Welcome back to The Webcomics Weekly!
It’s the full on Holiday season now, oddly I have yet to come across really timely holiday themed webcomics specifically. One off ones sure, but not ones that have a Holiday episode as a part of the ongoing series. Still this week we have “Falling In Blue,” “Lavender Jack” making a public debut, the continued journey up the “Tower of God” and an odd couple for the ages with “Medusa and the Blind Preistess”
Falling In The Blue
Episode 1 – 5
Updates: Tuesdays
By SimzArt
Reviewed by Jacob Cordas
You ever wander through a dog park for the pets? Big dogs, small dogs, fluffy dogs and hairless dogs jump around ready for attention and you have to make sure they all get the pets they deserve. They are all just so goddamn cuddly. You can’t help but want to give them as many hugs as you possibly can. There might be better trained dogs out there, maybe more proactive ways to spend time with those pupperinos but a good hug is all you need.
I can think of no better metaphor for SimzArt’s “Falling In The Blue” than the experience of a puppy party. The art is adorable and cuddly. Character designs are distinct while still maintaining a warmth regardless of heroism. The art feels reminiscent of a more anime oriented Pendleton Ward, a bounciness that is carried through with the heavy lines, not in spite of them.
The science fiction elements take it a step further. Narratively it creates a mix between “Sea of Stars” and “Futurama” to make sure we have working class heroes that are instantly relatable. More important though is aesthetically, where we are treated to a space that sparkles. Little stars dance across the panels. Motion gets carried by impossible colors that allow something that is far more a van than a spaceship to zoom across in dazzling purples and blues.
The writing struggles to live up to the stratosphere the art is casually existing in. It does its best though. On a purely technical level, it is able to clearly define characters and the world. Motivations are easily distinguishable. Voices are clear to the point where you can remove art and you’d be able to tell exactly who is saying what. It does deserve credit for being able to so effortlessly maintain the tone of the story.
But the art is so well done, it’s not its fault it can’t keep up. Reading through this is like being rocketed to the moon with an Instagram filter on the screen. It may not have much substance to it but it doesn’t need it. A sponge cake is still a delicious snack and a puppy pile-on is still a perfect playdate.
For a relaxing, cuddly experience, you can’t go wrong with “Falling In The Blue.”
Lavender Jack
Pages: Episodes 10-13
Schedule: Tuesdays – currently on seasonal hiatus
By Dan Schkade
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
“Lavender Jack” is a ball this week as it’s time for the annual solstice festival ball. This batch of episodes are more effectively read as a combined narrative than a set of individual episodes, although episode 10 works well enough on by itself.
The setting of the ball, a cavernous old fort used to commemorate the original founding of the city state, possess some interesting artistic problems for the vertical scroll format. How do you get across the feeling of expanse in the belly of this building when the horizontal width of the image is considerably restrained? Schkade gets around this by emphasizing the highet of the ball room, as the titular Jack hides about in the rafters broadcasting his message like he were V. While we never really get that big wide view of the ball room, by having the ceiling so high up creates the feeling of expanse. It also gives Schkade several places to do fairly fluid panel transitions as if his image was one long tracking shot.
The ball sequence has certain echoes to the Mob Dinner Party from “Batman: Year One,” both serve as major coming out parties for Batman and Jack, taking a step from urban legend into urban reality. Schkade does an excellent job finding the expressive angles within the Jack suit without making the suit itself terribly anthropomorphic. That goes on to some degree, but it isn’t like Iron Man is suddenly frowning
Continued belowThe lettering in this series has largely been fine, in episode 11 however the role of lettering in creating a cadence and tone for the dialog comes through. Inspector Ferrier rightly points out some subtle accent work in Sir Mimley’s voice, which is surely going to come back to haunt him. It was a small but nice moment where the medium of comics came forward to show how it created the equivalent aspect of other media and reality.
‘1. Into the Forest’ – ‘3. Duty Calls’
Updates: Wednesdays
By Puré
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
While I will fully admit Greek myths and Ancient Greece as a setting are played out in western literature, I always get a little thrill when I see new takes on these archetypes and settings. The misunderstood monster (literal, not hyperbolic) is another trope that’s everywhere in reimaginings and it’s another that I’m an absolute sucker for. It should come as no surprise that “Medusa and the Blind Priestess” is a comic I enjoyed the heck out of. There’s an undeniable charm to Puré’s rendering of the normally scary Gorgon without sacrificing the threatening, ominous nature of the character.
The best example of what I mean is comparing her intro to the portrait of her at the end of ‘Duty Calls.’ Her intro has her cast in shadows, looming, but instead of coming off as threatening, she appears curious but spooky. At the end of ‘Duty Calls,’ she looks wild and vicious, covered in shadow, contrasting the bright portrayal of Hygieia, who’s regal and composed. Part of this also comes down to Puré’s style. Everyone is bouncy and round, with huge eyes and tiny features, emphasizing the emotions of the character and playing up the comedy of expressions.
Thus far, there’s very little to go with in terms of plot but after a meet-cute between the titular characters in the forest and a brief introduction to our principal cast, the shape of the narrative is beginning to come into relief. On the one hand, I’m glad the first two chapters made short work of the intro instead of dragging it out but on the other hand, it feels like we rushed out of the forest so that the plot propper could be kicked off. It’s a minor gripe as the comic is still in the early stages and the charm it exudes more than makes up for it.
Even if the whole thing were just slice-of-life moments between Medusa and the priestess Aria, I would keep reading in a heartbeat. The teaser of something more only sweetens the pot.
Tower of God
Tower of God: Season 1 Eps. 43-51; Episode 9 – “The One-Horned Ogre”
Updates: Mondays (Currently on Hiatus in English)
By SIU
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
What do you desire? Money and wealth? Honor and pride? Authority and power? Revenge? Or something that transcends them all? Whatever you desire—it can be yours if you climb the tower.
We’ve got changes galore here this week, half of which were necessary to ensure that the show didn’t end up with Shonen anime-itis, wherein the decompression of the comics is translated to the screen, the other half being born from the usual confluence of a tighter telling of the same events and stronger character consistency.
On the character end, Hoh’s greater level of cynicism and the choice to keep the letter’s contents secret means that Tower of God is able to keep his ultimate motives and actions a secret until the reveal in “One-Horned Ogre” whereas in “Tower of God,” the dramatic irony is in favor of the audience, allowing SIU to play with the idea of “multiple betrayals.” This is why his departure from Serena plays out differently in both, with it more abrupt and worrying in the show, whereas in the comic we know what’s coming, and Serena sees Hoh run in the opposite direction, which builds anticipation but not necessarily dread.
It also affects the way the climax plays out, which I’ll get to later because HOO BOY was I in for a treat. As far as which works better, while I like the mystery of the show more — it’s a better fit for the format to build and release tension — both work fine for building a secondary tension in an arc with a lot going on.
Continued belowQuant is less flippant in the comic and more serious whereas in the show his constant need to be the jokester shines through his quick temper. He’s still able to get “serious” but it’s underscored by a rage and impatience that isn’t in the comic, which in turn drives his choices in the climax, as well as in a scene played for laughs that completely changes the finale.
One other change I’m gonna talk about before pivoting to the finale is in the way Endorsi’s background in given to us. In the comic, it’s, unsurprisingly, dolled out over a longer period of time and a lot more direct. It’s delivered in the first person directly to Bam and, most importantly, includes the detail that she beat someone once, got a taste of the table, and then maneuvered to take over the rest. In the show, it’s told almost like a storybook, entirely in the passive third person, with a tantalizing lack of concrete details, which forces you to read between the lines, the visuals reinforcing the messages or supplying an impressionistic detail that allows one to gather what isn’t being said.
A red piece of bleeding meat in a sea of blue stands out even more when accompanying the words “but from a certain day forward, she was able to enjoy everything and eat all the food herself.” “Eat all the food herself” does a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence and makes her “confession” far more sinister. Rather than being a person of greed and jealousy, who wanted more once she had a taste, she’s a person of conniving spirit, driven by hunger and desperation and shaped by her situation to see destruction of others as the only path to the top.
Endorsi in “Tower of God” is also less aloof and elitist, a fact that’s conveyed in the change in how she tells her story in Tower of God, where the edge her story has is clear from the start while in “Tower of God,” that edge only really creeps in when she takes out the other fishermen, showing off her needle and thread weapon that’s not in the show at all. That choice to split it across the chapter works because it’s a comic, and I like that SIU withholds that revelation until later, though I find it more effectively conveyed in the show, helped in that her betrayal occurs at the end of last week’s episode instead of happening after she tells her story.
Making that change also cut out an extraneous scene as Bam & Endorsi’s conflicting approach to competition and strength is highlighted in the subsequent scene and we don’t need to have it introduced with Bam being self conscious. That’s not really who he is in the show and it makes the conflict afterwards feel like more of a battle of worldviews than of swords and weapons, which is far more interesting in this context. This is further reinforced by the other changes to the fight that are made, the severe reduction in back and forth (and the importance of the other characters) and Endorsi & Bam centering their conversation more around the ethics of what she’s doing and questioning what Bam wants versus what Rachel wants. Rachel’s presence in Bam’s mind is also increased in the show while his uncertainty is more apparent in the comic. Knowing he thinks “what’s so special about the stars” but not caring because it’s what Rachel wants is central to understanding his thought process in the comic whereas in the show, his devotion to Rachel is more dependent.
OK. That’s enough character introspection. Let’s get down to brass tacks because the sheer amount of plot threads and motive trees “The One-Horned Ogre” throws at us is crushing, and that’s nothing compared to what’s happening in the corresponding chapters. All the changes above affect the climax of the episode but there’s one scene added to the show, ostensibly being one of the only comedic scenes of the whole episode, which manages to make everything from when Hoh gets Rachel out of her lighthouse to the end of the episode/chunk of chapters different.
Continued below
That’s right: It’s the fucking Spear Bearers Revolution.
I cannot fucking believe this was an important plot point in the comic. The show dunks on Pericule and the other Spear Bearer for their nonsense plan, one which I even pointed out eluded me last time, and then takes them out like the chumps they are, while having Quant read them the riot act. But BUT the comic? He doesn’t do that! He goes after Hoh right away rather than taking them out for messing with a plan that might have worked if not for them. Because of this, and because Quant’s character in the comic is less impetuous and prideful, the Spear Bearers are able to get away, capture Serena and another rando, convert the gunslinger I could have sworn was dead to their side, and then show up to plant the idea of fighting Quant into Hoh’s head.
It’s fucking WILD and utterly bonkers and I have to say, while it would never have worked in the show — it’s just a little too silly for that — I was having a blast trying to follow the back and forth nonsense of that chapter as well as the ways it allowed the events past Hoh’s death to change in small and not so small ways. The appearance of the Spear Bearers changes the calculus on Quant’s reasoning for leaving Bam to fight Hoh, giving him a more active roll in the scene, while also taking some of the agency and desperation away from Hoh.
Hoh in Tower of God has been characterized by his intense guilt, inferiority complex, and a feeling of creeping dread that he won’t be able to avenge his fallen family, friends, and people because he isn’t strong or naturally talented like Bam or the others. Him looking and acting like he’s been backed into a corner and is lashing out helps support his actions in previous episodes and makes it the natural conclusion to his arc; the change to why and how he stabs Rachel being the ultimate expression of this.
This is less emphasized in the comic, making Hoh seem more like a standard villain, complete with sneering and a more composed attitude. The human tragedy is lost, which is a shame as that’s the most compelling part of Hoh. Serena recognizes it and laments in at the end and her speech is more impactful for it.
In fact, her anger at Endorsi is more effective and powerful in the show as well because she wasn’t captured and instead was coming off the death of the one person she thought of as a potential friend. It’s a cool anger, frustrated at her betrayal as she sees Endorsi as the kind of person Hoh was angry at as well as projecting her anger at Hoh onto Endorsi. It’s a misstep to have Serena angry at Endorsi for “allowing Hoh’s death to happen as the tag” in the comic and that’s fixed here through clever writing and a damn fine job of making a single change that had far lasting ramifications.
Oh, and there’s the small matter of the “He” that told him what would happen in the show that isn’t mentioned in the comic. This bit of foreshadowing is a nice seed planted that leaves us and Hoh mostly baffled but upon a rewatch is a great way of making the arc feel a little more cohesive. Plus it explains why Quant knew where Hoh was.
There’s a lot more I could go into with “The One-Horned Ogre.” Hell, I could probably write another 2000 words on this episode’s changes and the interesting and clever ways they ensured that characters remained consistent without sacrificing the major plot beats of the comic but I’ll wrap things up for this week. In two weeks (or four, depending on when we take our break,) we’ll enter the final four with episode 10, “Beyond the Sadness.”
