Oculama

This is a really tremendous entry for the final round, and exactly the sort of storytelling a tournament deserves to be capped off with.

Visually, I’m most impressed with your application of color, both in general and how you use it in service of informing the mood of various scenes as we move throughout the story. You sell the more bleak/hopeless mood of the earlier portions within the Jericho very well through the absence of excess color, and while you never rely entirely on a (relatively) more monochromatic palette to inform the feeling in these pages, it makes the contrast with scenes like the fights and Doc Fabulous trying to lift Tio’s spirits all the more pronounced, to the story’s benefit.

I know there were plans to put more animated panels into the comic, but I’m not quite sure I think they’d be needed. I love the animation where it serves as a punctuation to either a sequence that benefits from demonstrated motion (such as the terminal velocity portals/Junction’s shockwave through the galaxy), or shows off a truly exceptional bit of action (like Valaric’s rainbow flurry). I think it’s possible for the animation to begin to get between the reader and the story or the otherwise very striking illustrations you’ve made if applied over-zealously.

That said, the illustrations for the fight between Valaric and Raven is an absolute treat for the eyes from start to finish. I enjoy the visual meshing thereof with Doc and Tio dancing, if only to show how vastly different a time each of them are having, and how it contrasts Doc and Valaric’s capabilities to offer help, and Tio and Raven’s ability to receive help.

The climax – the relieving and unleashing of the Jericho – is a remarkable bit of comic-work. My personal thoughts on the animation aside, it looks absolutely beautiful, the rendering of light and the grand compositions really selling the cosmic immensity of what’s happening, but never letting the human (so to speak) figures that are enabling this great thing to happen.

This sequence is handled terrifically not only on the art side, but in the writing. The re-merging of Tio and Raven’s dialogue is a great cathartic ingress to an already otherwise emotionally-rewarding finale. For a grand finale to make use of the teamwork between so many different individuals feels quite fitting as well.

Even beyond that climactic sequence, I’m impressed with how well you handled the inclusion of so many Comet Chaser contestants into this comic. No one feels redundant, and everyone adds both to the events occurring within the story, and the reader enjoyment of the comic overall. Even the characters just mentioned, like Rana, are made to feel consequential in this way, and for a comic that puts such a high stock on the people in each other’s lives, that can only do the overall story a good service.

(It also leads to some terrific character interactions outside the main focus OCs (as far as the actual match-up is concerned). Shout out specifically to the interactions between Rod and Raincoat)

To return briefly to Doc and Tio, I would consider that interaction to be the real heart of this comic. It accomplishes a tremendous amount both informationally, in giving us a full context for Tio’s origins, and showing Doc freely and genuinely facilitating their processing of there feelings thereupon. I do feel some impact is potentially lost by having some of Tio’s flashbacks locked into content that is not actually part of this comic, but what is actually present throughout each round of the tournament proper is more than enough to make this hit as it needs to.

It’s a comic packed with the beauty of small gestures. Small in that they are not universe-shaking when compared to the larger stakes of the story, but not so small in what they clearly mean to others within the comic. Doc asking Tio to dance. Zholo offering Ravem the blood of the fallen. Rod and Toni holding Tio back from the wreckage for their own safety (and then later moving to protect them when they think Doc might be a threat). Tio calming Doc down. Rod trying to protect Tio by explaining (at least as much as he understands about) their situation to Doc. Raincoat prioritizing helping Valaric recover.

And of course, Tio doing something so simple (if only on the surface) as being willing to approach Raven.

These little moments make the climax make sense. It’s not magnanimity without preamble, it’s the natural conclusion of all these individuals, who have shown a capacity to care in a myriad ways, being the ones here who can act with the empathy/sympathy/understanding to help the Jericho.

I’m not fully sold on the division of the comic into chapters. I think the front-loaded pages dedicated to setting up a table of contents and title pages don’t do a tremendous amount to set me up to start the story, no do the titles themselves add much to the storytelling. I see the value of the title pages between some portions of the story for pacing purposes, but overall I feel they’d be better replaced by beat pages, replaced with a better transition between scenes (e.g. the “Every Moment” title page), or could be excised entirely (e.g. the “Wall Breaker” title page).

I appreciate also the choice to end the comic with some nontrivial consequence for your own characters that both feels meaningful and is setting fertile ground for the next chapter of stories for both of them (if that’s something that interests either of ya ;) )

On a more subjective standpoint, I appreciate the ways this comic feeds into the larger Junction/Ocu-verse landscape. With the magnanimous effects of the Jericho’s empathetic powers spread over such a wide scope, you leave the seeds for some potentially quite interesting stories to be told in the future, either as one-off comics or even premises of entire OCTs on the site to come. Jericho itself now potentially being a part of Junction to be used in the future is an equally tremendous addition.

A memorable read all around; this is a great illustration of how a good comic becomes much more than the sum of its (already very enjoyable) parts, and how much heart a comic can display. Please give yourselves a well-earned pat on the back for all the effort and thought that clearly went into this work.

[REVIEW PENDING POSTING OF COMIC] Promise I won't leave y'all hanging once the comic goes live ;)

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

This was nothing short of a fantastic ending to a superb story! From the cleverly animated panels to the cohesive tale that you both told, I was blown away by it all. And the fact that you kept all of your opponents in til the very end was such a nice touch, the cherry on top. I can’t gush enough about how I love this story and every character in it, even the surprise Kaiju was gorgeous. Will we ever see Raven again? I can’t wait to find out!

I’m glad there’ll be a separate comic uploaded because I was so eager to see what you both had in store. I know life can get in the way of comic work on a hobby site but it is admirable that you both wanted to have something to turn in, in general, even if you couldn’t make the deadline. Needless to say that I am very much looking forward to what you both put out!

It's going to be hard to find words to fully express how this comic has landed with me especially being privileged enough to have impacted the story even a little. I play up the ego at times but I want to earnestly say I feel like I've had a priceless experience getting to be part of and read this amazing story. I feel like the message of community in your comic resonates with the nature of what I and Fuzzle got to experience in Occulama.
I wish I could talk up the story, the art, the scope, the feeling, the metanarrative, but I just find myself lost in humility at how amazing this was. I hope that a sincere "Thank You" can carry my feelings.

Oh, Rod's hat is miscolored in page 51.

I want to try to use this review to speak to how the rest of your story was building up. Though I've said it in previous reviews I want to reiterate that your team carried such an intrigue with getting to the comet with the intention to stop a calamity, and no doubt Dr Fabulous and Valaric would have come into great conflict once Jericho was reached. The two characters have a great dichotomy and I know it would have lead to a great climax. I'm still eagerly anticipating your comic when you are ready to release it into the wild!

Boy oh boy what a comic. I have no doubt that this is the best comic on the site. Best run for sure. I do believe y’all have set a new peak for what 5 stars is on the site. There is very little that I can deduct from this comic. And I’m trying my hardest to be as not picky as possible. Although there was 1 thing, it brought your overall score to zero thougg. But whoever decided to draw Raincoat naked in that one panel deserves to be banned. How you gonna give that blob of flesh a naked form. I almost threw up. If you could not tell this was a joke, not the me throwing up, but the zero score. Y’all deserve the what I assume to be unanimous 5s across the board. The fact you pulled it all together. Almost every character that you fought had a good ending and finished the story, and then you added on top of it and had litte character beats of two characters who fought YEARS ago and haven’t had any interaction since. This truly was a masterclass in comics. Congratulations on winning and bringing out such a masterpiece. I’ve imagined a world in which GUN and I beat y’all with a shit post and it’s a future I’m horrified by, cause we would never have gotten this.

Great job y’all

Big ouf that you got sick and weren’t able to submit something for this. Am very excited to see what you two have done cause I’m sure that y’all would have put up quite a fight against pyras and rivana. It’s been a very fun run up to this point.

I’m not sure why I still need to put 75 words in to review a comic that isn’t up, lol. Congrats on making it this far y’all.

On my first go round reading this, I got to the last page, leaned back and audibly exhaled. What a SAGA. This is the reason why I love tournaments- especially with the format of teams. The effort and passion two artists can not only achieve with this format of storytelling never ceases to amaze me. It always breeds so many questions when we get to the end too: Did they plan this from the beginning? Did the idea spring forth midway into the tournament? How much changed opponent to opponent? How the heck did Pyras manage to stick a kaiju in this tournament and make it make sense? XD
I'll be real- I think your animated pages are a nice garnish, but your work really stands alone without it really well. Some of your really impactful moments I wish DIDN'T have the animation added to them to really sit with the moment. That said there were so many moments- some might say the dance break with Tio and Fabulous was superfluous, maybe even wasted pages, but I personally loved the moment to take a breath with what was going on. Felt like I shared that breath with Tio, who sorely needed a moment with someone who cared to unburden themselves, even if temporary from the weight of their loss and guilt. Also can I just sidenote and say I love how real it felt having everyone just GUESS at the pronouns and io really too busy dealing with everything to care? Ravens anguished rage after coming so far and just lashing out I KNEW was going to turn to ashes in her mouth, but I didn't know to what degree before she eviscerated her newfound crew. With nothing left, I certainly don't blame her for wanting to tear it all down and hurt this entity as much as she has been hurt just to shake out a wish to make it all better again. I expected to loathe her as the villain and antagonist she was built to be, but that's not the point is it? the point is the walls between us which I think was a great message.
There's something really profound in having a peace faring civilization in this fictional universe be met with utter extinction for their efforts, but it doesn't make their efforts wrong or with the attempt. We saw that with Tio's longtime friend, and it was so great to see them take on that mantle in the end when it came to breaking down the walls with Raven.
Raven's fate not only being self sacrificial (in heartbreaking mirror to Tio's experience) but left unanswered may not be to everyone's tastes, but I love that you left it unknown. I don't know if that was intentional or a product of time (since y'all made upwards to 50 pages, what is WRONG with you??), but leaving the reader with a question just really sat well with me. This has to be one of the gems of comics that happen on this site and I am certainly thrilled to have Oculama be a part of your story. <3

You better finish this >=[ I saw your works in progress, but still don't know what the full tale was meant to be, but you two are a fabulous pair of artists with a unique perspective that I certainly am eager to see. Don't leave us hanging!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Hoh boy where to start...

First off i like the contents page and sectioning. Helps with picking up where one last left off and i imagine separating by chapters was also helpful for splitting the workload between the 2 of you. The recommended reading list is also par for the course for this kind of finale.

I liked the use of the secondary cast to add their own insights throughout the story and to help control the pacing. For example: Toni humorously ending dance time before signalling the transition to the other main cast pairing or the status updates from Dr. Fabulous' ground control crew.

Also appreciate the connective tissue to the previous entries of both main casts. Such as the "sacrifice arc" mentioned in page 12 haha.

The use of .gif panels here is easier on the eyes this time around with this entry having less huge swirls at weird framerates that take almost half the page, and more gentle pulses/shakes(Valaric prepping punches on page 24, the super-empath experiences on pages 46-50) + more snappy effects like Valaric's punches. I also like the portals being a little less saturated. I still think the .gifs could use some work to be less harsh at certain points but i figure making these any smoother would either need an animation trick, better timing control, or prohibitively high framerates.

I did feel a couple of big elements were *almost* too "plot convenient" in regards to Raven accidentally blindfire massacring her crew and the comet being revealed to be Ko'Taian tech but those moments fit the story well enough to just be a minor bump. Especially with Jericho having evolved/adapted beyond "being just tech or magic". (If it couldn't evolve into a living being one would think some kind of wisely considered tech failsafe would've kicked in way before now...)

Page 41 with all the previous artstyles being cycled through? A victory lap payoff and homage to all the previous rounds of this tourney i wasn't expecting at all. Might want to run it through a photosensitive epilepsy analysis tool just in case though.

There's also plenty of details to like, little paint jobs on the hastily repaired vessel, all the news screens, the fight and battle damage, the silhouette of Siyan, and etc.

As for the final hooks laid down at the end i have the following to state:
- For Tio this is might be more my personal preferences speaking but i can definitely see holes in Ko'Taian philosophy and approach to foreign policy which could be a way to kick off more character development with Tio.
- With Raven that is one hell of a way to set her aside for the foreseeable future. Wherever she pops up next is sure to be a gnarly re-entrance however she makes it out of there after working up the will to do so.
- The impact on the wider junction universe might be interesting but also not thaaat much friction to grab onto. Could there be lingering effects of the nightmares/anti-wishes from page 38? Someone whose true wish was harmful? Perhaps groups so deep into a fight of survival all that moment of universal connection did was "see someone who needs you out of the way for their own survival" for them?

Unlucky series of scheduling events i heard. Informative and promising entry banner though!

Instead of using a lorem ipsum filler i'll try to quickly imagine how this could've played out...

"Dr. Fabulous bumbles into halfway solutions where others need to pick up the slack to finalize said solutions."
"Valaric does some stunt or clever trick to redirect Jericho. But there are unforeseen consequences as the sight of the future now shows new events to avert."
"Big fight or stunt needed to pass the obstacle the bat crew present."