1: Cover
228 views • Apr 21, 2023
Please note: This is the original run of Surprising Octeal. A reboot of the series is currently being updated under "Surprising Octeal".
7: Page 11+12
60 views • Aug 01, 2022
I mean, a burr puzzle SEEMS like it could be used to show intelligence, but like really?
8: Page 13+14
67 views • Aug 05, 2022
Suzanne's avoids a lot of things but she's pretty rarely in denial about them.
9: Page 15+16
61 views • Aug 08, 2022
I like the idea of someone having a close friendship with their teacher.
12: Page 21+22
51 views • Aug 19, 2022
Did I ever bring that soft bodies thing up again? I don't think I did...
14: Page 25+26
49 views • Aug 26, 2022
The Knight character is a recurring character but he won't reappear for some time.
16: Page 29+30 Making a Choice
44 views • Sep 02, 2022
I mean, she couldn't just BECOME a Marine Biologist. That would be great for her, but kinda boring for us.
17: Page 31+32 Dorm Life
50 views • Sep 05, 2022
I remember dorm life. It was... kinda dull where I lived.
18: Page 33+34 Testing Tentacles
53 views • Sep 09, 2022
Suzanne learns to use her tentacles slowly over the course of this first story.
20: Page 37+38 Fellows
45 views • Sep 16, 2022
Ah, secondary characters... time to break out the ol' shipping chart.
21: Page 39+40 Twenty Somethings
44 views • Sep 19, 2022
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.
22: Page 41+42 Bombarded
45 views • Sep 23, 2022
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.
23: Page 43+44 - Plane Ride
39 views • Sep 26, 2022
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.
24: Page 45+46 - Canal Town
41 views • Sep 30, 2022
Welcome to York, the place where the vast majority of the first series takes place.
25: Page 47+48 Training Facility
35 views • Oct 03, 2022
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).
26: Page 49+50 Fancy Hotel
38 views • Oct 07, 2022
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.
27: Page 51+52 Jelly Misconception
34 views • Oct 10, 2022
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.
28: Page 53+54 Hematologist
32 views • Oct 14, 2022
In these early less action-y days we sometimes need to be remind that Suzanne has a mouth full of scary monster teeth.
29: Page 55+56 The Boys
31 views • Oct 17, 2022
30: Page 57+58 Gym
40 views • Oct 21, 2022
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.
37: Page 71+72 - Wangst
35 views • Nov 14, 2022
You can kinda tell which characters are hard-working by how they react to Song's evaluation.
38: Page 73+74 - Bias
29 views • Nov 18, 2022
Suzanne has some biases that will be addressed eventually.
39: Page 75+76 - Centrifuge
30 views • Nov 21, 2022
This was the first page where I actually confirmed what Suzanne's goals are.
40: Page 77+78 - Hold Breath
29 views • Nov 25, 2022
... oh ya... this was the first time they showed up...
42: Page 81+82 - Fog
31 views • Dec 02, 2022
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.
44: Page 85+86 - Imperiumologist
33 views • Dec 07, 2022
I was genuinely bummed that I wasn't the first person to come up with the word "Imperiumologist"
46: Page 89+90 - Shudder
28 views • Dec 12, 2022
To be fair, I don't actually know what the Shudder Machine actually scans for. It's a fantasy device.
47: Page 91+92 - Like You
37 views • Dec 14, 2022
50: Page 97+98 - Sink Like A Stone
24 views • Dec 21, 2022
... I remember when I worried people would think this joke was too mature... HA.
52: Page 101+102 - Sea Turtle Physiology
29 views • Dec 25, 2022
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.
53: Page 103+104 - Brief Recap
26 views • Dec 27, 2022
Suzanne still kind of doesn't see herself as training to be a super hero.
55: Page 107+108 - Steel Wing
24 views • Jan 01, 2023
Wordlessly conveying how sharp the wings are felt good as a solo webcomic creator.
57: Page 111+112 - Unsatisfied
26 views • Jan 06, 2023
... not gonna lie, I don't think I'd chase her...
58: Page 113+114 - Professional
34 views • Jan 09, 2023
Page 114 is where I started trying to do vertical... oh ya and also Jabali, she's here now.
59: Page 115+116 - Aftermath
40 views • Jan 11, 2023
These two background characters keep showing up...
60: Page 117+118 - Al
47 views • Jan 14, 2023
I kinda went a little overboard with the panels... Oh! And the V.P. is here!
61: Page 119+120 - Headcanon
51 views • Jan 16, 2023
Yep, she still up there... gettin' her stalk on'.
62: Page 121+122 - New Fan
26 views • Jan 18, 2023
And then I finally realized I was putting waaaay too many panels in each page.
63: Page 123+124 - MI-cro-BIOLOGIST
27 views • Jan 21, 2023
All of the comments from other sites on this page loved the small brain thing.
64: Page 125+126 - Karma
30 views • Jan 23, 2023
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.
65: Page 127+128 - Veg Sesh
30 views • Jan 25, 2023
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.
66: Page 129+130 - Friends
25 views • Jan 27, 2023
Suzanne is definitely grumpy and asocial but I wouldn't say she WANTS to be alone.
67: Page 131+132 - Rich
27 views • Jan 29, 2023
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.
68: Page 133+134 - Nightmare
27 views • Jan 31, 2023
Guilt is a pretty big part of Suzanne's personality.
69: Page 135+136 - Prep
32 views • Feb 04, 2023
... ya... I do sneak lore hints into the background scenery and dialogue.
71: Page 139+140 - Wild Boar
27 views • Feb 08, 2023
Making less-then-likeable characters the butt of jokes is a time-honored literary tradition.
72: Page 141+142 - Luchador
47 views • Feb 10, 2023
Jabali is a fun character. She has a background in professional wrestling and is all about showmanship.
73: Page 143+144 - Decked
74 views • Feb 12, 2023
Differences between powers is something that's varyingly handled really well or really poorly. I sure hope I'm the former.
75: Page 147+148 - Underwater Ruins
110 views • Feb 18, 2023
When you said underwater ruins I expected something a little more... I dunno, ancient!
76: Page 149+150 - First Steps
60 views • Feb 20, 2023
I've tried to keep a good balance between Suzanne learning to use her tentacles unrealistically quick and boringly slow.
77: Page 151+152 - Flustered
55 views • Feb 22, 2023
It's that damn V-shape again. I can't escape it!
78: Page 153+154 - Run
60 views • Feb 25, 2023
Too scared of embarrassment to do cool things... damn.
80: Page 157+158 - Stress Relief
60 views • Mar 02, 2023
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.
81: Page 159+160 - Stalker
57 views • Mar 04, 2023
At this point I didn't really know how to show a character in heavy shadow... no... she doesn't have shadow powers.
82: Page 161+162- Chase
69 views • Mar 05, 2023
Mysterious Rooftop Lady is getting pretty annoying by the point.
83: Page 163+164 - Field View
58 views • Mar 07, 2023
I'd like to think that at this point people would start having theories about the setting of Octeal.
84: Page 165+166 - Focused
46 views • Mar 09, 2023
Being attracted to someone who doesn't reciprocate? I think lots of people can relate to that.
85: Page 167+168 - High School
35 views • Mar 11, 2023
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.
86: Page 169+170 - Interruptions
52 views • Mar 13, 2023
I made sure to make the process of Suzanne learning to use her tentacles slow.
87: Page 171+172 - Bulky
47 views • Mar 16, 2023
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.
88: Page 173+174 - Kids
51 views • Mar 17, 2023
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.
89: Page 175+176 - Wall
33 views • Mar 19, 2023
"That swimsuit was a lot of work to draw, I should make the next one simpler"
-promptly makes a HARDER to draw swimsuit.
90: Page 177+178 - Hold Breath
44 views • Mar 21, 2023
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.
91: Page 179+180 - Friends
41 views • Mar 23, 2023
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.
93: Page 183+184 - Al
54 views • Mar 27, 2023
We spend lots of time with the vice president. Haven't even seen the president yet.
94: Page 185+186 - Medal
31 views • Mar 30, 2023
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.
95: Page 187+188 - Neurons
35 views • Mar 31, 2023
I've tried to be slow to reveal what Suzanne's tentacles are capable of.
96: Page 189+190 - Kiss
22 views • Apr 02, 2023
You know... I'm pretty sure these two have known each other for like... less than a week?... EH, that sounds normal actually...
97: Page 191 - Do Right
15 views • Apr 04, 2023
Slowing down a bit at this point as we're now catching up with the latest pages.
98: Page 192 - Suggestion
13 views • Apr 06, 2023
You can't just make your Human Relations teacher ALSO have to take care of the whole facility...
99: Page 193 - A Race!
10 views • Apr 08, 2023
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.
100: Page 194 - Spring Loaded
8 views • Apr 12, 2023
This was actually one of the first scenes I wrote when making Octeal.
101: Page 195 - Let Loose
11 views • Apr 20, 2023
The weight of Suzanne's body forces her to "skip" when moving fast enough.
102: Page 196 - Lost
11 views • Apr 27, 2023
Both Bianka and Casey's self-perceptions are getting challenged.
103: Page 197 - Emergency Response
14 views • May 05, 2023
The relationships between Heroes and other services might come up in the future... but not during Surprising.
104: Page 198 - Holds
14 views • May 12, 2023
Bit more of that "Human Rules" thing. Normal fighting methods are essentially irrelevant to Suzanne.
106: Page 200 - Reveal
15 views • May 27, 2023
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!
107: Page 201 - Tiny Antelope
18 views • May 29, 2023
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.
108: Page 202 - Tail
14 views • Jun 07, 2023
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.