#aro webcomic

     The best webcomic I have read, I think, is Sister Claire by Elena Barbarich (@yamino​) and Ash Barnes (@summerlightning​.)  The characters are deep and nuanced, and the world is rich and enthralling.

     There is one issue with the comic as it is: the best order to read it in for your first time through is not obvious.  The updates to Sister Claire come in two varieties: the comic pages (Mondays and Fridays) tell the “main” story, starring the eponymous protagonist, with very few flashbacks.  Meanwhile, the “Missing Moments” (which update Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays) are short story prequels which flesh out the backstories of the cast and the details of the world.  

     The use of prose stories accompanying a webcomic may seem odd if you are used to other webcomics, but it works for the kind of story being told.  Stephen Sondheim said that “content dictates form.”  The missing moments detail the backstories of the characters and the world, and that is something that is easier to do with text.  Meanwhile, the comic lets us see the emotions of the characters in real time from their body language, and includes powerful symbolism from the scenery and page layout in ways that only a visual medium can pull off.

     The missing moments are not really “optional” for understanding Sister Claire, as the later portions of the comic have clearly been written with the assumption that you have been reading the missing moments.  If you go to the archives, though, they are split into two archives: one with all the comic pages and one with all the missing moments.  If you want to try reading every page of both sorts in the order they were originally released, you’ll have to continuously click back and forth between the two archives.  This process would be very inconvenient, and on a smartphone would be nigh unmanageable.  

     So what order should you read the comic and missing moments in?  If you don’t feel like reading the rest of this post, just skip down to “Book Order,” because that is the one I recommend for new readers.  

     There are at least three major factors to consider in deciding in what order to read Sister Claire:

1. Pacing: Each missing moment short story flows well when it is read all at once.  If you were to read each page in the order of original release, the stories would be broken up every three pages by new comic pages.  You will probably want to read things in an order such that you get each missing moment story as part of one chunk.      

2. Information reveals: If you read things in any order other than how they were originally released, then you will receive information in a different order.  This isn’t always a bad thing--sometimes it is even good if an alternate reveal order is better.  But it does lessen the impact of some potential reading orders.

3. Convenience: the online archives of Sister Claire are set in a particular way, and they make reading in certain orders require more clicking than other orders.  As I mentioned above, reading page-by-page in order of original publication will require a lot of extra clicking beyond just pressing the “next” button.

     Below, I discuss four possible reading orders for Sister Claire, and their various pros and cons.  I think three of them are appropriate for a first-time reader, while one which might seem obvious is a really bad idea if it is your first time through.  The one I’d most recommend is “Book Order,” which I describe third.

Page Publication Order

     To some potential readers, the most obvious order may be the order in which the pages were originally published.  You’d start with book 1 (which only has the comic), and the first three chapters of book 2 (which also only have the comic).  Starting with book 2, chapter 4, you would alternate between one or two comic pages and three missing moments pages.

     As I noted above, this order is very inconvenient.  The archives have the comic and the missing moments separated.  To read in this order, you would probably have to keep two separate tabs open, and flip between them frequently.  You would also have to frequently check what page to read next, since it isn’t obvious from the archives.

     All hope is not lost, however.  Laura, the comic’s editor (@ace-and-ranty), maintains a spoiler-free Google spreadsheet showing the order in which each pages was published (she also maintains a version with spoilers which summarize every comic page and every missing moment).  If you are willing to keep this spreadsheet open in a sperate tab, and consult it every page as to what to read next, then you will be able to read everything in release order.  It will be quite inconvenient, and will likely be easier on a laptop or desktop than it would be on a smartphone.

     Even ignoring the inconvenience factor, Page Publication Order is not perfect.  It works for people following the comic as it is released, but that doesn’t mean it provides the best pacing for an archive binge.  Many of the missing moments stories have tight narratives, and so you’ll want to read a story straight through, rather than being interrupted every three pages with new comic pages.  Likewise, if the tension in a seen in the comic is really high, you might not want to interrupt it with a prequel story.  These concerns aren’t as big a deal for those reading Sister Claire as it is released, because you’ll have to wait a few days between pages no matter what.  Both Book Order and Chapter Order (described below) address the pacing issues of Page Release Order.

Archive Order (Comic first, then Missing Moments): NOT RECOMMENDED

     One reading order that might seem appealing would be to read the entire comic first, then all the missing moments.  This order may seem like the easiest: since the archives are divided between the comic and the missing moments, you can just read straight through the archives without having to do any extra clicking.  However, I believe that this order is not a good way to be introduced to Sister Claire.

     Archive Order will work for the first book, and the first three chapters of book 2.  The Missing Moments didn’t actually start until book 2, chapter 4, so you won’t be missing anything in the first book if you haven’t read the missing moments.  You’ll also probably be fine through book 2, chapter 4.  However, starting with chapter 5 of the comic, the authors assume you have been reading the missing moments, and reference information that they assume you know.  A lot of the events in chapters 6 and 8 don’t make much sense without the context provided by the missing moments.

     Moreover, if a character is introduced first in the missing moments, they generally won’t be given another introduction if they later show up in the comic.  One example is the character Magpie, who is first introduced in the missing moments of chapter 6 of book 2.  When the first appear in the comic two chapters later, Magpie is given no further introduction and is not even named initially, because the authors assume that you are already familiar with them.  A more extreme example is Hanabi, who appears occasionally in the book two missing moments.  Her first apearance in the comic is in the first chapter of book three, in which Hanabi is the focus.  Without the missing moments, there is no explanation as to who she is or how she connects with the rest of the story.

     Other things that happen in the comic do make sense without the missing moments, but don’t have nearly the same effect.  In the last chapter of book two, there is a really emotionally powerful reunion between two characters who, if you’ve only read the comic, you have barely seen interact.  You know they were close to each other at some point in the past, and you’ve seen a lot of them separately.  But without having seen their past relationship, the reunion isn’t as powerful as it could be.  On the other hand, if you’ve read the missing moments and seen their relation from the beginning, then the ending of book two is among the most powerful dramatic moments I have ever read.     

Book Order: Most Recommended for first time readers.

     The order I think is best for first-time readers of Sister Claire is as follows: ----

Start with book one (there’s only the comic, since the Missing Moments didn’t start until book 2).

Read all the book 2 missing moments.

Read all the comic pages in book 2

Read the book 3 missing moments until you are caught up (as of 2017 book 3 is still ongoing).

Read the comic pages in book 3 until you are caught up (as of 2017 book 3 is still ongoing).

     This order works a lot better for the pacing of the story than page release order.  If you read in Book Order, individual missing moment stories won’t be interrupted by comic pages, and the narrative flow of the comic won’t be interrupted by the missing moments.  But, by putting the missing moments for book 2 in between the books 1 and 2 comics, you’ll get all the context you need to fully appreciate the book 2 comic in ways you wouldn’t get without the missing moments.

     There are some pieces of information that you will learn in a different order than if you had read every page in release order.  However, the missing moments are written in a way such that you won’t have trouble understanding them if you read the series in book order.  Characters and events that are first introduced in the book 2 comic are reintroduced if they later show up in the missing moments, so that you don’t need to have read any of the book 2 comic to fully understand the book 2 missing moments.  Similarly, the book 3 missing moments are written so that you can understand them without having read the book 3 comics (provided that you’ve read first two books).  

     There are some cases when reading in Book Order leads you to learn some pieces of information at a different time than release order, but it actually works out better for those reading in book order.  For example, there is an important fact about Oscar that was first revealed in book 2, chapter 3 (which only had the comic).  In the missing moments, this fact is first hinted at in chapter 5, before being revealed directly in chapter 6.  If you are reading in book order, then the chapter 6 book 2 missing moments are the first time you learn this fact.  I believe that the reveal in the missing moments is better than the reveal of the same information in the comic, so people who read in book order will be getting a better experience in this regard.

     In book 2, chapter 4 of the comic, the background artwork contains some powerful symbolism which ties in to the missing moments of chapter 6.  If you are reading the series in page release order, the background in chapter 4 works as subtle foreshadowing.  If you’re reading in book order, though, it is instead a heart-wrenching callback.  Once again, I think it works as well or better in book order as in release order.

     The biggest drawback to book order is that you have to read through a lot of text in between the book 1 comic and book 2 comic.  There are over 500 pages of missing moment stories in book 2, not counting title pages and such.  Since the missing moments are almost entirely text, that means you have a novel’s worth of short stories to read in between volumes of the comic.  If you are someone who reads text slowly (like me), that means a very large time investment in before you can get to book 2 of the comic.  If you are someone who prefers comics/graphic novels over prose, then you might not like slogging through all of those missing moments before you can get back to the comic.  

     Of course, if you enjoy reading fiction in prose in addition to comic form, then you likely won’t mind and won’t consider this a drawback of book order.

     As of late 2017, the current updates are still fairly early into book 3, so going reading through all the book 3 missing moments in a row doesn’t take nearly as long as going through all the book 2 missing moments.  In any event, this drawback (if you consider it a drawback) of book order can be avoided by reading the series in chapter order, which is described below.

Chapter Order

What I call Chapter Order for Sister Claire is as follows:

Read all of book 1 (there is just the comic). 

Read the first three chapters of book 2 (there is just the comic).

Read the missing moments for book 2, chapter 4.

Read the comic for book 2, chapter 4.

Read the missing moments for book 2, chapter 5.

Read the comic for book 2, chapter 5.

...and so on.  

     In many ways, this approach combines the best aspects of book order and page release order.  Each chapter leaves of at a natural break in the story, so this order doesn’t have the interruption pacing problems of page release order.  You’ll also learn story information in approximately the same order as someone reading in page release order.  The exposition in each chapter’s missing moments is directly referenced in the corresponding comic chapter, so you’ll always have the context you need to understand what’s going on.

   So why isn’t Chapter Order the most recommended order?  It is largely a matter of convenience.  If you are reading the comic in the archives, you can easily tell when one chapter ends and another begins, because there are title pages for each chapter.  However, there is no such indication in the missing moments archive.

    Let’s use Book 2, Chapter 4 as an example.  This was the first chapter that had missing moments, so the first missing moments story for this chapter was “The Discover.”  The last missing moment story of chapter 4 is “The Dark Friend,” and the chapter 5 missing moments begin with the next story, “First Sight.”  If you are just reading the archives, however, there is no indication that a chapter has ended or that a new chapter has begun.  If you are trying to read the series in Chapter Order, you may not know when to jump back to the comic.

    All hope is not lost, however.  Laura, the comic’s editor (@ace-and-ranty), maintains a spoiler-free Google spreadsheet showing the order in which each pages was published (she also maintains a version with spoilers which summarize every comic page and every missing moment).  If you check the spreadsheet after each chapter, you can see which missing moments stories you should read before going back to the comic.  The drawback to using this approach is that it is an extra thing you have to keep track of when reading the story for the first time.  Users who primarily read comics on their phones may find archive-jumping, as well as the reliance on the non-touch-friendly Google sheets, particularly inconvenient.  

    If you don’t mind those inconveniences, then Chapter Order may well be the best way for you to experience Sister Claire.  Otherwise, Book Order is about as good.