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Post by Leonard on Oct 11, 2023 8:04:34 GMT -5
You can check it here. We've got the table of content and some compilation images, included below under the spoiler:
Checking the list of characters I find it really disappointing that we're not getting any A Starless Clan characters. Out of all the cats, at least our new protagonists should get the new images, right? Eh.
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Post by iceheart on Oct 11, 2023 8:16:50 GMT -5
So far, the reused images from the covers so far are: Riverstar, Shadowstar, Bluestar, Tawnypelt, Lionblaze, Crowfeather, Graystripe, Tallstar, Spottedleaf, Mistystar, Violetshine, Hollyleaf, Ivypool, Moth Flight, Blackstar, Alderheart, Pinestar, Goosefeather, Needletail, Twigbranch, Darktail, and Firestar are used. Riverstar, Crowfeather, Graystripe, Tallstar, Moth Flight are all using their SE covers. Shadowstar is from The First Battle. Lionblaze is from Dark River. Mistystar is from Starlight. Violetshine is from Thunder and Shadow. Hollyleaf is from The Forgotten Warrior. Ivypool is from Fading Echoes. Alderheart is from The Apprentice's Quest. Firestar is from The Last Hope. Needletail is from Shattered Sky. Twigbranch is from The Raging Storm. Darktail is from Shattered Sky. Spottedleaf, Goosefeather, Tawnypelt, Blackstar, and Pinestar are from their novellas.
We already know that Hawkwing and Leafstar are reused, too - Hawkwing from his SE, Leafstar from River of Fire. I assume Rowanclaw will be from River of Fire. I'm willing to bet over 50% of this new artwork isn't new at all. Aren't the oldest reprint covers 8 years old by now?
And I wouldn't be surprised if we find more than one Raggedstar in this case - i.e, an image already used, simply just flipped and recolored to resemble a new cat.
For funsies, I did a count of the characters in the book. So far there seems to be 101 characters. About 50 characters already have art by Owen. Assuming that, because of course they will, the editors will just put in an image already drawn by Owen, only 50% of this book will have "brand new art", and that's if you want to count images like Raggedstar as brand new...
It's so funny. They're not even trying with this one, and the content is just ctrl c + ctrl v. They find new ways to disappoint me with every book release. I wasn't even expecting much from this, but somehow they managed to find a way to lower that bar. I assume that if they're using Mistystar from Starlight, they'll probably use Leafpool from Twilight and possibly Bramblestar from Midnight, unless they use Bramblestar's Storm (where he's just a reflipped and recolored version of Firestar from the reprint of Firestar's Quest), or Darkest Night. It's hilarious that Violetshine is a black-and-white cat and they're just keeping the version where um... [checks notes] she's black with a white muzzle. Got it. Thanks, editors. Thanks, Owen.
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Post by deerspirit on Oct 11, 2023 8:36:57 GMT -5
What a disappointment. I seriously wish they only did cats not covered before. There are so many wonderful and interesting characters that have never been covered and I think that is terrible.
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Post by {Azure} on Oct 11, 2023 8:38:54 GMT -5
ravenpaw and barley... omg ravenpaw and barley.
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Post by Snowfire on Oct 11, 2023 8:59:56 GMT -5
I'm looking at the table of contents and the lack of newer characters is very disappointing, I wanted my Spotfur and Stemleaf!
Edit: THE LACK OF WINDCLAN, RIVERCLAN, AND SKYCLAN, OR ANY NEW CHARACTER IS BAD, HOW DO THEY NOT HAVE THE ASC CATS?!
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Post by Slightdapple on Oct 11, 2023 9:11:27 GMT -5
I'm guessing no ASC characters because it would soon become dated with Thunder and Wind's releases. But then again, the DotC characters were included in the original...
I also like the chapter header page.
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Asexual
#A3E4D7
Name Colour
🍄🎶✨Brambleheart✨🎶🍄
rdj as doctor doom was not on my bingo card
Pronouns: She/her, they/them
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Post by 🍄🎶✨Brambleheart✨🎶🍄 on Oct 11, 2023 9:12:23 GMT -5
Personally I don't mind the novella recycles. Up until now, we've only seen bits. It's nice to have the full images now.
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Aroace
#ffa100
Name Colour
𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑
Villain Enjoyer
Taking a break from the forums because my cat died. Will probably be back mid to late October.
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Post by 𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑 on Oct 11, 2023 10:19:25 GMT -5
I like some of the new artwork and do think some of the re-used novella as well as Super Edition covers look great with a more visible background (especially because I only have the paperback editions of SEs).
Again, it's really not that suprising that they'd use older art pieces by Owen of already depicted characters.
But other new pieces just look a bit copied/traced from other cats Owen has already drawn.
So far, Raggedstar looks a lot like Graystripe on his SE cover, just flipped, as already pointed out on another thread in regards to the new TUG.
And I personally think that Scourge's new art also looks similar to Shadowstar's re-used art (from The First Battle cover) in terms of pose. This is made even more clear since they are shown side by side in this preview image.
Still excited for the StarClan story and some of the art does look good. But there certainly are some things that could've been done a bit better.
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Asexual
#A3E4D7
Name Colour
🍄🎶✨Brambleheart✨🎶🍄
rdj as doctor doom was not on my bingo card
Pronouns: She/her, they/them
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Post by 🍄🎶✨Brambleheart✨🎶🍄 on Oct 11, 2023 10:26:02 GMT -5
I did some careful examining and comparison and have made educated guesses/confirmations of which characters are in which images. Red stars indicate reused images. Green checks/ticks indicate already confirmed characters and ones I am certain the guess is. (If you can't see the images, imgur decided to flag my posts as potential aduly content when these are battle cats here)
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Aroace
#ffa100
Name Colour
𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑
Villain Enjoyer
Taking a break from the forums because my cat died. Will probably be back mid to late October.
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Post by 𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑 on Oct 11, 2023 10:42:51 GMT -5
🍄🎶✨Brambleheart✨🎶🍄 Thanks for doing that! If those are really Rootspring and Bristlefrost with new art (instead of the floating heads of TBC), then I'm even moreso excited to see some new art for my boy Shadowsight (maybe with some lightning or snow behind him to indicate two iconic events of his character arc earlier on in TBC).
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Post by Sphinxwhisker on Oct 11, 2023 14:46:53 GMT -5
Terribly scanty on new character additions, but not exactly surprising. Although, with Graystripe and Firestar’s Starclan perspective, and apparently, Bramblestar talking about the new code for mini stories is a pleasant surprise, that hopefully makes up for the other lack of content. Really just hoping that the profiles at least get updated to reflect recent events, and aren’t just copy paste from the old guide.
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Post by Hollyfall on Oct 11, 2023 15:23:02 GMT -5
So the new pages include TC: Alderheart, Twigbranch, and Bristlefrost. Dovewing got moved to ShadowClan. No Sparkpelt is surprising.
ShC: Rowanclaw, Needletail, Puddleshine, Tigerstar II, and Shadowsight.
SkC: Hawkwing, Pebbleshine, Violetshine, Tree, and Rootspring. Pebbleshine is kind of a surprise. I was hoping for Needleclaw and/or Fidgetflake and Frecklewish to be included.
WC: Harestar
RC: Nobody lol. This is genuinely funny to me. RiverClan finally gets some spotlight and they don't even expand on the Clan itself.
Other: Darktail This certainly wasn't happening but I would have loved if the Dark Forest cats got included. They made them all have actual characterisation and then no nothing with them? Shame. I was really hoping the other groups would get included, like the guardian cats, Sisters, Kin, WarriorClan, and so on. It also seems like some cats got cut, like Millie, Russetfur, and Willowshine. Don't know why, since most of them shared a page with others. I wonder if Harestar's page will let us finally learn something about the guy? Who his parents were, for example. But that's certainly putting my expectations too high. Looking forward to the Firestar and Graystripe story at least. Assuming they don't drop the ball on that one considering how the quality of this seems to be. Bramblestar's part at the end seems new as well.
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Post by Jaysnow on Oct 11, 2023 16:03:15 GMT -5
Some of the new art is so good. Really looking forward to Bramblestar Speaks: The New Code & Firestar and Graystripe: The View from StarClan.
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Post by *Faith* on Oct 11, 2023 16:08:43 GMT -5
So the new pages include TC: Alderheart, Twigbranch, and Bristlefrost. Dovewing got moved to ShadowClan. No Sparkpelt is surprising.
ShC: Rowanclaw, Needletail, Puddleshine, Tigerstar II, and Shadowsight.
SkC: Hawkwing, Pebbleshine, Violetshine, Tree, and Rootspring. Pebbleshine is kind of a surprise. I was hoping for Needleclaw and/or Fidgetflake and Frecklewish to be included.
WC: Harestar
RC: Nobody lol. This is genuinely funny to me. RiverClan finally gets some spotlight and they don't even expand on the Clan itself.
Other: Darktail Frecklewish actually is there. She shares a page with Echosong.
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Post by *Faith* on Oct 11, 2023 16:25:50 GMT -5
The cats they got rid of:
ThunderClan: Featherwhisker, Millie ShadowClan: Russetfur, Boulder WindClan: Nightcloud RiverClan: Stonefur, Willowshine The Early Settlers: Storm and Turtle Tail, Gorse Fur Cats Outside the Clans: Smudge and Princess, Bone, Fallen Leaves, Midnight (this one was originally titled Animals Outside the Clans). They also moved Mapleshade from RC to Cats Outside the Clans, as well as move Dovewing from TC to ShC. Anyways, I'm surprised that Sunbeam, Nightheart and Frostpaw aren't here. Boulder was a cat I always felt would be removed if TUG got a sequel, so nice to see that actually happened. Also, reading the preview, nothing new was even added from Pinestar and Goosefeather's novellas. It's just a copy and paste of what was originally listed for them. The same goes for Bluestar.
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Post by Jaysnow on Oct 11, 2023 16:32:17 GMT -5
The cats they got rid of: ThunderClan: Featherwhisker, Millie ShadowClan: Russetfur, Boulder WindClan: Nightcloud RiverClan: Stonefur, Willowshine The Early Settlers: Storm and Turtle Tail, Gorse Fur Cats Outside the Clans: Smudge and Princess, Bone, Fallen Leaves, Midnight (this one was originally titled Animals Outside the Clans). They also moved Mapleshade from RC to Cats Outside the Clans, as well as move Dovewing from TC to ShC. Anyways, I'm surprised that Sunbeam, Nightheart and Frostpaw aren't here. Boulder was a cat I always felt would be removed if TUG got a sequel, so nice to see that actually happened. Also, reading the preview, nothing new was even added from Pinestar and Goosefeather's novellas. It's just a copy and paste of what was originally listed for them. The same goes for Bluestar. Thanks, this is actually really useful.
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Post by *Faith* on Oct 11, 2023 16:40:43 GMT -5
Anyway, onto the art. I was wondering how they were going to do Twigbranch and Violetshine since they live in separate Clans, yet their official art was always them together. I'm also surprised that Ravenpaw has new art, but it makes sense since Barley wasn't on his novella cover.
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Post by Jaysnow on Oct 11, 2023 16:46:54 GMT -5
I wonder if Skystar's page will villainize him or make him look good..?
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Post by Hollyfall on Oct 11, 2023 16:46:58 GMT -5
So the new pages include TC: Alderheart, Twigbranch, and Bristlefrost. Dovewing got moved to ShadowClan. No Sparkpelt is surprising.
ShC: Rowanclaw, Needletail, Puddleshine, Tigerstar II, and Shadowsight.
SkC: Hawkwing, Pebbleshine, Violetshine, Tree, and Rootspring. Pebbleshine is kind of a surprise. I was hoping for Needleclaw and/or Fidgetflake and Frecklewish to be included.
WC: Harestar
RC: Nobody lol. This is genuinely funny to me. RiverClan finally gets some spotlight and they don't even expand on the Clan itself.
Other: Darktail Frecklewish actually is there. She shares a page with Echosong. So she is, I missed it. Thank you for pointing that out!
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Post by Jaysnow on Oct 11, 2023 16:49:30 GMT -5
Also man Leo, you're on top of these. You keep posting the new stuff as soon as it's out. I wish I could be as fast as you are lmao
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Post by Poppysong on Oct 11, 2023 17:28:06 GMT -5
I am excited to read this. I am especially interested in the The New Code: Bramblestar Speaks and the Graystripe and Firestar story. I'm curious what Bramblestar will say about the new code.
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#add8e6
Name Colour
*Ravenpaw*
Warrior Fanatic
*reads books in a corner*
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Post by *Ravenpaw* on Oct 11, 2023 17:29:58 GMT -5
Sounds like a mix of hit or miss when it comes to this guide. I'm still looking forward to flipping through it.
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Post by Rainfire on Oct 11, 2023 18:39:29 GMT -5
No new DOTC cats(especially disappointing for me is no Star Flower :c)and no new RiverClan cats??? noooooooooooo
And lol it looks like the ASC protags are gonna have to wait until the next Ultimate Guide for their pages
I love a lot of the new art, though. I'm still excited to see it up close in the actual book.
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Post by iceheart on Oct 11, 2023 19:15:09 GMT -5
I wonder if Skystar's page will villainize him or make him look good..? I imagine it'll be the same text from TUG. Don't forget - this is literally copy and pasted from the original TUG except with a few new paragraphs for characters like Dovewing.
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Post by iceheart on Oct 11, 2023 19:20:54 GMT -5
I like some of the new artwork and do think some of the re-used novella as well as Super Edition covers look great with a more visible background (especially because I only have the paperback editions of SEs). Again, it's really not that suprising that they'd use older art pieces by Owen of already depicted characters. But other new pieces just look a bit copied/traced from other cats Owen has already drawn. So far, Raggedstar looks a lot like Graystripe on his SE cover, just flipped, as already pointed out on another thread in regards to the new TUG. And I personally think that Scourge's new art also looks similar to Shadowstar's re-used art (from The First Battle cover) in terms of pose. This is made even more clear since they are shown side by side in this preview image. Still excited for the StarClan story and some of the art does look good. But there certainly are some things that could've been done a bit better. There's also this cat I noticed that has the same exact face as Sol:
So uh, yeah, more artwork copied and recolored. Great.
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Post by Midnightcacoon loves Sunbeam on Oct 11, 2023 20:14:00 GMT -5
How are they gonna put down Bluestar's fur color as white? HER FUR COLOR IS LITERATELY IN HER NAME 😭. Exited for the Bristlefrost page though
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Post by Saint Ambrosef on Oct 11, 2023 21:00:18 GMT -5
I feel like the issue with the art is that Owen seems kinda unimaginative in terms of poses. Most of his characters are depicted in the same few kind of poses and it lends a very "copy and paste" vibe to his art.
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Post by *Faith* on Oct 12, 2023 15:23:55 GMT -5
You know, in retrospect, I've been thinking. The original TUG was essentially a sequel to Cats of the Clans. So a lot of TUG art was already used in COTC as a result. The only exception being Stormfur (who now shares a page with Brook) and Holly, Jay and Lion (who originally shared a page before the TUG separated them into different pages for obvious reasons).
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Post by stupidflower on Oct 12, 2023 16:41:42 GMT -5
Honestly I like the art. The cats may be a little inexpressive, but they look great and the backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous. I just don’t know why Brightheart has two ears 😅
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Post by کیوان on Oct 12, 2023 16:44:53 GMT -5
Honestly I like the art. The cats may be a little inexpressive, but they look great and the backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous. I just don’t know why Brightheart has two ears 😅 Was it ever said that Brightheart lost an ear? I feel like Bluestar would’ve given her a courtesy name of Lostear or something to complement her “warrior name”. /hj
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