The Webcomics Weekly #78: The Reading from Home Edition (3/17/2020 Edition)

The Webcomics Weekly marches on towards its centennial column and continues its mission to inform you of the variety and interesting webcomics out there. This week, I continue my treck through “Trekker” and reach the peak of “Agents of the Realm” volume 1 pages 234-238. Elias brings us a look at “Bheapjack Gentlemen.” Jason conintues to look at “The Otherknown.” And Gustavo isn’t substituting “The Substitutes.”

Ok, now we are in my favorite span of pages from the first volume of “Agents of the Realm.” Specifically, the transformation sequence from pages 234-238, but the overall action sequence that ends the fifth chapter is clearly of a piece with that transformation. The transformation sequence is a kaleidoscopic montage of symmetrical imagery as the Agents go all Magical Girl. The use of symmetrical page design creates an interesting balance between homogeneity and heterogeneity. On a macro level the symmetrical pages comport each Agent into a similar set of panels that fit together like stained glass. The individual content of their transformations are unique, though you can see Louis balancing opposites off one another creating yet another layer of symmetry. With each Agent defined by a dominant color this sequence becomes a series of large splashes of color readers haven’t really gotten before. Blocking out the sequence in this way makes the sequence easy to read, but what gives the sequence its rhythm is setting it against the lyrics by Imani Q. Louis scripting and lettering is impactful and brief, leading the reader through this sequence where you can almost tap your foot to it. This is a digivolution or Sailor Moon transformation sequence as comic, it taps into the same medium skeuomorphic sensibilities of musical sequences out of “The Wicked + The Divine” or “Sex Criminals.”

I’ve frequently made asides marveling at the craft involved by Louis in smaller sequences, at all the little choices that make this such a readable – both in terms of comprehension and desire to read more – series. Those 5 pages are when everything feels like it came together in a big grand display that was completely earned on an emotional level. Readers have wondered how the team will work together up to this point, they all hugged it out a tad quick. This sequence visually cements them as a team.

Louis is doing all this and we still have a solid 5-page action sequence, with more backing vocals, that shows them helping one another. That core motif, them helping one another, is the thing that holds this sequence together. It becomes a bit of a relay race as each Agent gets their moment to shine helping one another defeat Fire Lion. The Fire Lion is monstrous in a technical monstrous sense, but lacks the horrifying qualities of previous Monster-Agents. Perhaps with the knowledge that these were once people is now changing their design.

This batch of pages ends the core narrative of chapter 5 and “Agents” volume 1 overall. We’ll finish off the volume with a look at a pair of interstitial chapters that will surely portend great drama and hints in a couple of weeks.

Victorian England is a fertile time for all sorts of stories: tiny children in industrial factories, debtors prisons that make it impossible to escape said debt, rich barons getting richer by consolidating their media-stroke-shipping-stroke-communications-stroke-factory-towns into a tiny number of companies and then tries to sell snake oil as net neutrality while owning more and more of people’s lives and data. . .what was I saying again? Right, opportunists and teaming-up in presumably the Victorian era. The nebulousness of the setting is to the benefit of “Cheapjack Gentlemen” by providing it with an air of surreality as we have a very sleazy British salesman in a decidedly western American looking town and the most undertakerly looking undertaker to ever undertaker.

It’s so much fun and we’re only six pages in.

Clearly, Rebecca C. is setting us up for a buddy comedy team-up of “The Odd Couple” proportions. From the personalities — the undertaker is prim and proper while the “cures what ails ya” liniment salesman is rough and dirty — to their designs — one is tall and lanky while the other is short and stout — they couldn’t be more different but the chemistry is clear, even with only two pages of interactions. It begins with hating each others’ guts but that will quickly evolve as they find the aspects they have in common. I love this kind of stuff and Rebecca is setting it up with gusto.

Reading “Cheapjack Gentlemen” feels like an old Fleischer cartoon, though somewhat less terrifying. Cartoony, with clean lines and thick borders, it’s a style that’s easy to sink into and lends itself to these expressive, striking characters. The characters are quickly established visually, through their designs and physicality, as well as through their dialog, which is a joy to read. The story is just getting started so pacing is hard to suss out but each page carries enough propulsion to make the return from the week wait satisfying. Plus, I live for the shit-eating-grin of “Cure What Ails Ya” Liniment guy.

For today’s “The Otherknown” I was in a bit of a pickle. The pages we’ll be going over are part of a much longer piece. First I went with pages 9-21, yet that’s a lot of pages to cover at once! So, I tried my damnedest to cut it down, while not doing it in a weird manner. No, I haven’t read ahead, so I’m making my way through it like ya’ll!

The last time we saw father and son duo, Judd & Reed Winsome, Judd was stuck under some debris following the incident at work. The first thing of note is how great of a father Judd continues to be. Even though his leg needs amputation he continues to think about how is son is feeling. Instead of traumatizing him, he makes light of the situation, as not to worry Reed. Merriman makes sure to visualize how terrified Reed is with constant shudders, which the others in the room notice and make sure the Doctor doesn’t say anything that could upset him. This gesture from Demeck would be nice if we had no idea how he only cares about money.

One aspect I continue to adore is Merriman’s ability to add small subtle history tidbits. Some bits are subtle, while more are in your face in these pages. Merriman expands a little on why Reed is the only kid, and a little bit about his mother. Whom, it seems he might feel remorse over from the framing Merriman applies. Nonetheless, we learn that Demeck was part of a group dubbed, “Grimringer.” Honestly, that’s a dope name and I can’t wait to learn more!

I love it when the lettering is played with. For such an important part of the storytelling, it feels like it flies under the radar or is underappreciated. Merriman has played with lettering before, yet one small panel in Chapter 2, Page 10 had me excited. In this, she hides the bubble’s line behind Reed as not to take to much of the panel. It’s such a small thing, yet it is immensely smart. But another great aspect is the lighting in the two locations seen in these pages. When in Judd’s room with the doctor it’s more light-hearted with the lighting following suit. Once Demeck and the doctor move outside to talk of more grave matters, the lighting becomes darker. This usage of lighting to help set the scenes is a wonderful way to control how the reader feels.

It’s great to see Judd & Reed again, even if we had to cut it short. These next few weeks before I look back at “The Otherknown” will be even harder.

“The Substitutes” has been a series on most past entries reasonably unbalanced in terms of its pacing, especially around long stints of exclusive character interaction on quieter moments, versus action-oriented and world building on others. While there is a lot to be appreciated on both, the series could be stronger if they were intertwined in a different way.

This time around, the new champions – or at least, reluctant champions – find themselves locked in the middle of a intense battle, with two magical wielders from the fantasy world they visited by accident, and inherent their powers and artefacts from.

As one would expect, this latest set of 10—odd pages are almost laser-focused on the action, and one that is very beautiful to behold. The scenes are well-coregraphed, the visual narrative is as strong as usual, and the colouring (although leaning too much into hues of blue for someone’s tastes) is clear. That over-reliance on one tone is almost aligned with the story itself and the energy signatures for the invading beings, so certainly no harm no foul.

That said… it suffers from the same pacing aspects as past entries. There is little made to connect to our heroes this time around, and even less so to the creatures that confront them. At times, it feels that every batch is a 180 degree turn from the previous one, in a constant effort to balance it up.

All in all, “The Substitutes” is well worth your time, by how cleverly designed it is and by its compelling characters, but readers might benefit from longer reading stints when more of the series is out.

The conclusion to this issue of “Trekker” continues Randall’s efficient work at expanding the world of New Gelaph. The phrase “world building” gets brought up a lot in a film industry dominated by a few (extremely) large corporations meant to maximize profits on a few intellectual properties. I hate that phrase because it is often used as storytelling without actually telling a story. The creation of stuff does not a narrative make. Randall doesn’t make stuff in these 12 pages, he tells a story. With Mercy now on the case he uses that plot to give a glimpse into the world of New Gelaph, what kind of systems it runs on, and insight into Mercy as a character. By the end of this issue Mercy appears to be more in line with the lawful evil of Judge Dredd than swaggering Han Solo of the first batch of strips, and maybe despite her casual demeanor she isn’t to happy with that either.

Randall is very efficient in these 12 pages setting up for the potentially totalitarian aspects of New Gelaph and exploring Mercy’s character often together without the feeling of awkward forces requiring something to be there. Mercy goes out for a breakfast date with Molly, allowing us to see Mercy in a new environment and scenario, as well as bring up the idea of food consumption and how that works in the dystopian New Gelaph. Molly isn’t exactly a three-dimensional character, she lacks the page time to be that, but her presence as a friend to Mercy – someone who isn’t related to law or criminality gives dimension to Mercy.

Randall’s action staging continues to be solid. Having a sequence again built around the lack of night vision seems a bit repetitive.

The real efficiency and craft comes in Mercy’s final showdown with Stravin and the discovery of what he smuggled in. The contraband are essentially space chickens that breed like rabits, which is great for developing an independent food supply outside of the jurisdiction of Gelaph’s government. The whole sequence is only 2 pages, more like 1 and a half as he blows himself up in a large explosion. Their brief conversation about the nature of his contraband, why it is labeled as such, ties everything in this issue together. The pacing and structure of this book differed from the first, but shows some good examples of how to be efficient in a medium built on it.