Webcomic Spotlight #2: Alpha Shade

After a short hiatus due to a rebellious laptop, the Spotlight is back! Last time we took a look at the rather well-known Sinfest, a comedic strip. This time we’re going to check out a much more serious comic with Alpha Shade by Chris and Joe Brudlos, available at http://alpha-shade.com/

Alpha Shade starts of in media res, with the young Laura Stone leading her small country’s troops into a war between two great empires. The first chapter is chock full of action including infantry battles, tanks, biplanes, organic flyers, felines with amazing powers, airships, sabotage, attempted assassinations, and (surprise) growing characters. The first chapter ends on a climax and flashes back more than a year before the shooting starts to find Laura and her friends seemingly in our own world, living normal lives. But it quickly becomes clear that the normal world and the world we saw at war are moving closer together each day.

With just a glance at the comic, at least one thing is going to stand out: the art. Each page, published in graphic novel format, looks great, whether it’s featuring a gunfight or a casual meal at a fast food joint. That becomes more true of each page as the comic goes on, and as there are 299 pages so far the art at this point borders on glorious.

The one downside to that great art is long uploading times. The front page of the site has a status bar for the next page in the works, but there really is no reliably determined schedule. This shows in that there are only 299 pages for roughly five years, since it began in 2003. So Alpha Shade isn’t a webcomic you check five times a week. It’s more of a comic you check every month or so to catch up on a few pages.

In addition to the great art is a well-planned and deep storyline. The slow speed in the uploads leaves much to the imagination for the moment, but it is still easy to tell that Alpha Shade exists in a large and detailed world with many characters and factions. And the characters we’ve met so far are all interesting, ranging from the sadistic to the kind and the serious to the goofy. Also, the creators have said in interviews that the script for the story is written out well in advance of pages being published, ensuring that the comic will be going for a long time yet.

However, the comic is not the only thing the Brudlos brothers offer. They also run a podcast, called Alpha Rant. In the Rant they talk not only about the comic they’re working on but also many other subjects, including television, movies, video games, other comics, and more. From time to time they will even do interviews of other writers/artists. There are currently #299 episodes of the Rant, all lasting up to an hour at times.

So, Alpha Shade may take its time as it moves along, but the wait is worth it. Give it a look and see for yourself. And drop by here again for another Webcomic Spotlight in two weeks. Let’s hope the computers don’t try another uprising.