Happy April Fools’ Day! I have absolutely nothing planned for today. It didn’t help that yesterday was Easter and I spent the entire weekend busy in preparation for the day. I spent much of the holiday itself out with family. I hope those of you who celebrate Easter had a fantastic day! If you’re not celebrating, I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Doubly so for those of you who observed Trans Day of Visibility.
As for today, I’ve come across a few fun April Fools’ gags from the artists I’m following. Check out SleepySundae’s redraw of White Tail. From Bogcreacher we have something that’s not a Boeing plane and Hawthorn from Pathogen is not having a good day. ChevreLune’s I’m With You has come out of hiatus with page 419 (they were so close to making a 420 joke).
Africa | Page(s): 365 | Patreon
Unable to hold back his instincts, Mosi lunges for Mondo. Fortunately, Mondo hears him coming and is able to dodge the attack. As the little kit runs, the larger leopard cub gives chase, although his injured back leg gives him trouble. Still determined to attack he snarls at the serval, claws extended and fangs bared. Africa looks on with a mixture of shock and horror from the shore of the swamp.
I absolutely love the dynamic poses on this page. The third panel (which I’ve chosen for my image) is particularly striking. I love how Mosi bursts onto the scene with streaks of light from his eye shine. It gives the panel a wonderful sense of motion. You can practically feel that Mondo has dodged what would have been a certain death. I also love how Mosi’s scenes are highlighted in red showing his passionately violent intent while the rest of the page is colored in softer blues and greens.
While Mosi is threatening and very well could end Mondo, I have no doubt that Africa will step in and protect her adopted son from her biological son. I can’t say this isn’t how I pictured their reunion going, but at least they’re all in the same place now. Let’s just hope that Africa recognizes Mosi and doesn’t actually hurt him while saving Mondo.
To Catch a Star | Page(s): 471, 472, 473, 474 | Patreon
Shadow sobs as the realization that she and Lupi left Backlash’s body behind finally hits her. He’s going to become Lost and they’re not even there to put his body to rest. (For Novas that means burning the body so it can return to the sun. For Duskies that means dropping it off a cliff so it can reach the stars. This last point will become relevant very soon.) Lupi doesn’t understand, so Shadow explains that being dead means being gone forever. Lupi ponders the words over again, until they finally understand. As the sun wolf begins to cry, Shadow screams in anguish which eventually fades into a mournful howl.
Back above the clouds, Tussle and Sweep are struggling to drag Backlash’s lifeless body to the edge of a cliff. As the two Duskies drag him closer to a cliff, his tail begins to wag. Tussle tells Sweep to hurry, as he’s waking up as a Lost. Before they can give their friend a chance to return to the stars, Takedown shows up and chases them both away. Glancing down, he notices the brother he murdered is starting to wake up. Takedown grins at this development.
I’m getting the impression that Shadow and Lupi may return to where Backlash died in order to give him a Nova funeral. Given how close the trio became during their journey, it wouldn’t sit well with Shadow until he’s no longer wandering around as a Lost. The problem is that Takedown is weirdly possessive of Backlash’s body. It seems he’s either not content to let his brother rest in peace, wants the body as a plaything (perhaps upset that Backlash wounded him), or is hoping his friends will return for the body. We’ll see how things play out. I’m still very concerned about the foreshadowing regarding the death of Lupi’s traveling companions. One of them is already dead.
Also, while Takedown is a pretty routine villain he’s easy to hate. I do hope that if Shadow is also meant to die (fingers crossed she doesn’t) that she rids the world of this piece of shit. Scorch is pretty bad, but at least he cares for his mother. Takedown is happy to murder just about anyone within his vicinity. It’s just a shame Backlash couldn’t see that maliciousness before his untimely demise at the fangs of his own brother.
The Order of the Black Dog | Page(s): Issue 27, page 38 | Patreon
The Smiling Man removes his head in the same way one would remove a mask. Black smoke and black tendrils emerge from where his head was previously attached. While doing so he tells Julia not to attempt moral superiority over him. The god reminds her that she is but an ant to a giant. A breeze hoping to move a mountain. As the god continues his angry speech the room around them collapses and reveals the disturbing flesh-like afterlife that Rhoda once took a glimpse of. He continues to remind the girls that all he does and all he allows comes from the experience of a hundred billion souls. He then recounts all the names he’s once been referred to with his current name being Zalef-Labev. His entire body becomes a tornado of black smoke and tendrils that seem to tear at the fabric of reality itself. Julia can only shield her face as she stands, watching the spectacle unfold.
Last week I initially thought that The Smiling Man stopped smiling because of Julia’s words. Then I shifted my thinking to the possible arrival of Kenazil. Turns out my first thoughts were correct. Julia’s words DID get to Zalef-Labev to the point of him revealing his name and showing the wolf his true form. His speech is pretty much the god equivalent of “Don’t fuck with me! Don’t you know who I am?!” While it’s really cool to see his true form, I love how this story doesn’t place the gods entirely above the words of mortals. They do care how they’re perceived and will get angry if their authority is challenged. Zalef-Labev could have probably sent Julia and Mel on their way with a hand wave, but he had to at least try to put Julia in her place.
That said, Julia’s not much for authority, so we’ll see how reverent she’s feeling once this ordeal is said and done. This also could very much be the start of more headaches for Zalef-Labev as mortals are able to call on gods in this universe once their true names are revealed. On a side note, I’m worried since I haven’t seen Mel at all since she took the key. Hopefully nothing bad has happened to her while the focus has been on Julia.
Lost Scent | Page(s): ??? | Patreon
There was no update this week, nor was there an announcement about a hiatus. I’m just going to assume Chaluny took off for the holiday.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 258 | Patreon
Usma can only wonder who would kill Helevise. She wasn’t well liked, but her death was extremely cruel. Antaras swears as he looks down at the dead caller. Usma ponders out loud to her father if it is their fault the old doe died. He rebuts, reminding his daughter that Helevise pushed her way into their group, and she alone is responsible for the consequences of her own actions. Usma reveals that the caller mentioned she was told deer were coming to take back Eve and Loss with the help of War. Her death can’t be a coincidence. The buck scoffs at the notion. He declares that anyone who comes after them will face a quick death.
I wonder if Antaras will behave any differently now that he knows Nero’s group plans to come after them with War. Or if he’ll keep doing what he’s doing confident that no one can hurt him or stop him. We’ve seen a glimpse of Eve in the body of his mate who’s also pregnant with his child. Who could Loss be hiding as? Also, it has been confirmed that Nero and co will have a much harder time taking back Eve and Loss than they might think, as Loss might be a formidable opponent.
Fjordor reveals the reason he actually brought an offering of swords to the Meteor Tribe. He wishes to join Ronja’s tribe. The old dog also reveals he put his partner’s body to rest, so there’s nothing holding him to Midnightgarde and his lonely village. His new purpose will be fighting for the survival of Ronja’s tribe. She’s honored to take him in as a member.
Meanwhile, things are not going well at Havenreach Tribe for Jahla. A messenger from Solar Stag Tribe has relayed a message to the Akiulfr. Ninmah wants a meeting, likely for a progress report. She then laments to Romé that it feels like they haven’t accomplished anything. He notes the fear of the Akiulfr runs deep, and the other tribes want nothing to do with her or Haveneach. Jahla scoffs in frustration at being reminded, and Romé suggests that she ought to start thinking about her own desires.
So it turns out that Fjordor did burn his partner’s remains on Meteor Tribe territory, but it naturally happened off-screen as everything else tends to happen in this comic. Worse, it hasn’t been revealed if ghouls rise from their graves or if it’s just their malevolent spirits causing harm. I doubt this issue will ever be cleared up. So I’m just going to imagine Fjordor found his wife’s remains during the day, lassoed them, and hauled them to Meteor territory to burn before the sun set.
It’s also odd that he’d just up and join a tribe with a problematic image. It would be one thing if he figured his presence could offer reassurance to his allies that the MT truly has changed, and he stated this reason himself. But no, he just decided to join a group of dogs he doesn’t really know over his own daughters in Ivorysteppe Tribe for… reasons. And what’s going to happen when he discovers Kargo is alive? Will they just skirt the issue of him turning in a dog with clear signs of PTSD to bounty hunters? Will Kargo just roll with it since he died and came back to life without the bear spirit? So many questions that will likely never receive proper answers.
As for Jahla and Havenreach, it might have been nice for Kique to actually show her having a hard time making alliances with other tribes. Again, all of this happened off-screen because the author didn’t think it was worth showing. So instead of Romé encouraging Jahla to try again or offer practical solutions, he’d rather she ditch her responsibility. It would be one thing if they talked about it, and it came to light that being a tribe leader isn’t something Jahla really wanted. Or that she’s only doing so because her grandmother pressured her. Then they could discuss folding the tribe and perhaps joining Ronja, finding Asmundr, or doing their own thing. I also find it amusing that Jahla was once going to be a leader of the Asmundr pack with Rhov, but that issue was dropped hundreds of pages ago without being mentioned again. Honestly, I don’t know why Havenreach even exists as Kique hasn’t done anything interesting with this tribe. It’s a plot line going nowhere that needs to be merged with another plot.
On a final note, I’m not a fan of Jahla’s summer coat colors, and it’s amazing how unlike herself she looks in the final panel of this page. She looks like Rogio recolored with long fangs. The same-face syndrome goes so hard in Home.
