Messenger

From Comixpedia

Messenger (debut: August 27, 2004) is a webcomic created, written, and drawn by Meg "Bugbyte" Koss.

[edit] Style

The artwork is produced with all real media, save for several pages. It has a slight manga influence, along with other influences rooted in the work of contemporary artists.

[edit] Characters

• Akiara Kenakobe - A teenage girl living with her tribe out on the wasteland. She questions their teachings and way of life, and ultimately decides to strike out on her own.
• Luke Makaio - Akiara's best (and only) friend. Luke comes from a neighboring rival tribe, the Makaio, so his friendship with Akiara is naturally forbidden and must remain secret. Also, he's dead.
• Eldora - A young female chio. She and her brother Finnegan were orphaned as young children and managed to survive on their own. They live together in the desert chio village; a nomadic camp of tents and shelters.
• Finnegan - A young male chio; Eldora's younger brother.
• (Kyle) Nekos - A young man who appears to be in his early to mid-twenties. He appears to Akiara seemingly from nowhere, and tends to be secretive about personal details.
• Zavier Kenakobe - Akiara's cousin, who is in his late teens. He is strong and well-trained, one of the Kenakobe tribe's finest warriors. He exemplifies all of their ideals.

[edit] Plot

Messenger is the story of a reluctant warrior, a village of bio-engineered lifeforms, and a dead friend who just won't seem to stay dead, far in Earth's future. They each must come to terms with what and who they are, and find their place in rebuilding the broken world around them.

Messenger is told in a non-linear format, with several stories taking place in parallel, and at times in the past as flashbacks or at other times not directly within the main story's timeline. It takes place in Earth's future, although the date is not explicitly given. More specifically, most of the story to this point takes place in what was once the American midwest.

The Story So Far:

Warning: plot spoilers and/or ending details follow!

The story begins as Akiara Kenakobe awakens from what is apparently the latest in a series of recurring dreams in which she sees her dead friend Luke Makaio wandering the wasteland with white feathered wings on his back. He seems to be calling to her, seeking her. She takes a moment to consider all that's happened, and how much she questions the beliefs her familial tribe has tried to instill in her. After some serious thought, she quietly escapes the family's fortress-like home built into the side of a hill, and sets off on her own across the wasteland.

As Akiara embarks on her own journey, another story begins in an unnamed desert location. Two young creatures known as chios are starting their day. Eldora struggles to awaken her younger brother, Finnegan, and set out for Eldora's warrior training session. Finnegan accompanies her to the session and together they watch as one of the village leaders and the lead warrior, Jazlyn, calls off the list of the newest young chios chosen to become village warriors. Eldora does not make the cut, and slumps sadly as her brother comforts her. Instead, she is placed on watch duty on the far reaches of the chio village encampment. Finnegan tags along as they move out to relieve their friend Dev of duty, but when they arrive at their designated post, they find him hunched over and weak from some unknown ailment. Finnegan helps Dev limp back to the village, and Eldora remains to keep lookout. An entire day passes, and well into the evening Finnegan returns, dressed for the cold and bearing a torch, telling Eldora to return to the village, that something has happened. Together they run back only to find that the villagers have succumbed to some unknown disease. Eldora goes to Jazlyn's tent alone to speak with her, and Jazlyn reveals a startling truth: everything Eldora believes she knows is wrong. She explains that the chios were created as part of an experiment in genetic engineering, and that the disease they now suffer from is a failsafe mechanism developed by the laboratory in order to keep the chios in check should they ever break free. For an unknown reason, Eldora and Finnegan are both immune to the disease, so Jazlyn asks Eldora to move north to a city in order to retrieve a cure in exchange for honorary warrior status. Eldora agrees, and after quickly packing, she leaves with the rising sun. Finnegan stands by at the village, watching her head off alone.

As Eldora sets into her quest, Akiara has already run into her own troubles. She nearly evades discovery by a Kenakobe search party sent to look for her. She travels for several days and nights, running low on food and water. Eventually, she stops to rest, deciding that if she is to die out there, she might as well get on with it. As she rests, night falls, and a robed figure emerges from the darkness. It quietly approaches and knocks Akiara out, who briefly struggles to escape but is overcome. She is taken. She wakes up bruised and dazed in a prison cell in an unknown location. After shouting at her captors, Nekos emerges from the shadows behind her, frightening her. They talk briefly before Akiara decides to rest on the cell's singular cot. Nekos takes action and incites a fight with one of the guards. He quickly neutralizes the guard, grabs Akiara's belongings as well as Akiara, and moves out to the ground surface above. He speaks with an unknown entity in the sky, conversing about Akiara and their next course of action having escaped. He stops to rest and undergoes an unusual transformation; after summoning his strength, his body begins to glow and wings emerge from his back. He picks up Akiara to heal her. She awakens briefly, but soon succumbs to sleep. Having drained his own energy, Nekos rests beside her. As he watches her sleep, he decides that it is time to tell Akiara his own story.

[edit] External Links

• messenger