The mystery of the Gikika Spider by vlsrb on Newgrounds

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The mystery of the Gikika Spider

"The mystery of the Gikika Spider" is my entry for the Sweet Sixteen Comic Contest.

Originally, this was a much longer comic that I started working on in December of last year. When I decided to participate in the contest, I realized that I could use it as a basis for my entry. I trimmed down all the excess so I could fit a stand-alone plot in 16 pages. I really love this story, as well as the world it's set in, so working on it was overall an enjoyable experience. Hopefully I'll be able to tell Sigfried's whole tale at some point, because it's quite close to my heart.

Hope you enjoy this comic! And good luck to everyone else participating in the contest!

Log in / sign up to vote & review!

GeorgiaMachina

2023-12-18 15:59:23

You have a very meticulous and appropriate art style for this kind of story, which is unique itself - I've never gotten invested into a biology mystery that seemed so scientifically literate I had to look up whether this was based on a real event. Anyways I hope you're able to release something at your original full intended length, good luck in the contest.

vlsrb responds:

Thank you very much for this comment! I'm glad my little comic succeeded in getting you invested - indeed, the Gikika Spider isn't real but the mechanisms and processes of evolution I invoked very much are. As for the full length story, who knows - maybe at some point I'll get around to it. Again, thanks for the praise and encouragement, I appreciate it greatly.

SounDoG-2031

2023-12-13 00:10:01

This is such a heartfelt piece of art. It really shows just how much love you've got for both your craft and science by how well you could get across the sheer feeling of discovery when Sig was explaining how he came to his conclusions.
I might be a little biased here, admittedly, because I absolutely love nature and biology. It's one of the most fascinating areas humans could've delved into, and you portrayed that perfectly. I very much look forward to a follow-up of this, great job!

vlsrb responds:

Thank you so much for this comment. Agreed, biology is fascinating. Admittedly, I'm a big sucker for sciences in general, but I've always been most attracted to the natural world, animals in particular. I'm glad you thought this sense of wonder and appreciation came through in the finished piece - for the most part, I genuinely enjoyed drawing this, especially all the elements of Sig's hypothesis on how the Gikika Spider evolved.

As for a follow-up, who knows. As I've said, this comic was adapted from a longer story that covers Sig's whole trip to Gwaka and its aftermath, where there are actually two other narrative arcs running alongside the search for the Gikika Spider. I've certainly been thinking a lot about this world and its characters since finishing this comic, so when it comes to a possible continuation I guess "never say never" is in full effect.

In any event, thank you once again. It means so much to read comments like this, and I'm very happy you liked this comic.

Remi-le-Oduen

2023-11-24 13:57:05

Love it, a good look in how evolution works

vlsrb responds:

Thank you very much for this comment, glad you liked the comic!

Madmazel

2023-11-24 07:46:14

Lovely work. Your comic beautifully captures the essence of perseverance and the journey of following one's passion, the way it portrays the young boy's growth into a dedicated biologist. I like the blend between the hard physical work he has to do in the jungle and the use of deductive reasoning back at home to finally come to a breakthrough. Also, the original drawing of the Gikika Spider is really cute. I hope you don't mind me making this comparison, but it reminds me of the soot sprites from Spirited Away :p

vlsrb responds:

Honestly: thank you, thank you, a million times thank you for this wonderful, appreciative comment, I cannot put in words how much stuff like this means to me.

I'm glad you liked this comic! The original drawing of the Gikika Spider playfully refers to the fact that "scientific" illustrations in old biology books often looked very little like the actual animal they represented, often because the artists were drawing from memory or by referencing specimens that had been floating in formaldehyde for ages.

Also, a confession: I've actually never seen Spirited Away. But I looked up the soot sprites after reading your review and indeed, they definitely look very similar!

Thanks again for the lovely comment!