Kiwi Blitz is deeper than it seems

When I was bingeing Sleepless Domain for the third time, I decided that I should really try Kiwi Blitz since it’s from the same creator.

Kiwi Blitz is a web comic sent in a slightly cyberpunk near future. There’s cybernetics, mecha, and bioengineering. A girl named Steffi decides to become a costumed vigilante with the help of a kiwi-bird shaped mech, her family and friends, and lots and lots of money.

One touch I like is that the cops easily figure out who Kiwi Blitz is but her dad has too much money and too many lawyers for them to do anything. I can easily imagine a version of Batman where the Gotham PD darn well knows it’s Bruce Wayne but can’t do anything about it.

While the series starts off light-hearted and looking like it wll be a serial-style, villain-of-the-week romp, the threats Steffi and company face prove to be interconnected and serious. The webcomic turns out to be an overarching storyline.

And the characters develop as well. Steffi seems to be a bored, rich thrill seeker at the start. However, she really, really doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, even more than, say, Superman. (Captain America shot folks in WW II in multiple continuities so he’s clearly flexible) 

More than that, we learn that one of her formative experiences was losing a leg during an assassination attempt on her father. When she was five. In fact, while avoiding spoilers, I will say that the more we learn about the incident, the darker it gets.

While Steffi is the most extreme example of character development in Kiwi Blitz, the other characters also get deeper.

I do like Sleepless Domain more. It’s a deeper, richer story with deeper characters. It’s also darker, which is saying something since Kiwi Blitz  has a toddler getting maimed as a major plot point. But I still enjoy Kiwi Blitz.

Kiwi Blitz has been hiatus for several months. But, honestly, I’m used to webcomics ending without resolution. I enjoy them for as much as I can get out of them.