This month, Great Escalations 2022, Final Round / Ancile vs. Senki by Kubo achieved the highest scores in Quality and Creativity with an 8.76 and 8.12 respectively! It also had the highest Overall score with an 8.20!



The comic with the top Entertainment score was Gala Regalis, Round 1 / Soothslayer: King of the Coffin vs. King Caelan by SirJellyRaptor, coming in with an 8.19!



The runner-up for Quality was Weeding by Minteh and Pita, earning an 8.53! It also was the runner-up for highest Overall score with an 8.10!



We also have a runner-up in Creativity and Entertainment, Great Escalations 2022 Round 2 / Tay vs. Ancile by Snager! It came in with a Creativity score of 7.96, and an Entertainment score of 8.00!





Gone by Durianknuckle
For November's Staff pick, I would like to highlight this somber beyond battle done by Durianknuckle. Monochromatic comics--and even illustrations for that matter--can be extremely difficult because it is easy to have the focus of the canvas get lost within the shades of the singular color. But this one manages to not only work with the limitations of monochrome, but uses the limited palette to its advantage to really convey the somber tone of this tale.

The first page is a harsh blue scene of a funeral on a rainy day. After that, we see Bruno in a cathedral speaking with another masked individual, who is most likely part of the same order as Bruno, asking if Bruno would avenge his brother. In the next scene Bruno texts another person, who then shows up on motorcycle ending the comic with a loving and comforting embrace. It is a beautiful way to end the comic, the color values on the final page tying it all together neatly.

This one was a fun read; I'd highly recommend that you read it if you haven't already. And if you have, I'd recommend reading it again (and maybe dropping a comment!) to really appreciate the use of monochrome to really set the mood. Lastly, for Durianknukle, keep on creating my friend! I hope to see more of Bruno Lionheart’s story in the near future.

-PlatinumArtist