First order of business. In case you haven’t heard, a new Kickstarter campaign is up for volume two of Oren’s Forge. The Kickstarter went live on May 30, and was completely funded in less than 24 hours. Even the sole stretch goal, a physical printing of the short comic, Oren and the One-Eyed Wolf was reached. If you’d like to grab a physical copy of Oren’s Forge at a pretty good price and help support Teagan Gavet, you have until June 30th to back her Kickstarter.
Africa | Page(s): 374 | Patreon
Africa closes her eyes and states that if she had followed Giza’s teachings, she would be a completely different leopard. There’s a chance she wouldn’t have lost Binti, and Mosi would still be by her side. However, she wouldn’t have met Mondo and if she did, they’d likely be enemies. She notes that Safari didn’t care about any of those teachings. He met Africa, and loved her as a sister from the start even though he knew they weren’t related. He was even happy to call her his “Dada.” Africa looks down at Mondo as she asks her serval son for a favor– one in which he doesn’t have to oblige. She nuzzles him as she reveals it would mean the world to her if he’d still call her “Mom.”
A touching page where Africa realizes that Giza was right about a lot, but by following behind her mother completely, her life wouldn’t have had the same outcome. The happier part would be her children being safe and sound. (They might have even been named after places as well.) The downside would be not meeting Faida, Safari, and of course adopting Mondo. And I love that despite being hesitant to take Mondo in at first, Africa has completely come to love him as her own child.
Will Mondo feel the same? Especially after learning about his mother, Sabra? Only time will tell. I hope the little guy has it in his heart to forgive Africa once he has an understanding of the complete picture. A cycle of revenge isn’t the way forward.
To Catch a Star | Page(s): 507, 508, 509, 510 | Patreon
The moon wolf smiles as they have finally caught up with Lupi, who for their part can only look on in shock. Through their eyes, they recognize each other as the sun and moon. Grinning, the moon tells the sun that it is over and to end this. The two wolves then touch noses as strands of their fur fade into fire and stardust. The moon shares their memories with Lupi.
In the beginning, there were only the sun and moon traveling through space as two deities. They are very close and enjoy each other’s company. They reach a planet void of life, so they happily fill it with life. On one side of the planet is day, where the first Nova wolves live under the sun. On the other side is night, where the first Duskies live under the moon. The Nova are hostile to the Duskies, and in turn the Duskies are weary of the Nova. Soon, fights begin to break out and blood is spilled. The conflict causes the sun and moon deities to become distant toward each other. Eventually, the warmer colored Nova (perhaps the precursors to the Supernova), begin to cry out to the sun. The sun grants them their wish, despite pleas from Lupi (as a cloud). The sun gives the Nova the ability to breathe fire. They immediately use this gift to invade the Duskies’ half of the world and attack. Meanwhile, Lupi’s constellation next to the moon looks on.
The warm colored Nova combine their fire powers and shoot a concentrated fireball at the moon, destroying it. The sun immediately notices and feels the destruction of their companion deity. The broken pieces of the moon rain down on Earth destroying the land. The last act the sun does is to use their power to make the broken land float like islands while turning the pieces of the moon into stars. The sun and various islands sit high above the clouds, while below the clouds lies the night, but there’s a void where the moon used to be. The sun shuts themselves away as they cry and mourn the loss of the moon. Meanwhile, Nova Lupi and Dusky Lupi meet up and stand face-to-face.
Having had their memories returned, Lupi is horrified. Their fur stands straight up and they gasp in shock as it dawns on them that the Nova killed the moon, and not the sun as they had believed for so long. To that the moon only replies that it’s true, and that wolves kill wolves, Nova kill Dusky, and vice versa. Worse, that’s how it has been from the start and that fact will never change. Lupi can only continue to look on in surprise.
Silly me, I went ahead and put out a theory last week. All I had to do was wait as answers to my questions were right around the corner. The most distressing revelation was the fact that the Novas destroyed the moon. Had it not been for the sun’s intervention, their actions would have completely ended the world as well. Yet, they feel no remorse and the Supernova don’t want to stop until all the Dusky are gone. Considering how the moon wolf was locked up and abused by the Nova, and they’ve seen nothing but death and destruction, I can see why they’re so pessimistic. And the Duskies get a bad rap for being the violent ones when the first Nova have been aggressive from the start.
Sure, Lupi was killed by Backlash’s pack for revenge every time they were sent down and eventually forgot what they were supposed to be doing beyond collecting the stars. Still, they had the chance to see the best in people. They met Backlash and Shadow while going on adventures and meeting all types of wolves. The love Lupi felt for their friends was genuine. The moon wolf had no such adventure, being locked away and tortured by the Supernova. Had their positions been reversed, would their outlooks on life be reversed as well? I believe so.
I also believe that Lupi will push back on the moon since they’ve seen and experienced so much. Yes, they are profoundly sad about the deaths of Backlash and Shadow, but I imagine they’d want to move forward and create the world the trio originally wanted to see. Since the sun and moon (and Lupi by extension) were originally two different entities, I’m wondering if it is even possible for them to combine. Maybe the goal was to collect the seven stars in each realm, then meet up and make their wish to restore the world. Now I’m wondering if the moon will travel with Lupi or if they’ll end up fighting over their difference of opinion on if the Nova and Duskies can ever get along. Through Lupi’s eyes we know who’s right, but the moon isn’t entirely wrong either.
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 28, Page 4 | Patreon
Dr. Xijo and the unnamed scientist stare at the Black Idol. Concerned and incredulous, the martian scientist tells the lizard scientist that he needs to limit his exposure. Staring forward, seeming to barely be paying attention, the scientist utters an unconvincing “Right, right…” As he leaves, he turns back to the Black Idol with a longing expression. The wriggling black flesh changes shape again and becomes egg-like. While watching this the doctor notes the idol still moves and changes despite being alone. He wonders what the mass is becoming.
First, I’m worried about the lizard scientist. I’m thinking of when this particular piece of the Black Idol was in another lab and began to have an effect on the researchers. There was Anthony the bat, the armadillo, and Amzin the sheep. I wonder if this lizard has come under the same thrall, and is actively plotting to get to the Black Idol. We all know how that worked out for Anthony in Issue 6. That said, I wonder if this has any connection to the person currently following the hedgehog scientist?
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 267 | Patreon
Runi elaborates to Boneslav that it is the sight of him that reminds her of the terror she felt on the mountain. The feeling will probably fade soon. Surprised, Boneslave asks the doe if she was very scared. To that Runi replies that she’d never seen so much blood before, and the threat of real danger is hard to forget. The Stonekrovn says new things come dauntingly and most are braver the second time around. The Marshlander agrees with him, having made a small realization. Their conversation is interrupted when Kasko runs toward them complaining that Nero just rolled him down a hill.
This is the conversation I wanted to see between Runi and Boneslav. She’s honest about her feelings, and he begins to understand her point of view. Sure, he’s much larger and intimidating, but he can fundamentally understand where she’s coming from regarding her fear. Hopefully, she begins to feel at ease around Boneslav as he becomes a trusted member of the group. That said, he’s completely unimpressed by Nero and Kasko’s horseplay. Deerplay? Will the Stonekrovn have a moment of bonding with the two other bucks? Probably not any time soon.
The newest page of Home won’t be out until Tuesday because of Kique’s weird posting schedule. Since these roundups are posted on Mondays, well… See you next week.
On hiatus:
Lost Scent | Page(s): | Patreon
In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uprising | Page(s): | Patreon
