Welcome back, one and all, to The Webcomics Weekly! This week we have reviews of a new webcomic called “Scape” a webcomic about monsters and industrialization after generations of magical dominance. There is the new romcom strip called “Cupid’s Arrow.” Things get introspective and awkward in “Blood Stain” and I make the argument that Vlad is really a cat. As well as the continuing investigations of “Sam and Fuzzy” and the “Order of the Stick”
Let us know in the comments what you thought of these chapters. Did we get it right? Are there any new comics you’d like us to take a gander at? Think on it while you read the wonderful reviews from our intrepid team.
Blood Stain – Line – Tapas
Chapters 46-50
Schedule: currently on hiatus
By Linda Sejic
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
Things get introspective and awkward in this batch of strips from the second chapter of “Blood Stain.” Vlad continues to deal with the fallout from being call “Blood Stain,” Serge deals with the fact that his coffee is poisonous pudding, and Elly continued to wonder what it is exactly she got herself into. All the while Linda Sejic shows a couple of new tricks in the overall presentation of the series.
Vlad is like a cat, or at least the popular, memetic idea, of cats. All self-important and disinterested in the lives of others beyond how they could serve them. Vlad isn’t dismissive in this way cats are characterized as, he’s clearly someone who is just very overworked. Sejic draws him with some cat like mannerisms in chapter46 ‘judgement’ particularly in the panels where he pours his coffee and drinks it about half way through. Inbetween of course is the gag that the coffee is terrible, but there’s a sorta pompous grace to how he sits there. She also draws him with some great angry eyes. Those mannerisms mixed with his dialog dismissing Elly as already halfway out the window, which isn’t too far off. In a later strip as Serge chides him for not remembering how they talked about how they set Elly up in the first place the use of “blah” repeated over Vlad’s thoughts adds to the narcissistic cat qualities. Maybe I just have How to Train Your Dragon on the brain.
Sejic has some nice lettering in this batch of strips. Most of it isn’t new, how she’ll overlay dialog to make an interjection land better. In chapter 48 ‘awkward’ she lowers the opacity on a bit of Serge dialog asking Elly for a drink to great effect. The disappearing dialog is a great representation of Elly’s split and distracted point of view as she an Vlad have some breakfast. In that strip as well Sejic makes great use of exaggerated physical space and silence to emphasize the titular awkwardness. Somehow now that they’re in the same room together it’s even more awkward than all the prior stuff.
Of course things start to turn around as they bond over Serge’s terrible coffee. Food once again bringing everyone together.
Cupid’s Arrows
Chapters 1 – 4 (Down in New Orleans – Foolproof Face)
Updates: Wednesdays
By Thom Zahler
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
Thom Zahler has been making romance comics with heart for years, be it 2017’s “Time and Vine” from IDW to his previous Webtoon “Warning Label.” Now, he’s starting again with an old concept that already feels fresh thanks to his soft, slow approach and deeply endearing characters.
“Cupid’s Arrows” opens in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, where two cupids are on a mission to put a couple together. Throughout the first chapter, this is conveyed through the banter between our two leads who drop, sometimes inelegantly but never unnaturally, tidbits of their situation and the world. What makes this feel fresh is the effortless life Zahler breathes into these characters and the charm they exude as well as the relatively low stakes of the cupid profession.
In terms of design, Zahler’s characters are very angular, which may be off putting for some, especially those who haven’t seen his art before. Because of this, faces cannot be pushed towards the same range of expressions as a more versatile style would allow. However, this neither hinders nor diminishes the quality of the story & emotions he can convey through his characters.
Continued belowZahler is the master of the side-smile, of the eyes that have seen years of love and sadness and still believes in the unbridled joy of a quiet sunset with a significant other, hand in hand, breathing in each other’s presence and loving every content second. His characters feel worn in, from the way they speak to the way they interact with each other.
You can feel the history and, because of this, much of the hard work of establishing why this time is special, why we are focusing on them at this point in their lives, has already been done. All it takes are a couple lines about retirement or some wrenches in an otherwise regular mission and away we go. You can’t help but fall in love with these characters and wish the best of them. It’s only been four chapters but it feels like a lifetime and, I for one, cannot wait to see what’s in store next.
Order of the Stick
Pages 56-60
Updates: Varies
By Rich Burlew
Reviewed by Robbie Pleasant
By show of hands, is anyone surprised that the evil twin betrayed the party? No? Okay, say it with me: Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.
So yes, this is the part where the Linear Guild betrays the Order of the Stick, but things really do get tense. Elan, the comic relief bard, is lying on the floor bleeding. The healer is knocked out. The party is trapped behind a wall of ice. And a room full of monsters from previous editions are coming after them. It’s a rush, but not rushed, and provides dire straits and high stakes.
Of course, even with all that, we still get the comic’s usual brand of humor. Nale gets his villainous monologue, but he’d been rehearsing it for just this moment. They need to heal Elan, but it’s resolved through a gag about Belkar’s violent tendencies being a lack of low wisdom. The use of humor keeps the comic from taking a sudden swerve to the dark and serious, and it never takes itself too seriously.
We also get a nice resolution to the prophecy set up several pages ago. They even lampshade it in the comic by commenting “That’s a lot more planning than I thought this strip had.” And of course, they acknowledge that anyone with a goatee is probably going to be evil.
Dammit this comic is fun to read.
Even with the simplistic, flat art style, the pages are still filled with action and emotion. Though the characters may just have circles for heads and lines for arms, Rich Burlew manages to keep them expressive through the use of eyebrows and the shapes of their mouths alone. If you’ve never seen a look of shock and betrayal on a stick character’s face before, you will now. The style translates well to many of the monsters; while not all are immediately obvious, we still get some identifiable creatures like almiraj among the swarm of past-edition monsters.
If I have’t convinced you to read Order of the Stick yet, I don’t know what will. Seriously, go read it.
Sam and Fuzzy
Ninja Mafia Services parts 6-12
Updates: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
By Sam Logan
Reviewed by Dexter Buschetelli
“Sam & Fuzzy” really picks up with these five installment’s despite giving a more subdued plot for the series. Fuzzy takes Dev on a tour of some of N-M-S’s operations leading to light chuckles, outright hilarity, and a touching and poignant moment to round it out. Reviewing this series has at times been a joy, others a slog, But “Ninja Mafia Services” parts 6-12 showcase the brilliance of Sam Logan’s work.
Stuffing the ninja elders in a retirement home is such an on-brand beat for this series, with Fuzzy’s faux-obliviousness in reaction to Archie feeling like a perfect encapsulation of his character. This ties in with the end of parts 10 and 12, but the moments in between are a fun ride as Dev is also shown the Swillhole bar, the library, and the battleground for N-M-S’s two remaining assassins. The library provides my favorite bit with the Würdwürm, a Lovecraftian nightmare of a visual that showcases Logan’s talents for the disgusting, much like the Grrbls.
Continued below
While comedy always sits at center stage of this production, the moments of heart that it shows at times are well played, most especially when Fuzzy shows Dev the bank and the subsequent conversation she has with Sam at the office. For all his sarcasm and aloof personality, Fuzzy knows exactly what he is doing in this chapter. As he shows Dev that Sam is taking out yet another bank loan because “fixing people’s weird problems doesn’t pay the bills quite as often as theft and blackmail did,” Dev realizes how wrong she has been about Sam and N-M-S. Seeing this moment brings a tear to my eye just as a glimpse of a scarf does Fuzzy’s in the final moments.
These two may be goofballs, but at the end of the day there is much more beneath the surface, with Sam’s inherent need to help others and Fuzzy’s desire to learn more about his own existence and the fate of Hazel. The latter half of “Ninja Mafia Services” reinvigorates my interest in “Sam & Fuzzy” and once again exhibits just how much this series has going for it.
Pages 1.01 – 1.15
Updates: Sporadically
By Lauren Myers
Reviewed by Gustavo S. Lodi
“Scape” is a relatively new webcomic, with a Prologue and 15 pages on the main story, so new readers will need to make just a small investment to enter this world of magic ancestry, but told in a modern setting. It asks the question of how modern society would look like and behave should it have its roots firmly embedded unto the fantastic and ethereal.
Author Lauren Myers (on writing and artistic duties) offers an uneven beginning to the story, though, largely thanks to a very strong prologue, but a heavy-handed introduction to series protagonist Sula and her best friend Luis. Before dwelling on that, the largely positive first. One thing that is common to both the prologue and the first pages on the main chapter, is the high quality of art, from page and panel design, layouts and the creative introduction of character visuals and beasts. The entire drawing set is very consistent, painting a new reality very effectively and pulling its audience in. The more incredible elements are just out of whack to really come across as unique, but they still feel at place on the overall aesthetics Myers is going for.
Back to plot and script. What is so enticing about “Scape” on its prologue is how little it explains about the world, but provides enough context and interaction so that readers can figure key elements on their own. There is absolutely no narration or editorial reminders, so the action of the police force responding to a magical domestic threat need to be enough on their own. That respect to the reader’s intelligence and a compelling plot simply work hand in hand.
However, this is what makes it more jarring when the first 15 pages on chapter one are so bent on over-explaining the characteristics of its lead and main supporting cast. Dialogue feels stilted, repeating the same notions over and over, as if it were necessary to absolutely define traits and personalities, rather than letting actions do that. It is not that pages are filled with words (even if they are), but that those words don’t add much value to the entire package, as messages would be better delivered through interaction.
Still, despite this criticism, the nature of this new world should be more than enough to draw readers in. By being beutiful and compelling, it offers that energy that one needs to know more about it. As “Scape” progresses, it would fare even better if it keeps the same balanced approach clearly presented on its prologue, allowing their main characters to breathe a bit more.
