The Belfry WebComics Index

I'm not certain about the story line as I'm about 80% blind, and use an incident color meter attached to a midi sequencer to "read" comics. Most comics are drawn in sharp contrasts and, which renders an unpleasant, erratic noise.

The chromaticity and color temperature of this series is unique, as it orchestrates a digital melody comparable to Tchaikovsky doing a cover of a PetShop Boys single. I highly recommend it.

I love the art style. It adds a sense of mystery and almost a feeling of noir to the the slowly unrolling world. Rather than frustration at everything not being laid out for me, I am entertained by the mystery and looking forward to the answers.

The story is intriguing, with details about the world and the plot being revealed slowly over the course of the strip. What has Absinthe stolen from the repository, and why? And why do the various worlds appear to be a series of floating islands in the sky? All will be revealed soon enough. And I absolutely love the attitude toward sex, which is treated casually and joyfully.

The artwork is amazing, too. The artist, Egypt Urnash, disdains outlines and realistic colors, creating an art nouveau look in which the color palette seems to be restricted to two colors per page, yet is used with amazing skill and expressiveness. The colors subtly shift from page to page, indicating changes in mood, or perhaps paralleling the arc of the story.

Which is not to say it isn't just plain fun to read; the characters are well-written and interesting. First and foremost, there is Absinthe, a raccoon girl thief who flits effortlessly from heist to heist with the skill of a Sly Cooper.

And hey, there's casual nudity and wind-up sex dolls! How can you go wrong?

The raccoon girl lives in a big metropolis. She went to work, flirted with her coworker, changed into a kinkier outfit, blew up a building after stealing something, bungee-jumped out, hugged her very pissed-off and confused friend, and ran off to steal more things.

Then she somehow jumped off the side of a building onto a passing sky ship owned by a rich friend of the family who came to help her escape. They went to his private island and now there's a big party where she's trying and failing to sell the thing they stole, which is apparently really important to the place she left.

It's really not that complicated. You just need to be able to handle a little ambiguity. This comic is definitely not for people who need everything spelled out for them, but everything you need to know is there.

Agreed about the visibility issues, but the artist increased the resolution and turned up the brightness and that seems to help.

The artist and writer may know what the story is about, but they are probably about the only one who do. The artwork is various shades of one color apparently denoting location (brown=earth, blue = sky). Unfortunately the contrast is so low because of the way the color is applied that the comic becomes difficult to see or read. Checking out things like the "About" file does not help.

I thought this comic had promise when it first appeared, but it never made sense and no coherent plot appeared even afdter several months of posts.