Overall

Vision Vision

Originality Originality

Technique Technique

Impact Impact

You’re man enough to take it, so I’ll let you earn your stars rather than detracting points, though I’m sure people will think I’m evil for it. (Generosity in critiques is for wimps!)Vision -- Your consistent, unique style kept the narrative together (+1), the gradual increase of momentum that led up to the action sequences was impressive, and they themselves have plenty happening without being too busy per panel (+1). One thing I immediately noticed since page 1 was the background of the city itself, giving Albion an uncommon set of architecture with the large domes, arches and high walkways (+1). The atmosphere with the main bulk of story occurring at night cast a joyless light over the city until the battle begins, then the first signs of dawn become apparent along with hope that this venture will succeed (+1).Originality -- The story took what I expected to be a straightforward plot, added several unexpected elements and a plot twist or two that surprised me (+1). I suspected early on that Thrash wouldn’t play a part, and just because I despised that cheap angle (since it reduced every single valiant effort on the part of Remington and his companions to a big fat load of nothing), I’ll give you extra kudos (+½). Minor improvements on the source material, such as fur colors, building designs and suitable settings, are themselves worthy of note and added just the right amount of detail to take me as a reader into the scenes (+1). The fight against Lien-Da played out well (though the “shock” pun made me cringe), not dragging on while at the same time making the clash physical and mental, but unfortunately it lost some power when you went for a “distract element” all too often used by villains to escape (+½).Technique -- I loved the more individual designs for echidnas, especially since it gave them personality without speaking and most were just featured once or twice (+1). Your choice of panelization made the pages easy to digest since the format was often simple, yet on closer analysis I started to notice the slight changes in shape/angle depending on the action or dialogue therein (+1). Every page contained something important to the narrative, even in the beginning where the young echidna is doing nothing but running away (+1). Unfortunately I have to say there were several poses that came across as too stiff. I can’t tell if it’s how the characters were leaning/not leaning or if the angle threw me off, but they simply felt unnatural (-½). I can give examples if you like.Impact -- There were four key moments where the force of this comic really came through. I found Lara-Le’s fierce attitude terrific since she was presented more as a leader than an icon whose power came from her station as Knuckle’s mother (+1). The battle against Lien-Da changed from your typical boss-fight into something quite personal when Sally was brought up (+1). Komi-Ko’s death and especially Remington’s reaction to it struck deep chords with me and most likely every reader (+2). Eggman’s central pose and speech (with Lien-Da’s shock and “I’m doomed!” face back there) was perfectly in character while also giving a ton of weight to the end of the issue (+1).