Is It Wednesday? Webcomic Reviews

This week’s spotlight is on Avalia by Delaney Januzzi!

Updates: Tuesdays Recommended if you liked: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Elantris, Mistborn, A Darker Shade of Magic, Princess Mononoke, The Nameless City

I don’t want to give away too much of this comic, because the awe-inspiring nature of its story and landscapes is part of what makes it so magical to read.

So I’ll try to give you enough of an idea that you want to dive right in.

Two countries balance precariously between a peace treaty... or another war. 

While the Crown Princess Delmareve reluctantly walks toward a marriage she couldn’t care less about, the world outside the palace struggles with a disease both deadly and seemingly incurable. A young man named Revan sets off to find the cure, but his search for answers reveals that a cure is perhaps beyond the reach of anyone - anyone except a royal authority.

Avalia may not look like it at first, but it’s strength is in its varied portrayal of family dynamics. Whether that’s in the royal family with Delmareve and her parents, or with the townie Revan and his mother, this story shows the ways that we are bound to those we care about and the ways family may not care for us in the way we want.

Full of intrigue, Avalia pulls you into sprawling landscapes, larger-than-life battles, and political tensions. Its immersive world will make you stop to catch your breath, as you experience the majestic of this world alongside its young protagonists. Characters and their motivations will make you want to root for their success (or their failure). Within pages of meeting each character, I was ready to go to battle with General Asher, ready to travel the world with Revan, ready to run away with Francesca.

Read it here from the beginning!

This week’s spotlight is on Novae by KaiJu.

Updates: Monday and Thursday Recommended if you liked: The Dreamer, Fullmetal Alchemist, Outlander, Hamilton the Musical, Starclimber

We’re coming in hot, a comet tail blazing, with this week’s review on Novae by @kaixju!

It’s the story of a time when the discovery of the stars was still new. It’s the story of a young apprentice to a renowned astronomer. It’s a love story of two young men.  Okay, okay, no more cryptic messages. The scene is 17th-century France, and Sulvain, a mysterious traveler (mysterious not only because he has lost his voice), becomes a part of the same Parisian academic scene through a friendship with Christiaan Huygens, the Dutch scientist. Through Huygens, Sulvain is introduced to Raziol, the apprentice, and Raziol’s passion for the stars begins to open up a new world to Sulvain.  Novae takes a 17th-century setting and sets it free of expectations of being a stuffy, historical story. From intricate interior shots to stargazing scenes, Novae shows how the world is expanding around these characters. Even the panels on the pages are breaking free of strict expectations: panels are moved around, overlaid, and angled to create the constellation of imagery that gives the reader the full picture. 

If you’re looking for a cinematic webcomic reading experience, look no further than...

This Week’s Spotlight: Adrift by Paige McIntosh

Updates: Periodically (multiple pages 1 - 2 a month) Recommended if you liked: 6 cm/s, The Last of Us, When The Wind Blows (James Patterson), The Cat Returns, Countdown to Countdown

Adrift by @hobermenart follows Anne, a girl with wings, who is trying to find out who she is and where she came from. With the help of her best friend Holiday, she sets out to find her origins.

Reading this story is an experience that begins with the framing of the panels on the website. Paige has created a background of ivy and bars that centres the the single panel pages. Once the reader is effectively grounded in the story, you begin to flip through each page: giving the effect that if you clicked fast enough you could almost get an animated “flipbook.”

This style makes the pacing and detail-oriented nature of the comic stand out. Each moment is giving the timing it deserves. Paige establishes in the very first panels that this isn’t a webcomic that shies away from taking its time. The movement of a drop of water is spread out over multiple pages, slowly moving into a narrower focus on an important icon. Adrift makes you aware of the passing of time, in the same way that Anne must feel with not being able to remember her past. By slowing the story down, the reader hones in on what is important, gently guided by the storytelling.

The artwork itself is also incredible to look at: environments, whether urban or natural, are drawn in intricate detail. The main characters have appearances that are at once fantastical and human-like. The loose brush strokes work together in a way that looks effortless (though we’re sure it takes a lot of effort!)

Oh, and we definitely love the facial expressions!

Read it HERE from the beginning!

So, I highly recommend putting on a Final Fantasy soundtrack in the background, because it makes reading this next webcomic even more epic. Which will surprise you because…

This week’s spotlight is on Agents of the Realm by Mildred Louis.

Updates: Tuesday and Thursday Recommended if you liked: Sailor Moon, Totally Spies, Magic Knight Rayearth, She-Ra, Princess Love Pon, Zodiac Starforce

Agents of the Realm (@agentsoftherealm) is a webcomic I’ve been hearing about for years. It’s been my own folly that I didn’t read this earlier, but now that I’m here, I’m glad to say it’s everything I could have hoped for: magical girls, secrets, and found family.

The expressiveness of the characters and the dynamism in the dialogue and art is what makes Agents of the Realm so great to read. There are prismatic transformation sequences, modern fashion, text that’s colour coordinated to the speaker, realistic emotions drawn on characters’ faces, and stylization that feels cartoony yet human. I love their outfits. I love their found family and how they become friends so quickly but are also working to understand each other. I love the arguments that occur between characters who love each other but haven’t quite settled on a cohesive way to communicate.

Mildred has created a world where the monsters are so cool even when they’re scary, where the reveals are shocking both to the characters and to the reader, where the motivations are clear and understandable. I find myself wanting to save villains from themselves while also rooting for them; I want to support the heroes while also reprimand them for being childish. I also find the monsters, called bleeds, especially interesting. (They’re transparent, as though bleeding between worlds.)

Yes, this webcomic is more text heavy than some others, but it’s well worth it for the lore that unfolds. As you progress through the story, more information is revealed to you and you slowly become more and more immersion in the world of these agents, realms and bleeds. Trust us, you’ll be hooked. 

In summary, read Agents of the Realm! The ladies kick butt with cool weapons and Kendall is a pun-master. We’re 100% here for all of it.

(P.S. We’ve never met Mildred, but we’d be completely excited to do so because a) Mildred studied at Sheridan for Animation, which means she’s an honorary Canadian in our books and b) we see her rocking a bi flag in her Twitter name. Just putting it out there!)

Sorry! I got distracted by Julian’s face.

This week’s spotlight is on This Is Not Fiction by Nicole Mannino.

Updates: Tuesday and Friday Recommended if you liked: Lucky Penny; Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun; Love, Simon; Scott Pilgrim; Starward Lovers 

This Is Not Fiction ( @tinfcomic ) by @nicoima is the story of my life. Or, it would be if I were a teenage boy in love with a dreamy romance novelist. The story follows Julian Drees as he experiences his all-consuming first love for the anonymous novelist Sydney Morgan. Julian’s best friend, Isaiah Holloway, and the class troublemaker, Landon Addison, team up with Julian to try and find the true identity of Sydney Morgan. Unfortunately, even with the help of Isaiah and the self-named “Godfather of High School” things don’t always work out as smoothly as Julian would hope. 

I absolutely adore Julian and how expressive his face is! Contrasted against Isaiah’s more “normal” range of emotions, Julian is a constant tidal wave of happiness, worry, angst, and anger. He’s an emotional icon. However, I never felt that Julian was being made fun of for either his crush or his expressiveness. The other characters support him in his endeavours, whether they are widely successful or embarrassing failures. 

Alongside Julian, the other part about this webcomic that also makes it so endearing is the romance angle. It’s so relatable when Julian discusses how all he does is think about romance, but he just can’t seem to make it happen in his life. This “unlikely” quality to his life really got me hooked on seeing what would happen to him next: I just want him to be happy and in love! 

So if you’re someone who loves getting lost in a story where people are chasing their happiness (or trying to!), and you love to root for characters who considers themselves ordinary (but you can see their strengths!), this is the webcomic for you.

The chapter title cards are so incredibly adorable; I cannot do them justice! Please read this comic!

Read it HERE from the beginning.

This week’s spotlight is on Shaderunners by Alex Assan and Lin Darrow.

Updates: Wednesday and Saturday

Recommended if you liked:Legend of Korra, BACKLASH!, Newsprints, The Great Gatsby, Robin Hood, Firefly

Shaderunners ( @shaderunnerscomic​ ) is a webcomic that takes place in a world devoid of colour. Literally. It reminds me of that one Goosebumps book, The Haunted School, where the photographer sends the kids into a colourless world. Only this webcomic is a 1920s-esque alternate reality where the colour has become a commodity that only the rich can afford.

From the art deco design of the website, to the slang used by characters, this webcomic embodies 1920s style -- which is obviously fitting since it’s all about prohibition. Alex and Lin have brought the idea of prohibition into new territory, where, instead of bottling up booze and selling it on the sly, the characters are Robin Hood’ing colour. (We like it a lot!) The use of spot colour and the shift in art style to tell the story of the past also add texture to the story. I particularly like how the appearance of colour after panels of greyscale really makes not only the page but the premise of the story itself ‘pop’!

I also really love that this story of “a band of characters in a 1920s prohibition style world” is also pushing back against the typically whitewashed environment of other prohibition era inspired stories. Even with a greyscale art style, the cast have clear facial features that set them apart from each other. While I can’t assume that they are direct representations of our world’s different ethnicities, since it’s set in a fictional world, I think it’s safe to say that this story shows a range of ethnicities through the characters that come from the different fictional countries.

What’s that? You want a one sentence summary? Well, this is written on the Shaderunners comic “About” page and I couldn’t say it better myself: “One part Prohibition fantasy, one part Robin Hood, and a whole lot of epic heist, Shaderunners follows a group of ragtag bootleggers and bohemians who band together in an effort to steal colour from the wealthy echelons of Ironwell’s high society.”

So what are you waiting for? Make some mischief and start reading Shaderunners!

We’re starting off June with a fantastic webcomic starring a non-binary character you’ll want to befriend. (Alternate title for this week’s review: We love Lucy!)

This week’s spotlight is on Never Satisfied by Taylor Robin.

Updates: Monday and Friday Recommended if you liked: Harry Potter, Pepperwood Bay (Lisa Wiley), W.I.T.C.H., All For One (KindaTV)

Never Satisfied by Taylor Robin (@ohcorny) is an on-going webcomic about a magician's apprentice named Lucy Marlowe. Lucy must compete against other apprentices for a magical government job, deal with issues of class differences, and overall navigate how hard it is to understand others. 

In addition to Lucy, Never Satisfied’s cast includes multiple characters who are non-binary and use the pronouns they, them, and their. While there are a lot of characters in this webcomic and it may appear daunting to a newcomer to make sense of neutral pronouns, Taylor leads the reading through introductions to this cast in a way that is easy to follow. Characters are referred to by their names, or by the pronouns they use, in a natural way that allows the reader to become connected to each character. 

Even with such a large cast, Taylor never loses you in a flurry. This is so appreciated since it allows for interest to develop in all characters, even if they only appear periodically, and not just the main character. With Taylor’s vibrant art style develops the richness of the world, reflecting the detail in the background design through the detail given to each character. 

Being a webcomic about magicians, Never Satisfied also includes a cast of familiars that are unique to their magicians. We absolutely love the variety of familiars: from cats to spiders to armadillos. These different animal familiars also give opportunities to show the differences in each magician’s style, which is really cool! Naturally, I’m a personal fan of Lucy’s familiar, Ivy. Ivy is adorable and fun, and pretty much the exact familiar that I wish I had. 

Alright, enough about me, go check out Never Satisfied for yourself! 

A quick aside: Never Satisfied is one of those webcomics that takes full advantage of the “secret hover text.” Don’t miss out on the joy of the different comments that Taylor leaves on each page.

Read it HERE from the beginning!

At this year’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival, I (Calyssa) had the pleasure of getting my hands on a printed copy of the Never Heroes: Yellow Hearts prologue by Keezy Young (@keezybees). The printed copy includes so much great behind the scenes information about the creation of the world of Never Heroes, which makes me so excited to see how these details will shape the reading experience of this rebooted webcomic!

As you probably guessed… this week’s spotlight is on Keezy Young’s Never Heroes: Yellow Hearts!

Updates: Tuesday Recommended if you liked: Full Metal Alchemist, Dragon Age, Necropolis(Jake Wyatt), The Girl from the Other Side (Nagabe), A Wrinkle in Time(Madeleine L’Engle)

Never Heroes: Yellow Hearts is the story of three kids who make a deal with a demon that they meet one day. Twenty years later, these same characters meet again… and their past has caught up to them.

Keezy has decided to reboot this series, after originally starting it back in 2016. (Okay, can we just take a minute to appreciate the growth in artistic style and writing in this comic after a difference of only 1.5 years from the original start? That’s pretty awesome!) Although a reboot and restart means that readers will have to wait to see this story unfold from the beginning, especially if you were one of the lucky few who jumped on this when it released back in 2016, we can tell that it will be well worth the wait! We already appreciate the level of detail in this world building: from changes in lighting and atmosphere, to shifts in conversation and the interaction with faith elements within the story.

Although it’s only a short period of time in the overall story, we loved getting to spend time with the protagonists Rowan, Alder, and Levi as children in the prologue. Keezy masterfully releases information about the society of this world through their conversations. The use of young characters to open the story also fuels this story’s great inciting factor: Rowan’s love for adventure ends up putting them all into a situation far beyond their expectations. It’s always interesting to see how childhood affects characters later on. The juxtaposition of these children and the demon they encounter also makes this story one that we’re intrigued to see develop.

So if you’re interested in an epic and fantastical webcomic that follows the repercussions of a childish love for adventure, Never Heroes is the story for you!

Read it HERE from the beginning!

Today’s spotlight is on Kid the Adult by Kid.

Updates: Monday and Thursday Recommended if you liked: Johnny Wander, The Sound of Your Heart, Sarah’s Scribbles, Yotsuba&!

Sometimes… you just have to lie on the floor. That’s something Kid taught us. Through snippets of interactions or thoughts portrayed in comic form, Kid takes makes relatable everything from the mundane to the depressing.

@kidtheadult is a journal-style comic following Kid as they navigate being a grown up who is sad, queer, and an artist. Sometimes, comics are blessed with the appearance of Kid’s dog. In-between comic posts, Kid also answers questions and posts pictures of their dog or other furry friend pictures that are sent in.

The strength in Kid’s comics is in Kid’s ability to make a range of topics both condensed and relatable for the reader. Kid has cultivated an environment that embraces and highlights the elements of everyday life that are at times confusing, disorienting, and wonderful about being an adult. The comics feel like an intermittent mental conversation that Kid is allowing us to glance into: everything from “feeling uninspired” to “peeling oranges” is fair game or a topic. 

Kid looks at the usual, everyday occurrences through a lens of both humour and realism. Nothing is too small to be discussed. However, Kid doesn’t shy away from the difficult topics. One of our favourites, the series that also introduced us to Kid the Adult is “The Hair Dye Saga”.

The Hair Dye Saga is a 7 part comic series looking into Kid’s experience with depression. It’s a touching, stark look at the effects of depression on Kid, and it shows how alienating depression can be. Kid’s resolution to The Hair Dye Saga has a humorous uptick, but the arc itself remains true to Kid’s style: telling complicated, complex ideas in a straightforward way.

So if you’re looking for a space to find a new friend, or somewhere you want to retreat to feel less alone, visit Kid the Adult. We’re confident that you’ll find yourself hugging your computer screen: a hug that will not only benefit you, but one that we hope Kid will be able to sense as well.

Thanks, Kid.

Read it on Kid the Adult.

So April is looking pretty apocalyptic where we live, so this comic certainly made us feel less upset about freezing rain in April.

Today’s spotlight is on Countdown to Countdown by Xiao Tong “Vel” Kong.  

Updates: Every other Wednesday Recommended if you liked: The Last of Us, Life is Strange, Lochbank Cryptid Society, Flowerpot, Jessica Jones, Another Code/Trace Memory

In Countdown to Countdown, it’s the year 2044. It’s been five years after the apocalypse broke out. Iris Black is stuck in a lab, with only his incredible power to bring paintings to life to keep him company… and humiliate him on a daily basis. When zombies overrun the lab, he must make a run for it: avoiding a new world full of zombies, cannibals, black market dealers, and more that he can’t even expect.

Although Countdown to Countdown uses a familiar premise with a protagonist slowly “waking up” to a new zombie-filled world, King puts a spin on this narrative. Through the use of Iris’s special ability, “glitch” zombies, and floral imagery, Vel creates a world that uses the familiar to create a unique story. The reader is often restricted to seeing things only through Iris’s eyes; Vel keeps the perspective close and zoomed into details and things that are reflective of what Iris would be seeing. This adds to the emotion and tension, especially in the earlier scenes when Iris is still finding out what is happening. With the “camera” effectively placed close to Iris’s own sightline, the reader is given the same narrow, disorienting awakening to the story that Iris receives.

Vel’s art style is smooth and paint-like, and we particularly liked how Vel contrasts this style against more harsh elements through the use of video game imagery, such as the text boxes, action choices, and “game overs.” This combination makes the art feel similar to Okami or Life is Strange, and we really enjoyed noticing all the fine details on both the “paint” and “tech” sides.

If you’re interested in navigating the end of the world alongside Iris, and finding out just what exactly is happening with all the flower imagery, Countdown to Countdown is for you! Did we mention there are plenty of puns?

Read it from the beginning! Website Tapas

As you probably can tell, we’re committed to promoting indie artists and sharing the ways that you can support them. We’re excited to share with you this next comic because you can directly support the artist through purchasing it while also getting a really great comic to take with you.

We received a copy in exchange for an honest review- and that’s what we’re here to do!

Today’s spotlight is on The Absent Wild: Remnants by Griffin Nichols

Updates: Completed Recommended if you liked: All that psychological horror — Cujo (Stephen King), Tales From the Crypt Keeper, Parasyte, Oxenfree With most horror stories focusing on the perspective of viewing terrifying animals from a human perspective, The Absent Wild series flips the narrative and serves a horror-filled story from the animal’s perspective. The reader follows the animal protagonists through a macabre and unnerving world that can only be seen from this perspective.

The first story, Remnants, follows two pet dogs as they decide to find the reason behind a string of murders. As is often the case, they bite off more than they can chew, and the reader is left with an ending sure to shake up any preconceptions.

Nichols, @stellartusks, brings you into a world where animals are realistically portrayed in artful renderings, using hyper-realism to encourage an uncanniness that helps fuel the narrative atmosphere. In the same way that you are staring through the eyes of the dogs in the story, so are the other animals in the forest looking back at you. It is through the artwork and sense of unease that Nichols’ strengths show.

While The Absent Wild is not without its flaws, it will reward those that can look beyond the rough edges. Readers who want to find themselves anxiously turning pages, hoping they won’t guess the ending - this series is for you. A story with an unnerving conclusion, that made us think of Junji Ito or Stephen King, The Absent Wild: Remnants is the appetizer to what looks to be a promising four-course meal of unease and horror.

We’ll be waiting to see which story is next to come “from the horses’s mouth.”