Webcomic / The Manor's Prize

The de-facto main characters facing off for the cover. Note the 18+ content warning and the multitude of open questions.

"Although you all know who I am...
And what you are here for...
I must first lay down a few ground rules:
1: No real names
2: Do not speak about the reason that we are here.
If any one of you fails to comply with the rules, you shall certainly leave this place empty-handed."

— The Host, Death

The Manor's Prize is an adult, story-based webcomic (Which can be read on the site) in a black-and-white noir-esque art style. It is written by someone who only calls themself "Jimbo."

Six guests are invited to a manor, for reasons unknown, with the purpose of meeting the Manor's apparent owner alone. Upon arrival, they are surprised by the host's proclamation that they must all compete for "The Prize." While it assumed that the guests all know the prize, it is hidden from the reader.

According to the host's demands, the six guests must play five rounds of games, and after each round, a guest is eliminated. Each game only has one loser.

The characters do not go by real names but instead use Tarot cards as aliases.

The main characters are:

• The Fool, a loud-mouthed, aggressive, and perpetually angry man who wears a suit covered in flowers.
• The Magician, a quiet and calm old man.
• The Star, a pipe-smoking, debonair gentleman, or so it seems.
• The Hanged Man, an extroverted flapper, eager to make friends or get into bed, who wears a low-cut dress, a headband with horns, and a necklace modeled after a devil's tail.
• The Chariot, a cold-blooded, impolite businesswoman that has no tolerance for indecency, stupidity, or even making friends.
• The Hermit, an exceedingly tall woman with a large hat. She is generally quiet, but has a quick wit, and a penchant for giving advice.
• Death, the host with a gaunt, skeleton-like face, with the exception of a rather massive chin. While he has a sinister appearance, his most sinister action is forcing his guests to play games.

The comic is drawn in grayscale, and pages are all square. The style and presentation are reminiscent of a murder mystery, but the comic is actually focused on a game-show style competition.

This webcomic provides examples of:

• Ambiguous Time Period: The comic is in black-and-white and the manor's home theater involves an old-style projector. Cars are older in style, also, but there is no explicit information given on what time period the story takes place in.
• The Bechdel Test: Lampshaded multiple times. Hanged Man avoids talking about The Star with Chariot, and accuses her of being desperate to talk about boys. When The Star is referenced in a future conversation, Chariot asks Hanged Man to shut up about him, and the conversation moves on.
• Beautiful All Along: This occurs in Hanged Man's backstory. In the past she was unpopular and couldn't get with guys, but after a makeover and a self-esteem boost, she became much more successful romantically.
• Brainless Beauty: Subverted. Although the Hanged Man is driven more by lust than anything else, she is also shown to be a strategic thinker when the need arises, and she uses statistics to determine the best move.
• Content Warnings: The initial page of the website is a content warning. Every page has the warning "This comic may contain adult content and is intended for readers 18 and up" in the bottom right corner.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The comic is in grayscale to emulate old black-and-white movies.
• The Flapper: Hanged Man qualifies, but her outfit is a bit more revealing than the stereotypical flapper's.
• Gender-Blender Name: The Hanged Man is a woman, and despite protests, is almost never referred to as "The Hanged Woman."
• Homoerotic Subtext: While The Chariot and The Hanged Man butt heads at the start, their conflict involves a good deal of blushing. Hanged Man accuses Chariot of feeling her up on occasions, and also refers to Chariot as "My daring prince."
• No Name Given: None of the characters names are known, as enforced by the host, Death. Instead, they are referred to by Tarot cards.
• Ms. Fanservice: The Hanged Man dresses in a way that shows a large amount of cleavage, as well as a short skirt. The art does not shy away from depicting her in a rather sexualized manner, including multiple nude scenes.
• Fanservice: Most fanservice focuses on The Hanged Man, including taking multiple opportunities to have her dress conveniently malfunction, as well as a few panty shots. The Hermit, to a lesser extent, is often shown with one sleeve of her dress falling over her shoulders, and The Chariot has poses that appear engineered to show off her butt.
• Iron Lady: Chariot is stated to be a businesswoman, and after shouting down another contestant, she states "You don't get far in business by putting up with shit."
• Ice Queen: Chariot is cold-hearted and determined. Contrary to The Hanged Man's belief, she is not distracted by men.
• Player Elimination: The competetion progresses so that after each game, only one guest is eliminated.
• Panty Shot: Hanged Man's panties are visible when she is stumbling, or when hanging upside down.
• Retraux: The comic is drawn in grayscale to emulate the look of old black-and-white movies.
• Sexy Discretion Shot: Zig-Zagged. The comic cuts away to a different scene right before a sex scene starts for a few pages, then cuts right back into the sex scene.
• Sour Prudes: Chariot constantly puts down Hanged Man for her dress and flirtatious behavior.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Chariot acts harshly towards everyone around her, and states that she doesn't want to make friends. However, after Hanged Man disappears crying, Chariot begins tearing up herself, blaming it on alcohol.
• Unfortunate Names: Characters cannot choose which Tarot card they must use as an alias. This leads to The Fool being rather unhappy about his name. The Hanged Man, a very feminine and outgoing woman, asks to be called "The Hanged Woman" but "The Hanged Man" is the name that sticks. The host's alias, Death, could be interpreted this way also.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: In a scene involving a poignant apology, Hanged Man's corset is accidentally loosened. Although it is implied that it may have been purposefully caused by The Chariot.