TWWR Round up 03/04/2024– The Never-ending Circle of Destruction

We’re on my first comic roundup since last week’s move. (Posting is so much easier now without the weird glitches from the Gutenberg editor.) Turns out the timing couldn’t have been better on that! Not even 24 hours after my move it came out that Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com and Tumblr, had made plans to sell user content to Midjourney and Open AI for training data. This deal includes data that was gathered from 2013 to 2024, and sharing is opt-out only going forward. If you want to know more about the details of the deal, I wrote about them for Damage Control Blog and provided my earlier thoughts on Tumblr.

Just as I have with my larger gaming blog, I’ve removed all integration with WordPress.com. As a result some features are no longer available. This means you won’t be able to follow the blog any longer on the WordPress reader or use your WordPress.com account to leave a comment. However, your email address should work fine, and if you’ve previously left a comment, you shouldn’t need approval from me for that comment to show up. Blog post notifications via email are broken at the moment. The replacement service I’ve chosen has some hiccups, and I might need to look for another service.

On the visual side, once I disconnected this blog from the WordPress.com theme I was using, it lost half of its functionality. I’ve found a similar theme, but I’m not completely satisfied. I might search for something else at a later date.

As for Tumblr, I’ve opted out of sharing my data, and I plan to keep a blog there as long as the site is worth using. If you’re using Tumblr and plan to share art there, I’d look into using Glaze or Nightshade on your art, provided your computer can handle it. Hell, I’d recommend this to anyone planning to share their artwork publicly.

Africa | Page(s): 361 | Patreon

Safari falls, and it has become clear humans are involved as their jeep speeds away into the darkness. Africa curls her lips into an angry snarl as she recalls Faida’s words about the end of the world. The signs are the birds fleeing, the drought, then the wielders of lightning coming to strike down the weakest surviving animals. After some discussion with friends, it seems the lightning does represent the sound of a gunshot to animals. So this was a mercy kill regarding Safari, but it doesn’t mean that the event is any easier on Africa. As she stands over her adopted brother’s body, she roars in anger and frustration.

There’s literally nothing she can do for Safari now, but at least his final moments weren’t spent suffering. She’ll have to say her goodbyes to him and focus on her living relatives. Namely, her adopted son and her birth son. They’re both in the swamp and her original intention was to find them. Let’s hope this reunion goes better for the leopard.

To Catch a Star | Page(s): 455, 456, 457, 458 | Patreon

Updates of To Catch a Star have fallen behind on Comic Fury again. CF is about two pages behind DeviantArt, and I hope Sleepy catches up. It’s actually a lot easier to follow TCAS on a dedicated webcomic site. Anyway, a LOT has happened since my last update. Eight entire pages worth of story, but for my sanity, I’m only sticking to the latest four.

After Backlash was brutally murdered by Takedown, the psychopath chased down Danger in order to become the alpha. As a result it’s not surprising that we’re getting a scene change for the moment. Shadow is understandably worried about Backlash and plans to make sure he’s alright, even if she has to storm an entire Dusky pack. Lupi isn’t listening to her because a Supernova has arrived carrying a star. It’s likely they tracked Takedown’s pack to Lupi’s location. As Shadow goes to stop Lupi from chasing after the star, her plans to check on Backlash are sidetracked.

Back at Dusky pack, Takedown has lost track of Danger, so he turns back. No doubt he’s in a lot of pain from where his younger brother ripped his eye out, only to have it aggravated by Ray’s necklace when he attacked the alpha. In a rage, he returns only to discover Backlash is gone. Snarling at the pack, he demands to know where his brother is before lashing out at his pack mates. The wolves all scatter in different directions, trying to escape his rage and violence.

These pages are setting up the confrontation between Takedown, Shadow and Lupi. I’m guessing that they’ll all cross paths when the Supernova gets too close to the Dusky pack or Shadow manages to catch Lupi, but they end up in Takedown’s path. As for Backlash, either he wasn’t dead yet or Tussle and Sweep have taken his body elsewhere. They weren’t visible in the last scene. I’m amazed that for all of his intelligence, the wannabe alpha didn’t notice the large trail of blood in the grass. It goes to show how he’s literally blind thanks to his rage, and that while he’s strong, he’s not all powerful. At this point, he doesn’t even have a pack to rule over as the wolves have fled, and the smarter ones will probably stay away.

I’m curious to what he wants with his younger brother’s body, and if anyone else will be injured in his quest to get it back. Furthermore, how will Shadow and Lupi deal with the Supernova being so close? If one has the star, I’m guessing Hearth’s attempts to change the fanatical wolves’ minds didn’t go well. Let’s hope it went better than Backlash’s efforts!

The Order of the Black Dog | Page(s): Issue 27, page 34 | Patreon

The girls have finally made it to their spiritual destination after a few trippy sequences. Instead of finding Kenazil, they find the smiling man. Julia is shocked to see him and in response he only grins wider, revealing he’s been there the entire time. Mel recognizes him as the man who helped return her memories at one point. He quickly surmises the two aren’t here for him, but his pet instead. This makes me wonder if he’s aware of Tazim’s plans, and will let Julia and Mel move forward. To be honest, we haven’t seen him in nearly 20 issues. I’m curious if we’ll learn anything more about him– even if it’s just his name. I’d love to know if he’s connected to The Black Idol in any way, of if he’s just another Earth-based god whose job is mostly to observe. We’ve seen him in the background of past important events, so I’d be shocked if that wasn’t his role most of the time.

Lost Scent | Page(s): 41 | Patreon

The last two pages of Lost Scent have been amazing. I absolutely love Tulpi and Motte’s relationship. I thought the latter would be more obstinate regarding telling her traveling partner where she went. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case at all. She simply went to barter away some dried fish for a sled so Tulpi would have an easier time traveling in the deep snow. Motte felt bad for dragging her companion away from the town and into a blizzard. Tulpi apologizes for thinking the worst of her larger friend, admitting she’s used to people running away from her. To that, Motte retorts with the best line on this page “Pff, I mean I’m not mother Terrier Resa either.” Yes, I’m a sucker for wordplay.

The Borzoi-mix realizes her friend had to deal with a rough life, which makes me wonder how the two became traveling companions in the first place. It seems they don’t know much about each other, but I suspect half the fun will be these ladies discovering more about each other. As the storm clears, Motte literally leads the way as she pulls the sled through the snow. Tulpi and the pig clinging on for dear life is just too cute. Will we get another glimpse of the Akita-mix’s backstory as they head to her home village?

Home | Page(s): 840, 841, 842, 843 | Patreon

After chapter 13 ends on the ominous note of Marduk stating he’s the one god of the Asmundr pack, and Kainan plotting a murder, we have a time skip of two months. Before I get started on that time skip, I want to talk briefly about the chapter 14 cover. It all but states this chapter will be brimming with war, as spears fly, the symbol of Ranach’s rebellion is present, and a human-like handprint is painted red on a wall. If I weren’t already wise to how this author rarely delivers on chapter promises, I’d be intrigued. It seems like Father’s creations are set to go to war, but when that war comes it’ll be half-cooked and rushed as always.

Two months after Kainan decides that Marduk has to go, not much has changed with the Asmundr territory. We get to see more fauna– in this case the Rokrhund, a strange cross between a dog and a kangaroo. They don’t have any significance to the story and are there as background fodder (and to sell adoptables). Panic is flying high above the territory and spots a female wolf bat similar to himself, except she has a glowing mark on her back. Defense against ghouls, I guess? The two flirt and fly off into the daylight.

Meanwhile, back in Meteor territory, Kargo and Roamer start an early morning scouting mission to the new territory that will serve as their home. Two unknown dogs trail behind them, spying. As two banter on, unaware they’re being watched, the two intruders debate on if they should attack. On the way up the mountain, Roamer asks Kargo if he knows anything about Rogio’s family. It’s revealed that he had an abusive father, and a beloved brother. It turns out Kargo also knew that Rogio’s brother reached out to a spirit to help the tribe, but that spirit ended up destroying the village instead. Everyone is dead, and Roamer wonders why his partner would want to return to such a place. Kargo can only speculate that it’s for the survival of the tribe and Roamer suggest holding a memorial for his family after the move.

In the distance, the two trailing dogs decide that the Meteors haven’t moved far enough from their territory, and that their new spot would be too advantageous. They decide to gather the other dogs, likely for an attack.

My god, there’s a lot to start with regarding these pages and the numerous plot holes.

First, if the Asmundr pack was so worried about Marduk why hasn’t anything seemingly changed in the span of two months? Is Marduk keeping them there against their will? Why can’t Rhov and Feaf leave the pack to send word to Ronja and Keirr regarding everyone’s location. Wouldn’t his cousin and brother love to know the family was okay? This is after Rhov and Feaf decided to have sex (out in the open), instead of rushing back to the Capital before Axi got there. We always have the issue in Home of a character on the move suddenly dropping an urgent matter. They just decide to stay at a single location for drama down the line instead of taking care of the current issue.

Some examples include Keirr giving up his search the Asmundr pack to stay at Whispervale. Jahla deciding to run a tribe instead of looking for her family. Roamer deciding to play in the water, and even head south versus looking for Ronja like he said. In this case, for all Rhov knows, Ronja and Roamer could be dead. Yet he’s content to stay with Kainan and the others. It’s just idiotic.

As for events at the Meteor Tribe, Kargo just happens to know Rogio’s backstory, but Rogio never bothered to tell his partner? They’ve been together for months in-story, and you’d think they’d tell each other more about their past. When Rogio told Roamer that someone summoned a spirit that destroyed his tribe, did he purposely not mention that person was his brother? (Or were the finer details not set in stone by Kique yet?)

If so, why hide that little fact from a potential partner? He was elusive about Ranach, and that’s mildly understandable given how he enjoyed a life of privilege while all the females and some males suffered. (Anyone with a sense of shame might omit the fact that they were fucking the heir to a horribly abusive tribe and didn’t lift a finger to help.) But he hid the fact that his brother summoned the spirit. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Why the heck does Kargo know this? Just how close was he to Rogio when they were both MT members under Arenak’s reign?

The seeds are being planted for another raid. Still, it seems like the female Great Vildmarkens and her Jaro companion are really stretching logic in order to attack. Why make a leap of logic to call an abandoned territory “Meteor land” when an entire tribe known as Snowcap used to live there? Why not attack them before the move, stating that they took too long to make a decision? After all, two months have passed and that’s probably way past the ultimatum they were given by the raiding dogs. Right now it just makes these dogs look extra petty by punishing the MT for complying with their earlier demands. I don’t count the mountain, because if it was important to the Meteors, it wouldn’t be abandoned– and records of Snowcap Tribe’s destruction likely exist given the Capital keeps records via the Guild.

On Hiatus:

Golden Shrike | Page(s): | Patreon