Paranatural

[Lector87]

Paranatural, by Zach Morrison, is a "middle school kids with ghost powers" webcomic that showcases some amazing writing and visual humor. It starts out kind of slow, both in the art style and in the pacing, but it doesn't take long to rev up to Mach 5 and blast you into the stratosphere with the action and the pun-slinging. Very self-consciously anime-lite in inspiration and style, and extra fun for gentlefolk of cultivated weeaboo tastes. Probably my favorite comic running at the moment. Any other fans of the Activity Club on the forum?

[Calemyr]

It's good. It's really good. It also flows slowly (takes several pages for anything meaningful to happen) and updates really slowly. I mean, it's to Captain SNES levels of "exasperatingly slow". As such, I don't follow it regularly, but it is well worth a binge every once in a while. The characters are interesting (if insane), the dialogue is intriguing (if insane), the art is solid (and insane), the comic is very good. And very insane.

[Lector87]

It's good. It's really good. It also flows slowly (takes several pages for anything meaningful to happen) and updates really slowly. I mean, it's to Captain SNES levels of "exasperatingly slow". As such, I don't follow it regularly, but it is well worth a binge every once in a while. The characters are interesting (if insane), the dialogue is intriguing (if insane), the art is solid (and insane), the comic is very good. And very insane.

Usually, if a webcomic takes months to cover 30 seconds of action, I drop it. I make an exception for Paranatural because every. single. panel. has something hilarious, or gorgeous, or clever going on. It makes every update interesting in some way, even if the plot moves like molasses. Funny, I realize I talked about it going Mach 5 in my original post - and it *feels* like it, when you're first binging it and haven't hit the update wall yet. There's still so much energy in each post that it *feels* fun and fast, even when Zach has announced yet another delay.

[Nettlekid]

Yeah, it might as well update weekly for how often it actually updates. It's weird, reading through the archives I can remember waiting a long long weekend like...each page.

Still, it's a great comic. Hilarious and gripping. Like oh my god, right now?! Everything's turning upside down. How much of the school is aware of paranatural activity and has been playing dumb?

[Lector87]

Yeah, it might as well update weekly for how often it actually updates. It's weird, reading through the archives I can remember waiting a long long weekend like...each page.

Still, it's a great comic. Hilarious and gripping. Like oh my god, right now?! Everything's turning upside down. How much of the school is aware of paranatural activity and has been playing dumb?

Everybody. Everybody is a spectral. There is nobody who is not a spectral.

Except Jeff.

[Nettlekid]

So what's our theory about Dmitri? We have strong reason to believe he used to be part of the club based on the hand we've seen in flashbacks, and so he's probably the one that Isaac did something bad to. I'm assuming Isaac killed Dmitri and Dmitri is currently a furiously poltergeisting ghost, capable of being seen by even non-spectrals? He would be the "exceptional ghost" that Isabel referred to when Max asked if ghosts could use tools, and that would explain why in the fight with Hijack just now his spectral energy weapons didn't reform after they were dissipated, because he doesn't have that much spectral energy to spare.

[Lector87]

So what's our theory about Dmitri? We have strong reason to believe he used to be part of the club based on the hand we've seen in flashbacks, and so he's probably the one that Isaac did something bad to. I'm assuming Isaac killed Dmitri and Dmitri is currently a furiously poltergeisting ghost, capable of being seen by even non-spectrals? He would be the "exceptional ghost" that Isabel referred to when Max asked if ghosts could use tools, and that would explain why in the fight with Hijack just now his spectral energy weapons didn't reform after they were dissipated, because he doesn't have that much spectral energy to spare.

That...sounds super far-fetched at first, but actually makes some sense?

But if Isaac has literally killed a kid - wow that would explain a lot of the weird emotional tension between him and the other Club members, which I've always thought was a bit over-the-top. Also, where his do-no-harm oath came from.

[Narkis]

I really liked the comic at first, but I've been slowly losing interest as time goes by and the story drags on. Though I have to admit the past few pages have been rather good in that regard.

[Lector87]

Yeah, it might as well update weekly for how often it actually updates. It's weird, reading through the archives I can remember waiting a long long weekend like...each page.

Still, it's a great comic. Hilarious and gripping. Like oh my god, right now?! Everything's turning upside down. How much of the school is aware of paranatural activity and has been playing dumb?

Well, I guess today's page confirms that Cody is aware of (and related to) magical nonsense, but is not himself a spectral. Which is a new category of person, I think? Somebody who knows about paranatural stuff, but not a spectral himself?

Also, of course the President of the student council has the power to command vampires to leave the property. Solid shonen metaphysics there, well done.

[Nettlekid]

This seems like a pretty quick revelation that Cody is the secret student council president, after he himself was just explaining that no one knows the president's identity.

[5a Violista]

This seems like a pretty quick revelation that Cody is the secret student council president, after he himself was just explaining that no one knows the president's identity.

I thought we already knew he was, though?

Actually, looking back, he just said that he was a member of the Student Council, so maybe I had just assumed he was the President even though he didn't actually say it.

Also, it seems like that's kinda how this recent arc has been: a clash of a whole bunch of different genres (sports meets the paranormal, and then an almost-derail into shonen battle anime quickly followed by hints of sci-fi aliens, before coming back to paranormal and then a sudden detour into supernatural). It veered between so many different potential plotlines and genres that Cody suddenly being the secret student council president really doesn't seem all that surprising: it just feels like a continuation of the genre/plotline crash that's been happening in this chapter.

On the plus side, Cody being the President ties together the shonen-battle-anime plotline and the vampire-business-owner plotline, so that's good, I guess.

[Lector87]

So...is Cody a vampire too?

What are vampire rules? What even is a vampire in the context of this comic? Because I get the feeling it really, really ain't Bram Stoker's version.

[Nettlekid]

So...is Cody a vampire too?

What are vampire rules? What even is a vampire in the context of this comic? Because I get the feeling it really, really ain't Bram Stoker's version.

I think it's safe to say that vampires belong within the Cousinhood of Man, who Walker was suspicious about and wanted to hunt down and who Agent Day is in town investigating (while she also investigates Spender). And probably related to these guys who match the silhouettes of the Death Cultists mentioned a while back. They were antagonistic toward Doorman and Forge, so we have at least three factions in play: The Consortium, Doorman and Forge's angelic boss, and these Death Cultists who may be the Cousinhood of Man.

As far as vampirism goes I don't think Cody is a vampire. Davy is definitely (un)dead, he said that to Hijack, so I assume all vampires must be. I can't imagine something undead hasn't suffered enough of a near death experience to unlock their potential as a Spectral. Then again he did make a point of saying he used to be a Spectral before he died, so I'm not sure where to put that. In any case, I think Cody is probably technically a mortal thrall who is forced to do the bidding of their vampire master, which is why Davy has power over Cody in that context. But since vampires can't go anywhere uninvited, Cody's authority over the school means he can shut Davy out.

[Lector87]

I think it's safe to say that vampires belong within the Cousinhood of Man, who Walker was suspicious about and wanted to hunt down and who Agent Day is in town investigating (while she also investigates Spender). And probably related to these guys who match the silhouettes of the Death Cultists mentioned a while back. They were antagonistic toward Doorman and Forge, so we have at least three factions in play: The Consortium, Doorman and Forge's angelic boss, and these Death Cultists who may be the Cousinhood of Man.

I doubt that Davy is related to the Cousinhood. In the first link, Spender refers to the Cousinhood as "frenzied vigilantes", and questions whether they're interested in Mayview at all. Davy, on the other hand, says Mayview is "his town," and in this strip the SC member calls him a "local business owner." That doesn't line up with what we know of the Cousinhood being a band of maverick outsiders. Plus, anyone calling themselves the "Cousinhood of Man" are probably anti-undead fanatics.

[Calemyr]

I doubt that Davy is related to the Cousinhood. In the first link, Spender refers to the Cousinhood as "frenzied vigilantes", and questions whether they're interested in Mayview at all. Davy, on the other hand, says Mayview is "his town," and in this strip the SC member calls him a "local business owner." That doesn't line up with what we know of the Cousinhood being a band of maverick outsiders. Plus, anyone calling themselves the "Cousinhood of Man" are probably anti-undead fanatics.

Gotta agree. I don't think he's a good guy, exactly, but I do think his focus is on protecting the town from danger. Not because it's the right thing to do but because he considers the town his property and he takes care of his property.

One thing I did find interesting, here, is that Davy outright claims he's never "tasted revenge" before. That's an interesting angle. Makes him seem less evil despite being a vampire. Of course, I don't think he would have called killing Hijack "revenge" either, though, just removing a distasteful threat to his town. That still makes him a threat, perhaps even more so because his capricious nature might make it hard to predict what would set him off.

[Gez]

Vampire rules are compulsions. The two we have seen so far are 1. a vampire can only be somewhere if invited there; if uninvited they are compelled to leave; 2. the spawn of a vampire is compelled to obey orders given by their vampire sire, and Cody remarked that this also applied to him.

The Cousinhood of Man are vampire hunters. They may know about Davy Jones, or just suspect the presence of a vampire without knowing his identity.

Davy Jones mentioned a witch. The COM might also be after the Witch.

Davy Jones' protection of the city seems mostly to mean he's interested in laying a low profile, presumably to avoid attracting the attention of hunters like the COM. He was after Hijack because Hijack wasn't subtle enough to avoid getting caught, basically, and therefore is a risque to "the masquerade" if you will. The Vice Principal is presumably one of these monsters who can work with DJ because they somehow avoid identification as monsters.

The only kid who is not a spectral or otherwise aware of the supernatural is Suzy. This will never change.

[137beth]

Hi y'all, I just finished archive binging and am now caught up on Paranatural.

[Lector87]

Hi y'all, I just finished archive binging and am now caught up on Paranatural.

Welcome to the Activity Club!

Time to come down from the binge-read high and begin the slow-drip torture of waiting for updates.

[40kenthusiast]

Davey the Vampirate has some of the best character design I've ever seen. The bits where he is twisting up the webcomic to suck Hijack over are just amazing.

[The Extinguisher]

This is absolutely unacceptable Im going to astrally project to Zack Morrison's house and cry in front of him so he knows how sad i am

[Calemyr]

Yeah, I gotta admit the death of Hijack (if that's what we saw) was a brutal gut-punch. A good couple dozen pages before, I'd be rooting for it but all it really took was a conversation with the candle bird and his characterization did a 180.

[Forum Explorer]

Yeah, that was a harsh sequence of events. Good writing though. We've got a ton of characters, showing one of them getting the chop prevents this from pulling an El Goonish Shive.

[Darkseal]

Paranatural, by Zach Morrison, is a "middle school kids with ghost powers" webcomic that showcases some amazing writing and visual humor. It starts out kind of slow, both in the art style and in the pacing, but it doesn't take long to rev up to Mach 5 and blast you into the stratosphere with the action and the pun-slinging. Very self-consciously anime-lite in inspiration and style, and extra fun for gentlefolk of cultivated weeaboo tastes. Probably my favorite comic running at the moment. Any other fans of the Activity Club on the forum?

I tried to read it once: I like the manga-like writing style, but I couldn't stand the coloring technique. I know that's me, but it blocked me early on.

Is the story that great? It didn't seem so brilliant to me... Maybe I should give it another chance.

[Lector87]

I tried to read it once: I like the manga-like writing style, but I couldn't stand the coloring technique. I know that's me, but it blocked me early on.

Is the story that great? It didn't seem so brilliant to me... Maybe I should give it another chance.

The art dramatically improves over time. Have you checked out some of the latest pages?

As for the story...I don't think the "plot" is the main selling point, really. The premise and the events themselves are just gleeful nonsense with a hefty serving of cliches. What sets Paranatural apart, for me, is how funny it is, both in the writing and the visual humor. I can't think of a better example of a comic strip being a deft combination of clever writing and clever art.

[Iruka]

Thanks for pointing out this webcomic! I rushed through the archives and now know the exquisite pain of waiting for updates.

In case someone didn't know about it, Morrison did this guestcomic for Cucumber Quest (5 years ago), which IMO perfectly reflects the humor of Paranatural.

[Agi Hammerthief]

it’s a shame the comments are closed.

[Agi Hammerthief]

and now on hiatus till next year.

[Nettlekid]

While I do love the comic, I feel like the author's notes at the end of this chapter have a weird twinge of being a little self-congratulatory for doing so much, implying creative self-sacrifice for the sake of the comic, complaining that it took so long (both time-wise and chapter length) as though that wasn't entirely up to him, and didn't address the comic's frequent and frustrating schedule slips. I think Zach is a talented creator, but this was a bit much.

[Forum Explorer]

Writing so much and at a high quality is an accomplishment, so I don't begrudge his pride. And it's hard work to boot, so I don't blame him for being exhausted either.

Basically, I think his reaction is a normal one.