Romantically Apocalyptic Webcomic

Romantically Apocalyptic Webcomic

by Vitaly S Alexius

Charles Snippy finds himself lost and alone at the end of the world. He makes a wish for a friend and meets Zee Captain, an eccentric lunatic luminary, who drags him on an adventure through the eldritch, deadly, questionable and limitless post-apocalyptic world of tomorrow, a place where Goodness makes the rules and everything has purpose and passion.

~A post-apocalyptic, dark comedy webcomic that I've been working on since 2005 by myself at first and then with friends from all around the world.

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  • Total Views :
  • 1,402,720
  • Average Views :
  • 5,234
  • Followers :
  • 1,562
  • Favorites :
  • 661
  • Ratings :
  • 361
  • Pages :
  • 643
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Author
Vitaly S Alexius

Vitaly S Alexius

Archbishop of Captania and sovereign territories

Achievements
5,000 Followers
3,750 Comments
3rd Anniversary
55 Reviews
Word Count (17)
Royal Writathon April 2023 winner
1,000 Review Upvotes
Royal Writathon October 2022 winner
1,000,000 Views
Royal Writathon April 2021 winner
Top List #3
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Table of Contents
268 Chapters
Chapter Name Release Date
1: In which Charles gives up ago
2. In which Charles makes a friend whom he fails to define properly ago
3: In which Charles enjoys a relaxing song ago
4. In which Charles asks the wrong sort of questions ago
5. In which Charles finds a lovely, compact home ago
6. In which Charles makes a bad first impression ago
7. In which Charles narrates things into his tooth ago
8. In which Charles learns to appreciate beauty ago
9. In which Charles is oggled ago
10. In which Charles is rated ago
11. In which Charles is accused of theft ago
12. In which Charles is issued a new weapon ago
13. In which Charles is offered citizenship ago
14. In which Charles defends himself ago
15. In which Charles finds himself wanting ago
16. In which Charles outsmarts everyone ago
17. In which Charles meets something he can't ignore ago
18. Rememberances [ I ] ago
19. Rememberances [ II ] ago
20. In which Charles has a bad dream ago
21. In which Charles is put on hold ago
22. Tunnel letter ago
23. In which Charles gets another job ago
24. In which Charles invests in mobility ago
25. In which Charles discovers the Pilot's game ago
26. In which Charles fights against bells ago
27. In which Charles fails to appreciate carols ago
28. In which Charles doesn't understand the purpose of gift-giving ago
29. In which Charles awakens at the bottom of the sea ago
30. In which Charles almost loses his sock ago
31. In which Charles is innatentive ago
32. In which Charles raids shipping containers ago
33. In which Charles finds something that he wasn't looking for ago
34. In which Charles goes on a date to the Cinema ago
35. In which Charles is denied a drink ago
36. In which Charles contemplates public transit ago
37. Left Behind [ I ] ago
38. Left Behind [ II ] ago
39. Children of the Station [ I ] ago
40. Children of the Station [ II ] ago
41. Children of the Station [ III ] ago
42. Children of the Station [ IV ] ago
43. Children of the Station [ V ] ago
44. Catching up [ I ] ago
45. Catching up [ II ] ago
46. In which I am ambushed ago
47. In which I am bothered ago
48. Of Bench and Men ago
49. In which I enjoy lunch but not all of the present company ago
50. Rubix Cube ago
51. In which I try to explain things but Charles refuses to listen ago
52. Traffic lights ago
53. Pineapples ago
54. In which Charles doesn't get to go to Candy Mountain ago
55. In which Charles celebrates the Day of Rememberances ago
56. Fairies [ I ] ago
57. Fairies [ II ] ago
58. Death World ago
59. In which Charles and his things are evaluated ago
60. In which Charles declares independence ago
61. In which I compose a precognitive poem for Snippy ago
62. Diabolus Ex Machina ago
63. Dissection ago
64. The candle ago
65. Deep thoughts ago
66. In which princess Charles is rescued but he's not grateful ago
67. Of bombs ago
68. In which I stress about reductions and discover the culprit behind them ago
69. In which Charles doesn't want to sell his shoe ago
70. In which I treat myself at the mall ago
71. In which Charles picks up the phone ago
72. Eyes of the city [ I ] ago
73. Eyes of the city [ II ] ago
74. Eyes of the city [ III ] ago
75. The scooter ago
76. In which Charles dreams about showers ago
77. The Order of Dillon ago
78. In which Charles is made a tantalizing offer ago
79. Relaxing ago
80. In which Charles hangs on ago
81. Mirrors ago
82. In which I gracefully ponder things ago
83. In which Charles has a heated discussion ago
84. Rejection ago
85. Thoughts of the flesh ago
86. Cool guys don't look at... ago
87. In which Charles congratulates himself ago
88. Running man ago
89. In which my plotting comes to fruition ago
90. In which Charles fails to appreciate his new best friend ago
91. In which I am charged ago
92. Unbunkered ago
93. Spooderyness ago
94. Flying machine ago
95. In which I have to let go of Charles ago
96. In which Charles thinks about food ago
97. In which Charles wakes up... ago
98. ...in another place in time ago
99. Sushification ago
100. The Infomatic parable ago
101. Questings ago
102. A note ago
103. Apologies ago
104. In which Charles enjoys the sky ago
105. In which Charles enjoys the deep sea ago
106. In which Charles discovers food ago
107. The Seed of Life ago
108. In which Charles attacks a sandwich ago
109. Life and Death ago
110. Tag ago
111. Reintegration ago
112. In which Charles orders a coffee ago
113. Fireworks ago
114. Temporal Disruption ago
115. Catted ago
116. Apotheosis of Technogenesis ago
117. Fashion ago
118. Resume ago
119. Shoes! ago
120. Signs of life ago
121. Carriers ago
122. Boxes ago
123. Fridge collector ago
124. Fridays ago
125. In which I hunt butterflies ago
126. Snow ago
127. Duplication ago
128. Plumbery ago
129. Stalkery ago
130. In which Snippy visually examines the mug ago
131. Cleaning my room ago
132. Do not the mug ago
133. In which Charles finds a ladybug ago
134. In which Charles is offered a job ago
135. In which Charles scares Pilot ago
136. In which Charles overhears things ago
137. In which Charles is followed ago
138. Helpfullness ago
139. In which Charles is acting most rudely ago
140. In which Charles threatens my bestie ago
141. In which Charles is accused of being me ago
142. In which Charles is concentrated ago
143. In which Charles sees everything ago
144. In which Charles is goes on vacation ago
145. In which Charles discovers a chilling mystery ago
146. Primogenitor ago
147. Amber of Snippy ago
148. The Mod ago
149. The Word ago
150. Chalice knights ago
151. In which Charles appeals to the Holy Grail ago
152. Black hole princess ago
153. Rude awakening ago
154. Falling ago
155. Grounded ago
156. Alexander and the ghost ago
157. The tower ago
158. The bucketed ago
159. Purpose ago
160. Winter wrap up ago
161. Filing complaints ago
162. Acceptance ago
163. Bothered ago
164. Red panda ago
165. Yesterday ago
166. Made of meat ago
167. Enticing offers ago
168. Passionate solution ago
169. The searcher ago
170. The Hunt ago
171. In which Charles denies his termination ago
172. A Refreshing Morning ago
173. The fall ago
174. A smashing time ago
175. The detective and his bird ago
176. Liquid intake ago
177. Sleeping on the job ago
178. Case Resolution ago
179. Denial ago
180. Delayed ago
181. Moist ago
182. The Inception Committee ago
183. Preserved ago
184. Breakfast ago
185. Guesses ago
186. Doctor ago
187. Hugs ago
188. Accolades ago
189. Sunshine ago
190. Evolution Ponderings ago
191. Supercenter ago
192. Chains ago
193. Shutdown ago
194. Lifey & Stalky I ago
195. Lifey & Stalky II ago
196. TreEvolution ago
197. In which Charles attempts to make a Utopia ago
198. Dreams of the firstborn ago
199. Flying Boat ago
200. Skybound ago
201. Cash Cab ago
202. Socklandia ago
203. Restarted ago
204. In which Charles discovers that he's naked ago
205. Appleseed ago
206. Paris ago
207. The Blue Room ago
208. Searching for my maker ago
209. Crashing ago
210. Centipede ago
211. Under the Eiffel ago
212. Overlord ago
213. Tour De France ago
214. Landmarks ago
215. Lobby Boy ago
216. Elevator Button ago
217. The Last Bee ago
218. It's not my Birthday ago
219. Mr. Kittyhawk ago
220. In which Charles takes the stairs ago
221. Angri Caterpillar ago
222. The Man Who Never Stopped Working ago
223. Rental Car ago
224. Skittles ago
225. False Lawyer ago
226. Moonward ago
227. The Chase ago
228. In which Charles awakens his inner self ago
229. Trusted ago
230. In which Charles loses connection ago
231. Zero [ ▷◉◁ ] ago
232. Depth ago
233. Spiders ago
234. Fairy Godmother ago
235. Lunaport ago
236. Wicked ago
237. Murder ago
238. Descent ago
239. Chilly ago
240. Scarecrow ago
241. User Demands ago
242. Boop ago
243. Delivery ago
244. Loungery ago
245. Attendant ago
246. Choices ago
247. Hunger ago
248. Gravity ago
249. Lunaria ago
250. BurGerbox ago
251. Cottage ago
252. Surprise ago
253. Bus ago
254. Searchers ago
255. Lightness ago
256. Boarding ago
257. A series of Pies ago
258. Gwaaarghhh ago
259. Beemonger ago
260. Misfortunate Gromovs ago
261. Chalk of Labelling ago
262. Engie Bee ago
263. Propulsion ago
264. Revelations ago
265. Lunar Helpdesk ago
266. Make the Moon Good Again ago
267. Gates ago
268. Infinity ago

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Reviews
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Cornita
Overall

I've been reading RA as a translation since 2012, and it's been really fun, and it's great to have a new and more interesting story added. It's good to have a lot of new art added! Most of the Apocalypse genre I've seen is dark and serious, but RA is cheerful! That's why I liked it. Read the story carefully. Mentioned again in a later episode. Every little thing is a double track.

MaoTheArtist
Overall
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(Review Addition: (09/01/2022))

I have initially read a majority of the comic on the original website.

As a small addition to this review, take deep care into the note that this is filled with comedy and satire, what you see and get twists and turns. Cohesiveness of the narrative is solely based on how much you want to read into it. I'd say the best approach for this piece is to enjoy the experience rather than expect a handed out narrative. It's a community project that pulls at various parts and it's artistry alone is a beautiful level of merit. If you don't take everything super seriously it's an enjoyable time. 

====
(This review section was initially created 10/14/2020)

I got introduced to this comic through a haphazard chance of the various videos on the internet. The imagery of a strange creature amidst the fogs of barren wasteland was enough to inquire, what is this? Is there more? And to my delight there was. The style of Romantically Apocalyptic is rich and astonishing in visual care and detail. The amount of work to create each page is delicate and down to every corner of its creation, mixing in methods of real like photography, composition editing, and digital 3D additions. As a 3D Artist myself it is an inspiration to hold with care, as I have not seen many other artists use these methods for a comic before.

As for the narrative, it is a delightfully chaotic comedy with much reason! It is themed off of the remains of a world that have lost a sense of form and encapture that beautifully. The worldbuilding is sprinkled throughout the various humored scenes of character dilemma and interaction. The more you accept it's illogical scenarios, the more joy you have as you venture further down when it begins to elaborate on those same issues. Who says a comedy can't be intricate? This is exactly that. 

The Grammar and structure of the readings are paced nicely, attributing creatively colored text for emphasis on character and their dictations. This becomes an important note as the point of view will change depending on the subject in focus. As long as you are paying attention, there's very few moments of being lost (at least as long as it was not intentionally lost to begin with). 

My absolute favorite aspect is the characters of this narrative, of which I enjoyed everyone in detail. They are always intriguing and unique in their reactions to each other, contrasting perspectives, and goals in life. Navigating this world wouldn't have the same feeling without them, and it provides the comedic moments that make me smile on every page. They have a very nice character development arc as we continue further into the story, so I highly suggest giving it a decent read in to enjoy these developments fully. 

In simplicity, if you are one to embrace chaos with open arms in a world that's falling apart around you with no sense of reason, this is definitely a great read for you. 

ErinRedFen
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I've been a fan of Romantically Apocalyptic for 6 or 7 years now, ever since a coworker of mine introduced me to the comic via the force of nature that is Zee Captain. The first few pages and I was hooked.


Overall it's a delightful ride driven by the visual storytelling of small little surreal sequences that weave together into a larger story that ties it all back together.


Style wise the story is told from multiple perspectives in a journal form which does well to put you in the world of the characters, and the art is nothing short of cinematic in execution. Vitaly uses a combination of photographs and matte painting to compose the scenes and colalborates with other artists to create truly wonderful imagery that carries the apocalyptic themes and executes them in a literally romantic style.


The story seems straightforward at first but as the chapters progress the story behind the setting starts to make itself known, and like the nature of much of the imagery, it's fractal, more and more details and nuance can be seen the deeper you look into things. It takes a while but soon you realize who really has the grip on reality and who doesn't.


The characters are memorable and likeable, from Charles Snippy, the sniper and tour guide who the perspectives revolve around, to the childlike pilot who definately is one of a kind in any setting, to the enigmatic Engie who's quiet meek disposion hides his actual influence in the world itself. You meet many relatable minor characters as well, from the lovestruck streetlamp to the dutiful elevator button, its obvious each has been given love an attention from the author.


Nothing much needs to be said about Zee Captain I think, zee is.. Zee!

I'm super excited about the new additions, having seen bits and peices in various roleplay settings rolled into the main deal is quite a treat! Take a read and enjoy!

Tal Karlin
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Romantically Apocalyptic - a personal review

I originally started reading the Romantically Apocalyptic webcomic back in 2011 and have been wonderfully confused and bewildered throughout.

 

Reading it here again again lets me be dazed and amazed all over again.

 

The story makes you feel lost at times which makes you sympathize with one of our main protagonists as the confusion you feel reflects their own. The blending of the words with the mind blowing imagery builds a magnificent world where some things are so close to our own experience but then we look around the corner and find that none of it is true, or all of it is true, or both at the same time.

 

Not for the faint of heart or feeble of mind, though the later might have a better chance as they are used to things not being clear.

 

The characters are more animated then some people I know even when the character is inanimate. For an existence in which most everything has died the story that unfolds .. unfurls .. collapses on itself and vise versa or verse visa is very very lively.

I do very much wish that the constant pressure in my templates would subside … 

Old Man Cat
Overall

Amazing creative story with beautiful radiant art keeps you wanting to read more and more. Humorous, entertaining, engaging, a true pleasure to read. 

At times the story lapses into hilarious nonsensical asides, and at times follows an overarching insane and creative story that the Author takes places you can hardly imagine - Lovecraftian nightmares ironically put into visual medium. 

If you're at all interested in the postapocalyptic setting and comical stories and visuals, you'll love Romantically Apocalyptic!

FriendQwerty
Overall
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Quite literally love at first sight. I was introduced to this by a relative of mine (Whom I am eternally grateful for) in a birthday party. 

Ever since that day, I've been hooked on it. I was particularly fond of Charles Snippy, who remains to be my favorite character in this, and I quickly came to like everything this story offered. Fast forward and we have an electronic device and internet access. Eventually, I found out the name of this webcomic and experienced a rush of nostalgia.

There he was! Charles Snippy in all his glory! 

As mentioned before, Charles is really what drew me into this work but I stayed for the rest of the crew, the story, and the art.

I personally found that the story does get a bit confusing at times, but that might just be a me thing since English isn't my first language. Usually what I can't figure out on my own will be cleared up by someone else on the internet, which I am grateful for.

The character dialogues and the written bits are honestly so much fun to read. From my perspective, everything is written well and there are usually little to no grammatical errors from what I can tell. There will be occasional ones but it’s clear that these “errors” aren’t errors, but rather devices used to further a character’s speech pattern and dialogue and their overall understanding of the world around them (like with Pilot).

The characters really are what drives this story home for me. Getting diverse characters with seemingly ranging sanity levels and different perspectives really helps me grasp what is going on in this world.   These different points of view fit perfectly into one puzzle and it also serves to help further the story. And the way these characters interact with each other is often comical yet consistent with what we know of a certain character. I absolutely love the characters, and their designs are unique yet fitting to them. Let me tell you, Charles is great. He's as confused as the reader is and slowly begins to somewhat adjust just as the reader does as well. I think it's a clever way to introduce the reader to the story and the world of ROMAC.

I found myself entranced with the grand backgrounds and artwork that truly help the reader feel a certain way and understand the atmosphere and setting of the story. Gosh, the art in this is just great. The backgrounds play a very important role in this story. They do a great job at showing the reader what the world is like instead of simply telling them.

One of the major reasons why I'm still sticking to this piece is because of the emotional impact it has left on me. If I ever felt very down, I would have this as a way to comfort and ground me. This is so ingrained into me that I'll just gravitate towards it whenever I feel negative. 

I'm glad I was introduced to this piece, and I'm glad that it's still prevalent in my life.

Isa Bayfield
Overall

I find this highly entertaining and a very fresh approach on the appocalyptic world.

The marvellous graphics are a wonderful addition, I Never saw this combination of story telling and pictures before and a Love it.

So far, I got to meet Snippy, the Captain and -at least the head of- the pilot. I am really entertained very well.

oggyb
Overall

Updated and more sophisticated than before

Reviewed at: 1: In which Charles gives up

If there was one common thread in reviews of the original webcomic edition of this story, it's that, while the earlier episodes were self-contained comical sketches, the later episodes were a bit off the rails. While the art style improved, the storytelling became confusing and disjointed.

Coming from the original at rom.ac to this, I can report that the timeline now makes much more sense, and the image quality is higher too, emphasising the great strides made in Alexiuss's skills. I look forward to reading more.

Loses a star for weird text layout and odd grammatical style. Gains half a star back for absurdist comical language.

Zethuron
Overall
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Amazing artistic story became even better!

Reviewed at: 65. Deep thoughts

I've read this story once before, when it was originally posted to this site, and even back then it was already an amazing wild ride of a story helped by all its beautiful art illustrating it all, and it became better than it already was which is impressive.

For any readers already familiar with the previous version of the story, stop wasting time and go read this story now if you already arent. And for other readers i would also recommend to just start reading this weird tale, its just worth the read, if you need more convincing, go ahead and read the reviews for more information.

So as said up there, this story is a rewrite, the original was already amazing, and this is even more so, with all the extra content added filling out the story even more, and lots of added art.

 

The story features a rather varied cast, of humans as the main characters featured, and many other things outside of that, with each one of them having their own distinct quirky personality! With the likes of Snippy having the thankless job of being the grumbly ‘voice of reason’ in this wild band while having barely an idea whatever the hell is happening, basically being the normal person in this wild bunch, as far as one can be normal in all this weirdness, then there is Pilot, one of the hardest workers there are, with quite the jealousy towards a certain person… and a complete loyalty to the greatest of all, Zee Captain, who I cannot even start to describe. Lets just say Zee is MUCH more than what Zee initially seems to be.

Expect just damn about anything happening in this story, it basically goes no holds barred in how crazy and weird it will go! It is just completely a wild trip with lots of twists! It goes from simple post Apocalyptic survival, with a weird comedic tint which makes the story even better, to full on eldritch insanity later on. And the backstory is also freaking massive and confusing as there is hardly anything being explained, though there are hints from the very start, even in the art itself if you take a good look at it. As the story goes on, the backstory starts to make some sense as we get tidbits about the world and its past, but even with that it is very hard to get an accurate timeline of events, it is just so confusing yet makes sense at the same time!

 

Grammar is pretty much flawless, even in this rewritten version, and any present oddities with grammar are pretty much on purpose.

The story as a whole is pretty readable, even with how chaotic and messy it can get! Expect a gratuitous use of caps button, to the extent of entire chapters being capitalized. The style, well yeah, lots of different povs, though the swaps are well defined in general, and smooth also. Actually the entire story is more or less a smooth read, even with how helluva weird it can get, though do expect to get confused as a reader multiple times throughout the story. Though for the rest it is wonderfully told, And on the describing side… the author honestly does a good job at it, even if they aren’t required to since of the use of art in this story, to an extent I have rarely seen before, mostly in actual webcomics such as Erfworld, notably chapters are shorter than the standard for this site, with descriptions being mostly left to the art plus there being relatively few amounts of dialogue

The art bears mentioning, as it just adds greatly to the story as a whole, it all adds just so much to the overall reading experience, making this story truly a wondrous & bizarre read as it gives the reader an even better idea at how the world portrayed in the story is like. The author is absolutely very skilled at his art, having refined his skill to as perfect as he could make it, and yet also constantly improving on it all while having multiple kinds of art styles which do get used in this webcomic/webnovel mix, to maximum effect.

Plus with the rewrite the author has gone above and beyond with the art, adding a hell lot more art, making good use of AI art which is by its very nature of being weird already a good fit.

It may seem that this story is having rather quick releases, but thats mainly because there is such a huge backlog to pull from, once that is exhausted, releases likely will slow down massively, as it is hard to expect from a serial with art like this to have a webnovel type of release pace, that would be just unattainable! And having such quality, even if there is a slow release pace, is something im perfectly fine with myself!

One thing to note though is that this story did have the tendency to go on extended periods of hiatus between releases in its original version, but no telling if it will be the same now with the rewritten version.

 

So this rewrite is even better than the original was, certainly i am expecting to enjoy it even more thusly.

For any reader looking for an unique read, wait no more and just start reading this, it will be absolutely worth the time spent reading through it all.

 

DoctorSvet
Overall

This work absolutely proves that freelance authors can truly make corporations VERY SHY. 
I , from the old version, and to the new version, absolutely adore this comic and wish that the reborn shall be grand. 
It has inspired me to never fear the future, for you can always adapt or find crazy friends or crew, in case of poor Snippy. X)

Thank you, VitalySAlexius, for this masterpiece.