For the first time since it’s inception half a century ago, TMO has lost its spot as the highest ranked and purchased comic magazine, now ranked second to the independent monsoorai omnibus: Young Wave.

There are many factors going into this.

Young Wave print shops are located on an independent Monsoo island and sell to both the Protectorate and the Axis, while TMO is a loyal Protectorate ally that doesn’t sell to Axis states.

Young Wave has a regular rotation of talent and is very cutthroat. If a comic is rated poorly in the magazine it’s ruthlessly removed and replaced by a new comic. TMO is explicitly an eluid company and hires eluid artists, bringing their works together for sale. They’re more of a community than an economic machine.

Young Wave’s current oldest comic is ‘Starliner’, at 17 years old and 399 issues, and the story is nearly done. TMO’s oldest issue is Harem Problems at half a century old with over a thousand issues. For human readers the big TMO books are starting to get long winded and are overstaying their welcome, while Young Wave has a long backlog of completed works, and new ones are being released constantly. One of the highest rated TMO comics was Backpacking Across Western Foregone just because it actually ended with a satisfying conclusion.

TMO is still the second highest rated comic omnibus, so perhaps they feel no desire to change. But the best advice according to my research would be that some of these comics, which have been going for half a century, should start winding down.

That said, as an elf, it is nice to come back every month and see these long running stories. It’s a reassuring presence and I always grab the latest issues on my travels.