A webcomic, written by Dave Warren, about adoption...with a twist.Selkie follows the adventures of an amphibious young girl, and the man who adopts her. No one knows exactly what she is, but somehow she ended up in the municipal orphanage, where she was recently adopted by Todd Smith. The comic follows her trying to adapt to her new life...and Todd and his family trying to adapt to her.
This webcomic provides examples of:
Adult Fear: In-universe. The grown-ups of the story seem much more disturbed when Selkie's shirt gets stolen than the children do. Justified for some of the children, who lived with her in the orphanage and may have known about Selkie's gill routine, which requires her removing her shirt.
All There in the Manual: There are several physiology sketches, and Dave was nice enough to actually type up a couple pages of Selkie's case file, print them out and scan them for us. Also, reading through the comments reveals a wealth of information from replies to reader questions.
Alt Text: Called Secret Director Commentary, it's basically little facts about either the making of the strip or the continuity. Later altered to be viewable below the comic, because some browsers were having trouble viewing it.
Art Evolution: The comic started out with hand-drawn black and white lines. Over the course of its run, it has gained smooth vector lines, followed by color, and then, finally, shading. The skill at which the art is drawn has also increased noticeably.
At one point Dave even did an experiment with no outlines, but it was dismissed by both him and most of the fans.
Big Eater: Selkie herself, especially when it comes to fish and other seafood.
Bi the Way: Although not referring to bisexuals in particular, the author has made references to a polygamous quintet, a gay couple wanting to adopt, and a "where are they now" short sees Jessie at home with her girlfriend.
Bizarre Alien Biology: Selkie herself. Blue blood, gills, no external ears, a flattened nose with slit-like nostrils, a carnivore with a healthy appetite for seafood, and poisonous saliva to boot.
Bland Name Product: Apparently Selkie enjoys watching movies on Flixnet. Dave also enjoys a nice cold "Dew of the mountains".
Does Not Like Shoes: Selkie, due to her having webbed feet and being unable to find shoes that fit without hurting. She changes her mind after Todd gets her shoes custom designed to fit her feet.
Enfant Terrible: Amanda. Torments Selkie with the idea she'll never be adopted (before Todd does, which sends her into hysterical anger), and introduces her to a new kid as the school's 'pet monster'.
Fangs Are Evil: Averted. Selkie has a mouth full of sharp fangs prominently displayed when speaking and/or smiling, but is not evil or (completely) malicious.
Flipping the Bird: Selkie herself, doing it to taunt some other kids in a snowball fight.
Freaky Is Cool: Selkie was always passed over for more "normal" kids by prospective adopters, until Todd showed up and was drawn to her.
Genre Savvy: When Todd's father finds out Selkie is a mysterious non-human species, he quickly things to asks whether they need to worry about The Men in Black kicking down their door.
Gratuitous Foreign Language: Selkie's currently unknown language has briefly appeared, although so far it's spoken only by her and Mrs. Haversham-Zhang. And her mother too.
Long Lost Relative: As it turns out, Amanda is Todd and Andi's daughter, whom Todd thought had died at birth.
Meaningful Name: A selkie is a creature from Irish mythology that can change from a seal into a person and back again-in other words, it can live both on land and in the water. This may also explain why she likes seals.
The Men in Black: Todd's father expresses worry about the possibility of them showing up because of Selkie. Todd points out that Selkie has public records, including a medical one, meaning that such an event would be unlikely. Of course, that was before the reveal of one Agent Brown...
Mismatched Eyes: Sandra, one of Selkie's hyper orphan friends, has these.
Non-Mammal Mammaries: Selkie's species has them. She was also depicted as such in aged-up fanart before Dave posted the physiology sketch that proved it.
We actually get a good idea of what it was, given that the original outline for one strip had Selkie reciting it to Todd as they left the orphanage. Although she got cut off by Todd, it was fairly obvious where it was leading too...
Show Within a Show: Selkie wanted Sue and Kathryn shoes, from The Adventures of Sue and Kathryn. They are from a previous comic of Dave's, and are a ten-year-old zombie and wraith, respectively.
Time Skip: A four month one, during which the adoption process takes place.
Too Spicy For Yog Sogoth: Selkie may actually be poisonous to even bite, judging by the reaction of aforementioned cat to biting her.
Verbal Tic: Selkie frequently adds unnecessary esses to her words. Considering her dental structure, she might not have a choice in that.
Webcomic Time: Ignoring the Time Skip, the entire comic so far has covered just a few days in-universe, with strips released over nearly a year in real time.
follows the adventures of an amphibious young girl, and the man who adopts her. No one knows exactly what she is, but somehow she ended up in the municipal orphanage, where she was recently adopted by Todd Smith. The comic follows her trying to adapt to her new life...and Todd and his family trying to adapt to her.
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