Oculama

WHOLESOMEFUN- They say the mark of a good chef is having them prepare a soup. Soup is stupid simple, but its often in the simplest things that an artists true talent shines through. This was simple ,to the point and brought it back to traditional media. That said, I loved this. It had a nice build up, good execution, and had an ending 'gag' that made me smile. I loved the hedge sculpture- even in shrubbery this gals totally yoked, lol! Not to mention this was well drawn. Way to have a 'make it work' moment and iron chef this!

HAWK- I think if there are aspects I'd encourage by way of your comics its:
The fundamentals
Time management
Legibility

I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps your choice of image editing software is more of a hinderance than an asset. You might be better served exploring other avenues, or really just taking it back to good ol' paper. Wholesomefuns comic is a great example of taking it back to traditional media and still putting out something technically sound and artistically strong.

Time management is its own answer, really. What works for one may not always work for another, so it really boils down to you taking stock over what you can rock in a given time frame and using that to the best of your ability. If you can only do one page in a week, thats utterly fine! Just make sure its the best gosh darned page we ever did see.

I also see that even when it comes to your completed panels you tell more than show. Your comic should be telling the reader whats going on rather than a blurb of text explaining what's going on. Let your art tell the story, because otherwise, this is just a book for us to read.

DOODLE- Nice promising little tussle! Sorry to see the deadline got the better of you- handling three characters is no easy feat, but the logistics of these three having a bit of a spar was fun to watch. I'll admit there were sketch pages I found myself uncertain as to what I was looking at. like what was the meaning of the flower in the beginning? where did it go in the course of the story? Did it have anything to do with the incentive for these three to fight? Was there incentive? I think adding some quick extra dialogue to orient the reader would've driven home the intent . Still, all in all good effort.

I really like how crisply you depicted everyone on the clean pages (Sif and Rook especially look hella cute on the last page, and they gel really well in your style). The flow of the story looks pretty promising too, and the roaring fight to roaring laughter suits Merle really well! I'm pretty curious about what's up with the plant at the start, and the action panels themselves look like you have a good scrap planned. The only thing I would note with what's here is to maybe add a bit more variation to the "Camera" distance and the angles you use (try tossing in some more above and below POVs).

I like this! Not a traditional narrative, but still a cool use of all three characters and a pretty complete-feeling comic altogether. The shift from serious full-spread action poses to the punchline really zips, and I like how these pages make a sort of triptych altogether. I would have liked to see a bit more of a visual distinction between how Sif and Rook are contributing to the sculpture; differentiate their power sets a little. The art is otherwise pretty terrific; respect the trad inkwork, and really like how everyone turned out in your style. Absolute win overall, and very impressive considering the turnaround.

I like how ambitious you aimed for the action here; looks like you had a real blockbuster laid out! And with the personalities involved, the fun factor looks pretty high as well. The dialogue, especially toward the end, seems a little stiff, especially given the high energy of the preceding pages. Try working around with it a bit and try to sound out what might sound a bit more...organic, and less like exposition. Beyond that, play around with your compositions; there's a lot of information being broadcast in this story, and the visual component would need to do a tremendous amount of work w/o a lot fo help from the text.

Unfortunately not a lot to work off here. When I got to page to and saw that speech bubbles hadn't been elaborated on at all, I almost gave up following the comic, but then the rest of the comic had them? Seems like it would have been worth the tiny amount of time to slap the words down onto that last page and give us a full story, though I suppose the most important parts can be inferred. The roughs betray some really solid art skills and I can tell this comic would have been a real treat, if only it could have been worked on more.

This comic? Kinda rule??? Like, obviously it's a result of some extreme time constaints, but in terms of 'working within your means' this is a really strong example. Like, here's the three characters, all given a bit of time to show off, thrown into a fun little comic that utilises all three. Really, what more can you ask for! Your draughtsmanship is really nice and the characters are drawn in a really appealing style, with the action of the shrubbery shooting up done really well. Big fan of the mirrored comp on the first 2 pages and the scale in the third. Nice work, genuinely!

The first page of this comic was a promising start, but unfortunately as it continues on, it becomes nigh unreadable, with the explanatory notes only further highlighting the fairly desperate state the comic is in. Which is a shame because the plot feels very ambitious, with an enticing way to link these disparate characters all together, very dramatic and anime haha. Some nice page comps on display, with good variety in long distance shots and closeups. I think the rougher panels could be improves by losing some layers as it looks like things have been drawn on them 2 or three times in multiple passes?

Doodle - Even though your comic is unfinished, it's still a pretty cool read! I know it's hard to get a three-way battle going on a one week deadline with a five page limit to boot. But what you got for us is still pretty good considering the circumstances. Sure it is a shame it wasn't finished but you brought us a comic to read and enjoy. Your pencils are pretty good might I add and, ultimately, I am still able to make out what was going on. I would love to see these three hanging out at the gym and maybe get a bite afterwards. They look like they could be good friends.

CleanWholesomeFun - Short and sweet! I actually love this one and we all understand how challenging it is to do a three way battle. With the page limit, it's definitely hard to focus on some majorly epic storyline for three characters without sacrificing some face-time. Love the pop of green you added and I think it really gave your comic a more finished look as opposed to leaving it all bare. But yeah, I think what you got is really neat and I enjoyed it a lot. It looks like a profitable landscaping business is not out of the question for Rook and Sif. Who would've thought!

Johann - Hey, health comes first! And sleep is important esp for your brain as you prepped for school. But whoa you got some epic planning set up for this battle and it is such a shame that you weren't able to execute it. I'd also say that a simple and lowkey encounter is also an option for next time especially when you're on a time crunch and the extra difficulty of having more than one opponent. I know it's not as easy as it sounds (I have the same problem lol) but it'll help ease the stress greatly for your next battles. But thanks for submitting what you got regardless! It's great to be able to see what you had and appreciate the great thought you put in for your opponents' characters.

The poses and action here is all clear (with the single exception of the last panel of page 4) despite the sketchiness of parts of the comic. There was some very nice use of expressions for comedy on the final page as well! I can't fault the quality of the art at all, except in the sense that it was not complete. Likewise, the missing dialogue somewhat hampers me from giving a better score with regards to the writing. What is complete is good, but unfortunately over half of the comic is unfinished. Perhaps it might have been better to scale back and submit something complete.

This looks like quite a hefty comic, panel and plot-wise, but unfortunately in a very unfinished state. The art being limited to a few panels and quite incomprehensible in its unfinished state makes it hard to provide a proper critique, other than: it's not really there yet! Based on some of the script, I'm not sure how so much information was to be presented in a single panel, but perhaps there was going to be dialogue scripted at a later point in the comics development. At the stage that it's currently in it's a bit hard to make a informed call about the writing. I'd suggest perhaps simplifying things next time, if you are aware you're going to be hard pressed for time, or edit it down to a manageable size.

Working within one's limitations when you know you're going to be busy is smart, and keeping it short and sweet, rather than partially finished or stepping out entirely was a wise move. Personally, I love the use of limited colour in this! It's really effective, and gives the art a sense of depth. The plot was brief, but charming. Despite the limited number of panels you still managed to have a twist! You're certainly living up to your name despite the set-up of the first two pages. I like that we can have a wholesome 1v1v1 where everyone gets along.

This is another one in which I just wish there was a little bit more extra time so you could've gotten off some more linework down and have fully finished the comic. Even with a lot of this still being sketches this still reads very well, you have an excellent grasp on action and even in the sketchier action panels it still comes across just fine. What I find really interesting is that even with a lot of this being unfinished and a lot of dialogue missing I can still follow the story, your action and what you've thrown in the panels work very well to tell the story here and the page that you do need dialogue on to fully explain whats going on inside of it has the dialogue. It's very cute, it's also action packed and you made Merle an absolute powerhouse, even though it's not finished you did a very good job on this doodle.

What a fun little comic. I really love your use of a limited colour palette, the green shadows work so well and are super cool at the start, they only get better once you get to the end and realize they were just cutting a hedge, really cool. The only thing I would add to this would just to be to add some sounds. The pages of Rook and Sif working the hedge just need an onomatopoeia or two to really bring it all together. If only sticks out to me because this is such a small fast comic, and its such a small thing that will just add to the overall experience and with how stylish your style is it would also just look bomb as fuck. Great work on this, would love to see more from you in the future, I absolutely adore how angular everything you do is, it adds alot to the characters and I just love it. Great job.

It's a real shame you weren't able to finish this comic. From the thumbs and what I read it seems like you had a lot of big stuff planned for this comic. The writing and ideas for this comic are actually pretty good I do wish we were able to see the entire comic in the same way as the first half of page 1 was done as it is pretty hard to really invision everything in the style that you do thumbnails and sketches. Hopefully for your next comic you get the time you need to make the entire thing like you did for the start cause I would very much enjoy seeing that, your style has a nice wholesome feel to it and it would just be great to see an entire comic with it.

Despite the fact that you also got caught on time, I really love seeing those composition sketches and it's interesting watching you create form for your bodies and everything else. On the bright side, your story is very simple and nothing is terribly lost thanks to you having the final page inked to help explain everything. I would say finishing it is a good idea, but don't let it become an Albatross on your neck. Moving on to the next thing is always okay if you find yourself lingering on it for too long trying to "redeem" yourself. Also, if it looks like you may end up being unfinished, don't forget we do offer the redemption feature if you want a little extra time to finish (at the cost of taking a loss, of course). I still do like Rook and I can't wait to see more of him in the future. Great work!

A wise use of your time. I liked this joke and you did a solid dynamic shot for both of your opponents. Obviously, I know you're old-hat to making comics, so you handled this very well. It's actually been a while since I've seen you do traditional work and I forgot how much I like your inks in that. I wouldn't mind if you did this again if you had a little more time to spend on it, since it is a lot of fun to look at. Naturally, you know your issues and problems where they are. Still, this is a very effective comic for when you're short on time. Good work!

I can empathize for being in that position of trying to make a plot work when you're up against 2 others at once and trying to marry the concept. My advice in the future is to think about scaling back very sharply, especially since we have a page limit in place for this. In the future, I would use the opportunity to further your own character's story and/or make something that is more fun than anything else. There ends up being too many factors and variables to account for if you wanted to make a story that makes 'everyone happy' without it being very simple. Also, if it looks like you may end up being unfinished, don't forget we do offer the redemption feature if you want a little extra time to finish (at the cost of taking a loss, of course). Still, time crunch and all that can be mitigated and I'm sure with a longer deadline, you'll be back to tossing out pages left and right! Don't be disheartened, keep up the good work.

I'm gonna say this on all of yours, but kudos for writing such a tiny comic with 3 combatants! It's a lot to pack in and I think your comic does a good job of that. It's a bummer you couldn't get it more finished, but thems the breaks with these small deadlines. Your rough panels still have good layouts, and it's pretty easy to tell what's going on, even without the dialogue or more detail! I dare say I like the energy some of your roughs have to the finished lineart you have in some panels! Not to say your linework is bad by any means, just that the looser sketches have some life to them that could be fun to try to incorporate! I have the same issue with my linework, trying to figure out how to get that in! I love how Merle is just a roving badass, making new friends one punch at a time. I like Rook and Sif bonding over plant magic, too.

Like I said to doodle (and will inevitably say to johannhawk), you all had the way harder challenge of having 3 characters to incorporate, so points to you! For a quick "no time to work on it" comic, what you made is cute! The use of notebook paper leans into the last minute nature of this and the texture of the paper works well! I don't mean that in a bad way at all, I've done OCTs with people who literally drew their comics on the back of their homework and made some of the most chaotic and wild comics I've ever read, it's a style that can really work. It looks like you used what time you had well and made a cute lil comic! I like the plant kids using their magic to fulfill Merle's commission. I too would like a bush the shape of a giant woman on my lawn, if you could get around to it?

I said it to everyone else, I'll say it to you too: it's way harder doing 3 characters instead of 2 in these small comics and baby deadlines, so good job writing a comic to incorporate them all! Time management and knowing what you can do before deadline is a skill as much as anatomy or writing for comics, and it's something we all develop over time. It's a bummer your comic couldn't be more finished, but at least you were able to put something together to submit before deadline! I love the idea of Sif just hitting Merle with an entire plane. I like how all three of you leaned into the plant babes being friends! I like the small hints of Sif's story there, and the implication that maybe Merle is tied in. Hopefully next time you'll have more time to do more comic, I can't wait to see more from you!