i wouldve given this 5 stars if not for the small amount of male-gazey/fanservicey visuals :/

its not even that much, just some of the character designs and a few panel compositions which VERY CONSPICUOUSLY sexualize female characters to a hyperbolic degree uncharacteristic of the rest of the comic (also theres a warrior-nun w bdsm-themed armor??? wtf??)

tom's built up enuf good will trying to think critically abt gender and patriarchy in the comic so far, and he's also been responsive to feedback/criticism from readers, so its all things considered not that bad, it was just distracting and upsetting

the rest of this book tho is rly amazing!! the pace of the action AND the pace of character development gets a little dizzying? a LOT of shit happens. the only reason i think its worth remarking on is its such a sharp contrast to the slow pace of the first book, otherwise i actually quite like the fast pace--tom ofc still takes time in places to slow down and go over fine details

the confrontation w mammon is imo just as fascinating as the confrontation w om in the previous book; i love how this comic tries to tackle the master-slave dialectic from so many different angles

i am wondering tho how many times we'll hear that the princess is in another castle ( )