Annotations Every Day - Written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn - Illustrated by John & Jason Waltrip
Guilded Age
The Saga of the Working Class Adventurer – New comics every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!
Monsterkind
Taylor C
Wallace Foster, a young, bright-eyed human social worker, has his entire world view rocked when he's suddenly relocated into a city primarily inhabited by monsters.
Barbarous
Ananth Hirsh, Yuko Ota
A crummy wizard and an anxious monster have to get over themselves and bring order to an apartment building full of misfits.
Blindsprings
Kadi Fedoruk
Tamaura, wrested into a world 300 years in the future, must find a way to save the magic fading from her country.
Kochab
Sarah Webb
A YA F/F fantasy comic about Sonya, a lost skier trying to survive a snowy wilderness and find her way back to her village; and Kyra - a fire spirit trying to fix the home that she let fall apart around her.
Alice and the Nightmare
Misha Krivanek
Alice finally attends University to learn to collect the dreams of humans, meet new friends, and deal with a pesky reflection along the way.
The Weave
Rennie Kingsley
A young woman pursued by bad luck is witness to the murder of the Fairy Queen of Summer. Can she get to the bottom of this mystery?
Love Not Found
Gina Biggs
Abeille is on a quest to find someone who wants to do it the old-fashioned way in a time when touching has become outdated.
Freakshow
Scotty
A festival of broken people, blood flows in the center ring. Come one and come all, to the greatest show in all of Paris.
Edison Rex
Chris Roberson
The adventures of the world’s greatest villain who, after defeating his superheroic nemesis, decides that he’s the only one left to defend the world.
The Substitutes
Myisha Haynes
What happens when three roommates accidentally acquire otherworldly and powerful magic weapons destined for someone else?
Widdershins
Kate Ashwin
A series of light-hearted Victorian-era adventure stories featuring grumpy bounty hunters, accidental thiefkings, and more, in England's magical capital city Widdershins!
Stand Still, Stay Silent
Minna Sundberg
A few generations after the end of the world, a small, poorly financed research crew is sent out to rediscover whatever is left of the forbidden old world in the south.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Beeserker
TJ Cordes
This comic is about a robot powered by bees, but it's also about the kind of people who think filling a robot with bees is a good idea, and why they're wrong.
Darkling Bright
Chris Hazelton
Kieran Bright is a college student home for the summer and roped into an online reunion with his old neighborhood friends in the most recent update of their favorite childhood MMORPG.
At least, he was, and that was the idea...
Join Kieran and his friends as they are pulled into another reality that may or may not be real and are forced to confront their own identities, the nature of simulated universes and reality itself.
Scape
Lauren
Sula has always preferred to forge her own path, but before she knows it, she is pulled into the middle of a civil war between man and monster!
Within
Verena Loisel
A young hitman meanders between a reality that seems to happen without him, and his dreams where he is lost in an endless house. When he makes an accidental friend, his world is shaken up and he realizes there are things he can't remember about himself.
Astral Aves
Moon Cabal
A fantasy coming-of-age following the adventures of Astra The Black and friends, as they navigate the mysterious world around them. It's politics, adventure, and the supernatural; oh, and crazy hair.
The End
August Brown, Cory Brown
Two aliens crash a sci-fi convention and accidentally take seven nerds on an adventure that spans the galaxy!
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
How to be a Werewolf
Shawn Lenore
Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
Alexander, The Servant & The Water of Life
Reimena Yee
The 21st century retelling of the life and legends of Alexander the Great.
The Forgotten Order
Christy
A young witch for whom every spell is a misfire finds solace and friendship in her new companion - a cursed doll.
Not Drunk Enough
Tess Stone
Logan Ibarra is possibly the unluckiest repairman in the world. A late night job should not have landed him in the middle of a mad scientist's squabble, but he soon finds himself surrounded by monsters and further madness with little tools to get out.
Augustine
Winter Jay Kiakas, Windy
August and her ragtag group are just like everyone else, simply surviving in the treacherous Crater... When they stumble into what may be an artifact of the ancient past, their lives are thrown into a much bigger loop as they trifle with bounty hunters, monsters and gods.
Cassiopeia Quinn
Gunwild, Psudonym
A cute, pantsless thief is pursued across the stars by a buttoned-up military officer in the spacey, laser-filled future.
The Last Diplomat
Cat Farris
Samma and Tark didn't ask to be stuck together, but now they're partners on the adventure of a lifetime.
Trying Human
IntroducingEmy
Two women separated by over half a century are brought together by an alien-filled conspiracy involving murder, mystery and romance!
The Golden Boar
Magnolia Porter Siddell
A young woman joins a group of summoners who call forth Guardian Beasts to protect their isolated magical island. Unfortunately, her Guardian Beast is nothing like she'd imagined, and he's about to change her life, and everything she thought she knew about herself...
Gzhel Guardian
Atla Hrafney, nushanchel
The Railway World is a complex, mysterious network of trains, towns and mechanical monsters. Leo is a Guardian of one of these towns, and although their burn-out and depression has taken hold of them, they have one last job to finish.
Nigh Heaven & Hell
Scotty
Heather Vodihn is on a simple mission: find her father. However she becomes entangled with two strangers with mysterious powers being stalked by a group with bizarre demands. Heather must learn to trust her new traveling companions, even if she is untrustworthy herself.
This is Not Fiction
Nicole Mannino
What do you do when the person you're in-love with is an anonymous romance novelist? Get your best friend to hire your worst enemy for help!
Lies Within
Lacey
Lysander's aimless and carefree life is turned upside down when he accidentally discovers that the cute boy next door, Simon, is a literal monster
Ride or Die
Mars Heyward
Ride or Die is an LGBTQ webcomic about two street racers who team up with a demon-possessed muscle car in the search for a missing woman, while being hunted by a deadly religious cult.
Missing Monday
Elle Skinner
Two girls fall in love through a magic door connecting their worlds. When Monday suddenly goes missing, it's up to Foyle to find her. How she's going to navigate an entirely unfamiliar world is another matter.
ARISE, YE SKELETON KING
Brian Clevinger, Escher Cattle, Lee Black
A troupe of wandering "adventurers" down to their last silver "acquire" a map only to find the real treasure was the fiend they dug up along the way.
Sleepless Domain
Mary Cagle (Cube Watermelon)
In a world where magical girls and their battles are commonplace, loss has become all too common as well.
Sakana
Mad Rupert
Our heroes must navigate a hazardous dating scene, overcome personal anxieties, and wrangle unruly seafood in order to find love, peace of mind, and a paycheck.
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Little Tiny Things
Clover
What are the little things that move us? The simple joys that warm our bodies and hearts? The micro life of insects that influence our world more than we think? The tiny steps we make everyday to have a happier tomorrow?
Saint for Rent
Ru Xu
Saint Halliday runs an inn for Time Travelers. Unfortunately, he seems to attract other supernatural "guests," too.
Quick$ilver
Crypto
The flirtatious, directionless, and ever disastrous Luci searches for excitement in a life of crime, and finds himself caught in a web of messy romance and bad blood.
Headless Bliss
Clover
A story about story-telling, and other metaphysical themes such as Nightmares! (Failed) Teamwork! Comedy! And more!
Sister Claire
Yamino
In the troubled aftermath of a great war between Witches and her fellow Nuns, novice Sister Claire just wants a purpose.
Aquapunk
Lo
In an underwater world of unknown coordinates, inhabited by aliens, ghosts, and robots, a young member of a warrior underclass is framed for a crime and goes on the run. Little does he know he is part of a grand design that only gods and ancestors could choreograph.
Star Impact
Jack McGee
A young, energetic woman fights her way up in the world of super-powered boxing after discovering the mighty gloves of her missing idol!
Goodbye to Halos
Valerie Halla
Cuddles, gay flirting, weird feelings, and magic-fueled knife fights - it's an adventure across the queer multiverse!
Namesake
Isa, Meg
There's ghosts at your heels and fairy tale worlds ahead. What do you do? Jump down the rabbit hole!
Guilded Age is co-written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn, and illustrated by John Waltrip. Site design by Samantha Kyle. Fonts by Blambot.com.
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Privacy Policy
Guilded Age does not claim ownership of any of the corporate branding that appears in this comic, nor does it claim any affiliation, partnership, or endorsement of any kind.
They are used strictly as an artistic choice for the set dressing of the comic.
They are used strictly as an artistic choice for the set dressing of the comic.
E-Merl, you are remarkably calm and composed. After the loss you’ve just experienced, you’re just looking after your friend instead of falling to pieces. I wonder when you’ll let the ‘illusion’ lapse.
Maybe they haven’t told him yet?
They’re waiting for the right moment. Kappa
Kappa?
It’s a Kappa face meme.
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/kappa
The more you know~!
[Yo Joe!]
Huh. I always thought it had something to do with pickles.
Strangely enough, I always thought “Kappa” was a kind of Japanese demon: http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/japanese-mythology.php?deity=KAPPA
Something of a “polite troll,” if you prefer…
i read the link and still don’t get it.
There is no right moment for this kind of news. It’s a choice between very bad, and worst.
I don’t think he knows yet
Man, how is it that Scipio knows but he doesn’t? Scip and Fr’Nj have even had time to make out and then have a long chat over it.
I know. I think they are keeping it from him to “protect” him, but what it’s really going to do is crush him like a ton of bricks; especially because he will know that EVERYONE knew but him.
What I can’t figure out is why Frigg hasn’t told him.
She’s probably still hung over.
I am hoping that he is dealing with it in his own way.
They’re waiting for him to be in a place not so high up with so few rails unless you’re in jail. (said this a few updates back but its still true. )
Frigg’s just doing the Best she can.
*applauds*
Yeah, feel bad for Bandit. It’s basically well established at this point that Syr’nj isn’t being reasonable or objective.
Let’s not pretend Bandit is innocent, here. Bandit was totally on board with Byron coming along right up until it turned out to be a bad idea. She’s the field commander, specifically with leadership authority ceded to her by Byron himself.
Bandit was in charge, and she opted to either bring Byron along despite misgivings, or simply had no misgivings at the time. Then, she put Byron in charge of the team that went into the woods after the cultists in the first place.
Bandit was the one in charge; Syr’nj wasn’t even there. She’s just as culpable as anyone else, high charisma score notwithstanding.
Maybe Bandit was OK with Byron coming along. We sure know Srn’Nj ultimately was OK with it, despite misgivings. Syr is the overall boss, after all. And Syr cannot be objective right now – her emotions color every thought she has about this. It’s why lawyers shouldn’t represent themselves, and doctors shouldn’t do surgery on their own family; they cannot be objective enough. So without pretending Bandit is a total angel, it still is a fact that she’s being screwed by her biased boss.
Aaand … full disclosure here … I am obviously biased, too. Total Banditphile (Banditophile? Banditaphile?) here.
I know right.
I would agree with you that Syr’nj wasn’t reasonable/objective… but at a different time in the narrative.
When Byron/Syr’nj were talking about Brother Tom’s prophecy/oracular moment/whatever, that should have been the tipping point.
Byron: “I’ma do it.”
Syr’nj: “Don’t do it… we both know it’s a bad thing. Don’t do the thing.”
Byron: “I’ma do it! I wants to do it!”
Syr’nj: “Well… then take this anti-thing.”
Byron: *takes the thing* …zzzzzzz
(Frigg in the alt-text: “SUCKS, DON’T IT BERZERK-NUTS!?”)
When you do exactly what your enemy wants you to do, that’s when you lose the fight. I’m a little surprised Syr’nj, with her military training, and Byron, with his adventuring experience, went straight for the face. I’m really hoping that Brother Homon messed with the ‘zerker ritual so it wasn’t the perfect clusterfuck Tom wanted… but that’s just me.
Syr’Nj has had a military training … as a medic. As a combat medic, maybe. But not as a fighter.
well duh. Syr’nj blames herself for what happened.
And she can’t handle it, so she’s gone completely off the deep end.
Honestly, I’m in total agreement with E-merl here. Had to suck for Bandit to see her teammates getting torn apart by a threat that was supposed to be under control. With no idea what caused the outbreak, it’s only reasonable that she felt betrayed by the very people she had been trusting with her life, and everyone else around them.
Seeing that problem resurface yet again, seeing the death and destruction, her old instincts come back into play and Byron isn’t her friend anymore- he’s a manic murdering machine making mulch of merry mates of hers. Now, by any logic, Byron shouldn’t be able to hurt anyone anymore, just like he’d want to not be doing.
First of all: +1/like/upvote/whatever for the alliteration.
Second: While I agree that the ‘zerker virus/sickness/whatever, is a major problem, Bandit never forgave Byron for basically being sick (imagine having your coworkers shun you forever because you got the flu… yeah I know it’s an oversimplification because the flu doesn’t kill everyone at the office… but the Five got better… or something… just roll with it). Syr’nj is right in this regard: Bandit blamed Byron for being a Berzerker. Could Syr’nj/Byron planned better, sure. But Bandit’s ire shouldn’t be aimed at Byron specifically… it should be at Syr’nj as well (or herself, since as a field commander she should have some significant pull in “who should be going against the cultists).
I think in the heat of a battle and seeing some of things that went on there, we have to cut Bandit a little more slack. Syr’Nj is doing this out of emotional response only. She wasn’t there so she can’t rationally judge what Bandit did without more info.
More like being shunned for having the plague. Which is a thing that happens.
i think it’s less so not forgiving his being sick, but feeling betrayed. remember she was all happy/friendly with byron initially and seemed to think he could turn the rage on/off at will; then he chopped her into thirds after they survived a pretty intense battle. so now she see’s him as a rabid dog that could go and do…well this…at any time.
Hopfully these next few pages we’ll get to see some more of Bandits’ perspective. Since the more recent Berserker incident, we’ve gotten to see the dry remorse of Syr’Nj, and her plan to bring Byron back again, but we haven’t seen Bandit at all until now. Maybe she has something to say now that they’re out of the heat of the moment.
Dishonorable discharge out of the Guild? No, I think Syr’Ng would more prefer out of a cannon.
That is one helluva comfy chair! Where do I get one?
Where nobody would expect it.
Our three main weapons are: fear, surprise, a fanatical devotion to efficiency, and berserkitude.
apparently in a giant birdcage:)
I’m wondering how death in the game is handled within the Five’s sphere of influence. In most MMOs, death is a fairly common occurrence, but the Five never seem to see anyone die, so we have to assume the deaths of the guildies is somehow ignored or glossed over from their perspective. Actual death, from the Five’s POV, is akin to character deletion in the real world.
This makes me wonder about two things:
1. The outbreak of bezerking is going to get noticed in the real-world in a manner similar to Rachel’s death, since they seem really “dead”, but will they seem different due to the different causes? Can the data be “restored” in the real world? How will that seem to the Five?
2. Bandit’s death at Byron’s hands seemed to get ignore/glossed over, but how was that perceived by the in-game Bandit? As the only guildie to die at the hands of one of the Five and come back, was that death a real, unique trauma for her? Is that one of the reasons she hated Byron? If Bandit was made more “real” by being around the Five, then had to experience a “real” death …
Remember it’s an “extreme RP” founded guild and server. might be a in-house rule “resurrections can only happen in the following rare circumstances (rules here) otherwise if your character dies, you need to make a new character”
I agree with kagato’s take on the game experience. Also, I am convinced that most of what we saw with the zerkers occurred while the PC users were offline. Each of the characters has their own personality and “life” within the game itself, outside of the control of the users. For example, Rachel was obliterated while her user was asleep in Sepia world (see axemas-special-2014-page-1: panel 2).
The character’s existence beyond the players’ control of them is the core of the question about Bandit. I’m guessing that the more the Five are involved in something, the more “real” it is. Bandit’s resurrection might have just been a game mechanic, i.e. respawn, but what did Bandit the character experience it as? She was already more “real” because of her time with the Five, then was killed by one of the Five. How “real” was her death? What did that experience do to her? If she really does remember dying on some level, that MUST be shaping her feeling about Byron.
I think she remembers what Byron did.
Remembering a fact and an experience are two different things. I know she remembers the attack, but did she experience death?
If they can run back from the graveyard before everyone logs out for the day with a really good story for what happened then everyone just ignores it.
While kageto has a good explination, I’d like to offer another
Perhaps the berserker curse is a rather debilitating or simply annoying status confition and most people simply give up on that character should it contract such
Bandit, if you want Syr’Nj to hear “It was a hard choice, [I] was responsible for everyone and [I] had to protect the ones [I] could, however [I] could,” why don’t you tell her that, instead of variations on “I’m glad Byron’s dead”?
It’s not like most people would be coherent enough to explain that at that particular time. And I think it’s pretty clear that Syr’Nj isn’t listening to anything Bandit has to say [i]now[/i].
this ^^
I’m glad there’s still a little bit of humor bandit’s able to dredge up even while resigning herself to Syr’s whims. Must be no one’s told E-merl yet. Still.
Syr’s whim?
People keep saying that no one has told E-Merl and that does see to be the case, but maybe they just haven’t had the chance. How long has it been since the beast hunter team got back? If E-Merl has been visiting Bandit during that time they wouldn’t have had a chance to tell him. (And its not like anyone is going to tell Bandit anything that is happening outside of her cage.)
We’re not really saying it’s a bad thing, or accusing characters of purposely not telling him or being somehow incompetent for not telling him yet. At least *I’m* not. I realize there has been WAY too much going on for that to have come up yet. Since it’s such a sensitive thing, the last few events have simply not been an appropriate time to drop the bomb on him.
It would sure be cruel to basically say “Hey, your friend Byron’s dead along with a ton of other innocents, but chill in this jail cell for who know show long while we figure out if y’all are dangerous, oh and yer girlfriend’s dead. Have fun!”
He’s a visitor. He’s not in jail. Though I would probably lock him in before telling him if they are going to do it here. (did I mention they are really high up? Cause… *looks down* )
Wouldn’t really make sense to lock him up either as Syr’nj knows for a fact that E-Merl didn’t berserk. If they locked E-Merl up just for being at the battle they would have to lock up Syr’nj as well, which they didn’t.
Well really, locking him up wouldn’t do much good while he can do that portal spell.
I think they confiscate your toys when you are in jail.
Fair enough; I forgot that he hadn’t actually gotten ‘zerked. Thanks for the reminder. Times three.
Also, people haven’t told e-Merl? Maybe they have. Y’all are just vultures, waiting to feed off of a scene of an illusionist going through a moment of deeply personal trauma, hoping he’ll be emotionally crippled enough to last you a whole week?
Rachel didn’t die in a random battle, but an epic boss battle. A Frigg worthy battle. Maybe he was shocked, spent one afternoon getting drunk, and then has pulled himself together, because it’s what she would have wanted. Now he’s trying to fill her role as the team’s Unyielding Heart?
That does sound like him.
Hmm.
No wait, the other thing.
It’s kind of interesting to observe just how *much* people are willing to assume about the situation, seemingly to validate existing beliefs.
Based on Fr’nj’s reaction I would say it is still the same day that the beast hunter team arrived, meaning if he already knows then it would be the same day that he received the news. That’s a rather quick recovery.
I think you have the right of it. If you read it like the last couple of scenes are ocurring simultaneously then Gravedust went straight to Syr’Nj to report, Fr’nj went straight to Scipio to nookie, and E-merl doesn’t know the hunting party is back yet because he’s busy trying to get an accounting out of Bandit.
Not so cocky, now, Bandit, huh?