Our march to the centineal of Webcomics Weekly continues and this week we have a comic called *checks notes* “The Little Trashmaid.” They just want to be part of our world. We also have continuing coverage of “Agents of the Realm,” “Chickenface,” “The Otherknown,” and “Trekker.” It is an eclectic group of strips this week but that is one of the real joys of this column, seeing all the varied webcomics out there.
Pages 325-335(Ch7)
Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays
By Mildred Louis
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
I love it when a plan and comic come together. This chapter of “Agents” has been about good communication and Louis models what that is as the Agents come together to support Jordan and hopefully subvert the looming anime betrayal. To reinforce that example of what a healthy relationship looks like we also get to see Sahar try to protect her wife and keep her out of this drama for at least one day, and she isn’t even bad in attempting to do that. Where the breakdown occurs is how she boxes Jade as means to keep her from diving back into her mission.
Louis has a knack for plainly good expressive cartooning, these tend to exist in the positive to comedic realm of emotions. Jade is not in that space and Louis sells that feeling, it isn’t overwrought, they use the normal body language one would associate with sadness and exhaustion. But there is just this subtle way the Jade’s eyes encapsulate everything her body is telling the reader on a micro level that makes it all work.
This batch of pages also features some solid comic book storytelling as Norah waits for Jordan to come out of a bathroom stall. Louis employs a simple three panel sequence, but it takes place over an indeterminate amount of time due to repeated imagery of Norah sitting. The only way readers understand some amount of time has passed is through the sudden appearance of a person, like how in a cartoon we see time pass by the shadows changing. There is a similar effect used in the first issue of “The Monolith” as the protagonist waits on a bench and it could be hours or 30 minutes. The point being it makes the reader feel the passage of time even if the exact amount is nebulous. Jordan could’ve been in that bathroom for hours or maye 5 minutes. I’d assume the latter, but you don’t know.
Chapter 2 pages 6-10
Updates: Sundays
By KJ Murr
Reviewed by Dexter Buschetelli
‘Chapter 2’ of “Chickenface” continues its look back at our titular protagonist’s horny demon daddy meeting his love and the mother of his child for the first time. These installments give names to the parental figures of Lucas and Carmelita. They also show Carmelita to be quite cold towards Luz, both in the past and the present. Previously we only saw Carmelita driven by her craving for lunch chunks, so it is nice to see some light shed on Luz and his love–or lust?–for her and her indifference towards him.
These first ten pages (of which I covered the first half two weeks ago of ‘Chapter 2’ really showcase how adept Murr is as a cartoonist. When all the monsters and body horror is stripped away, Murr presents characters who are distinct and expressive. Panels never feel phoned in, as time is taken to craft each one and truly convey the emotions of the characters without being over the top when something more subdued is called for.
“Chickenface” also carries its own unique style. Nothing in the series makes it immediately feel like anything else, even though its influences can be seen. The shot of Carmelita certainly has shades of the animation style of Bébé’s Kids but unless you’ve just recently watched that film like I have, you’re unlikely to pick up on this. I’m excited to see more of the monsters that Murr has promised, but these more intimate character beats serve to show off the real promise of “Chickenface” and of KJ Murr’s abilities as a creator.
Chapter 2, Pages 52-57
Updates: Wednesday/Saturday
By Lora Merriman
Reviewed by, Jason Jeffords Jr
Tension is ramping up, so let’s hop right in! The pages here don’t seem as dense as I thought they would be, yet we learn a little more about the element known as Chronotite. This via Merriman expanding “The Otherknown” Universe with some choice dialogue from Demeck. Having not taken a suit to look at the Chronotite he mentions he is going to die. The reader and Ajupris’ worker think this is due to exposure, yet it seems like exposure isn’t a big deal, as A.I.D.E. lied so workers wouldn’t steal it. At least, that’s what it seems like with Demeck’s dialogue about the element and A.I.D.E. However we learn that Demeck will die due to the deal he made with Ajupris, as it seems his superiors and him had no idea the Chronotite was located here. We end the update with Ajupris confronting Demeck. It seems the next update will be a big one!
The first thing that stood out was how gorgeous Merriman makes the Chronotite. The colors are bright with an illuminating glow that mesmerizes you. The colors pop off your computer screen, and if I saw it in real life I would probably buy it. Merriman did a great job with the aura of the element, now just to learn more of it. Yet another aspect that Merriman excels at here is the lettering. She changes the style a few times that help amplify each page and make the moments shine even more.
Although we learned only a little bit of Chronotite in Chapter 2, Pages 52-57 it’s a good update that expands enough of the Universe, while teasing you with the future. Sadly, there was one moment that felt out of place. During Page 57 when Ajupris arrives at the scene to confront Demeck a character shouts, “OMG she’s so hot!” This panel is in the middle of a high tension scene that’s supposed to build drama. Yet, with that little humor added in, it breaks said tension and feels quite weird. Nonetheless, “The Otherworld” continues to impress.
The Little Trashmaid
‘Introduction’ – ‘Gaming Time’
Updates: Every Other Friday
By s0s2
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
If Disney’s The Little Mermaid features the whimsy and wonder of a mermaid princess discovering human treasure lost to the bottom of the sea, then “The Little Trashmaid” is the realistic, 21st century version, just replace steel forks with plastic and jeweled crowns with Borgur King wrappers. I mean, when you think about it, what is undersea treasure if not old, wood and metal trash littering the sea floor. . .I promise “The Little Trashmaid” isn’t a downer! It’s actually really funny while being simultaneously stomach churning and at the same time really sweet.
s0s2’s art style captures that Disney charm while layering over it a film of grime and trash. The titular mermaid, who is finally named in ‘Introduction,’ Tidy’s clothes are made of plastic bags, her jewelry plastic hair clips and bottle tabs, her colors muted like it’s always covered in oil. The oceans are murky and full of nylon fishing lines, trash bags thrown out of passing car windows, and cigarette butts. It’s a searing indictment of our treatments of the ocean and our continued indifference to the damage we’re doing, from both uncaring individuals to giant corporations (who, let’s be honest, are doing most of the damage and then shifting blame to individual action). Yet it’s all couched in a bubbly, funny and entirely wordless, save for ‘Introduction’s’ name exchange, comic.
I love how s0s2 keeps each episode short yet tells a complete story with no confusion. Their artwork is slick and bouncy and isn’t afraid to push panels to their extreme to sell the gag, like in ‘Tangled 2’ when Tidy mistakes Riley’s cast for something akin to the fishing line she’s always got stuck on her arm that Sebastian, the main land boy, cuts off of her. While there’s not a huge story being told, the comic is constantly moving forward between vignettes, like finally introducing us to Riley, the boy Sebastian has a crush on, or, you know, giving us a name for the main character, Tidy.
Continued belowI may be late to the bandwagon for this comic, most episodes have 50,000 likes on Webtoon despite being in Canvas, but it’s a ton of fun and very funny while being kinda gross. Give it a go and I promise you’ll swim away happy.
Pages: 11-18 Book 08 ‘Vincent’s Share’
Schedule: Mondays
By Ron Randall(writing and art), Ken Bruzenak(lettering)
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
‘Vincent’s Share’ comes to a conclusion in this second strip. This two part story being condensed down to an 18 page story is an interesting example of how page constraints effect story and how this story is told. ‘Vincent’s Share’ was the first time Randall returned to a fairly consistent narrator prose besides the opening page setup. It really forces each page to be a compact scene unto itself. That extra lettering crowds the page some but his art is still fairly remarkable. 18 Pages is not too far off from a standard single issue comics (20-22 pages), Randall’s work didn’t leave me wanting an extra page. Did things move fast, yes. We are suddenly thrown into a black market mind implantation scheme in the span of half a page. That speed is in the comics favor as it helps to reinforce the fraught game Vincent was playing in his pursuit of a big score. You don’t realize it until Randall lays in a couple of panels of Vincent getting his face pounded into mush, easily the most violent imagery of the comic thus far, and the storytelling coheres and it makes an impact on the reader. Which than allows for the final page denouement that turns this fun little side story into a key turning point for Mercy’s character All of this in 8 pages.
There is a sort of “Kamandi Challenge” quality to how quickly Randall churns through plot. On the opening page Mercy and Vincent are tailing their marks only for something to happen at the final panels. Which leads to them running for their lives through a death tunnel all of a sudden. It’s a lot but the layout and lettering by Randall gives the twelfth page the necessary energy for you to just go with it. The use of three thin horizontal panels as to create a sense of impossible distance for Mercy and Vincent to cross, flanked by onomatopoeia, creates this perfect tension so when they chump the reader feels afraid for their safety.
All of this escalation is at once informed by the necessity of page budgets, but it also facilitates the core theme of the story: “The Ecstasy of Gold” will lead to your downfall. All of this escalation also creates a false sense of security, they’ve survived so much surely they will make it out this time and get their big score. And than Vincent gets his face pounded into mush, and Randall nails the death scene! It is a moment of shocking and brutal violence that gives “Trekker” a sense of physical danger and stakes it hasn’t really had before. That shock leaves Mercy with more to think on as she journeys back to earth and Paul and all of the growing drama she doesn’t even know about yet.
