Stand Still, Stay Silent (SSSS for short) is an ongoing (and very frequently updated) webcomic by Minna Sundberg. 90 years ago (though the series starts off in the midst of this with a lengthy but still great prologue), the world buckles at its knees to an incredibly dangerous and unusual disease. In the decades since, Iceland becomes the center of the known world, with pockets of "cleansed" (though still very unsafe) areas scattered throughout the rest of Scandinavia. Modern technology has largely fallen to the wayside and the small remaining human population has little trustworthy knowledge of the "Silent World," areas where human access remains forbidden.
Until now.
A small team finally received funding to build up a unit of volunteers to explore the outside world with the intent of collecting "ancient" texts and expanding society's record of "old world" material. With shit pay and no guarantee of safety, the five eventually chosen for this mission are terribly underqualified for the danger they're about to face...ditto for the one who stowawayed on a ship and found himself accidentally dropped off with them. Reliant on each other's shoddy fighting, magic, and cooking skills, the SSSS’ sextet crew (clockwise from top center: Mikkel, Tuuri, Reymir, Emil, Lalli, and Sigrun) tackles leadership issues, several language barriers, health hazards, and horrific mutated threats on their journey to the Silent World and back.
It's almost a shame to refer to this as a "webcomic," which I feel often carries with it a connotation of amateur writing and underdeveloped art. Make no mistake: SSSS is anything but amateur. Its world is fascinating, its characters are charming, and its artwork is downright godly. Sundberg has tons of skill evoking atmosphere in her work, using downtrodden greys, blues, and reds, near-constant inclement weather, and understated size dynamics to give off an aura of bleak desolation. And whenever a beast pops up - well, prepare for pure terror. Those things are the stuff of nightmares.
Best of all, despite its ambitious premise, it also never gets too wrapped up in itself. SSSS feels both fantastical and human, and it's proven to be a masterfully-constructed and engaging read ever since the first page. I know the simple fact that it isn't manga will limit how many people care about this, but that damn shame ultimately isn't my problem. I can't recommend this enough. Official website is linked at the start of this post.
