Chapter 3, Page 2

And we’re back! to regular updates, as well as a new friend.

I’ll be updating the Patreon soon with some extended info about newFriend (they have a name, but in grand Mare tradition I feel it is more appropriate to let you guys come up with something ridiculous first, haha) (edit: here is some stuff to start). If Chapter 1 was the setup chapter, and Chapter 2 was the pls-let-me-convince-you-about-this-setting-transition  chapter, then Chapter 3 is the “plot happens” chapter, so I’m excited to finally get to it.

Today’s bonus art: first spoilery glance at newFriend that I posted to Twitter ~1.5 years ago or so. The design has changed a lot but the lurking persists.

See you soon~

70 Comments

  • Madeleine

    Yay, new stuff! That twisted newFriend looks quite … concerned?

    *waits patiently for link to “Today’s bonus art”*

    • Madeleine

      Ah, there it is. Based on that one, I’d have called him/her BroccoliHead!

  • Alba

    Why. Whyyyyyy do you know English??
    Also, dude, you’re bioluminescent now.
    Also also I think I’ll stick with the beloved DinoButt <3

    • Madeleine

      How about BoomerangHead?

      • Keetkeet

        How about Rover? That’s a good name for hammer-doggo

    • Vert

      I bet it’s either been listening to radio from the surface for a while, talking to LEVi, or… Thighfriend is the Martian equivalent of a USB stick for brains, so all Leggy here had to do was eat it to learn all about Mike.

  • ForceUser

    Leg day all day every day.

  • Hima

    Uh, Sharkong?

    What happened to Thighfriend? :-( :-(

    • I think he retracted to the comfy skin tighpocket in fear of the big Legsfordays :D

  • Hima

    Old Sharkong looks like a broccoli XD

  • Perlite

    Wow, Mike really is turning into a fungi. Also his beard’s grown quite a bit, I guess his situation got pretty hairy.
    I like the name Dewuevanlyft.

  • Kieron

    A tetrapod. A fine number of pods if you asked me.

    Is that a little crab buddy on their elbow?

    • shingworks

      :]

    • JJ

      friends on friends

    • Bradford

      Never seen an elbow crab before?

    • Chinmay Walavalkar

      Friendception.

  • I REALLY hope Mike’s new bodily roommates are the symbiotic type. I’m not sure their lease is one he can easily revoke.

    • David

      I think thigh friend is what is allowing Mike to breathe the atmosphere. He starts to choke and wheeze when thigh friend is hidden.

      I also think Thighgriend is semi-aquatic, so when Mike is out of the water, it tucks itself away.

      • charles81

        I like that theory. I’ve had similar thoughts but dismissed them.

        It could also be that if thigh friend is struggling then it draws on Mike’s energy.

  • Wood

    Is Thighfriend bleeding? I notice there’s still a bulge on mike’s thigh, I assume thighfriend is curled up in there… Maybe there’s been a fight?

  • DukeBG

    My first thought when i saw the thigh wound: oh no, they’ve torn out the thighfriend!!

    But then the hip still looks swollen, maybe the thighfriend is completely submerged?

    Something definitely happenned there, but what? Did they have a fight? Or did the weird talky alien politely describe that the thighfriend is actually a parasite and has to be removed?

    Is Mike a prisoner right now? Alien guy is definitely convoying him, but maybe it was polite and friendly too…

  • Patrick

    Oh, man… this comic is terrific!!!

    It’s actually first time I’m reading web comic and I think it is awesome concept. Especially the commenting community of fans forming around it.

    Those nicknames you’ve made up are funny, but for me the big alien is just Leggy chick (yeah I bet she’s female or hermafroditic at least).

    • shingworks

      lol, thanks for reading, I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far. For me, the readers here are also one of the main hilights of the comic :]

      • Patrick

        And the Meek…also magnificent work ^_^

        (waiting patiently for the end of chapter 4)

  • So it wasn’t healed by a magical friend after all D:

  • thighfriend nooooo ;_;

  • ruth

    what the hell is happening im so concerned

  • Localized

    WELL THEN.

  • Intile

    Oh wow, love the design on Armschilla. Now THAT is what I call alien. The body horror on mike is also getting really uncomfortable for me, which is a good thing! So unsettling though. Poor guy.

  • Gills

    godammit dershing… GODAMMIT DERSHING WHY MUST YOU BREAK MY MIND

  • David

    Sharkong is one ugly critter! It speak English very well.

    • DukeBG

      Why “Sharkong”? I don’t follow…

      • shingworks

        haha, my guess is shark/ king kong?

  • That_Guy_you know

    Expected a Wild Chase … ended up staring at the Page Slack Jawed.
    I really did not expect this o.O

  • Dicksfordinner

    What a very nice and concerned fungus. I hope he becomes his friend.

  • BrobyDDark

    SharkFace. Definitely SharkFace.

  • Huh so we’re back to “It’s a hallucination” then.

    Can’t think of anything that scans that highlights our new friend’s politeness and unique anatomy. Arrowhead Bob? Nice Pete?

  • Echo

    Sharkface oo ha ha!

    • Lar

      Deep in the Wanahakalugi Caverns.

  • skellagirl

    wait… you DON’T want giant awesome alien to carry you? Bruh I would have been like “WELL IF YOU INSIST” and jumped right on (And this is why I wouldn’t survive long, probably)

    • Asterai

      Mike may still be worried that a lot of what’s happening is hallucinations. In that case, allowing a hallucination to “carry” you would mean (1) that you don’t actually go anywhere and (2) that you are treating the hallucinations as if they are real, which is delusional and unhealthy.

      Talking to, and especially bargaining with, hallucinations is different; in some cases it appears to be a healthy coping mechanism.

      • David

        The dude’s also got huge emotional issues. Accepting help from anyone, alien or human, is probably hard for him. And Sharkong is big and scary.

  • Karyl

    I am ultra fascinated and somewhat viscerally disturbed–can’t really seem to parse the body’s form for this new creature! nonetheless, it’s seemingly very polite!

  • Zoe

    Wow, I love this creature’s character design. Amazing body… Looks like a creature out of Dark Souls.

  • Spav

    Legs Prime

  • Roo

    Thighfriend honey nooo D’:

    WHAT DID LEGGY DO.

  • Tag

    My name vote goes to torpedo face

  • Android 21 3/7

    …Wait a minute. Did LEVi teach our new army friend how to talk?

    • JJ

      Question is, how did armschilla recognize Mike? Does Levi have a display, or did they just go on and on about what Fish looks like?

  • Zelly

    As Mike continues to add new….uh…body accessories, I wonder if his new friend once looked more human as well. And if so what Mike may end up as.

  • Chinmay Walavalkar

    Why is mike so beefy in the last panel?

    • shingworks

      Dem Mars gains (real answer, he is just beefy in general. Or I am a bad artist, either one, haha)

  • Paula

    I love him already

  • He’s still got a lot of friends growing on him.

  • charles81

    Is Thighfriend dead?

  • Jojo

    I was not expecting this.

  • Edmund

    SHARKFEETS.

    …it’s a shark with feets, I got nothin’.

  • Befup

    Mike is really turning into a fun guy. Maybe we could call his new pal “Fun Gus.”

  • skay

    fintenna

    It’s head is a fin antenna

    (long time reader. never a reason to post until now. Ps. I hope Bex is alive. She was so cool)

  • Ceceoh

    I’m totally intrigued by the creature’s head. It looks like it has hair swooped back and wrapped around its head bone, but I can’t figure out how it could do that, since its legs (arms?) are way too tiny and its arms (legs?) don’t look very dexterous. Oh, and I’m nominating Cy Friend, since s/he looks like a big ol’ cypress root.

  • Bradford

    Can it use it’s hand-legs when it sits? Actually, can it even sit?

    • shingworks

      Yeah, it’s a rolled-up crouch, I’m sure it’ll be in some upcoming page.

    • David

      which brings up a more general question- is it possible to sit when you have no butt?

      • shingworks

        • AGV

          Dawww

  • Lilian

    I do not know what is happening. I will continue to observe and gather more information.

    Awesome alien though.

  • milo

    the biological organism(s) that are pestering mike bear a little resemblance to the ptotomolecule in the expanse book series

    • ProphetZarquon

      Yayyy, the Expanse! Started by watching Season 1, then read the books. That show won’t do the GoT thing & run out of books any time soon!

      I feel like I’d like those two universes to get together.

  • anosmianAcrimony

    Funny how what’s-her-face in The Meek got fungus on her face, and now Mike’s got fungus on his face.

  • Myranuse

    Is it just me, or is his blood glowing?

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