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🕑 Added 2025-09-30 11:21:55 +0000 UTC

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Black Death

I read your comment)) and I'm also waiting for Pico to make a post like this 😭🤗 I really miss the times when he used to do this column: you ask me questions, I give you answers.

DAN VAN

Couldn't help but think of this comic when I heard the news about the Louvre jewels heist. Was Black Death involved 🤔

Chiro

Hey Pico! I’ve really loved discovering your work this year and it’s been such a highlight for me every month🥹 You put so much heart into everything you make, and it’s made me curious about you as the amazing artist behind it Would you ever consider doing a small, casual Q&A or like a silly “small facts about me” sometime? Nothing serious or pressured at all , just something fun and casual where we could learn a bit more about you (if you’d liked that of course! I know some people don’t like doing it and that’s ok🐰).

Pamela Freitag

I don't know if it makes any sense but this chapter gave me a sense of chaos and immense belonging, the fact that Tera instinctively returned to the boy. As if he had finally found some meaning or familiar place in him, even in the midst of his completely insecure life. And the reciprocity of the boy, who feels this same existential emptiness and naturally welcomes him, was so melancholic to see. I confess that I was listening (unintentionally) “Honey (Are You Coming?) and this gave a unique vibe to the whole situation 🫠

Chiro

lol this reminded me how in the early chapters after Tera charred someone, the boy was like ‘smells like burned pork’ 😭 now he’s all cleaned up — probably not intentional but it cracked me up haha

Mellowcat

What a conclusion… I have never seen such well-orchestrated chaos and downfall. The action is on-point and never lets up for a second - the details are crazy! Quick and swift and – on Tera’s side – without any second thoughts. “Run hard, die fast”. Make the most out of what you got, and be throughgoing about it. Which means, not to just run someone over, but making sure he won’t get up afterwards and pulling the trigger of that quick-fire again. Maximum efficiency… as expected. That bullet hole though… I couldn’t help but gasp “shit”, hoping for an exit wound… And at the same time, looking at it… it faintly reminds me of another wound, received by Longinus’ spear. (I am well aware that it’s Tera’s left side, not his right, that it is a bullet hole, not a stab wound by a roman soldier and that Tera – even though carrying a somewhat heavy cross, so to speak – isn’t exactly in “that” position…) But given the context and thinking back to the reference of “the Last Supper” (Muta in the parking garage) and the artwork of Tera “Guilty Crown” (May 28, 2019) … it’s something that crossed my mind. That, and a little guilty smirk, because… hey, he lifted his shirt. #onlyhuman. (I gotta take that bitter pill of what just happened with a jolly one, don’t judge me… too hard, it is not (entirely) about what you might think). He killed for something not benefitting Black Death and he also took a bullet for the same reason… The Boy doesn’t seem to entertain just happy thoughts either, looking at his face, his eyes and that prominent ray of light… I guess most people would rather face the city, not necessarily the inside… his evening wasn’t so great to begin with, thinking about that piano practice, while already being worried about Tera. Page 5 is incredible, especially the bottom right panel. The amount of detail in the Boy’s eye… that’s really a different level from “monochrome”. And I so dig the nostalgia of a Sony Walkman and (still) using the outfit from your editorial page post “90’s magazine” (April 28, 2025). Nostalgia… probably back to the time when the Boy was about 10 years old…? Who knows?! It goes well together. I’m glad Tera took his time to clean up… likely even got patched up already. The Boy would have noticed the blood as well as those imprints on that well worn mask… Tera was never shy about getting into… brawls… or doing risky stuff – that’s how they met. Time and again. (Tera crushing into Joris car, bags full of money, Tera being in a serious argument with Muta about Muta’s sister and her state of … purity, the bank robbery… and of course after the incident in the parking garage… just to name a few). But Tera never showed up seriously injured nor had he ever the mind to think about the Boy… I mean… what the state he shows up in, would mean to the Boy. The stench of burned flesh and hair, the smell of gasoline (chapter 9, pg. 34, after burning Tony and his shop… and the building) the bleeding… or simply being sopping wet. This is - by far - a more considerate approach – he even took into account that the Boy might already be asleep… he needed to see him anyways. I love that bottom panel of page 6. The “symmetry”. This “side-by-side”, mirroring – and Tera being the first one to speak. I imagine it’s rather soft-spoken. More of a faint echo from his “hey, you” – like at Starcups that very morning. He has always been drawn to the Boy and seeing this… they have come a long way from open hostility to a smile, a blush and honest concern – from the Boy. Tera has been very concerned from the get-go, with the Boy being the loose cannon that he is. I like the pacing. I like the little pause before the Boy admits that he has been worried. And afraid. For Tera. I dig how the whole scene is closing in on them, with Tera’s physical overwhelming presence. He tried the Boy a few times and upon entering that room for the first time, Tera gave it his best to intimidate the Boy – who reacted with a frown, not scared at all. Tera was never shy about their contact and since he even reached for the Boy like it was the most natural thing to him (at Starcups, while using Jo’s keycard to get to the storage room with the safe)… I think he needs this, in a very profound way. Hearing things like “scary”, “afraid” and “worry” from someone like the Boy, who has never been really scared to begin with… I imagine that must strike a nerve with Tera… I just don’t think that’s the only reason for his actions in page 8. The single thing Tera has ever been sorry about when it came to violence was, that the Boy witnessed it (chapter 9 pg. 49). Obviously, Tera didn’t regret what he did to Muta at the gas station… nor what followed afterwards in the parking garage. He wasn’t sorry about that. I am positive he isn’t now. Close contact with the Boy has always served as some kind of… restraint for Tera and probably just as much comfort, because with the Boy, there is no actual need to rely on his reputation, his street credit. The Boy doesn’t care about that and is no part of it. There is no need to… uphold that – it’s ok to let show more than just a persona. The brand. Black Death. It’s ok to clown around some, to talk about fears, to be worried and show concern, and to seek out more than a cheap thrill. It’s ok to stop tracing and settle down for a bit. That… and then there’s the past. Another burning building with a black cross on one of the doors, about 7 years ago, around the time Tera dropped out of school and joined Black Death. I imagine, things in that past are something, Tera is sorry about. Now like then, sorry for hurting you, one way or another. I love those panels. I love the fact that Tera isn’t using his hands at that moment. That he’s lowering down instead. That he’s leaning in… He has a lot of weight on his shoulders, a heavy cross indeed. Throughout those past updates, after he has learned about the Boy’s past and the nervous breakdown, after those cracks appeared in that mask, distancing himself even further from Black Death and Kain alongside… I kept wondering, who would he confide in now. And how. Now I see. This gesture is almost like an unspoken question.” May I?” While before, handling the Boy and getting close was natural and even in good humor (on the motorbike or rolling around in puzzle-pieces). Tera never cared for personal space, he even moved the Boy to the bed while the Boy was fast asleep, cowering on the floor, clutching a flashlight like a lifeline. This… feels a little different. More… aware. (Also, reminds me of “Love Death & You”, Sep. 23, 2022 and “Ghosts”, Feb. 26, 2022). Just like checking the heartbeat of an unconscious Tera on his bed, the Boy might realize once more what’s beneath that appearance of a beast. What lies behind all that “business” and disposable artificial front of cheap plastic. Flesh and bones. Heart and soul. This is the guy who did listen, the person he confided in and the one who put the night sky in the palms of his hands, the one who saw him cry and the one person he trusted when the light went out, willingly. Not because he had to (like in the park). Instead of telling the Boy not to worry about him or be afraid that something might happen… instead of that, Tera says sorry. The wound must hurt terribly with each breath, and bowing down like that, especially. Don’t be too harsh on yourself, cut yourself some slack… I think this came out really well already – and nothing’s set in stone (e.g. I like the changes you made with the Boy’s piano practice and his grandma). This had me gasp and suffocate, cuss and curse, smirk and smile and left me with that warm and yet partly stingy fuzzy dizziness, which that B&W rollercoaster is so prone to, including that peripheral awareness of something lurking, ready to let all hell break loose. It started way before they even met. (Yeah, yeah, I know… I write A LOT… sorry.)