Oculama

The cover page is a work of art, (and I say that acknowledging I've commented something similar on most cover pages you've illustrated of late). It'd be such a great Halloween cover, but you know what, it works regardless of the season.

Your dialogue is pretty sharp in this one - the humour therein is understated but sharp as a tack. (Ending on the "negative consequences" line was SO choice, tbh. I like how naturally the interaction between the students feels, both while they're arguing over the setup for the ritual and while the others are berating Sera for going back for her camera.

I also like Labu's dialogue - there's a line to walk with a character like Labu to make them truly eerie/ threatening without going do far that it doubles back into feeling flat. You strike the right chord here, letting him say just enough, and stay vague enough about what he wants, that he feels a menace.

The stage-setting here is primo. The solidity of the school and bathroom walls, and the relative sedateness thereof, really lets Labu's appearance punctuate that things have gone sideways/ surreal, as he enters with an odd angle and a complete disregard for the structure of the space. The warping of the space when Sera returns has a great effect as well, showing the power Labu can bring to bear without overemphasizing it.

Overall, I think this serves as a SOLID intro for Sera, and a really compelling segue into the Death Games tournament, whether it was intended to be or not.

What a great introduction to the character! I really liked meeting Sera in this comic and we got a great sense of who she is. I thought you did a great job mixing both characters together. Labu was treated very well and made into a good threat. I appreciated the Hell, Michigan joke.I think you could have done with a bit of backlight from some candles, the Hell realm, or even Labu's own interior glow to have helped brighten up and give us a light source in some of the pages. However, this was a delightful comic and I can't wait to see what you do in Death Games! Good work!

Hello Sera! Nice prologue to see what kind of person and world this character comes from before being plunked into freakin DEATH. The choice of color in your comic to compliment your opponent was such an inspired choice as a cover image. I know the cool tones were necessary for the mood of the bathroom setting and the summoning, but I would've loved to have seen those orange tones return to encompass the bathroom due to the magic at hand. And talk about a setting. Great environment for these girls to be summoning in. If I had a note, it'd be to give the halls some school spirit and grit it up cuz we all know high schools aint clean lol. Posters for prom, graffiti, school mascot badges, binder paper, etc.
Love to see a highschooler actually depicted in a high school. From the onset Sera stands out, almost excessively so in a 'main character' capacity, as her companions designs seem pretty generic. If they are her school squad and she's the most popular girl, her entourage would no doubt reflect that. That's just teen girl rules. It'd be neat to see their general aesthetic match or reflective in each others looks. Not that you have to follow the tropes of the high school popular girl, but it is a good framework to follow as the alternative begins to fall into contradictions.
I'll be curious to see if this encounter with the great pumpkin reflects in the Death Games. Way to bust this out before your tourney!

This is one of my favorite covers you’ve done, Ninja. It’s only March, but the Halloween vibes stand out, and I don’t mind them. Another chapter of Oculama High wrapped up. Sera’s bio wasn’t necessary to figure out she’s one of the more popular girls at school—possibly the most popular. Her fashion sense is top-notch.

I love the textures that you used for each page. I think maybe something you can experiment on next time is using colors to emphasize the 'mood' of your scenes. While I like the muted colors throughout the comic to embody the horror-esque atmosphere, I think saving the darker/dreary tones for when Labu appeared would drive home the fact that his presence was something evil and ominous even more.

I liked how you tied Labu’s story into this and showed the fallout from Sera’s decision to go back for her camera, which seems to be cursed now. I’m curious about what happens next and how this affects Sera’s seemingly perfect life moving forward. Great job as always!