Oculama

The 3D rendered ocean and boat mixed into the 2D art is inspired. I really like the philosophical discussion about enjoying transient moments as they come, versus preserving those that seem perfect. Really makes you think about how each moment is special because it's unique, just like every other one, and the only way to do each one justice is to enjoy it as it comes so you can meet the next with a deeper understanding and enjoy it more than the last. One thing to work on is depth of perspective, as all of your characters seem to hang around in the foreground, even if they're supposed to be distant.

A unique story and a pleasing art style. I especially liked the creative paneling used. The comic makes great use of each character, establishing them both in the very limited amount of pages, I didn't feel like I was missing anything despite going into the comic blind without knowledge of either fighter beforehand. The art style uses lots of bold linework to bring out the characters, while also using a rough brush to make it less crisp and more approachable. One critique would be that you tend to play around a lot with the proportions of your characters, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be a little jarring at times, like on the first page in the second panel.

You've made some really pleasant use of colour in this comic, and the presentation of the moment the comic revolves around being at its most perfect introduces an interesting theme of conserving certain procured events over a greater multitude of events with varying quality. Using colour associated with each character in the background of panels to show their control of the situation works very well for your comic, alongside the expressiveness of each character.
I would love to see some more lighting and shading taking place in your comics, as I feel it would help the impact of certain panels such as the large panel in page 4.

Vitic, I really enjoyed this comic a lot. The sunset palette you chose was very fitting. The graphical (? not sure how to describe it but it reminds me of stencils in some parts) style of your art is also something that I haven't seen before. Anatomy could use some improvement but that's something you can learn over time as you practice. That last page was gorgeous!!! omg, how did you do that?!

I love your writing as well. I was really expecting a catastrophic consequence or some battle after Driftwood ruined the 'picture'. While I would've loved to see an epic fight scene, the resolution is very satisfying as well. Unexpected but it left me with a good feeling and that beautiful last page really drove the message home.

Really excited to see what you can do in the next round! Well done!

I really enjoy this comic great work on finishing it. I think my favorite aspect to this comic is that it really feels like a reinterpretation of how Maui slowed the sun to draw out the day by grabbing the sun with a hook. I think some of the more wild comic pages didnt work too well for me but over all the comic is rather nice and overall a really good read and I am curious about the future of the character and I also really loved your take on your opponent and how they capture time and momments.

This was so lovely. Off the bat, I found the voices of each character to be remarkably strong and recognizable. I very promptly understood their perspectives within the first few bubbles, and that's GOOD WRITING, and a great grasp of dialogue efficiency. On that note, the story plot itself was SO charming while being simple, so: the best kind. All of this was supported by clean, comprehensive visuals that were also simple but elegant. Very strong colour compositions and some lovely page layouts went hand in hand with that story too. In all, both character shine in this comic, and as unfortunate as it is that the other contestant couldn't submit, there's a great relationship to look forward too that supports both storylines faithfully! Well done!

A few highlights for me: I loved the vibrant colors, the crazy paneling of the Time Prospectors powers, the clear characterization and motives of both characters, and the 3D elements. The story makes sense and is clear to follow, and leads to a satisfying conclusion based on the setup and motivations. Great work with those!

There are a few areas where I think this comic struggles. One is brush choice - the painterly sweeps look great for the backgrounds, but I would've loved to see the characters pop out some more with crisper lines. In particular, details like Driftwood's armor or the Time Prospector's staff would've benefited. I'd also be thinking about how you could do the shading in more interesting ways than just flat black/grey. Page 1 especially, the beach and palm trees at the bottom seem to clash for me, and even take away from how much Time Prospector should stand out as an all-black character. I'd try going in with some color!

I liked the wholesome approach on this battle. I was able to immediately understand the character's dynamics and personal ideas, and how their ideals conflicted with each other. Gotta love that friendly resolution in the end, and that final page is a treat. Really well done with that 3D effect on the sea.
I applaud the original paneling idea that you had in page 2, but I would find a clearer solution for another time. Maybe doing some "typical" panels but adding some frame similar to the spirals you drew would work? Also, be a little careful with merging so many panels at the end of page 3.
Again, great job with that final page, and with the rendering of all the pages in general. Fun and light story to read!

You chose a fantastic time of day to set this. The wealth of candy color, and pastels for sunset is such a great choice. It matched up well with your character too! also the mystery of something fantastical like a star was intriguing from the jump! Not to mention it gave a nice organic excuse for these two to meet and interact and have some conflict. Clever move! The idea of the time prospector taking a moment solely based on its beauty is a great out of the box motivation.

If I had any advice it would be to better incorporate your 3D aspects. The look of the sea was awesome, but you don' see that anywhere else on any of your pages so it sticks out. It'd be neat to see your character elements interacting in a 3D environment that you model if that's your fancy. Might even be easier considering you need only model it once and then use the camera to angle your panels for composition.

All in all I was really impressed with how well this little story wrapped up and how wholesome driftwood is to come away from a conflict with a desire to show Prospector the bigger beauty of the world. Really sweet story!

Wow Vitic, I loved your comic! You did a great job of capturing the feeling of sunset (starset?) with that color palette. I love the way you did that layout of page 2, it's a great marriage of The Time Prospector's and Driftwood's aesthetics, it really felt like something you only could have done in this comic and I think it's super cool! Something I think you could work on is having a bit more consistent anatomy, Driftwood's proportions seem a little off in some panels. I was also a little confused at first as to what was happening in page 3, panels 2 and 3, just because Driftwood's posing didn't seem to match the flow of where the hook was going. (I loved looking at it, and the way you used that wave of blue to help with the sense of movement was great! It just took me another look to understand what was happening). All in all great job though! That last page looks SO good, you did a great job of making the 3D water not look out of place at all. I can't wait to see more from you!

I loved your comic so much Vitic! The artwork was great, and the colors are pretty good. I like how the Time Prospector was portrayed, and I absolutely loved the establishing shot at the end of the comic!! Was that a 3D rendered sea?? It looks so stylish and gorgeous, I love that polygonal look so much.... the panelling confused me a little bit though, especially the bit in the fourth page. That's just a nitpick though. The comic is amazing and I loved the interactions between the two characters here. I cant wait to see your next comic, Vitic!

Ok honestly. I did not expect the absolute radness of the last two pages. Your pacing of this reminds me of late 90's/early 2000's indie comics where paneling was merely a suggestion and lots and lots of comics tried all forms of trippy styling and layout. The last page is downright breathtaking in the atmosphere of it. The way you used geometry troughout the comics is :chefskiss: and I absolutely loved the entire trippy thing. The art of the characters and the more straight forward elements is also nice, if a bit stiff and with line art that could perhaps have been a little more varied, as to better differentiate between background and foreground.

I really appreciated some of these interesting design elements you used. That final shot on the water is extremely intriguing and I can't remember the last time I've seen a comic look so geometric in a positive way. You definitely have a really strong direction you're wanting to take your style and it's oozing with a lot of personality. I think the major steps that you need to move towards to improve are currently in the fundamentals of form and figure. If you can get a stronger handle on your spatial awareness and composing figures in space for the story, I think you'd become really unstoppable. I'll be curious to see what you do in the next couple rounds, because this one has piqued my interest for Driftwood. Really nice work!

A very lovely Comic! I love the simple setup of the story but with the deeper philosophy of A single brilliant moment in memory that can be lost like tears in the rain... The two characters are very well represented I can clearly see they both have a clear and defined personality. I really liked the yanking of the screen from the prospector and the hook from driftwood was pretty cool as well just a brief double take to realize they had hooked the panel as well. the conversation at the end was pretty feels worth about going to see new horizons and I loved the peaceful resolution of the two going on an adventure!

Vitic wow this is a beautiful comic. I love this so much it everything works wonderfully with your style. there's so many really cool and beautiful moments in it. like the bottom of page 2 showing off time prospectors cool powers. although while that page is super cool and well done there's a really small formatting issue for me, the lines "if i let that star land..." and "what do you mean" are directly on the the spiral border so my eyes want to keep following the spiral downwards instead of going over to the actual next line. but apart from that this is top tier, I am in awe of it. probably going to study this myself cause I really love how you use shapes throughout, those spiral squares are very well done. And cause I just like gushing about this stuff oh man that "fragile" panel is sooooo good the way you rendered everything in it is just chefs kiss. and that final page. SOOOO GOOD. amazing job on this Vitic

What a fun tale! The execution of "taking a moment" is tremendously clever, and the fight over the moment is really entertaining. The setting is also appropriately magical, and I especially enjoy how you stylize the star and the seas here. I do wish a bit more time had been spent on the post-fight reconciliation. I think all the right pieces are there, but it'd be nice if there was an extra page for that exchange to breath in, and then maybe have that last panel be an epilogue title page. Overall very clever, very well drawn, and really entertaining.

Art
- The more simple linework was very effective; the characters were actually quite emotive
- The use of CG elements was slightly jarring at first but I think the geometric shape motif you used throughout helped it feel cohesive

Writing
- Loved the setup, that TopHat's character capturing the moment was really cool
- The payoff was good, I enjoy when characters have a conflict but end the story amicably

Entertainment
- Overall a very fun and lively read!
- I really want to see more--of both characters, really. It's great when an artist not only successfully showcases their own character, but also really makes their opponent shine!

To see a conflict like this written so easily is a mark of a good legend. The capture of a perfect single moment and the monopolization of it is at it’s heart equal parts insidious but romantic. Your opponent was also well represented here and environment they were in felt drawn in a way where a shark man and a time stopping shade could exist in tandem. The flat dizzying representation of it reinforces the kind of mythical storytelling that explains why the sun sets or why children grow up. I have no marked criticism, draw more and get better. That’s all you need to do. Keep it up and thanks !

What a lovely comic! the colours were wonderful throughout really caught the sunset is never ending feeling and your portrayal of the Time Prospector was great the flat black void against your detailed character design for Driftwood made it really feel like the time prospector was an interloper coming where they dont belong. I occasionally had issues with where you were leading my eye however. my flow got broken a few times for example on page 1 panel 3's text bubbles lead on better from panel one than panel 2. A little more intention with these placements of your text would make the comic much more readable in my opinion. The use of 3D to make the Polygonal ocean was very striking and a great note to end the comic on. Great Work, keep it up!

Always surprised to see fully coloured works with this short of a deadline, and the colours are so good too! Love the way you centralized the conflict around your opponent and did a great job of portraying them not quite as directly antagonistic but more as callously selfish. I think the compositions on the whole are quite striking but would say that some of the dialogue panels are a little samey in terms of the presentation of the character (either waist up or just the characters head). That being said the ending is absolutely wonderful and possibly one of the best I've seen this round. Not sure how you produced the water effect but it really caps off the fight well providing The Time Prospector with the understanding that the vast beautiful world can be viewed without possessing it.