Oculama

Props on the continuity here; you did a very nice job grabbing onto the action from Pepper's last round, and rolling with it while keeping the action solidly in Luke's curious little Mormon nightmare-scape. The breakout action is executed well, though I wish it had played around more with the powers of your character, and not just the borrowed ones (though tbf what we see of them is pretty cool). You've got very cool characters yourself, though, and it would be great to see more of what they can do moving forward. Ultimately I really like how true to the characters this comic feels, and how it does make you feel a lot of trepidation for Luke, a character who hasn't exactly been the nicest in past rounds. Great work!

The covert continuity here is really nice; all of this ostensibly happening while Luke is in the WC having his crisis is a cool touch, and does a lot to make his journey feel grounded in the world. The acknowledgement of spiral's last comic is a similarly nice touch that lends weight to the larger arc of events throughout the inaugural, and that you turned it into a pretty funny gag is all the nicer. The real issues atm are that this feels more like a set-up than a complete story, but as a setup it has a lot going for it in just three pages, from the humor (LOVE those cryptid puns), the tension-building, and punch of action at the end.

Joe - Oooh this was an interesting story of a test of faith for Luke Peters. The cameos were a nice addition and it's so cool to see past contenders make their appearance. This entry was a bit less detailed/finished looking than your previous one (understandable though this is your 4th comic in the tourney!). Still loving the cleanliness of all your lines and how clear you can convey your story (I know I said this to you a lot haha). I don't know how to feel about Luke choosing to stay but either path is actually very interesting for his character development so I am excited either way! Best of luck!

Pepper - OMG those puns in the first page were hilarious. The league of legends one hits too close to home because I played that game for awhile and I have seen this personally lol. I quit to focus on my art. Anywhooo. even though the comic is short, I appreciate the attention to detail that you've put in the pages. Love the build up so much and it really is such a shame that we did not see more. I do understand that life stuff happens though. But I am glad you're able to submit a really cool comic for us to read despite your crazy schedule.

SPIRAL- Ooo, you took your opponents crisis of faith concept to a dark place with a re-education facility. I found myself biting my nails as to what reconditioning techniques Luke's cult had in store for him, but the Calvary busted in with such immediacy. Not that I'm looking for gratuitous violence, but I wonder if seeing Luke struggling would've raised the stakes of the choice he had to make by the end of the comic on whether to stay or go.

That said, I did not expect the overwhelming rescue team that literally busted down the wall to bump into him. LOVE seeing characters in this tournament teaming up! It was a great feature, but also didn't take away what was ultimately a showdown between Evelyn and Luke. Wondering how you'll tie into this or maybe even break away if you make it to the next round!

PEPPER- Lovely establishing shot. Talk about your classic cityscape, complete with a stained water tower. What's great is that you really don't skimp as we go page to page with details and callbacks. The sidewalk Evelyn strolls down is great. Not to mention a completely jacked Wendy sipping down Merle's protein powder is pretty funny.

also gotta love the cameos. Really just adds to setting the events of this comic battle in the same world as your fellows in the tournament. Honestly, despite this being a tough week for you and the comic being short, this still packed a bit of a wallop and was a fun read!

Hoo boy it's gonna take some deprogramming to save that kid.

What an action packed adventure! I'm not sure how I feel about the cultists of lux having guns but I suppose it makes sense after what resources they've shown to have in pepper's previous comic. What is this next stage? Intrigue...

Aesthetically I enjoy the smooth lineart and spot shadows here and there. I don't quite like the word bubbles melding with the panel borders and gutters. In some places they don't even close completely! It just looks a bit off to me.

Overall, I enjoyed this story a bunch and it's gotten me invested! Also cameos are a nice touch; glad to see our favourite large bugman again.

WORLDBUILDING!

I love this place! What a silly town! So many puns!

Man, I really liked where this was going. I wanna see more sadboy hours with with these psychic tendril creatures. This story feels like it ends a bit prematurely. It still works as a small little thing but I would have liked more. The boy's only appearance is a silhouette!

Aesthetically, there's a lot of fun cryptid art and the greyscale used for emphasis on the last page is quite effective. I kinda want a little more showcasing of the cryptid district, some fun signs and posters and whatnot.

Overall, I enjoyed what was there! I want more lux lore!

really like Evelyn a lot, I am enjoying what you have been doing with her! As for the Story, I like the rescue angle that you went with for the story, and what is going on with luke feels really tense and ominous. You're art in this round is good, I would have liked to see you use a pop of color again like in previous comics to denote magic against the grey scale, I think that could have added a lot to the "witch reveal" towards the end.

The cameo's were also a real treat and over all this was a really solid comic! cant wait for more!

I really liked your city establishing shot on the first page! Crisp Line work and overall nice detailing! I think for something you said you did rushed, you did make the most of your time spent on it! Your overall paneling and pacing flow really nice and your use of blacks and grayscales with a splash of color were really nice on the final page! My biggest feedback is I do wish it were a smidge longer, what a cliff hanger!
Overall really fun comic, thank you for sharing it with us and I am looking forward to reading more!

Cameos! Callbacks! Religious trauma! Your comic has it all! I like the little callback to Luke's past fights with the natives and the homosexuality, and I like that Evelyn just can't help but try to help everyone! I think you really set up Luke's story to go interesting places after this fight, but I think it would be fun to learn more about Evelyn herself! Your comics have been super fun, but beyond the wacky hijinks and her freelance dogoodery, I don't feel like I have a super good sense of who she is, you know what I mean? I'm v excited to see what adventures she and Wendy go on next though, this comic was just as fun as your past ones have been!

I love Little Eerily! I love your writing! It's a bummer you couldn't do your whole story, because I've loved following your journey through the tourney! The slow build to what's been wrong with Luke has been fun to find out. And the cute little stories of what's wrong with all the cryptids has your typical charm. (Poor Mongolian Deathworm!) Buff Wendy is a hilarious callback to Evelyn's last fight, and I'm not sure if I'm imagining this, but it seems like you were a bit looser with your drawings of Evelyn? She seems really wiggly and expressive, and I mean that in a good way! Hopefully Luke can get that nasty bit of mystical STD cleared up soon ♥