We’re entering the home stretch of 2021 and that means it’s time to get all gushy about our readers. Yes, you all out there. We love and appreciate you. We (and I, Elias, speaking for the We of the column) are so grateful for your readership and for sticking with us. There’re many more weeks of this to come, don’t worry, just as there are at least 5 more installments of “Dr. Frost” and likely a whole host of chapters of “66,666 Years: Advent of the Dark Mage” and “Our Time” we may check in on down the road.
You’ll find all this and the meaning of life (or not) in this issue of “The Webcomics Weekly.”
Dr. Frost
‘Angel’s Share’ (1) – ‘Behind the Scenes and Commentary’ (4)
Updates: Saturdays
By Jongbeom Lee
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
‘Angel’s Share’ is not quite what I was expecting from the next arc, as I thought we would finally be reintroducing Frost’s old colleagues and friends. There is some forward momentum on the overarching plot front and on the character development for secondary characters like Dr. Fater and Nurse Jiang, but that’s ancillary to the true purposes of this arc: celebrating the humble origins of “Dr. Frost” and the power of therapy with a mix of lighthearted antics and tender conversations.
It starts with Frost being elected head of the patient’s association. It’s a temporary position, rotating through the patients, but it’s a position he clearly dislikes. This conflict isn’t mined for drama, though. It’s there mostly for comedic opportunities and is ultimately a minor part of the arc. The larger narrative is it’s Christmas time in the ward and that means it’s time for the annual Christmas party. This leads to hijinks, of course, but it also leads to some meaningful conversations that sparks an idea in Frost. An idea which brings us all the way back to the inception of “Dr. Frost:” Bartender Frost.
I find it fascinating that this idea, which was ultimately the big hook of arc 1, ‘The Empty Man,’ had been slowly forgotten and dropped. I’d even forgotten, honestly! Seeing it again though made me happy, even if it’s clearly a bit of a send off for the idea in full. It charts Frost’s ability to empathize with the people he’s preparing drinks for from callous but incisive to truthful but comforting while also admitting that Frost really has no idea what he’s doing as a bartender, only as a psychological counsellor.
I had a lot of fun with ‘Angel’s Share.’ The promised lighter tone wasn’t too different from the usual moments of levity “Dr. Frost” partakes in, just more sustained, even during the serious scenes. I’m ready for a return to the soul crushing trauma of the main arcs but it was nice to have a breather to appreciate the characters and laugh, and cry, along with them.
Our Time
Episodes 1-5
Updates Friday
Written by seaweed candy
Art by Leewol
Reviewed by Mel Lake
Just on the cusp of graduating from middle school to high school, Mirae has an unfortunate accident and falls into a coma. What could be a tragedy turns out to be something stranger and funnier, however, in the new series “Our Time.”
Mirae herself is drawn in a way that’s almost criminally cute. She’s bubbly and upbeat, even when she discovers that while in her coma, she’s able to walk around and interact with the world but everyone else is stuck. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme nor reason to when she returns to her sleeping state, though, and Mirae can’t wake up. She decides to try jumping from the hospital roof to leave what she thinks is a dream but can’t bring herself to do it.
Meanwhile, Mansu is bored with his life. He longs to escape and truly experience life in the world. It turns out that Mansu has the ability to stop time and he uses it just like you’d expect a teenager to — he skips out on chores, lectures from his mom, etc. When Mansu meets Mirae, she assumes they’re both in a coma because Mansu has left the house wearing pajamas for some reason. And Mansu, being a bit of a jerk, doesn’t correct her.
Continued belowThe dialogue is a little stilted in places where the translation is awkward, but the cute art style and classic time travel shenanigans make up for it. The artist doesn’t do anything fancy or unique with the panel layout or word balloons and it works just fine because “Our Time” is a very easy read. It’s fluffy and fun, but I hope it stays in the realm of upbeat silliness because if the central conflict continues to be unresolved because Mansu won’t tell the truth, that’s more cruel to Mirae than it is fun or funny. And she’s just so cute that I’d hate to see her taken advantage of.
“Our Time” has an interesting setup with a lot of promise for shenanigans and comedy but it’s still early enough that is hard to know if it’ll be able to take advantage of the all the fun time travel tropes or if it’ll go more in an interpersonal drama direction. Either way could be fun but will draw different audiences.
66,666 Years: Advent of the Dark Mage
Episodes 1-3
Schedule: Wednesday
Original Work by Hwabong
Illustrated by PASA
Adapted by TARU
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
Yes, with its title “66,666 Years: Advent of the Dark Mage” this strip sounds closer to a Kingdom Hearts game than a fantasy manga. Once you get past the delightful absurdity of that name you see that this strip is more like an isekai as the titular Dark Mage, Diablo Volir, finds himself reincarnated in the body of a 9-year-old noble boy, which gives the strip an Omen feel. Despite its overwrought name the Hwabong based, TARU adapted, series leans more into the isekai humor as Diablo Volpir now Jamie Welton goes through yet another monotonous day of luxury. That is until a level 8 grand mage shows up in later episodes.
The humor both dialogic and visual, really lands and is its strongest attribute as it plays Diablo-Jamie’s awareness against the idyllic reality of the present. Imagine Damian Wayne but forced to be a normal 9-year-old boy, and not the master assassin leader of men he was “born” to be. PASA’s art is expressive and shifts to a chibi kawaii aesthetic in a few parts but overall is just solid manga influenced compositions that work wonderfully in the vertical scroll format. There are a few sections that force you to flip the screen and create a scrolling splash. Several of the action sequences are rightly punctuated with strong diagonal angles. Everything is just well polished it’s worth reading for that even if the initial pitch isn’t to your immediate taste.
There is one weak point in the early going, the lettering can be a little repetitive with the use of a Clip Studio Paint explosion pattern as dialogue balloon repeatedly. These moments are treated like panels unto themselves, understandably in this format, but lack the visual flair to make them engaging after you see the same balloon style three times in a row.
Thus far the series has walked an interesting and humorous line with Diablo-Jamie, his petulance and acts of evil are petty and seem more to be demonstrations for himself that he is “evil” and not changing and becoming … a better person.
