Voting is closed.
Prometheus
This one was fucking hard. I'm gonna be kicking myself for trying to decide between these two for a bit. The impressiveness of a pixel-art comic aside, this comic does look fantastic, the way you make the caves, paired with that clean and wonderful color palette, its a great comic that i feel like i could buy in a little booklet, or a zine! Tying in the extermination of the Licker's species tying into Sandmouse's job as a marker and using their little flags, i love the interaction of these two, and the BRUTALITY of having Sandmouse trigger the final trap to kill The Last Licker? Oh man, the pacing of so many moments in this were fantastic.
The ending and the first initial sighting of The Licker were some impactful frames, even when the compositions can feel a bit empty, i feel like it is actually helped a whole lot by the stylization and strong color scheme that make each panel and page feel complete. There's a level of polish that I feel like ties the comic together and really makes it a standout piece on its own right, and I hope to see more out of Sandmouse in future rounds!
Prometheus
Like i said above. This one was fucking DIFFICULT. I really do like the framing of the round, the unique way the characters interact, that's a different dynamic from the two that i really enjoy! Having your character be essentially trapped and freed by the opponent is the kind of play on the relationship between you and your opponent's character that i love to see! And i must say, with the extended page count and the slower pacing of each pages i gen think this has one of the best paced endings in the tourney thus far, especially with that last shot of Sandmouse's flag signalling to Licker where to go next
However despite how much i like this framing and the narrative it allows, utilizing Sandmouse's tools and even their power-ups, there was a couple things that ultimately held this one back just a bit. I loved the more dialogue-heavy character but having dialogue in each and every panel in the placements they were in felt a little odd with the pacing at times, and could hold back the flow of the comic, some of them should have been paired up and spaced out, let some of the art and caves you drew do the talking for you!! Another thing was, while i loved the plot beats and story of this round, the actual look of the comic and caves could often feel just a tad repetitive between shots and lead to an overall less memorable reading experience, many of the caves, while lovingly detailed and drawn with all the rocks and crevices, often blur together with each other because there aren't many distinctive landmarks that can distinguish these shots from each other, i feel like the contrast between each shot could have been enhanced or stylized in better ways to communicate the same information. Ultimately this is what lead me to the decision i made, however i will say it was far from easy and this is probably some of my favorite works of yours as of late, (althought admittedly ive only seen stuff on Oculama mostly)
Piñata
BLUEGILL- oh my god, your style made Sandmouse too cute. criminally cute. Not often I see pixel art comics, but I do know they always slap and this is no exception. I love how helpful this little guy is marking traps and stealing my heart, lol
This tale was short and sweet, and ended on such an grisly and abrupt way. Which is not to knock it at all- I think having the shot just end the comic really punctuates the conceit of what a trap IS. I think I would've been tempted to keep drawing, so kudos for knowing when less is more.
NINJA- This story really pulled at my heart strings. Also enjoyed how artfully you wove light and dark themes in this so effortlessly. To go from hope and despair interchangeably is no mean feat. Licker as a character and their situation trapped in the cave is so dark ,and the light of hope sandmouse brings tinking away is just a little glimmer, but is just enough. Enough to hope, enough for friendship, enough to trust the process. I especially dig that haunting line that it WOULD be so easy to kill this mouse. Just- hoo! I was rapt with attention page to page. Beautiful work.
Comment posted: February 13th, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Wolkemesser
NINJA - Absolutely KILLING it on the storytelling this round. It's a classic style of tale, the small helping the large, but you put so many great shifts and twists on it to make it your own beast.
First off, love the subtle misdirect up front of exactly who the narrator is. Even on a second and third read the deception is unimpeachable, and it feels delightful to learn that Licker is the one we've been listening to up to that point.
Then the twist of Licker (unintentionally, though part of me did wonder if Licker was going to eat Sandmouse once free - couldn't tell you why ;) ) burying Sandmouse and not even realizing it was brilliant in my view for two reasons - one the reversal of situations, which would have been cool enough on its own, but two, showing how, despite being very capable of reflection, Licker also has a lack of awareness that would lead to the assumption that Sandmouse simply left, rather than being buried alive.
Your lighting hits all the marks it needs to in this first round. The chasm is a dark place, and potentially hostile because of that darkness, which comes across clearly, and makes the light sources, beautifully rendered, feel like points of comfort not just for Sandmouse and Licker, but for the readers as well. You cultivate one of the best-defines chasm spaces as well simply by your hard work on the backgrounds and framing chasm walls, which I absolutely don't want to overlook, but the lighting is so good it deserves especial mention.
Comment posted: February 8th, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Wolkemesser
BLUEGILL - I love the combination of simple detailing and faded colors throughout this comic. Those elements, along with the 8-bit level of granularity, give just enough to make the comic feel like it slots into a bigger world while leaving enough of that world unknown to the reader to keep your story tense and intriguing.
Sandmouse's narration, similarly, gives the reader just enough to follow while leaving the right amount (imho) of world detail up to the reader's imagination that the mouse's wanderings are themselves tense, and that the background reveal of the Licker builds on that tension before breaking into the final chase and triggering.
That final full-page panel is a strong ending to the comic - there's something to the composition that is downright baroque in its layout, even for it's simplicity of detail. Between your composition and the starkness of detail, you may the arrow hit feel extremely consequential, and much more than the sum of the narrative and events that lead up to it.
One last note on your layout - a lot of folks have done it in this first round, but very good use of the chasm walls to both create a sense of encasement and to define the space where useful, and leave the space up to the reader's imagination where the shape of the setting is less critical.
Comment posted: February 8th, 2025 at 8:49 AM
MarcheTowersArt
I love this odd pair and the two interpretations of their comics are so exciting to see the differences between them
Comment posted: February 7th, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Piñata
A battle between David and a cryptid Goliath. Lets go!
Comment posted: February 6th, 2025 at 10:02 AM