DIANA-HND

The Walrus, the Guppy Fish & the Dragon: Rage of the Koalas

With this, the Rage of the Koalas arc has ended. With the panel of a Koala and a Tasmanian Devil holding paws, no less.

This whole arc started out with an idea of ‘what happens when enough is enough?’. What happens when peaceful creatures, given the ability to strike back, had enough of being picked on by the humans? Creatures like the Koalas? Perhaps, if given a chance (like an unlikely evolution from having aggressive Tasmanian Devil blood in them), they may actually push back.

The resolution of the major conflict between the Koalas and the humans may feel a little too fantastical. Koalas being reminded of their peaceful nature just by eating Eucalyptus leaves? Soldiers ignoring direct orders from the leader and choosing to stop and make peace?
But apparently, a somewhat similar, fantastical incident happened in real-life history; that being the Christmas truce during World War I, where an unofficial ceasefire somehow happened between the German and British soldiers. It even involved an impromptu soccer match on No Man’s Land. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/ww1-soccer-photos.
This unlikely bit of history got stuck with me – that in the end, even in the middle of a war, humans would rather play a game of soccer than shoot each other.

The problem with resolving problems with violence, however, is that sometimes it may lead to more violence. The Koalas did not stop when they first chased out the humans – they would later plan to completely wipe them out, hence this entire arc. It wasn’t just the humans that got the brunt of it – even other animals, like the Spider, suffered from their aggression.
In the end, the only way the war stopped was when both sides were willing to stand down. I did indeed plan for an over-the-top happy ending where the Koalas would get friendly with the humans. But as I progressed along the story, the ending did not feel right – like it would undermine the pain suffered by both sides. For true peace to happen, both sides need to work at it, and that’ll be something Lowana and the others have to work at, off-screen.

Funny thing about Lowana though – she was one of the many unexpected new element to this arc, who ended up becoming the new Mayor despite how old she was. Interestingly enough, days later after I posted the comic of her appointment, my own country made history by voting for the oldest Prime Minister!

Despite the lack of an over-the-top happy ending, I hope that I was able to close this arc with a sense of hope – where the people worked together with the common idea of being better, rather than resorting to violence. The last panel itself is a nod back to when Logi narrated the legend behind the Koalas, where one of them had fallen in love with a Tasmanian Devil – a love that inadvertently gave birth to their aggression. Hopefully the next love for a Koala would be on that leads to a more peaceful outcome.

It’s almost hard to believe that we managed to reach this point. Knowing that folks like you out there still read this helps me keep going. And I intend to keep going with a new arc, and another, for as long as I can.

For now though! We’ll be having some interludes, until I figure out which arc to start with.

Thank you again, dear reader, for still reading this, and I hope that you will continue to stick around for more adventures.

‘Til next time! Or rather, next week.