TWWR Round up 04/15/2024– It’s Time to Throw Down

Last week a kind reader left a comment about donating gently used eclipse glasses. I’m going to give that a little boost by plugging the website here as well. Check out Eclipse Glasses USA if you’d like to donate your used glasses for kids to use in future eclipse events.

I’ve been reading up on Black Tyrant. It’s yet another cat comic featuring warring cats not related to Warrior Cats. I’ve just started reading this comic, I’m enjoying it, and I’d like to get caught up on the story.

Going completely in a different direction comic-wise, I recently purchased and read volume one of Red Lantern. This comic falls on the sexually explicit side, but I’m loving the world-building, the story, and the anthro character designs. The first volume of this series is the only one available as a physical book. It’s also the only volume featured on the official website. The rest of the planned four-part series is scattered throughout the author’s Fur Affinity account and on her Patreon. I haven’t decided if I’ll join said Patreon or not, but I do have some of her other novels I picked up (directly from her) at Furrydelphia a while back.

Africa | Page(s): 367 | Patreon

Mosi tries to push past Africa in his attempt to reach Mondo, who’s frozen with fear. Africa gives Mosi a powerful right hook, that sends him reeling backwards. As he lays in the swamp water she stops in shock. She realizes the male leopard is her lost son.

I really like Mosi’s point of view in the second panel as he tries to claw at the serval. Even in his anger, he’s taking care not to harm his mother despite his claws being out. It really shows you how Mondo is his sole focus.

Anyway, the fighting is done and Africa finally recognizes Mosi. Fortunately, neither of them are injured, so the chances of them having a rational talk are high. Let’s just hope her lost son doesn’t run off without wanting to talk or tries to attack Mondo once more. While Mondo isn’t the focal point of these pages, I do feel bad for the little guy. He’s just had his world turned upside down with the revelation that Africa killed his mother, her son wants to maul him, and Safari is dead. I suspect once this family reunion scene is over, mother and adopted son are going to have a LOT to unpack together.

To Catch a Star | Page(s): 479, 480, 481, 482 | Patreon

Lupi arrives on the scene and Takedown smiles. Killing the sun wolf is his last bit of unfinished business. Grinning maliciously, he declares himself Alpha and that it will be his pleasure to crush the sun’s neck between his teeth. Still snarling, Shadow demands that Takedown lets his Lost brother go. Smirking, Takedown tells the Nova she’ll have to fight him if she wants to take Backlash. As the two large wolves meet and rear up to battle, the Dusky lands a solid bite on the Nova’s neck. Her fangs settle into his shoulder. Lupi can only stare on in fear for their friend’s life.

Just as Takedown begins to push Shadow back, she frees herself by smacking his injured eye with her paw. As the Dusky recoils in pain, the Nova struggles to stay on her feet. Frustrated, Takedown orders Backlash to kill Shadow. The zombie Dusky doesn’t move at the command as Shadow looks on concerned. Annoyed, the larger Dusky smacks his dead brother and Shadow capitalizes on his moment of distraction by latching onto his neck with her fangs.

Takedown’s ultimate goal was to lure Lupi back by using Backlash. (Though I doubt the pack will return to him even if he kills the sun wolf. No sane wolf would put up with a murderous psychopath as their leader.) Getting to fight and possibly kill Shadow was just a bonus. Again, Shadow is fighting from a place of anger and grief, while Takedown is always happy to kill. From their second encounter, he’s once again gotten the upper paw in their fight. Had it not been for his freshly injured eye being a very vulnerable spot, he might have already killed Backlash’s surrogate sister. Fortunately for her, he’s a guy who’s easily distracted and can’t seem to stay focused.

The biggest example is him ordering his Lost brother to kill a wolf twice his size. Perhaps Takedown was counting on Shadow’s love for Backlash to stop her from defending herself. At the same time, it’s likely he didn’t count on Backlash’s love for his found family to make him ignore the order. Or there could be limits to how much someone can order a Lost around. That last point regarding the Lost has really been unclear in To Catch a Star. I’ll just go with a little of both. Of course, Takedown had to abuse his brother one last time, but this did allow Shadow to finally grab our favorite psycho wolf by the neck. I’m hoping she can hang on long enough to put this asshole out of our misery.

Unfortunately, I fear he still has enough strength left to either shake her off, or seeing his brother in danger, Backlash will attack. Either way, I’m worried Shadow and Takedown will end up taking each other out. It just feels like a fight that Shadow can’t win. Doubly so given the damage she took on page 481.

The Order of the Black Dog | Page(s): Issue 27, page 40 | Patreon

Julia and Mel climb to their feet still clutching their injured bodies. Suddenly, they look down at the crystal inside the summoning circle. They notice it has changed from white to black. Kenazil’s snarling mouth can be seen within the crystal itself. Julia asks if they’re ready [for the summoning ritual].

That’s the end of Issue 27. We learned a great deal about the Black Dog including her name, but she doesn’t make an appearance in this issue. I’m okay with this, as her true nature as a glitch on reality is revealed. Furthermore, Rhoda isn’t okay and has let Tazim use her body. Tazim has beef with the Black Dog and its owner, Zalef-Labev. I can only wonder if releasing this “glitch” upon the world to save the people of Earth from the Black Idol will do more harm than good. Zalef-Labev certainly believes that to be the case, despite still giving Mel and Julia the key to summoning Kenazil. I doubt Tazim cares very much, as they’re only interested in getting back what was stolen from them.

If Issue 28 is a direct continuation of Issue 27, I’d say it’s a good place to look for payoff after everything that just happened. This issue was a bit of a slow burn, so I’m looking forward to a more excitement in the future. Issue 28 is currently being written, so this comic will be on hiatus for a little while.

Lost Scent | Page(s): 47 | Patreon

Tulpi informs Motte of how nutritious bone broth is, especially when someone’s ill. She then informs her friend of the highland cattle kept on the farm which the bone broth is made from. Before the Akita-mix can get any further, Motte is shocked by the appearance of Tulpi’s pet pig who’s now a lot larger. The smaller dog is surprised her friend doesn’t recognize PIG, aka Parcival Ignatius Gatlin, who’s just had a growth spurt. The Borzoi-mix literally waves Tulpi’s speech bubble away as she changes the subject and asks how long they’ve been on the farm. It’s been six to ten days and the larger dog is visibly flabbergasted.

I don’t blame Motte for being shocked. They’ve been on the farm for maybe six or possibly ten days? She was really ill. I hope Motte wasn’t in a hurry to their ultimate destination. Other than that, I’m chuckling at Tulpi naming her pig, PIG. Excuse me, Parcival Ignatius Gatlin. I’m slightly concerned at how large he’s grown over the course of just slightly under or slightly over a week. At the rate he’s growing, they’ll likely be able to ride on his back. I hope PIG remains friendly.

Golden Shrike | Page(s): 260 | Patreon

Antaras insists the buck and the doe leave as Eve looks on completely uninterested. The desperate couple know she can bring back the dead and want her to revive their stillborn fawn. They don’t want anything more than a little of her light, and beg the god to come with them. Losing his patience, Anataras locks horns with the buck and sends him tumbling in the grass commanding both deer to leave. As the unnamed buck rises to his feet he mutters “Gods have no keepers…”

So, I was partially right in my guess that these deer are seeking out Eve to revive a loved one. I mentioned stillborn fawns, and that’s exactly what happened to this couple. I expected them to back down once Antaras arrived, and I wasn’t surprised that the former Caller got violent. What surprised me is the fact that this nameless buck seems like he’s not going to back off. Not without a bigger fight at least. I can understand his and his partner’s intense desire to obtain that light from Eve. They have a dead child and would do anything to see them brought back to life. Even if that means squaring off with “Eve’s keeper.” Though this is a fight the buck likely won’t win if Anataras has Loss on his side. I believe we’re about to see a frightening demonstration of this particular god’s powers.

Home | Page(s): 849 | Patreon

The Norgarde Tribe slowly makes their way up the mountain to their new home. Elvind trots dangerously close the edge of a cliff and small parts of the ledge start to crumble beneath her feet. She marvels at how high up they are, and Ronja tells her to back away from the edge as Summersaga and Diarko look on. The Viscountess the remarks she should hold them by a rope as Naeva agrees and Fraujar chuckles in amusement. Kargo trails the group from behind when he suddenly hears a noise. Turning, he notices a large group of hostile dogs emerging from the fog. The group of raiders is led by three lightly armored dogs holding knives as they charge forward. Kargo dashes ahead to inform everyone else they’re being attacked.

My god, the transition from the previous scene with Jahla and Romé was so very abrupt. Is this the same day? Or are we on an entirely new day? Given the gathering clouds from the previous page and the fact that it’s starting to rain in this scene, I’m guessing it’s the same day. A “meanwhile” transition would have been nice. Getting back to the page, there’s no fanfare or thoughtfulness as the group leaves their old Meteor Tribe territory for former Snowcap Tribe territory. It just happens as they’re joined by a few members of Whispervale Tribe. Odd, that Keirr isn’t around to help his cousin with her move. (Honestly, it feels like he’s been pushed out of the story as of lately, so I’m not surprised he’s not there. Family means nothing in Home, after all.)

The raiding tribes are launching their long-awaited attack on a mountain in a narrow passage of all places. Even though they have numbers, they’ll likely be at a disadvantage as those numbers will be hampered by them having steep cliffs on one side and sharp drop offs on the other. It really seems like the group should have attacked before the move (they had months) or waited until everyone was already up the mountain, possibly at night for a surprise attack. Of course, the point is to give Nordgarde a fighting chance against these dogs, which is why they’re attacking now against better judgment.

Also, the death flags for Elvind (I had to look her name up because I honestly forgot the names of Ronja’s pups) are something else. Let’s hope she doesn’t die in the dumbest way possible, by falling off a high cliff during a raid. Also, it’s kind of amazing the raiders aren’t wearing heavier armor. They look like they’re going for a hunt, not to war with a tribe they deemed as dangerous. I’m guessing the raiders will take heavy losses while everyone in the former Meteor Tribe survives this upcoming battle. Kique is loath to kill main characters. I mean, he killed Kargo only to bring the poor guy back to life!

On a final note, Salty Malty has a stunning redraw of this page. I love how the raiding dogs are properly armored, there are sound effects, and the paneling is dynamic. They even took the time to fully draw Kargo’s body in the last panel, along with an extended background!