Wurr is one of the better canine comics I’ve read on the internet, but it is far from the pinnacle of perfection that fans play it up to be.
While I cannot argue the quality of the artwork- every design is beautifully detailed and consistent- I feel like there is a criminal lack of variety in the base designs. Yes, every character has a unique silhouette, but pretty much all of the main hellhound cast have a wolf design base. They are hellhounds, not hellwolves, and I feel that an opportunity was missed here to explore the potential mutations of the already wildly diverse canine anatomy.
Of course, art should always take second priority to the story, so let's examine that. The first few pages are a prologue that serves as an expository dump of backstory. Then the main story starts; it centers around a pack of about six hellhounds who are being evicted from their territory by a rival pack. The first fifty pages or so are devoted to this plot point, which is used to introduce the characters and help inform the audience about how the society in the crater works. However, this is not done as completely as it could be. Certain concepts- such as being “deepblooded” or a “whispering one” are mentioned, but not explained in context. Instead they are elaborated on in the artist comments. World building should be done in the story. The idea of being deepblood is first brought up on page 26, but it isn’t until page 151 that anyone in the cast bothers to explain exactly what it means.
This brings me to what is ultimately Wurr’s biggest issue; the pacing. The first arc, the pack’s eviction, was resolved after sixty-two pages, and now nearly ninety pages later no clear plot has risen up to take its place. A new character was introduced who, so far, only seems to exist to dump exposition, and otherwise just plays peanut gallery while the hellhounds do hellhound things that have nothing to do with him. Two distinct groups of antagonists have appeared, but the motives of one are shallow and the other are annoyingly vague. By now I should have some clue what the over-arcing plot is, but I do not. The comic has recently celebrated its five year anniversary, but with five years and 151 pages under its belt, the fact that there is currently no clear arc to the events of the story makes this milestone nothing to celebrate.
Of Pacing and Design Variety
Wurr is one of the better canine comics I’ve read on the internet, but it is far from the pinnacle of perfection that fans play it up to be.
While I cannot argue the quality of the artwork- every design is beautifully detailed and consistent- I feel like there is a criminal lack of variety in the base designs. Yes, every character has a unique silhouette, but pretty much all of the main hellhound cast have a wolf design base. They are hellhounds, not hellwolves, and I feel that an opportunity was missed here to explore the potential mutations of the already wildly diverse canine anatomy.
Of course, art should always take second priority to the story, so let's examine that. The first few pages are a prologue that serves as an expository dump of backstory. Then the main story starts; it centers around a pack of about six hellhounds who are being evicted from their territory by a rival pack. The first fifty pages or so are devoted to this plot point, which is used to introduce the characters and help inform the audience about how the society in the crater works. However, this is not done as completely as it could be. Certain concepts- such as being “deepblooded” or a “whispering one” are mentioned, but not explained in context. Instead they are elaborated on in the artist comments. World building should be done in the story. The idea of being deepblood is first brought up on page 26, but it isn’t until page 151 that anyone in the cast bothers to explain exactly what it means.
This brings me to what is ultimately Wurr’s biggest issue; the pacing. The first arc, the pack’s eviction, was resolved after sixty-two pages, and now nearly ninety pages later no clear plot has risen up to take its place. A new character was introduced who, so far, only seems to exist to dump exposition, and otherwise just plays peanut gallery while the hellhounds do hellhound things that have nothing to do with him. Two distinct groups of antagonists have appeared, but the motives of one are shallow and the other are annoyingly vague. By now I should have some clue what the over-arcing plot is, but I do not. The comic has recently celebrated its five year anniversary, but with five years and 151 pages under its belt, the fact that there is currently no clear arc to the events of the story makes this milestone nothing to celebrate.