Author: Caytlin Vilbrandt ＠tamberlanecomic @justcaytlin
Status: 186 pages – ongoing
https://www.tamberlanecomic.com
There’s a new kit in town and her name is Tamberlane!
Welcome to Treehollow, a colorful village full of furry creatures all leaving in harmony. After thinking of a ghost, the town’s kids find a new little human, something new to them, lost in the forest nearby. Belfry, a clumsy but loving bat, decides to adopt the child, with the help of grumpy librarian Claude Oakewood. Around them the village gathers to help welcome and raise the newcomer but one question stays: what in the hell is this furless baby?
In terms of art style, Tamberlane is a big slap. Consistent, colorful, full of backgrounds and details, there’s not much to say about it other than sit back and enjoy. The colors are bright and lively while still keeping a nice texture in the cell-shaded shadows. Bonus points for the crowds scenes in the recent festival event, they are all so detailed with cameos from the author’s Patreon backers’ characters, putting a lot of details in the backgrounds.
Talking of backgrounds, there is many of them, as almost every panels has one, which can make them feel a bit tight and oppressive, but this gets better with bigger and clearer panels as the story goes along. I would have loved more big, background-only panels, especially a view of the village, which we only see in bits. I would have also loved for the panels to show Tamberlane’s sign language more clearly, as I really didn’t notice until it was mentioned
For the story, the pitch is pretty simple. A baby human gets adopted by a furry community, who wonders what she is. With each chapter we see Tamberlane grow, from a baby in diapers to a toddler. This comic is more of a slice of life, day in the life of Belfry the new mother with her lot of joys and pains; but the looming presence of abroad, a place so taboo you cannot go there without being accused of treason, is a nice page turner, especially in the latest pages (at the time of writing).
The cast is varied and lovable, from Piper the psycho cat to Henry the towns good b- Sheriff, without forgetting Belfry’s family Tess, Walter and Briar, and many more.
There’s not much critique to give on the story, it flows nicely, but I cant wait to know more about each characters. There’s so many of them, it gets a bit hard with flimsy memory like mine to remember everyone and get attached, but I know this won’t be an issue as we progress into the comic.
Miscellaneous, I loved the fact that readers can transcript the comic under the pages. Most pages are and its a nice addition. You can even translate it in other languages!
Overall, Tamberlane was a lovely read and a comic I recommend for lovers of furries but not only, anyone who likes colors, slice of life and a dash of intrigue!
Would I recommend: in a heartbeat!
Will I keep reading: sure!
Next week: Seemingly Dark!
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