First a bit of quick news:
After Honour has received a regular update schedule on DeviantArt. Instead of having pages released every day and then waiting months between chapters, the comic will update on Sundays. This means Gen Staelens can keep her buffer of 100+ pages on Patreon, but those of us reading the public pages will see steady updates. A win-win for everyone on DA. Again, After Honour isn’t as far behind Patreon on Instagram for those of you who use this social media network.
Lost Scent is now on ComicFury for fans of the dedicated comic website.
Finally, it seems like Home will be ending in the next four chapters. Part of this reveal came from a future project announced on Kique’s Patreon. The end of this comic is in sight, but it still may take a while depending on the length of each chapter. So far chapters have averaged 90 to 100 pages. That could easily be another 400 pages worth of comic, unless he shortens each chapter. It’s unclear if the new comic will be related to Home. Either way, I have no plans to cover this new comic, as I’m more than happy to move away from Kique’s works once this current project is finished. (I did the same with Songdog after Repeat, and instead of experiencing FOMO I’ve been discovering other comics.)
As for comments, my apologies for not getting to them sooner. I’ll reply to them when I have a free moment.
Africa | Page(s): 356 | Patreon
Mondo may consider himself to be little more than prey, but he shows an incredible amount of courage when he charges at a crocodile to save Safari. Despite being smacked around by the reptile’s tail, he avoids being eaten and even has a hissing showdown. I can only hope this distraction works long enough for Africa to arrive, or for Safari to snap out of his trance. Mondo could easily save himself and run away, but he’s not about to let his uncle die if he can help it.
To Catch a Star | Page(s): 435, 436, 437, 438 | Patreon
As expected, the stronger wolves in the pack aren’t taking kindly to Backlash’s new decree. Danger correctly points out that they won’t obey without a show of force. That runs counter to what Backlash wants for the pack. Honestly, if Takedown wasn’t such a massive threat I’d suspect the stronger wolves benefiting from the current system to be the actual threat. In hierarchy-based systems it’s the people at the top who feel they have the most to lose when the prospect of equality becomes a reality. It holds true for both race and class, which is why change is often so difficult. Speaking of that hierarchy, the weaker wolves are positively happy about the change of rules, showing that there is support for Backlash’s ideas within the pack. (Much to the chagrin of the stronger wolves watching the scene unfold in the distance.)
Just as the young alpha realizes fixing his pack won’t be a quick affair, Takedown shows up. Despite her being the leader, Danger is terrified of him. After a quick warning, she leaves Backlash alone with his older brother. The younger wolf is certain his own sibling won’t hurt him. I’m not convinced, but I am surprised to see the older brother start off with a friendly conversation. Of course that entire conversation is purely manipulative. Tussle was right about her friend being starved for affection, and it only takes a few kind words to get Backlash to drop his guard. Takedown’s friendly attitude isn’t genuine at all. I’m just wondering when the attack comes. Will he attack Backlash for going after the meat he offered, or will he keep up the facade a bit longer? If Takedown were smart, he’d manipulate his younger brother and take power that way. However, his violent and prideful nature will ensure that he tries to take power for himself in the very near future by force.
The Order of the Black Dog | Page(s): Issue 27, page 29 | Patreon
It looks like we’re about to see Julia and Mel summon Kenazil. Their chosen location for summoning the Black Dog is none other than an abandoned mall. The location reminds me of when Rhoda summoned the Moth Man back in Issue 3. The experience lead her deeper and deeper into summoning rituals, which ultimately lead her to the place where Tazim is now using her body. Will the same happen to Julia and Mel? Very unlikely, given how much experience the two have had with other worldly creatures. That said, I don’t think summoning the Black Dog will go as smoothly as planned, but the choice to summon her at an abandoned location is a smart one. The potential damage unleashed (if the story goes that route) should be minimized.
Let’s just hope things don’t go south.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 254 | Patreon
Just as I suspected, the scene has transitioned. The action is now back on Antaras and Usma. Her halv has found Helevise. Before they can reach the elderly doe’s location, the father-daughter duo smell something unsettling in the air. Given their expressions and how everything is saturated in red, the smell can’t be good. I love how the entire color palette of this page seems to imply danger, violence, or death may be fast approaching.
As for the scent the two have picked up in Helevise’s general direction, I can only guess that she may be gravely injured or is already dead. I find it strange that she disappeared from the group after her talk with Iralee. I found a less obvious answer in the comments section. The falling material could be ash from a forest fire that’s broken out near her location. (It could also be snow or pollen.) Either way, things are about get interesting very quickly!
Lost Scent | Page(s): 36 | Patreon
Tulpi has woken up from a bad dream. I wonder if she was dreaming about home again, as it has brought her nothing bad memories as of this point in the story. Her pig is nice and comfortable, but Motte is nowhere to be seen. I can only guess there would be a good reason for her to wander off in the middle of the night in a heavy snowstorm– especially without telling Tulpi. I’d wager she’s either making sure their tracks are covered, patrolling for those dogs from the town, or she heard something disturbing enough to investigate. The smart thing for Tulpi to do would be to wait for her friend to return. If she hasn’t returned by daybreak or once the storm clears up, then searching for her is a good option. There’s no point in both of them being lost in the storm.
I noticed the blanket is gone, so Motte likely took it with her. Once things settle down, Tulpi can hopefully pick up her scent and track her down with the pig in tow. I honestly believe Motte will return before any real amount of time passes. Her being honest about her whereabouts is another matter entirely.
Ranach’s rebellion continues and to no one’s surprise, Flameguard Tribe is on their side. It’s a shame the entire conversation between the leaders of the tribe and Ranach’s group was skipped over. Even if it’s obvious that FG is sick of the Capital and the blatant favoritism shown to Jahla, the conversation would have been a good way to illustrate Ranach’s point about Solar Stag. As it stands right now, the evidence provided in Home that Solar Stag Tribe is secretly evil and has to be overthrown is flimsy at best. Every example shown to us isn’t definitive evidence.
Shiverfall Tribe says they’re afraid the dogs of the Capital merely tolerate them, but Taiga Lions make up both membership in the Guild and are a part of the bounty hunters. We haven’t seen active cases of fear and discrimination of the lions like we’ve seen with Jahla and her kin. And yes, there’s the Forngrym, but their story was introduced late and seemingly came out of nowhere with zero foreshadowing. Also, if a dog like Rogio can insist that prejudice lies with Earth dogs and not on Aedra, how well known are the saber cats across the land? (Of course Rogio could have also been lying, given how manipulative he tends to be.) It’s amazing that shortly after the Forngrym were introduced, and the matter was settled with Diarko, the cats were quickly forgotten.
As for the Bayou tribe, it’s implied that the Capital got rid of them, but the scene was so odd that it came out of nowhere. (Noticing a trend yet?) For all we know, the water dogs could have just packed up shop and went elsewhere. There’s no proof that Solar Stag forcibly removed them from their lands. And before you ask, yes, I know the real reason why the Bayous were introduced only to be quickly written out of the story. They were the idea of Kique’s ex at the time, and when they broke up, he was petty and removed them from the story. (Never mind making their exit coherent.)
As for Southspear’s beef with Solar Stag, I looked it up and on page 759 Lykenia only stated that her mother tried to gain the higher ground for Southspear, and was killed for her efforts. The former “True Matriarch” could have gone for a violent insurrection against the Capital, was put down, and her tribe driven to the badlands. She doesn’t mention peaceful efforts at all, and Solar Stag could have been defending themselves. After all, Southspear’s original introduction was as violent outlaws.
In short, the case for Solar Stag Tribe being evil is weak, and feels like manufactured conflict at best. If Kique wanted us to believe this tribe is up to no good, he should have done a better job illustrating that fact. Even the strongest case with Flameguard is weak, as FG attacked Jahla and Thakir first with the intent to kill them. Anything that happened with Shiverfall and the Forngrym happened off-screen and is poorly explained. I’m not seeing the point of this rebellion or even WHY tribes should side with Ranach– especially as some leaders recognize him as the son of the Meteor Tribe’s former Jarl.
As for the rest of the page, we get a scene transition taking us back to the Asmundr pack. I wonder what beasts Raimo could be referring to. On a quick note, I hate that with shots of the moon we no longer see the two moons in the sky which made Aedra feel so alien. You know, the two moons on the cover page which were also clearly seen when the pack was first dropped off on the new planet? I guess Kique forgot about them.
i hate that the cats sided with ranach when his reasoning’s to convince them were shit.
“the capital sent those bounty hunters after us at the risk of their lives!”
yeah? that’s their job and WHY exactly were they going after you in the first place, hmm? constantly robbing and threatening to kill people. meteor was never a threat to them because they’re separated by half to almost the whole map. and they were mainly after breeding slaves the cats could never be for them.
why follow someone with bloodthirsty dictatorship and rapist for a leadership resume?
For sure! No one ever said that bounty hunter work wouldn’t be dangerous. The logic might work better if Feaf’s mother had mentioned she requested MORE bounty hunters to deal with Southspear and Solar Stag denied her request. But no, just the vague suggestion that there weren’t enough bounty hunters and the Capital may have done so on purpose.
Yeah, it’s insane that she knows who Ranach is and what his tribe has done, but yet she’s okay with him leading a rebellion of all things.