Outsider by Arioch: If you're blue, we want you.

[Mobius Twist]

I've been following this space opera (and homage to the blue, elfin space ladies of fantasy) for a while and want to share it with you.

https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/index.html

The pitch:


What is Outsider? It is a starship combat space opera chronicling the adventures of a young human officer thrust into an alien society in the midst of a galactic war. It is presented in a for-web, full-color comic format, which combines digital 2D, 3D and hand-drawn artwork.

Humanity is caught in the crossfire of a galactic war, and it's up to the members of Earth's Scout Corps to forge an alliance that will ensure Earth's survival. But which side to choose: the oppressive, insectoid Umiak or the ruthless, elflike Loroi?

The art is, in my opinion, top notch. Until recently Arioch was balancing work, commission side-projects (including art for a 4x game), and his art, so the production pace was several years, with updates, maybe, every month. It's picked up recently, in a commensurate way with his Patron support, which I'm all for.

There's 180 pages of comic as of this post, but the "Insider" (https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/insider.html) background information on races, cultures, behind-the-scenes art, and hard-ish science write-ups are far, far more involved.

I hope you check this comic out.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I've been reading this webcomic for years, sticking through thick and thin times of posting, and I do heartily recommend it. Heck, I once emailed the author to confirm that it was indeed inspired by Masters of Orion (this was before he added it to the FAQ; it is also long ago enough it predates gmail, and doesn't that make me feel old). No word yet on whether the Orion or the Antarans expys will show up, although I do expect their equivalents will have been involved in some long-past genetic experiments.

Grey Wolf

[Mobius Twist]

The Loroi concept art collection has at least one male Loroi sketch, which makes me think we'll get "blue mischievous Puck" instead of Star Trek Andorian weirdness.
https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/concept_characters.html

https://well-of-souls.com/gallery/images/display.htm?loroi_male1.jpg

[Rockphed]

What is the update schedule on this comic? I see it has about 180 pages and is what, 20 years old at this point?

[PoeticallyPsyco]

What is the update schedule on this comic? I see it has about 180 pages and is what, 20 years old at this point?

Every Monday... while updating. Neither long hiatuses nor skipped weeks during the updating periods are uncommon.

[Mobius Twist]

Every Monday... while updating. Neither long hiatuses nor skipped weeks during the updating periods are uncommon.

Yeah, I suspect the inconsistent update schedule is the major reason why this comic never blew up. Otherwise, I think it has the makings of the greats.

[Rockphed]

We are almost 2 chapters in, and I have guesses about where the story is going, but after 18 years (since october 2001), we are only 2 chapters in. That would be like if OotS were still in the Azure city strips and Haley was still talking in code. Actually, 180 strips in on OotS was before they met Miko, much less made it to Azure city or had :haley: stop talking.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

What is the update schedule on this comic? I see it has about 180 pages and is what, 20 years old at this point?

There isn't anything close to reliable enough to be called scheduled. I'd consider a couple of pages a month a good speed, and it has not been unheard of for the comic to not update for a couple of months. The good news is that it has become more reliable posting lately, probably in correlation with Patreon. These days, it more or less matches OotS in updates.

Regardless of past performance or even future performance, though, it is a good story with great characters. For example (https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider112.html), Alex's interactions with the two pilots never ceases to amuse me.

Grey Wolf

[Rockphed]

There isn't anything close to reliable enough to be called scheduled. I'd consider a couple of pages a month a good speed, and it has not been unheard of for the comic to not update for a couple of months. The good news is that it has become more reliable posting lately, probably in correlation with Patreon. These days, it more or less matches OotS in updates.

Regardless of past performance or even future performance, though, it is a good story with great characters. For example (https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider112.html), Alex's interactions with the two pilots never ceases to amuse me.

Grey Wolf

Oh, meeting those pilots definitely bumped outsider from "okay sci-fi story" to "awesome sci-fi epic". I was mostly asking about the schedule because there are almost the right number of pages to have been updated once a month for the last 18 years.

[Lapak]

There isn't anything close to reliable enough to be called scheduled. I'd consider a couple of pages a month a good speed, and it has not been unheard of for the comic to not update for a couple of months. The good news is that it has become more reliable posting lately, probably in correlation with Patreon. These days, it more or less matches OotS in updates.

Regardless of past performance or even future performance, though, it is a good story with great characters. For example (https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider112.html), Alex's interactions with the two pilots never ceases to amuse me.

Grey Wolf
If by 'a couple of months' you mean 'a couple of years.' :smallconfused: This will be the third time I've picked up this comic after giving up on it following a year+ hiatus.

That said, it's enjoyable and I'm not paying the author, so whatever pace works for them is perfectly fine and I'm not going to complain about it. New readers should set their expectations accordingly, though!