It seems as if email notifications didn’t quite go out last week. So if you’re seeing this round up in your inbox, but didn’t receive a notification last week here’s that round up. Otherwise, this week is a short round up because two comics I’m following are off for the week. Also, What Lurks Beneath only had two updates last week, and I already covered Monday’s.
Africa | Page(s): 484 | Patreon
Chui being the antagonistic asshole that is, praises Hazina for leading the herd back to the crater as a food source for him. Let’s not forget that Chui actively has lions, hyenas, and two other leopards that hate his guts. Good luck keeping this food source to yourself, buddy. Anyway, Hazina stands her ground and attempts to kick the leopard. Unfortunately for the zebra, he’s faster and manages to trip her.
I knew Chui would be a tough fight for Hazina, but I forgot how agile he is. It seems that as much as he bitched about it, and resented Faida for it, he did take her advice on not relying on his radio collar to hunt. He seems to have actually learned a few skills. I’m just hoping that if she doesn’t get herself out of this predicament, that Hazina being in danger might be the only thing that moves Kafil to action. We’ll see.
What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): 1026 | Patreon
After an intense conversation, Sturgeon points out things on the island have always been miserable. In this case, I’m certain that she means the bad relationship between the Family and the Daisys. And there’s also the food shortage on the island. Of course, the food crisis started under Thresher’s reign, and the bad relationship between the island cats only formed because of his propaganda. Sadly, not even his death could fix this issue and his children are left to deal with the fallout.
As for Sturgeon, I’m glad she’s recognizing her mistakes and voicing them to Trout. It’s not going to fix this larger problem, but this could be a needed step in mending their relationship. Depending on how it goes, it could be a way for Sturgeon to take steps to repair some of what’s been broken on the island as well. Honestly, nothing’s probably going to improve until someone else is the monarch. Trout’s reign has just been too turbulent. The best everyone can hope for is that things don’t get worse under her rule. For example, that she doesn’t get the idea in her head to cull the Daisy population like Thresher wanted to do.
If things stay as they are now, especially with Gull as an advisor and Skua willing to do anything to keep his queen safe, I would not be surprised if that was floated as an option. Or on the reverse side, organized Daisys could plan a rebellion. However, if Sturgeon stays in the picture, I’m confident neither scenario happens. Though her plan to help all the Daisys on the island still looks improbable, short of finding a way for all the cats to eat sea life, regardless of the Family’s wishes.
Anyway, baby steps regarding Queen Trout and Sturgeon as her advisor.
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 30 Page(s): 22 | Patreon
With his orb returned, Tazim finally peers into the memories that Zalef-Labev took from him. Not only were they memories, but it seems as if the god also had some secrets. Having those memories returned seems to be an earth-shattering revelation for Tazim. There’s not much to go on from this page, but judging by his expression, there might be a good reason why Zalef took these memories. Perhaps the tree serpent wanted to forget, made a deal with another god over it, and then forgot why the deal was made. Maybe it’s something much simpler and darker. Like some aspect of the world that was long forgotten when the Black Idol, aka The One Who Crawls arrived on the scene.
Either way, I’m stoked for the eventual reveal of those memories. Something tells me, it’ll be a foreshadowed event, as nothing ever randomly happens in The Order of the Black Dog.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 374 | Patreon
As Iralee is forced to eat the dull buds, she makes what seems to be idle chitchat. The question of if Antaras would do it all over again knowing what he knows is a curious one. Unsurprisingly, the answer isn’t a straightforward “yes,” but an acknowledgement of how and why he was able to even make the request of Eve. It doesn’t take long for the God-caller to ask about his mother, and the subject is an extremely sore spot, as Antaras visibly turns away, filled with frustration. I imagine Iralee can relate to his feelings quite well because she likely wasn’t on great terms with Helevise.
Better than being able to relate, she also uses his momentary distraction to spit out and hide some of the dull buds. I’m guessing she intends to make him extremely uncomfortable with their conversation, and plans to book it as soon as everyone goes to sleep for the night. Or once he’s out of earshot, possibly going to fetch Eve. Either way, Iralee is clever. I don’t blame her for wanting to escape as soon as possible. No one wants to be held against their will, especially with a mass murderer who doesn’t give too much of a shit about his horrific actions.
I’m just hoping that she’s able to put enough distance between herself and the former God-caller.
Here’s our confirmation that one of the puppy cubs was stillborn. The scene is supposed to be sad and a little heartbreaking as Rhov holds his now dead son, and we’re reminded of Frea who died in Asmundr. I have to assume he told Feaf about it offscreen, because we’re simply not allowed to experience any world building, character building, or character relationships (outside of sex) in Home. The moment has a hopeful note as the rest of the Asmundr pack makes its way to the new parents to congratulate them on their children, and to mourn with them about the stillborn.
With that out of the way, let me move on to what I really dislike about this page. First, I’m tired of the trend with Kique that the bulk of his puppies are born in litters of threes. We had Kainan and Raela having Rhov, Keirr, and Frea. Lifa and Ranulfr had Jahla, Rohgir, and Argeirr. Ronja and Ranach with Naeva, Elvind, and Sumersaga. Heck for good measure, Fjordor and Vaja had Fjara, Lika, and Verja. Though Fjordor’s daughters are only shown once. Sure, we have a few instances of single children or just two siblings, but all the main characters have liters of three. Bonus points for one puppy/cub being stillborn, I guess paralleling Frea’s death. While the parallel isn’t a terrible idea, I do wish Kique were a bit more creative so this felt more meaningful, and less of a lazy parallel to me. Maybe having more than three puppies/cubs would have helped.
The other thing that bothered me about this page are how Rhov and Feaf are holding their children. Feaf ought to be nursing them instead of holding them. They were just born and need to suckle, not be ogled by the rest of the pack. As for Freir, I’m not sure why Rhov has to sit on his hind legs and hold him like a human would hold a child. A laying down pose would have worked just as well. At this point in Home, it’s way too late to give these characters human-like anatomy. Either Kique should have not gone with the realistic aspects going back to Asmundr, or established a reason for the changes in the early days of this comic. It feels like he got bored with or tired of the limitations of realistic animals, and wanted something more flexible like in Lost Scent or To Catch a Star.
Without any explanation or care for continuity, we get sudden scenes like these which are extremely jarring. It’s impossible to take what should have been a somber moment between Rhov and Feaf seriously. On the upside as the camera pans out, it feels like we’re due for a scene change. I’m ready.
Off for the week:
In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): | Patreon
Lost Scent | Page(s): | Patreon
On hiatus:
