Stand Still Stay Silent

Stand Still, Stay Silent is a surprisingly cheery post-apocalyptic series about a world where the Nordic nations reacted to a global plague by completely closing off their borders. Ninety years later, they are sending out an underfunded expedition to the Silent World, which is filled with monsters and worse.

It's very good, though the fact that it spent so much time on Just Before the End means that the story itself is still barely starting (the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits hasn't even finished assembling yet). Still, it has beautiful art and it updates regularly, so it's worth checking out.

First page here, most recent page here.

Splash page. Mora, the capital of Scandinavia.

An explanation of how Cleansers work.

New poster here. Hi!

Can I say that I don't really like this comic, as it stands? Yes, it's a very beautiful comic with a unique art style. Yes, it's the second-most quickly updating comic that I read. Yes, I'm reading this comic for some reason.

However, the comic, as a whole, doesn't seem cohesive. We go from story to story and from the past to the future without getting to spend a great deal of time on them. These stories are here because the author wants to lay the foundation for the rest of the comic, to teach us the things that we need to know before the thrust of the comic begins. And because of that it seems like, for the moment, the strength of characterization or the momentum of plot is being sacrificed.

Yes, we need to know about the world and how it works, but I'm reading the comic waiting for the story to actually start. And we can know about how, say, the cleansers work or why cats are important in a more organic way than exposition pages. I'm waiting for our ragtag bunch of misfits to assemble. I'm waiting for the end of the (very pretty) exposition pages. I'm waiting for the comic to begin firing on all cylinders. That happened in A Redtail's Dream, but it hasn't yet happened here.

...Hopefully those are some cogent thoughts. I apologize if they aren't.

I agree that we're still in the setting-up phase, and it seems like it would have been a good idea to par down much of the prologue. Likewise, the side notes (like today's) feel like weekend side material rather than the sort of thing that should be popping up in the middle of a scene.

But we're getting there. It's just taking more time than we'd like.

A bit more on the cleansers.

Back from the break, and we enter Mora.

I've completed an Archive Binge (and started my brother doing the same thing) and I've got to say that this comic is amazing. Can't wait to see where the artist is going with it.

I'm beginning to like Emil.

Emil is amazing. He has that combination of dramatic flair, self-importance, and obsessive attention to his appearance to other people that makes somebody super annoying in real life, but he's so dorky and unlucky that it's impossible to hate him. The Finns are pretty interesting too, especially Lalli.

Another no dialogue page. Finn technology is fascinating and weird, and Lalli spots something.

C'mon dude, you weren't supposed to run off without your cousin. This can ONLY end poorly.

The Finns and their strange, strange animals. Probably horses, though it could be almost anything.

EDIT: Definitely horses. Hurray for a double update!

Or....maybe it will not end poorly. Huh.

I really love all the silent panels in these recent pages; it seems as though a lot of comics are too loud and busy, and can't go one page without fifty speech bubbles and thought bubbles and huge sound effects. Actions speak louder than words, anyone?

edited 20th Jun '14 6:19:51 AM by Kesar

Update. More on the Finn technology level. And implications that Tuuri's past is darker than we thought.

Life is grim in Finland. :/

First monster sighting. Small ones who overwhelm with weight of numbers.

Tuuri has a mean streak.

Oh, Tuuri.

More people need to read this comic, darn it!

Do they even know what computers are? I initially thought that they were leftovers from the old world, but the comment "You'd think they could pay us proper salaries if they could afford that" implies that computers exist and are expensive.

The pictures look very different from the promo images of the other team members.

That explains a lot.

I'm curious, does Emil not believe in magic at all, or just think Lalli isn't a mage?

That explains a bit.

Oh dear, this can't end well. Emil seems to have his priorities in the right place, though.