TWWR Round up 12/29/2025– Less Than Helpful Planning

I hope you all had a good holiday. This is the last round up before 2026. I don’t know if I’ll be taking a break in the near future or not. We’ll see. On the upside, over Christmas I was able to reach hunter rank 100 in Monster Hunter Wilds. Fighting Omega Planetes was probably one of the more frustrating fights I’ve done in a while. Why are the Final Fantasy XIV crossover monsters so brutal?

Moving on from video games, on December 20th we also had a big celebration in my Balto fan group, The Balto League. We had a watch party in Discord for the movie’s 30th anniversary along with the film’s director, Simon Wells. My friend, Acanis, his wife Kate, and I handled hosting duties. We also recorded the whole thing and uploaded it to YouTube. (The video is on my gaming/pop culture blog’s channel because it’s the only place I can upload long videos.) If you like Balto, animated movies, and/or learning about how things work behind the scenes please watch this video.

I do have a little webcomic news for you.

I saw on social media that the original Black Blood Alliance (the one that’s nearly 20 years old) is now on ComicFury. So if you want a blast from the past on a site that’s easy to navigate, check it out. A quick check of Kay’s profile on CF shows that there are placeholder sites for the 2016 reboot, and a planned 2026 reboot. The 2016 series is also up on CF. For now the new reboot page is just a placeholder. That said, I’m excited to see BBA return with easy access being restored to the original and first reboot series. There are signs of a 2026 reboot, and I hope Kay is able to complete this series to her satisfaction.

Horse Age is also returning in early 2026. There’s no release date for public pages, but new pages will be uploaded to Patreon starting on January 1st.

Africa | Page(s): 454 | Patreon

Even after being ousted, Faida is still an excellent matriarch. She’s concerned about the clan. And she’s absolutely right about her and Badru being killed if they both fought, but it’s touching that she was equally worried about other hurting other clan mates. Again, matriarchs come and go in clans. I’m also happy that Faida isn’t on death’s door at the moment. She has enough power to stand on her own, even if she has to lean on her mate for support as she walks.

I’m curious as to what the two will do now. They’re never going home, and likely not joining another clan. I guess they’ll just have each other to rely on. I saw some reader comments that the two ought to join Africa, Bibi, Mosi, and Mondo. That would be touching (and Mosi would likely welcome it), but I doubt Africa would want to take them in when she’s having a hard enough time keeping herself and Mondo fed in the drought. Furthermore, I feel as if Faida has too much pride to rely on Africa, especially given how she and the leopard parted ways. In the meantime, I hope the former matriarch is able to get that much-needed rest.

What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): 958 – 960 | Patreon

I feel you, Petrel. You were that close to ending Thresher’s reign.

I do understand their frustration over being so close to killing the king, but again, Sturgeon is right, Trout is just a kid. She was scared, but not for the reason her big sister thinks. The future queen was afraid for her father, not of her father. I think our favorite busybody cat hasn’t realized the difference yet. However, Petrel immediately picks up on it when they ask if Trout is afraid of Thresher. They also recognize how Sturgeon has shielded her siblings from their father’s absolute cruelty, especially when it comes to Daisys. I’ve said it before, this sheltering and failing to train them as future monarchs didn’t do the siblings in favors in the long run. Sure, they’re not as mentally scarred as their older sister, but they’re totally unprepared to lead The Family, and I don’t think Hake would have done a better job had he been chosen. He would have had shortcomings that differed from Trout’s.

Anyway, Petrel insists that if they had succeeded in the assassination attempt, Trout would see them as the monster, not someone who liberated the island from tyranny. It’s sad that Sturgeon can’t see that, but I’ll give her some slack as she’s still young. Unfortunately, that protective, sheltering attitude toward her little sister is going to bite her hard when she sees the queen as the child most like Thresher. And no, Pretel is not okay. They really need a nap, and perhaps a reality where they had been able to rip out the genocidal king’s throat.

Golden Shrike | Page(s): 339 | Patreon

From this dynamic I’m certainly seeing why Eve is the oldest, as she questions her sibling about the mess it has found itself in. I do find it interesting that Loss calls Antaras the unwisest of mortals. What the stag has done and is about to do is unwise when looking at the larger picture. In order to see his unborn fawn brought back to life, he’s doomed other deer into not being able to give birth to live fawns, and no one will die of old age. What a mess. Does Antaras have a game plan beyond seeing his child born alive?

As for the second half of this page, it seems as if the former god-caller’s words have pull, as Eve feels herself drawn to him. Or that might be a figurative nudge, as she’s curious about what this stag has done and plans to do. I’m also hyped to see her full form, as the panel where she partially appears in does show her with a black and red appearance. She seems to have a lot more sense than Loss, so again, I’m curious to see how Antaras actually traps her.

*Thank you to Haze for pointing that I misgendered Loss. That has been corrected!

Home | Page(s): 949 – 951 | Patreon

We’re back in Havenreach. Avanti reveals that she no longer wants to be referred to by the name malicious dogs gave her when she was cursed. Instead, she wants to be called Vilja. I find the new name to be pretty, and I’m glad she’s taken agency for herself. That said, did Vilja have a name before she was cursed? Did she forget that name, or does she not want to use it? These are questions that I thought would be answered on upcoming pages. Except Kique dropped three pages for the holiday, and we quickly move on from this scene. We don’t get any character development as to who Vilja was before she was cursed, and it’s a missed opportunity to flesh out another member of this comic’s cast.

On the next page, the transition to Jahla running to catch up with Thakir is so abrupt that I can only wonder if she left Vilja in the dust with Romé’s nova antelope. Do you even remember that Romé came to Havenreach with his own nova? Speaking of lacking character development, world building, and missed opportunities, it would have been great to actually have a scene with Jahla missing Romé and talking to his nova about his how his owner is never coming home, and that she’ll take care of him. But again, we don’t get character development unless it revolves around sex.

As for Thakir, it’s nice to see the Akiulfr with confidence, direction, and a fire in his belly. (I have to admit that Thakir is one of my favorite characters in this story and I like his guiding role and character design.) A running gag among my friends since Romé was introduced is that he stole Thakir’s more heroic traits for himself. Now that he’s dead, those go right back to priest. Honestly, until he put back on his cloak, I thought his priestly days were over, and he was doomed to be a bumbling coward. It’s a good thing Argeirr brought back his cloak some time ago, just in time for his epiphany from seeing Father. I have to point out how it’s funny that Jahla did much of the hard work of taking Marduk down with her bare fangs, but Thakir was inspired by Father who more or less did cleanup duty. But whatever works to get Thakir away from being comic relief and the butt of way too many mean-spirited jokes.

I’m kind of rolling my eyes at Jahla’s apology. Don’t get me wrong, it is good that she apologized for being an ass when all he was trying to do was help, but no acknowledgement of how he basically kept the tribe running while she was away? He had the dual role of Priest and Baron back at Origin Orion Tribe. Also, it feels like yet another missed opportunity to talk about Romé’s death to the priest. Instead, it feels like the Viscountess has moved on, as she prepares to move on from Havenreach as a territory. At least a tribe merge (Havenreach Tribe, plus Asmundr going north to Nordgarde Tribe) is finally happening.

I didn’t really care for the story of how Thakir’s crest materialized, but it’s fitting for his character and role in Home (when he’s not the comedic relief). We’re finally going to hopefully soon address what’s going at Origin Orion Tribe with Rohgir. Though I think Jahla’s plan of going alone is short-sighted. She ought to at least wait until everyone’s successfully made it to Ronja’s territory, then double back to face her brother. Also, Rhov has traversed the more of the island than anyone else thanks to being with the Guild for a while. So why is she insisting Thakir do this important job? Unless Jahla is referring to just the members of Havenreach?

Still, this page shows how she’s basically learned nothing from running off alone to meet Romé, then getting captured. Or running ahead of everyone to face Marduk without a plan and seeing her mate murdered as a consequence. This time around, you think she would at least take a few dogs with her as backup. Whenever she finally goes to Origin Orion, I don’t think it’s going to go well.

Off for the 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 Page: | Patreon