Walking on Broken Glass
is a now defunct webcomic created by Grey Ink Studios, which was comprised of Samantha Mathis and Caytlin Vilbrandt.
Walking on Broken Glass has been described as "A Supernatural Office Dramedy Romance about Murder". Which, while maybe not specifically accurate, does display the wide array of topics and ideas this comic embodies. It's about a man dealing with a dark fate looming over his future, and his quest to make up for the wrongs of that future in the present. It's about a woman with enough strength, determination, love and stubbornness to stand by his side through thick and thin. It's about monsters. It's about magic. It's about werewolves! And witches! And vampires! (Oh my?)
Unfortunately, as of 2014, the comic has been discontinued due to undisclosed personal reasons. The comic's domain expired some time after.
This doesn't mean you can't try the Wayback Machine, though, but most (if not all) of the comic does not display in there, meaning that currently, the only way to obtain it is through Gumroad, where you can download the first three chapters of the comic either for free or for whatever price you find fair, and the following two chapters by paying at least 2 Dollars.
Walking on Broken Glass contains examples of:
- All There in the Manual: You may want to read the "About" and "Character" pages before the actual comic. They're rather subtle about the werewolf thing for a while.
- There's also the "Ask WOBG Blog" which gives random bits of information about characters and setting.
- Badass Normal: Kennedy. In a world filled with supernatural entities, she manages to impress a pack of werewolves despite not displaying any supernatural abilities. There are hints she might be More than Meets the Eye. And sure enough...
- turns out to be a clever subversion, she's actually a witch who's been keeping her abilities hidden
- Girl Friday: Kennedy Parker. Out of all the previous secretaries Nick has had, she's the only one that can motivate Nick Grey to stay healthy and organized. And she refuses to be fired.
- Last-Second Word Swap: This page contains a "And three is...".
- Magic Pants: Clothing seems to fade into the werewolves' body when they shift.
- Masquerade: There seems to be one going on. For instance, the majority of employees at Nick Grey's company are human and have no idea that he and his friends are werewolves.
- Our Monsters Are Different: Quite a few unusual monsters have appeared at different points in the story.
- An honourable mention to the Shadow creatures, which were the first monsters to actually be seen for an extended period of time.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: All the werewolves have two Elemental Powers. Which two varies from one werewolf to the next; when they awaken, their primary element shows itself most readily, as in this example.
- Mr. Grey seems to be able to snipe with lightning. And form a bubble of invisibility around himself.
- Other magical creatures are also aligned with pairs of elemental forces (with a couple variations for witches), as explained in this sketch comic.
- Urban Fantasy: The stories thus far have taken place in the modern world, mostly in a city setting. And there are some hints of Plausible Deniability.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Between Nick and Kennedy. It seems to be nearing resolution in issue 4, but events at the beginning of the issue throw the entire chapter into question. As of issue 5, it's most definitely resolved.
