Oculama

I got an incredible laugh out of this comic. I don't even know how to describe it, but the whole thing was immensely funny. Whether this was unfinished and you were selective about what pages you chose to upload or what, but the constant "it started when" was really good.The original drawings you made were super good as well - I think the head explosion could have been a little stronger by having a neck or other attached bits, but the body posing on that was great. I can't wait to see you do more in the future.

Out of the gate, it's nice to see the rules reminded for us. I also love how you demonstrate the death of Kuro, immediately pulling Emilio into your world. I really loved this story. It's cool to see that despite what the previous comic showcased, Cassidy has some wits about her and demonstrates that here very well with Emilio trying to act smooth and clever with her. The game being simple and dumb also made for some excellent hijinks to laugh about.
Your art looked amazing this entire comic. The simple greyscale was a fantastic choice and you had a really great economical use of limited if not outright missing backgrounds. You really kind of pull us in there thanks to your excellent character interactions which hides the fact that most of these backgrounds are white void. Intentional and smart, bolstered by your very approachable art style.
This was a fantastic comic! I can't wait to see what you do next round!

The ending is abrupt, but that's absolutely to your comic's credit, as I busted up laughing at Cssidy's complete lack of a plan both times I read this. After getting a look at Emilio's scheming and plotting throughout the pages leading up to this, and his analysis of r-p-s trends, seeing him bite it to her random throw hits so good. Kudos on the setup to that final gag!

(I also love that in citing a recent betrayal, Cassidy refers to getting suckered by an MLM rather than the ex-boyfriend who JUST tried to screw her over in a death game)

(ALSO speaking of jokes I cracked up at the "Ultimate patsy" panel - the contrast between faces was terrific)

Your take on Emilio is deceptively chilling - the veneer he puts forward to Cassidy (and the world, one would assume) is so warm and disarming you're almost genuinely convinced he's magnanimous even as he's making a very presumptive, callous and demeaning assessment of Cassidy on page 3. When the mask comes off when Cassidy refuses to play along with his scheme, and even reads him for filth, it feels like the very realistic reaction of a low-key sociopath.

In that vein, I'm really into his almost thoughtless choice of rock, paper, scissors for the game - really shows the level of overconfidence he's operating with!

I find Cassidy really interesting here as well, as she seems to be motivated entirely by a dislike for Emilio in this round. It's not fully surprising, since we know she can be ruthless from her round one comic, but she engineers his death here so fully that it's almost shockingly (albeit deliciously) cruel - she has an opportunity both to walk away from him and then wait out the clock on the game, and both times puts herself in danger just to take out this person she's taken a disliking too. It's a genuinely fascinating evolution of her personality, and one that feels very at home in the death game setting.

Another super fun entry for Cassidy! I've enjoyed her journey thoroughly!

Pretty interesting setup here - I like the choice to keep the action rolling straight from where your first round left off - it's a good retroactive smoothing out of the canon here, and it delivers on how the Death Game is affecting Emilio; it's a very over-the-top, but understandable sort of freak out that does a good job of garnering reader sympathy for his plight. That it carries into his interaction with Cassidy, who herself is clearly freaking out, but in a more subdued manner, really greases the segue into the next round.

The interaction with Cassidy, brief as it is, delivers some nice elements to the story. I like the little bit of misunderstanding over "NME" - it feels very organic to two people who are probably not in the best state of mind, and it lets Emilio get a bit of flavor in and hint more at the Belko-esque nature of their situation. I like also that Cassidy, in her way, offers something of a hope spot for Emilio, insofar as she appears to be slightly more collected, willing to help, and seems to have a plan.

And then you rip the rug right out from under the reader unexpectedly with that "five hours from now" final panel, and it is DELICIOUSLY brutal. I was sort of torn on the sudden jump on my first red-through but I'm definitely positive on it on the second look. What the mind fills in as potentially happening in those 5 hours veered quite dark for me, and I appreciated the efficiency of the storytelling. It's a proper focus on the Death part of the Death game, and a reminder that no matter what happens in a round itself, it ends in someone's death.

Speaking of the head pop panel, I like the choice to introduce more color and the fade into the darkness of Cassidy's body. The use of red as the death signifier, from the tie to the explosion, bookends the whole pieve wonderfully.

Really fun and snappy round overall; great work!

I continue to be awe'd by your skill and structure of the comic, and all done within the speed of the tourney. God damn, the pacing is so well done, the writing is fucking perfect for the framing of the tournament, having real rules that are followed through the tournament?? It feels especially good that you were able to balance so many elements of comic making and fantastic usage of the characters in your round, bravo. Stellar Work

Since this round feels more like a pre lude to itself i found it hard to find much to say, but i find that the very few panel counts in each page make the page feel a bit underutilized. It's a hard feeling to explain but i feel like you could get so much more out of these pages.

Other than that, i thought it was odd that half of this seemed to be concerned with recapping the last round. It just felt unnecessary.

MM MM MM This is a great comic. I love the direction you are taking for the tournament, it feels real and the inclusions of everyone else is paying off. Showing your version of Emilios win from R1 was a great way to include them into your world and story. And speaking of your story it's really solid. You've got a text heavy script but its an enjoyable read. If anything you could add a bit more to your backgrounds but like it's not hurting you, would just be a bit extra to really push past the rest of us. This is some really great work, Awesome job!

Nice entry! You had a few little page turns that really brought out the humer of Emilio. Loved that first "how did I get here" turn into Emilio strangling poor ole Kuro, had a nice little giggle. You have a great grasp on humour. What was lacking for me was just a bit more character interaction and a little bit more of what happened between those 5 hours. We got that they were together for that time, but no reason as to why they were on the call for so long. If we had a bit more info as to if they were trying to escape or what that would have made that final death hit a bit harder for me. Cause on its own the page turn from normal to head going bye bye works it just needed that extra set up to really punch. Great job!

There are some big improvements here compared to round one so big congratulations on that. The quality is consistent and the story is all there and you managed to revisit the weakest part of round 1 and improve it. The comic still has a bit of the same problem as the previous round where we see the set up and the conclusion, but the most interesting part of the story, how we get from A to B is completely omitted, though here it seems far more like a conscious creative decision compared to a scheduling issue. I do appreciate the story as it is, there's a nice dramatic irony vibe to it. It's true that by the nature of the death games, Cassidy is destined to die at Emilio's hands, so what does it actually matter whether we learn exactly how he does it? Against some other opponents I could definitely see myself voting for this one as the winner but this time unfortunately your opponent included the meat and potatoes that you omitted.

An extremely strong follow-up to what was already an incredibly high bar. I really enjoyed the characterization of Emilio in this comic, you found a great way to leverage in the "enthusiastic intern" elevator pitch of the character into a villainous character who challenges Cassidy from a completely different direction compared to Mingo in round one. I think that you also thread the needle very well on keeping Cassidy feeling like a protagonist in such brutal circumstances without reducing her to a blubbering apologetic wreck. Like, the fact that she actually initiated both the games in her rounds now might seem counter-intuitive, but the righteous fury behind it is sold so perfectly.

Lots of smart pieces thrown into this one. The black market organ trade angle was a great reveal. Maybe it's already served its full purpose by giving Cassidy some money to wager in round 3, but if you chose to return to it, I'm sure there's some fantastic stuff you could do. The logic behind the two character's is pretty rock solid, and Emilio's last minute attempt to stall the round and stick to his original plan was commendable. Maybe some people might be irked by Cassidy winning with pure dumb luck, but personally I'm 100% for it. There was already enough excellent strategy displayed by her in the rest of the comic that she earned a bit of good karma at the 11th hour. Hope to see more from you.

The story you're doing here is just so directly up my alley, I love it. The very wide-open possibility space for what a conflict might be, the games of social deceit that are played before any actual games are set down, super fun. Such impressive, polished work for a week, and it barely feels bothered by the week time limit at all! I did feel like Emilio coming on as another seemingly nice, good-natured guy that just wants to get out of here secretly planning to swindle an easy mark felt like a slight repeat at the start, but I think he differentiates himself enough to make it more than worthwhile. The panel of his intense rock paper scissors strategy versus Cassidy's head empty was *very* funny to me. Really really wanna see more of this!! I hope Cassidy can find someone she doesn't kill so she can get a buck or two.

Keeeeeeent I love your stuff but I so rarely get to see full storylines from you and it makes me sad ;_; I appreciate flashing back to the last comic for a second so we can see a little bit of the rabidity that Emilio came to; that was well executed. But past that, with your actual round 1 story, there's not a lot to talk about. We don't get to know really anything about how Cassidy got her collar kersploded, like what sort of action from whom would cause that—I feel like with just a couple more lines of dialogue you could've gave us something to chew on about whether this might've been an accident or betrayal or what. Even in Round 1, which was more obviously unfinished, we got the picture. Better luck in the future, man!!!

This was an absolute roller coaster and I loved it! You did a fantastic job showing Emilio trying to outsmart the system; it’s such a fresh angle for one of the contestants. At first, I thought Cassidy might go along with it, but her distrust after last round’s events made perfect sense and added real depth to her character. I’m loving her evolution here. One small critique: on page 13, I wish the 'Shoot' word bubble had come before we saw Emilio’s 'scissors.' Initially, it felt like he revealed his move too early for Cassidy to counter, but then I realized she didn’t even have a plan! Sometimes overthinking can indeed bring us peril. The comic looks incredibly neat and polished. Awesome work!

It's quite interesting that in your entry it was Cassidy who wanted to work together. I wish we’d seen more of this idea come to life; it felt like it had so much potential. Her abrupt end threw me off at first, leaving me puzzled, but then I started wondering if it was because she knew too much or if teaming up was just a hard no in this game. Maybe we’ll never know, and that mystery’s kind of fun in itself. Oh, and the little 'N.M.E' = 'Enemy' gag? That got a solid chuckle out of me lol.

Good job keeping the momentum this feels like it could be a real weekly series in a magazine! You characterization remains spot on for pushing your story forward. I'm enjoying the continued creativity of the games and the way the characters interact with them, I do like a good straight forward solution to an overthinking opponent. It's fun speculating on where this story is gonna go next I think it'll be interesting regardless of which opponent in the bracket moves on.

I have a bad feeling we are never gonna find out what was in that briefcase! Sadly it looks like the time got the better of you again, but I think you put in a solid entry regardless as 6 pages is still a lot for a week. We all just happen to be crazy people here. I love how the hook planted at the end connected to the teenage wasteland joke at the beginning of the comic, infinitely looping the comic as a result. I'm all for chaotic energy like that and I'm not joking when I say I've been inspired.

It's great to see not only you, but most of the participants really leaning into fleshing out this tournament by giving nods to other opponents or events from last round. You fashioned it in a way showcasing Kuro that felt very in line to the story you're telling so far. Speaking of story- Its bold to come into round 2 with another wordy comic that's chiefly a back and forth discussion before we get to the action, but if you're playing chicken you sure ain't blinking. I found myself rather captivated by the debate and wondering if poor Cassidy was going to get sucked into a pyramid scheme before getting her head blown off lol
Your inks and pages remains steadfast in quality and and polish, which is no easy feat in a tourney with a deadline. Whatever scheduling or method you got going on, keep at it- its doing you alot of favors. If I had a note, I would've loved to see more of the dynamic angles you showcased in your last page. Because this was dialogue heavy, it would've been nice to the dynamicism of it all shown in having a more eclectic posing variety amongst the talking heads.

I don't know why poor Emilio strung out and wide eyed staring at the viewer repeating himself was hilarious, but I kept going back and chuckling at how utterly cracked this tournament has got this poor guy. Which understandable! Loving the expressions. You got me so amped to turn the page with what you're building that it kills me the deadline (assumedly) got the best of you. If there's one thing that's guaranteed from Kent comics is that win or lose you leave us wanting more. I hope you finish this via redemption!