Welcome back to The Webcomics Weekly! This column is officially an adult! But it cannot rent a car. For new comics we have “Castle Swimmer,” a strip about swimming and destiny. “Iron Circus” deals with living under a dictatorship of demons. “Cat Cafe” is what it sounds like, a nice comic about a cat and their cafe. It only took us 18 weeks to start getting into the massively popular internet cat genre. Continuing coverage this week includes the further adventures of the “Order of the Stick.” “Sam and Fuzzy” need their own beverage. “Blood Stain” finishes up their first chapter. For new comics
Blood Stain – Line – Tapas
Chapters 30-35
Schedule: Once a Week on Line/Tapas otherwise currently on hiatus
By Linda Sejic
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
We finish up “Blood Stain” Chapter 1, which is the first trade collection, and barrel into the second one this week. This batch of five has some interesting qualities. Early strips had a varied number of panels, the midpoint job hunting montage was well served by changing things up, however, none of them were only a single image. Still like good splash pages, chapters 31 and 33 land with an impact befitting their large image size.(DeviantArt has change how they render image size so embiggening it lacks so punch but it still works in the collected edition.) In the case of Chapter 31, it wouldn’t have been as impactful if it were put in with a regular strip. After all the build up you need to have the big spooky mad science castle/house to stand on its own and just own everything. The use of the rain effect gives just the right amount of texture to the image as well. Similarly, the finale of chapter 1, Elly meeting Vlad, is made better by it just being a single page splash on his face – our first real good look at him – and the reader is left hanging with Elly’s thoughts about if that is blood on his person.
For some reason I’d thought the first chapter actually ended entry 36, but in retrospect ending it with 33 is the most effective call. The previous thirty plus strips has been both building to this moment from a plot perspective but also getting Elly emotionally ready for it. This first chapter is all about pushing Elly to find the confidence of faking it until you make it, only for that confidence to potentially get her in a bit of trouble going forward with Vlad. It holds together as a macro narrative unit rather well and it gets the introductions out of the way.
Having this introduction between Elly and Vlad happen in a black out is kind of delightful. Despite the white coat and candel light, Sejic’s coloring has Vlad slowly blend into the darkness and just move through panels with an ethereal quality. He looks like an evil anime villain. Meanwhile that is contrasted with the more recognizable, and stylistically flatter, Serge and Elly. The former who is used to this stuff and Elly who is already over it. Lettering Elly with “frozen in place” is a nice bit of effective literalism as well.
The first chapter of “Blood Stain” gets the job done and a nice example of the kind of range Linda Sejic has when it comes to putting these strips together.
Cat’s Cafe
Walrus 2019 – The Adventures of Kiwi (episodes 97-100)
Updates: Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays
By Matt Tarple
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
“Cat’s Cafe” is about as laid back as you can get. No grand plot. No crazy hijinks. No social satire, profound philosophies, deep cut references, or hilarious punchlines — just a feel good comic about a cat, their cafe, and the various cafe-goers that frequent the establishment.
There is power in the slice-of-life genre. It crafts a world filled with characters who, over time, become like close friends. Day after day, week after week, you return to the setting and see who else is there, who else has returned, and you catch up. Sometimes all that means is that you see each other over coffee, sometimes you get into a personal conversation. Other times you get into heated debates over trivial things. That is the feeling of “Cat’s Cafe,” a cozy world that welcomes you in with promises of coffee and comradery.
Continued belowIt’s a low-key comic that, as the four most recent strips show, have a wide breadth of tone as well. ‘Worry’ is a short piece on anxiety. ‘Walrus 2019’ is a silly end of year romp. ‘Chilly Hooves’ is pure feel-good, wintertime fun and ‘The Adventures of Kiwi’ is a rhyming, funny litany about Kiwi and where they like to sit. Tarpley’s cartoony artwork ties it all together, the simplicity allowing for a quick conveyance of information and the cute aesthetic helping to build and maintain the warmth of each comic. Even the heavier strips, dominated by dark colors, retain this warmth.
It radiates out, beyond the screen, and is a wonderful companion for those long winter nights. Good for a chuckle, a smile, and, most of all, a series of friends.
Castle Swimmer
Episodes 1-3
Updates: Sundays
Created by Wendy Lian Martin
Reviewed by Bodhi
“Castle Swimmer” is a webcomic which pits two of its main characters against each other: we have Beacon, a golden mer-child who has every moment of his life spent in fulfilling prophecies and being a guiding light for others and then we have prince Siren who has been charged with killing Beacon for, as it turns out, pretty good reasons. Question is, can he?
The art of creator Wendy Lian Martin assists the story effectively: watch for how Martin handles the difference in the behaviors and expressions of young Beacon and young-adult, world-weary Beacon. The difference in shines on the scales of a golden mer in these two stages of life. The pull-out shot of the shark castle.
There are times when the art veers into cartoon territory (I’m sorry, Spider-ham) but that’s because the story straddles multiple genres. Martin shows us the innocent goofiness of infant Beacon and the weight of the job that’s dangling over prince Siren’s head. There are laughs to be had and a few tears to be shed too and a pretty interesting moral debate that occupies the work’s center.
The third episode is a bit exposition-heavy and maybe it could have been handled better but that’s just nitpicking about a webcomic that’s only three episodes old. What I can say is you should avoid the initial synopsis available on the launch page if you want to avoid spoilers and give this one a shot. Good stuff.
Pages 2-21 – 2-30
Updates: Weekly, multiple days
By krad
Reviewed by Gustavo S. Lodi
“Irown Crown” asks the question of what would be the life of heir of a dictatorship after a coup removes her father from power. Sure, it also asks questions on how to deal with demonic infestations, traitorous armies and questionable friends, but at its core, this series focuses on the life and tribulation of Diane Weiss.
At first glance, there is an apparent disconnect between the tone of the story – firmly placed within complex military and governmental situations – and that of the corresponding drawing style – an almost animated, anime-influenced line work. However, the more readers get familiar with “Iron Crown” they will realise how those opposite frames actually balance each other art. It never gets too broody or serious as a more light-hearted approach to characters is present.
Characters have clearly defined features and the artist krad does a very good job on conveying emotion and back story on how each one of them plays off one another. A lot is explained in terms of plot on the initial chapters, and yet it never feels rushed. Instead, it feels like the audience just started to follow a story that had been in development for the characters for a longer time.
The plot of the reviewed updates is set on a very tense moment, where Diane must make a choice between a rock and a hard place, to the nth potent. The scene is handled really well, with each panel ranking up the tension and reveals, until an ultimate crescendo is reached.
The only real complaint that can be made on this review is how colors were subdued on these later updates. While past entries did a better job balancing the dimly lit corridors and darkness, this final piece is overly dark, to the point it disrupts the narrative.
Continued belowAll in all, “Iron Crown” shows a lot of promise. Characters are rich and layered, the overall story and danger is very clearly delineated and the sense of world-building is ever present. Here’s to more updates from artist krad on his series!
Order of the Stick
Pages 41-45
Updates: Varies
By Rich Burlew
Reviewed by Robbie Pleasant
Things finally kick off with new characters and plots, as we’re introduced to the Linear Guild! Of course, before that we do get another gag with Elan failing to be helpful and Belkar showing off he’s actually good in a fight (not to mention establishing that Vaarsuvius is at least high enough of a level to cast 5th level spells), but those are absolutely entertaining anyways.
The Linear Guild consists of evil opposites of the Order of the Stick (yes, half the party realizes they’re evil pretty early on, so that doesn’t give anything away) but each member is a great character in their own right. While we’ll learn more about most of them in later pages, we still get the “dumb fighter” stereotype in Thog (a stereotype Roy has worked hard to avert) and the most blatant evil twin of all, Nale. Not only does he so clearly mirror Elan (even in his name) but he’s given the goatee of evil, as codified by Star Trek.
Then we have Zz’dtri the Drow. Most everyone familiar with “Dungeons & Dragons” knows of Drizzt Do’Urden, famous Drow ranger, and of the many, many, MANY knockoff player characters he inspired. That trope gets a clever nod when Nale states “Now the whole species consists of nothing but Chaotic Good rebels, yearning to throw off the reputation of their evil kin,” a line I admit I’ve used more than once when in a party with a Drow character.
The fact that the Order of the Stick instantly recognizes this trope speaks well to the genre-savviness of the characters. The way the characters act as though a D&D player might continues with Haley running the numbers on the exp and treasure per encounter with a larger party, while still remaining entirely true to her character (of course the rogue cares about treasure above all else).
While the comic continues its minimalistic style, using characters made of flat shapes and solid colors, the Linear Guild still manages to be designed quite well. Not only do they visually mirror the Order of the Stick, there are little touches to their designs that add to their own personalities. Not to mention the way they’re introduced, splitting the last panel of the page to perfectly mirror the teams and their character counterparts, is a great use of the style and is well-designed and laid out.
If you’re coming here wondering “When will this webcomic ever not be good?” you’re going to be disappointed. “Order of the Stick” continues to impress week after week, and with the introduction of the Linear Guild, it’s only going to get better.
Sam and Fuzzy
Hazel parts 1-5
Updates: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
By Sam Logan
Reviewed by Dexter Buschetelli
“Can someone please get this cat his own beer?” is easily my favorite quote from the next bit of our journey through “Sam & Fuzzy.”
My last review concluded the ‘Help Wanted’ introductory arc of the series. Cute but angry gerbils, restaurants with ridiculous names, and ninjas who won’t kill your grandma (yet) carried the story of the titular characters as we were presented with their world, occupation, and the window for the audience that is Dev.
Like the first few pages of “Sam & Fuzzy”, these installments are a flashback to Fuzzy’s past, removing Dev and focusing on the…bear? Is he a bear? It’s been five months and I’m still not really sure; nor is Fuzzy.
Devoid of any memory and searching for answers he lures Hazel to a bar, who we’ve yet to see in the current day storyline, making it likely she’ll tie in to the lore in the future. Here, Fuzzy learns little clues about himself personally but is told he is not the strangest thing Hazel has seen, providing some contextual motivation for his formation of N.M.S.
This beat all serves as a bit of a breather for the story that the reader can feel brewing already. As we question Fuzzy’s past we get the notion we’ve reached the top of a chain lift, before the descent to the first drop of this roller coaster.
