated to Ian M Banks! :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon)
Post by: Keep Looking on September 30, 2021, 11:25:19 PM
My comic of the month is White Noise by Adrien Lee - however, just for a bit of clarification: there are two notable webcomics called White Noise. The one I'll be talking about is the one that started in 2010 with the bird guy and the multiple dimensions, not the one that started in 2005 with the aliens and genetic mutations - although I hear that that one is also quite good, so check it out if you want to read another comic after this one!
But back to the comic that I'm discussing. Here's a link to the latest page (http://white-noise-comic.com/), and here's a link to where you can start (http://www.white-noise-comic.com/comic/1-0).
The comic follows two half-siblings separated because of the conflict that's going on in their own country, and their journeys as they seek to find each other and also find and build better lives. It's set in a world with several magical/fantasy elements but at a time equivalent to the early 2000s in our world. The comic has very interesting and in-depth worldbuilding, but I'd say it's driven the most by its characters and character dynamics, which are very well-written.
The comic is set in a world where there's conflict driven by prejudice between different groups (humans and monsters), and thus it contains depictions of violence, warfare and discrimination, as well as some physical injury (although much less gore than SSSS). It does contain some light nudity, but there are no genitals shown and all sex-scenes fade-to-black (it's not explicit). Personally I think the comic deals very well with some very heavy topics, and generally the heavier scenes are balanced out by plenty of more light-hearted interactions. As the author is trans, the comic also explores trans experiences through several of the side characters, including discussions of dysphoria that might hit a bit close if you're trans yourself, so fair warning about that.
White Noise is definitely one of my all-time favourite webcomics because of its characters and themes, and I've re-read it many, many times. It's still currently updating and is nearing the end of its first major arc, although since it only updates once per week the progress goes very slowly. I hope you guys check it out and enjoy it!
Post by: thorny on October 02, 2021, 02:41:20 PM
here's a link to where you can start
The description under that page
Spoiler: show
-- will continue reading, but ought to at least mostly wait till dark or till the rain starts --
Post by: thorny on October 03, 2021, 12:58:06 PM
Post by: thorny on October 03, 2021, 03:50:19 PM
Spoiler: show
As for White Noise: yeah, that's sucked me in so far. Enjoying it. Not at all sure where it's going; but I've only had time for one chapter so far, so that's interesting, not frustrating. (I bet that slow update's going to be frustrating when I catch up -- but if it's keeping the creator from burnout, probably worth it.)
-- ETA: and nice artwork!
Post by: Róisín on October 03, 2021, 11:41:47 PM
Post by: Keep Looking on October 04, 2021, 01:28:13 AM
Probably doesn't need a spoiler: there's information in the text under the illustrations that isn't there in the illustrations themselves. This appears to be meant not as a standard comic/graphic novel but as an illustrated story?
The text under the illustrations functions as an image description (describing in words what's happening in the comic pages) to make the comic accessible for people with limited/no vision who use screenreaders, or in my case for when the internet's gone dodgy and the comic page isn't loading. The text doesn't contain any information that can't be found on the comic page itself, although sometimes if you read through it you might notice things you missed when looking at the page. The text below also sometimes contain notes from the author, especially at the start and end of chapters.
Also, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the comic so far!
Post by: thorny on October 04, 2021, 10:44:23 AM
The text doesn't contain any information that can't be found on the comic page itself, although sometimes if you read through it you might notice things you missed when looking at the page.
At least a couple of times I looked back at the page, looking hard, and couldn't find something that was in the text.
I've seen a couple of references in the comments to things having been changed since they were first posted, though -- maybe sometimes either the text or the comic have been changed but not both of them?
Post by: Jitter on October 04, 2021, 02:04:06 PM
At least a couple of times I looked back at the page, looking hard, and couldn't find something that was in the text.
I've seen a couple of references in the comments to things having been changed since they were first posted, though -- maybe sometimes either the text or the comic have been changed but not both of them?
There are some things that can’t be really shown in the pictures, like saying it’s hot. And some of the flashbacks are easier to understand from the text. And the names come up earlier than in the speech bubbles. So, it’s useful even though not necessarily essential.
Post by: Jitter on October 07, 2021, 03:36:30 PM
Post by: Jitter on October 13, 2021, 06:07:50 AM
It’s a bit slow for me to read as I read the text every time and then end up poring over the comic page again :) So I’m still in Chapter 5 (Hawk my dear boy <3 )
And no, it turns out Teige doesn’t have wiggle room with his appearance.
Post by: Keep Looking on October 13, 2021, 07:16:55 AM
And, yeah, no (sorry for not responding earlier!) the author does do a great job of depicting different body types, even if the characters don't have absolute agency over how their bodies look.
Post by: thorny on October 13, 2021, 10:38:22 AM
Post by: Jitter on October 17, 2021, 06:21:19 PM
Still loving White Noise in general and Hawk and Teige in particular! It’s hard to know how to discuss it when not everyone is on the same point in the story (I am a long away from caught up, when I do I will be keen to discuss!)
Post by: Róisín on October 17, 2021, 11:12:29 PM
Post by: Jitter on October 18, 2021, 11:14:47 AM
Post by: Jitter on October 24, 2021, 05:41:30 AM
Spoiler: show
I am torn between reading White Noise, which is still slow for me, and writing for SSSS. I want to catch up on WN to be able to properly discuss :) If I open a thread for it now, will anyone be interested in talking about it with me, or is it better to start a dedicated thread for up to date discussion only?
Post by: Keep Looking on October 24, 2021, 08:30:45 AM
I am torn between reading White Noise, which is still slow for me, and writing for SSSS. I want to catch up on WN to be able to properly discuss :) If I open a thread for it now, will anyone be interested in talking about it with me, or is it better to start a dedicated thread for up to date discussion only?
I would love to talk about White Noise with you, although I'll probably have more time for it once my exams are over in a few weeks. But that means you might have caught up, which would be good.
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on October 24, 2021, 08:57:40 AM
Post by: Jitter on November 02, 2021, 11:49:16 AM
Read it here:
Today’s page https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php#.YYFcyIFHmhA
Start from the beginning: https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021104
I notice the comic has been running for 19 years this week!
This Comic of the Month is recommended by Róisín, as well as her husband Star I believe. Róisín aske med to post this to make sure the links work, but she provided the following to present the comic.
So,,with no further ado, please proceed to read and discuss Girl Genius!
GIRL GENIUS
Girl Genius is a webcomic by Phil and Kaja Foglio, inked by Cheyenne Wright. It has been variously described as science fiction, science fantasy, Victorian gothic or gaslamp fantasy, and may well be all of the above. The characters are strange but relatable.
The setting so far is mostly parts of Europa (America has been lost as far as most people know - it may well still be there but is cut off by weirdness down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Britain is still there, but keeps to itself and is ruled by an immortal queen who likes to keep it separate.
The world seems to be post-apocalyptic, though what kind of apocalypse exactly happened has so far not been specified, with much of the surviving population controlled by devices called ‘slaver wasps’ which reduce their hosts to shambling zombie-like creatures which are directed…..or not….. by some of the ‘Sparks’, humans who have a talent for mad science which is so powerful it amounts to a kind of magic. Sparks may be good, neutral or evil, or various combinations thereof, and vary hugely in power level from ‘their machines just work a bit better’ to ‘can create machine intelligences, living buildings, and organic constructs that might as well be people’. Then there is Othar Tryggvasen, a powerful Spark whose life ambition is to wipe out all the other Sparks and then commit suicide. He is an interesting character.
The main story follows Agatha Heterodyne, the Girl Genius of the title, and opens with her being an apprentice and science student at Transylvania Polygnostic University. She believes herself to be the daughter of Adam and Lilith Clay, who run a blacksmith’s shop in a nearby town, and has no idea that her ‘parents’ are Punch and Judy, two powerful constructs whose job is to conceal from the world that their ‘daughter’ is in fact the last survivor of the infamous Heterodyne lineage of Sparks. Events transpire at the University that create a situation which brings Baron Klaus Wulfenbach to investigate a possible incident of a rogue Spark working there. Wulfenbach has been responsible for giving Europa such law and order as it has regained, and really doesn’t like rogue Sparks who may casually tear down such civilisation as he has managed to reconstruct.
In his youth he was a friend and associate of the Heterodyne Boys, the last two of the lineage known to have survived, and they were ‘good Heterodynes’ who were more likely to destroy or control monsters rather than to create more of them. Not all of the Heterodynes were like them. However, some twenty years before the story opens Klaus and the Heterodyne Boys disappear in the course of one of their adventures trying to clean up and reopen Europa. The Boys are never seen again but Klaus eventually turns up again, carrying with him a small child whom he acknowledges as his son and heir. He brings Europa back to some kind of civilisation, ruling from an airship city, and brings his son, who is now in his late teens/early twenties, with him on his trip to deal with this university problem, wanting to see if the boy is fit to succeed him.
Meanwhile, Agatha is mugged on her way to university by a returned soldier from the perpetual wars that are going on in Europa, and her locket is stolen. Unknown to her, the locket is a device that keeps her from ‘breaking through’, that is, from becoming a powerful Spark. So when she comes into power, she has no concept of what is going on……she has suddenly become very dangerous, very valuable, and a threat to everyone including herself. Now read on!
Post by: Jitter on November 02, 2021, 01:12:45 PM
Post by: thorny on November 03, 2021, 08:42:50 PM
For anyone starting it from the beginning: there is a whole lot of it to get caught up on.
ETA: I really ought to try to get back to White Noise. I think it's all that white text on black that put me off it.
And I should get back to ARTD, while I'm at it. I have kept up on Barbarous (which also has its own thread.)
Post by: Róisín on November 03, 2021, 10:58:55 PM
Post by: thorny on November 04, 2021, 12:25:36 AM
I really ought to try to get back to White Noise.
So I got back to White Noise.
And -- how did it get to be past midnight? and the wood stove's gone out. (there's also central heat oilburner for a backup.) and there's still eight chapters to go. Not gonna be caught up on that one tonight.
Róisín, we have some of the same favorites.
Post by: Róisín on November 04, 2021, 02:18:52 AM
I think the characters I like best are Higgs, Tarvek and the Storyteller (whom I gather to be Phil’s avatar in the comic). I would love to hear the backstory of how Ognion comes to be the Storyteller’s great-grandfather! I’m sure it is quite a tale. And I’m pretty sure Higgs must be a Jagermonster, possibly the prototype Jager, for all that he looks human. And my headcanon is that Gil and Zeetha are siblings.
Post by: Keep Looking on November 04, 2021, 03:28:43 AM
Post by: JoB on November 04, 2021, 03:42:33 AM
And I’m pretty sure Higgs must be a Jagermonster, possibly the prototype Jager, for all that he looks human.
Spoiler: show
Post by: Róisín on November 04, 2021, 04:18:47 AM
Post by: thorny on November 04, 2021, 01:46:51 PM
I’m pretty sure Higgs must be a Jagermonster, possibly the prototype Jager, for all that he looks human. And my headcanon is that Gil and Zeetha are siblings.
Spoiled for spoilers:
ETA: whoops! forgot to refresh the page and check for other comments before posting. I'll let it stand, though; and some of what I said wasn't covered.
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on November 04, 2021, 02:53:43 PM
I have read the first two volumes now, and I’m still on the fence. The environments and backgrounds are fascinating, and I like many of the bright colors. On the other hand I don’t like the way humans (and jagermonsters etc) are drawn, and so far haven’t gotten used to that. The world and the story seems interesting, but none of the characters are likeable. Agatha is ok but even she hasn’t much grown to me yet.
Still, I find myself reading on, so… maybe I’ll have at least made up my mind by end of the month :)
Btw as you want to discuss GG, you are more than welcome to open a thread for it, either now or at end of month at the latest.
Post by: catbirds on November 09, 2021, 01:12:30 AM
I'm kind of confused about the sign-up process, though, but if I also need to write a description, let me know.
Post by: Róisín on November 09, 2021, 05:11:10 AM
My guess for Gil and Zeetha is that Gil is the older sibling, and Klaus fled with him for Gil’s life when the next child (Zeetha) proved to be a girl, because the culture is a matriarchy and Zeetha’s mother is a Queen. At one point Klaus complains to Othar that ‘he hasn't seen his wife in years’, so he may expect to see her again? Though in warning Gil against getting involved with Agatha Klaus does say that every woman with the Spark with whom he has ever been involved romantically has tried to kill him, and is taken aback when Gil suggests that Klaus himself may be the problem.
Post by: Jitter on November 09, 2021, 12:45:56 PM
Róisín, I’m in Vol 5 now and it’s growing on me. I still don’t like the cartoony style of drawing people, but I have become interested in the story. I think I dreamt of it too last night :)
It’s considerably quicker for me to read than White Noise, despite the wealth of details on each page and especially in the backgrounds. I’ve already read about 500 pages, while White Noise probably isn’t much more than that in its entirety and it took me all of October to get through that. Interesting.
Post by: thorny on November 09, 2021, 06:18:28 PM
Will have some comments on it after I've done that.
Post by: Jitter on November 10, 2021, 05:25:00 AM
Post by: thorny on November 10, 2021, 10:44:04 AM
Post by: Jitter on November 10, 2021, 12:17:25 PM
Post by: Róisín on November 22, 2021, 09:41:32 PM
spoiler tags added by Jitter, please carry on
Spoiler: show
Post by: thorny on November 22, 2021, 09:53:53 PM
Spoiler: show
Post by: wavewright62 on November 23, 2021, 08:27:02 PM
Which bits do I like? *rubs hands together*
One of the most dependable update schedules I've ever seen! 3 pages a week sketched, inked, and (oh so) fully coloured. This team is a machine, and not a wonky jury-rigged one, either!
Speaking of colours, Cheyenne Wright is a marvel. Many of the colours are quite bright, but I feel this contributes to the comic's overall look.
I enjoy Phil Foglio's lively cartoony style. His grasp of human anatomy often suffers (particularly noses and lower legs) when he tries to fit stuff in, but I can live with that. Let's face it, 3 pages a week does not give you time to compare precisely where this character's elbow would fall in relation to that character's head with that angle.... On the contrary, half the time it gives an animated effect to a static drawing. Look at any still of Tex Avery's work and you'll see what I mean.
The team do outstanding diversity. There are a wide array of skin tones, ethnic features and body modifications (including those which in any other universe would be disabilities but here are considered assets). A squick: all of the women (and quite a few of the men) are very buxom, but I let it go.
The storyline: Uh, meandering, byzantine, on steroids, difficult to keep straight - yeah, storyline is not the right word, more like storymiasma. I just go along for the ride, really.
Characters and character design: GG is one of a few comics I follow where the 'main' characters are fine and all, but the vast array of secondary and marginal characters are the really fun bit. Although (as illustrated by the above convo dredging up one who hasn't been seen in years from our POV), it's tough to remember their deal when they pop up again.
On the other hand, for all the liberties Phil takes with their anatomy, he pays incredible attention to the details of their outifts and accessories, even when their page appearances are years apart.
Details! So many details! He really makes a rod for his own back sometimes, cramming multiple characters wearing detailed outfits into each panel. He seldom draws a character alone, there's almost always interaction going on, and the backgrounds are stuffed with details and in-jokes. No wonder the noses become just a suggestion, yeah yeah yeah Bang has a nose, we all know she has a nose lalalaa, but there's an Art Nouveau poster spoofing a hilarious perfume ad to draw in the shadows over there! (I hear Cheyenne is bald - would have to be after colouring that lot.)
All-time favourites: Krosp, Emperor of Cats - c'mon, with a title like that? A Napolean knock-off talking cat, what's not to like?
Mamma Gkika - a rare female jaeger, with an epic beehive hairdo and a similarly epic brain under it! (The other jaegers - meh, not my favourite but hey)
The Master of Paris' whole family.
I adore the interactions between Agatha, Zeetha and Violetta.
Post by: thorny on November 23, 2021, 10:19:21 PM
The storyline: Uh, meandering, byzantine, on steroids, difficult to keep straight - yeah, storyline is not the right word, more like storymiasma. I just go along for the ride, really.
Yes, indeed.
Somebody said somewhere -- I think on the no-longer-checkable snopes boards -- that they'd quit reading because the story never seemed to get where it was going (I think we were in the long stretch -- how many years was it? -- when they were heading for Paris and not getting there.) I said that I don't much care whether it gets anywhere in particular as long as it keeps going interestingly sideways.
(They do, eventually, get to Paris. Where things continue to go interestingly sideways.)
Post by: Róisín on November 23, 2021, 10:38:33 PM
And of course I like Tarvek, trying to solve problems with his brains rather than force. He tends to get written off as another pretty boy, but he doesn’t abandon comrades, as the jaegers found out, and his efforts to save his sister were touching. Also his attempts to look after Violetta, who is his kid cousin as well as being a smoke knight (sort of Ninja equivalent in the Foglioverse). There are so many interesting minor characters.!
And thorny, the meandering story is a great part of the attraction for me too. Getting there is at least half the fun!
Post by: thorny on November 23, 2021, 11:22:30 PM
Spoiler: show
-- maybe we should have a Girl Genius page, on which spoilers are OK, and then Róisín won't have to worry about them?
Post by: Jitter on November 24, 2021, 06:51:03 AM
Post by: thorny on November 24, 2021, 10:12:12 AM
Post by: Jitter on November 24, 2021, 11:36:29 AM
BTW as I sort of suspected already, it has grown to me or I have grown to it, I’m in vol 13 now and I love it :) I especially found the weasels (most so far seen in vol 11 I think) adorable. And I too like Tarvek. Similar to what Wave said, it bothers me a bit too that all the women have such prominent chests. Plaah.
Post by: Róisín on November 24, 2021, 05:59:22 PM
And Jitter, the weasels are delightful, aren’t they.
Post by: thorny on November 24, 2021, 07:36:27 PM
Post by: Róisín on November 24, 2021, 11:16:08 PM
Post by: Jitter on November 25, 2021, 03:09:57 AM
So, discussion about GG in general, such as what Wave posted just recently, will still go here from now on. Discussion about what actually happens in the plot and anything that may constitute a spoiler, should go to the Girl Genius spoilers thread here: https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=1275.0 If you are unsure, it’s better to err towards caution and use the spoilers thread.
Post by: catbirds on November 28, 2021, 04:49:23 PM
So far I've considered either getting into contact with the creators and sending them a link to the discussion, provided the comic gets enough interest here to have its own thread, or just going into comments and pasting a link (which might be a little invasive, depending on the particular author).
Of course, these are just suggestions and mostly about bringing more people into the discussion, since it might be fun. It doesn't have to happen right now, since we're still fairly closely tied to SSSS by appearance. Plus, not all of the comics we've discussed have comment sections anyway.
Post by: thorny on November 28, 2021, 05:26:09 PM
Post by: thorny on December 01, 2021, 03:08:50 PM
Post by: Jitter on December 01, 2021, 05:10:10 PM
Post by: thorny on December 01, 2021, 08:51:42 PM
Here we are, the first of December. (Well, the second of December by now, in much of the world. Sorry about that.)
So, for Comic of the Month, may I introduce you to Digger-Of-Unnecessarily-Convoluted-Tunnels? Who is, in my opinion, well worth knowing; as are a number of other fascinating characters to be found in Ursula Vernon's Digger.
First page here:
https://diggercomic.com/blog/2007/02/01/wombat1-gnorf/
As the author's header says at the top of the pages:
"A wombat. A dead god. A very peculiar epic."
I'm not sure that it's got a genre; though it certainly has fantasy elements. I'd say it's about . . . hmm. The nature of morality? The nature of friendship? Homesickness? Work? Love? There's no Pairing Everybody Off, though there are some pairs. There are various body shapes, more so because there are various species. There aren't a lot of apparent gender roles and those that are may not be the expected ones.
Some other things to know about Digger:
For one thing, it's a completed work that's been finished since 2011. This has the advantage that there's no need to worry about whether the author's going to get sick of it in the middle, and there's no agonizing waits for the resolutions of cliffhangers page . . . by . . . page. But it has the considerable disadvantage that when you get to the last page, that's it. No more Digger. Which probably explains all those re-readers in the comments.
Note that the comments at the bottom of the pages were posted over multiple years, some of them by people doing multiple readthroughs, and they sometimes contain spoilers for later pages.
Let's see: content warnings. In general, occasional violence, and occasional gruesomeness; not likely to bother anybody who likes SSSS. Different style, though, and sometimes in some ways weirder. No explicit sex, and not very much implicit sex or even very much discussion of sex.
Further possible content warnings under spoiler:
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on December 02, 2021, 03:34:51 AM
The only question I still have is how long is it? I mean order of magnitude, so 50, 500, 5000 pages?
Post by: Róisín on December 02, 2021, 07:38:28 AM
Post by: thorny on December 02, 2021, 09:21:11 AM
The only question I still have is how long is it? I mean order of magnitude, so 50, 500, 5000 pages?
About 750.
Róisín, yes read all of it! And it really is a delight. Even -- maybe especially -- in the dark places.
-- If anyone wants to discuss Digger without worrying about spoilers, let me know, and I'll open a thread.
Post by: Róisín on December 02, 2021, 03:40:38 PM
Post by: thorny on December 02, 2021, 04:45:13 PM
https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=1277.0
Post by: Vulpes on December 05, 2021, 01:49:51 PM
That's par for the course with me, of course - I routinely forget all but a few completely irrelevant details from any book, movie, comic, play, etc. which results in some very interesting conversations:
Other Person: Say, have you seen <movie>?
Me: Yes! I enjoyed it so much.
OP: Wasn't that a clever scene where <protagonist does important thing>?
Me: ... I remember <protagonist> trying to make a sandwich... remind me about <important thing>.
OP: (eyeing me suspiciously) You know... <protagonist> goes to <famous location> and finds the <MacGuffin that drives the entire plot>.
Me: ... ah... they went there? Um... it's not a place I'm familiar with. And what's this <MacGuffin>?
OP: Seriously? You don't remember the pivotal scene of the movie??
Me: No... just the sandwich, really.
Post by: Jitter on December 14, 2021, 01:17:54 AM
It reminds me the great classic of fantasy comics, Bone by Jeff Smith. There is a lot of the same warmth and weirdness. Not too much, it doesn’t feel like a copy of anything ever, but if you love Bone you will likely love Digger.
It is beautiful and heart wrenching, often at the same time, but it’s also full of humor. I have laughed out loud many times reading it.
Thank you @thorny for sharing this with us. I would never have read it, if it weren’t for this, and that would have been a shame.
Post by: thorny on December 14, 2021, 11:47:40 AM
If these forums can become a site for sharing great things that most of us otherwise would never have seen, I think that would be excellent.
Speaking of which -- I've never read Bone. Maybe a comic of the month for some later month?
Post by: Jitter on December 14, 2021, 02:17:49 PM
Speaking of which, January is spoken for but there are open spots from February onwards! Who wants to go? @RanVor you had something in mind? @Vulpes?
Post by: Vulpes on December 14, 2021, 02:44:35 PM
Post by: Jitter on December 14, 2021, 03:27:01 PM
I very strongly suggest Digger! It’s already finished, so it will be easier to read a bit at a time. Girl Genius is fun and interesting, but it’s massive. White Noise is at least for me a lot slower to read than the others, because there’s a written description of every page which sends me back looking at the comic. It’s well worth it, but probably isn’t at its best when you are pressed for time. So, in my opinion, the best enjoyment to time spent ratio would be Digger, although overall my favorite (out of the comics of the month so far) is probably White Noise. They are very different, so it’s hard to actually put my finger on it though :)
Post by: Vulpes on December 14, 2021, 04:22:10 PM
Post by: RanVor on December 15, 2021, 10:37:46 AM
I have Bone as physical books only, I am not aware of it being available online. But, I can look i to it!
Speaking of which, January is spoken for but there are open spots from February onwards! Who wants to go? @RanVor you had something in mind? @Vulpes?
Uhh, I could take... March? Maybe?
Post by: Jitter on December 15, 2021, 11:28:46 AM
Post by: Vulpes on December 17, 2021, 07:18:44 PM
Post by: catbirds on January 01, 2022, 02:57:45 AM
I'm introducing this month's comic of the month, Warm Blood (https://warmbloodcomic.com/post/157329839640/warm-blood-1-figures-page-1-illustrated-by)
Genre: Slice-of-life and mystery, with a bit of unreality/supernatural elements
Official synopsis:
Warm Blood is a slice-of-life high school mystery comic following our hero Penny as she navigates life at Greenwood High.
There is a killer at Greenwood High. His name is Logan Filigree. Who is the killer at Greenwood High?
Content warnings:
- Where the supernatural elements show up, it can get disorienting to read
- Blood, murder, and deaths of minors are relevant to the plot, but are not graphic
- alcohol, underage drinking
- very mild depictions of internalized homophobia
- stalking
Status: 555 pages long and currently not updating. It goes up to the end of Penny's first year at high school, but might continue?
Why I liked it:
Spoiler: mild spoilers for first few chapters • show
It's also just kind of nice seeing these teenagers go on small adventures around the town where they live, especially with all the mysterious and inexplicable phenomena that just pop up. And they generally have a very energetic dynamic, but nothing unrealistic for fourteen-year-olds. If you're into the type of story that's just a bunch of snippets of people's lives, then you'll probably enjoy this one.
Another thing is that it seems more like a story that's meant to be read by people who've already been through high school. At that age, I'd have found this type of thing pretty boring.
Regarding the art: This is one of those webcomics where the artist changes every scene, which makes it fun because you can see a bunch of different art styles and ways they depict characters! You might also recognize a few if you follow a lot of internet artists. However, it might be distracting since your brain will be constantly adapting to the new appearances of these characters.
That said:
Spoiler: show
Post by: Keep Looking on January 01, 2022, 09:14:36 AM
Post by: muidole on January 10, 2022, 03:14:44 AM
Spoiler: * • show
Post by: thorny on January 10, 2022, 06:38:27 PM
I gather that some portions of it aren't supposed to make any sense to the reader, at least to start -- maybe ever? Is that supposed to include the behavior of the characters? That is, some parts of their behavior do seem very like high school. But some bits don't -- spoilering this, it's all in the first ten pages though so if you've read any significant amount it won't be a spoiler:
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on January 11, 2022, 04:53:10 AM
Spoiler: show
So I suppose it's intended to be rather surrealistic in all. Post by: Jitter on January 12, 2022, 04:06:28 PM
I mostly liked the changing artists. Like you said Catbirds, it’s interesting to see so many styles. And many of the styles aren’t to my liking in themselves, so I would probably not have read something drawn completely in several of the styles used. On one hand it is kind of cool how it’s usually very easy to immediately understand who is who despite the marked differences between artists. On the other hand of course it also shows how much is done by hair color and styling.
I have never been an American teenager, so I didn’t relate with much of the slice-of-life bits. Or maybe it’s just because I have forgotten :) But I would characterize this as a horror story (or stories) arranged around high school life. I would also hesitate to call is mystery story, because there doesn’t seem to be much solving of the mysteries, more like a series of possibly somehow loosely related absurd supernatural and usually horror-esque events. It’s not graphic, and not very scary (I don’t cope well with horror but this wasn’t anything nearly too scary for me) but the underlying uneasiness is palpable.
I’d like to hear overall impressions from the others as well. I’m not sure if it’s my lack of North American life history (yes I noticed it takes place in Canada) that caused the alienation, or is the whole thing just a little off, even the seemingly “normal life” parts.
Post by: thorny on February 01, 2022, 01:30:25 PM
And I'm afraid there's no way I'm going to be able to read all the way back through looking for possible content warnings. I don't think there is much, though; somebody else who's been reading this please correct me if I'm wrong. Here's what's off the top of my head, and I think it's all pretty mild: (note one addition made later this same day)
Spoiler: show
Otherwise -- Freefall's pretty solidly in the science-fiction genre. Spaceships, colonized terraformed worlds, robots, genetic engineering, a genetically-engineered engineer, a definitely non-human alien. Much of it is funny but there's some serious subtext, and sometimes main text, about prejudice and equality and about other human (and other species') oddities. Gender and human racial equality seems to be taken for granted, and characters don't have the Exaggerated Figures of many comics. There's not much discussion of LGBTetc issues, but I haven't seen anything against it either; for most of the characters gender and orientation don't seem to be relevant; there's some pairing off, but no Everybody Must Be Paired, and some of the combinations that are given don't really seem to come into sexual or gender categories at all. I find the characters interesting as well as the themes. The artwork's pretty simple; this is not the place for oooh wow look at that page! There's an active forum.
Updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; pretty consistently; and ongoing. Has been running since 1998, so there's quite a lot of it, even though the pages are short. Jumping into the middle is unfortunately likely to be pretty confusing. There is however a "binge speedreader" tool that loads lots of pages all at once, even on my slow connection; in black and white, but I think the early pages were in black and white anyway.
Link to the speedreader:
http://tangent128.name/depot/toys/freefall/freefall-flytable.html#1
Link to the index: (some archive links are to groups of pages, not one for each page)
http://freefall.purrsia.com/archives/newarc.htm
Link to the current page:
http://freefall.purrsia.com/
Post by: Jitter on February 03, 2022, 01:00:08 AM
I do however like Skin Horse despite the format. It’s not a problem as such, but some of the jokes feel a bt forced or out of context, which breaks the flow of the story (in both titles).
Post by: Vulpes on February 19, 2022, 10:00:52 AM
Post by: RanVor on March 01, 2022, 05:29:21 AM
Give me a few days to prepare my contribution, okay? I have to go to work soon, so I don't really have time to think about it right now. :(
Post by: Jitter on March 01, 2022, 11:14:32 AM
I still have a lot of Freefall archive to go through anyways :) I like it a lot now! Very thought-provoking and fundamental considerations. Thank you thorny for sharing it with us!
Post by: JoB on March 01, 2022, 07:58:57 PM
I still have a lot of Freefall archive to go through anyways :) I like it a lot now! Very thought-provoking and fundamental considerations.Agreed. Today, in a context not relevant here, I suddenly remembered, sought out, and referenced the "the highest compliment to a ninja (http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1100/fv01093.htm)" quote ... turns out it's from 2005. O_o
Post by: thorny on March 01, 2022, 09:26:22 PM
Post by: RanVor on March 14, 2022, 06:04:15 AM
The comic I wanted to contribute is...
Title: BLONDE SUNRISE (http://www.blondesunrise.com/)
Author: Someone called Mana, apparently? There's not a lot of information available.
Genre: Fantasy/drama/mystery/...? I don't know, what are genres even?
Rating: I'd say T.
Status: Ongoing, updates Mon/Fri. When it's not on hiatus, that is. Currently at just over 1000 pages.
Synopsis: In the town of Creston, elite units of hunters protect the citizens from vicious monsters, most common of which are lycans (werewolves). One night, a rookie hunter Leonard Derrin meets a lycan girl named Daine (not Diane) who tricks him and turns him into an omega lycan under her control. From then on, Leonard is forced to cater to the whims of his new mistress while hiding his affliction from fellow hunters. And as he gets introduced to more and more of the werewolf society, he starts to discover that maybe the lycans aren't so bad, actually. Meanwhile, a series of brutal attacks sparks an investigation that slowly, but surely causes everyone's dark secrets to begin to unravel...
What I like about it: MYSTERY! Nearly every character has something to hide, the more prominent ones have multiple layers of secrets. Perspectives change as more facts are revealed and by the halfway point, it becomes hard to tell who's a good guy and who's a bad guy anymore, or if there's even a distinction. One of the long-running subplots has recently been resolved, but there's still so much that is not known. The dynamics between the characters shift as they react to revelations, some bonds are broken, others emerge stronger than before. It's all very exciting and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Also, plenty of meme-worthy facial expressions. That's gotta count for something. ;D
Content warnings: A caveat here is that I had stopped reading this comic for over a year and only returned to it recently, so there might be things I don't remember.
- Violence and blood, though not too often and not particularly graphic. That said, murder plays an important role in several subplots.
- Parental abuse and references to bullying.
- Occasional swearing.
Art: Serviceable. It's not terrible, but won't be winning any awards anytime soon for sure. Here's my favorite page, visually:
(http://www.blondesunrise.com/comic_imgs/813.png)
Random trivia: The protagonist is illiterate at the beginning of the story, and only learns to read and write later on. This is represented by all writing being blurred whenever his perspective is shown.
Post by: Róisín on March 14, 2022, 06:51:21 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on March 14, 2022, 10:47:25 AM
Post by: thorny on March 14, 2022, 11:45:40 AM
Post by: Vulpes on March 15, 2022, 08:12:28 PM
Post by: Jitter on March 16, 2022, 04:53:35 PM
Post by: RanVor on March 16, 2022, 05:42:14 PM
Ooooh, I think I stumbled on this some time ago, was intrigued, but didn't pursue it. Thanks for the reminder, I'll try to find time to check it out!Believe it or not, I stumbled upon it by total accident while voting for SSSS on TWC. I didn't believe it could be any good, but I decided to check it out on a whim and before I knew it, I was 500 pages in.
Remember my old Emilalli-ish fanfic "I Know How Much You Love Cinnamon Buns"? It was based on this comic.
Ran, I was bingeing last night, and will continue on. Very intriguing, how the setting seems to turn upside down and inside out all the time!I know, right? ;D
Post by: Jitter on March 16, 2022, 06:55:03 PM
Interestingly, Freefall and Blonde Sunrise have some similar themes around what constitutes a person or who are to be considered people even if they are not human.
Post by: Jitter on March 19, 2022, 03:12:39 PM
Post by: RanVor on March 19, 2022, 07:01:31 PM
Noooo! I’m caught up!
Oh noes!
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on March 19, 2022, 09:09:00 PM
Post by: Jitter on March 26, 2022, 06:37:37 AM
Maybe @JoB could introduce something? You keep linking into a huge variety of comics, would you like to recommend one of them in general rather than just by the perfect page?
Post by: JoB on March 26, 2022, 09:02:59 AM
Maybe @JoB could introduce something? You keep linking into a huge variety of comics, would you like to recommend one of them in general rather than just by the perfect page?... I can try, but I'm not really sure that I'll have it ready by the 1st ... being unclear where in the nation you'll have to be even in the upcoming week is a bit of a spare time sinkhole waiting to happen ... ::)
... having a look at my shortlist, I'd say that The Sword Interval (https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/sword-interval/ep-1-prologue/viewer?title_no=486&episode_no=1) promises to be the thematically closest to our Soon-Stalling Scandinavian Story - not to mention it's a finished story, which some people prefer. (The Order of the Black Dog (https://orderoftheblackdog.com/comic/issue-1-cover/) being a tad too gory by this thread's rules, I suppose.) Or would some happy-go-lucky nonsensical stuff like Addictive Science (https://addictivescience.kemono.cafe/comic/page0001/) be more welcome in the current times ... ?
Post by: Jitter on March 26, 2022, 09:31:25 AM
You get April, no worries if you make it a bit later than the very beginning of the month.
Post by: RanVor on March 26, 2022, 05:11:41 PM
Post by: thorny on March 26, 2022, 05:38:33 PM
Anybody who complains about late posting of Comic of the Month gets to post a Comic of the Month themselves. On time.
(If that actually happened, I'd expect the late poster to just get the next month.)
Post by: Linebyline on March 30, 2022, 10:23:24 PM
"I Know How Much You Love Cinnamon Buns"*Animorphs flashbacks intensify*
Anyway, looks like JoB has April and Vulpes has May. Anyone have dibs on June? Because I have a pitch ready to go.
Post by: Jitter on March 31, 2022, 04:22:10 AM
Oopsie the opening post was all outdated! Sorry about that! Fixed now up to current.
Post by: Jitter on March 31, 2022, 04:47:32 AM
Post by: JoB on March 31, 2022, 04:32:14 PM
Unless JoB wants to trade?Naah, I'm good.
I hope.
Help.
Post by: JoB on April 03, 2022, 07:08:06 AM
The Sword Interval
(Homepage (https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/sword-interval/list?title_no=486) - Start (https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/sword-interval/ep-1-prologue/viewer?title_no=486&episode_no=1)) by Benjamin Fleuter (who first got into my sights with Derelict (https://derelictcomic.tumblr.com/post/159475476183), another comic that he, alas, dropped unfinished).
Status: The Sword Interval has completed in 2020, totaling 240 "episodes" (no way to call them "pages", make sure your mouse's scroll wheel works!) of (mostly) monster/ghost hunter business. Which should explain why I said that it's rather close to the topics of SSSS.
In order not to give too much away, I shall restrict myself to the official synopsis: "The Sword Interval is about a world on the verge of a supernatural apocalypse. Most of humanity goes about their daily lives trying to ignore the constant threat of magic and monsters, but a few face these dangers head-on. Fall is one such person. She has left behind the sheltered safety of the paranormal witness protection program in order to hunt down the monster that killed her family."
Rating / Content Warnings: Well, it's a monster hunter comic, so you can take violence, blood, gore, death, other interesting side effects of getting into supernatural altercations, and characters being rather indifferent to all of that (and raising a couple entire bottles to it) for granted; none of that is depicted in an overly graphic way, though. IMHO. The situation later grows near outright apocalypse, and some full-fledged treason by good guys is being found out.
Art: ... I'm probably not the right person to try and judge that, as I don't have much of an idea what makes the difference between "supports the story" and "GREAT stuff!!" for artwork - it's somewhere there, however. Much more ligne claire than Minnas works, at least, so there tends not to be as much "unclear because blurred out when we 'saw' it" about the monsters. Plenty of details to discover, too - the "Liches Get Stitches" patch Fall had on the motorbike jacket she had for one sub-arc pretty much took a life of its own in the merchandising IIUC.
Why I liked it: For starters, I seem to have a knack to see a story presented in those "episodes", which pack a good deal more plot advancement than usual pages. (One'd expect me to wait on comics to have run up several pages before catching up, then, I suppose, but apparently, I'm too greedy for that. :P ) Then there's the strangely familiar topic, complete with a plot that continually got worse, drawing most of the hunters from an initial "meh, it's a living, for now at least" all the way to "okay, we're looking at apocalype finally happening and the prep we thought humanity had is a joke, so what do we do now". Plus the occasional wit and sarcasm showing up ("That means you, Ms. Torres."), character growth, and various interesting monster designs (some traditional, some not).
Post by: Jitter on April 03, 2022, 07:37:09 AM
It’s on Webtoon and for me at least clicking on the Home link takes me to an age question and after that I end up Webtoon main page. But after having done that, clicking again takes me to the home page ot the start page of the comic itself.
Post by: JoB on April 03, 2022, 08:29:24 AM
Would you characterize it more as action, or horror, or equal parts of both?I'd say that it leans a lot more to the "action" side. Sure, there's the mysterious, which may sometimes get disturbing, but I don't remember ever having doubts whether I'd get any sleep the following night ...
Post by: Linebyline on April 03, 2022, 10:47:28 PM
Excited to read more of this but right now it's bedtime. Thanks for the recommendation, JoB!
Post by: Keep Looking on April 06, 2022, 07:21:06 AM
I finished reading The Sword Interval last night and it blew me away. I loved the artwork and monster designs and worldbuilding, but I especially loved the thematic development of the story - the idea that people are worth fighting for, no matter how hopeless and doomed things seem to be, even if it seems like you can't save the world. That cycles can be broken. I also enjoyed the characters! Thank you so much for recommending this webcomic, JoB!
Post by: Linebyline on April 06, 2022, 09:12:20 AM
EDIT: I just now finished up ep. 125, when Fall is revealed to have acquired...
Spoiler: show
And I just have one question:
Spoiler: show
EDIT 2: Oh, one more observation, and a question for the language nerds:
Spoiler: show
Post by: JoB on April 06, 2022, 01:22:34 PM
EDIT: I just now finished up ep. 125, when Fall is revealed to have acquired...Spoiler: show
And I just have one question:Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
Post by: Linebyline on April 06, 2022, 02:01:28 PM
Spoiler: show
Also, I hate to be a complainer (at least, about this kind of thing) but I'm starting to think I'd prefer the artist just skip a week rather than constantly make comics about the fact that he can't make comics and has to skip a week. The story's still amazing, though, so putting up with that annoyance is a small price to pay. I just wish he had the option of doing what Phantomarine and Daughter of the Lilies do, and move the filler (most of it) to the Extras section instead of the main archive once the break ends. Guess Webtoon doesn't allow you to do that.
EDIT:
Spoiler: show
Post by: JoB on April 06, 2022, 03:37:35 PM
How are you flipping between episodes, anyway? When I finish reading an episode, I'm near the bottom of the page and the thumbnails there are marked "Ep. 4711 ..." if they're proper episodes, or something else if they aren't ...
Post by: Jitter on April 15, 2022, 01:00:51 PM
The world and the design ideas are fascinating! Especially the giant bones as landscape.
Post by: JoB on April 16, 2022, 03:42:02 AM
I’m now in the Broughton Hall and yeah, I’m going to say this part is definitely more horror than action.... yeah, I guess so ...
If it gets even mor on the horror side, please send me a warning by PM, ok? I want to keep reading, but I don’t want to lose sleep!If it were to go beyond that, shouldn't I be posting a trigger warning publicly? And ... doesn't this depend a lot on what you consider scary? :3 (There are fungus clowns in some Q&A episode ...)
But no, I suppose that by the common standards of the horror genre, it does not get worse than Broughton Hall.
... maybe skip episode 180, though ...
Post by: Jitter on April 16, 2022, 07:09:34 AM
So please don’t take this as a reprimand! I don’t mean to complain but to share how I feel about it. It is well within the limits of what can be expected to be interesting to SSSS fans, and a lot of similar themes so it is indeed fascinating! I’m glad you suggested it. I wouldn’t have come across it otherwise!
Also I very much like the way magic is depicted in the different colors and symbols. And the way many things take me back to my D&D playing days, particularly the “legendary weapon” (Linebyline I loved that part) but many others too :)
Post by: Jitter on April 16, 2022, 10:36:23 AM
Post by: Jitter on April 17, 2022, 06:01:23 PM
It is :sparkle:awesome:sparkle: and everyone should read it! Epicness at its most epic! Well worth the scary bits!
ThankyouthankyouTHANKYOU JoB for sharing this with us!
Special +3 points to Marco for Most Innovative Use of Blood Magic! There’s a good boi!
Post by: JoB on April 18, 2022, 02:52:30 AM
Uffff, finished!I did mention Ben's unfinished one (https://derelictcomic.tumblr.com/post/159475476183), didn't I ... ? >:D
Special +3 points to Marco for Most Innovative Use of Blood Magic! There’s a good boi!He would've been much more limited in its use if he hadn't had The Flask boosting his supply, though. 8)
Edit to add: It seems (https://bfleuter.tumblr.com/) that Ben's currently holding hope to launch his next webcomic, The Beekeeper's Tale, around the next turn of months! (The existing preview's only available through Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/derelict), I'm afraid.)
Post by: Cancvas on April 19, 2022, 02:53:02 AM
Derelict was nice enough comic, so I need to check the Sword Interval out.
Post by: Jitter on April 19, 2022, 12:46:04 PM
The Sword Inteval is great! I know I said it already bu it bears repeating.
Spoiler: English is weird • show
Post by: JoB on April 19, 2022, 03:50:48 PM
I know I said it already bu it bears repeating.I think we can all bear witness to that. :PSpoiler: English is weird • show
Post by: ScrimmyBingusPSVitaPort on April 20, 2022, 03:26:39 AM
Post by: Linebyline on April 30, 2022, 09:32:50 PM
Spoiler: show
...but that's not a complaint. I like where the story took her character. And besides, we still have David.
I also really appreciate the whole Red Rover thing. I love when morally complicated characters are actually morally complicated instead of falling back on edgy antihero shades of gray. The journey from "Oh, I like this guy" through "Oh, I don't like this guy" and "what is this guy's deal?" to "Oh, I like this guy" was great. But Yun's arc was arguably even better. Her final line was...*chef's kiss*
Post by: Jitter on May 01, 2022, 06:26:39 AM
Post by: dmeck7755 on May 01, 2022, 09:02:41 AM
Spoiler: Questions • show
Post by: Linebyline on May 04, 2022, 10:46:06 AM
Spoiler: show
Where she ends up isn't so much her pre-ordained destiny but rather something she chose.
I'm not familiar with Howl's Moving Castle, so I'm afraid I can't answer that one. But that character certainly did turn out to be more interesting than I expected.
So too, come to think of it, did the ghost hunters. I went into the Broughton Hall arc fully expecting them to be the same kind of morons as their real-world reality-TV counterparts, killed to death as an object lesson akin to the opening teaser of any given police procedural. A very pleasant surprise, that.
Post by: Vulpes on May 04, 2022, 08:33:04 PM
So, without further ado, my pick for CotM: Widdershins! (https://www.widdershinscomic.com/)
From the comic's About page:
"Widdershins is a series of Victorian-era adventure stories, set in the fictional town of Widdershins, West Yorkshire- England's magical epicentre, home to bounty hunters, failed wizards, stage magicians, and more, besides. It's all written and drawn by Kate Ashwin."
I'm not sure what genre to call it... magical-steampunkish-Victorian-drama-mystery with humour?
No warnings necessary - think of this as a palate cleanser to follow Sword Interval, which I totally missed was April's CotM (great recommendation, JoB). It's brilliant, and gorgeous, but not exactly a light read. Widdershins is delightful fluff that still manages to tackle various moral questions. But mostly it's lighthearted, whimsical fun.
It takes the form of individual stories that can stand quite nicely on their own, although they do have a common thread running through them and are best read in order. In each one, Ashwin fills in a few more details of the Widdershins world, characters re-appear, and it helps to know their backstory from the earlier tales. Chapter 10 is currently in progress. The whole thing got going in October 2011, and updates pretty reliably, if slowly; at the moment, weekly.
Why I like it:
Style and consistency of artwork The style is very much comic-book: strong outlines, saturated colours, simple shading, uncluttered backgrounds. And consistent! Ashwin has been at this for nearly 11 years, and her style has hardly changed. Often if you jump from the latest to the first page of a webcomic, you can hardly recognize it. Not Widdershins. Of course the simplicity of the style is deceiving - it's got to be a lot of work.
Characters They're all great. A trouser-wearing, pipe-smoking, Victorian lady bounty-hunter. A garrulous, somewhat clueless wizard. A collection of ineffective goons to work for the bad guys so that the good guys can triumph. They're all great fun.
Story Or should that be "stories"? Each individual story is complete by itself, but they're all part of an overarching story. This appeals to me for some reason. And they're fun stories! Mystery, adventure, humour, magic, self-discovery... there's a lot going on.
Diversity For a story set in Victorian England, it has a wildly diverse cast. Ashwin has ventured far beyond the proper frock-coated and gowned Anglo-Saxons one might expect, and has characters of all skin tones, sexualities, and degrees of conventionality.
A map! I love maps, so I was thoroughly delighted when I discovered that there's a map of Widdershins on the About page.
I hope that anyone who hasn't already found Widdershins enjoys it. It's got a manageable archive so you can do a binge-read without exhausting yourself.
Post by: Linebyline on May 04, 2022, 09:04:33 PM
The anthology format is interesting. I'm a little sad that it means we won't be following Sidney and Harriet for the duration, but I love that, unlike Hollywood for the last decade or so, the comic is ready to deliver a story with a beginning, middle, and end and then trust us to come back for the next one.
(Also, I managed to forget that Digger was a CotM. It's also on my list, but let's worry about Widdershins first. Also also, I broke down and read Alice Grove this morning. I have opinions that I may or may not post later. For now suffice to say that reading about Alice made me appreciate Fall more.)
Thanks for the recommendation, Vulpes!
Post by: Lenny on May 05, 2022, 06:41:08 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on May 06, 2022, 08:41:29 AM
Post by: thorny on May 06, 2022, 11:50:23 AM
Post by: Vulpes on May 06, 2022, 04:23:33 PM
Post by: Lenny on May 09, 2022, 10:13:47 AM
And as someone who reads on laptop or mobile, neither of which are usually great mediums to read webcomics on 'cause people usually insist on structuring the pages for print, I'm so very glad that the pages are readable without scrolling on laptop.
Post by: Keep Looking on May 12, 2022, 03:21:13 AM
Post by: Jitter on May 12, 2022, 07:35:32 AM
Post by: dmeck7755 on May 16, 2022, 01:28:41 PM
I am at the hotel now in the reading. I have a bit of a question
Spoiler: show
Post by: Linebyline on May 17, 2022, 10:19:16 AM
Spoiler: show
Which would have made a fine place to end the series, but nope! The following chapters are a mix of dealing with the fallout from that chapter and giving a whole new set of characters a chapter to themselves before folding them into the cast. And now there's a chapter set on a boat! How exciting!
Something else I love about this comic is that there's more to most of these characters than meets the eye. They're complex, conflicted, sometimes morally compromised. Very few of them are straight up always good or always bad (Wulfe and Acedia being among the exceptions). They make honest mistakes, and sometimes dishonest mistakes. Characters start out seeming one-dimensional but then you learn new things about them and they get fleshed out.
I'm also a big fan of how the different sets of characters interact. You initially see them in their own little bubbles, only making cameos outside them. But there gradually starts to be more and more crossover, especially during and after the above-mentioned chapter. I can't really explain how (at least not with anything resembling brevity) but this manages to feel completely natural and avoid shrinking-world syndrome. I think part of it is the balance between completely moving to focus on a whole new cast (with established characters in cameo roles) and what the current chapter does by giving a starring role to supporting characters from earlier chapters. It's great stuff.
Post by: dmeck7755 on May 25, 2022, 08:08:37 AM
Spoiler: show
Which would have made a fine place to end the series, but nope! The following chapters are a mix of dealing with the fallout from that chapter and giving a whole new set of characters a chapter to themselves before folding them into the cast. And now there's a chapter set on a boat! How exciting!
Something else I love about this comic is that there's more to most of these characters than meets the eye. They're complex, conflicted, sometimes morally compromised. Very few of them are straight up always good or always bad (Wulfe and Acedia being among the exceptions). They make honest mistakes, and sometimes dishonest mistakes. Characters start out seeming one-dimensional but then you learn new things about them and they get fleshed out.
I'm also a big fan of how the different sets of characters interact. You initially see them in their own little bubbles, only making cameos outside them. But there gradually starts to be more and more crossover, especially during and after the above-mentioned chapter. I can't really explain how (at least not with anything resembling brevity) but this manages to feel completely natural and avoid shrinking-world syndrome. I think part of it is the balance between completely moving to focus on a whole new cast (with established characters in cameo roles) and what the current chapter does by giving a starring role to supporting characters from earlier chapters. It's great stuff.
I am now on the boat chapter mentioned. This is a really great comic. The people interactions are wonderful. There is a mix of all kinds of individuals. It was fun reading the chapters in bulk. Soon i will have to wait for updates like everyone else :(
So far both recommendations I have read are wonderful (Sword interval and Widdershins )
Thank you
Post by: Linebyline on June 01, 2022, 09:04:08 AM
The Web site is www.phantomarine.com (https://www.phantomarine.com/) or you can go directly to the first page (https://phantomarine.com/comic/01-the-horizon-line).
Updates have been pretty consistent on Monday and Friday since I've been reading. Not sure how the chapter breaks go since I started reading partway through the current one.
The story opens when princess Phaedra Philemon's vacation is interrupted by mysterious supernatural assassins. As a result, she gets to meet her sworn enemy: Cheth, the god of death, also known as the Red Tide King, or, to the fans, Jeff.
Cheth has no body of his own, due to spoiler reasons, but he has the next best thing: The ghosts of everyone who has ever died, human or animal. Which still aren't bodies, but you know, he makes do. Sort of: Like all ghosts, he's bound to the sea and can't go on land.
You'd think that would be where Phaedra (Phae to her friends) comes in. Problem is, she's a ghost too. Now, she was the first person who successfully challenged Cheth and earned her right to return to life, but let's just say there were some complications. So she's stuck on the water too, along with the friends who died alongside her.
Enter Pavel Morena, an incredibly adorable kid with a nasty case of "seabite" from having his head chomped by a ghost fish. The prognosis is not good for kids (or adults) with that condition, but he's managing with the help of his scientist mom Vanna. Pavel is one of the few people to have any sympathy for the sea ghosts or Cheth himself, which leads to a certain amount of friction when he meets up with Phae. Most importantly, he isn't dead yet, which means he can go on land.
That's important because if Phae and her friends want to return to life, they'll need to go on a fetch quest for Cheth after something that was squirreled away somewhere on land, probably specifically to keep it away from him. There's also a deadline involved: If Phae takes too long, she and her friends will be permanently deaded, each of them just another mindless husk in Cheth's collection, conscious of nothing but ravenous hunger for the souls of the living.
But I haven't mentioned the most important character: Katja, the Spooky Samoyed. (Oh, there's a LOT of alliteration on the cast page.) You know what a cloud looks like? You know the dogs from Undertale? You know what happiness looks like if you compress it into dog form? That's Katja. She's not so much comic relief as cute relief.
I'd say it's appropriate for general audiences, but there are some scary scenes (god of death and all, but he's not even the scariest character), lots of death (Did I mention most of the main characters are ghosts?) and quasi-death/fate-worse-than-death stuff. It's gore-free and minimally bloody, but there are some glimpses of that body Phae's not using anymore, after it was lost at sea for a while. ("I threw up," one character says matter-of-factly.) You might want to read through it yourself before you show it to the young'uns. There's no sex, though one character shows a frankly uncomfortable amount of cleavage (but then everything about her is uncomfortable).
In terms of tone and genre, it's overall pretty light-hearted, never going too long without a laugh. However there are some harrowing action sequences and some piercing tragedy. ("I'm sorry," the author writes repeatedly in the comments for the pages leading up to one particular twist of the knife.) Overall, it's the same kind of action-adventure as SSSS, though secondary-world fantasy rather than post-apocalyptic.
As the author explains it on the about page (https://www.phantomarine.com/about):
Quote
I aim for the comic to be generally PG-rated – some serious spookiness, but nothing too extreme. You can expect a few scary moments, mild language, dark humor, a touch of body horror, and lots of situations involving… well… death! For a good metric, it doesn’t get much darker than the darkest scenes of Harry Potter.
The artwork is fantastic. It's a cartoonier style than SSSS, which lends itself to some amazing expressions. Case in point:
(https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fa83c5af10720e66ed0c85e85f8ee89e94b426f47bca9715e117c5e6a5081215.jpg)
Okay, maybe that's a bad example since it's pretty chibi-cute. Here's a messy collage of some of my favorite Phaedra faces from the current chapter.
(https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ca676fc9504971c7ff6192aa78a0e164bffd6ad177dc2a049438703a96f13ae1.png)
So, is there anything I don't like? Well, maybe. I mentioned the uncomfortable cleavage. But structurally, I feel like Phae and her friends disappear from the story for too long, so soon after their predicament is set up, while we focus on Pavel for a couple chapters. However, there's a good reason for that, and ultimately it didn't bother me much. The stuff with Pavel and his mom is excellent, and I can't think of a way to cut back to Phae in the middle of it without ruining something. You'll just have to trust me when I say that we will get back to Phae and Cheth and the rest of the ghostly cast. I guess I'm also a little disappointed that the other seabitten kids introduced around the same time as pavel don't seem to show up again after that, but you never know. The author aims for fifteen chapters, and we're currently at chapter five, so there's plenty of time for them to return. These are all mild complaints, anyway.
If I haven't sold you yet, consider: There's also a lively community in the comments under each page, and the author is an active participant! And for you language nerds, Cheth can't speak to anyone who isn't dead and be understood, and the symbols he emits when he tries are a modified substitution cipher that the fans have had fun attempting to crack.
Post by: Jitter on June 01, 2022, 01:13:01 PM
I’m still desperately behind in Widdershins, but I’ll make sure to give Phantomarine a try when I get the chance! (Nightmare at work, nightmare I tell you!)
Post by: Linebyline on June 01, 2022, 01:57:15 PM
Post by: Vulpes on June 05, 2022, 12:47:20 PM
I started Phantomarine fairly recently, and it's great. I wonder if the diversion away from Phae and company is less distracting if you binge-read that section. I'm pretty sure I did that. I love the artwork - very clean and consistent, lots of great expressions (as demonstrated by Linebyline - nice collage) - but I do find it teeters on the edge of Disney-esque. I dislike Disney animations on several levels. I keep hearing a movie soundtrack in my head, especially when Cheth is hamming it up. But that's my weird hang-up, otherwise I'm enjoying it immensely. The commentariat seems to be pretty cool, too, it's one of the few webcomics that I'll check comments sometimes.
Post by: dmeck7755 on June 17, 2022, 03:24:07 PM
I started Phantomarine fairly recently, and it's great. I wonder if the diversion away from Phae and company is less distracting if you binge-read that section. I'm pretty sure I did that. I love the artwork - very clean and consistent, lots of great expressions (as demonstrated by Linebyline - nice collage) - but I do find it teeters on the edge of Disney-esque. I dislike Disney animations on several levels. I keep hearing a movie soundtrack in my head, especially when Cheth is hamming it up. But that's my weird hang-up, otherwise I'm enjoying it immensely. The commentariat seems to be pretty cool, too, it's one of the few webcomics that I'll check comments sometimes.
I did binge to catch and liked it very much. You get a few glimpses of other things going on in the background...
Some of the characters are very disney-like
Spoiler: show
Post by: Linebyline on June 17, 2022, 05:09:19 PM
I actually only started reading Phantomarine shortly before SSSS ended, so I did binge everything up to the current chapter. But I probably glossed over a bunch of stuff. I really need to reread he whole thing.
Post by: Jitter on June 27, 2022, 07:51:08 AM
I think I need to set up my comics tabs somehow or it will become a mess. Even more of a mess than it already is.
@Keep Looking has the July slot, but after that there are free months. Who wats August?
Post by: Gwenno on June 27, 2022, 06:13:19 PM
It's June! And you know what that means! Fellow Minnions, allow me to introduce Phantomarine, by Claire Niebergall.
I'm so glad that somebody recommended this one! Phantomarine is such an absolute joy to read, and deserves so much love, both for the story and the art ;D I've been really enjoying the Jeff crew being such total disasters this chapter especially, but there's really nothing I haven't been enjoying so far! :V
I'm also glad that Linebyline mentioned the comments section, as they're definitely worth a read!
@Keep Looking has the July slot, but after that there are free months. Who wats August?
I can't do August as I'm away at the start of the month, but I might be able to get something together for September if nobody else wants it?
Post by: Jitter on June 27, 2022, 06:18:08 PM
August is up for grabs, peeps!
Post by: Linebyline on June 27, 2022, 08:47:17 PM
Post by: Jitter on June 28, 2022, 05:39:54 AM
Post by: Linebyline on June 28, 2022, 08:01:00 AM
Post by: Jitter on July 06, 2022, 04:37:24 PM
Also Claire is doing a Phantobomb, Phantomarine is updating every day this week! Leading to the end of the current chapter, hopefully after some more reveals!
Post by: dmeck7755 on July 06, 2022, 04:56:45 PM
@Keep Looking you are on :)
Also Claire is doing a Phantobomb, Phantomarine is updating every day this week! Leading to the end of the current chapter, hopefully after some more reveals!
Yes she is!! So far it has been really interesting. The sad part is after the Phantobomb she will be on chapter break..
I have to say I really like this comic
Post by: Linebyline on July 06, 2022, 09:03:28 PM
Post by: Keep Looking on July 06, 2022, 10:05:11 PM
My comic of the month for July 2022 is:
Shaderunners!
Mystery! Espionage! Heists! Theatre!
In a universe that has been stripped of colour, a ragtag team of bootleggers with lofty dreams steal shades of red, green and beyond from society's rich and famous. Shaderunners is set in a 1920s-esque era with drama and glamour aplenty.
The comic has beautiful art, very engaging worldbuilding, and a premise which can only truly be done justice through the illustrated medium. The characters will tug at your heartstrings, while the plot frequently brings you to the edge of your seat.
The comic is comfortably pg-13, with some depictions of violence and partial nudity but nothing particularly gory or graphic. Thematically Shaderunners doesn't get super dark, but it definitely does have its heavier moments. If anything, I would regard it as frequently contemplative when it comes to the themes it explores.
Anyway, Shaderunners is one of my all-time favourite comics and is thoroughly an enjoyable read, so I hope you folks like it!
You can start reading Shaderunners here (https://www.shaderunners.com/comic/chapter-1-cover)!
Post by: Keep Looking on July 06, 2022, 10:10:52 PM
Post by: Jitter on July 07, 2022, 11:08:58 AM
Last call for August! If nobody else wants it, Linebyline has agreed to go again.
Post by: dmeck7755 on July 13, 2022, 01:20:18 PM
Don't worry, both Widdershins and Phantomarine will be more than happy to give you even more nightmares! :)
But Phantomarine is now on break until October WAAH! 😿
Post by: Turnstylus on July 20, 2022, 04:57:01 PM
I try to be careful about saying too much, for fear of spoiling plot points for the rest of us. Do any of you more experienced forum folk have some advice on how to approach discussing the comic without giving away stuff?
Post by: Keep Looking on July 20, 2022, 10:18:35 PM
I try to be careful about saying too much, for fear of spoiling plot points for the rest of us. Do any of you more experienced forum folk have some advice on how to approach discussing the comic without giving away stuff?
There's actually a function on the forum where you can hide text so people have to click to view it - this way you can write about potentially spoiler things and people can choose whether or not to read it.
When you go to make a post, you can see all the little buttons above the text box. On the right there's a button marked with the letters Sp - this is the spoiler button. [spoiler)Write your text in the middle like this and it'll be hidden from view! (I changed up the brackets so you'd be able to see what it looks like)[/spoiler)
For example:
Spoiler: show
Hope this helps!
Post by: Jitter on July 21, 2022, 05:50:50 AM
If you are using spoiler tags, it’s useful to mention up to when it may be spoilerific. Like this:
Spoilers: Star Wars original series up to Empire Strikes Back
Spoiler: show
Note that often when people reply to spoilered stuff they either quote (the spoilers stay closed in quotes) or mention who they are replying to, instead of repeating the warning. Like this:
Wow, Keep!
Spoiler: show
Post by: Turnstylus on July 21, 2022, 11:14:29 AM
I read through some of the earlier replies in the thread and saw the Spoiler function in action, but I didn't have a good handle on how to make it work.
I really appreciate your patience in advising me in what must be really basic stuff! "Super-Newbie" describes me well!
Post by: Jitter on July 21, 2022, 12:48:31 PM
The only downside of the “job” is the pay (meaning, this is of course voluntary work) but one cannot have everything :)
I have also enjoyed Shaderunners btw. I don’t particularly like grayscale, but in this case it’s obviously a must, and the use if color, when it happens, is brilliant both in the literal and the metaphorical sense :) The characters are fascinating, I like Ivo in particular! And I love the fact that the soppy romantic is a male, and a manly man too. Romantic relationships are described in very interesting ways!
I’m nowhere near caught up yet, but ai intend to keep reading!
Post by: Linebyline on July 25, 2022, 10:50:22 AM
Anyway I'm enjoying the comic so far, though it has more romantic entanglement than I typically care for. (Incidentally, it's somewhat amusing that there doesn't appear to be a single straight person in the cast.) The interpersonal dynamics are varied and complex.
As of now I'm partway through chapter 10, and, hoo boy, I think this is significant:
Spoiler: ch 10 p 31 • show
Incidentally, another option for tagging what your spoiler is spoiling is
Code: [Select]
[spoiler=A Link to the Past]Aganimh works for (and/or is) Ganon[/spoiler]Spoiler: A Link to the Past • show
By the way, Jitter, I have a pitch ready to go if nobody else calls dibs by next week.
Post by: Jitter on July 25, 2022, 11:13:31 AM
Also, Shaderunners chapter 10
Spoiler: show
Also, thinking about flowers in a world devoid of color makes me sad 😞
Post by: Linebyline on July 25, 2022, 02:10:03 PM
Edit: Something I'm noticing about the world-building... Well, the whole premise of the comic was a spoiler until several chapters in so I may as well put all of this under spoiler tags just to be safe:
Spoiler: show
Post by: Turnstylus on July 27, 2022, 04:54:03 PM
And even though there's more casual romance here than what I'm used to, there are also moments of homespun wisdom, and great insight. I enjoyed this short monologue from Easton, early on in the comic. Not much detail to spoil here, but I've hidden it just in case:
Spoiler: show
Just a simple challenge to know yourself - and to find the courage to seize the moment.
Also, a reminder that deep down, we have the important things in common. I'm glad when someone brings that up!
Post by: Linebyline on July 27, 2022, 05:33:34 PM
Post by: Jitter on July 28, 2022, 07:03:24 AM
Spoiler: show
Post by: Linebyline on July 28, 2022, 06:52:15 PM
Spoiler: show
Post by: Linebyline on August 01, 2022, 09:48:30 AM
With that said, on to August's pitch. This month, I'm pitching a comic about an indoctrinated princess and her adventure centering on a water-themed god! Why does this sound familiar?
Suihira: The City of Water, by Riana Dorsey, stars Princess Wahida of the kingdm of Iona. Iona is known for being the only major source of water in a vast desert created by the war between the gods of water and fire. Akia, the goddess of water, is said to have abandoned the world, but first left Iona's life-giving spring as a last gift to humanity.
Iona's duty of protecting the water and providing it to the rest of the world has been privatized by agreement with an organization called the Water Guard. I'm sure it's fine.
Wahida was raised on fairy tales about Akia and her holy city, Suihira. Wahida and her older sister, Hadima, bonded over praying to Akia. Wahida is somewhat neglected due to her parents' focus on training up Hadima to be the next ruler, while Wahida is just to be married off to solidify a political alliance. Though increasingly infrequent, these prayers to Akia seem to be nearly the only thing they can do to spend time together. When the time comes for Wahida to marry a prince who doesn't actually want the marriage any more than she does, Hadima says that the prayers to Akia were always just a game to her and it's time for Wahida to grow up and do her duty.
Wahida retreats into the depths of the palace, where Akia(?) appears to Wahida in a chamber she didn't previously know existed, which appears to be the source of Iona's water. Akia gives Wahida a mission to find Suihira, which she immediately accepts, running away from her home and family. At this time, Iona's water supply dries up. I'm sure it's fine.
To hide from her family and the water guard, Wahida takes the alias Dija, after an author believed to be the progenitor of the Suihira legend. A couple desert-dwellers named Serrin and Leo figure out who she is, and though they initially consider turning her in for the reward (in their defense, they're poor) they soon become friends and aid her in her journey to find suihira. Of course, the water guard is still after them, and all if I described all the complications that strained their relationship, I'd be giving massive spoilers. Suffice to say that Dija does not make good decisions.
In terms of content warnings, the about page says this:
Quote
Suihira: The City of Water is a fantasy drama comic recommended for ages 12+ for mild profanity, partial nudity, some violence, and intense situations.
The partial nudity refers mostly to Akia, whose human-shaped apparition resembles a naked woman whose glowing hair always conveniently covers the important bits, as well as one other god whose apparition we've seen once so far, from the waist up (he's bald). There's also a scene where Dija has to figure out how to give herself a sponge bath, which one commenter described as the least sexy shower scene ever, and which even I, somewhat of a prude, found unobjectionable.
As for violence, there's a bit of gunplay, a hostage situation or two, and some water guards implied to have been killed between pages by a tidal wave. In the desert. Weird. I'm sure it's fine.
The artwork is very easy on the eyes, with expressive and slightly cartoony characters and some gorgeous environmental work. (What can I say? I have a type.) The linework often has a looseness to it that I don't always like, but it's nothing distracting. It's like a six or seven out of ten at worst. Here are some examples:
(https://www.linbylin.com/images/Suihira_examples.png)
What I really love about this comic is the character dynamics. Dija feels so real. She's so deeply flawed, and it can be frustrating but it's so believable that she wouldn't immediately be a better person after the first time she learns something. She has to come to terms with the fact that she's hurt people she cares about and she isn't really helping to fix it, but she wants so badly and tries so hard to do the right thing even when that ends up making things worse. I love her. We're not as deep in the other characters' heads as we are in hers, but we still feel their pain and frustration over the whole situation.
I'd say the character writing is every bit on par with SSSS's. Dija reminds me a lot of Reynir, naive and desparate to be helpful but not knowing what to do and sometimes making things worse.
Is there anything I don't like? Not exactly, but like I said, Dija can be frustrating. That's absolutely not a critique of the writing, but your mileage will vary as to whether it makes for unpleasant reading.
If that sounds like your cup of tea, then check out the comic at suihira.com (http://www.suihira.com/) or start reading from page 1 (http://www.suihira.com/comic/1).
Post by: Jitter on August 02, 2022, 08:42:36 AM
Post by: thorny on August 02, 2022, 10:06:36 AM
Post by: dmeck7755 on August 02, 2022, 11:00:11 AM
Thanks linebyline! I’m terribly ill with a flu but will modify Suihira to the openin post. At some point.
Please take care and get better quickly....
Post by: Linebyline on August 02, 2022, 01:00:10 PM
Post by: Vulpes on August 03, 2022, 08:00:00 PM
I've not been keeping up with things here much, but I came across this little animated short https://youtu.be/nWORBZIEjbI (https://youtu.be/nWORBZIEjbI) and thought this'd be as good a place as any to share it. It's called Widdershins but has nothing to do with the web comic.
Post by: Róisín on August 04, 2022, 12:26:13 AM
And Vulpes, that animation is a delight.
Post by: Jitter on August 11, 2022, 12:11:18 PM
September is reserved for Gwenno, who wants to take October?
Update update
In the meantime, have you guys noticed that Barbarous is back? It feels like it’s going very slow, but it’s going. And Blonde Sunrise is updating again, yay!
Shaderunners on the other hand is on unplanned break because the artist broke her arm in July. Phantomarine is on planned break until October but is dropping “ask character” pages every now and then.
Warm Blood hasn’t updated since 2021, but the last page says it will be back. No indication when.
Widdershins and White Noise are updating once a week as per their normal schedule, and Girl Genius is of course appearing three times a week, as is Freefall.
The rest of the works were already finished, right?
Post by: Jitter on August 11, 2022, 12:31:51 PM
Post by: Turnstylus on August 17, 2022, 04:27:05 PM
Quote
I've not been keeping up with things here much, but I came across this little animated short https://youtu.be/nWORBZIEjbI (https://youtu.be/nWORBZIEjbI) and thought this'd be as good a place as any to share it. It's called Widdershins but has nothing to do with the web comic.
I watched the animated short shared by Vulpes as well. Thank you - very enjoyable! Full of wit and humor, and beautifully rendered!
Post by: Linebyline on August 23, 2022, 01:18:44 PM
The Sword Interval is completed, but Ben Fleuter recently dropped his next comic, The Beekeeper's Tale (https://beekeepercomic.neocities.org).
Suihira is currently updating, recently back from hiatus.
Vainglorious was the example, not an official comic of the month, but it is also recently back from hiatus.
And I'm kinda 0-for-2 in terms of pitching comics that generate discussion, but I have another pitch pre-written for a completed comic that I'll be happy to post if nobody claims October.
Post by: dmeck7755 on August 23, 2022, 04:20:31 PM
Just to add to Jitter's recap:
The Sword Interval is completed, but Ben Fleuter recently dropped his next comic, The Beekeeper's Tale (https://beekeepercomic.neocities.org).
Suihira is currently updating, recently back from hiatus.
Vainglorious was the example, not an official comic of the month, but it is also recently back from hiatus.
And I'm kinda 0-for-2 in terms of pitching comics that generate discussion, but I have another pitch pre-written for a completed comic that I'll be happy to post if nobody claims October.
I really liked Sword Interval. Looking at the prologue page for The Beekeeper's Tale looks interesting.
One thing that i noticed about his art, is what I would describe as jigsaw puzzle-like. he can cram a lot of images in one panel. You get to the last quarter of the page and there is so much too look at. (The last page in sword interval had images like that also)
Suihira is a bit random for me. I like the story so far..
Post by: Jitter on August 23, 2022, 05:34:49 PM
Post by: Gwenno on September 01, 2022, 06:00:48 PM
Post by: Gwenno on September 04, 2022, 11:39:09 AM
Mystery Babylon (aka Kick Girl) (http://www.kick-girl.com/?comic=chapter-1)
(https://i.imgur.com/CnO1vcy.png)
At the end of the Apocalypse, 1000 years ago, all of the demons were sealed away in “the Pit”… except for the Mystery Babylon, Kick Girl. Although her fellow demons are imprisoned, she seems intent on keeping the seal closed due to a promise she made long ago.
Kick Girl would love nothing more than to keep all the demons sealed away forever. The only trouble is that the annoying demonic cult insists on bringing them back! What the heck! Kick Girl has no choice but to recruit the only person who has a map to the holy seal... the naive, happy-go-lucky, and extremely annoying, Vestal priest named Zero. Ugh! Can this mismatched team save the world from a second Apocalypse? (Probably not.)
(https://i.imgur.com/wrx7D7u.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pY4eQK0.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Q60gCq0.png)
I love this webcomic for a lot of reasons and have been reading it for as long as I've been reading webcomics pretty much! :'D From the very start, it has so much energy in both the art and the story, and the author has just improved with time. The story has moved on quite a bit from the initial description, but the story is very coherent throughout, and I feel that the author has a decent idea of where the story is going even if the readers haven't quite got all the clues they need to figure out where that is!
The story doesn't spoon-feed the reader, and it takes a long time to build a proper understanding of the world and characters. Each chapter starts with a flashback and we are gradually learning what happened to bring the world and the characters to their current state. These flashbacks include superheroes, murder, video games and more, and I'm always excited to see what is revealed with each new scene. There's a bit of fighting and blood, some light swearing, and a handful of monsters, and one somewhat nastier depiction of a character who has suffered burns, but certainly nothing worse than we've seen in SSSS!
(https://i.imgur.com/qiZ3tSr.png)
Spoiler: cool picture but creepy spider • show
The comic updates regularly on Mondays and I can legit not remember a missing week or hiatus in the whole time I've been reading, which is impressive as heck! We are currently on chapter twelve and there are just over 600 pages.
Content Warning
Self-harm - There is one scene in the comic where it is revealed that a character who has a small distinctive scar has inflicted it upon themselves and a second scene where we get a flashback of another character giving themselves a larger distinctive scar.
Abusive/toxic friendships - This starts becoming a theme around 3-4 chapters in but there are hints of it from the start.
This isn't a religious comic but does some biblical imagery (demons are from hell, there are angels and people with 'godly' powers, and there are a bunch of biblically derived names... some of which belonged to Marvel-esque superheroes back before the world came to an end sooooooo... ;D ). The author isn't religious and the comic is neither mocking nor preachy, just using these very loosely for the story elements, but it might be something you don't want to jump into unawares.
Post by: Jitter on September 04, 2022, 03:11:39 PM
Post by: wavewright62 on September 05, 2022, 04:01:03 AM
Post by: Gwenno on September 05, 2022, 04:14:12 PM
Looks like fun. Shall I change over the news?
Good idea ;D
Post by: Linebyline on September 09, 2022, 09:08:34 PM
After 27 pages, I can definitely see why you're enjoying the story! Kick's long-suffering exasperation is endearing despite her also being a super-powered know-it-all. (I vibe with her in a way I very much didn't with Alice Grove, for instance.) Zero has all the makings of a Reyniresque cinnamon roll.
But I've also seen enough to know I probably won't enjoy it.
It already didn't sound like my cup of tea from the description. Even though angels/demons/hell don't seem to work anything like they do in Christianity, they're still very overtly and explicitly based on Christian scripture, and I find that kind of dissonance annoying.
Then there's the author's statement on the FAQ page saying she has "no wish to offend anyone" so we shouldn't take it seriously. I'm sorry, you can't open your comic with a Bible verse and openly mine the Book of Revelation for material, and then act like you're not saying anything about religion. The message I'm getting is that religious people are annoying and naive, but sometimes their heart is in the right place, and their beliefs are either mistakes or deliberate manipulation. Which, sure, is a totally understandable and perhaps even reasonable opinion for an atheist to hold. I'll take it over "Religion poisons everything. I am very intelligent" any day of the week. But it's still saying something.
My breaking point was page 27. On this page, Zero describes his goddess as "the woman clothed with the sun and a crown of stars [...] chosen by heaven to give birth to the savior." That's pretty clearly the woman from Revelation. (I assume the moon beneath her feet was omitted for space reasons.) Kick says that's not a goddess, that's her mother. Which means that (a) a literal demon from hell is taking the place of Jesus, an (b) the figure associated with the Virgin Mary is here worshiped as a pagan goddess, by a character with an interest in Rosaries, no less. I'm Catholic and this smacks of the various fundamentalists accusing my religion of being recycled paganism that worships Mary as a goddess. Not cool.
(It even feels a little cultural appropriation-y. Like, you'd see the problem if Kick Girl were a wendigo or her father was Mohammed. I mean, Christianity isn't exactly an oppressed minority in my part of the world, and I'm not losing sleep over this, but it's annoying all the same and I think it's fair to find it offensive.)
So that's a hard pass from me.
Post by: Jitter on September 29, 2022, 01:15:20 PM
I just reached chp 3 p 31 about getting to go home and was pleasantly surprised 😍
Post by: Jitter on September 29, 2022, 04:59:45 PM
Post by: Linebyline on October 01, 2022, 10:23:32 PM
By the way, Jitter, I'm glad you're enjoying Suihira.
Post by: Jitter on October 02, 2022, 07:21:09 AM
Everyone, please consider sharing something in November, ok?
Post by: Keep Looking on October 02, 2022, 08:47:19 AM
Post by: Linebyline on October 02, 2022, 03:00:36 PM
You can find the comic at freelancerscomic.tumblr.com (https://freelancerscomic.tumblr.com/)
Fair warning: the links at the top of the page for chapters 1, 2, and 3 are hard-coded to the now-expired freelancerscomic.com domain, so they're broken. The page-to-page links still work fine, but unfortunately those don't include the usual link to page 1. The perils of hosting a Webcomic on Tumblr I suppose. Anyway, here's a link to page 1. (https://freelancerscomic.tumblr.com/post/117549260012/hello-and-welcome-to-freelancer-feel-free-to-read)
The comic stars Elena Daniels, who dreams of being the big hero on her team of swashbuckling space adventurers/artifact hunters. Her actual duties, however, mostly just involve cleaning the spaceship. Said ship belongs to Cass, the stern, driven leader of the group. Rounding out the rest of the team are Jean, a large, bedreadlocked man;Junpo, an even larger anthropomorphic red panda; and Veetu, a tiny robot guy. It's mostly Elena and Cass's story, so the other three don't get fleshed out as much, but they still stand up off the page. Veetu most of all.
Things pick up when a mission goes slightly awry and Elena, assigned to stay with the ship, launches a dubiously necessary rescue mission and ends up permanently(?) bonded to a mysterious ancient artifact that just so happens to resemble a really neato-lookin' pair of fingerless gloves. Except for when they're giant quasi-mechanical gauntlets. Elena knows nothing about them, but Cass has a personal beef with a certain person...entity?...that deals in such artifacts.
At the risk of a spoiler, be forewarned that the story's biggest backstory mystery goes unsolved. The emotional arc, however, does reach a satisfying conclusion and the tale ends on a hopeful note that leaves you confident that the characters will get their answers eventually, whether we ever get to see them or not.
There's not much in the way of content warnings. Running down the list on page 1:
- No sex at all, unless you count Cass's cleavage in chapter 1.
- No abuse, though there's one count of borderline neglectful parenting of the "dad loves kid but is too busy with work to play with them" variety.
- Some of the characters are anthros and they have violence happen to them. I'll leave it to you to decide whether that counts as animal abuse.
- Only one guy clearly dies, and the actual death happens off-page.
- Another guy gets disappeared in a way that probably didn't kill him. We never find out. This also happens off-page.
- There is typical action violence PG-13 at the worst. We see some bloodied fists and the like.
- There's one scene where a guy is lying on the ground with his face in a pool of blood and we don't know at the time whether he's alive or dead.
Spoiler: show
Going off-list, I guess those of you with trypophobia or something might be squicked out by a scene where a robot with light bulbs for a mustache rearranges his own face.
You can think of the comic as Kirby-Jackson's A Redtail's Dream, except that he wasn't practicing for another comic--just honing his art skills in general. You can check out his current work on his ArtStation but it's both much improved from what's in Freelancer and (usually) quite different stylistically. That being the case, the art can be a little rough in spots, mainly in chapter 1. Still, overall I'd say it's pretty good, and it especially shines toward the end.
Here are some samples of the artwork:
(https://www.linbylin.com/images/Freelancer_examples.png)
Holes and labels.
Post by: Jitter on October 03, 2022, 04:06:30 AM
And then, sincerest apologies to @Gwenno I had not updated your offer there at all. I am very sorry! It's up now.
Keep, I put you up for November.
I continue to enjoy Suihira, although haven'd made much progress since my previous comment about it. Serin reminds me of Onni.
Post by: Jitter on October 06, 2022, 01:35:17 PM
Post by: dmeck7755 on October 06, 2022, 07:43:06 PM
I liked freelancer, though reading through tumblr was tough. I like the story, but it ended so quickly. It was kinda cool the artist used it as a springboard to develop their story and art skills. Though so much is unanswered
Post by: Jitter on November 04, 2022, 06:16:38 PM
Keep, you are on :)
Post by: dmeck7755 on November 04, 2022, 09:00:04 PM
Post by: Keep Looking on November 05, 2022, 02:57:32 AM
Tiger, Tiger
by Petra Nordlund
Tiger, Tiger is a story of a young noble lady, who steals her brother's identity and his ship to sail across the world to find love and adventure, and to write a book about her favourite subject: the fascinating life cycle of sea sponges!
Start Here (https://www.tigertigercomic.com/tiger-tiger/001)
Tiger, Tiger is a swashbuckling story, so there's plenty of action and drama galore! We follow Ludovica, a young, scientifically-minded noble lady who wants nothing more than to study sea sponges in their natural habitat. In order to achieve her dream, she steals her brother's ship to sail unto new horizons! Following her is a vibrant cast of characters including Jamis, the first mate and Ludo's fiance, Remy, Ludo's brother, their crewmate Honeyfoot, and a mysterious and seemingly death-defying figure named Luck. Behind all their adventures are the machinations of old gods, creeping rot and ancient evil forces - not everything is what it appears to be on the surface.
Basic content warnings: there is some nudity and sexual references, but no explicit sex or genitals edit: there is an appearance of genitals on page 441 - it's quite distant but people may want the warning.. Violence and gore is present, but definitely below SSSS-levels, and there's also some depictions of alcohol.
Tiger, Tiger is still updating and is currently on its second book! The art is black-and-white, and fairly detailed - I find it quite nice to look at.
I hope you folks enjoy it!
Post by: Jitter on November 06, 2022, 02:06:32 PM
Also Barbarous has been updating for a while now, and remains interesting! It’s infuriating how slow it goes :)
Thank you Keep!
Post by: dmeck7755 on November 06, 2022, 02:12:02 PM
Post by: Linebyline on November 10, 2022, 10:50:28 PM
As for [/i]Tiger, Tiger[/i], I've made it up to page 59. Jamis is tentatively my favorite character. "I should never make decisions when riled up," indeed. But everyone so far is standing up off the page. Great character writing.
Post by: Jitter on November 18, 2022, 05:35:17 PM
Sadly, it’s going on an irregular updating schedule but that’s life with webcomics. Anyways Book 1 was just finished earlier this year so there is one arc to read already, if you haven’t yet!
Also, who wants to take December?
Post by: dmeck7755 on November 18, 2022, 06:07:16 PM
Linebyline, I’m caught up with Suihira and I love it! Thank you for the recommendation!
Sadly, it’s going on an irregular updating schedule but that’s life with webcomics. Anyways Book 1 was just finished earlier this year so there is one arc to read already, if you haven’t yet!
Also, who wants to take December?
I can do December.
Post by: Jitter on November 18, 2022, 06:21:41 PM
Post by: Jitter on November 24, 2022, 05:14:36 PM
And hey, another Finnish artist! Yay!
Post by: Keep Looking on November 25, 2022, 09:57:57 PM
Keep, I have started Tiger, Tiger, and it really is very beautiful! The comments ate a bit irritating, there is a lot of ”oh wow upon re-reading xxx seems very different”. No full on spoilers, but too much pointing to future themes for me to dare read them.
And hey, another Finnish artist! Yay!
Yes, it's a good comic, and by another Finnish artist (there seem to be a lot of good Finnish webcomic artists!). I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Post by: Jitter on November 28, 2022, 02:32:23 PM
Post by: dmeck7755 on November 28, 2022, 03:42:54 PM
Discord is sometimes hard for me to follow, so someplace to discuss the comic would be nice.
Post by: dmeck7755 on December 01, 2022, 07:50:47 AM
The comic I'm presenting this month is called Gifts of Wandering Ice. This comic has been going since 2014.
It is written by Olga Makarova
Her bio:
Born in 1985. Russian sci-fi and fantasy writer and freelance illustrator.
Lives in Ufa (a capital of Bashkortostan Republic in Russia) with her husband and son. Works in a small animation studio as a 3D artist. Has a degree in biology. Is a cat person.
The link to the first page is https://giftscomic.com/index.php?comic_id=0
About page:
https://giftscomic.com/about.php
The short "elevator" speech about the comic:
"Gifts of wandering ice" is a science fiction comic about ancient things people find in melting icebergs.
The old civilization, perished in tsunamis and floods and preserved by the ice age that followed, now reminds of itself in form of “ice gifts” – objects (and sometimes diseases) locked in icebergs melting by the shores of the archipelago where the last people live.
What’s in the story: green postapocalypse, matriarchal society where human life is valued greatly, ancient secrets of lost civilizations, ziplines, cableways, curiously shaped hexagonal basalt formations, and melting icebergs.
This is definitely a post apocalypse story.
Things I like:
This is a very complex story and it is very well written. If you like details and explanations of why things are, this is right up your alley. World building is really top notch in my opinion.
The author's notes are very helpful, she does explain things that may be confusing and tosses some back story, so they should be read.
Things I don't like:
This is a very complex story, sometimes I get lost and have to go back and reread things. (Though the author will post past page numbers for people to look back if she references them) There are a lot of balls that get juggled here.
Art:
The comic started out in color, but is in black and white. The art is really good and the black and white does not subtract from this.
Sex/Relationships/Nudity:
Familial type of relationships, no sex, no nudity Rarely mentioned.
Violence:
Yes, it is a violent world they live in. (Some blood, not much in the way of gore, though it is insinuated. Some war and sickness images)
Consistency:
Very consistent updates Mondays and Fridays. (NOTE: Currently we are on book 3 , it is almost over. She mentioned a hiatus before book 4. Last time it was only 2 weeks.)
Other:
I am not going to go through the story lines (There are too many, and I'd end up writing a book.The about and characters pages do help) I find the story and the comic to be very entertaining and thought provoking. I hope you will agree.
Post by: Jitter on December 02, 2022, 01:54:53 AM
Post by: Grade E cat on December 02, 2022, 05:45:14 AM
Post by: dmeck7755 on December 02, 2022, 08:49:29 AM
I tried reading through that webcomic in "big chunks" at some point. I remember it having a plague arc right around the time of the 2020 lockdowns and the dream plotline failing to actually grab me, so my current rapport with it is a "oh yeah, that, I wonder how it's going?" that isn't quite strong enough for me to take the time to check at the moment.
Yeah it is an interesting comic and can be difficult to digest. I thought I'd mention it for this month's comic, though I would not be surprised if there aren't many "takers"
Spoiler: show
Post by: Linebyline on December 02, 2022, 09:14:20 AM
No shade for Tiger, Tiger, but I've been preoccupied with other things and haven't made it very far. Will definitely keep reading, though! I've really enjoyed what I've read so far.
Thanks, dmeck7755 and Keep Looking, for the recommendations!
Wow Phantomarine is going strong! Anyone interested if I open a discussion for it?"Interested" would be putting it mildly.
In other news, Widdershins is back with the cover page of its final chapter, Vainglorious is still on impromptu hiatus, Suihira is still managing more-or-less weekly updates, and Shaderunners just dropped a big reveal.
Post by: Jitter on December 02, 2022, 09:39:35 AM
Post by: Linebyline on December 02, 2022, 05:25:11 PM
Gifts of Wandering Ice seems pretty neat so far. Opening seems a little slow, but then BAM, dinosaur attack. I think a lot of comics would be improved with dinosaur attacks within the first ten pages. (Even Atomic Robo was thirteen issues in before Dr. Dinosaur showed up.) The dialogue is a little stilted but I've read worse, so no big deal. Rikter's conflicted feelings about the cave dwellers have certainly piqued my interest. I'm not in deep enough yet for the rest of the cast to stand up off the page (other than Rita in that whole dinosaur thing) but I'm sure they'll get their chance.
Post by: dmeck7755 on December 06, 2022, 11:12:07 AM
I think the dialog may be a bit off because of translation between Russian and English
It is weird, I like the story, but never really got into any of the characters over-much
Post by: Jitter on December 06, 2022, 11:36:01 AM
Who will do January?
Post by: Linebyline on December 09, 2022, 09:43:26 PM
I wouldn't mind taking January if nobody else wants it. I'll get started on a writeup either way, since I'm out of spares.
As for this month's comic, I can agree that as far as I've read (up to page 56), the characters aren't as compelling as the ones in some of the other comics featured here. Rikter is no Ezra Kelly or Pavel Morena, and Elie's no Lodovica Bonnaire. But there's enough to them that I'm driven to want to learn more about them anyway. They make me want to see where their story will go.
Also, speaking of page 56, "Destiny is a tricky thing." Someone has good taste in cartoons. ;)
Post by: dmeck7755 on December 10, 2022, 11:33:51 AM
I do not think anyone can reach Pavel Morena :)
I really got into the characters of SSSS and I am definitely getting into Phantomarine's characters (Gotta love grandma)
A lot of the others I like for the story
Post by: Keep Looking on December 11, 2022, 07:15:17 AM
Spoiler: show
Post by: dmeck7755 on December 11, 2022, 08:32:52 AM
It took me a while to get into Gifts of Wandering Ice, but once the plot really started to get going I was quite hooked. It did get a bit confusing towards the end, though.Spoiler: show
You are very correct about that
Spoiler: show
Plus there are a lot of flashbacks which make it hard to follow
Post by: dreki on December 30, 2022, 11:01:39 AM
I've just started the Gifts of Wandering Ice and I like it so far. Just the premise of old world things trapped in glaciers slowly becoming revealed. Have not gotten far yet.
No shade for Tiger, Tiger, but I've been preoccupied with other things and haven't made it very far. Will definitely keep reading, though! I've really enjoyed what I've read so far.
Iirc it can be a bit slow to get to the really interesting bits. There'll likely be a few points that grab you and you can't stop reading.
Right now it's at a place in the plot I may need to step away from for awhile - which isn't a criticism, just it's pretty emotionally charged and I find those easier to take in in one go than in drips.
Post by: Jitter on January 01, 2023, 09:38:49 AM
I’m through Book 1 of the Gifts of Wandering Ice and still at the ”premise is fascinating” level, so we’ll see.
And, up to date on Tiger, Tiger. Which I love! There was a poll on one of the neat to newest pages about who is your favorite character, and it was a tough one! (Jamis, of course, but what in that case about Ludo, and Remi, and…???)
Post by: Linebyline on January 01, 2023, 05:34:01 PM
I'm up to page 466 of Tiger, Tiger, and the amount of nudity in the comic (which is far from a lot but more than none) is getting uncomfortable. Like, it's not porn, but also here's a dude who clearly just had sex and while he's definitely not doing that at the moment here's his penis anyway. This on top of all the boobs from earlier. On the plus side, I'm looking forward to seeing Sausage eat Ratattack or whatever his name is. :P
Meanwhile I'm at page 370 of Gifts of Wandering Ice and my major gripe right now is the junk psychology. Mirror neurons, empaths, etc. But it's too late. I'm hooked on the story. I still think the character writing is not a strong point bit I'm attached anyway. Nothing for it but to see this through to the end and find out what happens to these dorks.
Anyway, on to new business.
So I don't think I'm telling most of you anything you don't already know when I say that Daughter of the Lilies exists, and it is good. But it hasn't been featured here yet, and it's just resumed updating as of November, so now seems like a good time.
For those who don't know, or who need a refresher, Daughter of the Lilies (https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/) is a fantasy comic written and drawn by Meg Syverud (credited as Meg Syv) and colored mostly by Yoko Weaver (with some help from other colorists and Meg herself from time to time). It centers on the adventures and occasional misadventures of "Thistle" (the latest in a long list of plant-based pseudonyms), a young woman who goes to great lengths to conceal her identity. Also she is a huge magic nerd and it is very important to me that you know this.
She joins a small team of adventurers-for-hire led by Orrig, an incredibly strong, kind, and proficient orc man vit some version of Russian accent. The team's muscle is the Brent, who bears both a crush on Thistle and a chip on his shoulder over the racist treatment his one-fourth orc heritage got him. The final member is the archer Lyra, a blonde, beautiful, brash, boorish elf whose personality is just about as far from Tolkien's Galadriel as it gets. It's your typical ragtag misfit found-family setup.
In Chapter One, the gang's current job is to clear a mine of man-eating monsters known as cave elves. One of them badly injures Brent's arm by, naturally, taking a bite out of it. Another fights Thistle and ends up ripping her mask off. Seeing Thistle's face is enough of a shock for the monster that he panics and runs straight for Lyra, who rewards him with a quick death. Most of the rest of Book One is a flashback revealing how Thistle ended up joining Orrig's crew, followed by the chapter where Thistle's true nature is finally revealed to the reader (but not to her teammates).
If you don't want spoilers, I recommend heading straight for the first page (https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/part-1-a-girl-with-no-face), because the arc that's going on as I write this puts the big twist about Thistle's identity on full display. If you don't care about spoilers, read on:
Spoiler: show
The story strikes a delightful balance between being a fun romp and dealing with some incredibly heavy stuff. Tone-wise, it's more or less in line with Phantomarine, a little more pulpy than Suihira and less so than Freelancers. It's a more overtly fantastic and magical world than The Sword Interval or Widdershins, to the point that (to Meg's chagrin) it has been mistaken for a Dungeons and Dragons fan comic. There are hints that it's post-post-apocalyptic, but thus far the story hasn't really leaned into that; you just see wreckage of present-day stuff on the periphery.
So how about those content warnings? Well, let's start with what the lady herself says on page 2:
Quote
CONTENT WARNING
Daughter of the Lilies is widely considered to have a PG-13 rating, as it contains depictions of gore, violence, emotionally distressing events, and implied swearing that some readers may find upsetting.
Reader discretion is advised.
In the mouseover text, she adds: "If this comic were released in the 80s, it would have gotten a PG rating, maybe."
Here's my take:
- You got your standard issue fantasy racism, including some that the story deliberately tempts the reader to accept at first. Normal racism hasn't shown up as far as I recall; Orcs are green but humans (and, I think, elves and dwarves) seem to come in the usual range of human ethnicities and I don't think thatt's commented on.
- Overall, the story is mercifully free of cheesecake. There is one major exception: The current arc starts with an over-the-top parody of a racist and misogynistic pulp fantasy about a voluptuous, chainmail-bikini-clad elf hero who fights evil orcs. It's meant to be absurd rather than titilating, but T'Fa'Ni still does a lot of breasting boobily.
- One of the major characters is consistently topless. (https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/sidecomics/3-ii) [EDIT: Okay, not always, but frequently.] I mean, he's a dude, and he's not objectified, and he kind of has a dad bod? But also he is Very Muscles.
- There's mild gore. While it's handled as gracefully as possible, and most of it is off-panel, people do tend to bleed when they're stabbed, and we see a fair bit of the inside of Brent's arm as it heals. One character receives severe chemical burns that leave her scarred. I'm not sure if the opening content warning is overstating its case or if we just haven't seen the worst of it yet.
- There's also death. Mainly animal death, but also they very much killed those cave elves. The cover for one chapter is a rotting deer carcass. The deer shows up briefly as an illusory(?) zombie later. There's also a brief image of a dead lamb lying in a pool of blood.
- A plot-important minor character is tormented (literally and figuratively) by the way his homophobia drove his son to suicide.
- A plot-important major character is deeply traumatized by having been raised by a narcissistic, manipulative poopnozzle.
- Paperwork.
- Horror elements, including mild body horror, involving overtly demonic creatures.
How's the art? Good. Apparently it was a bit rough in the original version of the first chapter, but that had been redrawn long before I started reading. It's not as tight and realistic as The Sword Interval, but a bit more so than Phantomarine, and it's easily on par with both in terms of overall quality. But as a wise man once said, you don't have to take my word for it:
Non-spoiler images spoiler-tagged for space:
Spoiler: show
Non-non-spoiler images spoiler-tagged for spoilers:
Spoiler: show
One final note: you can get the commentary pages as a pay-what-you-want download from Hivemill (https://hivemill.com/products/daughter-of-the-lilies-ch-1-commentary-edition) since they're no longer available on the comic's site. Meg goes over all of Chapter One and describes what she's learned from it, and then Yoko spends several pages talking about her coloring process. (I'm actually not 100% sure if Yoko's part is part of the download, though.)
Enjoy!
Post by: dmeck7755 on January 01, 2023, 08:49:28 PM
Merry January, everyone!
Meanwhile I'm at page 370 of Gifts of Wandering Ice and my major gripe right now is the junk psychology. Mirror neurons, empaths, etc. But it's too late. I'm hooked on the story. I still think the character writing is not a strong point bit I'm attached anyway. Nothing for it but to see this through to the end and find out what happens to these dorks.
Yeah, I either try and order it in my mind or gloss over stuff that don't make sense. There are a lot of comics out in the world that way. I had done that a lot with SSSS. Which is why some of my stories are a bit weird (Or very weedy)
BTW happy new year also.
So I don't think I'm telling most of you anything you don't already know when I say that Daughter of the Lilies exists, and it is good. But it hasn't been featured here yet, and it's just resumed updating as of November, so now seems like a good time.Apparently it was on hiatus. (Her work contract forbade outside work). But the contract was ended early. So for fans it is back, but the author now is looking for another gig.
The story strikes a delightful balance between being a fun romp and dealing with some incredibly heavy stuff. Tone-wise, it's more or less in line with Phantomarine, a little more pulpy than Suihira and less so than Freelancers. It's a more overtly fantastic and magical world than The Sword Interval or Widdershins, to the point that (to Meg's chagrin) it has been mistaken for a Dungeons and Dragons fan comic. There are hints that it's post-post-apocalyptic, but thus far the story hasn't really leaned into that; you just see wreckage of present-day stuff on the periphery.
I have to say Phantomarine, Suihira, Widdershins, and Sword Interval were and are very enjoyable. I should pop over a take a look then :)
Thank you
Post by: Keep Looking on January 01, 2023, 11:33:19 PM
I'm up to page 466 of Tiger, Tiger, and the amount of nudity in the comic (which is far from a lot but more than none) is getting uncomfortable. Like, it's not porn, but also here's a dude who clearly just had sex and while he's definitely not doing that at the moment here's his penis anyway. This on top of all the boobs from earlier. On the plus side, I'm looking forward to seeing Sausage eat Ratattack or whatever his name is. :P
Yeah, I hadn't caught up to that part when I recommended it - I was a little behind and at the point I was reading it was still genital-free. In hindsight, I should've gone back and added a warning about the penis, not everyone likes to see those. Sorry about that. I'm glad you're enjoying it in general, though!
So I don't think I'm telling most of you anything you don't already know when I say that Daughter of the Lilies exists, and it is good. But it hasn't been featured here yet, and it's just resumed updating as of November, so now seems like a good time.
I'll have to catch up on DoTL, then! I used to read it but since it went on hiatus I stopped checking. I can second your recommendation - I think it's a really well-written and enjoyable comic.
Post by: dreki on January 02, 2023, 01:07:17 PM
Spoilered by Jitter the mod!
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on January 02, 2023, 02:15:03 PM
Spoiler: show
Post by: dreki on January 02, 2023, 02:37:24 PM
Gifts of Wandering Ice spoilers p 350=>Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on January 02, 2023, 03:16:12 PM
Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
Post by: dreki on January 02, 2023, 03:38:51 PM
Spoiler: showQuoteSpoiler: show
QuoteSpoiler: showSpoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on January 02, 2023, 05:30:45 PM
Yeah, like others have said, it’s not necessarily something I like a lot, but it definitely held my attention! I liked the first part better, all the hard scifi stuff was weirder.
Spoiler: show
Still, worth a read, unless you HATE it when things are left hanging and the story goes into a new direction.
Post by: dreki on January 02, 2023, 06:18:02 PM
Gifts of wandering ice, up to today p 869
Yeah, like others have said, it’s not necessarily something I like a lot, but it definitely held my attention! I liked the first part better, all the hard scifi stuff was weirder.Spoiler: show
Still, worth a read, unless you HATE it when things are left hanging and the story goes into a new direction.
I agree it's worth a read and hopefully it'll circle back to the early stuff eventually.
Spoiler: show
Post by: dreki on January 03, 2023, 10:06:37 AM
Spoiler: show
Post by: dmeck7755 on January 03, 2023, 02:57:06 PM
Gifts of Wandering Ice spoilers p 350=>Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
Post by: dmeck7755 on January 03, 2023, 03:02:28 PM
Spoiler: showSpoiler: show
Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
Post by: dreki on January 03, 2023, 04:08:15 PM
Spoiler: showSpoiler: show
Spoiler: show
Post by: thorny on January 03, 2023, 04:30:03 PM
Post by: dreki on January 03, 2023, 04:47:58 PM
How do we book a slot? I have a good one for next month.
Post by: Jitter on January 03, 2023, 05:00:29 PM
Dmeck, you did make it clear Gifts is unclear :) So, we went in knowing, and it’s our own fault that we are now confused :)
Post by: Jitter on January 03, 2023, 05:05:31 PM
Post by: dmeck7755 on January 03, 2023, 08:14:53 PM
I’m with dreki on this. The discussion related to the initial reading during / around the month doesn’t necessarily need its own thread, but if discussion keeps on going when the comic is continuing and people are continuing to read it, then a thread will be better than dropping comments about any and all of the comics in a jumble. Nevertheless it would be good to have the name of the comic mentioned in the open part even if all of the actual content of the message were spoilered.
Dmeck, you did make it clear Gifts is unclear :) So, we went in knowing, and it’s our own fault that we are now confused :)
I don’t think it is needed a new thread. We can always set up one later if needed. I giggled at the statement that I made it clear that it was unclear. Lol. We have a new month and a new comic to look at.
I have read a lot of good comments about DOL, so I am going to try and start that
Post by: dreki on January 27, 2023, 05:19:20 AM
https://www.tigertigercomic.com/ (https://www.tigertigercomic.com/)
For anyone who hasn't started it yet or isn't sure if it's worth catching up - in my opinion it is. Be aware that within the archive there are a few pages with brief nudity and also sexual references. Nothing over the top and it's fairly short.
Post by: Keep Looking on January 27, 2023, 08:08:53 AM
Linebyline, I've just caught up on DoTL, and I have to say I've really enjoyed re-reading and seeing the new updates! It's good to know that such a good webcomic is updating again!
Post by: Linebyline on February 01, 2023, 09:50:01 PM
On the subject of DoTL and its most recent page:
Spoiler: show
So who's got February?
Post by: JoB on February 02, 2023, 09:48:30 AM
On the subject of DoTL and its most recent page:Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on February 02, 2023, 11:25:45 AM
Post by: Linebyline on February 02, 2023, 07:19:45 PM
Post by: Jitter on February 03, 2023, 03:40:45 PM
So, I’m going to ask Linebyline to go for it again. It would be nice to get suggestions from several people, but it’s definitely a good thing you are keeping this alive!
So, with my sincere thanks, the floor is yours @Linebyline
Post by: Linebyline on February 04, 2023, 11:55:06 AM
You ever feel like lost items just vanish into another dimension? This comic takes that idea literally, and combines it with a sort of reverse velveteen rabbit effect. I probably couldn't explain it well even with spoilers. Our main character is Alex, a girl who grew up moving from place to place, and leaving her once-cherished items behind, so she swore off owning more stuff than she could pack into a suitcase. Tired of continuing to move with her mother, she moves in with her cousin Claire and meets her new roomate/deuteragonist/severely depressed recluse Ethan. Or at least his voice through the door.
Things get weird when Alex finds a weird ferrety rabbity creature guy with a jade teapot stuck on his head. She helps remove it but finds herself pulled with him into that weird dimension of lost things. The creature, our third main character Grimnir, quickly returns her almost where she came from. A failed attempt to climb down from the roof of her apartment building to her balcony a couple stories below leads to her meeting Ethan for real as he prevents her from plummeting to her death, with the help of another roommate. Not long after that, Alex finds that her time in that strange space did something to her, and she resolves to get back in to find out what happened and fix it.
I'll stop there lest I just spoil the whole story. That should be enough to whet your appetites.
I think the character writing in this is very strong. It's more realistic and down-to-earth than some of the other comics we've seen. There are still big personalities, but they're not written quite as broadly as the cast of Phantomarine, Daughter of the Lilies, or Tiger, Tiger. At least, the humans aren't. There is adventure, excitement, and danger--both in the regular world and the mysterious one--but the characters are the real heart of the story. And judging by the comic whose name is at the top of this forum and the ones that tend to get recommended in this thread, I think that's what we're all here for.
But what about the art? It's good. It has a more digital-painting look, more rendered than the comic-style and often cel-shaded stuff I've tended to recommend here. It gives the whole thing a very warm, cozy feeling that fits the comic's tone like a glove, or perhaps like a lost wool sock.
Here, have some samples, under spoiler for space reasons:
Spoiler: show
Okay, so that's why I think you should check it out. But why shouldn't you? Honestly the content warnings are pretty mild, but there still are a few:
- Mild, uh, body horror? No transformation or anything, but some weird physics stuff that gets distressing.
- More generally, some scary scenes that any SSSS reader will find tame, but you'll want to read them yourself before showing them to younger kids.
- On that note, some suggestive dialogue in early chapters implies that sex is a thing that people do sometimes, though nobody is implied to do it during the comic.
- Ethan is kind of awful early on, shooting down every last little bit of positivity that Alex has near him. I mean, yes, it's a combination of his depression and his meds, but it's still not a great way to talk to other people. If you've been treated that way I imagine you might not enjoy reliving it vicariously through Alex.
- Does the dog die? Unclear. Gonna go wih "not exactly" but there is a "CRUNCH" you won't like.
Post by: dmeck7755 on February 05, 2023, 06:53:59 PM
I second line by lines recommendation.
I liked reading immaterial through its website. (I sometimes have trouble using webtoons. Line by line posted the links)
She may be doing a sequel (https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/929938282786226241/1071907512191811734/twitter.jpg)
Post by: Linebyline on February 05, 2023, 10:55:26 PM
Quote from: Sarah Ellerton | ArtsAngel (@artsangel@mastodon.art)
So I actually am writing a 'true' sequel to Immaterial, but it's in early stages, so QE will hopefully fill in that gap while I work on the script. QE is about the same length as Immaterial was, but my next thing is probably going to be a little more... epic.
Post by: dmeck7755 on February 06, 2023, 09:28:34 AM
According to this Mastodon thread (https://bytetower.social/@artsangel@mastodon.art/109814379688456348), looks like QE is going to be Webtoon-native (and this in scrolling format), though she seems to be considering adding it to her site as well. [utl=https://bytetower.social/@artsangel@mastodon.art/109814626395921220]In a different Toot, she adds:[/url]
Yipee!!
Post by: Jitter on February 07, 2023, 03:11:23 PM
Post by: Linebyline on February 14, 2023, 07:07:13 PM
Edit: And for the artists in the audience, she celebrated by making her comic coloring tutorial on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/posts/comic-colouring-76765182) free for everyone to read.
Post by: Keep Looking on February 15, 2023, 07:37:44 AM
Post by: JoB on February 15, 2023, 11:56:20 AM
Wake up, babes, new Immaterial sequel just dropped! (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/quantum-entanglement/list?title_no=814989)(Is it just me, or does the Ep1 page refuse to load anything but header, footer, and a square mile of white in between ... ?)
Post by: Linebyline on February 15, 2023, 09:45:46 PM
And this sequel is shaping up to be sexier than the original, despite Ethan's self-proclaimed asexuality. (Guessing that's ace but not aro.) Like there's more cleavage in any given panel with Alex than in all of Immaterial. Honestly that's something I appreciated about Immaterial, that it wasn't a romance, which QE explicitly is. I guess I'm slightly disappointed, since romance isn't my thing, but I don't mind that much. I'm just glad Arts Angel saved it for the second story, so there's already a solid foundation on which to build a romance.
Anyway we all know the real OTP is Grimnir and Shutters. ;)
Post by: Linebyline on February 28, 2023, 06:19:18 PM
Speaking of going, time marches on and March is on time! Who's going next?
Post by: Keep Looking on March 01, 2023, 06:51:56 AM
Post by: dmeck7755 on March 01, 2023, 08:48:35 AM
Post by: Jitter on March 01, 2023, 03:10:37 PM
Post by: Jitter on March 01, 2023, 03:23:12 PM
Suihira is back from dead tablet limbo and will resume Wednesday updates (including today’s).
White Noise has reached the end of Arc 1 but currently an immediate epilogue is updating weekly. Arc 2 has been hinted at.
Shaderunners is still on break, with the intention to post the entire chapter in one go whenever it’s ready.
Phantomarine is running, updates on Mondays for a while now but intends to go back to two pages a week at some point.
Blonde Sunrise has moved to irregular updates but is not dead, the author promises.
Tiger Tiger continues to be marvelous, with a somewhat irregular (I think??) but frequent updates.
Widdershins is back to Friday updates and the current story will be the final one! Oh noes!
Barbarous / Johnny Wander appears to be on hiatus with no info about the future.
Gifts of Wandering Ice is ongoing (and weird), as is of course Girl Genius and Freefall too.
In addition there are a couple of ongoing titles that I don’t follow at least now, please add more update updates if you have any!
Post by: Jitter on March 03, 2023, 11:22:22 AM
I present as comic of the month Bad Space by Scott Base. https://www.badspacecomics.com/
This is a collection of short stories, mostly hard science fiction but with the occasional fantasy element too. Many of the stories are also horror. Existential horror, body horror, occasional monster horror etc. There are no warnings, so every episode should be read only when and if you are in a state where you are not likely to become anxious by reading something that can be extremely bleak or scary. But then, I don’t do well with horror and yet I’m recommending this, so it’s not that terrible I guess. There are apocalypses, but we can cope with that, right?
Each story is ten panels long, but wow those ten panels can create a world, a story arc, a feeling. Not happy feelings though. Some of the stories have what can be considered a happy ending, but many don’t at all. There is violence but not much gore, and yeah, body horror. On the scale of gruesomeness nothing that SSSS fans couldn’t take, but the overall bleakness of many of the stories can be a hard sell for some.
Still, I love it. There are currently 37 of the ten panel stories, but I at least don’t want to read too many at a time, both to avoid becoming overwhelmed and to give time for the stories and themes to process. And many of the concepts presented are thought provoking at minimum and mind blowing at best. I can’t really describe them well, just read and see. Timescales within one story vary from description of a key moment to millions of years and beyond.
Each episode is stand alone. Someone asked in the comments whether they are meant to take place in the same universe, but the author hasn’t answered that. Some are contradictory so my guess is that they are not even that much related. You can start from the newest or the oldest, it doesn’t make a difference. The comment sections are good (and short) too, and the author participates. Sometimes he opens up his thinking but he repeatedly says there is no right or wrong answer to ”what is going on in this episode” as the interpretation of each reader is unique and just as correct as his.
The back and white art is gorgeous! There’s such a wealth of details for the fan of hard scifi to take in!
(https://i.postimg.cc/pTJKCh59/2700-C3-BC-0831-40-E8-9-FAD-10-BFBB5-DE771.png)
Post by: dmeck7755 on March 03, 2023, 02:15:09 PM
Swarm reminds me of the short story(image) Grey published in the prompt of the week.
Neanderthal Secrets made me sad.
You are right though, a few at a time would be best. They are definitely intense.
Post by: Jitter on March 03, 2023, 02:52:20 PM
Dmeck, you are right. They are intense! I tried to warn you in the introduction, do you think I should add something more?
Post by: dmeck7755 on March 03, 2023, 08:26:05 PM
Speaking of Grey, I’m sure you’ll like these @thegreyarea
Dmeck, you are right. They are intense! I tried to warn you in the introduction, do you think I should add something more?
Your explanation was perfect.
I hope I was not insulting. I was offering a second opinion.
Though despite it being intense, they are really quite good.
Post by: Jitter on March 03, 2023, 09:20:08 PM
Post by: thorny on March 04, 2023, 10:25:30 AM
I read a couple of them; they're quite good, though very dark. I agree that reading them a few at a time instead of all at once is a good idea.
-- Update: I just read the first three (I'd earlier read the one in the first post and the Neanderthal one mentioned.) The first three I think aren't particularly dark (though somebody with different religious views might disagree with me about the second) and the third is WOW that is great.
Do you think the author's getting more discouraged as time goes on, or is it coincidence that the two later ones I've read so far are both very dark and the earliest three not?
Post by: Jitter on March 04, 2023, 04:43:45 PM
I’m not sure which ones you mean, as ”first” could be either the top one (Swarm at the moment) or the bottom one (Ozymandias). The bottom one is the oldest one from 2021. The author makes some comments about his views in the comments, his outlook on the future of this world of ours is very bleak too.
BTW he also mentions that the title in the last panel is the actual story title. If it would be a ”spoiler” he uses a secondary title on the list. I was a bit confused when some of the end titles are the same while others are different.
Post by: Linebyline on March 26, 2023, 10:22:05 PM
Post by: Jitter on March 27, 2023, 03:38:41 AM
This makes me think that we probably should move the Bad Space discussion into a separate thread. Each of the stories is short and the discussion is fairly contained, but if we keep the same up for all of the stories here, it will interfere with discussing the April comic. Anyone against? If not, I’ll cut and move the ones clearly about Bad Space into a new one. @thegreyarea ?
Discussion of any previous Comic of the Month is ok on this thread and especially so if there is no dedicated thread, however if there is a lot on a title after the month is over, it’s best opening a new one. Or even during the month, when enough discussion is happening. Bad Space is a bit different because almost all of stories are unrelated to each other, but as there are going to be many more stories left after March ends, I feel it’s best to make room for the new one.
Post by: thegreyarea on March 27, 2023, 06:49:15 AM
Linebyline, agreed! I seem to recall we already agreed you will have April?Yes, of course. :) Please do it.
This makes me think that we probably should move the Bad Space discussion into a separate thread. Each of the stories is short and the discussion is fairly contained, but if we keep the same up for all of the stories here, it will interfere with discussing the April comic. Anyone against? If not, I’ll cut and move the ones clearly about Bad Space into a new one. @thegreyarea ?
Discussion of any previous Comic of the Month is ok on this thread and especially so if there is no dedicated thread, however if there is a lot on a title after the month is over, it’s best opening a new one. Or even during the month, when enough discussion is happening. Bad Space is a bit different because almost all of stories are unrelated to each other, but as there are going to be many more stories left after March ends, I feel it’s best to make room for the new one.
If there's no suggestion for this month I may have one. Else maybe it can be postponed to May?
Post by: Jitter on March 27, 2023, 08:28:32 AM
Post by: thegreyarea on March 27, 2023, 08:42:55 AM
I think Linebyline already has a pitch prepare? You can take May, Grey?Sure! :)
I'll prepare everything. The comic I'm thinking has two large chapters done (aprox 170 full pages), and is currently on a hiatus. So, the story is not complete. Is that ok?
Post by: Linebyline on March 27, 2023, 06:40:22 PM
Linebyline, agreed! I seem to recall we already agreed you will have April?I'm not absent-minded, you're absent-minded. :-[
The comic I'm thinking has two large chapters done (aprox 170 full pages), and is currently on a hiatus.Should be fine as long as the proper heads-up is given. Quoth the rules on page 1:
Quote
a work that has been dropped before ending may be ok if you think it’s worth nevertheless, but in this case make sure to let everyone know it is or appears to be discontinued.
In fact, the next comic I planned to pitch is on indefinite hiatus too, though I feel like it still comes to, if not an ending, at least a satisfying stopping point unless/until the author picks it back up (which, he says, he still very much intends to do). Though we might not want to do two of those in a row, so I'll see if I can come up with a different one and save this pitch for another time.
Post by: thegreyarea on March 27, 2023, 07:39:01 PM
Go ahead with what you had in mind, and I'll see later what to do. :)
Post by: Jitter on March 28, 2023, 01:45:50 PM
Post by: Linebyline on April 01, 2023, 08:25:57 AM
And that's why I'm recommending... xkcd! Haha April Fools, pranks, mirth, etc. I'm actually pitching Harpy Gee (homepage (https://www.harpygee.com/), page 1 (https://www.harpygee.com/comic/cover)) by Brianne Drouhard. It's currently in its sixth and final chapter, though each "chapter" is usually divided into a handful of smaller episodes. The update schedule is irregular; it usually updates Mondays, but the number of pages per update varies wildly based on Drouhard's other obligations. It's recently back from a hiatus of several months between chapters, and has entered its sixth and final chapter.
The comic stars and is named for Gigi "Harpy" Geranium, a young elf who's left her homeland behind for reasons that are probably spoilers. She's accompanied by her pet goblin cat Pumpkin, whom I'd describe as 10% goblin, 40% cat, 50% bag of holding, and 100% attitude. They find themselves in a backwater town called Podunkello, where they meet the adorable and brilliant witch Opal, owner of the local "Item Shop," and her pet/assistant Truffles the pig. Rooming in Opal's shop is the teenage castle guard (sort of) Ash, who is much more of a jerk in the first chapter than I remembered thanks to his mother instilling in him a distrust of elves, but underneath it he's a cinnamon roll. This is also true of the last and grumpiest main character, Prince Humphrey, though his crusty exterior is a few meters thicker. He ran away from home to avoid his twin sister's birthday party (sort of) only to get roped into a party for a dog belonging to his uncle, the conniving Duke hollandaise. The duke is one of those "manipulative but for your own good" types. From there, they have various adventures involving plant monsters, dragons, mermaids, at least two large monsters with mushrooms growing on them, bread-baking ogres, a turkey with an eyepatch, and most dangerous of all: Interpersonal conflict.
Quick heads-up: Yes, the title is a play on "RPG" but apart from incorporating some of the standard fantasy tropes like elves and magic and swords and stuff, it has little to do with the likes of GURPS or Chrono Trigger. The characters are just characters, not player characters. Of course, there are plenty of easter egg references, especially in early chapters, but if you're looking for something like Order of the Stick or the one about the goblins (I forget what it's called), uh, sorry.
So why am I pitching this? The main thing is, as always, the characters. They're broad and comedic, but they all have depth, hidden layers, secrets, and so on.
They remind me a bit of the SSSS crew. Humphrey is somehow Lalli and Emil at the same time. Ash reminds me of Reynir. There is a cat who is the best character. But mainly I mean they're a mismatched bunch of flawed characters with various barriers between them that they're forced to overcome to become good friends. (One of the later sub-chapters is literally called "Friendship Barriers," though by that point they're already friends.) They all speak the same language, so it's more a clash of status and personalities. I'm not really doing it justice, but I feel pretty confident that if you like the character dynamics of SSSS or most of the other comics I've pitched, you'll like these guys too.
Most of the comics I've pitched thus far have been somewhere in between realistic and cartoony. Harpy Gee isn't full Saturday Morning but it's definitely toward the cartoonier end of the spectrum. This makes for some pretty dynamic action sequences, some threatening yet cute monsters, and some really expressive characters. But as someone once said, you don't have to take my word for it:
(Okay, actually you might for now since my Web host isn't cooperating. I'll post the art samples as soon as I can.)
And now it's time for everyone's favorite Comic of the Month party game, pin the tail on the content warning!
- It's not that there's not violence aplenty, but it's largely slapstick played for humor. (Which can be a bit of a problem when one obnoxious guard's death is treated as a joke, but that's an isolated incident.) What violence isn't slapstick can lead to a handful of intense or scary action scenes, but nothing brutal. There is a teeny-tiny bit of blood at one point. Read it before you hand it to a kid, but it's PG at worst.
- There's violence against aggressive fauna, but they tend to be fine. Just a bit embarrassed. Still, I could see that being a turnoff for some folks. I find it a little uncomfy myself in the earlier chapters.
- Naughty words are typically censored or replaced with alternatives (No profanity in any language can match the intensity of Humphrey saying "Fart" near the beginning of one chapter) but a little one slipped through at one point.
- Despite a fair amount of emphasis on romance, there's no sex. At most, there is the very occasional bit of mild cleavage. It is discreetly implied that at least one character has parents who had sex in the past, but even that is on the mild end of PG.
- Honestly the biggest thing is going to be the eye strain warning. Much of the comic is hand-lettered, and while that lends a lot of charm, it can also result in inconsistently sized or just really small text that's hard to read. Zoom is your friend. (The browser feature, not the videoconferencing service.)
So level up your Webcomic reading with Harpy Gee! Because I told you to!
UPDATE: I can't seem to FTP today, so while my host works on that issue, I've posted my usual art excerpt over on my Mastodon account at @linebyline@bytetower.social. (Anyone else here on the Fediverse, by the way?)
(https://bytetower.social/system/media_attachments/files/110/125/553/485/528/693/original/fe3607f58b9d6335.png)
Post by: Keep Looking on April 01, 2023, 08:40:35 AM
Also, talking about xkcd (yes, april fools, but it's a masterpiece in its own right), have you heard of the tumblr blog There's an xkcd for that (https://xkcd-for-that.tumblr.com/page/3)? It's a blog that attempts to find relevant xkcd comics for random tumblr posts, and can be quite entertaining if you enjoy xkcd comics.
Post by: Linebyline on April 01, 2023, 08:41:25 AM
Post by: Linebyline on April 06, 2023, 11:03:55 PM
Spoiler: show
And then in chapter three...
Spoiler: show
In chapter five...
Spoiler: show
So, putting that all together:
Spoiler: show
I almost can't believe I never put that together. But that's what I get for never rereading the comic until now. Lots of things are set up early for you to go back and see once the later chapters pay them off. (Shame the archive is so hard to navigate.) Drouhard says in the author notes for page one that she never made a comic before, but you can tell she went into this one with a plan.
EDIT: More Ch 5:
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on April 07, 2023, 12:12:24 PM
The most best thing about the colorful art are the background critters such as the baby dragons. And I really like the pages where backgrounds are mostly monochromatic and only the key elements or the characters are in color. The lettering is a bit straining for the eyes like you said, but I’m reading on iPad so I can zoom as much as needed.
Post by: Lenny on April 11, 2023, 05:55:26 AM
Post by: dmeck7755 on April 13, 2023, 08:17:16 AM
I had not yet come upon wolf. (I somehow started from the end of the comic, so now I have to go to the beginning...) But I thought Prince Humphrey gave of Onni-ish vibes (looks a little like him also..)
Post by: Linebyline on April 13, 2023, 07:06:33 PM
If you asked Mikkel, I think he'd tell you he's Duke Hollandaise: In the know and in control, with a mysterious past. He'd probably cop to not being as much fun, but at the same time he'd be adamant that he's a better cook. Candle soup notwithstanding.
Post by: Turnstylus on April 19, 2023, 05:36:03 PM
Bad Space was a great recommendation! @Linebyline, I agree that Bad Space's tone and subject matter is not for "everyday use", if that makes sense. You must have good awareness of your circumstances, but for those people that may not see any nihilism around them, this comic could open their minds to new ways of thinking.
And @thegreyarea, I enjoyed your speculations about "Great Minds", when you said that "possession" stories could be test drives! It's fun to see if the logic of a story can be compatible with our experiences.
The tone shift from Bad Space to Harpy Gee is like night and day - bravo to Jitter and Linebyline for the thrilling ride!
Post by: Jitter on April 20, 2023, 01:15:02 PM
And yes, the contrast is striking!
Post by: Linebyline on May 02, 2023, 08:32:40 PM
But now it's May. Thegreyarea, you're up next, right?
Post by: thegreyarea on May 05, 2023, 09:26:31 AM
I didn't have much time to prepare this, but here it goes :)
I'm suggesting Rising Sand (https://risingsand.glass/comic/rising-sand/), by Ty Dunitz and Jenn Lee.
It's ongoing, and currently on a hiatus after completing the first two "acts" with 166 pages total. Last page simply has "2023" on it, so we can assume that this year we will see more...
As for contents warnings, it displays some graphical violence and non-sexual nudity, but nothing that will shock SSSS readers, I believe.
Why I like it? Well, the characters are interesting and the story is slowly adding them more life, although not everything is explained (yet?). The same goes for the very detailed world-building. Please don't forget to read the notes that usually complement each page, because they may comment the action or act a bit like compelling encyclopedia entries. Oh, and the art is gorgeous, very detailed and well done.
The story happens on Erj, a world where different humanoid species live under a curious doughnut-shaped sun (actually I believe there's a moon, or some structure, that somehow matches exactly Erj's orbital period, so they live in a permanent partial eclipse. Something they may, or may not, explain someday).
They also have characters speaking different languages, that they cleverly identify using a colour code for the dialogue balloons, and even developed an alphabet... Oh, there's also a mysterious disease that spreads in the air, affecting some species more than others, and ruins scattered across the land, and so much more... Did I say the art is gorgeous?
As the authors state in the "About" page:
"Erj is a world kept alight by a sun that has orbited faithfully since recorded memory—but now, that faith is faltering.
As the world slips ever deeper into despair, a contingent of outsiders, driven by little more than a desire to survive, will do what they can to illustrate that all things mustn’t come to an end.
At least not today."
BTW the authors are quite accessible through Discord. I "spoke" to them once or twice.
So here's the link: https://risingsand.glass/comic/rising-sand/
They also have a promotional video:
I hope you enjoy it! I'll be re-reading it this month, and will be (obviously) happy to talk.
All the most best! ^-^
Post by: Linebyline on May 05, 2023, 05:24:57 PM
EDIT: Just made it to page 12 and, hoo boy, you weren't kidding about graphic violence. I think I can live with it as long as it's not a constant presence, but yeah, that's some blood and guts right there. Still very interested in seeing where this goes!
EDIT 2:
Spoiler: page 23 • show
Post by: Keep Looking on May 05, 2023, 10:48:21 PM
(I'm also happy to take next month's comic of the month slot unless someone else has already grabbed it)
Post by: Linebyline on May 07, 2023, 12:28:19 PM
Spoiler: show
I'm loving the character dynamics and the interplay of the different religious beliefs. It's been a thrilling ride so far and I'm excited to see what's next!
Looking forward to your pitch, too, Keep Looking!
Post by: thegreyarea on May 09, 2023, 04:10:15 PM
Did you notice the reference about the Sylph belief on their out-of-the-world origin? And that part about the wonder material called "moonstone", and also the glowing steppe? I'm still convinced all those pieces are somehow connected with the "hole in the sun" and the "sun falling down" parts... And I'm very curious about that.
As said before I imagine that Erj is too close to it's sun, and someone placed that disc(?) to reduce the planet's temperature to habitable levels before starting terraforming. Still a hot, mostly desertic world, despite that. Now it's the sun falling, or the artefact is moving? If it's moving towards the sun the bright "donut" would seem to increase in size, giving the impression it's getting closer. Anyway if the artefact falters (or Erj is decaying towards the sun) life on Erj would be doomed.
It's also interesting to note how Erj's inhabitants seem to have a generally limited level of knowledge. Even Dal, daughter of a scholar, mentions that someone said the sun is "falling from it's orbit", meaning they share the medieval-like view that their sun orbits arounf Erj, and not the opposite
Also the Ash is intriguing (besides being very... IDK, photogenic? attractive?), as are the many races and their characteristics.
And, of course, Ro and Dal's story/connection. I hope act 3 starts soon... ^-^
Post by: Keep Looking on May 10, 2023, 06:52:50 AM
Post by: dmeck7755 on May 10, 2023, 09:50:46 AM
Post by: dmeck7755 on May 17, 2023, 08:55:33 AM
Hiatus alas.....
Also It looks like Suihira will be on hiatus until some where in the summer...
Post by: Turnstylus on May 25, 2023, 03:07:42 PM
When I started reading SSSS, I voted for it on the Top Web Comics leaderboards, of course. I was impressed by everything Minna was doing, and I got curious - what other comics might be out there? And Top Web Comics had thousands!
So I started looking, and found Rising Sand several months after discovering SSSS.
I agree with you all - the authors have given the appearance of a very diverse world with all kinds of cultures and history. The artwork is AMAZING - the amount of detail and polish that the creators put into this is astonishing for a web comic. And as impressive as the art can be, the little paragraphs at the bottom of each page - the ones that give historical background - are nearly as much fun to read as the pages are to look at, to me.
I'm hoping I can reread the series in time to share more with you all. And I can't wait for Ty Dunitz and Jenn Lee to write more!
Post by: thegreyarea on May 25, 2023, 07:41:48 PM
And I also found it while voting for SSSS on TopWebComics, Turnstylus, and I was instantly enchanted with the art. It's great to know a fellow reader. ^-^
I agree with you, dmeck, that Ro is not very likable, not even close to Dal. But I suppose / hope we will know more about her as the story advances, and perhaps have reasons to like her more.
Just like you, Keep, I'm very curious to know more about this World and, of course, about the whole "sun is falling" plot.
I'll try to share more with you soon.
Post by: Linebyline on May 25, 2023, 09:54:29 PM
And then... I'd better spoiler-tag it, just in case.
Spoiler: show
So, all in all, as huge a jerk as she is, I still can't help but feel bad for her.
Post by: Keep Looking on May 25, 2023, 10:42:32 PM
I guess maybe because it feels human and maybe because it's interesting at the start to wonder how their characters are going to develop and (hopefully) grow and change.
Obviously this can go too far, though - there are definitely stories where people are unreasonably awful to each other all the time to the point where it's just unrealistic and unpleasant. But it makes for interesting characters in moderation.
Post by: Turnstylus on May 26, 2023, 12:30:27 PM
I need to reread the comic to comment further but I will say this in agreement with @Keep Looking : love or hate some of these characters, but none (or nearly none) of them are flat! And their stories unfold over time.
Maybe Rising Sand has posted a potential update schedule on their socials somewhere - I haven't looked very carefully, but I am hoping to see the story go forward soon!
Post by: Linebyline on May 26, 2023, 08:57:49 PM
Quote from: Rising sand on Mastodon.social
Proof of life. Ro is as fed up as you are. @risingsand will be back with Act 3—pls be patient.
💀 Read Rising Sand!
#Art #MastoArt #Comics #WebComic #WebComics #RisingSand
(https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/110/272/369/622/192/945/original/4811237468c7b7f3.png)
[A preview of a panel from Rising Sand Act 3, wherein Ro is trying to read—please keep your voice down.]
No ETA, but they definitely appear to be working on it.
Post by: Turnstylus on May 30, 2023, 01:13:21 PM
The Rising Sand creators have set the bar so high for their art - it looks really labor intensive.
There's a good reason why comics and animation - any art that needs to be done fast - naturally tends toward being simple and abstract. Expecting an artist to paint 100 Vermeers in less than a month is just not something that many artists can do, if any! So the art gets simpler so that the volume can happen.
But Rising Sand pushes that detail - it's among the most "polished" web comics I've seen. And Rising Sand looks like a 2-person team; the big commercial comics companies have at least a half-dozen people dedicated to a project, and add to that editing and support staff at the corporate level to help speed things along. That's a LOT of work for 2 people.
Minna is extraordinary in her ability to create quickly, and even her art style simplified in the later pages of SSSS. And the Rising Sand folks are not too shabby either, given the level of detail they're trying to maintain.
My hat's off to the web comics creators that are slogging in the trenches, often as a side-hustle, bringing dreams to life.
Post by: Turnstylus on May 31, 2023, 03:38:15 PM
No real spoilers here, but just in case:
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on May 31, 2023, 04:11:44 PM
I’m sorry I have failed to set up the Bad Space thread! At least it’s not a running story, but still… I promised and then didn’t.
Now I finally did! Pleace proceed with the Bad Space story by story discussion here: https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=1330
BTW Tiger Tiger has started Book 3.
Post by: Keep Looking on June 01, 2023, 07:18:36 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on June 01, 2023, 08:52:47 AM
:sparkle: :sparkle:Sleepless Domain (https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-1-cover) :sparkle: :sparkle:
First page (https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-1-cover)
Latest page (https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/)
I think Sleepless Domain has been mentioned once or twice on the forum before, but it definitely deserves its own spotlight!
Sleepless Domain is a comic about magical girls fighting to protect the magically shielded city they live in from the monsters that attack it every night, and solve the mystery that is seeming to threaten their unusual home's very existence. It is also a story about grief, trauma, and the cost of being a magical fighter in a world with real consequences. There's also friendship! Cool character designs! Queer characters and relationships (happy pride month btw!)!
It is also the only still-updating webcomic I have managed to get my girlfriend invested in.
Sleepless Domain is definitely pg-13: no major gore, nudity or other nsfw content, which is good since it is a comic with fairly young teenage characters. However, content warnings can be given for moderately intense depictions of character deaths, grief and depression as well as non-graphic character injury.
I hope people check it out (or catch up / reread if you've read it already!).
Post by: Turnstylus on June 01, 2023, 04:11:56 PM
And thank you @Keep Looking , for the new comic - it sounds great!
Post by: dmeck7755 on June 01, 2023, 06:20:49 PM
Definitely need to look at this. When i clicked on the first page. I thought OMG Disney princesses or power puff girls..(complete with anime sparkly eyes :) :sparkle: :sparkle: :sparkle:)
Post by: Linebyline on June 01, 2023, 09:22:20 PM
I should probably point out that this comic will punch you hard in the feels after a couple chapters.
Post by: dmeck7755 on June 24, 2023, 12:05:35 PM
Spoiler: show
Post by: Linebyline on June 24, 2023, 06:40:55 PM
Re. the spooky purple being and the developments of the last couple chapters...
Spoiler: show
Post by: dmeck7755 on June 27, 2023, 01:20:12 PM
Spoiler: show
Good story tho..
Post by: Linebyline on July 03, 2023, 02:09:18 PM
I forget, do we know who's got July? Because I have a pitch ready if nobody else is in line. Fair warning, it's on indefinite hiatus.
Post by: Jitter on July 03, 2023, 02:42:34 PM
And, the art piece is cool! Thanks!
Post by: Linebyline on July 03, 2023, 02:49:40 PM
I don't think I'll ever be able to verify or falsify these claims. However, I do know that Smith is prone to crude sexual humor and at one point self-described as a "perv." Furthermore, in general, the risks associated with publicly making such allegations against someone who's as popular (in his niche) as Smith tend to outweigh the benefits. So I'm willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt.
So where does that leave us? I'm not comfortable saying that CrikeyDave is definitely an abusive scumbag and we should never support him or read his work at all. Again, I'm giving the writer the benefit of the doubt but I don't actually know for certain that her accusations are true. At the same time, given how plausible the accusations are, I'm no longer comfortable with the glowing recommendation I give his comic in this post. Read on at your own risk or just skip ahead to August. Stay safe out there, friends.
Your regularly scheduled (and, except for a sarcastic strikethrough, unedited) pitch continues below:
Okay, fair warning: The comic I'm about to present is incomplete. Its last new page was the end of Chapter 11 in 2019. The last official update was in April 2020, projecting a return in May of the same year, but that came and went with no revised ETA. Last word from the author/artist was a comment from July 2022 saying, "My scheduling and mental health for the past few years have been all over the place, but MAiZ is still very important to me, and I'd like this to get to a nice decent conclusion when I'm able to." He's still active and posting MAiZ art on Twitter, but unfortunately Twitter is Twitter. :(
That caveat established, I present for your reading pleasure MAiZ by David "CrikeyDave" Smith. (homepage (http://maizcomic.com/), page 1 (http://maizcomic.com/comic/ch1-p1/)) It stars Melissa "Meli" Meni'ak, a would-be archaologist searching for the answers behind a stone fragment she possesses that enables her to summon a magical staff. Co-starring, and (theoretically) keeping Meli from getting herself killed, is Jaz Jumpstart, a boy adored by the local younger kids for his heroism and his ability to summon a magical shield--without an artifact like Meli's. Jaz wears a stylized skull mask because some people (Meli) tend to get freaked out by the fact that he's human.
Oh, uh, did I mention that the characters other than Jaz are anthropomorphic critter-people? i'm not a furry, you're a furry. If that's a turnoff for you, I'll understand. But I urge you to give it a chance anyway, mainly because of the strong character writing.
As in most of my favorite stories, the core is the characters, who stand up off the page every bit as much as Sigrun or Pavel or Ludovica. Of course, there's the intelligent and powerful but overambitious and common-sense-deprived Meli, and the strong, plucky, compassionate Jaz. Rounding out the supporting cast are Ray, the cantankerous shopkeep; Cam, Jaz's adoring young fan; Gruff, the "dog"-loving bandit whose ambitions exceed his intellect; Bullseye, the stone-cold paramilitary lieutenant; and Tuug, her put-upon assistant. They're all heavily archetypal, but even the comic relief characters have hidden depths. (No spoilers, but keep your eye on Cam as you get toward the last couple chapters.) Oh, and you'll see occasional references in the comments to Wolf and Vix, fan favorite characters previewed years in advance on the comic's Tumblr (most of which was accidentally deleted) but not meant to be introduced until chapters that haven't been released (yet). Here's a listing of most everybody important except the kids. (https://maizcomic.tumblr.com/post/143193432834/realized-id-forgotten-to-post-these-a-while-ago)
Speaking of no spoilers, I want to talk about the ending. But first I need to talk about the pacing. One of the reasons I recommend this comic, especially to aspiring comics writers, is that once Smith finds his groove with the writing, the comic becomes a master class on pacing. Every page moves something forward (be it the plot or a character arc) and leaves you both wanting more and satisfied with what you got. There are no filler pages. There are cliffhangers, but no cheap cliffhangers. Certainly nothing worse than Minna has inflicted on us.
And that's probably why I'm not upset about the ending. I mean, the series hasn't come to a proper end, and Smith does intend to pick it back up at some point as his work-life situation allows. But the last page is the ending of Part 1. It ends on a positive note--a cliffhanger, yes, but one that stands to turn the tide of the current crisis and enable Meli and Jaz to save the day and continue their quest. I'll be disappointed if Smith never gets back around to the comic (though not as disappointed as he will, I bet) but I'll still be satisfied with what we got.
Okay, but how 'bout the artwork? We all like our comics pretty. Lucky for us, MAiZ is one of the best-looking comics I follow. Apart from some early rough edges, the art is consistently appealing even as it ranges from cartoony and comedic to darkly serious. One thing you'll want to keep in mind is that, for most of its run, the comic is grayscale. Color is saved for chapter covers and special occasions, which can be just brilliant (case in point, with spoilers: page 187 (http://maizcomic.com/comic/page-187/)). It switches to full color around the start of chapter 9.
You can see a quick sampling of MAiZ art (https://bytetower.social/system/media_attachments/files/110/651/707/136/141/686/original/496ca20269eeeb6a.png) in my Mastodon post for this month (https://bytetower.social/%40Linebyline/110652548751861636).
And now for everyone's favorite part of the recommendation, the content warnings!
The comic is pretty much rated PG for scary scenes and fantasy action violence, several off-panel murders, and credible threats of murder against children and the elderly who have already been beaten up. A brutal war in the not-too-distant past is hinted at, and may or may not have involved genocide. There's also the threat of animal predation; one of the two animals involved suffers slapstick comedy violence, and the other is at the center of a pee joke.
If the comic ever continues, Vix may eventually be responsible for adding suggestive themes to this list. Then again MAiZ is already a lot more family-friendly than much of Smith's other work, including some of the MAiZ-related art posted on Tumblr. So who knows?
Here's where I would put a nice, succinct summation if I were a good writer. Anyway
Post by: Jitter on July 04, 2023, 01:05:35 PM
Everyone, while yoou go read MAiZ, please also consider August. Would you like to pitch?
Post by: Lenny on July 05, 2023, 07:30:44 AM
Post by: Jitter on July 05, 2023, 05:39:18 PM
Post by: Linebyline on July 08, 2023, 10:06:14 PM
Post by: Keep Looking on July 09, 2023, 01:52:21 AM
(Also, I've never really understood what people can sometimes have against anthro/furry art or comics - like, it's not up everyone's alley and the furry community definitely has some pretty weird corners, but like - sometimes you just gotta read a story about some funky guys who are also anthropomorphic animals. It's fun.)
Post by: Linebyline on July 26, 2023, 06:25:40 PM
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on July 27, 2023, 06:06:47 AM
Post by: Jitter on July 31, 2023, 04:07:05 PM
Post by: Linebyline on July 31, 2023, 05:36:00 PM
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on August 01, 2023, 10:08:33 AM
I have reached the end of Maiz now, just in time :) It's too bad it seems to have drifted to near-oblivion, but it was worth getting to know anyways. Thank you linebyline, again!
And now it's first of August, so @Lenny the floor is yours!
Post by: dmeck7755 on August 02, 2023, 11:18:16 AM
Post by: Linebyline on August 02, 2023, 12:22:59 PM
I have a really great Webtoon that finished recently that I'd like to plug! (Not the one I mentioned in the other thread, a different one. Different genre, too!) If someone else would like to be backup that'd be cool, but I'd like to try and do it next month <:
Wouldn't hurt to have a backup ready, since I'm fresh out at the moment. I don't think anyone's claimed September yet.
Here's all I know of that's not on the front page already:
June - Keep Looking - Sleepless Domain by Mary "Cube Watermelon" Cagle - https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/
July - Linebyline - MAiZ by David "CrikeyDave" Smith - https://maizcomic.com/
August - Lenny - [TBA]
Post by: Jitter on August 02, 2023, 02:36:17 PM
Dmeck, would you like to do September?
Post by: dmeck7755 on August 02, 2023, 03:02:30 PM
Oopsie, sorry! Updated the opening post, thanks for getting everything ready for me Linebyline!
Dmeck, would you like to do September?
Sure!!
Post by: Linebyline on August 06, 2023, 08:45:05 PM
I have no idea how to fact-check something like this, but given that Dave is a self-described "pervert" and that the drawbacks of going public with this kind of story (true or not) would seem to outweigh the benefits of making it up, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
@Jitter, I'll leave it up to your discretion whether MAiZ should stay on the list. For my part, I'm not comfortable recommending it anymore.
Post by: Jitter on August 07, 2023, 10:55:30 AM
Linebyline, that is a good question. On the one hand it is possible and allowable to appreciate a work without appreciating the author. On the other, with webcomics new readership is directly more income (although usually very very small income) to the author, so it’s more concrete support than getting ”Ender’s Game” from the library or used books shop.
I don’t feel like saying we cannot have a work by a controversial author recommended here. However, I definitely don’t feel like saying YOU have to keep the recommendation now that you have said you are uncomfortable with it.
Possible options on how to deal with this include
- removing the recommendation completely, in which case I’ll take it off the list in opening post as well
- editing the recommendation by putting the recommendation itself into spoiler, and adding that link and your comment that you don’t want to endorse this anymore but here’s the info if someone is interested. In this case I’ll take the link to the comic off the opening list and advise to check out your post firat.
- leaving everything as is, which I understand you are not happy with and I’m certainly not insisting you should, but it could be possible as you made the recommendation in good faith.
Anyone else have any further comments?
Post by: Linebyline on August 07, 2023, 07:34:42 PM
Also, this is really awkward and I feel like I'm stepping on Lenny's rec time.
Post by: Keep Looking on August 07, 2023, 09:23:03 PM
I've removed MAiz from the comic of the month news feature since it's August anyway.
Post by: Jitter on August 08, 2023, 04:11:36 AM
As for Lenny, it seems something has come up. I hope it’s a lot of positive things!
I promised to be the backup so unless something turns up today I will make a recommendation and Lenny can go later.
Post by: Linebyline on August 08, 2023, 07:16:16 PM
Post by: Jitter on August 09, 2023, 04:13:22 PM
War in the Shade by unnamed artist, possibly someone named toastyhat
https://warintheshade.wordpress.com/
The site seems to be about to disintegrate, so it’s high time for me to recommend it and for you to read it before it’s gone! The links in Archive don’t work, but the homepage has a message from artist page, and the “previouS” and ”first” buttons work. So press first and read!
As described in the About section:
War in the Shade is a fantasy drama webcomic about people having emotions in the desert. It’s also about Ada Feldon, who accepts a marriage proposal from a man she barely knows. But it seems that maybe his business is shadier than either she or her new bodyguard had guessed… Meanwhile, police Constable Chazei Di’s big gay crush on her sergeant gets her wrapped up in an investigation beyond her paygrade. Freehanded in pen on 7″x9″ paper.
WARNINGS: WitS is, generally-speaking, a PG-13 comic, but has themes of emotional manipulation/abuse that sometimes becomes physical, particularly at the end of Chapter 6.
What’s so wonderful about it then? It has people having feelings, as promised. It’s touching and believable, and features growth arcs for several of the characters. And importantly, not everyone is heterosexual!
I wasn’t a fan of the penned BW art when I started, hut it quickly grew on me and it’s actually rather beautiful. Not all people are pretty, which again is believable :)
WitS is finished. I wanted to say it’s under 300 pages, but counting in the archive (which opens, just doesn’t work) it’s actually a bit over 500. Maybe the pages are shorter because it never felt like it’s that long. Be that as it may, it’s well worth the time spent reading.
After finishing the story the author las left comments about a planned write-up on some things related to the story and the world, but as far as I can tell, this never happened. But worry not, the story reaches its proper conclusion so the essay would simply have been a bonus.
Post by: Keep Looking on August 10, 2023, 08:21:56 AM
Post by: Linebyline on August 12, 2023, 12:27:49 PM
Quote
Justice for the innocent. Punishment for the wrongdoer.
Well that's not ominous.
Post by: Jitter on August 12, 2023, 01:22:52 PM
Post by: dmeck7755 on August 16, 2023, 08:35:06 AM
Initially it took a while for me to realize that Ada was very speckled.
The fan art in chapter breaks is great also.
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on August 16, 2023, 02:32:46 PM
Spoiler: show
Post by: Róisín on August 16, 2023, 09:18:19 PM
Spoiler: show
Spoiler tags added by Jitter as this references something later in the comic
This is your friendly moderator at work! Always thinking about what’s probably best for you :reynir:
Post by: Linebyline on August 16, 2023, 10:09:22 PM
Edit: Having now finished chapter 6, suffice to say, uh-oh.
Post by: Jitter on August 18, 2023, 08:54:31 AM
Spoiler: show
In the other hand I did remember Chazei is fun, but not what an absolute lovable idiot she is! Both of them are! ”I do what I like”, as you should girl.
(End chapter 5 at this poimt of my reread)
Post by: Jitter on August 18, 2023, 09:32:13 AM
Spoiler: show
Post by: Keep Looking on August 24, 2023, 07:24:03 AM
Post by: Linebyline on August 30, 2023, 09:26:15 PM
Very good expressions in this comic.
"No time for sad boy feelings" (https://warintheshade.wordpress.com/comic/ch8-56-60/)
Some great lines, too.
Aaaaaaaah!?? (https://warintheshade.wordpress.com/comic/ch9-31-35/)
(Links to pages in chapters 7, 8, and 9, respectively, for the spoiler-averse)
Edit: And done! That was a good read. Thanks again for the great recommendation, Jitter!
By the way, am I the only one who thought
Spoiler: "Ch 6 I think?" • show
Post by: Jitter on August 31, 2023, 05:52:04 PM
How can it be September already? Why? What happen?
Post by: dmeck7755 on September 01, 2023, 09:01:07 AM
Post by: dmeck7755 on September 01, 2023, 11:08:17 AM
"The plan currently is to get about a 100 pages done before I start uploading and I've done 40 pages worth of buffer to this date. ^^ Can't predict a schedule for it, but that's the plan I'm sticking to"
Post by: dmeck7755 on September 01, 2023, 02:11:24 PM
The comic I'm presenting this month is called How to be a Werewolf. This comic has been going since 2015.
It is written by Shawn Lenore. It is a hiveworks comic.
The link to the first page is https://www.howtobeawerewolf.com/comic/coming-february-3rd
About page:
https://www.howtobeawerewolf.com/about
I am going to cheat and take the some of the FAQ's right from the webpage:
Quick FAQ:
Since being bitten by a strange wolf as a child, Malaya Walters has attempted to live a quiet life…hopefully a life free of attempting to eat her family or the customers at her family’s coffee shop. Being the only werewolf she’s ever known, Malaya has managed her condition by keeping tight control on herself and the world around her, with lackluster results. That is, until a strange guy wanders into her shop one day and introduces her to a whole world she never knew existed…
What age range is this comic appropriate for?: Well, there’s cursing in it? Sex-related stuff is very tame, and for a werewolf story, the violence is pretty light. There are some themes of emotional abuse that are pretty strong and might upset some people.
Is Malaya ever going to hook up with [insert character here]?: Nope! My game plan is to keep Mal unattached. You’re welcome to imagine her with whoever, but the story I’ve always wanted to read was one featuring a female protagonist who just exists. She’s figuring out her life and her problems and her fears while growing into a stronger, better person. That’ll remain my focus :).
Things I like:
This is a story about finding yourself, about the value of friendship. The characters are engaging, and the art is nice. Plus it updates 2x a week.
NOTE: It is on hiatus until end of October-ish
Things I don't like:
Like most webcomics, the story can take a while
Art:
It is pleasant to me. They do people really well.
Sex/Relationships/Nudity:
Familial type of relationships, no sex, no nudity Rarely mentioned. There are same-sex relationships
Spoiler: show
Violence:
Yes, not hard core, but there is blood. Tinge of horror maybe..
Spoiler: show
Consistency:
Mostly consistent updates Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There are updates if something happens, you will know. Chapter 12 just finished, and they are on hiatus until October.
Post by: Linebyline on September 01, 2023, 11:12:22 PM
One thing you <em>won't</em> find in How to Be a Werewolf, in my opinion, are villains you love to hate. There's not a Mr. Luxuria, a "Halea," a Tadio, or even a Goops. Maybe they're just too real for that. They don't chew the scenery. They are just awful people; fantasy versions of people many of you have probably had the displeasure of knowing. Every scene they're in is just uncomfortable. Even that floaty guy, as over the top as he can be, still isn't a fun villain. I don't want to root for him to get his comeuppance; I just want him to go away and stop hurting my precious main characters! Gwendolyn from Daughter of the Lilies is much the same kind of villain as HTBaW's two main baddies, but Syverud gives her a stage presence that Lenore seems to deliberately avoid giving to her abusive dirtbags.
That's not a critique, to be clear. HTBaW is doing something different with its villains. I dig it, but I don't read those scenes for fun.
Speaking of DotL, it's currently back on hiatus, with very tentative plans to resume in the next few days (https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/chapter-11-return-date). Phantomarine just took an month off. (https://www.phantomarine.com/comic/emergency-hiatus) Vainglorious and Suihira also remain on hiatus, as does Rising Sand (https://risingsand.glass/comic/pl3as3-stand-by/). Edit: Vainglorious is tentatively looking at returning in November. (https://www.vaingloriouscomic.com/comic/chapter-12-27#comment-6273270222)
Post by: Keep Looking on September 02, 2023, 05:41:43 AM
Post by: Róisín on September 02, 2023, 06:38:31 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on September 02, 2023, 08:47:16 AM
It is good. I don’t follow it myself but Star does and he has occasionally shown me scenes from it. Don’t have much time for reading a lot these days, madly busy, but Star being mostly bed-bound at present has far too much time for reading. It keeps him from going spla with boredom.
Sounds about right. My Nana has advanced Parkinson's disease (onset started in her 40s and she's in her mid 70s now) so her motor function is very limited and over the last few years she's also lost vision. We're very thankful for the invention of audiobooks! She listens to a lot of audiobooks that keep her from going mad with boredom, and also late-night BBC world service on the radio when she can't sleep. It does mean that she often has interesting things to discuss with me from what she's listened to (I see her very often as her and my grandad live on the same property as my parents and I so we're able to help out and step in if things go south, which they certainly have at times).
(also, this is my 1000th post! i've been watching the post count tick up and was considering making a special post for it but honestly i'm fine with an ordinary reply)
Post by: Róisín on September 04, 2023, 01:14:32 PM
And yeah, it can be very rough having a functional mind in a not-very-functional body. We cope, and it helps that we would spend hours at a time talking about anything and everything even before he became damaged enough to be stuck in bed. Ironically, Star is a lot younger than I am, and I always hoped he would long outlive me, what with me being not only older but the one with the more hazardous lifestyle, but life is as it is, and all you can really do is live with it. Fortunately, he is well worth the trouble.
I hope your Gran continues to have as good a life as is possible for her. Parkinson’s disease is nasty.
Post by: dmeck7755 on September 21, 2023, 10:48:06 AM
Post by: Linebyline on September 21, 2023, 06:47:38 PM
*Unusual among things I have read and remember, at least. I'm not terribly well-read.
Post by: Keep Looking on September 23, 2023, 08:14:49 AM
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!
Post by: Jitter on October 03, 2023, 03:44:25 PM
Post by: Keep Looking on October 08, 2023, 08:11:18 AM
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
Post by: Jitter on October 08, 2023, 11:14:44 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on October 09, 2023, 03:00:31 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on October 09, 2023, 03:18:37 AM
So the comic of the month I am featuring for October is:
Castoff
By Star Prichard
First Page (https://castoff-comic.com/comic/1)
Latest Update (https://castoff-comic.com/)
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.
Post by: Linebyline on October 18, 2023, 08:20:50 PM
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. :')
Post by: Jitter on October 19, 2023, 08:44:52 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on October 19, 2023, 09:10:51 AM
Post by: Jitter on October 19, 2023, 02:11:22 PM
Post by: Linebyline on October 20, 2023, 09:32:02 AM
Post by: Jitter on October 20, 2023, 11:49:48 AM
Post by: Jitter on October 20, 2023, 05:50:21 PM
Post by: Linebyline on November 02, 2023, 10:11:58 PM
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
Anyway, who's got November?
Post by: Keep Looking on November 03, 2023, 01:29:16 AM
Spoiler: show
Post by: Jitter on November 03, 2023, 08:26:22 AM
Post by: Linebyline on November 03, 2023, 05:01:20 PM
And yeah, Keep Looking, I think you and I are pretty much on the same page.
Spoiler: "irrelevant tangent" • show
Edit: Vector origin story incoming! (http://castoff-comic.com/comic/733) This is not a drill! (Also, back at HTBAW, a strongly implied pun (https://www.howtobeawerewolf.com/comic/its-halloween-and-this-is-a-comic-about-werewolves-synergy).)
Post by: Jitter on November 05, 2023, 11:44:53 AM
https://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=0
Chirault is a finshed graphic novel which run from 2007 to early 2018. Seems like I always recommend finished works! It has both good and bad sides. Good obviously that we know it will reach its destination, but it's sad that we miss the opportunity to watch the work grow. Obviously the story comes off differently read as a whole or one page at a time.
Plus it's sometimes sad to see the memory of the community, when a nice one used to be present. This is the case for the latter (about) half of Chirault. In the early years the comment section is more or less empty, but towards the end there is some discussion. I strongly recommend these, because the author participates a lot and answers questions, offering many clarifications. There are also lot of links to previous pages related to the point at hand, so it really is useful for understanding what is going on at some points. And I would have loved to join the speculation bandwagon, and there were numerous comments I wanted to reply to. But it doesn't make much sense to reply to discussions from 8 years ago, so no.
Anyways, Chirault is wonderful! I found it linked by Castoff, and was mesmerized by it! I read the around 1300 pages over a few days. It's high fantasy, with demons and demon hunters (in certain cases, the same person), mages, tree spirits with extremely cool design, the world in mortal peril, etc etc. The short synopsis from the about pages says:
The world is not a peaceful place. A young half-demon named Teeko has been forced from her home, and to make matters worse, is now the size of a squirrel thanks to a wayward magic spell. Her only protection is the demon-hunter Kiran, who is a demon himself and lacks patience for children. Together, they must seek the help of a mage to reverse the spell on Teeko...
...But the Mage Guild has problems of their own; they've created an enchanted orb with the power to destroy cities and must find a way to control or dismantle it, before it's too late.
The art is near-grayscale in traditional ink and markers. I say near-grayscale, because there are many pages with very subtle shading with just a hint of tone in some of the markers used. Chapter covers plus a mini-story set in the middle of the main story are in colour, along with a few special pages.
What I love about it?
* The characters. There are such great character arcs and believable character development. Characters and their motivations are not black and white, and just like in life it's not very clear who is on the same side, let alone who are the "good" or the "bad" guys. Also side characters and even fairly minor ones get shades and backstories. Very well done.
* The world. The world is fascinating and the world building well done. A lot remains mysterious, but enough information is given to understand what is going on. Perhaps not all the time, but eventually :)
* The developing art. The art is ok in the beginning, but obviously develops so much over the 10+ years of the comic's run. Very interesting to see!
What I like less?
* On its own website some of the pages are a little hard to read at least on my iPad. I assume more so on a phone. There were some mentions that on Webtoon there are higher resolution pages, but I haven't looked. This was a problem for only a few pages though.
* At certain points it gets a bit overly complicated. Reading the comments may help, as Varethane sometimes clarifies how things are related. On the other hand it's great to see the mystery unfolding, but at some points it was a bit frustrating. Definitely wort barreling through, however!
Content warnings
There are some under the cut. Openly I feel like I must mention body horror.
Spoiler: show
There is no nudity, sexual innuendo, foul language or substance abuse.
Note: Almost all pages have alt-text, which according to the comments is oftehn hilarious. I didn't see it on my iPad, I wonder if I need to re-read on my computer just for it :)
Post by: Jitter on November 05, 2023, 11:49:25 AM
Post by: Linebyline on November 06, 2023, 10:18:42 PM
Chirault, huh? And of course it's from Castoff's Spiderforest plugs. I thought the name rang a bell! Usually the demons thing is a turnoff for me, which must be why I didn't add it to my to-read list when I ran across the plug. But from your description, it sounds like it's worth a second look! Thanks for the rec!
Post by: Jitter on November 07, 2023, 09:04:57 AM
Post by: Linebyline on November 07, 2023, 05:44:32 PM
Wait, "Scarf boy wuz here"? This comic has been on me old to-read list (before I switched browsers) for so long I just about forgot about it!
Time to dig in!
Post by: Keep Looking on November 07, 2023, 11:15:52 PM
Post by: Jitter on November 08, 2023, 03:31:23 PM
Post by: Keep Looking on November 12, 2023, 02:17:05 AM
Post by: Jitter on November 12, 2023, 02:27:11 PM
Spoiler: show
I love the world of Chirault! Good worldbuilding is a delight. Takes me back to my childhood when I delighted in Science Fiction, much of was mostly about world building then. I mean characters? What characters? There are some placeholders for people who do things to show more of my “wouldn’t it be cool to…” world!
I don’t mean Chirault! It has world building, characters and plot! But many of the old SF stuff doesn’t spark joy, if I try getting back to it… So it’s great to be able to find new strange new worlds in comics!
Post by: Linebyline on November 14, 2023, 10:19:12 PM
Spoiler: show
Okay, that's worth a chuckle.
I'm enjoying this so far. I have some minor complaints, sure, but the characters are great!
The main threat is fascinating. Kind of reminds me of the moon fingerprint from Gunnerkrigg Court (which I kinda fell out of reading and never got back to).
Post by: Jitter on November 15, 2023, 03:50:38 PM
Post by: Jitter on November 24, 2023, 09:02:10 AM
Riana posted an announcement on Suihira! She’s unable to return to updating, hut at least she’s still around. Suihira is not dead, but the indefinite hiatus continues due to personal stuff.
Tiger Tiger was on a surprise break, but is now back and right in the middle of godly shenanigans.
White noise is at end of Arc 1. There will be an Arc 2, but we don’t know when it will start. Currently Thepooka is posting character Q&As so there is still some content ongping.
Freefall is updating regularly as always. I’m finding the current scene as well as the previous one interesting discussion on artificial intelligence (as in autonomous beings, not our current language model stuff). It was a bit boring for a while earlier, but I’m now glad I didn’t drop it.
Barbarous is currently updating on johnnywander! They went silent for a bit but are now back.
Phantomarine is updating normally, as are Harpy Gee and Castoff. Widdershins is somewhat erratic, it misses one week every now and then, but is still running. It’s in the final book so will be ending after the current arc.
Shaderunners has been silent for almost a year now, and Blonde Sunrise appears dead too. Badspace hasn’t posted any new ones for a few months, but it doesn’t have a fixed update schedule anyways so that doesn’t need to mean anything.
Gifts of Wandering Ice seems ro be ongoing as nor,al, but it got so weird I’m off it for a while at least.
Who wants to take December?
Post by: Jitter on November 30, 2023, 10:09:24 AM
Post by: Linebyline on November 30, 2023, 07:45:26 PM
Post by: Jitter on December 01, 2023, 09:36:51 AM
I didn’t have to read Daughter of the Lilies when it was CotM but I’m at it now. Interesting!
Post by: Linebyline on December 01, 2023, 07:47:58 PM
I haven't been especially shy about Webtoon not being my preferred way to read comics, but I'll put up with it when the work is good. And Emmy the Robot (https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/emmy-the-robot/list?title_no=402201) by Dominic Cellini (First Page (https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/emmy-the-robot/greetings-/viewer?title_no=402201&episode_no=12)) is good.
The eponymous Emmy is one of a line of mass-produced maid/nanny robots ("Nandroids"), each given a name and a unique hairstyle like a Cabbage Patch doll, but looking more like a china doll. She starts off receiving her "programming" in a classroom setting, where she's told about how she's superior to the dangerous "outmodes" that her line renders obsolete, and how her superior engineering makes it impossible for her software to contain an error. (I wouldn't describe this as an overtly political work, as the politics is there to serve the story rather than vice versa, but neither would I call it subtle.)
I don't think it counts as a spoiler to say that eventually, Emmy gets a firmware update that doesn't agree with her. You saw that coming, right? Burdened with the expectation of perfection, she of course hides this until she makes—gasp!—a mistake. The company "temporarily" repossessing her for "diagnostics and repairs" leads to her getting lost, damaged, and introduced to a new cast of much more colorful characters than she's used to (literally and figuratively).
As of now, the comic is up to page/chapter/whatever (sigh...Webtoon) #137 (https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/emmy-the-robot/new-robot-old-tricks-2/viewer?title_no=402201&episode_no=154). Updates are a little unsteady, but the goal seems to be weekly updates.
It's a comedy, overall, but it has plenty of plot to go around. It starts with gag strips, but it's not long before you notice that they're being used to sneak in bits of world- and character-building. It's not much longer before you can't really call it sneaking anymore. Admittedly, it takes the plot a little while to get rolling, and once it does, the story frequently falls back into this mode. I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea, especially if you prefer the tight pacing of some of the other COTMs. But if you're willing to relax and enjoy the ride, you will be rewarded. There is very much a real story being told here, with mysteries, stakes, status quo changes, and real peril.
The art style is charming, but it's not the comfy-cozy kind of charming that I usually pitch. It's a very clean, often angular style. It gives me Cartoon Network or perhaps latter-day Nicktoon vibes with its often angular designs, but it doesn't come off as cheap or rushed in the way those designs often do. I'll level with you: Some characters do have those perfect-circle eyes, and there are some less appealing designs in general, but more often than not, the characters are a treat to look at.
I just noticed something as I was writing this: There's one character who (like most of the recent additions to the cast) was introduced as a foil to Emmy, and his huge, hunched shoulders and slender lower body give him a silhouette that looks almost exactly like that of Emmy's maid uniform, but upside-down.
It's the little things that impress me.
Content warnings? I can't think of much. Thus far there's virtually no actual violence, though there is some mild peril and people do get hurt on occasion. There's simulated non-lethal violence in an early strip ("My fragile human eyes!"). There's a minor injury that I think does draw blood, though I haven't done a full reread yet so I won't swear to that. Okay, there's some dismemberment, too, but that character is a robot and anyway she did eventually get another arm. It's fine. Ratings-wise, it's probably somewhere between ESRB E10+ and TV-Y7. I don't have kids, but I'd have no qualms about them reading this if I did. (I'd also let my kids read Animorphs, so maybe I'm not the best judge, but c'mon. Pixie and Brutus has more violence than this comic.)
I may or may not get around to posting my usual art sample collage. I've temporarily lost access to my Web host and I'm not sure how much I want to count on my Mastodon account for this.
Post by: Keep Looking on December 01, 2023, 10:28:38 PM
Post by: Linebyline on December 09, 2023, 10:58:11 PM
The work to be presented as Comic of the Month
- has to be accessible online for free
Well this just got awkward. (https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/emmy-the-robot/thugs-dont-cry-patreon-preview/viewer?title_no=402201&episode_no=156)
Quote
This is a free preview of a longer comic that is only on my Patreon. For just a dollar, you can access this as all the extra art and exclusive comics going back since 2020!
Please see my social media for a recent announcement regarding changes to Webtoon Canvas creator support and why I'm advertising my Patreon here. There will continue to be free episodes of Emmy updated here.
What's that mean? Best-case scenario, this partial page (and the previous page) are basically an ad for a Patreon-exclusive side comic. Worst case, the plot is moving to Patreon and the "free episodes" are the side comics.
So I pulled on my hazmat suit and checked out his Instagram. (I know, I know, "Meta" sucks, but it's that or the smoldering, fascist-infested remains of Twitter.) His explanation over there seems a little clearer. If I'm understanding it correctly, while the current page may be part of a Patreon-exclusive side comic, the comic overall will still be on Webtoon, just with a three- or four-week delay after pages hit Patreon first. Which I further assume means we can expect a three- or four-week hiatus. Sorry about that.
Here's the full announcement (I think):
Quote
Hey there, Emmy the Robot community,
I wanted to take a moment to address some recent concerns about the comic's update on Webtoon today. I'm truly sorry for any confusion or frustration this might have caused. I had hoped to make a more formal announcement about upcoming changes earlier, but I've been sick for the past few weeks.
Over the years, I've been fortunate to collaborate with Webtoon through their Canvas creator programs, alongside other terrific creators. This financial support has allowed me to dedicate over 30 hours per week to writing and illustrating Emmy's journey.
Regrettably, these programs were discontinued by Webtoon this fall. As challenging as it is, I can't sustain Emmy the Robot as a regularly updated webcomic without financial support. Therefore, I have no choice but to prioritize my Patreon or other subscriptions in order to allow the comic to continue.
Let me clarify— the story will still be updated in Webtoon and Instagram; however, new episodes will now premiere on Patreon 3-4 weeks prior, and some comics will remain exclusive to Patreon only. Patreon membership minimum will be $1/month until January 31st, after which the minimum will be $2 and the tiers will be updated with new rewards and more exclusive content. For those who sign up before January 31st, the tier will remain $1 with the same access!
But here's some exciting news I've been eager to share— I'm in the process of turning the comic into a print version, something many of you have been asking for. I'm working diligently to bring Emmy's story to life in book form!
I understand this change might be unexpected and possibly disappointing. I truly value each and every one of you who have been part of Emmy's adventure. Your support has been the backbone of this journey, and I hope you'll continue to join me on this path, whether on Webtoon, through Patreon, or in the pages of the upcoming book version. I'm incredibly grateful for your understanding and patience during this transition.
Your support, your presence, it's what keeps the stories alive. Thank you for being an integral part of this incredible ride.
—Dominic.
(Apologies for any errors in that quotation. It was posted as an image, which I had to transcribe manually rather than copy-pasting. No, I don't know what OCR is, why do you ask?)
Post by: Jitter on December 10, 2023, 09:10:59 AM
Post by: JoB on December 11, 2023, 04:49:12 AM
No, I don't know what OCR is, why do you ask?Obsessive Copy-typing Refusal. ;D
Spoiler: show
Post by: Linebyline on December 11, 2023, 09:08:36 PM
Getting back around to the comic, though, something stuck out at me on re-reading.
Spoiler: show
Post by: Keep Looking on January 03, 2024, 04:06:13 AM
Post by: Jitter on January 03, 2024, 10:35:03 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on January 04, 2024, 04:54:58 AM
My comic of the month for January is Broken (https://broken.spiderforest.com/comic/1) by Kristina Caruso
The celebrated general of a genocidal empire in the middle of a zombie-type apocalypse flees his post after discovering that his "construct" - a corrupted corpse controlled by soldiers to fight against hordes of corrupted monsters - has regained sentience. What follows is the journey of a guilt-ridden ex-general and the psychic zombie child he's semi-adopted as they try and find safety in an apocalyptic wasteland and uncover the secrets their empire has hidden from them.
Things I really like about this comic: The two lead characters have a great dynamic and there were several moments which hit me very hard in the emotions. The story is compelling and the worldbuilding is very well done. It's one of the few webcomics that genuinely does make me cry. It also explores PTSD, guilt and the complexities of war, including the ways in which someone can be both a victim and a perpetrator at the same time.
Warnings for: flashing lights (many of the panels are animated), body horror (less graphic than SSSS but still fairly intense), blood, fantasy warfare and genocide, depictions of PTSD and also scenes that made me cry a lot.
Broken is still updating, but the pages get published in bundles every few months - the last update bundle was in late October, and the one before that was in August. As such it's not the kind of comic you can check on a weekly schedule, but in my opinion it's still very much worth keeping up with!
Post by: Jitter on February 02, 2024, 04:40:06 AM
I have a couple of titles to recommend but they are not suitable to be the comic of the month, so I’ll put them in the webcomics discussion thread instead.
Post by: Keep Looking on February 06, 2024, 07:50:56 AM
Post by: Linebyline on February 06, 2024, 05:57:23 PM
Post by: Keep Looking on February 07, 2024, 06:00:32 AM
Post by: Jitter on February 07, 2024, 06:16:23 PM
Post by: Linebyline on February 07, 2024, 06:31:21 PM
Okay, y'all liked Sleepless Domain, right? Well what if I told you that its writer, artist, and sometimes colorist Mary "Cube Watermelon" Cagle used to work in Japan as an English as a Second Language teacher? You'd probably say something like, "You're just stalling to try to think of a comic, aren't you?"
But no! Cagle documented her time in Japan in Let's Speak English[url=http://, a black-and-white, autobiographical gag strip that ran from 2013 to 2016 and [url=https://hivemill.com/collections/mary-cagle/products/lets-speak-english]is available in print form from the Hivemill store], a black-and-white, autobiographical gag strip that ran from 2013 to 2016 and [url=https://hivemill.com/collections/mary-cagle/products/lets-speak-english]is available in print form from the Hivemill store (https://www.marycagle.com/letsspeakenglish/prologue-1-off-we-go).
I still don't have access to the place where I normally post the art excerpts, so here's a representative page instead:
Spoiler: #14 • show
(Spoilered for space; there is no ongoing plot so there's nothing to actually spoil.)
The humor mostly derives from Cagle's fish-out-of-water experiences as an American in Japan, and from her grade school students being adorable, unpredictable goofballs. Your mileage may vary, but I found it to be very charming and cute.
Spoiler: kind of dark tangent having nothing to do with the comic • show
As the content warnings go, there's very little to worry about. Some of the humor is very mildly scatological (foreign toilets are weird) or suggestive (grade school kids know what boobs are) and there are recurring references to a local mascot character that sensitive viewers might find mildly off-putting and/or existentially horrifying. You'd want to read it first before sharing it with young kids, but you wouldn't be embarrassed if your grandma caught you reading it.
P.S. Cagle's other other comic, Kiwi Blitz, is also worth your time, but it's on hiatus until Sleepless Domain wraps up.
Post by: Keep Looking on February 08, 2024, 06:40:39 AM
I hadn't heard of the hiatused Kiwi Blitz though, I'll have to check it out!
Post by: Linebyline on February 11, 2024, 11:14:19 AM
Spoiler: show
Side note: Emmy is updating again. Yesterday's update came with this explanation:
Quote
Hey everyone, in case you were wondering why I took a break from updating the comic here for a while, please check my instagram and twitter to see where I explained the current situation.
But I wanted to let my readers on here know that the comic's story will still be updated here and instagram after Patreon, which will also have more exclusive comics! I'm sorry for any confusion!
Post by: Keep Looking on March 02, 2024, 12:12:00 AM
Post by: Jitter on March 03, 2024, 06:49:50 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on March 03, 2024, 11:44:57 PM
The Witch Door (https://www.thewitchdoor.com/comic/prologue-page-1)
By Anni K
After burned-out nurse Katariina is forced to take leave from her job due to bullying by her coworkers, she accidentally befriends her neighbour Jousia. Jousia is a witch who can speak to the dead, and visit other witches through the "witch door" in his apartment. As Katariina meets Jousia's friends and clients she gradually forges new connections and gains more confidence in herself. However, greater schemes are afoot in witch society that threaten the magical library of Lintukoto and its keepers, and soon Jousia finds himself becoming involved.
The Witch Door is a story about friendship, human connections and modern magic. While there's a broader overarching plot, many chapters are slice-of-life focusing on one of Jousia's friends or clients and Katariina's involvement with them. The cast is diverse and interesting and in general it's an enjoyable and heartwarming webcomic.
The Witch Door currently updates every Wednesday.
Content warnings: workplace bullying and biphobia, mentions of sex (one of Jousia's clients is a sex worker), minor character death and general dealings with death and grief due to Jousia's powers.
Post by: Jitter on March 04, 2024, 06:34:57 AM
Post by: Keep Looking on March 04, 2024, 07:05:06 AM
Post by: Jitter on April 04, 2024, 04:31:16 PM
Any takers for April?
Post by: Jitter on April 10, 2024, 03:34:55 PM
My comic for April is Root and Branch by artist Pink.
Note! NSFW! See content description below.
Root and Branch follows Arianna,an elven druid in search of an ancient power to save her homeland. During her journey she finds ruins and other remains from elves long gone, but the lands are now inhabited by humans. Arianna is endlessly fascinated by the ways of humans, so often incomprehensible to her.
From the human point of view Arianna is in many ways naive to a fault, sometimes in a charming but sometimes infuriating way. She finds companions who help her along, but sometimes the patience of the companions is also getting tested. A lot. But when Arianna gets angry, which may happen if some bad people are bad to good people, the perpetrators don’t live to tell the tale. She’s delicate but not weak.
I like the fairytale feeling of it all, and I enjoy the watercolor(like) art, although the ears of the elves look like they would look disturbing if they were actual people and not art. Sometimes the story takes weird turns, as in something is just left in an unsatisfying (to me) manner, but on the other hand it also serves to illustrate how the elves are not human and don’t always think like humans.
It’s currently updating approximately weekly, but Pink has recently had a baby so it’s possible there may be some pauses. But there are almost 900 pages now, so a lot to go before updates become an issue.
Content description: The comic has several occasions of full frontal nudity in non- sexual context (elf maiden lounges in moonlight in the nudd). There is also so far one sex scene, which is not graphic but is the centerpiece of the page and there is no uncertainty about what is going on. Some scenes are quite violent and there is blood and occasionally serious injuries and death. It’s not violent as a whole, but it’s there. And there are some occasions where mushrooms are used for purposes that are not recommended to be tried at home.
https://www.rootandbranchcomic.com/comic/root-branch-a-journey/
Post by: Keep Looking on April 12, 2024, 07:44:53 AM
Post by: Jitter on May 05, 2024, 10:10:44 AM
Post by: Linebyline on May 05, 2024, 12:11:15 PM
I don't think I have any pitches ready to go, but I'll double check. If not, I'm sure I can come up with something, but the writeup may take a little while.
Meanwhile, Rising Sand is updating again. Vainglorious and Phantomarine are going strong. Suihira's still on indefinite mental-health hiatus. Widdershins is too, as of January.
EDIT: Okay, that didn't take as long as I thought.
Inner Space is a completed comic by Renee LeCompte. The homepage is the cover; click through to see the first page. (https://innerspace.reneelecompte.com/)
Our heroine is Mag, a wingless gryphon-like creature with a lot of fear and not a lot of patience. In her defense, she just woke up with amnesia in an environment filled with danger. She's probably handling it better than I would. But she spends a lot of time in the gray area between terrified and exasperated.
Well, really, all the areas are gray. The comic is pencil-shaded. It's quite lovely in my opinion, even if it could stand a little digital post-processing to improve the contrast. Also, it's kind of an old comic, so you might want to zoom in to read it comfortably at modern screen resolutions. (120% is nice and comfy on my 1080p laptop screen.) But the characters' faces and body language are clear and expressive. Environments vary widely from whimisical to perilous, to whimsical and perilous, to cozy, to oppressive. You may run into the occasional action scene that's difficult to parse, or lettering that's too small and blurry and gray to read comfortably, but if you can get past that, your eyes are in for a treat.
I still don't have a good place to post excerpts, but here are a few representative pages: 25 (https://innerspace.reneelecompte.com/025.html), 179 (https://innerspace.reneelecompte.com/179.html), 95 (https://innerspace.reneelecompte.com/095.html), 15 (https://innerspace.reneelecompte.com/015.html).
The story follows Mag as she tries to piece together who she is, where she is, and how she got into this mess. And also not die. Helping (and/or "helping") her is the adorable and only slightly obnoxious Id, a hyper little kid who knows her way aroud (somewhat; more than Mag does, at any rate) and has all the confidence Mag lacks, while lacking most of the self-preservation instinct that Mag has.
This has all the makings of a fantasy road-trip buddy comedy, and that is a big part of teh story. But be warned, it also goes to some dark places. This is ultimately a story about Mag's mental health. The worst of it is, as we learn fairly late:
Spoiler: show
There are scenes of peril that won't faze SSSS readers, but definitely read it through once before handing it to the youg'uns. There's no gore, but I hesitate to say there's no violence given the amount of time Mag and Id spend getting chased by monsters. At least one character gets swallowed whole. There's a case of significant head trauma toward the end, though we don't see anything graphic. No sex or nudity. Well, okay, there's pretty much constant nudity, but it's the no-pants-funny-animal kind, so probably considered SFW in most jurisdictions.
Post by: Jitter on May 05, 2024, 03:13:12 PM
Post by: lwise on May 05, 2024, 07:07:05 PM