Webcomics Weekly is back in your life. The spookiest month of the year is in full swing. So we bring you this week the start of a tail of terror, job hunting! A new strip by Warren Ellis. The continuing adventures of a widowed mother and her sons. And the most freighting strip of them all, one at considers everyday existence.
Chapters 1-4
Schedule: Once a Week on Line/Tapas otherwise currently on hiatus
By Linda Sejic
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
A note before diving into this, “Blood Stain” by Linda Sejic has now been syndicated on to three web platforms besides the collected publications. For the purposes of this read through, we’ll be looking at the original strips on her DeviantArt page (which is the titled link.) Going to the source will provide some interesting differences. The DA strips are all read horizontally, like proper newspaper strips, which is a change of pace. This is also the original art and lettering. The Line and Tapas strips use the art and lettering found in the Top Cow collections, and feature minor alterations to fit the vertical reading orientation. The content of each strip isn’t exactly one to one between DA and Line/Tapas, but that isn’t off by that much.
The first four strips in “Blood Stain” chapter one deal in Elliot looking for a job, and coming across a creepy ad for a lab tech. “Blood Stain” is at it’s core a workplace comedy about playing assistant to a Mad Scientist, who maybe more Mad (both in terms of craze and anger) than Science! Sejic plays with this idea in the first conversation between Elliot and Stein, by fulling leaning into the creepy scientist expectations. The inverse lettering for Stein also helps.
Immediately the change in reading orientation brings a clear shift in how the art is formatted. There is a similar frictionless quality to it, since holding the down arrow is no different than the right arrow, but the scale and arrangement is different. The comic begins with a series of establishing shots before hitting a complete stop as Elli takes a seat. Reading strips vertically it’s about negotiating the right amount of space separating panels, here there isn’t any separation. The lack of a gutter makes it so scale comes through panel width and the rhythm created by shifting sizes one after another. The first five panels of chapter 1 go from large to medium to small back to medium and large again, ending on image of Elli in full lazyboy mode.
The lack of gutter makes conversations play very shot-reverse-shot, but it isn’t too dry. The fourth strip, a conversation between Elli and her Sister is effectively balanced around a panel showing them together at medium length, before being visually dominated by Elli’s somewhat tired performance of a conversation they’ve clearly had plenty of times before. Overall this reading orientation does a good job of allowing Sejic to show off her strengths, character acting specifically in their faces.
Pages 1-5
Updates: Daily until Nov. 7. Then weekly.
By Sophie Yanow
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
Sophie Yanow’s “The Contradictions” starts with a simple premise: Sophie, or at least, the fictionalized version of her, is in Paris, trying to get far away from her troubles. She walks along the River Seine, towards the Musée d’Orsay, and muses, briefly, about her status as a tourist and how best to avoid it. We wander along with Sophie, feeling out of place and thrown into a world we don’t quite understand yet. As we get acclimated to our main character, and the mindset she’s in, we become acutely aware of her restlessness, both through her actions and through her internal narration.
As these are the first five pages, the details are light, which should come as no surprise, and yet, Yanow presents herself and her surroundings with a clarity that alleviates any need for these additional details. In terms of page presentation, her use of negative space in particular is striking. The shadows bleed together, making each bit of light appear as an imposition or as brush strokes upon a canvas. Page three is perhaps my favorite so far because of its portrayal of motion, the use of the format, and the ways in which the scene transitions.
Continued below
Yanow guides the eye along with Sophie, as she finishes her stroll along the Seine and turns to enter the street, wherein it becomes the sky over the Musée and bringing our attention to the building, before tugging it back to Sophie with her black clothes comment, having turned us around without ever hard cutting the camera angle. The internal dialogue, too, floats and flows like a river — musical, poetic, and raw without being overly indulgent.
I haven’t even mentioned the site, which is beautifully designed and so different from the usual layout. It’s more like a webtoon, with the way it scrolls but there are still distinct page divisions. I wish more comics were like this, where the site reflects the story. All in all, “The Contradictions” is proving itself to be a masterful, contemplative piece of autobiographical fiction and we’re only five pages into it. Get on board now. It’s well worth your time.
Chapters 1-3
Updates: Fridays
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Colleen Doran
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
Reviewed by Bodhi
Special Agent Amy Ash is telling a past acquaintance a story. A true story about a remarkable person, the “world’s greatest investigator,” a woman named Felicity Rockall.
This is the framing device Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran use to invite us in their new spooky webcomic “Finality”. Ellis wastes no time in establishing his protagonists. The aforementioned Felicity Rockall is the “world’s greatest investigator” but she is also ornery and quite pugnacious. Sometimes deliberately. Ellis uses Amy Ash to introduce the reader in the world of Felicity Rockall and has a lot of fun showing the all-business and proper Ash’s horror at just whom she has been asked to escort back to the United States. There is a masterful placing of a great joke about just why Rockall needs to buy nail polish remover. Think modern-day Holmes and Watson and you will have a sense of Ellis’ approach.
Colleen Doran goes toe to toe with Ellis and the way she uses the comic’s multiple close-up shots is virtuoso. Specially worth mentioning is her rendering of Rockall’s expressions which range from puckish naughtiness to pure disgust to cool indifference. From the planetary bodies in the cold open which morph into spheres of lights around fireflies to the way Doran paints Rockall’s unruly hair and the fury of the ocean is just beautiful.
There is a panel in the third chapter which should tell you all about the unworldliness of the case Ash had been asked to get Rockall to investigate. This is October after all. And “Finality” should make for a great read. As a character points out, it does grab your attention.
Pages 11-15
Updates: Varies between issues
By Rich Burlew
Reviewed by Robbie Pleasant
After a handful of pages introducing us to the world of “Order of the Stick” and the characters we’ll be following, the plot has begun to kick into motion! It’s within these pages that we first learn about the lich Xykon and the dungeon he inhabits. While at first he’s just your average given evil creature that lives in a dungeon and has a lot of gold, we later learn more about him and see what makes him one of the most entertaining villains webcomics have to offer, and the best lich since Acererak.
Additionally, with the appearance of Roy’s father as a ghost, we learn a bit more about the cosmology of the world and get a bit of foreshadowing. In fact, it’s specifically called out as such, thanks to the comic’s lack of a fourth wall. (Unlike many examples of foreshadowing and running gags, this one actually gets resolved within the same arc as well.) Roy’s father, Eugene, is also portrayed very clearly – we get a good understanding of his personality and the (poor) relation he has/had with his son in the one page we see him on. It plays on old tropes like “father disappointed his son didn’t follow in his path,” but with Roy going to become a fighter instead of a wizard like his old man.
Continued belowOf course, there’s still time for jokes, as one page is dedicated completely to a gag about the many uses of the word “level” in Dungeons & Dragons. It’s delivered as an Abbot & Costello style argument, and gets a few good chuckles out of the reader before getting back to the story, yet the joke itself plays on the characters being aware of the game’s mechanics (leveling up, spell levels, etc) so it could only work in a comic like this. Similarly, where most comics would simply let images accompany a narration without question, “Order of the Stick” has the characters see and acknowledge that there are random images appearing as a character speaks, then explains it as a bard spell: Summon Plot Exposition. This comic is insanely clever.
Oh, and Belkar is probably evil-aligned, which can sometimes come in handy. But the way he just effortlessly stabs a goblin cleric while the rest of the party suffers from an Unholy Blight spell is rather hilarious.
The art style remains the same in these five pages as it has in the last ten, so there’s little new to talk about there. The simplistic style remains fitting for the comic, and allows the characters to take a distinct but basic form while allowing the readers to focus on the quality of the writing.
But Rich Burlew knew just the right time to start the plot off – he got plenty of jokes in, and now the story truly begins. (Of course, the jokes don’t stop coming either.)
Pages 78-87
Updates: Mondays & Thursdays
By Ann Maulina
Reviewed by Gustavo S. Lodi
“Raruurien” is a captivating story of a widowed mother and her two sons, learning to start their lives again in a village filled with tradition, magic and beauty. It is at the same time a story of discovery – both of the world around them and the stories that came before – as well as a drama focused on how to rebuild a family after tragic loss.
The first pull “Raruurien” will have on readers is its gorgeous art. Not only are every page a marvel to look at, with depth, setting and facial expressions absolutely spot-on, layout and panel design are also very well thought of. On occasions, panels substitute doors or windows, letting readers peak into the daily routine of mother Rien and the two boys, Ra and Ruu.
Later updates on this webcomic cover the next step of Ruu’s recovery after the death of his father, as we heads back to school. In the process, Maulina introduces new backstory to all main characters, while pushing the plot forward by expanding what the brothers can do together.
Another aspect the artist manages well is how organic the entire story feels. Rien is often pulled into the past by her memories, upon which the pallet shift to earthly tones, much more subdued than the bright colors of most of the series. Also, when new interactions break out between the protagonists, or even on still supporting ones, it is driven by an apparent chance encounter, as if they are truly individuals living in a world and being affected by it.
Throughout the pages, the heart of the series is the love these three family members have for each other, and how each of them is supportive of the other’s growth, experience and maturity aside. It truly is a heart-warming tale and one that makes it impossible not to care for its characters.
At the end of it “Raruurien” is telling an emotional, organic story, within a world filled with backstory, while providing beautiful art to present it to readers. Hard not to appreciate such a package.
Help Wanted parts 5-10
Updates: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
Reviewed by Dexter Buschetelli
Finding a job in the big city can be tough sometimes. The frustration of applying and interviewing with establishments and offices that have no intention of hiring you in the first place can really wear you down, leave you frustrated, send you down a mysterious alleyway chasing a sign you think says “help wanted” but when you get there it really just says “help”. That’s where we left Dev on our last review of “Sam and Fuzzy: Fix Your Problem”.Continued below
That convoluted series of events brought Dev into the office of N-M-S: Ninja Mafia Services. While that may sound like a chapter of the Juggalo Fraternity of Insane Clown Posse Fans I assure you…that I’m actually not sure yet. It could be.
Aaron attempts to explain the business model to Dev which is not at all illegal and definitely doesn’t involve killing people. Even though what it sounds like is an illegal assassination venture that absolutely kills people, possibly even your grandmother who you very much love and would not like to see killed.
The humor of this series is irreverent, goofy, and so on the nose you might think it’s a black head (it’s not. It’s a webcomic), and that is a major part of what makes it so endearing. From Dev’s internal dilemma over taking a receptionist job for N-M-S to the (finally) introduction of its titular characters as they arrive at a job and discuss previous outings, the strip never really has any “laugh out loud” moments, but will keep you chuckling throughout.
Sam Logan continues to play with pitch black backgrounds in these installments but also seems to be loosening up a bit. There’s a visually engaging bit with Dev standing in front of a fence that makes excellent use of the white negative space and varying facial expressions from Dev. Much of the humor lies in the dialogue, rather than visual gags, but “Sam and Fuzzy” is pleasing to the eye and invites you to enjoy the ridiculousness.
We’ll catch up more with “Sam and Fuzzy” week after next, but if this section of “Help Wanted” tells us anything, it’s that this pair ain’t afraid of no ghosts that are afraid of ghosts.
Seriously that ghost is adorable.
