Paranatural

[Kantaki]

New comic

I have to agree with Max. Stop talking.
This is starting to get ridiculous.

And now I expect for some reason that Lisa is pulling the strings of the atudent council.

[Mr.Sandman]

Hey, guys, wrong character. This sounds like an Isaac story arc.

[Yuki Akuma]

You know, having a character point out that your story is stupid and cliché doesn't stop it from being stupid and cliché.

Yes, I get the point that people from Mayview are meant to be weird and over the top, but it still strains disbelief to have characters constantly shout about how the world they're living in doesn't make sense and is stupid. These Incredibly Anime Things™ obviously happen in this world - you're not a skeptic if you cry that reality is wrong, you're delusional.

Postmodernism can be fun, but this comic isn't really going about it well.

[Nettlekid]

...You guys are aware that this page is a standalone joke and that the "Twelve Black Saint Councilor-Generals" are not actually going to be characters and the plot isn't going to turn into fighting against the tyranny in the school, right? It's a gag and a joke on anime plots, like the one page when Isaac and Ed fought General Emerald on the Ghost Train and employed several anime tropes there too. The takeaway from this is probably that Max's classmates are going to want Max's help in finding out the student council leader, which will then tie into whatever Hijack's plans with the faculty of the school are.

[mr-mercer]

I don't have much to add to the above discussion, but I have to say that I was rather fond of the Student Council as Anime Antagonist Group gag. Getting into the over-the-top descriptions like that is something I really enjoy.

On the subject of the more recent updates, I absolutely adore FlipFlop. He is absolutely adorable but it's clear that he has some VERY deep-seated issues which will be interesting to get into. His power is a little underwhelming at first glance, but since we don't know its exact limits yet it could actually be really powerful in the right situation. This guy will be a lot of fun to have around.

[Kantaki]

On the subject of the more recent updates, I absolutely adore FlipFlop. He is absolutely adorable but it's clear that he has some VERY deep-seated issues which will be interesting to get into. His power is a little underwhelming at first glance, but since we don't know its exact limits yet it could actually be really powerful in the right situation. This guy will be a lot of fun to have around.

Hey, the power to flip things isn't underwhelming at all. It is at least as useful as creating/controlling paper, magnetism or paintings.
Well, unless the power is ridiculously limited, but even then you should at least be able to trip someone.
If it isn't it could be incredibly destructive- imagine flipping over a building.
And that's without getting into the possibility of flipping concepts like opinions/attitudes.

[mr-mercer]

Yeah, the more you think about it the more powerful it seems. It's the first power I can think of that doesn't boil down to something fairly basic (e.g. paper manipulation), so my not-so-inner JoJo fan is screaming about Stand battles right now. Powers are the best when used in odd ways.

[Kantaki]

Yeah, the more you think about it the more powerful it seems. It's the first power I can think of that doesn't boil down to something fairly basic (e.g. paper manipulation), so my not-so-inner JoJo fan is screaming about Stand battles right now. Powers are the best when used in odd ways.

I was thinking One Piece.
Flipping things could easily be a Devil-Fruit power.
I mean there are guys with the power to push things*, and that power is ridiculously powerful too.
I doubt it will get that far, but the thought is amusing.

*Including stuff like pain.

[mr-mercer]

Oh yeah, that's another strong reference point. One way or another, I think we're in for some good battles.

On the subject of the latest update,

Spoiler

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any thoughts on who this mysterious figure might be? I'm drawing a blank on ideas there.

[Kantaki]

Okay, I guess not knowing who that is is the point, right?

And she knows Max can do weird stuff.
That's potentially not good.
Could mean trouble.

[mr-mercer]

I may be reaching a bit here, but I can't help noticing that our mysterious stranger referred to "my" bus in the penultimate panel (and I believe was visible on the bus at the time Max jumped through it, close to the journalism club). Perhaps the bus is her Tool, or she has some kind of ability related to vehicles in general.

[Forum Explorer]

I may be reaching a bit here, but I can't help noticing that our mysterious stranger referred to "my" bus in the penultimate panel (and I believe was visible on the bus at the time Max jumped through it, close to the journalism club). Perhaps the bus is her Tool, or she has some kind of ability related to vehicles in general.

I think you're reaching. I'm guessing she's just the bus driver's kid or something along those lines.

[mr-mercer]

Yeah, that's another good possibility. I'd still prefer to be right, but that's less because I think it will help the story and more because I want to see more spirits with more powers: I love it when a setting goes as in-depth with its abnormal elements as possible (which is why the Mistborn series is my favourite book series).

[eschmenk]

I think you're reaching. I'm guessing she's just the bus driver's kid or something along those lines.

I think it's normal to use "my" to refer to the bus you take when there is more than one. It would be like saying, "My train leaves at 8:00." People would also say, "My plane..." or "My flight..." or "My gate..."

[eschmenk]

I am finding it harder and harder to maintain hope that the comic hasn't jumped the rails. And a shark.

[Nettlekid]

I am finding it harder and harder to maintain hope that the comic hasn't jumped the rails. And a shark.

I have to agree, despite how much I like it. I'm just getting sick of the "Here's some plot, oh wait it's an irrelevant joke! Now here's some real plot, wait it's another joke! Here's plot! Wait! Joke!"

It would probably be less frustrating if it updated more frequently and/or with fewer missed days. I can appreciate that the author wants to build some dramatic tension before comically deflating it with a joke that goes the opposite direction, and that would work if it was done once or twice and that "deflation" was two days from the setup. In this case it's happened like five times this chapter, and more often than not it's like a week between the setup and the curveball so we're all excited, waiting for something interesting, and then it's a big letdown. It's been months since anything actually happened.

[Yuki Akuma]

This story absolutely loves setting up dramatic story moments only to reveal that it's just a joke. I think it's only really had dramatic story moments three times so far, and I'm just waiting for them to turn out to retroactively have been dumb jokes too.

I'm entirely expecting the culmination of the ongoing background plot to end up being pointlessly minor, too.

[eschmenk]

New comic

Well, I guess the always is the possibility that the author is setting up an obvious pattern of fake-outs so that when the readers conclude that it's just another fake-out, it isn't. Even if so, it doesn't really erase the disappointments that occurred earlier, though.

[Nettlekid]

New comic

Well, I guess the always is the possibility that the author is setting up an obvious pattern of fake-outs so that when the readers conclude that it's just another fake-out, it isn't. Even if so, it doesn't really erase the disappointments that occurred earlier, though.

It's true, this could easily develop into something where the big-eyed kid (do we even know their name? Or...pronouns?) describes their abduction by "aliens" and reveals it to be an effect of spirits, maybe a poltergeisting Grudge affecting the non-spectral world or something related to Mayview's deep power that puts its people at risk, or something unrelated but still pertinent like the introduction of the monsters that the Cousinhood of Man hunts. So it's true, if it turns out to be relevant then that does redeem it somewhat. But it's frustrating to be reading week by week and feel like the story is crawling along because of these wacky hi-jinks.

[lingotony]

I really love this comic. I feel like some people try to make their comics into manga by just giving everybody big, shiny eyes and other superficial "manga" characteristics. But that's just copying a popular art style (an art style that, ironically, was partly inspired by Disney animation). Paranatural, on the other hand, actually feels like manga even though the artist draws it in his own art style, because it has that whimsical, over-the-top energy you might see in a more comical manga like One Piece. THAT is the right way to draw inspiration from another country's style. I'm not saying that's what Zack's goal was (although he did list an anime as one of his inspirations), and it's not like the differences between different countries' art styles are ironclad or anything, but it's one of the many reasons I hold this comic so highly.

Wait! Help! I think I'm starting to write a 3rd-grade five paragraph ess---

<Three paragraphs later>

In conclusion, these are just some of the many reasons I hold this comic so highly. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! If elected class president, I can't promise soda in the water fountains, but I can promise you a hard worker who will do his best to get Mrs. Charbroiledburger fired.

Argh. Sorry. Anyway, I'm glad I got back into this. It's getting pretty exciting!

Totally agree!

[5a Violista]

(do we even know their name? Or...pronouns?)

I don't think we know her name, but given that she's wearing a skirt on page 176 and wears pretty much pink in every scene (gym class, now, and all the flashback scenes) that I've found her (I haven't found her before the start of this chapter, though) and she currently has a feminine build and model, is in the girls' locker room, chances are she uses a female pronoun. (Granted, she could be a closeted transgender who hasn't come out to her parents yet and isn't on hormones because she's only in 7th grade, or she could actually be a boy who really likes skirts and pink clothing and girls' locker rooms and is overweight enough to look like he has breasts. However, most likely this character is supposed to be an unambiguous she.)

Actually, now that I wonder how often we've seen her before, I'll go through the entire comic trying to find every page with her, to see how she was characterized.
Chapter 3, page 18 On school bus, greyed out in background
Chapter 3, page 24 On school bus, greyed out and sitting alone; underneath Max, wearing a white shirt with pink lettering and a clover symbol, with a pink backpack and an alien book, says a one-liner to herself
Chapter 3, page 25 Top half of head only, school bus, says a one-liner to herself
Chapter 4, page 24 Possibly greyed out in background wearing a skirt
Chapter 4, page 30 English class, with pink shirt and pink shoes and shorts and very prominent nose
Chapter 5, page 27 Background character in gym class
Chapter 5, page 29 Pink shirt, pink short shorts, on team Shockodile, shirt says "Prefers Science Class"
Chapter 5, page 31 In background, covering her head
Chapter 5, page 42 Greyed out background character, cowering and covering her head
Chapter 5, page 66 Greyed out background character
Chapter 5, page 68 On bench still wearing pink shirt, short shorts, and shoes; says a one-liner to herself again
Chapter 5, page 84 After the hitball match, background character standing behind Suzy but looking at Max
Chapter 5, page 91/92 In girls' locker room, having her hair messed with(?), still wearing pink
Chapter 5, page 126 Sitting alone in the School Store in the dark corner, wearing pink shirt and blue pants, paralleling Violet (except even more distant, because at least Violet is with Lisa).
Chapter 5, 159 Still sitting alone in the corner, except appearing to react when Max asks if anyone wants to talk with him.
Chapter 5, page 176 This scene: finally her introduction. Pink shirt that says E=MC², the same white hoodie she wore in the bus, pink shirt and short skirt in music class, and acknowledgement that her appearance has changed as she showed up throughout the comic
Chapter 5, page 177 School Store appearance as well as flashback to gym class. Revelation that she's a little "weird" and is jealous of Max for making friends
Page 178 still here
Page 179 still here
Page 180 still here
Page 181 still here; confirmation that she likes aliens
Page 182 Most recent page
So that's all the scenes she's showed up in (that I could tell it was her and not just part of an amorphous blob in the background).

So, basically before this scene we knew she was a pretty-much friendless 7th grader who likes the color pink, likes aliens and science, says witty one-liners to herself that nobody listens to, and whose art has really been inconsistent up until now.


So I actually like these side-scenes with Max. I don't care that it doesn't seem to be advancing the main plot; it lets us explore the other characters who are Max's friends (the ones who aren't involved with spirit stuff) such as Violet and Cody the others. It reveals that this town is every bit as strange for everyone else as it is for Max, and that the other minor characters are the main characters in their own story: or, in other words, Max isn't the center of everything. Overall, I like it. Plus, it's a reason for Max to not be currently involved in the brain-spirit-hunt until later (he has a different opinion on the character of the brain-thing, so there's a reason to leave him out until later). I think it will somehow tie into the rest of the plots, but I don't particularly care if it does. I also think it will show that Max isn't such a sarcastic rude person as he usually is shown as: he'll end up being friendly and caring to this girl in pink, I believe. It also show that people really do think the people in the Paranatural Club are strange and Johnny isn't the only one who noticed. Besides, there's all sorts of ways aliens could be connected to spirits.

[Nettlekid]

New comic's up!

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Some nice exposition about RJ's pronouns, even if it was kind of unnecessary for anyone who read he cast page.

Although, this might be seeding the story for a future twist of some kind. Max and his dad are right behind RJ at the concert! Max was even wearing that same Insolent Children sweatshirt in gym class. Maybe the other background characters will be important too, characters from Max's past. Those two blonds to our left of Max and his dad are detailed enough that they look like they could show up later and we'd be supposed to recognize them, unlike the guy on the top left for example.

[eschmenk]

New comic's up!

Spoiler

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Some nice exposition about RJ's pronouns, even if it was kind of unnecessary for anyone who read he cast page.

Although, this might be seeding the story for a future twist of some kind. Max and his dad are right behind RJ at the concert! Max was even wearing that same Insolent Children sweatshirt in gym class. Maybe the other background characters will be important too, characters from Max's past. Those two blonds to our left of Max and his dad are detailed enough that they look like they could show up later and we'd be supposed to recognize them, unlike the guy on the top left for example.

I'm not sure that was Max and his dad. Max has shorter hair than that, now at least. It does look like his dad, though.

[JinkyS]

Eagerly awaiting the end of guest comics. Not that they're bad by any means, just jonesing for more of the main story.

[Kantaki]

New comic

Huh, I wonder it whatever Stormy is sensing is related to Mr. „local business owner”.
Not that I have any idea what's going on anymore.
ASoIaF has less loose strings than this story right now...

[Domochevsky]

Dat buildup of tension!
Can't wait for that to deflate in a comical fart on the next page. >_>