TWWR Round up 05/06/2024– When the Plot Armor Gets Going

Off-White is coming back! I’d be shocked if any of you reading this blog haven’t heard the news between DeviantArt and Tumblr. The new comic doesn’t have a release date, but it will be launched on Webtoons. This time around the story will be authored and illustrated by Akreon and Venrinn. It seems Vesner won’t be involved in the reboot. The beginning of the new story will follow the original story to a certain point, after that it will diverge. Some characters won’t be returning either. I am a huge fan of Off-White and I honestly, I thought this project was dead. This is a wonderful surprise.

If you’ve never read Off-White or want to re-read it, most of the comic is still available on DA, including the oldest pages that were redone several times.

In other news, The Order of the Black Dog will return next week with Issue 28.

Africa | Page(s): 370 | Patreon

Mosi tells Africa that he knows how male leopards behave. He wants to go back, but he can’t trust himself. His mother shouldn’t trust him either. Mondo looks away pensively as Africa begs her son not to go and tells him she wants to help. If they can talk, they can figure out what to do together. She notes talking is something she should have done ages ago.

Again, Mosi’s confusion about his role in killing cubs is making it impossible for him to feel like he can go home. This is despite both him and Africa wanting the same thing. However, he’s taken his mother’s advice about nothing changing to heart. Meanwhile, Africa notes that things could change if they talk. It’s clear that not talking to her cubs sooner is her biggest regret.

To Catch a Star | Page(s): 491, 492, 493, 494 | Patreon

Backlash drags himself over to Shadow. She looks up at him smiling slightly as stars and the outline of the moon becomes visible in her eyes. As tears gently run down her face, the Nova closes her eyes for the last time. Lost Backlash looks down at her, before tears from above splash on his muzzle. The zombie Dusky looks up, and Lupi looks down on the pair, unable to hold back their tears. The sun wolf continues to look down at their dead friends far on the island below them as they sob.

Above the clouds in the Supernova territory, a wolf calls for Scorch. It is the same Supernova that tried to lure Lupi away from Shadow. As they return, Scorch questions them on why they don’t have the Sun or the star with them. The green-eyed wolf struggles to answer and the Supernova leader sneers in disgust at their failure. Suddenly, the unnamed wolf tells Scorch that the Sun refused to follow them after stumbling upon the body of a dead Dusky, and then how Tillandsia chased them away. Hearth looks on in concern at the events.

When Backlash died, he saw the sun and Lupi’s cloud formation in his eyes. This time Shadow saw the moon and what I’m assuming to be Lupi’s constellation in her eyes. I’m not sure what that means at the moment, but hopefully the meaning will be made clear before this comic ends. What I do know is that it is sweet how Backlash repaid the favor of Shadow being with him in his last moments by being with her in her final moments. Quite a bit of the young Dusky’s personality survived in death. While these two are dead, at least they’ll have each other as Lost. On the small island far below the other islands, no one will bother them. It’s cold comfort, but comfort nonetheless.

In this sad scenario Lupi has to go on living without their friends. Since two out of the three protagonists are dead, and Takedown is gone, there’s not much else left to see on the Dusky side of things. I’m sure Backlash’s old pack isn’t getting together any time soon after being scattered, and it may be a while before we know Danger, Tussle, and Sweep’s fates. It makes sense that we’d shift to the Supernova. They’ll still be after Lupi and the stars.

It’s just a shame that Lupi may have to take on Scorch and his zealots mostly alone. Sure, Hearth may come in and assist. The pack is going to be in for a rude awakening when they realize Lupi isn’t going to be so gun-ho about their Dusky genocide plan, and is mostly self-aware now. At the very least, I hope Lupi gives Scorch a tongue-lashing about using them to spread his racist ideals.

Golden Shrike | Page(s): 263 | Patreon

Nero’s group presses on and Kasko explains to Runi where they’re currently at. Even though The Gathering is over, they’re not far from the location where it was held. They’ve essentially backtracked from the mountains. Nero falls behind the group, as he swishes his head to and fro. Boneslav notices and asks the Marshlander buck what he’s doing. Nero is annoyed that a leaf is stuck to the side of his antler and is confused at how a leaf could even be stuck there. The Stonekrovn notices Nero is growing a new tine. The buck is so shocked that he dislodges the stuck leaf.

After the heaviness of the last few pages, a little comic relief was called for. I’m extremely partial to the second panel. The deadpan look on Boneslav’s face as he turns an ear toward Nero just amuses me. I’m sure Nero is going to make a big deal of growing a new tine, as he’s a growing boy. Otherwise, I wonder if the group will slowly make their way to where Antaras and his group once were. I can’t see them crossing paths just yet, as Antaras is too dangerous right now and War hasn’t been found. Perhaps word of Helevise’s, and the buck and doe’s deaths will reach the group. It’s hard to see where the story is heading next in the immediate future. I’m happy for the break in predictability regarding Golden Shrike.

Home | Page(s): 852, 853 | Patreon

Unfortunately, Kique has updated Home not once, but twice this week. My sanity would have appreciated him sticking to his 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th of the month schedule. But hey, I’m sure fans are happy with an extra update.

As Elvind dangles from the cliffside, Diarko rushes to her aid. He grabs her by the scruff and his saber fangs pierce her skin. Still, he manages to partially pull her up until Inna arrives and helps rescue the pup. Further down the hill, Fraujar headbutts a dog off the cliff while Ronja stabs another in the throat. Rogio dodges a deadly knife strike, and Kargo stabs one of the raid leaders in the eye. He pins the dog down and prepares to finish him off. Before he can do so, a Petite Jaro leaps on his back and bites into his scruff. The leader runs off as Kargo tries to shake the smaller dog off, and another dog rushes in to attack.

Suddenly, Kargo grabs the smaller dog with his foreleg and places them in a chokehold while stabbing them in the neck. At the same time, Roamer runs the other dog through with his spear. Fjordor tells the group to keep pushing the raiders back as Ferah slices a dog’s neck open with her sword. Rogio stops attacking in shock, as a large King’s Hall Hound with spiked metal shoulder plates and a spiked collar storms onto the battlefield. Rogio, Roamer, and Kargo charge the dog, and the dog charges back. The dog (named Brutus) rams Rogio in the neck with a headbutt while Kargo slices at his side with the knife. Roamer attacks with the spear, but it gets caught in the spikes of the shoulder plate and snaps.

I don’t have it in me to write as detailed as a review as last week. That said, this scene is bad and continues to be bad. So I’ll run down the issues I had. I can’t believe there was no way Diarko couldn’t grab Elvind’s scruff and bite down without biting through her skin. If his teeth were that sharp I’m surprised he was able to lift her without her skin being further torn. Granted, the cub could have been panicked, but surely it’s possible to get a good grip on the pup without turning her into a pincushion. Seems like Inna should have just gotten their first and picked Elvind up. I had to chuckle at Fraujar ramming dogs, as it’s on point for a guy who cosplays as a caribou in his own tribe. At least Ronja is doing something.

As for Kargo attacking the leader, I refuse to believe that guy could get up so easily after suffering serious eye trauma. It’s a type of wound that would keep anyone down for a least a few moments as they writhe in pain. It’s not an injury one shrugs off. I mean, getting something in your eye is enough to put a halt to anything you’re doing. It’s why going for the eyes is an effective way to stop most things in their tracks temporarily. That point has been illustrated in other comics like To Catch a Star, Tofauti Sawa, Tainted Hearts, and What Lurks Beneath. Granted, the raid leader could be fueled by adrenaline or shock, but when he runs off his expression looks bored– minus one eye.

What is with the attacking pose of the Petite Jaro on the seventh panel of page 852? It looks less like a dog jumping and more like a dog rearing up. Keeping the subject on the Petite dog, they were hanging onto Kargo’s neck on the same page, but on page 853 they’re unexpectedly tangled up in Kargo’s front legs. There should have been a transition panel where he threw the dog off his back. Since he had the smaller dog against his forelegs, why not just pin the dog and stab down on them, like he was attempting to do with the raid leader on the previous page? Kargo lifting the Petite with his forelegs, then choke-holding them while he stands on his hind legs to stab is just impossible. Dog legs don’t work like arms. These are not fully anthropomorphic dogs– that pose is impossible as front legs aren’t that flexible. I’m sure Kique thought this pose on the second panel looked good, but this is a comic where he’s going for semi-realism. It just doesn’t work. If it was established that the dogs had front legs and paws at worked like arms and hands, like in To Catch a Star, that would be one thing, but they don’t.

I was informed after this post was published that the Norwegian Lundehund aka the Puffin Dog is quite flexible. Had the dogs in Home been based on this breed (or at least incorporated their flexibility) scenes where they move like anthros wouldn’t have been so far-fetched.

(Here’s a fun fact regarding this particular red Petite Jaro: It was rumored Kique put them in the comic and deliberately made them look like Jonna to snub her fans and fans of Petite Jaros. I doubt anyone feels any particular attachment to this dog, so one can only roll their eyes at how petty this author is, if said rumor is true.)

As for Brutus, if the dogs weren’t attacking with spears, knives, and swords, his armor would make a lot more sense. In fact, it would be some of the most practical armor any dog has worn into battle thus far. Though these dogs do have weapons and most of his body is exposed. I can’t see why Roamer rushed him head on with that spear when going around and stabbing him literally anywhere else would have worked. Same with Kargo. Why slice along his body when that knife could have gone into any unprotected section of his body? Now, I know Brutus isn’t being spared here for plot armor reasons, it’s so that Kargo or someone else can kill him in a more spectacular fashion.

Speaking of plot armor, Brutus was holding a knife. Why headbutt Rogio in the neck when he could have stabbed him, or better yet crushed his neck with his fangs? If I had to guess, it is show how dangerous this armored King’s Hall Hound is while only injuring Rogio instead of killing him. That leads to more questions. Of all the raiding dogs, why is Brutus the only given metal spiked armor? Did the spirits only make one for the group? Did the group figure they’d only need one set? Or did the spirits just ignore their requests for more? Whatever the reason, it doesn’t change the fact that this raid is a fucking joke.

Hopefully there aren’t too many pages left of it to endure.

On hiatus:

The Order of the Black Dog | Page(s): | Patreon

Lost Scent | Page(s): | Patreon