Welcome back to The Webcomics Weekly y’all.
There’s a story that I’ve been thinking about, about King Solomon and a Ring — though it seems silly to recount it here — and a song that shares its title, perhaps because I’ve been listening to Joseph Fink’s newest podcast, perhaps because all that’s swirling around in my head is existential dread for friends and family and people I barely know and people I don’t know at all, but I know their sorrows and their trials and their tribulations all the same. I am lucky. Many are not.
It’s a tough time for many out there so, those who can, support those who need it, and be a light in the darkness. Even a small flame in the distance shines like the brightest star when there is naught by emptiness around.
…Sorry ’bout that y’all. Sometimes it’s hard to conjure levity, when I know we all need it. My brain is oriented towards melancholy, unfortunately. We’re still here, though. Our little column is still running, with “Trekker” and “A Better Place” and “Order of the Stick,” and we mustn’t forget the newcomer/returners “Punderworld” and “Scorned Reaper.” I hope one, or many of these, bring some levity and joy, or perhaps a think, in these trying times. Be well, be safe, and we’ll see you again in a week. Though I may not know you readers personally, thank you, sincerely, for all that you do.
A Better Place
‘Needed Help’ – ‘Absolutely Perfect’
Updates: Thursdays
By Harry Bogosian
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
Now that each update is in full color, I find myself in awe at Bogosian’s drafting ability. I could quibble about characters, specifically Nina, being colored more “realistically” than the rest — i.e. with more shading and grit, and less saturated & bright — but that would be a distraction from all the ways these pages succeed at crafting the end of a tense sequence while leading the way into another. Were we in a traditional comic publishing schedule, this would be the end of an issue, perhaps even an arc, and while it may feel like years coming (mostly because it was,) the payoff and the intrigue is worth the wait.
Just look at the attention to detail in ‘Arma, Please,’ or the brutal follow up in ‘Freedom’. Bogosian is not a minimalist when it comes to his linework but neither is he careless. Every stroke of the (presumably digital) brush adds definition to the background, sharpness to the characters, or conveys the scale and closeness of objects. Take The Ward, a giant green light creature that took out Arma and is about to make mincemeat of Nina. It is terrifying and imposing not just because it’s giant, made of lightning, and took out Arma & Nina but its design, an absence of lines save for it’s highly expressive face, puts it at odds with the rest of the world.
As The Ward says, it’s not part of the game, and that means the normal rules don’t apply. If this creature, which by all accounts was made by Hannah yet was forgotten and left to suffer thanks to her negligence, truly is exempt, who else is not bound by the rules? And if that’s the case, what does this mean for Nina’s own dwindling faith in Hannah or in the fabric of her new reality? With each passing scene, the cracks in Hannah’s “perfect” world are widening, though whether they are merely being exposed or purposefully widened by internal, and external, forces, remains to be seen.
I mean, come on, you saw Mr. Bun’s highly devious plan, and the beautiful mismatch between the video game “We beat the boss!” moment and the despondent look on Nina’s face as they’re surrounded by destruction and chaos. *Chef’s hand kiss*. Perfection is what that is.
Order of the Stick
Pages 211 – 215
Updates: Varies
By Rich Burlew
Reviewed by Gustavo S. Lodi
“Love is an epic-level challenge.”It is with dialogue such as this, told in the perfect of timing and context, that “Order of the Stick” is entertaining on each strip. This time around, the group, with their stowaway noble paladin, venture forth into ogre territory to save a group of villagers.
Continued belowOn less able hands, that would be a general description of a story, one found aplenty on sword and cape stories. Yet, Rich Burlew continues his uninterrupted trend of subverting the genre with quirky humor, and a constant fourth wall breaking, as characters acknowledge the limitations of their class, their RPG point distribution, and the overall strategy of battling on a world fixed by turns, grids, and hexagon footing.
The underlying debate on this strip for the last couple of chapters has been mostly around the nature of being good or evil, and how far can one go in either direction with inadvertently bumping into the opposite one. It is a valid debate and rich with complexity, that finds its way into humor by how well-scripted the story is.
Again… “Order of the Stick” is a must read for comic, RPG fans, or fans of good light and insightful reading. Do not miss it.
Punderworld
Episodes 8-9
Schedule: Every third Thursday
By Linda Sejic
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
“Punderworld” continues to chug along as Hades and Persephone attempt to meet cute for the second time. This has been the main plot thread for most of this opening chapter, and it is gaining momentum as Hades and Zeus practically sing “Secret Mission” from the first season of Galavant as the Lord of Olympus tries to arrange a meeting for his brother. Meanwhile Persephone keeps trying to talk her Mom into going to a party they are already late for, without really telling her why. These two strips highlight how small changes into the presentation have big effects on the end result on the story and what kind story is being told.
This separation between the main characters has primarily taken the form of each deity being the main focus of a given strip. Now that they are slowly working up to meeting each other once again they are appearing in the same strip albeit apart. As each lead works through their various issues and seeks advice it creates a playful crosscutting throughout the strip that livens everything up and creates a sense of destination. The small shift in how the story is being told tips the reader off to the rising action that is occuring.
Linda Sejic in these couple of strips creates a good example of ways for Webtoon creative teams to work around the nature of paneling and gutter space in the vertical strip. It depends on the strip but overall paneling isn’t really that much of a factor in Webtoons beyond basic squares and rectangles that largely exist in isolation. Her cartooning and pacing isn’t all that functionally different from other strips, it is largely told in close ups and medium shots of various characters talking. This creates a sense of isolation and separation, which is the point when it comes to Persephone and her mother.
Isolated panels, no matter how excellent the cartooning of figure work, is boring to look at and read. To get around this Sejic creates lively panel borders of vine and plant motifs for Persephone’s side of the strip; it fits her theme and helps to break up the large amount of gutter space that would normally exist. Hades side of the strip is more conventional in its paneling but also features a large amount of black gutter space that due to the night time setting helps to hide and flow panels together. These are not radical artistic departures or reinventions, they just add a little bit extra to something.
Scorned Reaper
Part 1
Updates: Varies
By Akit
Reviewed by, Jason Jeffords Jr
The Webcomics community can be a great one. When new creators arrive, other new creators (and some veterans) help out in different manners. That’s how I found “Scorned Reaper.” Originally I planned on reading another brand new Webcomic I found – I honestly love finding brand new ones – yet creator reposted on Twitter a cover he did for another. When I checked out “Scorned Reaper” I instantly was interested as it reminded me of “Berserk”, which I love.
Over a thousand years ago a hole opened up in the sky spewing creators from a dark world, infecting the human world with daemons. Thus started a war, until a daemon named Csisgal was killed. But, inside of the huge creature was a baby boy, whom the king took to raise as his own. As plots go, that’s a pretty badass one. Plus it can go a multitude of ways with how Akit writes the main character. “Scorned Reaper” starts off strong storywise and artwise. Akit gives the reader all the background needed to time jump from when the daemon baby turns into an adult.
Continued belowNow with the daemon baby an adult Akit has him go to a tavern filled with the enemy (daemons). You know, how all stories like this start out. Akit makes the daemons stand out in not only visuals, but with their dialogue. By giving the daemons an accent Akit takes their differences up another level.
As gorgeous as “Scorned Reaper” art is, there is one blaring negative—the faces. Akit’s art is heavy inked, dark, and scratchy, yet when it comes to faces they don’t match Akit’s style at all. It looks like the art was primarily drawn by one person, while the face was from another. Aside from some awkward faces, “Scorned Reaper’s” art is fantastic. The deep black sketchy lines work perfectly with the story being told.
Creators always improve. That’s why I’m excited to come back to “Scorned Reaper” at a later date and see how Akit’s story is doing.
Trekker
Pages: 1-13 Book 04 ‘Rules of the Game’
Schedule: Mondays
Written and Illustrated by Ron Randall
Lettered by Ken Bruzenak
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
‘Rules of the Game’ is the fourth “Trekker” story, and while most of these stories have been fairly self-contained the light serial elements are starting to grow. Writer-Artist Ron Randall starts this new series at the end of the previous one, duplicating a final page so well with a slight twist that at first I’d thought he had messed up the post. He did not, but the start to this issue is an interesting example of extending seriality into the main text of “Trekker.” The growing serial elements are mostly recognized in the form of brief editor notes pointing the reader to a previous issue. These editorial notes are looked at nowadays as anachronistic. Their use in the first half of ‘Game’ points to their value and helps to enhance the comic overall and as a webcomic.
“Trekker” is essentially a Rockford Files style crime procedural with a sci-fi twist, these editorial boxes aren’t referring to some obscure bit of trivia or minutia needed to understand some cosmic goobolygook, but to previous cases. In the time before everything was collected in one way or another, these act as a tease for readers to find the previous issues. As a webcomic, a central collection of all of “Trekker,” it highlights the episodic nature of the series while still teasing readers to go back into the archive to read what they haven’t.
The start to “Trekker” is interesting; there is even more emphasis on the precarious nature of Mercy St. Clair’s existence as a bounty hunter than usual. The previously mentioned redone first page, restages Hilt shooting at Mercy and this time hitting her. Mercy soon wakes from this death nightmare. Previously, this precarity was largely established through the dangers in her waking life but now we are getting more of an emphasis on her inner and subconscious self. Randall makes some interesting choices for St. Clair’s dress, she doesn’t seem the type to wear lacey undergarments – they aren’t functional like all of her other costuming. It is also interesting to note this more sexualized presentation at the moment of perceived threat.
With each issue being self contained, so far, it’s been interesting to note what kind of mechanics Randall employs. Most have been pretty standard to the procedural genre as audiences see the crime before Mercy is called in. Mercy is called in to do some outside work by her Uncle, but the plot doesn’t really begin until a moment of happenstance occurs. Mercy is pulled into a tussle with a fellow Trekker, only for an errant shove to knock over a canister and give away their position. So begins the game of one upmanship as Mercy tries to teach this new guy the titular rules. It is a minor but interesting twist on how plot functions in “Trekker’ even as Randall sticks within larger overall structures.
