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The Legend of Whomper: Dreamcrafter

The Legend of Whomper, Book 3: Dreamcrafter by Chris Farrington

The third installment of author Chris Farrington’s The Legend of Whomper series opens with the titular protagonist, a chubby blue fox, seeking a healer for his instructor, the Edgemaster (or just “Edgemaster” as he’s awkwardly called throughout the graphic novel). After finding a temple of healers in comas, Whomper dreams of interacting with the rabbit Remmy, one of the eponymous Dreamcrafters, with he and Skyla flying to the jungle to another shrine where they sleep and enter the Dreamscape. Whomper reunites with Remmy while dreaming and is shown a system of visible dreams and nightmares where he can battle imaginary monsters.

Grescam, the Dreamdragon, attacks the dream city of Lagos-4 with Whomper and Skyla training so they can better deal with him. This includes tasks such as the fox fighting a doppelgänger in his dreams. Grescam reappears, after which Whomper travels to the god Lord Hypnos’ chamber, where the backstory on the Dreamdragon is revealed. Meanwhile, Remmy and Skyla battle the Lord of Nightmares, and Whomper retaliates against the Dreamdragon with help from a mystical hammer called the Dreamsmasher. After the conflicts, Whomper and Skyla travel to Hammer Forge, where the latter goes to a bar to discuss her lover’s youth.

The third entry concludes with an entertaining look at Whomper and Skyla in prehistoric life, followed by a nice anecdote featuring minor characters. In summary, I enjoyed this graphic novel, an excellent continuation of its predecessors, given the second entry’s foreshadowing of its events. As before, Farrington’s character designs are cute, colorful, and unique, even if the story isn’t wholly family-friendly. Moreover, issues from its precursors return, like awkward dialogue and punctuation errors. Furthermore, all text is capitalized, making it vague whether important terms are capitalized at their beginnings. The story also didn’t fit my entire iPad, but I would recommend installment number three to those who enjoyed previous books.

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The Legend of Whomper: A Thousand Men

Posted on April 7 by Remy St. Gallen

The Legend of Whomper, Book 2: A Thousand Men by Chris Farrington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second entry of Chris Farrington’s Whomper graphical novel series, mostly a collection of previous comics sharing an overarching story, opens with the eponymous pudgy fox protagonist training with his new master, the Edgemaster. Meanwhile, his partner and dragoness love interest Kayla is at magic school, given the advice to purge her “logical side.” Furthermore, the armies of the hostile nation of Menevo are on the march, with Whomper yearning to confront them and their enigmatic leader, Emperor Nocturn. However, the Edgemaster warns him not to rush into combat, with the Emperor’s three generals having conquered many nations.

After reuniting, Whomper and Skyla fly to Valgus, battling a pig captain and his unit of earth elementals. Following this conflict, they receive information about Emperor Nocturn’s generals, which include the black female science-loving unicorn Limerick, the male “undefeated” tiger Haiku, and the vague and possibly two-headed Couplet. After battling a few more unit captains, they fly to Fox City, with Whomper reuniting with his father, with the vulpine warrior running away from his family when he was seven. The novel further reveals Whomper’s backstory, encompassing his training with Gryzak and Lyktor.

The imperial army invades Fox City, with Whomper and Skyla flying to Emperor Nocturn’s airborne fortress, where they battle his generals (whose backstories come to light) and confront the imperial leader himself, with the graphic novel exposing secrets that include his appearance and species. After the conflict, more of Whomper’s backstory is revealed, including what became of his mother and what motivated him to become a warrior. The graphic novel concludes with Whomper confronting a priest worshipping Xilinx in a Raccoon City graveyard, followed by an anecdote with Dextrose and his wild cat, Taffy.

Overall, I enjoyed the second installment of Farrington’s graphic novel series, having enjoyed its predecessor. While the animal character designs are beyond cute, there is some mature content, like occasional cannibalism and blood, exemplifying the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” The action is easy to follow, the continuity between it and the first book is clear, humor abounds, the character backstories are intricate, and the battle scenes are astounding. However, issues exist like the often-unreadable font and maybe some name inconsistencies. Regardless, those who liked its precursor will enjoy the sequel, and I will continue reading the series.

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The Legend of Whomper

Posted on March 11 by Remy St. Gallen

The Legend of Whomper, Book 1 by Chris Farrington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There have been times when I’ve often gotten burned out on traditional textual literature without illustrations, so I figured I would alternate between reading them and graphical novels like this by Chris Farrington, whom I highly respect as an artist in the furry fandom and had commissioned a few times in the past. The titular fox hero, Vulpie Whomper (who doesn’t look vulpine but is cute nonetheless), has trained for years to master the war hammer and embarks upon quests to prove his worth. Each chapter (one divided into two parts) follows his various trials.

Whomper’s first trial opens with his initiation into the Brotherhood of the Hammer, after which he must visit several secret cities and prove the supremacy of his order’s weapon. A thief curses him with kleptomania, and when he gets the curse lifted, he chases after the culprit following a visible knife symbol (though this is unclear) to deal justice.

His second trial opens with guards of the Bridge to the Sky initially denying him entry, after which he must defeat a monster.

The third has him join Dextrose, a furred warrior whose specific species is unclear and seems somewhere between horse and kangaroo, as they battle slugs tormenting a town.

The fox’s fourth quest sees him seeking a town’s serial killer but ends without the said murderer subdued, Whomper needing to find another way to apprehend him.

In his fifth, he encounters a weasel thief ostracized by his fellow purloiners.

The two-part sixth quest sees him battling the slave-collecting Warmachine, piloted by two members of the vengeful Komodo Clan.

The seventh has him partner with a dragoness named Skyla Thornweaver, who remains with him for the rest of his adventures as they battle a new enemy, Gryzor.

Whomper’s eighth quest sees him and Skyla entering Brotherhood of the Arrow territory and battling pig-men bandits.

His ninth has Skyla kidnapped by a rodent princess, Grisella, whom he must rescue.

The tenth has Whomper going to a raccoon-populated city with a zombie problem, where he confronts Gryzor and the necromancer who created him.

The final chapter concludes the graphic novel with Whomper meeting a goat sage called the Edgemaster, under whom he begins apprenticeship after battling an ancient evil known as Xilix while having a final confrontation with Gryzor.

Overall, I found this a cute and enjoyable graphic novel, with my instincts about giving it a read well justified. While the animal characters are incredibly adorable (even if some of their species are vague, given the artist’s style), it isn’t one hundred percent family-friendly, given some occasional blood, albeit not excessive. Some plot points like that in the first trial seem to come out of nowhere, and the typical grammar and punctuation errors associated with standard comics abound. However, I highly recommend this graphic novel to those in the furry fandom seeking a fun and quick read.

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The Marvels

Posted on February 23 by Remy St. Gallen

The latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe follows the events of Ms. Marvel, also being a sequel to Captain Marvel, with the titular characters banding to battle the alien Kree, afterward another nemesis named Dar-Benn. Every time they use their powers, the Marvels swap places, like Freaky Friday in a superheroine setting. I thought it was a typical MCU film that attempts to fuse action with lightheartedness. While the cast performances were solid, with Samuel L. Jackson, as always, doing an excellent job as Nick Fury, along with a surprise after the ending credits, I honestly think that the superhero movie market has somewhat become oversaturated, and ultimately hope that the Marvel Cinematic Universe finds a satisfactory grand finale as it continues the next few years.

DC League of Super-Pets

Posted on January 5 by Remy St. Gallen

This independent animated DC Comics film opens with the standard origin story of Superman, with the infant Kal-El sent by his parents from the doomed world of Krypton. However, their Labrador Retriever (or whatever Krypton’s equivalent was), Krypto, accompanies the future Man of Steel on his journey to Earth. Years later, Krypto feels neglected when his superheroic owner starts dating Lois Lane and has a falling-out with his master. Around the same time, Lulu, a hairless guinea pig and former test subject of Superman’s archnemesis Lex Luthor’s corporation, now in an animal shelter alongside other various beasts, retrieves a shard of the orange kryptonite the Justice League stops Luthor from using, both gaining superpowers and escaping. Simultaneously, the other animals receive its effects and seek to rescue the hero group’s members once Lulu subdues them.

The most notable voice performances include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Krypto and comedian Kevin Hart as Ace the Boxer, whom Batman, voiced by Keanu Reeves (a role he does much better than he would have Superman when propositioned once upon a time), ultimately adopts, the other Justice League members, in the end, fostering the other empowered animals from the shelter. Overall, this was a fun rewatch that I enjoyed far more than most entries of the DC Extended Universe, which may have had to do with the animal cast. The tone is light-hearted, enforced by the nonstop humor (and while some of it is on the toiletic side, it’s strictly urinal, which was fine by me), and given the post-credits scene, I hope it receives some form of continuation, which I would gladly watch.

Beastars, Volume 22

Posted on August 26 by Remy St. Gallen

BEASTARS, Vol. 22 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with its predecessors, the final installment of Paru Itagaki’s Beastars manga opens with a synopsis of preceding entries and a visual depiction of the dramatis personae. The main action begins with the media questioning a gazelle who claims to be the father of the half-gazelle, half-leopard villain Melon, and proves to be the key to stopping the riots that have ensued around the black market. The gray wolf Legoshi continues to battle Melon, who invites his lupine adversary to kill him. Gosha, the Komodo dragon, recalls his interspecies relationship with his wolf wife, Toki, which included obsessive disinfection given his poison.

The citizens get a good view of the black market, with Louis, the red deer, wanting the carnivores and herbivores to glimpse the truth. However, their reaction is surprising as Legoshi and Melon continue their battle, with the underground district changing in recent years. Louis wants to involve himself in his friend’s battle, with Melon doubting that carnivores and herbivores will never be at peace. After the black market turf war, Legoshi prepares to bid farewell to his spotted seal apartment neighbor, Sagwan, who yearns to return to the seas. Meanwhile, Louis must choose between his deer fiance, Azuki, and his school girlfriend, Juno, the wolf.

Legoshi’s relationship with his girlfriend, the Netherland dwarf rabbit Haru, receives resolution, as do many of the other notable characters of the Beastars universe. After the main chapters, Itagaki reflects upon creating her magnum opus, including a deleted scene where Legoshi interacts with Gosha, the giant panda psychiatrist who worked in the black market. Overall, the twenty-second volume nicely resolves the Beastars manga, with the carnivore/herbivore relations reflecting racial tensions in human society. However, the biggest issue remains the absence of any mention of omnivorism, which exists beyond the human world.

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Beastars, Volume 21

Posted on August 20 by Remy St. Gallen

BEASTARS, Vol. 21 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The penultimate entry of mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Beastars series opens with a synopsis of recent events and visual depictions of the dramatis personae. Protagonist Legoshi, the gray wolf, wins the trust of the Doku-gumi populated by Komodo dragons, becoming an official turf war contender, the leonine Shishi-gumi keeping watch on him while facing the Madara-gumi composed of jaguars. The lupine’s next opponents are the vixens of the Inari-gumi; however, Legoshi struggles due to his reluctance to battle females, ultimately settling on dressing in drag to battle on equal terms, which he finds difficult.

During the war, rain begins to precipitate despite no prior indicators of cloudy weather, a so-called “sun shower” that extinguishes all torches in the black market. The main antagonist Melon, the offspring of a male gazelle and female jaguar, has flashbacks of when his mother wanted to take baths with him, which involves a childhood trauma of seeing the backprints on her fur resembling swarming insects. Meanwhile, Louis continues his press conference as the new president of his adoptive father’s business, the Horns Conglomerate, where he openly speaks about the black market and accuses members of the press of having been to it alongside other carnivores in the city.

Consequentially, the madness transpiring in the black market begins in the city streets, with a battle for supremacy between carnivores and herbivores. The rain causes a blackout that gives the former group an advantage, with the current Beastar, Yahya, the horse, walking between them as a gesture to the carnivores. The power does return, with Legoshi continuing his battle with Melon; the Shishi-gumi also use Legoshi’s rabbit trainer, Kyu, as bait, in which case she attempts to escape. Louis is eventually forced from his address for inciting riots, although the Shishi-gumi come to his rescue, the police giving chase as well.

The twenty-first volume ends with Legoshi and Melon’s battle undecided, with Itagaki afterward including story panels where she ponders the conclusion of her manga, along with brief bios of the Inari-gami and Madara-gami. Following these is a Japanese word chain game and a list of the background music the mangaka listened to while producing her series. In summation, this entry of the Beastars series is enjoyable as its precursors, with endearing characters, action, and twists. However, as before, Itagaki ignores the gray area between carnivores and herbivores since omnivores do appear outside the human race in the animal kingdom.

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Beastars, Volume 20

Posted on August 17 by Remy St. Gallen

BEASTARS, Vol. 20 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The twentieth volume of Paru Itagaki’s Beastars manga opens, like its precursors, with a synopsis of recent events and visuals of the main characters. The opening action features gray wolf Legoshi defining the term “tableclothing” as when the snouts of beasts wrinkle and they lose control of their emotions, as he is during his training with the rabbit Kyu. Legoshi had felt the same way when battling the bear Riz, now in an attempt to stop Kyu from rebreaking a giraffe’s neck in a cast, which she feels is essential to his training.

During his pursuit, Legoshi gets Kyu’s head into his jaws, having removed his dentures before doing so, with the rabbit feeling close to death, remembering when her parents had sold her to the black market. Fasting is also a final component in the wolf’s training. Furthermore, he wishes Kyu to command him to “stay” as a human in real life would a domestic dog, and she agrees. Meanwhile, Legoshi’s apartment neighbor, Sagwan the spotted seal, tries checking on his friend, he and the sheep Seven, another resident, worrying about him.

Seven deals with a carnivorous client, with his gesture of a handshake frowned upon by others, alongside his openly mentioning the black market. Legoshi and the half-leopard, half-gazelle Melon plan to duel on Happy Meat Day, which is also the Rexmas holiday, where beasts honor a tyrannosaurus rex that received wings after the extinction of the dinosaurs and rejuvenating the world. Haru, the Netherland dwarf rabbit, walks the city streets alone, which is seen as dangerous since the carnivores are showing delinquent behavior, and she can only converse with her love interest Legoshi through his apartment door.

Legoshi continues to train in his apartment, scratching the floor with his claws and understanding that many beasts in winter can survive for extended periods w/o food or drink, with Haru being his source of sustenance. After he leaves, police investigate his apartment, now bloodstained with red deer blood, with Louis, the cervine fitting the bill, believed murdered. On the eve of his forthcoming duel, Melon has nightmares about his mother and notices that his leopard spots have greatly multiplied, attempting to gouge them as the black market turf wars officially commence.

Contrary to what the police and media believe, Louis is alive and begins to speak at his first press conference as head of the Horns Conglomerate with the cover story that he gave blood for charity and wishes to talk about the black market, which has received a giant blockading gate due to the danger posed by the turf wars. Legoshi enters the black market battles proper and begins by fighting the Doku-gumi, consisting of Komodo dragons, which last until the end of the volume. A visualization of a typical Rexmas celebration comes after the main chapters.

Overall, this is another enjoyable volume of the Beastars manga, with its characters continuing to be endearing and satisfactorily concluding Legoshi’s training under Kyu, which diverges from what he had received under the giant panda Gohin. However, some elements abound that only Japanese readers would understand, like herbivores seeing the River Sanzu when close to death, and Itagaki, as before, overlooks the gray area between carnivorous and herbivorous diets called omnivorism. Regardless, the manga’s action intensifies with this installment, and I recommend it to those who have enjoyed its precursors.

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Beastars, Volume 19

Posted on August 16 by Remy St. Gallen

BEASTARS, Vol. 19 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Like its precursors, the nineteenth volume of the Beastars manga opens with a synopsis of recent events and a visual summary of the chief characters. The main action continues Legoshi the gray wolf’s training with the rabbit Kyu, which he is reluctant to go through given his reluctance to fight back against females. Then comes the revelation that Gohin, a giant panda, who had trained Legoshi before, had rescued Kyu from the black market, after which the wolf and rabbit concur that Melon, a half-leopard, half-gazelle, must be defeated, with a backstory involving his leopard mother revealed as well.

The lion-populated black-market gang, the Shishi-gumi, wish to off Melon, choosing one of their members, Agata, to assassinate their leader. Coincidentally, the melon fruit from which the half-herbivore, half-carnivore received his name becomes popular in the city where the manga occurs, with Legoshi informing the current Beastar, the horse Yahya, that he wishes to confront the gang leader on the forthcoming Meat Day when rival mafias in the black-market engage in turf wars. Legoshi informs his friend, the red deer Louis, of his inventions to confront Melon, during which he hears unfortunate news of his adoptive father, Ogma.

Louis later goes to the Wisdom Soul Festival, where herbivores pray for protection from carnivores. There, he reunites with Haru, who notes that her relationship with Legoshi changed her perspectives and that she had promised Melon at her university to let him devour her. Legoshi then tries to sign up for the Mead Day turf wars. However, he must compete with Melon in a quiz show-like setting and answer questions correctly about animal society or risk death. The nineteenth volume concludes with Kyu attempting to write a letter to her rescuer Gohin, and how her attempt to attack a giraffe with his neck in a cast proves a turning point in training Legoshi.

After the main narrative are anecdotes of Legoshi’s “sideburns,” Louis perusing Ogma’s photographs, the Wisdom Soul Festival, Itagaki’s work-at-home attire, and two of Legoshi’s former roommates taking jobs. Overall, this volume of the Beastars manga is enjoyable as its predecessor; its animal characters are developed well alongside plenty of action. However, the story of Kyu training Legoshi somewhat parallels that of Gohin training him, and the mangaka, as before, ignores the gray area between carnivores and herbivores the real world knows as omnivores. Regardless, I recommend Volume 19 to those who have read and enjoyed the preceding entries.

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Beastars, Volume 18

Posted on August 11 by Remy St. Gallen

BEASTARS, Vol. 18 by Paru Itagaki

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Unsurprisingly, the eighteenth entry of the Beastars manga opens with a synopsis of prior events and visual depictions of dramatis personae. The comic begins with a flashback of Gosha telling his grandson Legoshi to enroll at Cherryton Academy, with his best friend Jack taking him and introducing him to his canid roommates. Back to the present, Legoshi is aware his status as a registered meat offender prevents him from going out openly in public. However, his former roommates invite him to stay with them. Cherryton has, since a recent devouring, segregated carnivorous and herbivorous students, with the drama club remaining one of the few integrated school clubs.

When Legoshi visits his former dormmates at Cherryton, Jack is in a depressed mood and is contemplating suicide by eating an onion, poisonous to canids, with the wolf seeking to stop him. Despite the school’s segregation, the dining hall remains integrated since carnivorous and herbivorous students ate with their brethren anyway. Jack is in a small elite class at Cherryton where they learn about the history, dating back to the Carnivore-Herbivore War a century before the manga’s events, carnivores then termed “life eaters” and herbivores “nature eaters,” with the former protective of the latter upon first encounter. The appearance of a whale ended the conflict, although that which did so refuses to share his wisdom with the world again.

In the meantime, Bill the tiger becomes head of the drama club, and, when dining with his friends, cracks open an egg to find it contains a chick in development, a “trauma egg,” which they aim to rescue and ultimately take to a local police station. At the black market, the Shishi-gumi mourn their fallen comrade given the posthumous name Lion Glasses and observe how the district has changed, with turf wars imminent and the head of the leonine Shishi-gumi, the half-leopard, half-gazelle Melon wanting to claim the area of the city for his gang. Red deer Louis, saved from the black market by his adoptive father, talks with his foster son, who quickly visits the area with a visible price on him.

Louis and Legoshi proceed to the abandoned tower of the organization that had initially held the latter captive for devouring, where they discover his old cellmates, the doe rabbit Kyu and the llama San. Kyu agrees to take Legoshi as her disciple in eventually taking on Melon. However, the wolf’s reluctance to punch females is one of his weaknesses, with the rabbit entertaining the idea of creating an “imaginary chimera” to aid combat. Thus ends the manga proper, after which is a humorous scene of Legoshi and his friends eating monja at a restaurant, a comical take on an older chapter, an anecdote about Itagaki purchasing the wrong drawing paper, and an indicator of canid muzzle length being concurrent to age.

Overall, Volume 18 is another enjoyable addition to the Beastars manga, with plenty of action and character development, not to mention a backstory well before the Carnivore-Herbivore War that occurred a century before the manga’s present day. The reunion of Louis with his herbivorous cellmates from earlier in the manga is also a nice callback. However, the need for Legoshi to undergo another round of training somewhat recalls what he had under Gohin. The absence of a gray area between herbivores and carnivores known as omnivores is further unmentioned. Regardless, those into mature animal-themed stories will enjoy this manga.

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