The Webcomics Weekly returns with a menu of foodie comics. With a name like Plague Muffins what more is there to say? Would you perhaps want some anchovy to go along with it? Maybe “Within” it? “Lavender Jack” dosen’t really have a food theme but they do eat a fair bit in that strip.
‘The Glass Chanterelle’ Chapters 1-8
Updates: Weekly
By Tri Vuong & Irma Kniivila
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
I have been craving a good-old classic detective story and while “The Good Asian” has been satisfying that hunger, I’ve also been looking for something a little sweeter. In swoops Tri Vuong with his webcomic “Anchovie Akiyama,” a truly classic feeling detective story akin to the Christie’s Poirot crossed with a bit of the action of Raiders of the Lost Ark and just a small dash of Inspector Clouseau.
“Anchovie’s” first chapter sets the stakes for ‘The Glass Chanterelle,’ with the subsequent chapters establishing all we need to get invested in Anchovie’s life. He is a former detective who’s returned to his hometown of St. Romaine from Tokyo after something mysterious happened out there and now has to clear his brother’s name of murder along with his childhood friend Sophie. We’ve got evil barons, scarred henchs and assassins, and a cryptic journal with a secret map drawn by the now dead adventurer. What’s not to love! Well, there are a couple things.
The first three chapters take a bit to find their footing and rhythm. I love the silent opening, teasing us as to what might be the cause of our John Doe’s death, but after that, things become more uneven. Part of why the pacing feels odd is that Vuong will split panels and reuse them for an establishing shot if they’re too long. This is great for mobile users, where space is at a premium and you don’t want your text getting lost, but it because the faces don’t get varied, it’s obvious when a panel has been cropped and zoomed in on. Rather than creating a good sense of motion through time, these panels halt that motion in artificial ways. Thankfully, Vuong starts to figure out how to keep this as part of the visual language of the comic without the jarring nature of the cropping. It still happens but it’s far less noticeable by the time we get to chapter eight.
Vuong’s art is bouncy and blocky, which gives the story an air of fun even when things are getting tense, which is perfect for this kind of adventure story. I love his cartooning and when combined with Kniivila’s flat coloring, it really sings. Anchovie is a goof, Sophie is the perfect foil for him, and Baron Bechemel is a snake who has barely had any panel time and I already love to hate him. I have a feeling we’re about to be embroiled in something much bigger than anything Anchovie could have expected and hot damn can I not wait to find out what it is.
It’s been two years since I covered Tri Vuong’s previous webcomic “The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn” and while I miss the skull-faced ghost hunter, I’m glad to be able to read Anchovie’s new (mis)adventures, especially after these eight chapters.
Episodes 59-61
Schedule: Tuesdays
By Dan Schkade(writing and art), Jenn Manley Lee(color)
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
After a rather eventful set of strips Dan Schkade and Jenn Manley Lee turn things down to a simmer as the stage begins to be set for the Black Note’s ominous chorus. Describing a set of strips where there is an assassination attempt on the Lord Mayor as keeping things at a simmer sounds off, but after a supervillain tries to drop a theater on you in a grand gesture a lone gunman doesn’t really do much to get the blood flowing. Allowing things to simmer away allows Schkade to if not push plot forward, lean into their cartooning to take stock of how everyone is feeling to this new normal.
Sir Mimley and Ducky are putting up a good face as they try to deal with someone who is not unlike them. It’s a nice role reversal. A character Schkade does a lot of emotional work with is Joshua Palfolk, the would-be assassin and someone who in an interesting parallel isn’t too dissimilar from Mimley in terms of class distinction. We never really see his face in the opening of episode 59, instead the comic becomes the means of expressing his mental-emotional state. It’s not doing very well with the Black Note always in his ear, the pnaels never fully stand straight or square. Lee colors his degrading apartment in a progression of greys. And yet we see these giant blue eyes from time to time that just grab you. Those eyes are what grab you as he tries to kill Endo Gall, they’re terrified and tired all at once. Schkade also reduces the eyes and bodies around Palfolk so you focus on him.
Continued belowMy inner reading voice has landed on how I hear the Black Note speak, it’s Tobin Bell from Saw. The lettering does a great job of giving the feeling of omnipresence for the Note in Palfolk’s apartment and later when Lavender Jack shows up.
With the strip working toward the long game Schkade inserts a strip that isn’t unlike the great secret history of the Hawthorne’s in the form of a letter from Theresa Ferrier. The strip is at once a solid condensed retelling of the first season as well as a catch up on what her and Margeurite have been up to. Ferrier has done all she can on the mysterious yet omnipresent green ring that all our aristocratic- bureaucratic baddies seem to wear. Long time readers don’t learn anything more than they already know, but because of the pace of this batch of strips its allowed to linger as this ominous symbol of … something.
It’s interesting reading-rereading this strip in chunks vs the weekly pace of the third season. How those two ways of consumption seem to reveal or elide pacing choices.
Prologue and Chapter 1-5
Updates: Thursday
By Erin Kirkland
Reviewed by Devin Tracy Fairchild
When our recent widespread, deadly pandemic first hit in late 2019 early 2020, as a culture we turned to imagery and iconography of the terrible Bubonic Plague of the 1660s. All over social media there were memes and viral videos featuring the iconic plague doctor’s masks. Not only were they creepy and cool, they were somewhat reassuring because they brought our attention to the fact that civilization had survived several plagues in the past. In the ensuing quarantine that lasted just over a year we were all cut off from the world. Many of us went months without leaving our houses. So we had to find hobbies and activities we could do from the comfort of our own homes. Some people knitted or crocheted or made their own clothes. Some people learned a musical instrument. But perhaps the most common quarantine activity was baking. Baking was not only a fun diversion, something that could be done in solitude, but it also had the benefit of feeding us. “Plague Muffins” by Erin Kirkland or Erin [187 combines the iconic images of the plague doctor with the contemporary fascination with baking we had during our most recent quarantine because of our worldwide pandemic.
This is perhaps the most unique webcomic I’ve reviewed so far. There is a reason it is trending on WEBTOON after just five chapters and a prologue. It combines our fascination with the image of the plague doctor with our fascination with baking in a fun, unusual way. The plague Doctor Scilis has created a muffin that can cure the Bubonic Plague and he has done it quite by accident. Imagine being team muffin instead of team Johnson & Johnson, or team Moderna? Imagine a cure for the virus and not just vaccine. And imagine that cure is delicious. Erin [187 has created a world where this is the case. This comic is not only a cute concept, but the artwork is adorable while still being rather sophisticated. There are a lot of warm beiges and browns typical of the era and each of the masks are unique to the personality of the wearer and not uniform or identical. They take on the character of the individual. The scheming Machiavellian head doctor Malcom has red eye holes and a pitch black mask. By contrast the kind and compassionate Scilis has a white mask.
What sticks out for me about the art is the painstaking attention to detail both in character design and the intricate backgrounds. The houses and buildings come to life with vibrant colors and characteristics of the buildings seem to be accurate to the period but also go a long way to bring the world to life. Even though the plague doctors are never seen outside their masks, by other gestures and movements we can almost know what their facial expressions might be, almost as much as we would if we were able to see their actual faces.
Continued belowEven at this preliminary stage of the narrative, the story is already quite developed. There is a lot at stake with these characters and plenty of intrigue, conflict and tension that will likely sustain it for many chapters to come. The female doctor known simply as Apprentice is being sent by the scheming Doctor Malcom to bring the kind Doctor Scilis down and immediately she is conflicted over this mission. She instantly sees the humanity of Scilis and is drawn to him and also amazed by his skills as a baker. And his tender soul. She is a greenhorn when it comes to baking but Scilis is patient with her and determined to teach her how to bake his secret lifesaving recipe. This comic is distinct and set apart from the pack because of its warm, intricate art style, but also because of its subject matter and approach.
Even as in many places the pandemic is on the decline, it is still deadly and active and even as I write this people are still dying from it. But rather than create a story set in the present pandemic, Erin [187 is able to comment on our current woes through a fairly historically accurate call back to one of the worlds worst pandemics, with delicate humor and deep humanity. And some kick ass baking. I can’t bake to save my life, but I am still a big fan of things like the “Great British Baking Show” and there are echoes of this trend in this comic in a fun and quirky way. This comic is funny, cute, sensitive and fascinating and certainly gets an “A” for originality. The artist doesn’t cut any corners and nothing is wasted. It has all the perfect ingredients for a hit: one cup of emotion, a dash of humor and a whole lot of tenderness and beautiful artwork. I highly recommend this elegant palatable comic.
Chapter 8 (Page 158-183)
Updates: Tuesday
By Verena Loisel
Reviewed by Mel Lake
At the end of my last review, I said things were escalating for Redhead, our hitman protagonist. And I was right! In chapter 8 of “Within,” Redhead’s dream self faces off against the bug in a tuxedo who has been keeping him from leaving the house that has been haunting his dreams since the beginning of the comic. And in the real world, Redhead finally seems to be emerging from the shell of depression and amnesia that cloud his interactions with everyone and everything he encounters. Both of these developments had me cheering him on, glad to see his fragile state improving after one hundred and fifty pages of anxiety.
Perhaps it was the acceptance of the last chapter, where Redhead seems to willingly transform into his dream alter-ego, or perhaps he simply got sick of existing in a half-fugue state, but Redhead woke in chapter 8 to a whole new lease on life. He receives a new job from his mystery bosses but decides not to take it. And while walking around the city, he seems to actually see the world around him in color for the first time. I’ve talked about the colors in “Within” before, but this chapter used them again very effectively. I’ve become so accustomed to seeing Redhead’s interactions with the real world in the same muted colors. So when he finally comes out of it and sees brightness in the world around him, the effect is striking.
In the parallel world of Redhead’s dreams, he finally fights off the bug that guards the exit to the dream house and leaves. He is helped by the pregnant ant woman, whose role in the dream has always been unclear to me. She typically appears when Redhead’s dream self is panicking or upset, telling him to calm down. Here, she helps him fight, but won’t join him in the world outside the house. At the end of the chapter, Redhead encounters his neighbor, who we’ve seen in brief flashes before. Perhaps, having finally confronted the things keeping him from actively participating in his life (and his dreams), Redhead will find out who she is and recover some of his lost memories. I certainly hope so!
Redhead’s expressions have been very subtle throughout the comic, so it was interesting to see him with wider eyes and even something resembling a smile in this chapter. Jay, Redhead’s perky friend, sketches him as a face with a very small but unmistakable smile. The panel shows Redhead’s wide-eyed reaction to it, and though his face is drawn simply, the emotion in it is clear. I’m glad to see Redhead turning the page and being a more active participant in his life and dreams, though I’m sure quitting his job and figuring out his past won’t be as simple as opening a dream door.
