Comic of the Month

[dmeck7755]

Thank you.  I like Harpy Gee.  It is snarky enough to be funny, but not so much to be annoying...

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..)

[Linebyline]

I read Humphrey as being a combination of Emil with some Lalli thrown in. He comes from money and is extremely stuck up at first, and (at the risk of mild spoilers) his childhood got unpleasant despite having the trappings of luxury. Then again Emil had a much better relationship with some of his family than Humphrey. Like Lalli, Humphrey starts out standoffish and convinced that he doesn't particularly need friends, though his motivations for thinking that are rather different.

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.

[Turnstylus]

Begging pardon, but was there going to be a separate thread for the ongoing discussion of the Bad Space comics? It's very possible I didn't see it. Some major family events have kept me from keeping pace with all of you, so I'm catching up!

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!

[Jitter]

Turnstylus, yes, there was supposed to be! I failed to create it when I said I would, and then I forgot! I’ll try to set it up soon!

And yes, the contrast is striking!

[Linebyline]

Well that was fun! Thanks to everyone who gave Harpy Gee a look! Humph and Opal are cute on yesterday's pages.

But now it's May. Thegreyarea, you're up next, right?

[thegreyarea]

Ok, my turn...

I didn't have much time to prepare this, but here it goes

I'm suggesting 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! 

[Linebyline]

This was on my to-read list! I saw art for it on one of the creators' Mastodon accounts and it looked pretty cool. Guess I'm starting it now. Thanks for sharing!

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

Oh dang they're related.

[Keep Looking]

Oh wow, this comic looks really cool! I've never heard of it before so I'm looking forwards to reading it!

(I'm also happy to take next month's comic of the month slot unless someone else has already grabbed it)

[Linebyline]

Just finished Act One and, um, yikes!

Spoiler: show

Did...Did we just lose two of our main characters!?

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!

[thegreyarea]

I'm very glad that you're enjoying it, Linebyline! I've been doing the same, but at a slower pace (due to RL...) So I'm still in the middle of act 1, but deligthed with the reread. It looks even better on this second run, with all the detail the authors put in their drawings and in the worldbuilding.

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... 

[Keep Looking]

I found all the different groups and belief systems in the story fascinating. Especially with the Sylphs: how have things come about that the world they live in is so inhospitable to them now? But also the glass-collecting people. There's lots of worldbuilding aspects I'm really curious about, and we've barely even gotten to any explanation of how the sun is falling, or why.

[dmeck7755]

Just started this.  So far very interesting.  I do not like Ro

[dmeck7755]

I like this!!  The world building and all of the people are so interesting. 

Hiatus alas.....

Also It looks like Suihira will be on hiatus until some where in the summer...

[Turnstylus]

I could kick myself for not realizing that we were reading Rising Sand for the May comic of the month!

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!

[thegreyarea]

I'm very happy to see that many are enjoying Rising Sand!

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.