Oculama

I don't think I can express this enough, but HOLY SHIT. The level of polish on display here is frankly insane. It makes complete sense as to how you were able to maintain a perfect 5 stars on art through 2 rounds and I would not be surprised if you keep the perfect art at the end of this. An absolute standout panel has to be the connecting red wires while Laurie is on the roof tops. Work of art type shit.

With all that said there is one huge glaring issue for me and it's why the writing and entertainment take hits for me. The Booger Brothers do nothing in this comic. Upon a few rereadings of this comic I believe you could take the Booger Brothers scenes and pages out and it would not change the comic. They are killed off incredibly fast, and have no real effect on the plot. The comic feels more like a 1 on 1 of Bela and Laurie while the Brothers act as cameos. They don't interact with Bela at all, I know Bela fights the gorilla but it's not the brothers and not their M.O either so I don't count that, and it seems incredibly out of place.

You do have a really good story though, it has the full payoff that we've been following for a few rounds. I love what you've been doing with Bela, I love what you did with Laurie. You gave both of them these really cool, super sick moves and over the top excitement. I just REALLY wish you did the same with the Brothers as in the end it feels like you didn't really care for them and instead of being apart of the story they felt like an obligation.

The comedy king. The 21 page comic bit had me in stitches and the booger brothers continue to be hilarious in every situation. The strength of this comic is your writing and constant level of amazing jokes. I do feel like it has a big of a pacing issue and goes pretty fast through certain parts. Doesn't hurt it too much as it fits the Boogers M.O. of keeping the jokes and wacky antics flowing. It's also impressive how despite the Boogers not having a connected story and each comic really being an episodic thing for them, just how connected these comics have been. Between connecting back The JAWs death from Ledgems R1 to your R2, and the fucking mortar payoff from R2 finally hitting it's mark and of course the return of the Creep.

One thing I really got to highlight, and give props to is the fact that you were able to bring everyone together. Bela gets a later start to the comic than I would have wanted but once they show up they are there and are included in the Booger Brothers antics, even if they are relegated to Sans Undertale.

Amazing comic, I was giggling throughout which is impressive for a comic that starts with jets dog fighting for a couple of pages. Easily one of the funniest comics on the site. Amazing work GUN!

Really love the panel of Laurie looking through the scope through the ice on page 8. You've do a fantastic job at bringing out the panels and pages that are really supposed to hit feel grand. Laurie getting shot through the scope, the Booger Brothers final stand. I do wish Bela wasn't held up inside the bank as it limited what you were able to do colour wise. The colour work you did for the Booger Brothers panels were gorgeous, you have a beautiful sky and shading that helps add to the atmosphere and vibe, but you miss out on that for the majority of the comic with Bela being stuck inside. Which also doesn't help as the inside of the bank is pretty bland background wise.

The same way with Magistelles comic I feel like this one also takes a huge hit by treating the Booger Brothers as NPCs. You do a little better with this one by giving the Brothers a large fight panel which is cool, but again the brothers do not effect the story in any way, if you blacked out every panel in which the brothers appear in you wouldn't miss anything in this comic. Which sucks because you have an amazing set up and introduction for the brothers by having the AA/Anti tank gun they were setting up, but throw it away.

Unfortunately I do think the writing on this one does hurt it way more, and it does come down not including The Brothers. They don't interact with either of the two other characters while Laurie and Bela are talking and in this sniper stalemate the entire comic. It sucks cause this was a really good comic, i just really wish it was able to pull everyone into the story and not treat the Booger Brothers as an obligation.

This was a blast to read, from start to finish. The constant wordplay, the weird little starfox reference, the crude humour sells it in this weirdly charming blend of chaos. 'ICY BM' in particular landed hard and had me howling. I'll keep the sheet cake recipe in mind for whe nim allowed near an oven again. G U N's artstyle is certainly endearing, and the Booger Brothers are certainly... well, they're certainly -something-= even if I'm not entirely certain what the word I'd use for them is.

Sniper vs. Sniper while two chaos gremlins monkey around in the background. I admit, I was more interested in the stalemate between Bela and Laurie, ostensibly two long-range specialists, desperately trying to find even the slightest edge over one another. The slow horror of vermin encroaching, the fear that something might give away one's position... And then to shake things up, an angry gorilla appears to throw a monkey(pun intended) wrench into the mix and give up the game. Solid entry.

Also, nice subtle nod to the original DOOM.

Terrifying.

This has the same tension I enjoyed in Magistelle's comic, but driven up to 11. The droning speech echoed through thousands of bodies The vibes of desperation running through everything, centering everything on one core obligation, the reveal that Laurie herself is still kicking due to her particular quirks and nature. And coming to a crescendo with a chilling conclusion reminiscent of a question mark following 'The End'. Gripping from start to finish, and exactly what I love to see in these kind of comics.

Also I appreciate that both Ledgem and Magistelle had the same idea for the DOOM cover.

I appreciate the opening pages resembling older film opening credits hehe. Your pages are mostly text content-wise, but that text is entirely comedy gold and the lettering is easy to read. The placeholders where you just... didn't want to draw something tie in well with the hilarious tone of the rest of the comic. Hella goofy and fun. You manage to involve two very serious characters in silly booger brother antics. Everyone dies but everyone wins...? Yeah? Yeah.

Your paneling and colors are phenomenal. I enjoyed the illustration of how Laurie's powers work and how the booger brothers escaped the draft, though I was bummed they weren't around very long. There was some great drama in handling Laurie's powers and ultimately their demise. Excellent action and character acting all around, including the cartoony shapes of the Booger Brothers. I felt like I understood everyone's abilities well even within the context of a single comic.

Starting off with a showdown between all 3 is pretty powerful! You've got a lot of fortitude drawing all those critters AND ice crystals. Great, dramatic colors and shading. Varmits vs vermin battle is EPIC though I felt like it wasn't very involved with the main plot between the siblings and Laurie. It felt like two battles that were separately interesting. The way Bella and Laurie relate to each other made for a pretty potent and suspenseful ending.

Your comics never cease to entertain, GUN! I love irreverence and silly little guys and The Booger Brothers don't disappoint in the slightest. The intro and intermission pages made me chuckle, specifically the page saying "THIS 21 PAGE COMIC STARTS NOW ENJOY" leading into page *six* got me good. I liked the reveal that everyone is related - really spoofing the tournament finale "let's give everybody some connective threads and some depth" writing that a lot of us do. If I had to give you a critique (I don't, but it's nice to give feedback!), it would be that there could be a bit more going on, setting-wise? We went from the sky to an open field, neither with much detail. The focus of the comic is more on the absurd humor though, and the art reinforces that, it's like we're watching a Saturday morning cartoon of 4 people killing each other. Every comic you did in this tournament was hilarious, and this one was no different! I saw you in the discord saying you were completely outclassed, but I think you should be proud of your work, I loved them all!

I mean, shit dude. Stellar work. I am genuinely terrified to ever have to fight you in one of these. Your writing is impeccable, you're very good at crafting a cohesive, heartfelt story over the course of these tournaments. I feel like I don't know EVERYTHING about Bela and his siblings, but enough to inform their relationship and how they got that way. You also have an incredible attention to detail, everything that happens in the comic is clearly set up. I never had a moment where I had to go "wait what just happened?" and reread. I'm thinking of Ronan with his sniper rifle, I feel like often times people would just have him say something alluding to it, or just have him pull it out on panel as a surprise, but we saw him pull the case out from under the bed. Even the Booger reaching for his gun in his waistline as the vermin approach. I love a set up and payoff, and you do an excellent job of making those payoffs satisfying. Your art is also incredible, the action is always clear and well done, and I really envy the background skills you put on display here. I think maybe I could quibble with some anatomy things on a couple pages (Toni and Ronan look like they have some weird proportions in panel one of that last page), but like, that's me looking for something to nitpick. I don't wanna sound too superlative, but your run this whole tournament kind of feels like what we should all be aiming for. Killer work, pun absolutely intended.

Amazing work with this comic, you can tell how hard you went in it! I haven't been able to follow the whole tournament (just read through everyone's entries today so I could vote!), but you've done some very interesting things with Laurie! I love the growing sense of what's going on with her vermin as the tournament unfolds, leading to a full-on swarmlord revolution. I'm a sucker for that kind of political thinking, though I suppose. The Booger Brothers' final stand against the horde of vermin was *chefs kiss* I love the way you were able to weave their humor ("Oh, we're varmints, miss." made me cackle so loud my cat ran away) into the larger narrative of Laurie trying to get Bela to join the cause. Laurie and Bela's stories of struggle under capitalism played great together, and I love the implication that Bela's siblings may yet join the cause. Artwise, you can tell you really WENT for it on some pages, I'm thinking of that cityscape and massive gun on page 8 specifically, like, holy shit. I will say, it was a bit clear which panels you went in on, and which were simplified (I imagine for time!), but it wasn't jarring while reading, that's mostly from me going back and trying to think of what to write to critique. I think there's some anatomy things you could work on (girl, same) that come with more practice, and maybe you could try to find a way to simplify or work into a cohesive style some of the more complex things? Like, I'm thinking how again, on page 8, that gun is pretty realistically drawn as you see it, while the little cartoon monkeys are climbing all over it. Purely a nitpick though, this comic and all of your work this tourney has been great! What a treat reading the three of these, thank you for putting in the hustle!

What a great finale round- this three way battle is a real shining star not just with the effort put in but the caliber of artists who made it to the finale- who really couldn't be more different. I love that you've graduated to digital art, but the charm and personality of their traditional chops still shines through. This STILL has that watercolor feel and tooth to your inking and coloring which I really appreciate.
I can't tell you with how high the stakes were, The Booger Brothers up to their usual antics was a great final flourish- to say nothing of the artist themselves. Come hell or high water, a 21 page comic indeed. Also now I can't unsee Sans from undertale when I see Bela which hilariously defangs him. To say nothing of the sudden 'wait we're all family and now we're all dead. Just overall all the absurdist "lets take this to the craziest degree' takes are what made me keep turning the page because I had no idea how you could keep ratcheting this up to something that actually came to a close. I never would've anticipated a recipe for sheet cake, but I gotta tell you, that has to be the most delicious end I've ever seen in a comic.

This was a story about family and you really drove that home in this finale comic. Bela was supposed to be our big bad assassin ,but the fact that his siblings rallied together when the stakes simply looked impossible made for a fantastic and icy climax. It's not easy to balance the serious and ridiculous with the opponents you were pitted against and I think tournaments like these are fantastic exercises in the artist (or their writers!) balancing elements in a cohesive way that stays true to their vision but also showcases their opponents. I think you balanced it really well- especially with the Booger brothers. They could've been such an afterthought, but the fact they were an actual problem while also engaging in kooky hijinks was really funny. That Gorilla and the cigar was an inspired addition- to say nothing about Toni ending up with said Gorilla cigar upon defeat XD
I've said this to you already but it bears repeating. Reflecting the familial dedication and protective love that we've seen with the Bhéara family onto Laurie and her hive mind connection really pulled at my heartstrings. Too often we read these tourney comics and root for the artists OC. This one really had me at a loss as you put Bela and Laurie's desperation to win and live on equal par. They BOTH have such good reasons to come out on top, that final blow and price Bela's body had to pay to get it felt very apt.

I think if there is one thing I really wish we'd seen in your comic is more of your own character. Perhaps that's by design? An elusive sniper whose little more than a phantom which we only get bits and pieces from not from her directly but other factors and people in her life. Having the montage of her being let go from her job, but also how its just a small part of a bigger conspiracy of how Laurie came to be was such a great finale reveal. In some ways having her be elusive, even to the reader really upped the tension near the end where we thought Bela got her. I do appreciate both of you simply agreed the Booger Brothers were going to be goofy, and you didn't disappoint. It would've been easy to force them into the serious mold you were constructing here, but you managed to make the confrontation and subsequent demise true to form for your opponent AND Laurie.
Bela making a firearm with his ice and fingers he shoots off with his mallet was inspired. You have SUCH creative takes on your opponents and their abilities. To say nothing of Laurie's angle in her negotiations with Bela and how she saw beyond the Contract and who the hell would even put such an operation together.

Hot Dang, this is an awesome comic. I feel like you really went all out! Really strong backgrounds, I really nice page layouts, you did a great job setting up the atmosphere. The coloring you did in this comic is fantastic as well.

I think you also did some super cool things with Bela's ice powers, really clever.
You also nailed the way the booger brothers spoke to each other.

My only critique feels rather minor, I think I would have liked to see more direct interaction with Laurie and the booger brothers beyond just the vermin coming after them. But again, that's pretty minor.

Seriously stellar work dude. Thank you so much for the read.

Oooh! What a gorgeous lookin' comic. Lovely color choices and I really liked a lot of your paneling choices in this one. Most notably page 2, with the rising and setting of the sun. Excellent way to show the passage of time throughout the day. and page 4 with the last two panels with the shell casing spitting out of the gun. Really liked those. Also the bit with the Gorilla younger sibling coming through the door was really funny as well.

I'm honestly having trouble coming up with a strong enough critique that would feel beneficial to you.

Great work again Dude, thank you so much for the read. The whole Arc over the tournament was such a fun ride.

I thoroughly enjoyed this comic. It was hilarious start to finish. Your comedic timing is just excellent in this, rapid fire jokes without losing the pacing at all. The page interludes worked really well too. I honest to god laughed out loud at the lost sibling reveal, and the afterlife ending was really funny as well.

The only critique I can really come up with is the lettering. I really like your hand lettering style, just in a few spots it took me a bit to realize what certain letters or numbers (I didn't register "m16" when I first read it, it took me a sec because I read it as "MIG" first and was trying to figure out what that meant, as an example).

Overall, really excellent comic. I'm gonna have to try that sheet cake recipe.

What a wonderful wacky ride it has been following these beloved brothers, I could read a whole book of their antics, your comedic writing shines hard with them! The running gag of Arlene's questionable Ebay purchases continuing here had me chortle, even guffaw, and I loved how the final lesson everyone learned was about family, just like papa Diesel would have wanted

While the absurdism hit me so effectively in the prior comics, there was something about this one with moments that didn't feel *as* sharp, maybe fatigue from reaching the finale but it felt like some of the gags weren't paying off as hard as I wanted (the knife mountain's punchline being one of them). I don't envy comedy writers, it is HARD to stay consistently A-Game for such a length of pages

I still had a blast and greatly enjoyed my time with the Booger Bros up to the very end, and thank you for the sheet cake recipe

Been a fan of your work for a decade strong since prior OCTs and seeing pages from you again after so long takes me back to memories of epic panels, and as I read these has me stunned that while your work continues to improve from head to toe, that Magistelle magic you have with manufacturing morbid myths of monstrous men, not only do you still have the sauce but you've been able to refine it to world-class taste over the years.

This is a strong finish to the tale of the Cailleach siblings' run-in with the Contract, it was great seeing Bela reflect on the reasons for why he stayed in the game of death for so long and even tried reaching for the sun, a relatable tale of the overlaps from what we would do for family vs what we do for ourselves, even if just for the self actualization of "it's what I'm good at".

With the Cailleach siblings' drama taking center stage, I think the presentation of the Boogers and Laurie suffered a little, if just in that they were closer to obstacles over characters in their role, though you did do them justice in the panel time they were given, I imagine there may have been some struggle in figuring out how to translate the looney Boogers into your more serious action setting, I do wish they had either more panels or to see them interact with the Cailleach's more directly like Laurie did.

Still a solid offering and I can't wait to see more from you in the future

The evolution of the Laurie's story was one of the biggest surprises for me in this tournament; what initially seemed like an innocuously quirky swamp witch assassin's commonplace assignments started becoming something more as the rounds went on, like the vermin in the pages I overlooked and underestimated what was happening under the surface, and you managed to unwrap your final thesis in this finale so deftly, I have to give extra kudos for the extra thought put into weaving your character's concept and abilities into your core message.

You also did a terrific job bringing the opponents' characters to life, some of the gags you wrote for the Boogers were so funny and character-appropriate it was almost as if GUN had written them himself.

As incredibly awesome as Bela's ice sniper shot was, I felt like this was the one hitch I had with the story and character writing; I feel like I missed a step somewhere cause I was left a little confused over Bela's choice after everything Laurie and the vermin had dropped and offered to him. If it was as simple as he didn't believe them, I guess I needed a little more clarification on that, I kept expecting another shoe to drop somewhere to explain his choice, another twist somewhere, but it didn't quite come.

At the end of the day though still A+ writing and great presentation, you absolutely deserve to be in the finale along with your opponents

I don't think this comic is very good.
The jokes don't land very well, and jokes are pretty much all there is here.
The lack of real plot or character hampers it as well.
The intermission gag doesn't land any better than any of the others, and just serves to interrupt the action, such as it is.
The sheetcake gag is a really nice callback though. Nice follow through on that one.
Your watercolors are also quite charming, even if it's not as stunning as your last round.

This is almost as solid as the rest of your work, the only reason I say "almost" is because the Booger Brothers disrupt the tone a bit. You get them down perfectly, but their cartoony antics feel a bit out of place in the grim world you've created. Not that it's your fault, you did the best you could with the hand dealt you, and the jokes were fantastic.
The piece stands on it's own as an epic, action packed romp, but as a conclusion of the saga feels like it falls the slightest bit short.
Beyond even what I've already mentioned, it feels like it's lacking a certain special sauce your other entries have had in spades.
Again, it is EXTREMELY competently put together. Especially the "They're all vermin" line and the visualization of Laurie's powers, but it doesn't have a core to make it truly extraordinary, if that makes any sense.
The sibling's relationship and the concept of family is still front and center, but it feels like it's not taken in as new and emotional direction as it has been in previous rounds.

This is a really good round. I don't just like the incorporation of Moreau, though they are an excellently implemented element. I promise I'm not biased here.
The reveal about Laurie's true nature had sauce in spades. It feels like a new beginning as much as it does a conclusion. I can't wait to see more of Laurie in her new decentralized form.
And speaking of Laurie, the reveal on her backstory was excellently done, with the paralleling to Bela's own, and the later cold summary by the Moreau scientists.
And on top of the seriousness of the connection between Bela, the silliness of the Booger Brothers is also excellently implemented, it's not as jarring as in Mags' round, likely because you've had a level of baseline silliness throughout, that doesn't detract at all from the seriousness of your stories. The bit with them fighting an individual
possum is excellent. Speaking of silliness I just noticed the Fuck Off welcome mat outside the Bheara apartment. Excellent touch.

I’ll admit the recipe at the end threw me off but it was also strangely fitting for this wacky and wild ride! I had a good time reading this, although I’d love some lettering size consistency (perhaps try out making a font with your handwriting if you’d like). Your coloring style is pretty solid as well, though I’d love to see a little bit more texture and line variation from you. Other than that, excellent job!

Throughout this entire tournament, I’ve love the conviction Bela has and I love the dynamic he has with his family. Your writing for them has been top notch. Backgrounds and textures are on point and your action remains clear and easy to read! I like your reasoning for the brothers to not be included in the vermin category, I laughed aloud when I saw it. Through this entire tournament, you have had the most consistent and clean panels and action, and that’s something to be proud of. Well done!!!

Wow just wow~ Really dig the characterization of everyone’s characters, especially yours, she’s super cool. Your backgrounds were just absolutely phenomenal, but I would’ve loved to see a little bit more consistency when it came to facial features and structure. There’s a handful of panels I can point out where the side profile gets a mite touch unstructured, but solid work in other areas. Other than that, you did a fantastic job and I loved the writing, so keep up the good work!

Excellently done. It feels like it's been a literal dog's age since there's been a comedy comic of this style or caliber around. The jokes are well-placed and built up nicely. The callback from Round Two's mortar and all of the great sight-gags and everything else that took place in this comic. More than anything, you worked both cleverly and smart. You were economical with your pages and really made an exciting colorful comic. You expertly nailed the entertainment aspect of this comic. If there's anything to say about it, it would have been nice to have some panels or pages dedicated to Bela throwing ice up at The Booger Brothers, to help ground and establish him during the dogfight. As it stands, he's a little sidelined, but this comic had a great ending which really resolved everyone's stories up nicely (and left the Booger Brothers in an awkward position).
This was a terrific comic. You did amazing. Excellent work!

We're both familiar with the work ethic and drive required to make something of this level. Long, long sleepless nights and days. It's all done in service of something incredible like this. While this can't be something that is glorified, it still deserves to be recognized for the effort that is required to make this. This entire tournament has been yours and you've knocked it out of the park. You gave a lot of respect to each individual player in their own way, and while the Booger Brothers were handled with a great amount of comedy, it is a shame that they were unable to interact in a more meaningful way on some aspects. It's difficult bringing in aspects of comedy to a story that has a dark tone and while how it was done wasn't the wrong way, it probably could have been done better. Still, you played your cards best with what you were given. Outside of that, it was great seeing the other Bheira siblings engage in this and this seems to be setting up some fun options in the future if they win. You nailed in with the art, but that should come as no surprise. You played with the format and everything else in a terrific way. This was a great comic. Enjoy your new portfolio additions. Terrific work!

From the beginning, playing with the themes of vermin and controlling insects was going to put you in an extremely difficult position. That is a tremendous amount of work to challenge yourself with. However, you really pulled it through and that was handled in a solid way throughout this comic. Your characters throughout this comic were looking strong, although Bela stood out strangely to me. It felt like you overworked his face in many panels and that may be a result of adding too many lines over them. It ends up making them look far more aged than you intended. However, you handled the gags of the Booger Brothers and the unique angles and game of reflections and mirrors turned out terrific. The red hue everything was pushed towards was a great look and really helped cement the tone of this story.

Speaking of the story, this was a fascinating bit of world-building and development. Regardless of if a win occurs or not, both of you should continue this with another character or as its own stand-alone comic because it is very interesting! The shame of it was that this couldn't have been pulled up sooner, but three act structure makes this all difficult to work with. The Booger Brothers are sidelined here as well, but I can understand the difficulties of working with these characters outside of a comedic standpoint. It isn't the wrong decision, but it may not have been the best one. Even so, you really filled the pages up so perfectly with a great story. You excelled in the Writing department here for sure. This was a great collaborative effort and ideally we see more of this next year when we have our year of collabs. Fantastic work, both of you! Be proud!

man as always a master of giving split sides you are lol. from start to finish with going right into the action with the funny great banter between the bros and laurie was amazing and the great disney cut away from impending doom had me rolling I enjoyed the absolute insanity of all the assassins being related as well as all of bela's siblings and the morter from the last comic taking them all out made for such a silly ending lol. really great showing as per usual.

MAN mags you do some down right SICK levels of artwork with the scale of the city and really applying the details of each of your opponents established strength and weaknesses from the past 2 comics that really drives the plot forward from the inner hivemind thoughts for laurie and the brothers absolute chaos slapstick( nice on the shooting out the lower jaw lmao) and you a 3rd bro was a great twist lol. only critique I think is that from the conflict Idont think any of them actual trade dialogue, which in the case I think only really hurt laurie a little bit as the brothers a bela's family had enough to make them not to reliant on the opponents. Regardless still a smash hit for action and keeping me locked in on the comic all the way!

I really really like how you pulled the story together for this last entry and giving laurie a deeper end goal than just the payday of the tourney was really great as well as having her get killed off and the swarm still functioning was a great twist! I enjoyed the look you gave at the background organization pulling the tourney strings and giving an interesting look at how laurie came to be. but I think i got a little lost in the sauce at the end with the swarm moving to Bela's family to continue on as I was waiting for a payoff of her going after the organizers in a more concrete way. artwise I have really fallen in love with your artstyle since seeing you here on ocu and a few other OCT's and this one is no different in being a great sight to behold!