Oculama

Reminiscent of Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor in the best way possible. The art and writing work in tandem to build tension excellently, with great attention to detail on the character's body language to convey their rising emotions as the game reaches closer and closer to it's conclusion. The writing does an excellent job of seamlessly weaving exposition into the dialog naturally while also expressing each of their personalities. The conclusion is bittersweet yet satisfying, and does a good job of wrapping everything up for the major players in a way that feels right. It should also be said that writing and drawing 26 full comic pages within the allotted time is insanely impressive.

would be a 10/10, but it does not end in a 4 hour yuri makeout sesh so I have to deduct all points, whoops

Artwork is great, with some creative panel layouts and some very evocative shots. Special shoutout to page 11, which bangs in multiple regards. Writing is also well done, and acts as a good culmination to both the character's respective arcs. The conclusion is definitely more bitter than sweet, but it hits a really nice emotional note. The only real criticism I can give is that the pacing is a bit less fluid than it's competition, though this is understandable due to the smaller page count. All around, very well done!

art also gets bonus points because im a sucker for a well-defined schnoz

this was crazy good. i was wowed with you doing so many pages in a week i didnt know that was even possible.you have a appealing art style and its has a nice mix of serious and cute.very good storytelling and even though they were just sitting talking around a table the whole time it was very engaging to read. it was a nice opposite to sturkas comic that you ended so hopeful. you definitely deserve the win

this was also crazy good. even though there was less pages i thought you did some really incredible comic pages and layouts. the page with them all playing cards looked wild. its pretty sad that sturka doesnt get anything good by the end of the tournament but i liked how you tied everything all together and made cassidys comics also canon. i thought it was funny how you had kind of the same vibe going on as the other comic but in this case cassidy shot herself. you also deserve the win

These are both truly five star comics!
You both went in such fascinating and consistent directions, with the ends of both characters' arcs winding to a natural and dramatic close! I don't want to pick just one to win, and I don't have to, so I won't!
Your round was functionally excellent, taking both characters and utilizing them perfectly, without bending them a hair out of shape.
You both giving them the same first names to these two, along with other details, like Sturka's missing sister, makes me think you discussed beforehand, and it worked excellently!
The reveal of the nature of the fourth circle operation was also gut-wrenching.

This comic made me FEEL THINGS.
You really made an explosive finale, with Cassidy as both his missing sister, a revelation made more potent by reading shameful's round first, and the architect behind the death game.
Your art, as always, is beautiful and, for this tournament, wonderfully gritty. The style of this tournament is made all the more impressive having seen your other comics, and the clean, friendly lineart you normally use.
You really sell the desperation of Sturka throughout this tournament, and it was an honor to have been your first casualty!

A Finale built up since the start, and you absolutely delivered on what was set up since the beginning! Having Sturka be in the games for a motive outside of money set him apart from the others and made him interesting to watch handle the final game
Not to say Cassidy didn't have anything to do in the finale, she was a major player in finding out that the final game was rigged against all players except the Host of the Death Games himself, and flipping the script to gain an advantage in a game that otherwise would've been impossible to win
Unrelated note entirely, I love the character of Mammon in this: Reminds me of John Kramer from SAW

Woo boy what an ending! I dig how you've woven Cassidy into Sturka's backstory, developing both of them as characters and making the ending just that much more tragic. Making Cassidy the mastermind behind it all was a fascinating way to take her character, not every day you see the one behind all the killings be in the killing games themselves. Any negatives I have are mostly just nitpicks or minor gripes [like how when re-reading the run as a whole, it feels fairly disjointed at times: We never got an explanation on what happened with Sturka between Round 1 and Round 2]
Overall a fantastic Round

Excellent monumental colossal finish to these, 26 pages, sheeeeeeeshus! Very full, big fan of the final game being something so simple that still has a couple of tricks to it, though I will say Cassidy just lucking into a method that happens to simultaneously knock Sturka off his game as a bonus and not just Mammon felt a little too easy—maybe some personal reason to keep Sturka alive longer than Mammon would give it emotional weight? I dunno. Obviously making any more pages to do than this is silly. Page 22 with the deeply personal and vitriolic back-and-forth and Cassidy third-wheeling is primo. Maybe Navarro can win it all back next time.

You've been doing an insane job with keeping the emotional stakes high and pressing this whole time, and this is a wild conclusion to all of it! Insane scheme, and just like a horrifying ordeal to put your brother through, but striking and cool, and I haven't seen anything like it. Having the final round be post-death game in and of itself is super neat. I do think the karmic and economic hole the two of them dig here to get each other out of said hole is just like, a tad overwhelming, and I'm not convinced that Cassidy's plan would really work to rid Sturka of any potential "ghosts" and not just create even more, but the pathos of it all is super good.

Man. This is hard. Both of these comics were what I hope and am thrilled to see in a finale. I also love you two took your tales in such wildly different directions when it comes to tone. There is such a surprising glimmer? no, dawning of hope by the end of Cassidy's tale (I mean, who saw our obscured lady luck getting a face reveal and a date?? by the end? not I!) that it comes as such a much welcome reward after dealing with the horrors. Finishing this off with a 'game' but an actually lethal one by way of Russian roulette was a great cherry on top of this killer tale. The fact Cassidy, per usual had no plan and was really just sweating it, left me sweating! It's not easy to order your pacing to make sequential work like this build tension but the build up to the eventual demise of Mr. Sturka I think felt VERY on brand by way of revenge. The man went out like a G.

I'm only taking a guess here, but I think this final vote is really going to determine if the community has more of an optimist streak or a realist one because you both drove your respective topics down and they're both objectively good, but I think this boils down to aesthetic/narrative preference.

This hurted my heart. =< It's such a realist take on a grim dystopian squid games situation that you know its coming, you expect it, but once its here, you don't quite feel the full weight of what's been lost until you see Sturka holding his siblings body in his arms. You did that throughout your rounds which makes for a really fantastic narrative throughline by way of theming. It leaves me itching to see this collected into a little mini comic or standalone comic. Sturka as a character is just really compelling and I feel we got a good eyeful of who we is (especially in the match up with Sara dippity), but only just scratched the surface as to what this man is really dealing with. That hug with Cassidy on page 3 really felt like a valve being released. It's the happiest we've seen him EVER which really turns the screws once you know what's in store for him with the impending conversation.
I love that this comic primarily lived in looking back, finally getting the full context as to why someone like him even got put into the Death Games and the steep cost for them both. Freedom and grief is this poor mans reward. I was highkey itching to see the last page being Sturka taking a page from squid games and obliterating the death games organizer, Mingo, and anyone else who so much as breathed in Cassidy's direction ,but perhaps that's a revenge tale for another tuorney.

ShamefulDisplay - Another edge of your seat banger is delivered! The art and the dialogue are both fantastic. I probably mentioned this before but I'l say it again, I love the character expressions and the dynamic angles you choose for those tense moments. The choice of using Russian roulette as the last high stakes game is very clever as well. It keeps the tension going and I could feel the characters themselves getting really rattled by the situation they put themselves in. You did a great job making me root for both Cassidy and Sturka. But I think Cassidy stole the show overall because she is such a wildcard and outsider. Sturka’s abrupt end, however, felt slightly off: with only one bullet in the revolver, an experienced assassin like Sturka might’ve noticed a reload, leaving me wondering if I missed a detail. Regardless, this comic is a thrilling ride, and Cassidy’s victory, while also saving another soul, is deeply satisfying. Outstanding work!

Eric you seriously need to do a graphic novel. I felt like I was watching a show like The Penguin throughout the tournament with your entries. The very gritty vibe and complex interpersonal relationships you built among the characters really hooked me in and this one is no exception. The connection between siblings is such an underrated relationship rarely explored and you did it so well here. Though I am not sure I am satisfied with the way things ended. Some questions lingered in my mind, why did Cassidy do it in front of Sturka? I just can't imagine doing such a thing in front of someone you love. Perhaps she had her reasons that we may never know. Your artwork is stunning as usual. Sturka’s anguish on the final page is so visceral, it broke my heart. Phenomenal work!

First I gotta say how crazy of a ride this whole thing was from start to finish. A lot of stuff got introduced here, and it was a smart move using Sturka's backstory to help explain the situation Cassidy's sponsor is in to help streamline the comic's exposition a little more. My expectations for how things were gonna go ended up getting swapped in a good way. I was right in guessing Cassidy would end up with no money but not in the way it happened. When the writing is this clean the smallest stuff does stick out like some things being a little over explained or occasional redundancy caused the middle to drag in a way that released me from the tension that Russian roulette should give. The ending feels a little rushed too but damn if I'm gonna dock points for any of that when you drew 26 already incredibly compact pages. This is an insane result from just a week of drawing and if I were better at giving compliments I'd give way more of them to you for that. Real solid entry and good work throughout!

Eric! How could you get rid of the narrator?! I just got used to them! Unless the narrator was supposed to be Cassidy? I imagine the more likely answer is that the text would've gotten in the way of the more dramatic moments that do better with silence. The reveal that Cassidy was behind the death games was an interesting way to utilize your opponent. I've decided to shelf any minor gripes I had with the story as they didn't get in the way of how entertaining the whole ride was. Unfortunately I'm trying to remain as unbiased as possible so I cannot award you any extra points for depicting Mingo getting absolutely decked beyond it looking fucking sick. I feel crazy for thinking this but the ending felt kinda open ended. I found myself asking "What happens now"? It does leave me a bit curious if you already have future plans for Sturka, whether he survives or not. I guess this is my way of saying I hope this isn't the last we see of him regardless of the outcome as his journey was an incredible read!