Episode 1
Cover
Please note: This is the original run of Surprising Octeal. A reboot of the series is currently being updated under "Surprising Octeal".
Episode 7
Page 11+12
I mean, a burr puzzle SEEMS like it could be used to show intelligence, but like really?
Episode 8
Page 13+14
Suzanne's avoids a lot of things but she's pretty rarely in denial about them.
Episode 9
Page 15+16
I like the idea of someone having a close friendship with their teacher.
Episode 12
Page 21+22
Did I ever bring that soft bodies thing up again? I don't think I did...
Episode 14
Page 25+26
The Knight character is a recurring character but he won't reappear for some time.
Episode 15
Page 27+28 Madness
Time to learn about an important aspect of the plot.
Episode 16
Page 29+30 Making a Choice
I mean, she couldn't just BECOME a Marine Biologist. That would be great for her, but kinda boring for us.
Episode 17
Page 31+32 Dorm Life
I remember dorm life. It was... kinda dull where I lived.
Episode 18
Page 33+34 Testing Tentacles
Suzanne learns to use her tentacles slowly over the course of this first story.
Episode 20
Page 37+38 Fellows
Ah, secondary characters... time to break out the ol' shipping chart.
Episode 21
Page 39+40 Twenty Somethings
People can't actually hear them pronouncing Cieren's name but I'm sort of banking on the notion that pointing it out will cause people to look it up.
Episode 22
Page 41+42 Bombarded
I had a friend in junior high who had a large birthmark under his chin. I always thought it looked really cool, though I wonder if he ever got teased for it. Incidentally, that's what inspired Suzanne's birthmark.
Episode 23
Page 43+44 - Plane Ride
I was bothered a bit about this brief cutaway when it first released on other platforms, but in hindsight I think the way I "wrote around it" worked out in the end.
Episode 24
Page 45+46 - Canal Town
Welcome to York, the place where the vast majority of the first series takes place.
Episode 25
Page 47+48 Training Facility
Multiple folks asked if River and Song were a reference to Dr Who but, admittedly, no. They both live in a canal town, so I named them "River" and "Song" (Con Song is Vietnamese for River).
Episode 26
Page 49+50 Fancy Hotel
I try to minimize backgrounds until I feel I need them or can't get away with avoiding them. An unfortunate side affect is that when you see more distinct backgrounds you can immediately tell there's probably something important back there.
Episode 27
Page 51+52 Jelly Misconception
You'll likely notice I try to introduce things slowly and deliberately. Truth is, though I don't produce pages too quickly these days, I write Octeal with the binge reader in mind.
Episode 28
Page 53+54 Hematologist
In these early less action-y days we sometimes need to be remind that Suzanne has a mouth full of scary monster teeth.
Episode 30
Page 57+58 Gym
I had a Nordic Trac growing up and until I made this page I didn't know what the word for treadmill was. They were all just Nordic Tracs.
Episode 31
Page 59+60 - Clawed
Be honest everyone, you didn't notice them either.
Episode 32
Page 61+62 - Scary Lady
Sink or swim tutor is fun... and terrifying.
Episode 33
Page 63+64 - Lift
Sometimes the biggest motivator is fear of judgement.
Episode 35
Page 67+68 - Fall
I like having this imperfect, kinda clumsy M.C.
Episode 37
Page 71+72 - Wangst
You can kinda tell which characters are hard-working by how they react to Song's evaluation.
Episode 38
Page 73+74 - Bias
Suzanne has some biases that will be addressed eventually.
Episode 39
Page 75+76 - Centrifuge
This was the first page where I actually confirmed what Suzanne's goals are.
Episode 40
Page 77+78 - Hold Breath
... oh ya... this was the first time they showed up...
Episode 42
Page 81+82 - Fog
If I were to do this dream sequence over again I'd make it more weird and dream-like... I do a better job with it in later pages.
Episode 44
Page 85+86 - Imperiumologist
I was genuinely bummed that I wasn't the first person to come up with the word "Imperiumologist"
Episode 46
Page 89+90 - Shudder
To be fair, I don't actually know what the Shudder Machine actually scans for. It's a fantasy device.
Episode 50
Page 97+98 - Sink Like A Stone
... I remember when I worried people would think this joke was too mature... HA.
Episode 51
Page 99+100 - Octonado
... and this was when I transitioned to color.
Episode 52
Page 101+102 - Sea Turtle Physiology
One of my subs asked if maybe the reason Suzanne struggles underwater was because of the chlorine in the pool and, truthfully, that was my first idea. I needed something to prevent her from just using her powers easily right off the bat. I realized that would be too easy to fix so I made it more psychological. Basically she's still afraid of drowning even though she can't.
Episode 53
Page 103+104 - Brief Recap
Suzanne still kind of doesn't see herself as training to be a super hero.
Episode 54
Page 105+106 - Extra Limbs
I like how creepy this super came out.
Episode 55
Page 107+108 - Steel Wing
Wordlessly conveying how sharp the wings are felt good as a solo webcomic creator.
Episode 57
Page 111+112 - Unsatisfied
... not gonna lie, I don't think I'd chase her...
Episode 58
Page 113+114 - Professional
Page 114 is where I started trying to do vertical... oh ya and also Jabali, she's here now.
Episode 59
Page 115+116 - Aftermath
These two background characters keep showing up...
Episode 60
Page 117+118 - Al
I kinda went a little overboard with the panels... Oh! And the V.P. is here!
Episode 61
Page 119+120 - Headcanon
Yep, she still up there... gettin' her stalk on'.
Episode 62
Page 121+122 - New Fan
And then I finally realized I was putting waaaay too many panels in each page.
Episode 63
Page 123+124 - MI-cro-BIOLOGIST
All of the comments from other sites on this page loved the small brain thing.
Episode 64
Page 125+126 - Karma
Actually, karma is something you build up over your life and it affects how long you spend in heaven and hell after death. Kinda like how there aren't earthly blessings.
Episode 65
Page 127+128 - Veg Sesh
I know the entire plot of Octeal, including the stories of each character. I like to THINK I know what I can get away with.
Episode 66
Page 129+130 - Friends
Suzanne is definitely grumpy and asocial but I wouldn't say she WANTS to be alone.
Episode 67
Page 131+132 - Rich
I grew up in the lower-middle-class myself. When I was young I couldn't distinguish between the wealthy and the upper-middle-class. These days I think that distinction is important.
Episode 68
Page 133+134 - Nightmare
Guilt is a pretty big part of Suzanne's personality.
Episode 69
Page 135+136 - Prep
... ya... I do sneak lore hints into the background scenery and dialogue.
Episode 70
Page 137+138 - Hot Math
Bianka, "Oh great, hot guys.... whatever..."
Episode 71
Page 139+140 - Wild Boar
Making less-then-likeable characters the butt of jokes is a time-honored literary tradition.
Episode 72
Page 141+142 - Luchador
Jabali is a fun character. She has a background in professional wrestling and is all about showmanship.
Episode 73
Page 143+144 - Decked
Differences between powers is something that's varyingly handled really well or really poorly. I sure hope I'm the former.
Episode 75
Page 147+148 - Underwater Ruins
When you said underwater ruins I expected something a little more... I dunno, ancient!
Episode 76
Page 149+150 - First Steps
I've tried to keep a good balance between Suzanne learning to use her tentacles unrealistically quick and boringly slow.
Episode 77
Page 151+152 - Flustered
It's that damn V-shape again. I can't escape it!
Episode 78
Page 153+154 - Run
Too scared of embarrassment to do cool things... damn.
Episode 80
Page 157+158 - Stress Relief
The page that finally convinced me to put the mature tag on Octeal. In hindsight, this is hardly the only mature concept the series deals with.
Episode 81
Page 159+160 - Stalker
At this point I didn't really know how to show a character in heavy shadow... no... she doesn't have shadow powers.
Episode 82
Page 161+162- Chase
Mysterious Rooftop Lady is getting pretty annoying by the point.
Episode 83
Page 163+164 - Field View
I'd like to think that at this point people would start having theories about the setting of Octeal.
Episode 84
Page 165+166 - Focused
Being attracted to someone who doesn't reciprocate? I think lots of people can relate to that.
Episode 85
Page 167+168 - High School
I'm glad I was able to keep late-teens Suzanne young looking but also have her at her full height. The "Short Teen" trope is just weird.
Episode 86
Page 169+170 - Interruptions
I made sure to make the process of Suzanne learning to use her tentacles slow.
Episode 87
Page 171+172 - Bulky
I decided halfway through making Surprising that I didn't like the bulky hood design. This is just me giving myself an in-universe excuse to eventually get rid of it.
Episode 88
Page 173+174 - Kids
Billy was first shown way back in Page 112. If I think I can I like to show or hint at characters earlier then the moment they're properly introduced. There are characters who were mentioned in the first couple pages that haven't been introduced yet.
Episode 89
Page 175+176 - Wall
"That swimsuit was a lot of work to draw, I should make the next one simpler"
-promptly makes a HARDER to draw swimsuit.
Episode 90
Page 177+178 - Hold Breath
In my head, I try to keep a track of what the other characters OUGHT to be doing while we focus mainly on Suzanne. It really doesn't matter that much but I like to keep track of them.
Episode 91
Page 179+180 - Friends
I'd say Suzanne is like... a loner 80% of the time and lonely the rest of the time. NOT a very practical way to be honestly.
Episode 93
Page 183+184 - Al
We spend lots of time with the vice president. Haven't even seen the president yet.
Episode 94
Page 185+186 - Medal
There are so many things that you can be sued for using in your story if your not careful. The games here may be the obvious things but I also had to change the name of the medal to play it safe.
Episode 95
Page 187+188 - Neurons
I've tried to be slow to reveal what Suzanne's tentacles are capable of.
Episode 96
Page 189+190 - Kiss
You know... I'm pretty sure these two have known each other for like... less than a week?... EH, that sounds normal actually...
Episode 97
Page 191 - Do Right
Slowing down a bit at this point as we're now catching up with the latest pages.
Episode 98
Page 192 - Suggestion
You can't just make your Human Relations teacher ALSO have to take care of the whole facility...
Episode 99
Page 193 - A Race!
Some folks have this nasty tendency to think the school of hard knocks is the appropriate method 100% of the time... and, unfortunately, the fact that is DOES work every once in a while reinforces that belief.
Episode 100
Page 194 - Spring Loaded
This was actually one of the first scenes I wrote when making Octeal.
Episode 101
Page 195 - Let Loose
The weight of Suzanne's body forces her to "skip" when moving fast enough.
Episode 102
Page 196 - Lost
Both Bianka and Casey's self-perceptions are getting challenged.
Episode 103
Page 197 - Emergency Response
The relationships between Heroes and other services might come up in the future... but not during Surprising.
Episode 104
Page 198 - Holds
Bit more of that "Human Rules" thing. Normal fighting methods are essentially irrelevant to Suzanne.
Episode 106
Page 200 - Reveal
It's kinda funny. Because at this point her name hasn't actually been revealed... but if I did my job right, I'm sure people will be able to guess!
Episode 107
Page 201 - Tiny Antelope
Klipspringer's design has actually changed quite a bit since I made her. Eeriness wasn't even remotely a part of her design originally... and MAN am I glad I took it this direction.
P.S. I previously did strings of 10 pages in an effort to boost the comic on Webtoon's popularity tab. I've decided that on Tapas and Globalcomix I'll just upload pages as I make them.
Episode 108
Page 202 - Tail
The reasons some supers can have more mentally-strenuous powers and not go mad vary from super to super, but they have common root issue.