The Specialists

When I first saw Jordan Kotzebue’s comic Hominids, I noticed the gorgeous artwork, but I didn’t delve too deeply into it. I made the incorrect assumption that it was about prehistoric people — something like Clan of the Cave Bear — and simply wasn’t interested. After seeing ads for it pop up every once in a while, I finally gave it another look and realized that there is much more to it than is immediately apparent.

Though the setting appears to be prehistoric at first glance, details begin to emerge that suggest that that may not be the case. I don’t want to give too much away, because discovering these details is one of the joys of the comic. But I will say that there are several tribes — or perhaps subspecies — of hominids. There are small troll-like creatures that live underground, shark-toothed nomadic cannibals, and tree folk who live high above the ground in the canopy of a lush forest. The protagonists of the story come from the latter tribe and they find themselves at odds with mountain-dwellers who are the most human-looking of all.

Add to this a mysterious evil presence, whose motives have not yet been revealed, and you have a fascinating and engaging story. It reminds me a lot of Wendy and Richard Pini’s Elfquest series, and I mean that as an immense compliment.

There are six chapters in the story so far, and the seventh is forthcoming, but as of this writing, the comic is in hiatus. Also, a note of warning: the comic is NSFW due to nudity, as the women don’t wear tops. (This never comes across as titillation; it’s simply that the tree-dwellers don’t conform to our notions of modesty.)

Give Hominids a look. I think you’ll be glad you did!

Also, Jordan has done a fantastic Baron Crossbones illustration that will be available as a reward in our upcoming Kickstarter campaign. And Al recently did a piece of guest art for Jordan.