First some quick notes before I get to the roundup. First Detrah’s excellent comic, The Rabbit Hole ended in late December. All the pages have finally been posted to ComicFury. The ending is a little bittersweet, but fitting given the direction this story was going. I highly recommend checking it out as the story is finished and the comic is only 193 pages long. There’s even a Q&A at the end that answers a few questions.
Tofauti Sawa received a new cover page, updating the old one that Cynic drew well over a decade ago. The new cover and logo both look fantastic. I love the little details revealed in both Sahara and Silver’s eyes. The comic is now on ComicFury, adding to the places to find it besides DeviantArt, Webtoons, and Tumblr. I’m glad TS is now on ComicFury, as it is a very user-friendly site even for people who don’t have accounts and rely on RSS.
I’ve been reading After Honour by Gen Staelens. Updates are slow on DeviantArt as a chapter gets dropped with a new page every day, then it takes a break for months between chapters. Meanwhile, Instagram is the furthest ahead for public pages, being on page 168, while Patreon is on page 175 as of this writing. The logical thing to do outside of Patreon, would be to follow the comic on Instagram, but I refuse to use any product from Meta/Facebook. So I’m okay with being nearly 100 pages behind on DeviantArt, especially if the trade-off consists of pages coming out almost every day when a new chapter is released. That said, it’s why I’m not going to cover After Honour here even though it interests me a lot. I said all that to marvel at how amazing the fourth panel is on page 70. The action, lighting, and background are just fantastic. If you haven’t read this comic, please try it for yourself.
Anyway, on to the roundup!
Africa | Page(s): 354 | Patreon
Safari’s delirium continues, and I’m convinced this cheetah doesn’t have much longer. He’s fully seeing his sister in a golden light. He can’t hear Mondo behind him, nor does he see the danger of the crocodiles ahead of him. This is pretty much what I feared would happen from last week. It’s upsetting to see this is how Safari might meet his end. The only dark upside here is that his end might be mercifully quick. Mondo however, would be completely traumatized. At this point I can only hope that Africa makes a mad dash to their position and brings Safari back to reality before he becomes lunch.
To Catch a Star | Page(s): 427, 428, 429, 430| Patreon
Lupi expressing how much they enjoyed journey with Backlash, Shadow, and even Hearth feels like a setup for a tragedy. You know the trope, as soon as a character thinks about all the fun they’ve had, one of them dies. I wouldn’t put it past Sleepy given how Ray died. It also shows that even though Lupi’s job as the sun wolf is to literally collect stars for an unknown wish, that it isn’t their top priority. In fact, I’m wondering if it’s a priority at all now. They’re much happier just traveling and hanging out with their friends instead of performing whatever duty has been imposed on them. Shadow feels the same way, especially all that she’s been through with losing her home, her family, and the terrible decisions she made fighting the Supernova. Traveling with the sun and a Dusky she sees as a family is probably the most stable her life has been since the Supernova turned it upside down.
As for the plot of collecting stars, it’s gone fully off the rails in a fashion that’s almost soap opera worthy. This story has suddenly been diverted from Lupi, Backlash, and Shadow trying to collect the stars to create a better world to a different drama involving Backlash’s pack. I was certain that after hearing his story Danger would want to travel with the group. (Taking Tussle and Sweep would be a nice bonus.) Instead, many readers in the comments section correctly called out that the young leader would instead take Backlash as her mate. I chuckled at the possibility, but that’s exactly where the story is now headed. (Never mind the fact that our young protagonist is gay and had eyes for Hearth. It’s a pure political marriage now.)
Logically, the move makes sense. Danger wanted to change her pack for the better after meeting Ray and hearing about what the rest of the world was like. Backlash wanted to convince his pack there was a better way to live, otherwise collecting the stars and making a new wish would be pointless if Duskies and Nova still hated each other. So the new Alpha took their aligned interests and elevated the young wolf to a seat of power next to her. After all, if he’s also a leader the rest of the pack would have to listen to him– in theory anyway.
The reason I thought Danger might choose to leave with Backlash was because she was done with the pack after Takedown killed Ray. I suppose part of her hasn’t given up on the idea of her pack living a more peaceful life, especially if one of them has seen the outside world and wants to show them a better way to live. Of course there are two big hurdles to climb over.
First, even if Backlash is now Danger’s mate and is physically larger than when he left, he has a reputation for being a crybaby. I can’t see too many wolves respecting him, even if he’s the chosen male. After all, the strongest male is supposed to be mated to the leader. Second, Takedown still wants that position for himself, and he’s emotionally abused Backlash since he was a puppy. At worst, what’s to stop Takedown from just killing his younger brother and forcing Danger to become his mate? Or at best just taking the leadership role for himself? I mean, who’s physically strong enough to stop him? Given how Takedown was willing to kill his family and has been revealed to a complete monster, I can’t see him not tearing Backlash’s throat out.
In that case, I wonder if the quest for the stars will only resume as a way for Lupi and Shadow to save their friend instead of fixing the world?
The Order of the Black Dog | Page(s): Issue 27, page 27| Patreon
This page is heavy on philosophy, which might feel a little random given the focus was Rhoda a few pages ago. That said, this page continues the significance from last week. Again, it is the first time that Julia and Mel have made love since Julia reverted to her Black Idol form. It’s appropriate for the wolf to ask her partner if anything about her body has changed since being teleported off-world ages ago. It must be reassuring for Julia to hear from Mel that she feels the same, except for a missing scar or two. The final part of their conversation is interesting.
Julia wonders about the time Kas was impersonated by an alien. Did the impersonator know that he was the fake? He had Kas’s body, his memories, and even his mentality. In that way, he’s nearly the same as the original– if you don’t count the literal meat suit. It makes you wonder if that fake Kas felt like he was the real deal even as he fulfilled his mission. Taking this line of thought a bit further, given Julia’s body morphed into a part of The Black Idol when she merged with Sedjet, she must have a wicked case of imposter syndrome.
Thanks to Rhoda’s efforts and her own, she freed herself and Sedjet from the nightmare. Still, who wouldn’t question their reality and themselves after going through such a life altering experience? It would likely take months or years to feel like yourself again, and that’s not even counting the truth about the real form of the people inhabiting Earth. At least that’s where I think this line of thought may be headed. That’s what comes to my mind when reading this dialogue. After all, when Sedjet transformed he wondered if he’d really been “Sedjet” at all. I’m positive Julia wonders this every day after all that happened.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 252 | Patreon
Finally, it seems like the ice has been cracked between Boneslav and the rest of the group, if not completely broken. He actually told the others about himself, and Nero even had a few (rude) questions to ask. I just love when Kasko and Runi compliment him on his shaggy fur and pretty antlers– it’s so wholesome. Boneslav is a reserved and polite fellow, which adds an interesting dynamic to the group. Icebreakers games aside, I wonder if he’ll still have any comment about traveling with deer who were banished from their herds. If the issue doesn’t come up in the next page, it might be revisited in a later chapter in some form. I feel like the contrast of each character taking their journeys is so different from the warmth Boneslav received. (Let’s be honest, Nero and Kasko are nearly mirrors of each other when it comes to their banishment.)
There isn’t much else to say about this page or this scene. It’s a quiet moment of character and world building. Every good story has these moments of insight into their characters and Golden Shrike is no exception. This group will need to lean on each other for upcoming hardships, so those relationships need to be built up now.
Home | Page(s): 832, 833| Patreon
In the opposite corner of good character and world building, we have Home. Since this comic updates the 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th of each month, new pages are always on a different day each month. It’s easy to lose track of newer pages on my schedule, especially coming off of a break. So I’ll include pages 832 and 833 in order to play catch up. And looking at the first panel of page 833, I hate it. But let’s put this page on hold for a moment and talk about page 832. (Doing so will cause me less physical pain.)
Atmospheric lighting is the only pleasant thing about page 832. The rest is mostly mind-boggling. With the snap of paw digits, the Meteor Tribe will be moving to the territory belonging to Rogio’s old village, Snowcap Tribe. Amazingly, Rogio doesn’t bring up the spirit that destroyed his entire tribe to Ronja or Kargo. Neither does Roamer despite learning about it when they traveled together. We know Kique didn’t forget, as Iberion mentioned it on page 713 while Ranach had a flashback about first finding Rogio. Given how traumatic the event seemed, you’d think Rogio would have pause when it comes to returning to his former home. After all, it would be difficult for anyone to return to the place where all of their friends and family died. There’s also the possibility the spirit itself might not be appeased.
In short, Kique builds up the backstory of Rogio’s tribe, even going as far as him keeping a memento from the tribe, and having a brother who is still alive. There’s the opportunity for him as an author to acknowledge these bits of information he left regarding Snowcap Tribe, and how Rogio might feel about the incident that took his home. Sadly, the entire event isn’t being acknowledged at all. Even a line about wanting to avoid the old tribe grounds and move somewhere else on the mountain would be welcome. Instead, we get nothing. The spirit and all the devastation it brought has essentially been made non-consequential to their decision to take the mountain. When I and other critics criticize Home for the missed world building potential, it’s stuff like this we’re referring to.
The other problem with this page is that Kargo never mentioned Nordgarde to Roamer. Yes, he mentioned wanting to start his own tribe way back on page 249. The actual quote is, “Somewhere lies a land untouched, waiting for us to claim it. A place where we can build our own tribe, where we can put down roots. Do you hope for the same?” The next scene featuring Kargo and Roamer shows Roamer going off to help Rhov and Rogio fish. A few pages later Roamer will dump Kargo over withholding Ronja’s whereabouts from him.
The topic of the tribe and its name are never mentioned again until page 832. If Kargo’s vision was that important, he should have shared the name of the tribe on-screen with his lover. Or in this scene, Ronja and the group should have brainstormed their own tribe name. Hell, the mention of Rogio’s old tribe could have been discussed with the group or Ronja wanting another name entirely. Instead, more world building opportunities are ditched in favor of a conversation that might have happened off-screen. Ronja herself is given very little agency in terms of the location and even the name of her new tribe. The name “Nordgarde” was probably inspired by the 2011 Nordgaurd comic by Blotch (aka Tess Garman and Teagan Gavet). I’m rather indifferent to the Nordgarde name, other than always being reminded of Blotch’s comic.
As for page 833, the foundation for a polycule between Roamer, Kargo, and Rogio is being formed. Rogio is outright suggesting that Kargo feels better with Roamer around and being just friends isn’t enough. So instead of letting Roamer go, he’d rather have a three-way relationship. Let’s face it, Roamer and Rogio don’t have any chemistry and their romance is based purely on sex. They don’t talk much outside of self-pity or Roamer assuring his partner time after time. What does the younger dog get from Rogio? The silent treatment, being ignored, or used for sex. In comparison, Kargo treated Roamer like an entire individual when they were together. He cared about more than just sex and wanted his partner to be happy. In the present, they laugh and joke with each other– a level of comfort I’ve never seen when Rogio is involved. Rogio and Kargo have no chemistry at all.
It would be fitting if Roamer went full circle and dumped Rogio for Kargo. In a better comic, Kargo would have moved on from Roamer after being cut off on page 371. After all, he was dumped by his first love for a secret that Ferah and Rogio shared, and then was twice-stabbed in the back by a dog he considered to be his friend. The only reason he’s getting along with Rogio now is because he was revived and is essentially being forced to by the author. All of his longstanding issues with Rogio were never truly resolved. Kargo died, Roamer felt bad, and then got clingy when he came back to life. Given how respectful Kargo is trying to be, it’s messed up for Rogio to even suggest a polycule. At the end of the day, Kique can’t move past his own like of Roamer and Kargo as a couple, so he’s going add Rogio to the equation.
On a final note, I hate the first panel on this page so much. The page just goes further downhill with the dialogue. Kique wants these dogs to be humans so badly that the pose on the first panel is weirdly human. I’ve been saying it for years, and I’ll keep saying it until the heat death of the universe– these characters should have been fully anthropomorphic. Notice how a similar pose works for The Order of the Black Dog, but it doesn’t work here. Or if fully anthro isn’t your thing, then these dogs should just cuddle like regular four-legged dogs.
Let’s end on a slightly positive tone. In the Tumblr space we have a couple of things unfolding:
Panel Repair Shop is back, and they’ve redone page 827, fixing the character expressions. Check it out, if you already haven’t.
Salty has reworked the concept of the Flamegarde tribe completely with a new name, lore, and concepts. It’s worth a read for an exercise in proper world building and cool concept art. Image if Kique put half the effort into his comics that Salty put into this rework.
On DeviantArt, Grass Cake has open comment sections for Home if you’d like a place to discuss new pages on days they come out. Think of it as a discussion forum free of Kique’s influence and another place to talk about this comic, especially as updates may be nearly a week behind here. I comment myself if I have time.
As an artist who draws mostly quadrupedal animals, I’d argue that there are ways to pull of a dog doing a pose that dogs can’t do in real life and have it look good. Cuddling is definitely a easy one, especially since I seen photos of dogs sleeping in a similar pose that panel is- you can look up good references on Google. I seen many artists pull it off just well.
But for some reason, whenever Kique’s characters do unnatural dog poses they look so unbelievably uncanny and I can’t quite put my finger on it as to why when so many others can pull it off just fine. Kargo in the bathtub in one scene also comes to mind. Maybe because of the style and detailed shading he uses and it feels like the dog’s anatomy has to pretty much break itself in order for these poses to work, no matter how uncanny.
its probably because he traces human photos, then breaks the dogs anatomy over that. resulting in this weird hybrid uncanny valley.
instead of using a ref and correctly positioning how the dog would settle anatomy wise.
I’m just going to second what Red said. The uncanny valley is likely because of traced porn. I think it was mentioned ages ago when the CCS blog was active on Tumblr.
That said, I did look up poses of dogs sleeping and cuddling in weird positions. I got a much needed dose of cute. 😀 I’m now fond of dogs sleeping on their backs, much like humans.