The Webcomics Weekly #30: Log Date 04092019 (4/09/19 Edition)

Welcome back, one and all, to The Webcomics Weekly! This week we receive we have new coverage of “Log Date,” a space fairing sci-fi strip, and “Kochab,” a strip about two women inspired by various myths and folklore in Alaska. We also have continuing coverage of “Blood Stain,” in a bit of a role reversal. “Sam and Fuzzy” have the eyes on the prize. And “Order of the Stick” crosses the 70 page mark.

This batch of strips gives us a bit of a role reversal, as Vlad is the one put on the back foot and a bit jumpy for a change after Serge reminds him he has that whole teaching part of the job. Sejic finds the right balance between grace and unathletic flailing as Vlad runs through several strips looking for tests, clothes, and traumatizing Elly just a little bit more. While we only get a brief glimpse of what Professor Vlad is like, I’d love for a side strip or two about Vlad as a teacher.

At least Elly isn’t being roped into being his TA on top of being his overall assistant. Although that perspective would provide a good segue into exploring teacher Vlad. This being a series that is primarily about Elly, Sejic dose find a way of turning something predominantly about Vlad into triggering Elly’s anxieties in an understandable way. How this sequence is constructed in chapter 63 helps to enhance everything. The strip is primarily a conversation between Elly and Serge. Sejic consistently cuts Elly’s main talking sequences into smaller vertically stacked three panel sequences. These panels compress Elly and reinforce how down/tired she feels but repeating the hunched over image. Serge meanwhile gets these comparatively larger panels that fit his dialog in a single panel.

Much like her husband, Linda Sejic has a habit of making things humorously literal at times. After Elly discovers a small bone on the floor, it sends her mind racing on what it could possibly mean. This exploratory sequence is couched in thought bubble paneling of a literal train rapidly going off the tracks! It’s just a nice little comedy beat that lets some potentially dark thoughts exist without being needlessly grim.

Overall this batch of strips has some nice environmental storytelling that helps to reinforce the overall point of a given strip. Elly still dosen’t know much about Vlad as she cleans his lab in the dark, until she is forced to replace a lightbulb. Fresh light reveals a lab that is thoroughly in disarray, much like it’s owner.
“Blood Stain” continues to be a fun webcomic that is building out the dynamic between Vlad and Elly.

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: “Kochab” is gorgeous. It stands out even amid the current high-quality level of a number of webcomics in the market, not alone due to its craft, but largely to the stylistic choices that artist Sarah Webb infuses on every page. Every chapter and panel have a sense of weight to the drawings, that every line has a depth that is not usually found on digital offerings. It is almost as if these pages were carved into wood by using heavy crayons. It makes for a truly unique visual flair that is further complemented by smart use of colors that highlights every setting and character.

Still on the visual aspects of the series, Webb also leverages on some of the possibilities the digital media offers. Every other page, there is a small, non-invasive animation, like a few snow crystals falling through the page, or shimmering lights following a character’s gaze. These are real small and might even bypass some hurried readers as they explore the series, to the point it becomes a question of “is that really there?” that adds to the mystique of the narrative.

Talking about that, “Kochab” seems less concerned on providing an epic plot-line, but rather zooms in on its main protagonists Sonya and Kyra, as they explore a world that is at the same time wondrous and dangerous. Each chapter builds on their discoveries about this realm, as well as of the friendship and relationship that blossom between them. It is at the same time a voyage of external and internal discovery.

In terms of pacing, one could argue that “Kochab” is a bit of a slow burn (especially on earlier chapters and on the prologue), but even that seems so intentional by Webb that it can hardly be a criticism. Part of the series is simply gazing at these beautiful pages, taking them all in as Sonya and her companion do the same in their own surroundings. That way, if the pacing seems to take its time, it becomes time worth investing, as characters and their audience find themselves at a similar situation.

All in all, “Kochab” is just as beautiful as it is deliberate on how it wants to tell the adventures and explorations of Sonya and Kyra. By balancing excitement with a very personal story, all wrapped up in some of the most stylistic series available in digital form, this is most surely a series to come back and revisit often.

“Log Date” is a science fiction comic that focuses on Emory, a scientist Earth on a three year mission to the stars, and Zephyr, a formless alien who comes across Emory’s ship in space, and the relationship that blossoms the longer they spend together. It’s a meditation on loneliness and identity, one that intimately captures the worries and tensions inherent in finding, and being comfortable, with oneself. These most recent logs reveal to us more about Emory’s character, who he was back on Earth, and chart just how far he has come since the start of the comic.
What makes “Log Date” work so well is its slow pace and very focused story. By keeping the cast tiny, just two characters, hkasof can focus on the more intimate moments of conversation without having to broaden the scope of the narrative to include larger background story elements. This is a tale of romance and of acceptance. It is about Emory learning how to open himself up, to be more self assured in the identities he takes pride in and to learn how to better love himself.

Visually, Hkasof’s artwork matches the tone of the story perfectly. The deep purples of space are expansive yet welcoming while the paneling keeps the ship feeling equal parts close & intimate and open. Borderless lineart, rounded characters, fuzzy hand lettering, and light, pastel colored pencil coloring all gives the comic a soft look to it, reinforcing the slower pace. What really stands out about Hkasof’s art is the clarity of depth. Backgrounds and foreground object never blend together, while they could so easily do with this kind of style.

Additionally, the way they do the lettering & word balloons gives the comic a cadence that feels more natural than the standard post-process word balloons. It’s easy to hear Zephyr’s voice as being far away and resonant when their lettering is always placed within their amoeba-like body while Emory’s is an external extension of himself, encroaching on the world and exerting a pressure on the space, yet also OF that space. It gives the comic more character than it otherwise would have and is just one of the many reasons to check it out. “Log Date” may not have many chapters but what it has is beautiful, touching, and the kinds of stories I wish I saw more of.

With Nale and his Linear Guild dealt with, it’s back to a bit of character-driven gags and dungeon exploration. Of course, that’s perfectly fine, as it advances the plot too. The introduction of the sylph, Celia, provides more information about the dungeon (particularly that it was originally owned by a mage named Dorukan, and Xykon the lich just moved in) while providing an easy means of moving Nale and Thog elsewhere.

Also, the flashback scene where she has to take a job guarding a dungeon sigil due to lack of work experience is far, far too relatable…

Meanwhile, we return to Durkon, cleric of Thor. What kind of god is Thor, you ask? We’re all comic readers here, we know exactly what kind of god Thor is. So we get a good gag about “What Would Thor Do?” before he meets up with Hilgya, and we get a recurring gag about Flumphs being used to cushion landings.

Poor Flumphs. They deserve better than that. Though in the lead-up we also get some amusing gags about monsters on a diet and the nutritional value of dwarves.

But at this point the characters are all well-established, so we can get more jokes based off their personalities and chemistry. So when the entire party forgets they left Durkon behind, who’s responsible? Obviously Roy and Vaarsuvius, because as Haley states, “The three of us are so consistently and staggeringly irresponsible that it’s utterly unreasonable to expect us to have been paying any attention in the first place.”

I love character-driven humor, especially when they’re such entertaining characters.

As always, the art style feeds into the humor. Rich Burlew manages to use the simple designs and colors to the comic’s advantage, such as keeping the 2nd edition monsters hidden in shadows as Hilgya casts Sanctuary on herself. There are good little gags hidden here and there, such as the cardboard moving boxes Xykon’s goblins are carrying marked “magic tomes” and “DVDs.” There’s a lot of love put into every page, even at this early point in the comic.

Of course, for a webcomic as long-running as “Order of the Stick,” 70 pages in is still very, very early.

‘The Big Cheat’ continues as Hazel has her eye on the prize of the mysterious band that is also being sought after by whoever cleared out the security team in our last review of “Sam & Fuzzy.” Hazel and Fuzzy’s relationship has been presented as being somewhat complicated, with Hazel being the first person Fuzzy became close to after losing his memory. ‘The Big Cheat’ fills yet another portion of the gap between then and now and showcases Hazel’s reckless and dishonest nature, causing the reader to question Fuzzy’s loyalty to her.

Visually, these installments have been good fun. Moments like Brain the cat attacking the Blankface during his fight with Hazel and the subsequent chase scene soundtracked by “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” are hilarious, and Fuzzy’s slapstick success through his own ineptitude perfectly encapsulates what makes this series so fun.

The end of ‘The Big Cheat’ also provides yet another example of how, despite his aloof nature, Fuzzy is more observant than he lets on. Revealing that he knows Hazel was stealing the band from one of her clients to sell to the Ninja Mafia shows the reader, as Logan also did previously in ‘Ninja Mafia Services’, that Fuzzy is smarter than the average bear.