It’s Tuesday which means it’s time for Crossroads Comics!
This week we’re taking a look at Almost Empty. This is a gem that I recently discovered over the last week that quickly proved itself worthy of a feature despite still being fairly early on in its story. Almost Empty is a Pokémon Gijinka comic inspired by the Pokémon Black and White games. It specifically draws a lot of inspiration from the lore and characters from those games.
By now, long time readers are very well aware that I am a sucker for gijinka comics, and this one is no exception. The designs of these characters off the bat are great examples of well designed gijinkas. You can almost immediately tell what kind of Pokémon they are without needing to think on it for very long, but they’re all still rather distinct from one another and integrate the Pokémon aspects of their designs in more ways than just slapping on ears and a tail. For example, a mightyena gijinka on screen has the general color schee of the Pokémon, but also has a mask for the face of a Mightyena and long hair to symbolize the tail. It makes for a rather unique overall design.
In addition, the visual storytelling is very good. Not only is the prologue a unique and interesting take on the story of the Original Dragon that fans of the Unova region are familiar with, but the story successfully gives you enough information in a few quick pages of the first chapter for you to quickly gather what is going on. They drop you in the middle of a very chaotic scene and yet it’s not hard to figure out that you are witnessing a battle amongst titans from the perspective of puny mortals unfortunately caught in the mix. It shows a great prowess for storytelling to be able to successfully navigate a situation like that and has me confident that the rest of the story will be engaging and well paced.
All in all because this story is still in its early stages there is not a lot to comment on, but I really like where this is going so it seemed like a great piece to highlight this week. Be sure to check out the artist on Twitter, Deviantart, Tumblr, and support them on Patreon. They go by Deer_Head_Xiris in most places so it shouldn’t be hard to find them.
And while you’re at it be sure to check out the rest of the comics in this week’s lineup!
Crossroads Comics
Ask Team Lightbringers Seems important for this little guy to have that on.
PMD: Explorers of Life Take cover!
Shinka: The Last Eevee Kari is really grueling them here.
ComicFury Comics
ChimeranLegends What is this all about?
Little More than Waitstaff Seems a bit integral to the recipe here.
Lucky Star Chapter end!
PMD: A Different Take I wonder where they are.
PMD: Gleaming Hearts Well this is a change of scenery.
PMD: Rangers of Sky Well well well…
Pokémon Ray’s Adventure Well that doesn’t sound good.
Team Bluestar Seems they’ve gotten Zacian cornered.
Deviantart Comics
Galar Adventures That’ll show em!
Golden Sun Now these aren’t our heroes, but they look familiar…
Hypoxia || A Pokemon SS Nuzlocke Well that doesn’t exactly sound promising.
Kianamai First words are always important.
Penumbra Seems Ken has some secrets of his own.
PMD: Keepers of Light Sneaky sneaking!
PMD: Outlanders That’s not a promising reaction.
Yet Another PMD Comic We need a full picture here.
Off-site Comics
Almost Empty Wonder what those bracelets are for.
Asking Paradise Hmm seems traumatic…
Genesis: A Gijinka Story When in doubt, a leg makes for a very effective weapon.
PMD: Exploration Team Ultra Better think of something quick!
Slumber Town Run run fast as you can!
Steven AUniverse: Ask WhitePearl and Steven Seems Rose wasn’t a huge fan of the night light effect.
Steven Universe: Switcheroo AU Seems Jasper isn’t too familiar with earth phrases.
Vee Sketch Sometimes binging is just too much fun!
