octopolis

Hey everyone, Long-time lurker, first time poster. My name is Sam Julian, and I am an octopus obsessive though I've always felt intimated at the thought of maintaining a personal aquarium. I like to look at 'em while scuba diving, and feed 'em while volunteering at the Aquarium of the Bay here...

The original poster

My homage to Walt Kelly, based on his comic poster from the very first Earth Day in 1970

I draw and write all of Octopolis. The first issue is finished, and will be self-published on Kickstarter in May.

Octopuses don’t leave skeletons themselves, so they have no idea that the mysterious ‘two-tailed fish’ built these ruins. They believe in an Ancient sea-spanning Empire that wielded unimaginable power, ruled by octopuses like themselves. They call it… Octopolis.

Ruins of the Old Empire litter the world of Octopolis. Here the main characters explore a sunken subway station, abandoned except for a skeleton of the elusive two-tailed fish.

As today, the ocean is not always a peaceful place. Here is a warrior queen who cannibalizes her mates and wears the beaks of her defeated enemies as a sash. She rides a giant eel that has been bred over generations for tremendous size and jaw strength.

The octopuses have a vibrant trade economy. This octopus family is preparing their sledge with a load of kelp textiles and preserved krill to take to market.

Octopuses have domesticated all sorts of animals for husbandry, service, and raw materials. This sand octopus rides a black-tipped reef shark and wields a turitella-shell spear.

This is the Tide Wall, a living reef that protects the great city-state of Polyps. The parapets are studded with elkhorn coral that breach the surface at low tide, and patrolled by guards at low tide. There are two entrances: A weighted lower gate for ground transport, and a buoyant upper gate...

Octopolis is set in a fictional future where humans drove themselves into extinction and intelligent octopus evolved in their wake. They’ve build their own society in the coral-encrusted ruins of our sunken cities. Disclaimer: I write Octopolis and have drawn everything you see in this image.

I'm making this thread for two reasons: 1) I don't think there are any TONMO threads dedicated to social behavior in octopuses besides the posts for specific articles 2) My non-scientist friend is in a class which is more or less on non-human sapience/culture (the class has a lot of Jane...