Happy New Year!
I was originally planning to get this blog up no later than Wednesday of last week, but time just got away from me. I also had to prioritize two articles for my gaming blog. In the original draft of this roundup, I’d written a few hundred words about my disappointment with The Dragon Slayer. Mainly how comments were shutdown on DeviantArt after a few critical comments about how long the scene between King Crisis and Princess Dandy had been dragged out. My breaking point came with last Sunday’s update and her being caught after finally running away from her incestuous father. I haven’t gone back to the comic since then. I think the commenters had a good point as sexual assault and incest are topics that should be treated seriously, and it feels like the nature of the criticism was misconstrued on Comic Fury. Sure, the story is just beginning, but first impressions do count.
So as I scroll past it to other comics I’m following on DeviantArt, I can at least see the dreaded scene between Crisis and Dandy is finally over with her being saved by someone else. I might go back to TDS, but I want to at least take my mind off some aspects of this comic. It seems like a great time to check out some of the wonderful recommendations I’ve been given on this very blog.
How about you all? Is anyone actively reading The Dragon Slayer here? If so, how are you liking it so far?
I combined this week’s roundup with last week’s. Though to keep this post from becoming way too long, I’ve decided I’ll cover Lost Scent and ITLD: The Scarlet Uproar next week. I’m just trying to get back on schedule for this week.
Africa | Page(s): 403, 404 | Patreon
Africa and Mosi are finally reunited and can talk in peace. It’s also good to see Mosi smiling again, even if it’s just for a few panels. The poor kid has been through a lot and still requires his mother’s guidance. Even so, he’s still shaky and his mother wisely suggests that they walk and talk. For the first time, she’s finally able to address his disfigurement. The framing of the last panel of page 403 as Africa asks her son if he’s in any pain is framed by thorny tree branches to illustrate how the subject is a painful one. Not just for him, but for her as well, as she feels like she failed her cubs when they needed her the most.
I adore how much softer and more patient Africa has become as a parent. She’s loving and concerned. It’s a far cry from her more standoffish nature from earlier in the comic. This meeting will do Mosi lots of good, though I worry that he won’t be staying with her any time soon because of the touchy subject of Mondo. A subject that immediately comes into play.
Mosi is still rightfully upset about Sabra selling their location out to the lions. He also doesn’t think his mother should have to apologize. I honestly think it was reckless of Africa to leave her cubs alone to race back to challenge Chui for her land. She could have at least gotten a feel for the place and figured out whom she could trust before leaving. To be fair, no one was expecting Sabra to work together with the lions. I feel she would have eventually tried to have Africa and her cubs killed again, or outright sold out Faida if given the opportunity.
Anyway, Africa insists that Mondo isn’t to blame for Mosi’s condition, and she’s not wrong. Her son then asks why the serval cub is so important to her, especially after what his mother did. I would argue that Africa not seeing Mosi for months was Mosi’s own decision, though. Even so, he finally hears the truth. Africa is taking care of Mondo because she killed Sabra. It’s noble of her to not want to let him die because of his mother’s actions, unlike what was done to her cubs. I hope Mosi comes to understand this logic one day. In the immediate, I hope some of his anger is at least quelled with news that the serval he despised is now dead at his mother’s fangs.
What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): 851 – 856 | Patreon
I’m glad that in Hake’s greatest time of need, Kelp and Mollymawk are there to comfort him. The poor guy even calls Kelp “Mom.” It’s not something Hake does much as an adult, but the relief and crushing sadness are just so evident. In this scene I’m happy the former prince is being comforted. With this comfort comes the reveal that Tusk and Mollymawk did indeed hatch a plan to bury Ray at the willow tree in the forest. Not only that, but it was Mollymawk’s idea in addition to offering to bury Ray.
This finally puts to rest (no pun intended), the speculation from some members of the audience that Tusk ate Ray. For anyone paying close attention, it was obvious that Ray was at the willow tree. Though his missing body and Tusk’s silence on the matter, and Gull’s insistence definitely did fool some readers. And no, I don’t think it was Arual’s intention to fool anyone, just to make the situation mildly ambiguous enough until the reveal happened. I’ll say it once more, everyone paying attention were able to put the clues together.
Some may ponder why Tusk didn’t just bury Ray at the shore, then dig him up to bury later at her willow tree. I’d wager her mind was clouded with grief, and the plan was a solid one until Gull kept getting involved. Perhaps it was a mistake not to involve Hake, but the damage has been done. Either way, if The Family discovers Ray in the forest, their opinion of Tusk wouldn’t change. She denied Ray his fins, and worse Mollymawk was complicit in this act. Both of them might have been forced into the sea by the mob with Trout doing nothing to stop them. Of course, one can sympathize with Molly. If she hasn’t made the decision, Tusk might still be alive. Though The Family led by Gull wouldn’t stop being cruel to her, and may have found another reason to force her out or into the sea as long as Trout remained a people pleaser. This type of bigotry doesn’t go away just because you’re willing to make concessions.
Anyway, Hake is both shocked and relieved that Ray is buried at the tree. He’s also glad that Tusk’s last wish was carried out, though he laments not being able to do it himself. Which makes me think he ultimately would have been okay with the switcheroo plan. Still, that’s a would have, could have, should have. Tusk is gone after all. As for what happens next, I’m pretty sure Hake is just going to live at the tree now. It’s part of his connection with his mate and that connection is all the stronger now that he knows Ray is buried there.
When Kelp insists that Hake returns with her to the beaches, he stays put. She states there’s nothing out her for him, but he states his family is here as he rests next to Ray’s grave. For a moment, I wondered if Kelp would push the issue, but instead she decides to stay with him. Given the ugly mob scene that unfolded at the beach, she knows Hake would never be happy going home. Staying with her son shows how supportive she is as a mother. As Mollymawk looks on, I can only wonder if she’ll return, or if she’s taken Gull’s words to heart and will join Hake and Kelp.
I had a feeling that with his departure, he might end up taking members of The Family with him. Kelp and possibly Mollymawk make the most sense. I wonder if anyone else will join as well, like perhaps Wrasse. Not in this chapter, but maybe in the future as the old cat had a lot of regret about how everything played out. Doubly so as he watched Hake and Tusk’s relationship unfold from a distance.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 293, 294 | Patreon
Nero and Boneslav air their differences out. Considering that the Marshlander is physically no match for the Stonekrovn, settling their disagreements with words is probably the best choice. Basically, Nero dislikes his massive traveling companion because how things went down when they first met. I.e., Boneslav slamming his face into a boulder. Even if Runi and Kasko have made their peace with the Stonekrovn, Nero has not. This direct answer takes him by surprise, and he wonders if he’s hated for that first impression. Nero is quick to make sure his words aren’t twisted. He dislikes Boneslav as a person for a myriad of reasons, not because he’s simply a Stonekrovn.
On the flip side, Boneslav dislikes Nero because of his brash attitude, and his stubbornness. He’s the type of guy who chooses not to hear or to see what’s in front of him at times. He cares, but his attitude is cruel. The secrets, the fact that he doesn’t rely on Runi, and has unaddressed resentment for his birth herd. The rest of the complaints are jabs at Nero. I personally find it funny that he’s the second character in this comic to make a remark about Nero being yellow.
I’m not surprised that Nero and Boneslav are butting heads, so to speak. They’re both arrogant in their own ways. Nero is brash and cocky. Boneslav is cold and prideful. I’m just hoping this conversation will help them smooth out their differences. If they don’t become friends, at least they could learn to tolerate each other better. I’m also hoping this heart-to-heart clears the way for Usma to eventually ease her way into the group dynamic.
Home | Page(s): 894 – 900 | Patreon
What amazes me the most about the conclusion of Ronja’s talk with her daughters, is that she doesn’t even bother to go after Naeva. Perhaps a scene where she went after her, and was assured that her daughter just went back to her tent for some time alone. Instead, we jump ahead to nightfall and Fraujar asks Ronja about the talk. He doesn’t offer any sagely advice (having his own children and all), and the Whispervale Jarl just mentions Naeva is a tender soul. Then he offers to stay with Ronja for the night. Do they have an insightful talk?
No. They go right to banging each other, because why not? I feel like Ronja and Fraujar have the potential to be a fantastic couple, both are leaders of their own tribes, both are single parents, and both are trying to form a mixed family. Sadly, we don’t get any of that relationship building, it’s just a rushed affair like every other couple in this comic. Worse, sex seems to the solution to every problem.
Right afterward, we have a scene change. Roamer wants to train with Kargo, but Kargo’s head isn’t in the game. He’s too busy thinking about the younger dog. Then during the training he lets slip that he’s still interested in his ex. Yes, this sets up the proposal that Rogio made regarding the three of them entering a poly relationship. Kargo has no romantic interest in Rogio, but he’s more than happy at the chance to be with Roamer. Fortunately, this scene ends with a kiss and a hug, versus another round of sex. Oh, but I’m pretty sure that scene is coming later.
I’ve said it multiple times on this blog. Roamer and Kargo is a much better couple than Roamer and Rogio. They actually have chemistry together and compliment each other. Hell, before the script was changed, Roamer and Kargo were supposed to be a couple. They were literally written with each other in mind. Part me thinks Kique realized this himself, thus bringing Kargo back to life after killing him off. Or the fact that no one’s all that excited about Rogio and Roamer, as Rogio is an abusive partner, even if he’s not intended to be that way. Still, since this author can’t let go of the idea of his ideal couple, we’re stuck with this threesome. In a better comic Kargo would have found someone one better after Roamer broke up with him for the weakest of reasons.
After a mere three pages, we have yet another scene change. This time we see what’s happening in Whispervale Tribe territory while the Jarl is out banging the Nordgarde Tribe Viscountess. Keirr stumbles upon Ruette washing her paws near the territory. Sure, she may be a member of an outlaw tribe in the desert, but good hygiene is important. It would be nice to not have the stereotype of what is essentially a poodle (a Taiga Gazal/Steppe Gazal mix for Home breeds) having to be super clean and obsessed with their fur looking perfect. Let me tell you, as the owner of a half poodle, my dog couldn’t care less about being clean. When I brought her home from the shelter nearly 14 years ago, the first thing she did was attempt to dive on to a dead bird during a walk. It would be fantastic if Kique gave Ruette some other trait besides needing to stay spotless all the time. If she were that worried about it, why did she even come?
Also, how on earth does Ruette keep her fur so well trimmed? Another aspect of owning a poodle is if you don’t trim their fur every few months it just keeps growing. Does Ruette own a pair of clippers? Are they magnet powered? Does her fur just grow naturally like that? Or does she pray to a certain spirit keep her hair nicely trimmed? I have so many technical questions that will never be answered in this comic.
Anyway, Keirr meeting Ruette was an attempt at comedic relief at the expense of two neat freaks. The sense of scale on page 898 was just confusing. It seemed like he was further away from her than he actually was on that hillside. A wide shot would have cleared the confusion up. The purpose of Keirr spying on Ruette was so he could learn her group is actually with Ranach and hearing about the Red Wolf (Jahla). If he connects the red wolf being his brother’s ex, I’ll be impressed. Though the more important takeaway is hearing about Ranach being up to something. Let’s just hope he passes on this information to Fraujar in a timely manner. Once his Jarl returns from baby-making, that is.
Will update next week:
In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): | Patreon
Lost Scent | Page(s): | Patreon
On hiatus:
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 29, Page: | Patreon
On the one hand, mom always said “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” On the other hand, this poodle slander has got my back up, and I’m just a bit miffed at The Dragon Slayer.
One thing at a time:
First off, poodle slander. So I have a full poodle. A standard poodle. An above average poodle. He’s actually my second poodle after I unexpectedly bonded with our first one (who was female and an unexpected adopt from a farmer friend; she arrived to us covered in blood and chicken feathers, and required a very thorough bath.) There are many things I can say about my poodles, but the first one is: while they may enjoy clean coats because they thrive off the attention it gives them, their first and major trait has ALWAYS been their intelligence and insight.
They are almost terrifyingly smart social dogs who can read mood and intent off of people. To the point I argue that the poodle pokemon furfou should actually be given a secondary psychic type to accurately represent these dogs. Point being, I wish this character picked up on the OTHER major trait of poodles and was a smart, savvy diplomat who reads people like a book. But something something female characters ain’t allowed to be cool in this comic. etc. Also no scenes of her bonding with other characters as they help her do her hair. Bah.
The Dragon Slayer: My feelings on this are… Mixed. I was on thin ice after all the story swerves To Catch A Star took, and figured I’d give the comic a couple of pages before any judgement happened. And then hot damn, straight into the sexual assault despite the myth of Perseus NOT featuring any dad creeping on daughter elements so I was left wondering “…Why though??? What does this add? How does this further Danae- sorry, Dandy’s character? How is this going to play out in her arc, with her dealing with this level of trauma? Why attempted sexual assault? Was the Mother Gothel treatment in the original story not enough? Is she even going to HAVE an arc or is she just a prologue character? What is this even saying about sexual assault and abuse beyond THING BAD?”
I gave it a couple more pages, and then threw up my hands in complete frustration when Danae-Dandy gets rescued by a dashing male hero who is here to rescue the poor distressed damsel to prove his Good Guy Credentials. It is 2025 and I’m still seeing this story beat happen despite so, so many other stories pile driving it into the ground, through the earth’s crust, and all the way down to where the damn Balrogs live. To be clear: I’m not opposed to SA depicted in fiction. It is sadly an experience that happens to way too many people, it deserves to be talked about and processed through fiction, and it can be used to tell compelling stuff.
…But geeze, on a personal level do I wish it was treated better than this and did something a lot more insightful than this stale old chestnut. If this is story is good and helpful for other people then great. But all this frustration is telling me I’m just NOT the target audience for whatever this story is.
Sorry. That was really building up in my system. Generally I prefer to be more positive about comics I like. But watching all of this unfold over the last couple of weeks was really getting under my skin, and I needed to do a quick purge.
Goodness! I learned a bit about poodles. That explains some of own dog’s behavior– at least what’s not influenced by the terrier side of her. As for Ruette, as everything else in Home, she’s a wasted opportunity. Given her intelligence and insight as a poodle, she probably could have been a hell of an asset for Southspear. Imagine her going to the Tinget in her viscountess’s place and really making a case for the tribe or having some interesting input. But no, she has to stay clean. Hahaha. 🙁
I didn’t know much about the myth of Perseus, but I’ve read from multiple people that it didn’t feature incest at all. It is baffling that Sleepy would include it when there were other ways to make King Crisis an asshole. I still haven’t gone back since Dandy tried to run and was caught. I think I want to catch up on something else first, since a buffer of pages to breeze through will help this go down easier. I completely get this comic not being for you.
And no worries, glad to provide a space where you can vent a little. I do think The Dragon Slayer caught a lot of people off guard who came from White Tail and To Catch a Star.
I’m still reading the dragon slayer and enjoying it, but gotta agree. the race horse got out the gate and slammed face first into the dirt track then did a triple roll for mutiple reasons.
I’m tired of SA being in animal comics, or worse some rape clan/ city/ cult. its so rampant its over done now and ads nothing to the story’s they’re in. I’m a bit numb to the subject though. maybe because i linger around the horror category so you see brutal bits like the hills have eyes film and many of rob zombies films that don’t shy away from some graphic brutality. when i saw the first warnings i knew it was gonna be a deep leap in the pool vs her last comic.
for sleepy switching from cutsy sparkle wolfs to dark horses i see absolutely no problem with this. writers have the freedom to switch genres. they must be prepared for the line hop however. if not properly prepared you can unintentionally have kids reading a graphic murder mystery or vice versa. some authors skip this issue entirely with pen names to keep the groups separate and expectations on point when their next book under which name comes.
her original warning should have been tweeked and more aggressively stated. even in the description its on the small easily miss-able side between all the links and other stuff she has around it. the actual warning page also comes of as the warnings not important. at first glance you’d take it as some plot intro many comics have done before. its faded and in the top right. not bold and front and center. and the overall page art that introduces the story makes you want to ignore it all the more.
new authors will stumble in this and its bad, but is a light wrist slap that can be swiftly fixed. apologize that you didn’t know the warning was seen as too light and update it to what many were recommending. + aggressively state the warning in a full black red lettered page. sleepy did this, however i feel she still didn’t get the severity across very well. songdog did it better on “i didn’t know”. up front, very in your face, lacking art that could be too “pretty” and distracting from the warning, aggressive strict colors that don’t muddle the severity. even though the warning doesn’t state much.
after this i was disappointment in how sleepy handled the following issues. #1 being her putting a joke in the description “he bit the butt.” which, BIG YIKES. sleepy you should have seen this a mile away that this was in horribly poor taste on the middle of a dad trying to commit incest rape. this can happen when an inexperienced author tries to break up the depressing mood, but becomes a failed -reading the room- situation.
and then another yikes decision of closing comments permanently when people called her out on the joke.
i would get hiding comments of “this isn’t family friendly sparkle wolfs!!!” “why is this comic so dark??!!” etc etc. or if DA did go bad on the “i don’t like this whaaa!” then i could understand turning comments off on the very bad scene then reopening after. but permanently is an overreaction here.
but this behavior gravely disappointments me. and now DA (although not the best) is getting shoved off on the excuse of being immature when they rightfully snapped at some terrible choices on sleepys side. she did admit however (on CF) that she wasn’t prepared when hopping to darker comics and is self aware her horses face planted at the gate.
story wise, it wasn’t necessary. the myth didn’t have it and you could easily skip it with the whole dad tries to kill her path. or maybe he does keep her obsessive like (NOT sexually), but beats her to keep her in line and eventually she runs or maybe meets a nice male horse and tries to meet him/ eventually decides to join his herd. could have even kept the fight/ and saving in with him chasing her down when she tries to meet the other guy.
as for why sleepy included this. only she can fully answer why. but my best guess is to not have the generic he tried to kill her and she ran route. to start the story faster then the slow love build up between a guy before attempted runaway. and biggest of all #1 she wanted the dad to be irredeemable.
and you could say “well trying to kill her/ regular abuse would have done the same thing.” but you’d be surprised that, no. floating so long in the horror/ gore category I’ve seen so many back flips to redeem villains. including story lines like this. hell, even child abuse gets a pass from people, its RIDICULOUS.
“well he was given a prophecy of his death. hes stressed and panicked.”
“if someone was destined to kill you, would you let them get away?”
“he was a great dad before and only changed after he went crazy from the prophecy.”
etc etc, I’ve seen it all before. the ONLY thing that isn’t back flipped for is SA. (but even then there’s that one weirdo) and, unfortunately, authors use it too much as a crutch to snap that empathy thread. preferring to have a SA scene then deal with the “but hes stressed. :(” sympathizers throughout the series.
she unfortunately has fallen onto other tropes such as the new guy saving the princess and following the -save the cat- trope of making new characters come off as golden hearted soon after introduction.
this issue has also leaked into many modern takes, even cartoons are getting a little too lenient. steven universe is a big one with dictator leaders who killed planets of civilizations getting off with a slap on the wrist with the power of friendship and a cry session.
i def don’t believe sleepy just added it to make it DaRkEr. what i saw was she clearly jumped into the more serious side of the pool and she really wasn’t ready for how deep it was. a new author managing some air but then swiftly choking down more water in a very bitter learning experience. imagine going from regular shore line diving to trying to take on the Mariana Trench. I’ve seen it before many times and I’ll be sure to see it again. which is maybe why I’m more lenient on this story and still enjoying it. the important part is how those authors respond afterwards to their mistakes.
hopefully from here its smoother sailing as the new warnings are fully into place and this will (hopefully) be the most shocking scene.
i worry a little about the “dubious consent” warning eventually coming. since sleepys new around these subjects i fear the warning wont fit properly and it becomes more of a -SA through coercion- with the new male in a “i saved you, so maybe you can repay me the favor? :)” kind of way. or they both get drunk on fallen apples, which is also ick. other new writer crutches and more genre mistakes.
or this falls back to the myth where zeus(?the dragon?) gets her pregnant. we’ll have to see.
I think your take on why King Crisis was made to be an incesty asshole makes the most sense, outside of Sleepy revealing this herself. It is one way to make a character beyond redemption in even the most obtuse of fans’ eyes. I can’t say I fully agree, but I get it. No one’s going to be taking the King’s side when the prophecy comes true.
She was so not ready for how radioactive the topic of SA is, and how much care one has to go into in dealing with it. The original warning made me give a side eye to this comic and was part of my decision not to cover it, despite loving To Catch a Star and White Tail. Then as it progressed, I was really glad I wasn’t writing about it. I think covering Home and TDS would have broken my brain. For sure, the stronger content warning will help newcomers, though in addition to SD’s better warning, Sleepy could have also taken a page out of Night the Kitten’s book. By that I mean, a strong warning on the cover that’s hard to miss, a big text description, and for the pages with questionable stuff, content warnings and links to resources to help. You know instead of saying “he bit the butt.” X_X In this case, I do think those on DA were right to call Sleepy out. I feel like she overreacted by completely shutting down comments, but hey, her comic, her rules. It’s just in this case folks on DA were just expressing their concerns.
Yeah, I’m not very familiar with the myth this story is based on, but I should probably do some reading. Ah, I fear you might be right about the SA through coercion or “dubious consent.” I mean, Dandy has to have a kid right? And from what I’ve heard (not gone back to the comic since the butt bite), a big handsome guy saves her from her fucked up father. So…Yeah.
The thing that gets me about The Dragon Slayer is that Sleepy initially refused to warn for the sexual assault because they didn’t consider it important to the rest of the story. It was just going to be this one scene.
So… Either Dandy isn’t planned to have much of a role in the long term and only exists to be a womb for our *real* protagonist or this is going to get swept under the rug and have zero impact on her going forward, in which case *why include it at all*?
I dunno. It comes off like they were inspired by I Didn’t Know and decided to copy it without putting any of the care or consideration into the characters or audience that Songdog did.
Sleepy’s been deleting critical comments on Comicfury too, ones that weren’t even particularly negative, but happily leaving up comments directly attacking the critics – or they were last time I looked in. I’ve been too disgusted to look in for the last… week or so? As much as they don’t want to hear it, the writing and their reaction do come off as incredibly sexist.
It strikes me as going for shock factor, or perhaps as Reddog noted on the comments of this blog, a way to make King Crisis beyond redemption. Still, it feels like maybe this could have been handled another way Especially if Dandy’s only purpose is to give birth to this story’s protagonist. Seems wild to include such a scene that dragged on for so long if it wasn’t that important. As I’ve said before, this wouldn’t have been as much of a problem if the stronger warnings had been in place.
I’ve not really read beyond the first couple of pages of I Didn’t Know, but I would be surprised. After all, Sleepy did do To Catch a Star while Songdog did Repeat, and they had similar themes. Mind you, the two them are friends, so it could have been a planned thing. Maybe SD should have warned her about putting up strong trigger and content warnings when tackling SA or toxic stuff like incest.
I’m disappointed to hear that Sleepy is deleting comments TDS that are critical on CF. Though I hear they’re back on DeviantArt. I haven’t personally been following in the last two weeks.