Every now and then, I remember these comics and come back to re-read them. Honestly I think this is my favorite battle on the website so I just wanna send my compliments! Crafty, Michigan is a super compelling character and I absolutely love him! The death here is one of the most creative I've seen on void to this day, the reveal is so devastating and I love the subtlety of it. I also adore your colors and style, it's super shape-based here and it's really pleasing to the eye. Shen, you've always been a dialogue master! The way the argument builds into a full on fight feels real. I love how you tied both character's backstories together, it was a super effective way to make Michigan's death really sad. This comic hits so many emotions just right and I'm a big fan of the somber ending.

Honestly bless random comics because this was really good and made me actually look into both characters *eyes emoji* I also love how both of you took the route of Mitch and Greece being friends, either past or future, and arguing about reasons to kill. Crafty - I am so damn sad that Michigan is dead AND you’re off the site :( I hope one day you come back and read this. Your colouring style is fucking gorgeous, especially with environments. The cover page for Part 1 of Monster Mash was *chef’s kiss* And Michigan’s story! Goddamn! As a trans guy who loves werewolves AND has a character who uses shifting similarly I just- wow. I really love him and how you revealed his background in Part 3. I also liked how you kinda hinted at religious dogma with “this is not an act of hate but an act of love” regarding killing him for his werewolf identity. Shen - Yknow, initially I didn’t like Greece and didn’t sense any regret in the first few comics. But here? Oof. The last page was such a solemn, quiet moment and I really loved it. The drifting snowflakes really made the scene come alive, and I enjoyed the other little animations throughout, which were well paced and nicely done. I also really loved page 9, it almost felt as if it was animated as well with how much energy the poses had.

Thank you everyone for your critiques! I'll take them all into account! Sorry my anatomy is mushy, and my story was contrived and my word bubbles confusing.... i only had 2 weeks and it was christmas and i worked full time T.T so there was a lot that couldn't be saved. but now that votings done i confess, Hobbit if you are referring to page six, I did that page while hammered on Christmas Eve. I tried to fix it the next day but needed to move on if i was going to get this finished on time ^^; lesson learned. For the rest of the comic though, I dont think I'm a good enough artist to see what you are seeing, because i don't think it looks all that bad given my time crunch. In terns of writing, I was making up Greece's story and conflicts as I go because I didn't think I would get very far in this tournament initially, and a "beast within" narrative sounded fine for a guy who was gonna die in five minutes. But now that hes sticking around Ill think hard on how to handle him in Void so he doesn't come off either too overdone or too "complete". Im so glad everyone liked my comic, and my character! I'll try not to let you down!

Monday: I'll echo that my opinion was mines alone and have carried on with it as such. To say that it is an ultimatum that the site should adopt wasn't the case at all. Oh of course, I wasn't trying to specifically attack your concept of it being a requirement to have a non-pacifist ending. Not that I expected anyone to, but I just would have been disappointed in the site if we had taken it down and/or never put it up as a result of the comic not specifically showing the death.

P.S. Damn Roflqu you are credit to team :v

I'll echo that my opinion was mines alone and have carried on with it as such. To say that it is an ultimatum that the site should adopt wasn't the case at all. However I feel that my reasons should be pointed out as this subject can be tricky to do appropriately if at all without it feeling like a " I'm tired let's get burritos" type of narrative which I disagree with in this case. In the future however, instead of blocking comics it's simple to post a comic up and pre-declare a winner while still letting the voting play out. Nevertheless I feel that your style came to its own here, with clever use of color ,blocky shapes, and wild camera angle here and there. The last half suffers a monotony of 7 of panel pages as it swims along to the finish line as it passes the conflict by, waving at it, blowing it kisses and getting tacos. SHen's effort on this battle is to be commended despite all that, with subtly animated frames and well timed panels it creates immersive depth to the read and just as the name implies-- Animates the storytelling. My only cirticism is that SG's story ends more as a continuation [as it should] or a prequel to a story that has yet to begin in Void proper. In his christening it is easy to imagine what his future fights will be like however in the future I find that his conflict will need more dimension to it despite the unerring focus on his theme as "Man becomes Monster" Otherwise he risks becoming a character that is "too complete"

I will just say, had we been denied Crafty's comic, I would have been pissed. These are 13 beautiful pages and if you want to exclude them from victory based on not killing anyone (which frankly they pretty well explain how Sovereign Greece dies in their comic), that's your priority, but you'd be wasting the tremendous effort expended during the holiday season and it would have been kind of arrogant to ask that of them only to not let them have it up. If a pacifist ending happens as long as the character dies and/or has an implied death I can accept it. There's tons of precedence we've had where the opponent hasn't died through action of the opposing character during SDT finales, much less SDT matches. I could go on and list said examples. Honestly though, if the story is interesting enough, anything should be acceptable. To enforce that all the SDT to have some 'death through violent combat' rule is reductive and should be avoided. --------------------------------------------------------- You both did amazing and that should be recognized. You did terrific effort each round you were in and I really enjoyed reading these comics. One critique that applies to both of your comics however, is that the tone and feeling of them makes them feel more like they belong in the semi-finals or earlier. They don't feel like they're conclusions to the arc that both characters were moving in in the story. It seems like there should be a second part to the stories or that there's a final round after this one. This doesn't diminish my enjoyment or appreciation for what you both did. It just gives a feeling of the story not being properly concluded for either characters. Crafty: You know, when we look back at when you were first around during 2012, it is incredible what you're producing these last few months. You've definitely grown these last 3 years through your own effort and you should be proud of where you stand now. The subject matter of Michigan's character is a great maturing of your story-telling ability which is only matched by the interesting art style you're working with now. You're doing great stuff with this line-less form heavy style and you should keep at it. Michigan Grisly is probably my favorite character I've seen on Void last few years. I can't quite think of a character concept or idea that I've really been so into or interested in. The entire concept of someone utilizing their werewolf form to more realize who they are as a person on the inside is absolutely fascinating. I think that's ultimately what I wanted more of. I also loved the concept you used with Greece's death, I thought that was a fascinating idea and also made for a great original use of lycanthropy, avoiding death through stronger form. I think the red lights at the end, while a nice artistic choice, were a little overpowering for me. I wish we had seen more cool tones at the end there, either through result of their actions or moving locations. We get some of that in the backgrounds, but I really would have preferred more of that, because the red was a little harsh on the eyes to last for as many pages as it did I think. I also would have maybe preferred to see the fight work on a little longer, but that may have felt more fulfilled had we seen the comic pages you were unable to share with us. This entire comic is hard for me to pick out many negatives I felt were present. Perhaps on the whole, it was just that I kind of wish that through this tournament we had gotten to know Mich more. Both before and after. At some point, they got 'infected' with lycanthropy and became more comfortable with the person they are. It's and incredibly interesting and a refreshingly original use of the werewolf concept and it makes them fascinating. I honestly would buy a graphic novel of them. I hope you don't let them die with this tournament and go on to utilize the character on your own time. Ultimately, you were one of my stars for this tournament and I still love the hell out of this character. You did a terrific effort and I can't wait to see whatever you do next. Amazing work. Just fantastic comics. Terrific job! Shen: Sovereign Greece really grew on me throughout these rounds. It was no small effort from you doing probably some of your best work in the tournament, both in story-telling and artistic effort. He's definitely my favorite character of yours and he feels very understandable and down to earth. I've really enjoyed getting to know him better and I'm curious to see you'll take him next, because he definitely should continue to grow. I think your colors through this tournament have been tremendous, probably the best use of color and texture you've ever done. The cold muted colors of the ending gives it a very somber note and it's good to see the other side of the coin for Greece compared to the previous round. It's no small feat to be working on such a project this time of year, either, especially with the real life demands everyone have to attend to. I think the pink 'action spark' you used was a great color choice in the beginning, but as we got to the fight portion of the comic, I think you needed to choose a different color, due to the intense red backgrounds. I kind of lost it in the image there and it became a little less noticeable compared to the previous pages. Perhaps a change to yellow would have been better to make it more highlighted. One thing I noticed during the chase, I kind of wish we had more movement displayed in the pounce, which feels like there should be some kind of movement trail behind Greece? I like the little animations you had done. I thought they were all super great, and really gave a super depth to the comic. Really makes it come alive in a positive way. From the hand slap, to the ukelele playing, to the blood spurt, to finally the snow. These little touches were really stellar and I wish we could see your main skills on display more often, because you should take more advantage of what digital comics can do for you. This is a small nitpick, but I also kind of noticed that you didn't put any shadow on the arm of page 3. I think because it's not there, I get a sort of that impression you get from watching cartoons where you can clearly see the background elements and a cel that will get used in the production. Kind of a Hanna-Barbera thing? Hard to explain, but it was noticeable. It didn't deter my appreciation of it, you are a great animator after all. The top of page 6 had me confused, due to the placement of the word bubbles. I feel it would have been more understandable had the camera been closer to the characters to give us more space to work with and to showcase their expressions better. I also think your tails for your word bubbles are a little too small and narrow that they can get lost, too. This sort of goes together with the critique of this comic feeling like it's more at home as a semi-final fight, but I think the dialogue/argument may feel strange because of how fast the escalation occurs. It's clearly an excuse for Greece to have a fight happen, but I feel like we should have had more build up or debate before we get into Michigan's death. I'm sure that's ultimately due to the time factor on this more than anything, however. You've clearly worked hard this entire tournament and I think it's great you have this new character on your hands to play around with. Enjoy your win and congratulations, you deserve it. Great job!

Crafty- I love your style! The colors and cutouts are really cool. Some of the colors tend to blend together in some panels. The one other thing I would say is I don't mind the "passive" ending at all to but it does seem like it ends a little suddenly. Otherwise this was a great comic and I can't wait to see your future ones! Shen- GIRL this color palette is great! You've super improved with coloring and color choices in general a ton!! The snowy mountains look great too (hooray for backgrounds!). The one thing is your under drawings/ line art. I have no idea if you do any under drawing but it doesn't *look* like you do. Your lineart/anatomy always seems like it was drawn in a big rush and it spoils the art. It's really what you need to focus on next. If something doesn't look right you need to keep erasing and redrawing the under drawing until it does then you can ink it. A lot of the hands need to be fixed and your heads still smoosh and the faces tend to slide around the skull instead of planting them dimensionally. Congrats to both of you for making it to the end! Great job

so...much .... wolf....EVERYWHEEEEEEEEEEERE !!!!!!!!!

Bobo: I'll just jump in and mention that I screwed up. According to the rules, the fact that Crafty's comic didn't show Greece actually dying should have resulted in a default. I was so focused on getting Shen's comic working correctly because the uploader gave her problems, I didn't even think to check the comics for adherence to rules. I'm not sure what is going to happen at this point, but I take full responsibility for screwing it all up. I'm sure I won't win in any case, but I would certainly prefer to have a loss on my record than a default, if you'll look the other way. Ugh, I am sorry for being pacifist trash.

I'll just jump in and mention that I screwed up. According to the rules, the fact that Crafty's comic didn't show Greece actually dying should have resulted in a default. I was so focused on getting Shen's comic working correctly because the uploader gave her problems, I didn't even think to check the comics for adherence to rules. I'm not sure what is going to happen at this point, but I take full responsibility for screwing it all up.

What an ending! Well done both of you for such a quality turnout, especially at Christmas and after a long tournament! Both of these were a pleasure to read for different reasons. Crafty - I really, really dig this style. The painterly, cutout method and the lighting effects are so gorgeous and I love the way you push your characters proportions. I'd just be careful sometimes to make sure it's readable as the silhouettes can get a bit too abstract in places, losing their form (eg page 6) or the characters and backgrounds blend together too much and make it harder to see what's going on. This had a real good setup and buildup to the fight, but then I think it fell a bit flat. The fight scenes were beautiful the red tones, but there wasn't enough movement and energy in it for me! It kinda looked like they were just batting each other with their paws. The only other thing I would suggest is to make sure you proof read your text because there were quite a few spelling errors. But overall I thought this was really nice! Shen - woo yeah animated panels! I was a bit worried when you told me you would do them because they can really be overdone, but I think these were subtle and spaced out enough to add to the comic, instead of detract. I think your colours are coming on really nicely, you're starting to get to grips with lighting and stuff a lot better than previous comics I've seen from you! In terms of story, I'm gonna mirror what I said to Crafty - I really liked your fight scene and thought the energy and exaggeration worked well to make it climatic, but the set up was a bit... Almost contrived? I just didn't find it believable that they knew each other well enough to hang out so casually like this. The flashback kinda helped but it was still confusing for me. Also, I'm gonna repeat what Elge said about Greece's body type - it shifts a lot in, just in this one comic! Sometimes he seems short and stocky, others he is tall and athletic - try to work on your consistency with him. Overall a really good effort from both of you though! Well done!

elge: My only comment would be to decide what's Greece's body type, because from my point of view, it kept changing throughout the comic. First slim, then buff and viceversa. shhh sh sh. you didnt notice that. nobody noticed that lol. ...but rly its not so much he changes in this comic but hes definitely lost mass since his first comic. i guess hes a high flyer now idk i'll figure him out eventually. Julz: Bubble order on 6 panel 1 threw me off a little.. who's saying "that's not what I said"? Things sure do escalate quickly in your comics. What's he doing picking a fight with a pro wrestler??? pg 10 Michelle?? Why does Greece appear to be the only wolfman under the influence of the fullmoon? So they've ran together before, established on pg 12, but Greece was asking what it was like to run on a full moon on page 4 panel 5. writing this comic where they go from friends to fighting in as few pages as possible was fucking Sisyphean so sorry my pacing was probably a little insane. Michigan is the one who says "thats not what i said" and its not so much Greece is the only wolfman under the influence of the full moon but hes closer to the edge and falls faster and harder into beastmode. He asked Michigan if full moons are fun but i could have re-worded that better, maybe add "for you" or something. Timing prevented me from getting into some of the depths of Greece's concern with how easy it is for him to lose control and how much he enjoys when it happens. but i glanced on it to move the story forward and i guess that made it weird. as for "Michelle", I was being a little presumptuous I guess, when Michigan was a girl she was called "Mich" by someone and I assume didnt go by "Michigan" back then so i made something up but i could be completely wrong. basically Greece is being a colossal dickhead here. Hope I cleared some of this up.

Monday: I will say this as a matter of opinion, I will never support a "pacifist" ending in a deathmatch tournament. I considered it once and realized that there is a lot of things fundamentally wrong with it, like pulling back punches in a tournament that expects you to go through ultimate measure of killing a character, even if it's your own. lmao. You do sound like your icon. Leaving that behind. I just wanted to say I liked this a lot and it was an awesome treat to have on Christmas and then there was wolves and aaaaaa Crafty: Superb art. I thought the battle was well paced and I laughed a bit on page 8, pannel 6 A shame you couldn't really finish yours and give the ending you wanted to Greece. From what I gathered, it seems you wanted his way of dying to be cancer. While not a "Final Battle" type, I think it was a valid and well explained way of killing your opponent. Looking forward to your next comics here in VOID and outside it. Good luck and best of wishes on your Animations Studies. Shen: I LOVE THE COLOR PALETTE. And the blood and snow animation fitted in perfectly. This really was a hell of a fight and an end of a tourney. I am glad you managed to get all of your pages up, because when the Round started you were panicking about not knowing exactly what to do with your comic. I am glad you got that sorted out. My only comment would be to decide what's Greece's body type, because from my point of view, it kept changing throughout the comic. First slim, then buff and viceversa. Nice comics you two!

I will say this as a matter of opinion, I will never support a "pacifist" ending in a deathmatch tournament. I considered it once and realized that there is a lot of things fundamentally wrong with it, like pulling back punches in a tournament that expects you to go through ultimate measure of killing a character, even if it's your own.

IN my head these two will now forever be running through woods together. Best Friends. A nice amalgamation of the two comics. You two have really breathed life into both of these characters. The tone of your comic Crafty, is amazing. It really feels like its own little Universe. The snow falling in the final pages of your comic Shen, is just divine. It really adds a serene beauty to a tragic and touching scene. You have both progressed so much you should be sp proud of yourselves. These comics are like a beautiful Christmas Present for everyone.

Wow awesome comics guys! Ill give a proper crit when im in front of a keyboard. EDIT: ALRIGHT HERE WE GO~! Crafty- The shots are fantastic, the colors are blowing me away. Last panel of page 6 he's fleeing I believe? Surprised? He doesn't hide so the body language is confusing. Page 7, panel 1 *bothering, unless that was intentional though I doubt it or you'd have used an apostrophe. Greece's face looks a little wonky haha. I really enjoy the writing, good humor. Awesome transformations and "snout pops" on page 8, panel 6 made me laugh from the comparison. Page 9 you made a 180 flip with the characters from panel 1 to 2. Screwed me up, I had to think about who was who and that ruins flow. Page 11 panel 2 shipshipshipship. Final page I love the reds and the fractal style, however backgrounds have disappeared. Shen- Loving the texture work. Page 1 panel 2 I thought the guitar was talking for a moment. Love the demigod throwback XD Excellent use of animation. Bubble order on 6 panel 1 threw me off a little.. who's saying "that's not what I said"? Things sure do escalate quickly in your comics. What's he doing picking a fight with a pro wrestler??? pg 10 Michelle?? Why does Greece appear to be the only wolfman under the influence of the fullmoon? So they've ran together before, established on pg 12, but Greece was asking what it was like to run on a full moon on page 4 panel 5. Lovely snowfall. Really brings the mood. Love to see a death like this. Tragedy makes the best endings. Excellent comic shen you really fuckin KILLED IT! hahahaha. Your color choices were really interesting with the purples and the reds, then to contrast that with the flashback in yellow, nice choice. Awesome angles looking back through like pg 9. GREAT WORK GUYS

oh thank god all the pages are here and they work lol the last two were giving me Hell. i really wanted a way more epic conclusion for the final round of a tournament but at the start of the round I saw how busy my next two weeks were gonna be and had to go with something more simple, I hope I didnt kill the momentum. I've never gotten to the finals of a tournament before and like Crafty, i too want to thank everyone who commented and voted, Ive learned a lot! (especially about my own stamina lol). I think my Greece comics for the last couple rounds are among my favorite comics I've done on the site! Crafty I'm so happy I got to fight you! Michigan Grisly is a fantastic character- like you, I had a hard time not seeing these two somehow become best friends lol! I actually kinda like yours better the way it is that they stay friends and no one dies! (although I know that isnt the point of the tourney lol). I know it was random but thank you for battling me! I just love how you portrayed my silly dogboy! I hope I did yours okay!

Really good comics here, Crafty literally the only thing I didn't like was how nobody died, but if you ran out of time then you ran out of time. Obviously still gonna dock it from score, but really, really awesome work. Especially the style you've kept consistent through all rounds of this tourney, I really dig how clear it all is, and how well the shapes define the characters. Shen, you got it all done! At least, if you're missing a page like you were worried you would be, I didn't notice. Loved the buildup of the relationship, at first I thought their argument progressed too quickly, but I went back and read it a second time and I felt like it was actually well paced out, I think I may have skipped over some text by mistake the first go through. I got really pumped up and was really pleased with it from start to finish, I think you handled the palette well, and the animated panels brought a lot of fun and feels imo. Really well executed!

Them comics was hecka good. I dug the whole thing yo. My favorite match of the tournament right here.

First off, I feel obliged to apologise, because this technically isn't finished. I tried to fix my abrupt endings, but in the end I didn't finish the last two conclusion pages (before you say I should have just posted the sketches, I don't pencil these comics, I make a bunch of abstract lines to decide where things are, and then I go straight to colour. My unfinished pages quite literally do not make any sense right now). The reasons for this failure are obvious (days lost to Christmas) and not so obvious (I am an obnoxious child who has attention issues) but I pulled together and managed to upload something with some semblance of a plot. Sorry Shen, I should have been able to give you my all, I hope I didn't write Greece too terribly. Second of all, I wanted to thank everyone who read, voted, and commented on my comics. I don't always reply, but I do always read them, and it means a lot that people enjoy Michigan and my comics, even if I wasn't always happy with them myself. I have learnt a lot, and I have never gotten to the finals in a comic tournament before; seeing as OCTs got me into comics in the first place, it makes me feel really glad and reaffirms just how far I have come. It seems appropriate, seeing as I am leaving for university next year to study animation :0 Thanks guys!

WE SHALL HAVE OUR WOLF ON WOLF ACTION !!!!!!! mwaHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!

I wanna see bloodshed. Also good luck you two :)

GLHF

We can conclude from this coming battle that Werewolves are in fact, the shit. I'm a little bummed out that it's not going to be a 3-way final like it was last year but I'll watch this with interest.

Shen: elge: Radji: oh right i forgot, wolf on wolf..... DID SOMEONE SAY WOLF ON WOLF ACTION. ;D this is the exact incantation to summon an elgesugha SCREAMING

elge: Radji: oh right i forgot, wolf on wolf..... DID SOMEONE SAY WOLF ON WOLF ACTION. ;D this is the exact incantation to summon an elgesugha

Radji: oh right i forgot, wolf on wolf..... DID SOMEONE SAY WOLF ON WOLF ACTION. ;D Do good you two!

Things that are very cool: This battle! Things that are not very cool: Someone has to die! Good luck, make something great you guys!

Oh my gosh! I didn't even realize that we had another double-canine match! I guess fate just likes puppies!

oh right i forgot, wolf on wolf..... meh. OHlalalaaaaa. ^^

CHRISTMAS DEATH WOLVES *HYPERVENTILATING*

i am NOT squealing like a fangirl. or i am? Well can't wait to see the final

Make it good, you two! You won by such a tiny margin last round, you owe it to Pyras and Monday to keep up the awesome work! No pressure though :P Also, I decided to give you an extra day, so this will be due the day after Christmas instead of making it due Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Consider it an extra grace period to make up for the fact that Christmas is even part of your drawing period hahah. And let me know if that's going to cause any problems for you!