First Impressions: Erli & Kromi’s No End

Erli & Kromi--No End

To start, it began as a storytelling role play and it’s pretty interesting. The Zombie Apocalypse happened. It’s been some years–more than a generation–since and humans have left the urban areas to the zombies and have established walled militarized zones in the more rural areas. In addition to the zones, there are outposts and such where the military’s presence is negligible or nil.

This is not so much a first impression anymore since I didn’t finish writing this when I first started following it on Tumblr and then got current with it back in January–and I’ve kept up with it since. I guess it’s more of a quickie, but anyway… Here are some great things about this webcomic:

The story, as implied above, is set in a post-zombie apocalyptic world. We have these two groups of people who meet under less than perfect circumstances and, as not entirely clear agendas would have it, end up travelling together. All while avoiding capture, death, and infection, they continue on in a noncommittal search for a place rumored to have either fully recovered from or remained untouched by the present state of the rest of the known world.

Diversity of character. No one is just a glorified manifestation of a single characteristic. No one is just cold or just snarky or just grumpy or just oblivious or just quiet or just kind. Not all of the characters are easy to love. Some are standoffish and guarded while others make you wonder if you should let their words hold any weight. Some may grow on you and others you may forever be at odds with–just like any real person you might encounter.

Diversity of ethnic identity. Ethnicity is difficult to detail since the world they live in isn’t our world. It’s similar, but not ours. However, you can tell by looking that the characters aren’t a homogeneous group of people.

Diversity of gender identity. So far, transgender, female, and male gender identities are present in the cast. I have a feeling there will be others, but they aren’t including people as tokens, so when they appear, their probably won’t be any flags waving and the identity in question will come up within the flow of the story if needed.

Diversity of sexual and romantic identities. With the exception of the presently most prominent asexual character who is bi/panromatic, everyone else has analogous sexual and romantic identities which so far include homo, bi, and pan. You could try playing spot the hetero, though you’d be at it for a while. They mentioned that there will be some, but that they probably won’t have a prominent role.

The art is great! I love it so much. More diversity here, as far as body types, facial features, and defining physical characteristics. Will it ever not be winter? I don’t know, but the the characters’ personal styles still manage to come through in their choice of winter wear. And the environments and backgrounds! They definitely have this kind of abandoned/wasteland feel. People making the best of of a seemingly never improving situation. Of course, not everything is rundown, but the panels where you have these untouched, sort of unintentionally preserved structures, these monuments to the past or you see the manned military facilities and you realize the stark contrast between them and the rest of the known world. Also, the world is pretty bleak and usually the color palette would be washed out to emphasize that, but it isn’t. Cool grays, icy blues, and rich greens dominate the winter landscape while deep reds, an array of browns, and warm marigolds give a feeling of comfort even to barely welcoming interiors.

I used to be against reading webcomics because I’m impatient and I prefer to read complete thoughts–finished stories, completed volumes, maybe a chapter if I was desperate. But it’s stories like this that tempered my patience and made every installment, regardless of size, worth the wait. So, I think you guys should read it, is what I’m saying.

UP
%d bloggers like this: