2somethingIt's been several years since Monster Lands stopped updating, so today I will begin my full reread. I will be using the ebooks, which contain all but the two most recent chapters. As usual, my reread commentary will contain SPOILERS!
The first volume starts with a cool cover page, showing Othera being badass while the rest of the cast looks from the corner.
Chapter: Wood You Be Nice?
The first chapter is really short, and introduces us to Othera. I'd forgotten how gorgeous the scenery is here. Othera is a cool black woman riding a fantastic mount who helps people in need. In this case, the trees themselves are being jerks to local villagers. Why? The trees are bored, so Othera introduces them to board games. It doesn't work, so Othera cuts the trees all down, and the chapter finishes at a mere 4 pages (not counting the cover).
Despite its short length, this chapter really sets the tone for the rest of the series. We're in a pseudo-medieval fantasy world, which is a little bit silly, and which riffs somewhat on standard fantasy conventions, but not a completely self-aware OOTS-like world. Othera is a badass hero who wants to help people, prefers nonviolent solutions, but is not afraid to kill when necessary. A lot of characters later in the story are morally ambiguous, but Othera is really good and really easy to love.
Onwards to the next chapter!
Chapter: Beware Eren Lorey
We get our first look at Eren Lorey, the villain, and her castle. Eren is the Princess of Darkness, Queen of Calamity, Empress of Annihilation, and shall soon be Ruler of All Realms. She also have a very child-like personality, and needs everyone to constantly suck up to her. Eren rides on a flying skull monster of some sort to negotiate with the rebellious peasants. The villagers want to surrender because they ran out of weapons. Eren doesn't believe them, so she has her monster destroy all the buildings in the village. Oops! Turns out the peasants were really out of weapons, making Eren, in her own words, "look like an idiot." She gets back at the rebels by killing all of them, before ironically remarking "Some people can't be reasoned with."
Right now, Eren seems like a very flat pure villain. I don't remember how long it will be before we start seeing more depth for her. I think my first time through, I expected her to be a pure villain.
Chapter: Listen to Your Fairy
We our introduced to Nixtos, a Navi-like fairy who helps heroes with advice. Except she's an asshole who goes through a lot of heroes. As her latest hero is ambushed by Eren's forces, we get the first namedrop of Exris, Eren's adopted father. Nixtos gives very helpful advice like "if you stab them in the head, they'll die." Uh oh, Nix points out a monster behind the hero, and the hero thinks she's crying wolf. Time for Nixtos to find another hero!
Nixtos is guilty of the greatest crime a fictional character can commit: withholding important information from other main characters who are ostensibly on your side. Going off memory, she waits until very near the end of the series to tell Othera the very important thing. Has she told any of her previous heroes?
Chapter: Marcus Rila
We now arrive at the first "real" chapter of Monster Lands. It clocks in at 42 pages, while the previous three chapters were 12 pages total (not including the cover pages). This chapter is also the first in which some characters from previous chapters reappear.
We start with a cover showing Marcus on a pile of treasure. Othera arrives in the neighboring village, where the villagers are celebrating Marcus Rila, the great hero who cut down the evil trees. Nixtos is with Marcus now.
Now we see Marcus' real goal: he is grifting the villagers, asking for money which he claims he will use to defeat Exris. Othera is not pleased. Oops: Marcus did not let Nix in on his con. Nix wants a contest to see who the real hero is. While not yet stated explicitly, it seems like Othera is more concerned about Marcus scamming innocent villagers than she is about getting glory.
Scene change! Eren learns the villagers are newly motivated to rebel after seeing that a hero cut down the evil trees, but then Eren gets distracted playing with her cute skull dragon pet. I love the rapid oscillation between Eren as an evil tyrant and a cute kid. Now Exris sends Kersha (the goblin princess) and Necromancer (the first time we hear these characters' names) to crush whoever defeated the trees. Kersha and Necromancer have a casual conversation while they ride a monsterish elephant(?) to hunt down the hero, and the author managers to make them both enjoyable to read about right away.
Nadil! The last of the main cast has arrived. Nadil's rebellion could really use another hero in their ranks.
Nix lays out the rules: the people claiming to be heroes must kill a monster in a nearby cave. Marcus really does not know when to admit he messed up, even when he is alone with Othera. Ah right, a villager calls Nix out on her bullshit, and Nix is not having it. Of course, by not caring about whether her "hero" is benevolent, Nix leaves herself vulnerable to picking the fraud.
Othera is a total badass and can easily defeat the first monster, and OH MY JELL I love the way she calls Marcus' bluff and sends him ahead, and then she still offers to help him when he falls.
Scene change back to Kersha and Necromancer. I love the way the elephant(?) looks while sleeping. Oops: Kersha removed all of Necromancer's supplies from their bag!
Othera talks to Marcus about what makes a hero. Macrus apologizes and makes it sound like he's going to try to be better, before doing his evil grin and kicking Othera off the ledge! I remember Marcus learning to be better eventually, but not for awhile. I don't remember how long "awhile" is.
Ah right, we hear that the entire wax cave is one creature, the candles are their eyes, and they realize Marcus is a fraud. Othera's reaction as she climbs out of the pit cracks me up. Nothing can stop Othera's heroing. I love the way the fire spout at the center of the cave looks.
Back to Nix, who is feeding grapes to a giant mount? Nix hints that if both heroes die, it will be "too late." Too late for what? Nix definitely already knows when the world will end, and she isn't sharing it with the heroes.
Othera spits a tiny bit of water into the flame, and the entire thing is destroyed. There was a person trapped inside? I completely forget what this person's deal is. Marcus has not learned. He taunts Othera for caring too much about helping people that she gives Marcus the chance to win. Ah, Marcus tells the villagers that it's impossible for someone to be trapped inside a monster in REAL LIFE, which this is: it's totally not a fantasy.
And here is the moment I was waiting for: Othera tells Marcus he "wins," he's the hero, just as Kersha and Necromancer show up to arrest the hero!
The Necromancer found a way to make undead with Kersha's food: Undead chicken! As Othera leaves town, the author asks a bunch of questions to be answered in the future.
That was fun. I am really glad to be revisiting Monster Lands. Tune in next time for "Ship Approaching."
#Webcomics #MonsterLands
The first volume starts with a cool cover page, showing Othera being badass while the rest of the cast looks from the corner.
Chapter: Wood You Be Nice?
The first chapter is really short, and introduces us to Othera. I'd forgotten how gorgeous the scenery is here. Othera is a cool black woman riding a fantastic mount who helps people in need. In this case, the trees themselves are being jerks to local villagers. Why? The trees are bored, so Othera introduces them to board games. It doesn't work, so Othera cuts the trees all down, and the chapter finishes at a mere 4 pages (not counting the cover).
Despite its short length, this chapter really sets the tone for the rest of the series. We're in a pseudo-medieval fantasy world, which is a little bit silly, and which riffs somewhat on standard fantasy conventions, but not a completely self-aware OOTS-like world. Othera is a badass hero who wants to help people, prefers nonviolent solutions, but is not afraid to kill when necessary. A lot of characters later in the story are morally ambiguous, but Othera is really good and really easy to love.
Onwards to the next chapter!
Chapter: Beware Eren Lorey
We get our first look at Eren Lorey, the villain, and her castle. Eren is the Princess of Darkness, Queen of Calamity, Empress of Annihilation, and shall soon be Ruler of All Realms. She also have a very child-like personality, and needs everyone to constantly suck up to her. Eren rides on a flying skull monster of some sort to negotiate with the rebellious peasants. The villagers want to surrender because they ran out of weapons. Eren doesn't believe them, so she has her monster destroy all the buildings in the village. Oops! Turns out the peasants were really out of weapons, making Eren, in her own words, "look like an idiot." She gets back at the rebels by killing all of them, before ironically remarking "Some people can't be reasoned with."
Right now, Eren seems like a very flat pure villain. I don't remember how long it will be before we start seeing more depth for her. I think my first time through, I expected her to be a pure villain.
Chapter: Listen to Your Fairy
We our introduced to Nixtos, a Navi-like fairy who helps heroes with advice. Except she's an asshole who goes through a lot of heroes. As her latest hero is ambushed by Eren's forces, we get the first namedrop of Exris, Eren's adopted father. Nixtos gives very helpful advice like "if you stab them in the head, they'll die." Uh oh, Nix points out a monster behind the hero, and the hero thinks she's crying wolf. Time for Nixtos to find another hero!
Nixtos is guilty of the greatest crime a fictional character can commit: withholding important information from other main characters who are ostensibly on your side. Going off memory, she waits until very near the end of the series to tell Othera the very important thing. Has she told any of her previous heroes?
Chapter: Marcus Rila
We now arrive at the first "real" chapter of Monster Lands. It clocks in at 42 pages, while the previous three chapters were 12 pages total (not including the cover pages). This chapter is also the first in which some characters from previous chapters reappear.
We start with a cover showing Marcus on a pile of treasure. Othera arrives in the neighboring village, where the villagers are celebrating Marcus Rila, the great hero who cut down the evil trees. Nixtos is with Marcus now.
Now we see Marcus' real goal: he is grifting the villagers, asking for money which he claims he will use to defeat Exris. Othera is not pleased. Oops: Marcus did not let Nix in on his con. Nix wants a contest to see who the real hero is. While not yet stated explicitly, it seems like Othera is more concerned about Marcus scamming innocent villagers than she is about getting glory.
Scene change! Eren learns the villagers are newly motivated to rebel after seeing that a hero cut down the evil trees, but then Eren gets distracted playing with her cute skull dragon pet. I love the rapid oscillation between Eren as an evil tyrant and a cute kid. Now Exris sends Kersha (the goblin princess) and Necromancer (the first time we hear these characters' names) to crush whoever defeated the trees. Kersha and Necromancer have a casual conversation while they ride a monsterish elephant(?) to hunt down the hero, and the author managers to make them both enjoyable to read about right away.
Nadil! The last of the main cast has arrived. Nadil's rebellion could really use another hero in their ranks.
Nix lays out the rules: the people claiming to be heroes must kill a monster in a nearby cave. Marcus really does not know when to admit he messed up, even when he is alone with Othera. Ah right, a villager calls Nix out on her bullshit, and Nix is not having it. Of course, by not caring about whether her "hero" is benevolent, Nix leaves herself vulnerable to picking the fraud.
Othera is a total badass and can easily defeat the first monster, and OH MY JELL I love the way she calls Marcus' bluff and sends him ahead, and then she still offers to help him when he falls.
Scene change back to Kersha and Necromancer. I love the way the elephant(?) looks while sleeping. Oops: Kersha removed all of Necromancer's supplies from their bag!
Othera talks to Marcus about what makes a hero. Macrus apologizes and makes it sound like he's going to try to be better, before doing his evil grin and kicking Othera off the ledge! I remember Marcus learning to be better eventually, but not for awhile. I don't remember how long "awhile" is.
Ah right, we hear that the entire wax cave is one creature, the candles are their eyes, and they realize Marcus is a fraud. Othera's reaction as she climbs out of the pit cracks me up. Nothing can stop Othera's heroing. I love the way the fire spout at the center of the cave looks.
Back to Nix, who is feeding grapes to a giant mount? Nix hints that if both heroes die, it will be "too late." Too late for what? Nix definitely already knows when the world will end, and she isn't sharing it with the heroes.
Othera spits a tiny bit of water into the flame, and the entire thing is destroyed. There was a person trapped inside? I completely forget what this person's deal is. Marcus has not learned. He taunts Othera for caring too much about helping people that she gives Marcus the chance to win. Ah, Marcus tells the villagers that it's impossible for someone to be trapped inside a monster in REAL LIFE, which this is: it's totally not a fantasy.
And here is the moment I was waiting for: Othera tells Marcus he "wins," he's the hero, just as Kersha and Necromancer show up to arrest the hero!
The Necromancer found a way to make undead with Kersha's food: Undead chicken! As Othera leaves town, the author asks a bunch of questions to be answered in the future.
That was fun. I am really glad to be revisiting Monster Lands. Tune in next time for "Ship Approaching."
#Webcomics #MonsterLands