Can you believe we’re only 9 issues away from 200? That’s wild to me. 200 weeks (more, counting the breaks we take at the end of the year.) Before we get there, however, we’ve got more “Dr. Frost” and two more comics with titles I love: “Here There Be Dragons” and “Duncan and Eddie.” The second is nice and mundane but the first sounds like high seas wonder. And we can all use a little wonder now and then.
Remember to set sail for adventure in this issue of The Webcomics Weekly.
Dr. Frost
‘Eggshells’ (2) – (3)
Updates: Saturdays
By Jongbeom Lee
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
What a couple of chapters these were. After the high intensity paranoid thriller that was ‘Blind Spots,’ we’re back to the usual detective story antics that “Dr. Frost” built itself on. It’s a familiar setting and a familiar set up, by design. I could be mad at all the repetition but Lee’s presentation of the interrogation is so engaging and multi-layered that I could read eight chapters of the same thing with slightly different details and be totally satisfied.
I said a couple weeks ago that the first chapter of ‘Eggshells’ wasn’t particularly engaging, being mostly exposition, which still holds true. However, episodes 2 & 3 are excellent follow-ups, recentering the experience not on the information being gained but on how the process is being handled by Seonga. With Frost gone and now Changgyu as well, the story is allowing itself to once again drill into what makes her tick and sets her apart from these other characters. In essence, the repetition of the interrogation is to better contrast Seonga not just with Frost but also with herself.
We get this wonderful flashback of her time in America, complete with
Sitting alongside these conversations, too, is the interrogation and the maturation of Seonga’s skills. Her intuition and quick decisions do what Frost could not with less damage to the interrogee and best of all, she can bring others along the way. I love the way Lee portrays the moment when the character they’re interrogating finally overcomes the fear that was keeping him from being honest. A glass of water, the surface tension ripe to break, and then a single drop. A tear, perhaps? And the whole thing spills over.
Seonga figured it out. She knew what to do and how to do it in a way that helped the person instead of tormenting them. She has grown much from even the start of this season and she’s still got a ways to go.
Essentially, this is not even her final form.
Duncan and Eddie
Episodes 1-18
Updates Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
By doginacafe
Reviewed by Mel Lake
“Duncan and Eddie” is an incredibly cute comic about a couple in a new relationship. Every episode is a four-panel short story about Duncan, Eddie, or the two of them together. Duncan is an alligator, and Eddie is a mountain goat (I believe). They’re navigating being together while Eddie comes out as gay to his family.
The art style is cute and a little sketchy, which adds to the charm of the bite-sized stories. Duncan and Eddie themselves look like standard comic strip anthropomorphic animals, with cute facial expressions against simple backgrounds that don’t distract from the characters. There’s no explanation for why they’re animals or why a goat might want to date an alligator, but I don’t think those things are needed for these tiny episodes and would actually distract from the point, which is Duncan and Eddie being cute. Don’t think about the logistics too hard, it’s not the point.
You learn which character is which through dialogue clues, but since they’re two very different animals, literally, it’s not hard to remember or tell them apart once you read a few. There’s only one ongoing story arc in the eighteen episodes available thus far on Webtoon. Other than these, each episode’s story stands alone and can be read out of order. The ongoing story starting with episode twelve goes into Eddie’s journey coming out to his sister, then his mom. So although there’s an undercurrent of stress Eddie has about revealing his identity, the energy and mood of the comic are overwhelmingly positive. I don’t know how things will go, but based on the rest of the comic, I think things will be okay for him and Duncan.
Continued belowIf what you need to brighten up your summer reading is a cute slice-of-life comic that’s queer-friendly and has animals, “Duncan and Eddie” is a great choice. Don’t look for a complex plot or heavy angst in this strip, because you won’t find them. “Duncan and Eddie” is cute without being saccharine, and episodic enough that no additional background reading is needed to jump in.
Episodes 1-3
Schedule: Mondays
Written by Steve Horton and Disteal
Illustrated & Colored by Disteal and Rafa A.D.
Lettered by Julia Norza
Edited by Erik Kozura
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
“Here There Be Dragons” has been running for a while now and I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of it sooner. “Dragons” is a Black led fantasy – technically speaking I think it’s more of a Low fantasy given the mythic nature of dragons, but the use of magic and overall bright aesthetic gives everything a High fantasy sheen – adventure. Which isn’t something you see much of in general. The setup for this story is generic; our scholarly main character Bree, a Dragonspeaker, is contacted by mythic dragons and put on a quest to save them and the world.
At the same time courtly intrigued from a variety of nation states and mercenary companies threaten to get involved in this already perilous journey towards the edge of the world. What makes this strip shine is how the creative team takes that basic premise and just puts so much life into all of it that you don’t really care. Disteal and Rafa A.D., the art team, put so much life into this cast of characters that even if they are themselves tropes (the bickering couple, haughty warrior, himbo) they already threaten to push beyond their obvious reference point.
Which ever person is responsible for the layouts corrects my most common complaint about vertical strips: the gutter space is too large! While these strips are still primarily composed of square to rectangular panels, the gutter space that separates them is never overly large to get in the way of the sequential flow. That flow is important to getting across the dysfunctional dynamic of the party. Which in turn uses the disconnect of these panels as a representation of the teams overall lack of unity. This is especially clear in episode 4 as they battle a Cave-Sprung Undersider. This rhythmic use of paneling also gets across the increasing annoyance, and progressive slights, against Bree who despite being the nominal leader of the party isn’t listened to in the slightest. Though that might change after episode 5 when she obliterates said monster.
As previously mentioned, the coloring and overall aesthetic of this strip gives it a high fantasy sheen, which is plainly nice to look at. The rich color palette almost masks the line work at points giving everything a digital, painterly, feel. It reminds me of looking at Pixar concept art the way they handle dominant colors in individual panels/strips as indicators.
This is one of the most well composed strips I’ve read on here in a very long time. It’s worth checking out on that technical level alone, but the story and character work will get its hooks in you too.
