Oculama

Mystery? Intrigue? You are definitely riding in your lane with this entry- digging . It’s also great to see you didn’t bother with filters or fancy shading. I think the straightforward grayscale color fill with your detailed inkwork pack enough of punch on their own. Anything further would’ve been too busy, so kudos on the restraint. I gotta say my favorite page has to be the reflection of the window and all the items upon the vanity. What a way to give us a taste of the character by showing us a world, a room a furniture, but not that elusive face. I’m hooked!

Really solid art for it, good angles and framed shots! The only hiccup I had was perhaps a singular panel to show they were leaving from the apartment rather than entering it from the window. On a second read I made the connection with the closing the drawer on the first page to the exiting on the second, but because of the lengthened scroll followed immediately by a page change, it felt a bit like a 'doorway' scenario, where I promptly forgot about it and viewed the next page as a different scene. Otherwise it's really solid, the comedy with the landlord is really on point and gives us immediate characterization about our mysterious thief!

Can I start this by saying I love your art style?!? You also pull off the grays super well and I thought using different intensities of grays to denote depth is clever as hell.

Your backgrounds are exceptionally good. I just get lost in every little detail you put in it. Even though the comic is short it did not necessarily feel like it's lacking though I really wanted to know what that key was for. But then again, that wasn't really the point of this comic. It’s more about Arsenne’s character.

Love the build up on how Arsenne seems to be this mysterious master thief, only to find out that she is just like us, struggling to pay the bills! Very relatable. That face in the last panel was the delicious icing on the cake. Gave me a a good chuckle.

Really well done! Hope to see more!

The montage at the beginning drew me in, and I have to say that Arsenne stole my heart. There's environmental storytelling at play here, and along with a very solid sense of gesture, it's strong enough that it can handle silence. The way tone's handled gives this comic a good sense of depth, and helps with keeping the details clear. Also, going back to see her disguises and her additional memory collection was a treat. This comic is an amazing introduction to Arsenne, and I do want to see more.
Oh man, can she pay her rent? This is some drama.

I really enjoyed this comic. Very nice greys and letting the images tell the story for the viewer.
The more I look at the art work the more it takes me on a nostalgia trip back to some of those old illustrated kids books. The details are all well placed.
The only word bubbles revealing the master thief to be behind on rent was such a nice ending to this. I can't wait for more.

I'm sorry to disappoint on the critique since to even vote requires I use a minimum of 100 words and I don't want to have to nit pick to and meet that quota.

A really solid introduction comic here. We get to see their thieving exploits, and the four vignettes on page one are really well done - showing that they steal from various locales, they're a gentleman thief, and their calling card. The final page with the realization that they haven't paid rent despite having a veritable treasure trove for a bedroom, and their nervous look on their face, is a good window into their personality as well. An idea of what motivates their kleptomania will be important later on, although perhaps that would show the cards too early if it was in the intro. The art is really great, clean, emotive and pleasant, and its all framed very nicely. The greyscale balance is very nice; I do think in the future you can go further with the spot blacks and add more deep shadows, especially in a heist situation.

That was a great introduction comic, Sleepy! The art was really nice in this, so many neat little details that really enhance the repeated reading of this! Awesome work on the writing, the environmental storytelling provided by all the prior mentioned details (like the artefacts from Arsenne's previous heists) was super cool and worked very well! Also, a fun ending, that expression on the final panel is great :insert laughing emote here:!

Don't have anything that really comes to mind in terms of critics, it all works very well together and I'm definitely excited to see where you take Arsenne next!

This was excellent! Really coming out swinging and setting the bar for these other comics in a big way! I think you really knocked it out of the park and I'm super feeling the environment that she lives in. The art was fantastic looking and it really roped me into it. You have a very approachable style and it really helped draw me in. I'm super intrigued by where this story is going and I love how you just showcased the aftermath of all of their crimes so far. I actually have noticed how we haven't had a perfect shot of her face yet. That'll be interesting if she ends up going that direction or if we'll see more of her when we finally unleash battles and collabs. Either way, consider me hooked from this beginning alone. Great work!

I love this intro. The panelling is simple but effective, and the art is great too!! I love your artstyle. One of my favorite things about this comic however is how it gives us a glimpse into the worldbuilding, whether it be Arsénne's world or the Universe of Oculama as a whole. Arsénne's character seems cool to me, and I loved their expression at the end of the comic. Seems like they're struggling to pay rent!! All in all, this comic, like the others, gets me pumped and excited for what's coming regarding Oculama. I really like your stuff, Sleepy.
Yours truly,

I am enchanted with what you have set up so far, Your use of gray scale is well executed and the set up leaves me wanting to know more about Aresnne.

The thing that sticks out to me the most with this is the use of panel spacing between the two comics. I feel as though the gap on the first page is meant to feel transitional, but I feel as though it looks more like a panel is missing.

Perhaps giving the panel with the drawer it’s own page may give off that feel of transition.

I look forward to reading more.

I like this one a lot, and your style is really fun for the whole thing. The grayscale sets a fun mood that feels kind of antique-ey without going fully "historical fiction". I know it's only two pages and it's just an intro, but I am left wanting a bit more information from this comic. I am understanding that they steal, collect, and don't pay rent. I get it! And I am sure they will be fun to interact with, I guess I am just feeling a little shortchanged with only that. Or maybe I am missing the real beauty in the simplicity? I do really enjoy your style though, it's very stylized and I wish I could be so clever with lines and motion. Everything looks like it's been enjoyable to make and everything is forgiving because there is much knowledge and skill behind it, so if anything ever was off, you wouldn't know, it just becomes its own thing. I really envy that. I look forward to someday maybe learning from you or from fighting with you!

I do like the artwork here; the style is something i'm digging. The thin, sometimes sketchy, lines give it a nice natural feel that gives the art tons of personality.
After reading about some of the oculama lore, what with Junction and the totems and what not, this does help establish the multiverse going on. The worlds of the first three panels feel distinct enough that I could buy Arsene being a multidimensional thief without it being explained right out. I do want to know more about Arsene though, aside from them being a thief that keeps a messy room we don't know much else. It could just be the short length but I kind of wanted to know more, if anything, about their personality seeing how this is meant to be a character for comic battles and as of now any opponent basically has a completely blank slate to go on for writing your character. Perhaps something written in Arsene's voice or inner monologue could help.

First of all, fantastic use of environmental story telling. Without saying a word I already know so much about Arsenne, who they are and how they interact with the world. Even though we never get a good look at the character in question, this is one of the most effective intro comics I've read.
The artwork is excellent and I especially like how the mirror is used to frame Arsenne in the panels of the second page.
The use of juxtaposition of Arsenne's thefts is simply inspired. If I had to find something to criticize, the third panel doesn't quite flow smoothly from the first two for me. I think because the first two are essentially the same scene in different settings, I expect a continuation of that theme, but instead we get Arsenne's taking the wanted poster. I would consider putting it fourth or maybe instead of showing different crimes, show different aspects of a single crime (i.e. calling card, investigation, news report, wanted poster)