The Webcomics Weekly #74: The Unrelated Post-Valentines Day Edition

The Webcomics Weekly is back in your life. This week we begin one of my favorite sections from the first volume of “Agents of the Realm” as the party goes to a costume party! We finish a chapter of “The Otherknowns.” Gustavo takes another look at the always delightful “Tigress Queen.” And Elias catches “Witch Fever.”

It’s time for the big costume party! Which means dancing with cute looking strangers and me humming “Masquerade” from Phantom of the Opera. While that is the overall plot of this batch of pages as the party is slowly split in all directions what I want to talk about is writer-artist Mildred Louis handling of spatial relationships, crowds, and dancing. Much like Norah I’m clearly super fun at parties.

Party and crowd sequences can be pretty hard to pull off. The setting necessitates lots of bodies and people in an environment that due to the party atmosphere also can not appear to be static and ornamental. The size of the space can also make the spatial continuity tricky to follow. As with most things in this comic the fundamentals Mildred Louis executes are the key to this being a wonderful sequence.

Crowds and the environment are handled in several interrelated ways. The bodies that make up the crowd itself are not very dimensionalized, bodies consist of largely flat cartooned body work that read quickly but don’t distract from the core cast which stand out due to their detail and color. There is an individualism to the bodies but they are still relatively anonymous. That anonymity is created through the use of a shifting color set, which was setup for the reader in the earlier pages as the party imagines just who they’ll be dancing with. The shifting colors create a gradient effect and when some starry sky effects are added the end result is a dynamic looking mass of colors with enough line work that uniquely generic bodies exist but don’t overwhelm the panel. Using these moody gradients to create depth and clear staging for the party as they slowly break apart works so well.

That is how Louis handles spatial continuity within the panels, they also use repetitive page design to create a macro continuity. Through the use of repetitive scenarios and page designs Louis is able to have unique paneling, dancers can never be still, that allows everything to be easily understood and read as everyone breaks apart. The reader is never confused as to what action is going on. Which makes the moment with Norah is alone and wriggles her way off the dance floor to the bar all that more effective.

Dancing is hard y’all, and more often than not I think it looks kinda funny and awkward. What is interesting about the dancing in this sequence is Louis never seems to put characters on the beat, ending in a definitive stance that through sequential art builds a routine of sorts. As Jordan and Mackenzie talk-dance they are shown mid movement creating a sense of energy to everything.

There is a answer in the FAQ section of the “Agents” site that has stuck with me. In a reply to a query about the various sexualities of the cast Louis writes “the simple answer is Yes. The majority of the cast identifies within the LGBTQ community, but it’s not a comic that focuses on that. It’s only one small part of who they are as a whole, and is treated as such.” Up to this point, other than Jordan, there hasn’t really been much confirmation or not beyond subtext here an there. Until now, as we see who the cast imagines they’ll be dancing with and are pulled away by, or in the case of Norah the Snow white she runs into at the bar. While everyone going away is awkward for Norah, who doesn’t like this in the least, it’s a well handled little moment that shows more about these characters in a matter of panels that neither shies away nor over suddenly shifts the main series into queer romance.

As with everything great, it must come to an end. Luckily this “end” is the end of the chapter, so put your crying hanky away, as we still have a load of chapters/pages to go. Nonetheless, here we are gathered for the end of “The Otherknown” Chapter one. Oh how far we’ve gotten in Merriman’s world.

We begin the final six pages as Ajupris takes off some extra layers, making her self at home in her ship. The colors attributed to this moment are beautiful with Ajupris and her surroundings draped in varying degrees of purple. Beautiful colors aside, Ajupris’ true demeanor comes through tenfold, continuing the feeling of disconnect between the working class and rich. Yet, her views seem hardcore during this moment, you can’t help how headstrong she is and not willing to take crap from anyone.

Following her beratement of Demeck’s room decor, she has a touching interaction with her niece, Chandra. Chandra relays her feeling of the recent accident being their fault with this her aunt comforts her. This care for her niece is a nice moment, yet Merriman adds even more background during this. Spliced into these bounding moments are panels that seem to be of Ajupris and her sister (Chandra’s mom). During this flashback, we see the duo in what seems to be an accident with one of them mirroring what Chandra says.

The placement of these quick flashbacks is amazingly well done as it mirrors what’s transpiring in the “now.” With this method, Merriman can mix and match the scenes, yet since they are alike it doesn’t throw the reader off. On top of that, the scenes are visually different which really makes sure you don’t become confused. Those elements combined make for an amazing flashback in a storytelling manner.

Purple seems to be Ajupris’ favorite color, as her ship is decked out with it and as mentioned she wears layers of it. Yet, at no time does Merriman add too much purple that’ll blind you. Instead, she adds different degrees of the color while adding in darker shades of others that perfectly balance out the room. Colors don’t make up all of the pages, as it’s only one part of the visuals, the other being Merriman’s fantastic emotion scale.

Throughout the six pages, only three characters (and a robot) are showcased, yet Merriman is able to portray emotions beautifully. When a story relies on character moments and not action, their faces need to speak as loud as their words. Luckily, she knows this and makes you feel the emotion while making some beautiful art to boot.

It’s been a long 63 pages, yet, I’ve loved every bit. Here’s to many more!

The latest update for “Tigress Queen” arrived earlier this year, alongside some bonus pin-up material with character design, and early drafts. The story has been so strong on world building, political intrigue, and the restlessness of war that it is refreshing to see more of the visual origin of it all.

Back to the story, “Tigress Queen” dwells more in palace court drama, with several of the main characters going on their own, as readers discovers some of their truer motivations.

For the titular queen, this update reinforces the notion of a tough but just leader, one that is always concerned with justice, balance, and the safety of her people. One particular sequence, when she is offered a grand banquet, and wonders why a kingdom able to offer that still wants more in terms of land, is very timely.

Not all is skewed to her favor, though. The empire denies do have valid reasons for acting the way they do, and they remind the reader of that when walking through the kingdom’s history, and of its multiple internal strife, civil wars, and civilian losses.

It all ends in a typical trope of stories of this nature, that of the apparent naive heir to the throne plotting for broader prominence and power. It does seems a bit “moustache-twirling villain,” but hopefully later chapters will reveal a strong backdrop to make it more compelling.

“Tigress Queen” continues to deliver. Its sharp art, beautifully designed, it also a drawn-in, but readers will stay for the complex situations and the characters that bring it to life.

“Witch Fever” begins, as every good legend does, with an origin. We have no names, only archetypes and relations, personifications and allusions, metaphor and majesty. The mythic nature of this opening sets an almost storybook tone and, for the most part, it’s quite effective. Shkelliton keeps the pages open, with large panels to convey the scale of the moments and the intensity of the emotions. The color work is vibrant and I particularly love the way they render the tears on page 7, both in the first and last panels. They glisten like jewels and then like wings.

The problem is, much like the first issue of a print comic failing to portray its solicit text, we’re too early into the process to really judge the comic beyond the surface level traits. In these pages, Shkelliton is beginning to set the stage for, it seems, a grand adventure but if the description along the side is to be believed, we’re in store for a very different kind of story. That’s not a bad thing! What it is, is the tension between the story and the format.

As we’ve noted many times in The Webcomics Weekly, webcomic release schedules can harm the flow of a comic greatly, as the limits of page by page are far greater than issue by issue or book by book. It makes it so that, especially early on in the process, if you’re not on board right away, you may fall off before things gain momentum. As it stands, “Witch Fever” has my attention. The art is dynamic and angular, sweeping through events and processing them swiftly but effectively. While there are moments of weirdness — sudden style changes where in one panel the faces are heavily shaded while in the next it’s got flat coloring, like an ancient carving vs a Baroque painting — it isn’t enough to break the story or dissuade a reader.

It’s a learning process, as Shkelliton notes in their author’s notes, and while I may revise my opinion in either direction after 100 pages, the risks are paying off, even if they don’t all land with a twinkle and a soft click.