The Order of the Black Dog and What Lurks Beneath have come out of hiatus. Which means I’m going to have a lot more to write about from week to week. That’s when I’m not on vacation or holiday, that is.
Africa | Page(s): 327 | Patreon
The herbivores are on the move and grazing. Paa has a sudden panic attack. With a mouthful of grass he has the feeling Chui is near and can’t stop shaking. Nia reminds him not to stray too far from the middle of the herd. He thanks her for the concern and admits he was lost in thought. The female gazelle questions him, and he reveals his fears about Chui. If the weather is hot where they migrated to, then the crater they call home for part of the year must be in a full drought. Paa fears that prey is scarce and Chui is likely starving. Jamal butts in with a “serves him right.”
Even though Paa bravely fought off Chui, it’s not surprising that he’s afraid of the large leopard. After all, Chui is the main villain of this story. Paa’s concerns about Chui following them might not be far-fetched. Kafil is hanging around at the edge of the herd, having been kicked out after his treachery was revealed. Since Kafil is near, it’s not unreasonable to suspect that the leopard is making good on his promise to hunt the zebra to the “ends of the Earth.”
Repeat | Page(s): 170, 171, 172| Patreon (N/A)
Sol, Dawn (I’m going to drop “the”), and Tilter reach the place Bor told them about. There the trio discovers that Babble is alive, is missing a leg, and is quite old now. Sol can hardly believe their eyes and undoes the fusion with Dawn. Sol swore they saw Babble get torn to pieces in a vision from The Dusk. To that Babble reveals they were pretty badly injured. As they bled out, they suddenly felt warm and everything smelled like flowers– an experience similar to Tilter’s.
Babble stayed with the pack that found them, but kept waiting for Sol to return. While Sol and Babble spend time alone, Tilter and Dawn wait with the rest of the pack. Everyone is shocked to learn that Babble wasn’t joking about having a god as a partner. They ask Sol’s traveling companions if they’re also gods, and Dawn says they’re a part of Sol, and Tilter states they’re just Tilter. The young blue wolf is disappointed they haven’t had a chance to properly meet Babble yet. Dawn tells them Sol and Babble need time alone.
I feel pretty vindicated right now. There was a chance Babble was still alive, and they were what Bor wanted Sol to see. I actually forgot about the page showing Babble’s “death,” but I had a feeling The Dusk was lying. This reveal shows The Dusk wasn’t actually wrong, but like Titler, Babble has Sol’s protection. I’m amazed Sol is out here bonding with mortals, they receive protection from the god, and said god doesn’t even know it. Hopefully this gets explained in future pages. Anyway, I’m glad Babble is still alive, as it brings a little bit of happiness to a story that’s been dark so far. Perhaps this will give Sol a reason to break the cycle.
I do wonder where the story goes next from here. Will Lun try to take away everything and everyone Sol loves in order to get him to fight? Right now the story seems unfocused and lacking an overall plot. I also wish we knew a bit more about Lun, and what drives them. Are they just in it for the feud?
The Realm of Kaerwyn | Page(s): Issue 20, pages 79, 80, 81 | Patreon
Lorelei, Endymion, Niixa, and Callie walk through Creedmoor, but Endymion doesn’t recognize anything. Lore quips that it’s the result of a thousand years of an oppressive, fascist government that cares nothing for its citizens. Endy insists The Order is a democracy. Lore asks who actually gets to vote as she laughs at the idea of said government being a democracy. She revels in the idea of Sisari unmaking reality to undo the harms of The Order. Endy calls her insane, and Lore replies “Sick worlds bear sick souls.” She grabs the Orderman by the face. Upset, Niixa pushes Lore away, and the latter teases her, knowing the transformed Xarax-hil is powerless to do anything. Meanwhile, two members of The Order notice the argument and realizes the drifter is Lore, who currently has a bounty on her head in this world.
I admit, I’ve not read much of The Black Tapestries, which serves as Lorelei’s story. From what I know about that world, The Order is a terrible government and treats people like her poorly. In The Realm of Kaerwyn, Endy is from the same place, but one thousand years in the past. So in his day The Order was a democracy, but for whatever reason it slid into fascism. (Given the political atmosphere of today and the rapid rolling back of rights, it’s easy to see how a democracy can slide into fascist territory.)
I can see why Lore would want her revenge for a lifetime of mistreatment. That said, there is something curious here. When Sisari possessed Niixa, she had them go to Creedmoor in Endy’s time, believing that Kate (Endy’s ex-girlfriend) was Aisha. That turned out to be untrue, as Niixa is actually Aisha. Why they’re in a later version of Creedmoor is beyond me. Unless Lore is using Sisari’s power for personal revenge, under the guise of helping her obtain Fahrook and Aisha. Again, I think Lore is playing both sides, or is perhaps only on her side.
To Catch a Star | Page(s): 320, 321, 322, 323 | Patreon
Backlash and Shadow decide what to do with Hearth who’s followed them instead of returning to the Supernova. Lupi cuts in and reminds them the choice is theirs alone. The sun bluntly states “no,” to the shock of Backlash and Shadow, and to Hearth’s extreme disappointment. Except, Lupi was just kidding and got a kick out the joke. So Backlash asks again and Lupi gives their okay. Ash runs excitedly to Hearth and asks him to travel with the group. To that the Supernova replies he doesn’t know what to do anymore. He’s supposed to return with Lupi. Before he can finish, Backlash brings up the collecting the stars and the wish. When Hearth confirms, the young Dusky feels Hearth should collect the stars and make a wish to fix the world. Distressed, the Supernova exclaims it’s not right. The Supernova cult only wants to save the Nova, and want the sun to destroy the Dusky. Backlash replies that he already knows, but that it’s okay if Hearth makes the wish instead, because he trusts him. To that Hearth is silent and surprised.
Lupi did throw me off with their “no,” only to admit it was a joke. Ah, nothing like playing with audience expectations. Since Lupi already gave Hearth permission to travel with them, the “yes” is not a surprise. Shadow reluctantly goes with it, as she won’t push back too hard against the sun. What bothers me here is how Backlash is so gun ho about Hearth not only coming with them, but insisting that a wolf he just met makes the wish. Was the plan not for Backlash, Shadow, and Lupi to make a wish that benefits everyone?
Why on earth would Hearth suddenly be on board with this? Yes, he’s coming around to how badly the Supernova have treated Nova they deem lesser. He’s also learning that Duskies aren’t the violent brutes he was taught. Still, there’s nothing here to suggest that he’s had a complete break with his Supernova beliefs. Also, there’s nothing indicating that he’ll be the one to create a new world, as Scorch is still leading the Supernova cult, and Hearth was only to bring the sun back to them. I just can’t believe that after Sunny betrayed Backlash’s trust, that the young wolf is so eager to trust another Supernova. It honestly feels out of character. Like he’s just doing so because Hearth was nice to him, and defended peaceful wolves against his more violent cultist fellows. If Scorch had been leading that raid, would Hearth have fought then?
Honestly, what could make Hearth’s plot feel less rushed, is if we experienced his story in parallel to Backlash and Shadow’s. As they became better people, he could have had his own journey and saw how badly the Supernova treated everyone. He could have had his ideals slowly eroding, and seeing Lupi being brought back and Sunny being treated badly could have been the final injustice. Instead, we just saw him being a little nicer than everyone else. I’ll concede that Sleepy tried to show Hearth is not a bad person, but in execution his plot is lacking.
What Lurks Beneath | Page(s): 658, 659 | Patreon
Chapter 26 has just begun, and it’s from King Thresher’s point of view, set in the past when he was still alive. Sturgeon is still a young adult. When she’s not training to be queen, she’s providing Petrel with food and training Hake to fight. At times Petrel tells stories to her younger siblings, and weeks pass. In the meantime, things are not going well for the Daisies. Thresher has instituted a ban on hunting in the forests as food grows scarce. Only The Family are allowed to hunt there. Daises complain to the enforcers about how this change has them starving. Unmoved, the enforcers state it is the will of The Tide.
There’s not much happening now, but it’s interesting to see the dynamic between the siblings and Petrel play out. The royal cats completely trust Petrel, and they seem fond of the siblings. I can only guess that Petrel will one day go on to attack Trout because they wanted Sturgeon to be queen (ironically doing the same thing Krill would try). Why they wouldn’t even give Trout a chance is beyond me. Perhaps something else has happened that will be revealed in due time. Also, this page verifies that Hake is getting those training lessons and can fight, unlike Trout. As for the hunting situation, we have a young Wrasse. It’s pretty damned cowardly to let the others starve, but Wrasse fully believes in The Family. Not much else to say. We also get a glimpse at Bream who isn’t yet sporting a wound on his throat. Hopefully this isn’t the incident that turns him into a mute.
Tofauti Sawa | Page(s): 382, 383 | Patreon
While still being held up by Miwani, Silver is shocked to see a very large lion named Kamau arrive. Kamau is ready to kick ass, and Miwani steps aside to let him handle Silver. Dembe pleads that it was just a misunderstanding as she was just talking to the leucistic lion. She further explains Silver was just helping Leeto down from a tree, and the cub pipes up to verify it’s all true. Kamau pauses before returning his gaze to the white-maned lion now quivering in fear.
First thing’s first. Cynical revealed on Tumblr that Miwani and Kamau aren’t brothers, which means they’re two males who formed a coalition. Anyway, Miwani is way too eager to let his larger friend do the ass kicking when instead he could have just let Silver leave. I guess these two males just like picking fights, especially given Kamau’s size. I also imagine if it was just Miwani, Silver would have been ready to defend himself since they’re about the same size. Of course, our main lion isn’t a fan of fighting, so he probably would have just done enough so he could leave. He certainly wasn’t impressed by the male. Now, the larger lion? Hopefully he sees Silver isn’t a threat and just lets him go.
A Doe’s Salvation | Page(s): 180| Patreon
After her conversation with Snowy, Absaroka is summoned to the Matriarch by Beartooth. She decides to antagonize her father by calling him “dad.” This visibly brings the sire pain, but he reveals that Sierra Nevada wishes to speak to her about the future of the herd. Absaroka decides to go and Beartooth offers to escort her, which she turns down with a “Leave me alone.”
I can’t imagine why the Matriarch would want to see Absaroka so soon, unless the doe has been skipping her lessons. Or Sawtooth could have revealed to Sierra Nevada that the future Matriarch is having second thoughts. It brings me great joy to see Absaroka sarcastically call Beartooth “dad.” He is her father, but he qualifies as a terrible parent. He was willing to let the doe he got pregnant (Judith) be murdered for the mountains, let his grandson (Crazy) die, and was willing to step aside while his son (Gallatin) was murdered. Beartooth is a spineless coward, and I’m glad Absaroka has rejected him as a parent.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 225 | Patreon
The two does who served as callers in training for Helevise wonder if they should just return to their herds. Helping the old caller with her schemes with Antaras wasn’t worth it, and they gave up the chance to have fawns. The two then lament that they live far from each other and may not meet again. However, they harden their resolve as best friends to meet again, and decide they’ll tell Antaras’ group they’re leaving soon. The pair wonder if anyone would even bat an eye at the announcement.
On the previous page, I was wondering if these two does would settle on making life miserable for Usma. Instead, they’re leaving which is a better alternative. Despite their nasty attitudes, it’s kind of touching to see how close they are as friends. That said, I fear that them trying to leave Antaras’ group might be met with trouble. Perhaps he doesn’t let them leave because they may know too much. I don’t know, I’m just getting a bad feeling. Perhaps nothing happens and they do just leave. We’ll see.
The Order of the Black Dog | Page(s): Issue 27, page 1| Patreon
After a few weeks of hiatus, The Order of the Black Dog has returned. Issue 27 is titled “The Thing that Should Not Be.” It features the titular black dog seen in previous issues. The first page of the issue features a hooded figure drawing a line in the sand under a hot African sun.
There’s not much to say about this page. The cover features the black dog, and it’s easy to guess that it (she?) will be a feature of this issue. How she’ll play a role is unclear. As for the figure drawing in the sand, I’m guessing whoever this person is could possibly be drawing a huge summoning circle. I can’t imagine someone in this universe would be doing anything else in the desert. Now, there’s the possibility I’m completely wrong, and that also excites me.
After taking a trashing from Kargo, the raiding dog turns and leaves. Unprompted, Roamer takes a knife in his jaws and attacks the dog from behind. The younger male coldly slices the unarmed dog’s neck open, and watches as he bleeds out. In the distance Ronja shouts in concern for Roamer and Kargo. Meanwhile, a panicked Kargo offers to tell Ronja that Roamer killed the dog by accident. Roamer only says “Kargo,” as he looks down coldly at the dead dog.
After Roamer broke up with Kargo, his character had been on a downward trajectory. Him killing an unarmed dog that he picked a fight with just cements my disgust for him. He only attacked that dog from behind because he was bitter about losing a fight after all his training. There’s honestly no other reason I could think of for him attacking in this way. It’s certainly not behavior he learned from the Asmundr pack, nor from Kargo either. I’m not sure what Kique is doing with this character, but if this is supposed to be edgy and cool, it’s not working. This is not how you develop a character.
It would have been more in character for Roamer to have killed the dog while they were still fighting. Or if the other dog had done something dishonorable such as harming another tribe member. For example, unable to beat Kargo, the dog decides to attack one of Ronja’s daughters or perhaps Dariko. Roamer gets to the dog first and violently puts him down as the quickest way to save someone else’s life. It would show that Roamer really is willing to kill, but only to protect his friends. Perhaps he’s even glad now, feeling he redeemed himself for previously being unable to save or even avenge Kargo.
What we get is an action that makes Roamer look like a sociopath. Worse yet, the patterns in Home are pretty clear. Roamer won’t face any consequences for disobeying Ronja’s order not to hurt anyone, and everyone will easily forgive him. And Kique wonders why no one likes his main characters. Even commenters on this page aren’t happy with Roamer’s actions. Instead of taking that feedback and improving the story down the line, I’m sure comments will just be deleted or turned off for this page. So read them while you still can.
The comment section of Home recently is hilarious. Someone posted on the recent pages, “Why are Rogio and Ronja acting like Roamer stole a coworker’s lunch?”
That perfectly summarizes their severe underreaction to Roamer’s psychopathic behavior.
Roamer is such a Gary-Stu, and he’s becoming such an irredeemable character. Its like Kique can’t bare the thought of making his precious protagonist suffer real consequences for his actions, so he has to either make his other characters have an underreaction like its no big deal, or sweep the conflict under the rug after resolving it in two or three panels or pages. All he had to do was like you said, make the raiding dog attack one of his friends, or the puppies, or the wild cat cub. Roamer would have snapped and killed the dog to protect them, to prevent his helpless for Kargo’s death from happening again. If we had seen Roamer visibly struggle with himself, with visible signs of self-loathing, and blaming himself for failing to protect Kargo, perhaps even realizing how wrong he was to push him away and break up with him over a stupid mistake and how much of a hypocrite he’s been, all that would give him growth and more of a reason to protect his friends and the tribe. Instead, for him to attack a defenseless dog from behind without batting an eye, and THEN claiming to Kargo (on the most recent page) that he feels no remorse for doing so, makes him a sociopath. This isn’t character growth at all. This is making your main character a monster.
For Christ sake… does this guy even read anything that ISN’T Zachariah Sitchin’s Ancient Aliens books?? I know he’s watched The Prince of Egypt, or at least Road to El Dorado, or Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, since he apparently traced Father’s poses in the end of Asmundr from the latter movie. But its not exactly the same thing as reading a book. Does this guy even read any articles or blogs or books on writing or character building or comic building at all? Because his writing and character developing are only getting worse, and the fact that he’s blocked so many people for valid criticisms of his storytelling abilities and comic paneling, and acknowledging his knowing about the 180-degree rule and then completely ignoring because he wants to do everything “his way”, just shows that he does NOT want to improve. He just wants to do everything HIS way.
I could not agree more with you!
To your last point, Kique has never wanted critique for his works. To prove his “haters” wrong, he deliberately breaks rules. Or he honestly believes he’s doing something new and innovative, and has surrounded himself with people who will never tell him otherwise. Not only does he block out critique that can help him grow (because to him critique is just harassment), he does not seem to read books on writing or character building. I’m sure he might read an article or two, but only in terms of his own confirmation bias. Like when he claimed his style of writing is just “discovery writing.” Which is something you should probably do in the rough draft of your story, NOT the finished product. And he’s not a good enough writer to do so in the finished product.
Also, I’d say combine everything you’ve mentioned and what I’ve said above with his recluse lifestyle. Other than to take care of his pets, he does not leave his home or interact with other people in person. That’s going to stunt you as a storyteller because you don’t have any real life experience to draw from. Or the experience you use is that you shut out everyone who disagrees with you and only surround yourself with sycophants. The more he writes, the more obvious this becomes. He also leans heavily on fans for ideas to take as his own, otherwise he’d leave public comments closed forever.