Inverloch

Inverloch is a fantasy web comic drawn in manga style and authored by Sarah Ellerton. The story of Inverloch was written in script form during Christmas holidays 2003, although it was constantly being edited and refined during its illustration and publishing between 2004 and 2007. New pages were added late Wednesday night/Thursday morning in the beginning and, later on, Monday morning as well. When finished it consisted of 764 pages in 25 chapters organized as 5 volumes.

The story of Inverloch centers around a young man named Acheron, from a horned wolf-like race called the da'kor. After a chance encounter with an elf, he finds himself setting out on a seemingly innocent mission - that of trying to locate Kayn'dar, another elf who has been missing for the past twelve years. Meeting up with new friends and companions along the way, he quickly begins to learn that the world is not quite the peaceful place he believed it to be - embroiled with prejudice, racial segregation, and hidden danger. And the truth behind Kayn'dar's disappearance is something none of the party would ever expect...

Awards
Inverloch was nominated for the 2005 Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in the categories of Outstanding Art, Outstanding Environment Design, Outstanding Website Design and Outstanding Fantasy Comic, the last of which it won in a tie with The Order of the Stick. It was also nominated in 2006 in the categories Outstanding Comic, Outstanding Artist, Outstanding Character Art, Outstanding Environment Design, Outstanding Layout, Outstanding Web Design, Outstanding Writer, Outstanding Character Writing, Outstanding Dramatic Comic, Outstanding Story Concept, Outstanding Fantasy Comic, and Outstanding Long Form Comic, the last of which it won. It was also nominated in 2007 in the categories Outstanding Use of Color, Outstanding Dramatic Comic, Outstanding Long Form Comic, Outstanding Fantasy Comic, and Outstanding Environment Design, the last of which it won in a tie with Gunnerkrigg Court.

Ending controversy
(A very big plot spoiler) At the end of the story, there is a main plot-twist that most fans of the comic hated. Many people reading the comic were surprised the main character does, yet does not, essentially die. The big disappointment is the lack of an explanation of Acheron's father's dealings with an elf. In the middle of the comic, there is a scene when Acheron learns his father was killed by an elf with magic. Throughout the comic, the explanation of the argument and why this happened still has not been stated or explained. Also, the section dealing with the "soul switch" of Acheron and Kayn'dar is clear, but the characters involved in the soul switch have not identified their true motive. The sorcerer's motive was revealed in his fight with Neirenn, but the mother never explained why she agreed to the soul switch. The "real" Acheron died along when the body of the "real" Acheron was killed. Many readers were disappointed with the unclear answers as to what will happen to the relationship between the Da'kor and the elves. There is a conversation between Kayn'dar and "real" Acheron's mother. This still seemed rather vague, but had a solid closing between the elves and the Da'kor. The character epilogues made more sense of the future of the fantasy world, but many questions can still be asked about this spectacular and involved comic.

Books

 * 1) Inverloch: Volume One. ISBN 1-933164-13-1
 * 2) Inverloch: Volume Two. ISBN 1-933164-27-1