I had an eventful Sunday and none of it was related to webcomics. On my gaming blog, an attacker got around our site’s security in order to post casino spam articles. I noticed the problem in the late morning when I woke up a few hours early and checked my email. I’d gotten a notification of two new posts on the blog. None of us on staff had written them. By the time I got to WordPress, one of my co-writers had already removed the offending articles. I spent the rest of the day reversing all the changes the attackers made to WordPress (including a hidden plugin), and to my database. I am not a programmer. Writing/journalism was my field of study in college. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, not Science. That said, nearly three decades of owning and maintaining my own websites has taught me enough to get by, and even how to comb through my own database.
I checked this site and everything is fine here. My host for TWWR is also a lot stricter than the host for my gaming blog. Even so, I’ll be working behind the scenes to better beef up site security.
Africa | Page(s): 478 | Patreon
If you’re part of a herd and trying to shake a leopard, jumping across a gorge makes sense. Though it’s only a temporary solution as Chui could easily make the same jump at the narrowest part of the gorge, just like Africa and Bibi have been doing. Unless, this is the narrowest part. I’m actually not sure if Bibi and Mondo moved far from the original jumping point. In that case, there’s not much keeping Chui from following them. Though the zebras make that leap look so cool. I love the perspective in the final panel.
Speaking of Bibi, she and Mondo have incredible luck. They didn’t find shelter, but it looks like they were close enough to the ledge that the zebras opted to jump over them. At least I hope they all did.
What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): 1013 – 1015 | Patreon
Gull is deadset on antagonizing Sturgeon even as Wrasse reminds her that the queen’s sister is still an advisor. That’s not good enough, and Gull ribs the former enforcer, and insists the antagonizing is good for the younger cat. Not only that, but they’ve been too soft on all the younger cats, because all the changes that happened quickly. Honestly, if Thresher wanted these two older cats to serve as advisors, he would have done so before walking into the sea. No, like it or not, the queen gets to choose who she wants in her inner circle, and of course that would include her siblings, not the local bigot busybody and a beat cop. If it weren’t for input from Skua, these two wouldn’t even be advisors.
Nevertheless, I hate how Gull does have a point about how all the changes brought to the Family has caused so much heartache. Now, maybe if Sturgeon was a little more upfront with her siblings instead of scheming, things wouldn’t have spiraled so far out of control. For that I definitely blame Thresher’s influence. Of course no one knows about Sturgeon’s schemes except for Tansy and Egret, though they at least know she has overall good intentions. Wrasse got a peak into some of those schemes, but was obviously not in the know.
On a final note, Gull’s remarks about Hake and Mollymawk are just so frustratingly shallow. Hake didn’t get himself exiled, he called bullshit on Trout and The Tide and willingly left. Mollymawk followed, because she couldn’t live with the lies surrounding Tusk, and leaving Hake alone while he was suffering. Also, her grandmother told her NOT to come back if she left. Oh, how someone forgot or is purposely omitting those lines for the sake of her argument. Finally, Gull couldn’t understand or care to understand that Tusk’s life had meaning and value, and she had cats who deeply cared about her. (Even Wrasse began to tear up after the exile.) Nor does she understand that “correcting the mess” of allowing Daisys into the family won’t make things better in the long run.
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 30 Page(s): 16 | Patreon
There’s not a lot to say here, as this week’s page is also a silent one. Though the change of scenery is very cool. I’m digging the giant machinery. It almost looks like some kind of power generation structure. The gears give the building a clockwork or even steampunk vibe, though this is very much a sci-fi story. I wonder if this place is connected to the Kae-Kariin and Hedgeworth. The cloaked figure seems to be a Kae-Kariin, though they could also just be a regular lizard. Either way, I wonder who they are and where they’re going.
In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): 93 – 94 | Patreon
I appreciate Kay’s no nonsense attitude, complete with an eye twitch. She smells bullshit and wants none of it. A shame the guards don’t appreciate that attitude. At least through Ursus’ ramblings we have a glimpse of what he wants from Kay. She has value to him because she’s also an Abyssinian Diamond, and he somehow wants her help with the great expansion. Again, that more or less sounds like The Lion’s Den going to war with their neighbors. I’m not sure how one lone feline is supposed to help with that. But hey, here’s the chairwoman ready to explain.
On another fun note, the giant’s tears ARE for getting high and Ursus is quite baked now. His facial expressions are amazing. I’m not surprised that Rozaria turned down his request for a drink. We learn that he’s also pardoned other Diamonds. I guess that’s a club you’re always a part of, for better or worse. Seems like that former noble in at the gathering tried to get this treatment, but Kay ruined his day. Though I’m sure Ursus would have eventually seen through his ruse. This tech bro probably gets high on tears a lot, and he would have been able to tell the real from the fake.
Kay’s very strange return home continues. I wonder if she’ll say or do anything to the chairwoman that gets her into even more trouble. Somehow I would not put it past her. Thinking things through is not her strong suit.
Lost Scent | Page(s): 128 | Patreon
Tulpi’s search was a success! She finds a heart shaped meteor fragment just offshore. That was some impressive tracking. Her desire to find it quickly was smart, because if she had waited until the morning, another dog would have found it. Such as the interesting canine with glasses and his lamp. Given everything that Tulpi has been through, her immediate distrust of him is understandable.
Going back to the fragment, it is heart shaped. I’d be shocked if this wasn’t a plot point that came up in the near future. As for this new stranger, I love how his glasses are kept on with straps. Not only that, but the lantern he’s carrying is attached to a wooden staff, which has been slipped into the loops of a harness he’s wearing. It allows him to have a source of light while keeping his mouth and paws free. I respect how much thought the authors put into this world and how dogs would use or carry objects normally made for humans.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 368 | Patreon
We’ll have to wait to see how successful or unsuccessful Iralee was in getting Eve to reconsider giving Antaras what he wants.
It’s time to check in on Nero and company. Their travels to Farnorth are turning heads, and not in a good way. Since most deer don’t like Stonekrovn, they’d probably stare or be weary. It must be an even stranger sight to see a Stonekrovn traveling with grasslanders. I’m not surprised to learn that Boneslav’s mouth traveled a route close to the mountains, away from grass to avoid other deer. Even then, the effort wasn’t completely successful and the grasslanders were happy to indulge in their bigotry.
Of course Boneslav warned the group earlier that by traveling with him, other deer would treat them cruelly. That said, the group especially Runi, consider the Stonekrovn to be just like any other deer. I get what she means by the sincerity. Considering how everyone else in the group has deserted their herds, unlike Bones. It really is messed up that with a few exceptions (like the one that resulted in Cutlass), most other deer see them not only as beasts, but something to be eradicated. I don’t know if that’s something this story will ever fully address, or if it will remain a sad fact that continues to live in the background.
Perhaps when the group solves this crisis, if their names go far and wide, maybe it will make the other deer reconsider their relationship to the Stonekrovn. This is just wishful thinking from me, as only DoePrince knows how this story will end.
Before I go, the deer on the first panel are likely Fielders. We’ve seen very few in the story with Riptail being the one notable Fielder.
In the middle of this chaotic battle, Feaf is wisely being taken to safety. Why the one Zioqa leading her, isn’t letting her climb first is beyond me. Dogs can’t easily climb trees in this world, though some can leap into them as Rhov used to do. So it would have made sense for Feaf to go up first, while the Zioqa guarded her back. Not that it matters here, because she can’t climb. Now, if she were actively in labor, that would track, but she’s not until the stress of being slashed in the front leg induced labor. Man, am I tired of these particular pregnancy tropes in Home.
Speaking of the one Solar Stag Tribe dog that slashed her, some indication that he was coming would have been nice. Like say a quick panel between the second and third panels to indicate that Feaf heard or saw something coming at the last minute, but didn’t have time to react. It could be something as simple as her ear or eyes turning toward a noise. Instead, this dog was somehow easily able to sneak up on these two and slash Feaf with no visible cover anywhere. I guess one could argue that they were so preoccupied with climbing that they didn’t notice his approach. It’s plausible.
But sweet liberty, I’m not going to let Feaf’s pose in the fifth panel go! What is that anatomy? I guess she’s supposed to be sitting on her butt with one front leg down to stabilize herself while she clutches her belly with the other paw, and leans forward in pain. But boy does this look so bad. How is her neck stretched at that angle? How broken is her non-visible leg to clutch herself like that? It feels as if two different bodies were spliced together to make this pose. One with the head, neck, shoulder, and front leg visible, and the other with a torso and just a back leg. They don’t connect in a way that visually makes sense.
In the case, I’m glad the page keeps going so I can focus my eyes elsewhere. It’s weird to see Johan use weapons again, especially now that he has the demon and killing with his own fangs should be easier. Doesn’t seem like that knife cut is deep enough for all the blood gushing out, but whatever. I made my case last week against all these knife fights. So I’ll just appreciate seeing Vilda and Lifa fighting and doing well for themselves. Vilda was always a badass. A shame she has ZERO screen time in this comic. (Just ignore the injured Solar Stag dog in the background that seems way too long.)
Finally, We learn why Solar Stag Tribe is attacking the Asmundr Pack. Even as Rhov is easily able to push Faekas away because again, a sickle is not a good weapon, and the blade is pointing at the brown dog’s own head. So the tribe isn’t worried that Asmundr is going to join Ranach’s rebellion, but that they’re going North to join Ronja. Wow, this was an even stupider waste of resources than I initially thought.
First, Faekas is just a xenophobe and bigot (third time I’ve used this term in this round up). He’s angry the Matriarch didn’t execute Jahla back when they were captured. If Kique was a better writer, this would have been a rant about how the Matriarch made an exception for her family (we’ll push the self-defense argument aside), because Faekas knows she’s a Liulfr, and is clearly related to the Akiulfr as a species. Even if he may not know that Ninmah is Jahla’s paternal grandmother. So basically, he could bitch about favoritism from his boss that led to the loss of allies, and added fuel to Ranach’s rebellion.
But no, instead Faekas goes on to rant about how the outlanders should have been killed the moment Rhov gave them their names. So this brings up another question. Did Rhov include Jahla and Ronja’s name among the pack, despite Rhov knowing that Jahla and Ronja were no longer with the pack? Now that could be cleared up on the next page, depending on how much Faekas knows or is willing to reveal in his villain monologue. So he could have learned the name of the red wolf, aka Jahla, and saw her name on the scroll, and maybe Ronja’s too. Again, that’s really unclear here. If this stuff is brought up, it’s only done so in passing, especially thinking about the Tinget. At this point I’m just assuming that Faekas being the Solar Stag Tribe baron knows about Ronja being an outlander, and has maybe made the connection that she’s come from the Asmundr pack outlanders. This has yet to be ever fully stated in the comic by him. It could be. We’ll see.
In short, Faekas is wasting tribe resources on Asmundr because he’s a xenophobe and a racist. (That’s likely why he had Lowglade Tribe destroyed). He’s not focusing on the threat that will be Ranach soon, but wants to stop the pack from joining Ronja, despite knowing that she’s not involved with Ranach’s rebellion. It would have made sense if SST put down Ranach and his rebellion, making them the final villains of Home. But now, they’re probably going to be steam rolled by Ranach with an army of dogs and cats ready to actually fight them, versus a group that’s pushing back SST because they’re defending themselves from a surprise attack.
Off for the week:
On hiatus:
