Broken Frontier

The problem is reviewing pacing in webcomics is that, well, pacing is kind of subjective. A couple days ago, I reviewed the The Phoenix Requiem after a similar absence. It took me about an hour to get caught up. Meanwhile, it takes me less than ten minutes to get caught up with Lady Yates’ Earthsong. Everyone moves at a different pace on a webcomic, but still – I don’t think it’s an accident The Phoenix Requiem is two spots ahead of Earthsong.

When we last saw the lost amnesiac Willow, she had been briefed on her induction into a diverse team of heroes to protect Earthsong, the youngest living embodiment of a planet from the evil planet Beluosus and his opposing team, the Mandragoras. Shortly thereafter, Willow is abducted by one of the Mandragoras – the vampire-like Tristam – and several pages later, she is still speaking to Tristam and learning more about the Mandragoras and what hold Beluosus has over them.

On one hand, Yates does a pretty good job answering these questions. Beluosus seems to have a good hold over his minions, whom he keeps under his control by way of cosmic blackmail – threatening, in this case, to return Tristam to his homeworld if he doesn’t serve him. And considering Beluosus’ already formidable list of powers, it’s pretty clear Yates’ enigmatic antagonist keeps his pets on a pretty tight leash.

What isn’t totally clear is the prolonged focus on Tristam even as Earthsong fans hold a very different place for the character in their hearts – as “Vampy McEmopants.” It seems – at least according to Earthsong’s wiki page – Tristam’s angst is the source of more than a few jokes amongst the Earthsong community. Keeping the focus on Tristam seems to fuel this rather than either playing around with the sentiment or trying to show a different side the pale bloodsucker. One thing is clear – the last three months have had a little too much exposition for my taste.

Still, the character of Willow is becoming more and more engrossing and compelling. Her initial interchange with Tristam – before McEmopants divulges into sheer wordiness – is snappy and refreshing, and the character is drawn and physically realized every bit as well as she is written. With the most recent pages, much of the background surrounding Earthsong is becoming clear, and hopefully Lady Yates uses this opportunity to throw Willow right into the thick of things – instead of falling into more exposition.

Earthsong has a crisp and clear look which was engaging right from the beginning. This has only improved with the richness of the world and the complexity of her characters. These next few months tend to be the fastest paced of the webcomic season, but as I said before, everyone moves at their pace. Whether Earthsong and Lady Yates will use this time to reach the top of Top Webcomics or pound out more exposition is unclear, but at the very least, it’s going to be a beautifully rendered ride no matter what direction Yates picks.