Oculama

That panel of Ordinary Bird getting angry at Copycat is FUCKING HILARIOUS. What a beautiful incredible rage face right there. the pure anger in those eyes makes the entire comic. I also love how you incorporated Ordinary Bird, them turning everything around them to fit the style is such a genius decision to handle such an ordinary bird. My only real want here is if you had one more shade of grey there's a few panels in which I wished there was just a small change and another shade would have made em better. but it's such a small little detail that it doesn't really hurt. For example bottom of page 4 I wish there was a slight change in shade to the background to make everything else pop out. But fantastic job here, great comic!

What a truly fascinating comic here. I cannot tell if this is trad or digital, I assume it's a mix of both and if so you blend to two very VERY well. I love the digital glitch effects that show up on page 2 and 3 in the margins. It adds that extra little bit of sauce to the comic (and the blue as well). I do wish Ghost in the reeds did a bit more. I understand keeping them as a ghost in the reeds in the background but I kind of wish they had a bit more going on until they decided to fight in the very end. Very fascinating comic. Would be interested in seeing what else you'd be able to do with other characters, specifically those who aren't birds. Cause I think there's a lot here you could do. Great job!

Zeros all around just for having such an UGLY DISGUSTAN BIRD. I HATE Bitterns.

It is very funny how much this comic is just BIRDS. It's very much the birdiest comic, where everyone is more animal than oct character. It's very interesting. And then you got ordinary bird in the background, it's an interesting set of characters to work with. It's a very cute comic up until the end which is just horror LOL. I do wonder what either a smaller brush size or a different colour for your lines would do to the comic. I don't think the colouring style works as well with the larger brush strokes of the birds, for the machine it was good, but I would mess around with that in the future just to see what it all looks like. Great job on this one though, very cute very charming. I mean I HATE BITTERNS SO MUCH. NEGATIVE 1 MILLION POINTS.

MGAKH! KYU~, BUZZZ, WHRRR! I've been a bit critical at other comics this round for putting all their eggs in one basket (pun 100% intended) when it comes to aspects of design and this is so close to being perfect. While I will always prefer B. poiciloptilus for sounding like a broken subwoofer, there is nothing Least about Ghost! There might be no traditional dialogue, but the 'writing' is perfectly fine; your story isn't ambitious and strictly high-concept, but is conveyed well via visuals in a way that feels true to the birds. The interactions between Ghost and Copycat feel especially natural and full of character. If there is one 'weakness', it's that I don't feel like I have learned much about Ordinary Bird, but that might be the point of them, I guess? I wish them(? it???) well on their journey back to their home planet if you win. xD

Pretty birdie? Prettiest birdie. <3
Now, this is interesting! While Rebel's comic was lighter on Ordinary Bird, they've taken the stage here, at bit to the expense of Ghost, but not by too much; I feel like you've done a little better than TheRebelSpy at balancing each contestant and giving each a chance to vibe. I do find it amusing that for a species that is notoriously feisty in the wild that Copycat is so unflappably chill, and the comedic presentation (including the uno reverse at the end) works, if not particularly complex. I might be a bit disappointed at the one-off emoji use (it was funny though!) but your comic is well-rounded and didn't feel like too much was missing, apart from a little narrative clarity across the last two pages. You did a great job of selling Ordinary's reality-warping, but there's a bit more fuzziness. There's some polishing that could be done art-wise but it's consistent and does everything it needs to.

((After seeing the ¿?, my headcanon is that Copycat is from Goa, hee hoo))

I like Ordinary Bird as a concept and while your comic is on the short side, that's not at all a bad thing; brevity in comics͑͟ ĭ̲ś̞ p͢͞a̗͘r̩̚t̰̒ o͈̾f͖̚ t̲̂ḧ̝́ê̱ ä̯r̹͞t͉͡f̉͟o̤͋r͇͒m̋ͅ.͑͢ I̠̋ w̮̚i̦̎l̝̍l͇͡ s̉ͅä̘́y͈͑ t̑͟h͉̉ǎ̙t̤̾ i͉͌t͔́ d͉͑o̼͠é͙s̬̎ f̗͂è͜ẹ͐ĺ̲ l̨̂ī̱ḵ͑e̜̿ i̱̇t̞̒ c͕̈́ả̹m̲͒ê͎ u̧̓p͕̋ s͇̊h̝̄o̮͒r̘̆t͜͞ i̟͝n̖̚ ť̯e͙̊r̼͌m̲͗s̨̽ o͔̚f̬͡ ņ̀â̭r͈̓r̗͊à̧ṱ͠i̠͡v͍̐e͔̔.̪͘ I̬͐ g̼̐ȇ̺t̲̕ t̠̕h̞̓a̓͜t̟̀ ṱ͞h̑͟e̘͂ w͎̆h̻̎o̠̓l̮͂ē̟ b͚̀i̲͘t̪̑ o̥͋f̤̂ Ò̥ṙ̪ḏ͠ȋ͢n̻̕a͐ͅr͇̊ỵ̀ i͕͂s̖͂ b̞͂e̤̊i͇͐ṅ̬g̗̒ a͇͡ c̝̒r̦̎y̳͝p͖̀t̢͗i̯͠c͇̃ g̫̽l̡̀ì̢t̹̂c͔͡h̖͛ b̧̉u͢͠t̢̏ ị̌t̯͞ w̺̎ỏ̟ṳ̿ĺ̪d͍̽ b̮͒ê̮ n̯͒i͉͂c̬̆e̡̍ t̼͑o͕̐ p̙͂e̯͒ḛ̊k̪̄ b͐͟e̞͞ḣ͚i̹̔n͍̏d̢͑ t͙̔h̳̃ȅ̺ c̙̈u̜͊r̦̚ṫ͓a͗͢i̤̋n̋͟ å͕ b͓̂i̻͆t̡́,̀͜ ó̯r͚̓ ț̐o͈͌ l͎͞ẹ̊t͙̃ ë̳ả͓ç̊h̤̄ b̰̈́ḯ̬r̫̄d̮͌ h̤̄a̎͜v̺̓e̞̾ a͎͂ b̬̋ḯ̗t͛͢ m̥̔o̬͘r̃͜ḛ̏ ẗ̢i̺͠m̩̿e͕̒ t̥͌o̼̓ p͓̆o͇̔k͙͐ě͜ ā͎r̝̓ȍ̧u͛ͅn̩̊d̲̈́ b̟̂e̯͘f͋͢ȏ͍r̰̂e̟͐ t͐ͅh̼͡e̬̎ ȩ̎ṉ͋d̯̐.̰̾ S͖͠t͚͠i͎̇l̳͛ḽ̄,̼͡ I̥͆ l͓̅í̞k̭̑è̦ ṯ͂h͓͒e̜͒ p̣̋r̳̂e̼̽s̖̒e͇͡n̤̕t̺͘a͖͐ṱ̆ȉ̤o͓͌n͎̿ a̠͑ņ͞d̤́ ü̘s̞̏ḙ̈́ o͙̓f̨͆ c̫͗o̭̚ṉ͑t̻́r̓͜a͔̒s̺̎t̙̑.̜̃ I̯͆t͊͜ l͙͑o͎̅ò͎k̨͐s̻͗ f̺̒ŭ̮ņ̓ ā̺n͕̅d̫̎ Î͢ ḧ́͜ã̢d̯̏ f̘̾u̙͐n͈̾.͚͊ ǦͅJ͙̋!̪͝

I thought this was an interesting approach.
I really liked the texturing you used, I think you used it effectively to really set the feel and tone of your character. The black and white vs colored rendering was a neat look, and really sold how different your bird is and how it can affect its environment and other birds.

I was kind of expecting a bit more to happen, maybe in the last panel, and have ordinary birds aura affect more of the surrounding area.

Thank you for the comic! Nice work!

I wanna start off by saying I really liked the hexagon grid opening panel, I thought that was a really nice looking and neat way to start off the story!
The layout in the comic was really nice, flowed very easily and didn't get confused on where to look next, and they grey tones were nicely used.

Admittedly it took me a second read through to fully understand what was happening in the story, but I thought it was a cute and clever approach.

Well done!

This was such a neat little comic! I thought it was a very interesting approach!
I really enjoyed the limited dialogue, just the sound effects to kinda give an idea of what was going on and what the conflict was.
I also really liked the color palatte that you chose to use, and I think you used the "noise" effect/texture really well to add to the ambiance and feeling you were trying to portray, and I think you wove in everyone's characters nicely.

Very cool!

You drew the birds so cutely! I love how you made Ghost in the Reeds and Copycat feel very bird-like, more than characters who happen to be bird shaped. Ordinary Bird is appropriately esoteric and enigmatic, too. This is another comic that manages to convey a lot of character without any dialogue (well, outside of bird language) and it worked to great effect having Copycat speak that one garbled line at the end there as the only comprehendable words, (even if we can't Truly comprehend Ordinary Bird).

Representing the birds on a hex grid was an inspired idea, it makes the Bird War feel like a tabletop war game. I also love how you used Ordinary Bird to shift the art style of the comic into a more simplistic one that's encroaching on the rest of the comic, with even the frame and speech bubbles getting the marker-drawn look. Copycat being the one to convert the other two birds into it's style was a fun twist though!

Never has a simple drawing of a bird felt more menacing. The creepy corrupting nature of Ordinary Bird, or at least the aura surrounding it, really makes the comic feel like a horror story despite the otherwise bright and colorful setting. Very short, but you managed to convey a lot despite that. Having both opponents have parts of their body corrupted is also a very unique scar concept, though it might be difficult to convey in any setting divorced from Ordinary Bird's presence.

I love that overall you all leaned into birds than personified birbs yet still managed to find the silly. Managing action, gesticulations with their lil bird feets, and explosions of all things as these avian enact hijinks wasn't what I was ready for going into this comic, but then again I thought I'd never see a tourney that dealt with warring birds
Utilizing the cryptid bird as the anomaly catalyst for said shenanigans I think was a smart move. What the heck is up with that thing?? XD

Haha, are these encounters happening via hexcrawl? I don't know why the rudimentary drawn fish got our resident bittern so angry, but that emoting on a bird face was great. Also the lowkey creepy assimilation by cryptid bird was not only an interesting angle, but without dialogue? Explanation? I think lands creepier. I think there are some aspects where I think you need more show as your characters can't tell via dialogue, but overall, I'm here for our simplified bird overlord

I think this entrant was the one that intrigued me the most. And your comic whets the appetite but I'm left with more wonderings than satisfaction. Maybe that's by design?
There is something dreadful about ordinary bird. Something that is apparently catching. I especially loved the way that was visually translated with the corruption panel to panel. With character who can't really talk, I think I have the same critique I gave your opponents that lack of context requires more show. I'm left wondering if we had a page or two more to get a handle as to what's going down if it woud've made more sense-but who knows? Maybe your intention was to leave the first round as something the readers scratch their heads over. If anything that's intriguing incentive to vote and see what happens round 2.

Adding a lil triple-shot praise here as I think this is the strongest battle of the round pound for pound, I really did find all three of these comics nailed it, and capitalized on the premise of a bird, a mimicking bird, and an ordinary bird in one story.

Great faces, great colors, great paneling, great fun to be had here! It's interesting how you interpreted the ordinary bird's supposed origin here, and I think I quite like that these are really just some regular birds and one ordinary bird in an un-ordinary scenario. The only weakness I feel in this one is the sound effects, fun and funny and well placed, but it's the craftsmanship of them that need a little more work. I think if they were as lovingly handpainted as the rest of the comic it'd be solid high stars all around for me

Adding a lil triple-shot praise here as I think this is the strongest battle of the round pound for pound, I really did find all three of these comics nailed it, and capitalized on the premise of a bird, a mimicking bird, and an ordinary bird in one story.

This is a curious situation: this comic is definitely also strong, visually nice, great corruption technique, effective eeriness, but It's a bit too brief compared to the others, and in fact the way the opponents employed ordinary bird vs how they are used here left me wanting. If you make it to the next round, I hope you really absorb what your opponents dish out here and try to really go wild and weird with ordinary bird's influence on the world, not just spreading but *how* it spreads, make it creepier, in unexpected ways!

Adding a lil triple-shot praise here as I think this is the strongest battle of the round pound for pound, I really did find all three of these comics nailed it, and capitalized on the premise of a bird, a mimicking bird, and an ordinary bird in one story.

Again, crazy creative ideas here on how to employ the ordinary bird. Love the hexagon split. Love the doofy face of this mynabird and how his mimicking seems to act as a repellant to the ordinary bird's infection, like it refutes what the ordinary bird wants it to be because it is in the moment being something else. A fun and silly scar at the end is a great top off here. Great stuff Mintytree!

Absolutely terrific comic. For keeping the characters as just "normal birds", you really get a lot of mileage out of them for this story, especially with the surreal elements of Ordinary Bird in play. Your page count was very economical for the storytelling, but "silent" comics are great for doing that as well. I have very little critique for this particular comic, you did great. Can't wait to see what you do next on here - glad you've finally got a character here! Great work!

This comic was super on point. I really love the "normal bird" aspect here, too. You're making some very creative scenarios with it but also since Copycat is such a little chatterbox, you can play with some really fun aspects of their character as well. I love the greyscale choices you made, you really made a great comic here - something about it is very strong. You've grown into one of my favorites on this site with this and The Test - can't wait to see what you do next. Great job!

This was a great comic. The artistic style was super cool looking and you did a tremendous job there. The eldritch nature of Ordinary Bird came through really well and I like what you did with them, especially how they spread their corruption around to all of the other birds - it makes for unique scars and a fairly unique story compared to your opponents. Really loved this comic and hope to see more from you soon! Excellent work!

Omg I love the art for the comic - you drew all the bird’s expressions so well and it was a blast to read! (My favorite is the bottom three panels on page 1)
Despite it being a non verbal (?) comic, the story was easy to follow and in that sense, I think the art did really carry the comic - all the movements were easy to follow and made sense, plus the colors did add a lot of extra dramatical effects! That isn’t to say the story wasn’t good as well - I did really enjoy reading that and how you used each character in it. Though, I don’t think I am allowed to look at it too much or ṫ̵̡̡͍̤̗̘̹͉̘̤͔͉͓͍͚̯̮̳̘̦̼̩̥̻̺͊́̓̿́̂͑́̌͆͘̕͘ĥ̷̝̬͎̞͉̩̼̱̖̭͚̹̊̄á̵̡̡̛̠͉̘̺̰͓̤͍̳͙͕͖̘̳̦̼͇̻̦͙̫̤͍̟̺̊͗̓͂͊̏̃̂͂̾̿̇͘͜ṫ̵̡̲̹̣̘̼̼͚̀̀̓̀̿̋̉̈́̉͗́̈̂̍̓̑̎̐͋̀̉͂̾̂̿̈̂̑̍̊̅̎͘͠ͅ

As always, I do really love the way you do paneling! Thought there are lots of panels on the page, I don’t get lost in the order to read or get a cramped feeling. I also love how you used the little diagram to show how the bird’s are taking over the territory, and the use of colors to show this as well!
And not to mention, that was a really fun story too! It was nonverbal, but still the action, colors, and expressions really carried through the comic. . . But oh god though I did not think I’d see eldrich horrors taking over each other, birds are creepy. . . I mean what??

To start off, I will say I really like the concept of Ordinary Bird alone so I was really excited to read the round. . . And it surely was great reading them in action! It was on the shorter end, but it still gave as much satisfaction reading it visually. I do love that you can really ‘see’ the Ordinary Bird maybe not being so ordinary just through the visuals alone, and though that their surroundings also being a simpler style was a scary. . . I mean very nice touch!
. . . And also, I don’t now what to think of birds anymore. I think the one outside is looking at me. . .

This one I think really creatively works in all these birds characters and concepts into a unified package thats surprising and fun, especially with Ordinary Bird being the logo on a whirring fan that is bothersome to ghost thats quite inspired. I think this one is the most naturalistic in its story, and is grounded in a way that I think is a benefit to the comic, these birds really do feel like birds, good stuff.

Fantastic quality all around, the panelling here is quite remarkable, I love the honeycomb-style design representing Ordinary Bird's invasive quest to colonize this bird dimension, and the concept of them being a virus that is done in by Copycat's mimetic nature is inspired, the rendering and paneling on page 1 is especially great, it gets a bit rougher on page 4 but overall this is a great looking comic with very balanced grayscale values and was a fun read

Do quite like the contrast of Ordinary Bird's black and white, reality-breaking rendering clashing with a beautiful, watercolor-esque pastoral scene. The concept of Ordinary Bird being a reality-breaking virus carrier that unwittingly or otherwise corrupts the world around them is a strong enough idea that it was intuited by Mintytree, but for a round 1 comic there could be a bit more intent in order to build a foundation for further comics to work off.

I really like the visuals in this comic. Your visual storytelling was fairly easy to follow and you handled your opponents well. I really like the way you drew the birds when they were interacting with each other my favorite being when Ghost puffs up on the first page. The story was well written but it did leave me wondering if you were going to continue with something involving this plotline or if it was a one off. Regardless this was a great entry!

While the story was a bit convoluted I found it enjoyably absurd. I love Copycat's personality. It's giving "lemme smash" energy and I found it hilarious. The scars you gave your opponents made me laugh out loud the first time I read it. I think my favorite part of this comic was the way you handled the ordinary bird it was fun watching the two environments clash due to the way you portrayed it. The only thing I can think of for a crit would be trying to lower the dialog on Copycat just a bit maybe, though that's more of a suggestion than a crit. Great work!

A short simple and sweet comic much like your character. I was surprised when my assumptions about ordinary bird's method of scarring were correct. While the comic got everything it needed to get done I wish that there was just a little bit more to the story. As it is the comic feels a little abrupt. I'm not necessarily recommending a cliffhanger but something that could get the readers hooked into wanting to see more of this ordinary bird could add to the experience.