Notice: This site currently does not support mobile devices.

Comic completed on April 6th 2024

Reccomended Reading - Satraxia & Jade Shinigami Double Black Diamond Round 2!!

I love the Satraxia & Jade team so much, if the entire team wasn't in the tournament during this period I would have wanted to fight CleanWholesomeFun/Throbgoblin as well! So i just went ahead and included both characters, cause they're pretty central to each other so it was just as fun as a full duo round <333

Winner!

Wolkemesser

Oh boyo, I can tell this one's gonna be FUN! Can't wait to see what's cookin'~~~

Fresh_Pie

I've read comics with both of these characters now, and I've no idea which one I want to win!! On a side note, does anyone have a working link to the discord server?

CleanWholesomeFun

Filler episode let's go!

Labu

Cool! Abstract arts vs 90's Anime!

Voting is closed.

Wolkemesser

Ooof! You got this one to sting, no doubt; well worth the wait.

You're wringing absolute pathos out of every one of these post-mortem match-ups. I feel for Dada's crummy situation and the *multiple* lanes of abuse he's being subjected to. I feel for Jade being as hopelessly romantic and driven, yet ignored as she is. If I can fault the writing anywhere, it's that I don't feel much of anything towards Satraxia, pathic or otherwise. Not even antagonism really, as she feels just flat cruel here. Not so much a fault of the story as an opportunity not taken, so little harm done overall.

I found this comic to be noticeably more obtuse than the comic with Bawlz, specifically towards the very end, but I suspect that's largely because I was looking for what wasn't even hidden. On subsequent reads it all clicks nicely. Dada is looking for an out to the abuse, and finds there's no easy way to skip out of it. (I'm reminded of the premise of "Click"; please don't think of that as a backhanded compliment either - Click genuinely brought me to tears when I was younger). The emptiness of the end is bleak but I guess sometimes that's the point, and it makes this a properly Dada downer (affectionate).

You've hit such a stride with dada's expressions - the shifts from sadness to anger to resignation parse perfectly and fluidly. Jade and Satraxia are emoting here with equal clarity, and what genuinely delightful expressions they are.

Kudos too on the whole-page panels; very strikingly laid out, and contributing tons towards the "Dada-in-purgatory" feel of the comic overall.

Tremendous job overall; my only regret with how well you've sold Dada these last few rounds is that there won't be as much of hi going forward.

Wolkemesser

Ah, the moon - is there any more poignant a setting for a character's final scene~?

Solid colors here, as always. The brighter hues serve you well in the body of the comic, as always, but so too does your choice to give the earth a more subdued tone against white for the opening and closing pages. Haunting is what I'd call it - the earth full and vast, but quiet from a distance, to facilitate contemplation.

My only outstanding want from the illustrations is that I would love to see more texture in the space backgrounds. Some celestial bodies against the blue, or even just some gradient to lend the backdrop more life.

The send-off for Dada is thoughtful and interesting - an abrupt end for an obtuse fellow. I applaud the decision to let him go out on a contemplative note, though it does make Satraxia feel somewhat superfluous; I'm at a loss to articulate what she brings to the convo or the comic in general that another character couldn't. Regardless, it's a nice exchange, and one that suits Dada. Leaving him a memorial of sorts on the moon was a sweet touch.

Always a delight to see more of Satraxia, and props on pushing through an additional comic between DBD rounds!

Zethyre

Fear not, for I am here.
This is a fun setup with the unhealthy marriage story, it runs well on the usual established dynamic between Satraxia and Jade Shinigami (I'm really not sure how to refer to this lady). I do wish, however, that you'd kept the story purely between Dada and Satraxia, and not brought in Satraxia's usual "partner" character. While it makes sense, I think the dynamic you had going with the budding divorce story has to take a back seat as soon as the other character joins in. A short comic really benefits from a very simple setup, and that simple setup should be as compressed as possible, without suffering. Adding more characters than necessary defeats that last point.
I love the art style, you've improved loads recently. If simple, it's great to see backgrounds in nearly every panel, it adds a good sense of place. Really love the lettering, you do a great effort towards making it interesting to look at, however that occasionally comes at the cost of lowering the readability of your text.
I think you attributed a speech bubble to the wrong person on page 9, I don't believe Jade Shinigami was supposed to talk about her marriage with Dada... Or was she??
Finishing this, I want to say that your story sort of falls apart when Dada starts rewinding the tape - I think you said the comic would make more sense if you're caught up on Footini comics, but I don't personally think that's a good way of going about things. I certainly haven't had time to read all the most recent comics, so it unfortunately got lost on me. Hope to battle you some day!

Zethyre

Greetings, puny earthling. I think overall this is a solid comic, if mediocre. It accomplishes what it sets out to do, it feels. However, I think the comic's "impression" lacks when it comes to lettering - I really miss having all the font be uniformly sized. There's too much variation between each speech bubble. Furthermore, it's not a particularly innovative plot - it doesn't have to be, by god, this is an OCT comic, but it would be nice to see more complexity in the narrative, rather than "Dr. Dada waxes philosophical and accidentally loses himself in a concept". I do think it's a decent idea for a story, I just wish it had gone further.
Brilliantly (for your own sake) you set the comic on the moon, drawing a wonderful parallel to Watchmen's 'Mr. Manhattan', which allows you to forgo backgrounds entirely, for better or worse - I personally think it makes the comic lack (visual) depth, but I can forgive it, it is not a huge loss. You establish the location well. Unfortunately you also decide to give Dr. Dada quite a lot of facial features, which... kind of goes against his whole design, doesn't it? I understand why you did it, but I'd have loved to see the same comic done slightly more faithfully. You already do a lot of expressive work with his glasses, so why add a nose and eyebrows?
All in all, a decent comic. I hope to see more from you, and I hope this review gives you ideas on what to work on.

Rivana

Prom - GORGEOUS INKS! Your use of tones and spot blacks was so beautifully executed, they go so well together and the comic looks pretty polished as a result. I also love how you used the negative space in some of the pages. All in all, this comic is so nicely illustrated and I am thoroughly impressed by your bold, confident linework. I also enjoyed the story! I did not need a lot of context to really get a sense of the characters. Including Jade as the reader's eye through all the events that unfolded was also a nice touch. The ending made me chuckle.

Rivana

Footini - Short and sweet comic between these two. It's a nice laid-back/lowkey convo between Dada and Satraxia but I feel like it needed a bit more (but I am not gonna knock you for this cos I know you got the final round coming up too! I honestly don't know how you do it XD ). Anyhow, with all that said, I am impressed that you still managed to do a colored comic on top of it all. The space setting is a smart idea though I wish you added some stars/space dust(???) in to fill up the vastness of space a bit. I love the way you did the lighting and you've given Dada some really nice expressions despite his lack of facial features!

Pengogo

My goodness, the text treatments in this are off the chart. They're weird, they're wild, but they're incredibly readable at all times, a massive achievement. It feels like a mundane thing to praise, but it's just such a good encapsulation of the comic as a whole: completely experimental but doing its absolute best to remain coherent and clear. The story is a wild ride, more an emotional journey than a traditional plot, and it's perfectly fitting for such a meta character as Dada. Satraxia still makes her presence felt though, she's so charismatic and domineering that the comic is as wrapped around her as Dada is. Outstanding.

Pengogo

God this comic is so silly, I adore the use of dadaism as its own punchline. That opening shot is so strong too, it starts off with a sincerely beautiful piece of art that gets broken down to its ridiculous narrative really well. That's also an encapsulation of the comic overall, the dialog is absurd, the characters take any opportunity for a gag, but through great paneling, coloring and staging of the action, it still feels truly passionate and sweet. The camera zooming in, in, in, and then pulling out to that quiet end with the simple, silly icon is such a good cap. Adoring.

Oculama

I'm definitely going to miss Dr. Dada - really feels like a character you were vibing with and I hope to see you do more with them in the future. On the whole, great set of comics to end it on. Your artwork is improving a lot and the storytelling and comics were all experimental and interesting. This in particular I think was a really intriguing use of playing with the panel-work and design. I think the storytelling on the whole was a little heady and maybe wasn't the clearest to understand what was occurring as a result, but it was still a fun read. Great work.

Oculama

Short and simple. Satraxia is pretty fun. You can definitely make them work as either goof-villain or as a serious one, which is some nice versatility. The story was cute and this was a nice little pit-stop before we get to the finale of the Tournament. Your artwork is improving lately and you're doing some nicer work with your colors. That being said, you could spend some more time on making your forms and shapes more solid. While the characters are there and that readability isn't getting lost, I do think you should do more fundamental studies for your shapes and figures, including foreshortening practices. Still, very cute read! I'm excited to see what you do for your final round in the tournament! Good work!

johannhawk

I like the artwork, panel compositions and how the pages follow up on each other well. Really clean despite the chaos.

The inclusion of Jade Shinigami and her pack of cops is also fun but this leaves a very slight chance of needing the reader to be familiar with the context between Jade and Satraxia.

Loving details like how expressive Dada and everyone else can be, Dada's coat having continuity from previous comics and the paintings in the house.

Skipping to the end is an interesting way to reach a resolution to the conflict but the question of if it got resolved, erased or fast forwarded is interesting. But in any case Dr. Dada probably isn't feeling great.

johannhawk

This comic has some character interactions and touches on a few bits of Dada-adjacent topics and the challenges of encapsulating these into a comic. Feels a bit thin although i wonder if that was the intent or there were more pages planned.

The dialogue bubble arrangement on the last panel of page threw me off on the first read.

The poses have some good energy to them.

With the added colors such as the yellow on Dr. Dada does make it much easier to differentiate Dada from the background void of space. I also like the consistency of the rocks having the same brush strokes which makes the moon on the last page recognizeable as the place they were on.

Labu

This one's might be Prom's Masterpiece. We start with a lore expander by the fact that Dada and Satraxia had been married for some time. While the comic was lacking colors, but was able to convey the intricate style of the comic. Especially about the Dada art style magnificantly! Story-wise it might been confusing at first, but it's pretty melancholic but also poetic at the same time. This comic is the right definition of "Show, don't tell" and can be interpreted in many ways, except for the main message. Poor man Dada has to endure his artificial existence, such as the imprefections of life itself. This comic deserves all my praise, because I think it's Oculama's all-time classic.

Labu

Footini, art-wise Say DaDa was a decent short story, sadly I think it was lacking content. The comic was colorful, and while the characters can interact with each other fine, I think it would be great if There was more going on than just a simple "what's up" meeting. I think it's an okay collab entry for a comic, but sadly aside from all of that there's really nothing that I could say about. I can see that in this comic, DaDa tries to be philosophical, yet I don't understand the ultimate meaning of their interaction. There's a lot to improve here, and I know you're still within the Double Black Diamond tournament, so my only advice is try to make a simple comic with a simple issue that you could convey.