I’m not quite sure how things would have worked between the two of them if the misfile had never occurred. Ash is obviously put off by Missi’s tendency to come on strong to her, but how much of that has to do with Missi wearing the pants in their relationship, and how much has to do with the fact Ash is now a girl? Her relationship with Emily isn’t going to become sexual (without large amounts of alcohol being involved) anytime soon, so she has no real basis of comparison… well, outside of an erotic dream or two. And it’s obvious this relationship was predestined. Missi is meant to fall in love with Ash, and her being a girl is messing with her head as much as it is Ash’s. (This also brings up an interesting question: why is Ash’s life no longer predestined? Or was Ash never meant to fall in love with Missi, no matter what her gender?)

The second is… more disturbing, with Ash and Missi coming really close to having been raped. I truly hope that Chris Hazelton doesn’t just let this drop. I’m still a tad disturbed from my brush with being sexually harassed by a 17-year-old half a decade back. What Ash faced was far more disturbing… and more immediate. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see her having nightmares for weeks to come. Nor is this an unbelievable scenario. Assault and rape (and worse) of LGBT individuals is sadly not uncommon. This is part of the future that Ash faces as a woman and a lesbian (or a female-to-male transgender if she finally decided to take that path)… and is easily reason enough for Ash to do everything in her power to try and regain her old, male life.

Given the wide variety of genres found in webcomics, it can be difficult at times to stand out amidst the crowd. The fantasy webcomic Mysteries of the Arcana manages to do so with a rather innovative utilization of the Tarot cards (often used in divination by New Age religions) to both describe the multitude of alternative universes and the personalities and characterization of the comic’s cast. While knowledge of the Tarot is not required to understand the comic and characters, the character similarities and interpretations of the cards act as a pleasant little bonus for those people with knowledge of the Tarot (or who, like myself, look up the cards’ definitions online).

The use of the Tarot alone would be fairly innovative in this (as I don’t recall any other comics that use the Tarot in shaping a character’s personality and traits); MotA takes this one step further by creating a primary protagonist (Theresa) who was crafted from the Major Arcana card The Devil. What’s more, this isn’t an anti-hero or equivalent character; instead, the young woman manages to embody several elements of The Devil card, including self-bondage (emotional, due to events in her immediate past), Anger, Doubt Temptation, and Insight, among others. Even with these flaws, Theresa is a decent and caring young woman who finds herself in the midst of a situation beyond her comprehension (and when she learns of her ties with The Devil Tarot card… like any decent Catholic, she kind of freaks).

Interestingly, while most of the cast are linked to various Tarot cards (both of the Major and Minor Arcana), the comic’s other primary protagonist, Chrys, is not linked to any cards (to date, at least). Chrys (and her father Quincy, who hasn’t appeared in the comic outside of flashbacks so far) are Dreamwalkers, which appear to be some mystical race that had vanished ages ago. Naturally neither Chrys nor her father knows much about their heritage, though I suspect her heritage (and undoubtedly her father’s quest to learn more about the Dreamers) will inevitably be the hook for a future story.

The comic makes use of episodic storytelling with a contiguous continuity; the first chapter introduces the primary cast (with Theresa saving Chrys from a robot that obviously watched too many Terminator movies as a young chipset) and helps explain the basics of MotA; at least, enough of the basics for readers to understand what’s going on. Along the way Theresa’s introduced to William (a humanoid jackal that looks remarkably similar to depictions of the Egyptian mythological deity Set), the faerie Mandrake (whose speech is literally “speech bubbles” using images to depict dialogue), and Chrys’s mother, Melody (who in fact Theresa and Chrys work to rescue from above said killer robots).

Another source of conflict within the comic lies with Chrys’s clear attraction to Theresa and Theresa’s own conflicted feelings, with the young woman both attracted to Chrys and pushing her away due to her Catholic upbringing that taught her that homosexuality was wrong. The second chapter goes further into this, revealing not only why Theresa was planning to kill herself at the start of the comic, but part of the reason she pushes Chrys away. There are some moments when the dialogue doesn’t really work (like Theresa using “I’m Catholic” to try and explain away her denial of her attraction to Chrys – it just felt like Theresa was using the “Catholic stereotype” as a shield, which feels insulting at some level to the character’s religious beliefs.

Mysteries of the Arcana has some innovative concepts and a solid foundation to build upon. While it has some flaws (and the depiction of homosexuality feels… lacking, somehow), the characters are interesting and have potential for growth. (As an aside, I do wonder if a person’s Arcana can change; given that Theresa is already casting aside some of her chains of emotional self-bondage, anger, and doubt, might she eventually find herself aligned to a different Arcana? Just a stray thought there.) I definitely have to recommend this, both to fans of the fantasy genre, and to those people who enjoy innovative concepts in storytelling and personalization.

While I understand the use of exposition in crafting a background, its use in EN is a tad jarring. The comic shifts from a war and the promise of a Savior to return and vanquish the dark forces that threaten the world, and then go to a coffee shop in a world with automobiles and airplanes (and the coexistence of magic and magical beings alongside technology and the like). Given the focus of the comic on protagonist Aila Ravencroft (and I should warn new writers that the use of the words “Raven” or “Shadow” in character names has been overdone by this point in time; there are more subtle variations that could be used), we’ve not seen any hints of a greater conflict in the world.

My grousing might seem to suggest that I feel some antipathy toward the comic; to be honest, that couldn’t be further from the truth. There is a bit of potential visible in EN, both within the prologue and in the main storyline itself. In addition, Aila’s a rather enjoyable young character who is fleshed out fairly quickly both with her external and internal dialogues. Less has been seen of Isaac, who appeared soon after Aila’s debut, but there is a good dynamic between the characters and I must admit some amusement that they went out to dinner together after just meeting because they were getting gut feelings of familiarity with one another, though it seems Isaac may have known Aila’s mother.

The other aspect of EN that helps the comic flow is the exemplary artwork and coloring that artist and comic co-creator Sarah Jeanne-Deliz Obomsawin (who works with writer and co-creator Anastasia Regina Olashaya-Grill) has put into the comic. While there are a couple of instances when the shading feels slightly rushed (compared at least to the earlier comics in Chapter 1), the combination of crisp pencils and effective use of colors helps the comic stand out. Obomsawin doesn’t avoid backgrounds as some cartoonists do; this isn’t to say that every panel has a background; when she can pull off a background fade, Obomsawin will take advantage of the scene. But when it’s required, she doesn’t skimp.

So on the whole, Ever Night is a good comic with a lot of potential. While there are some atmospheric incongruities between the introduction and the first chapter, Olashaya-Grill has managed to create an interesting and varied cast of characters, while Obomsawin has crafted some striking art for the series that is sure to draw in new readers. Best of all, the archives can be read through in an hour or so (depending on the speed of your internet connection), which allows new readers to have most of their afternoon free for other ventures. Between the characters and the storytelling potential here, I definitely have to recommend this comic.