Oculama

XENO- you have a such a creative handle of sound effects in your work. I love the ebb and flow of your font as they follow and compliment the curvy composition of your paneling., Definitely interesting to go the silent route by way of no dialogue (save the effects). I think your gag and story comes across with the silly way these two bump into each other :D

FOOTINI- I see you're working with some nice textured brushes this time around. Love the grit of that first page and how you built the shape and function of the chasm without lines. We lose it once we get into the comic and I'm left kind of wishing you'd explored the tooth of that kind of brushwork throughout in your pages. You do good cel shade work and your style lends itself to an almost animation cell polish but your textured coloring almost feels like an overlay set behind your inks. I'd try experimenting with shapes and values using that technique instead of putting a clean ink outline around it. You got two weeks- if you make it to the next round it might be worth experimenting with :D

XENO - Absolutely delightful collection of reaction faces in this one - Saal's zombie look followed immediately by Sandy's terror-filled splash panel face had me busting up fr.

The entire sequence of Sandy enticing (intentionally or not) Saal with a bit of food on a stick was really funny, and nicely paced with your divider-less style. It was a really clever way to have these two characters meet, and it struck a great balance of amusing and charming.

The descent panel is a hit for me on a couple fronts - one, it captures the respective personalities of the characters nicely - a cavalier and/or blase enthusiasm on Saal's part, and a more cautious interest for Sandy in what's about to unfold. The composition is a winner too - I like the choice to centralize Saal and use their cape as a visual flourish, and the slight off-set of Sandy, who is not NOT part of the adventure, but, going by her profile, more interested in the observing/recording of the adventure than participation in it.

FOOTINI - Right off the bat, LOVING that title page - I love the stark blues and reds you've used for the chasm for the mood they foster, and the rope-building silhouettes on the rock face are exceedingly intriguing. It's a nice palette to for the comic title/opening words to fall on (whichever they might be).

Sandra and Saal's respective (and unequally long-lived) enthusiasm is what sells the story here for me. That Saal can remain so positive and excited regardless of what happens around them is a strength of the character, and keeps the comic from getting too grim in this opening round. They almost strike me as a Ms. Frizzle-type, absolutely stoked to be wherever they are, and channeling that energy to reassure their traveling companions (however effective it actually is at the end).

Your comic also does a great job posing questions that, while not nesc. answered in this comic, lay a promising groundwork for future rounds - what exactly is the concoction Saal is wanting to make? How does that tie in with the story of their adventure? It's a genuinely interesting setup that has me wanting to see where the chasm tournament takes them.

Finally, nice job with the chasm setting proper - you hit a good balance of hostile and intriguing that sells it as a place to have a proper adventure.