Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

Why is QC so damn fascinating?

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DSL:
I'm addicted to QC. I mean, really, really addicted. As in, I want to know, and know about, these characters in a way I haven't been since I was 10 years old and wanted to hang around with the "Peanuts" gang. And I'm (just) old enough to be the dad of any one of this bunch. Yes, Jeph creates engaging characters about whom it is possible to care; yes, the art is good and steadily getting better -- but I can't explain my fascination. Provisional hypothesis: Jeph is good at creating archetypes which push just the right buttons and knows how to keep us wondering what happens next. Anyone feel like agreeing/disagreeing/taking this in a completely different direction?

celticgeek:
I tend to agree with you (and since I do, yes, it's my problem).  And I'm (just) old enough to be the grandfather of some of them.  I found this comic when Marten got the job at the library (a link from from Unshelved) and have been reading it religiously since then.  Plus, of course, going back through the archives.

Is it cold in here?:
The characters are more than "engaging", they've got that feeling of reality which makes you think of them as if they were real.

pwhodges:

--- Quote from: celticgeek on 16 Feb 2011, 12:07 ---I'm (just) old enough to be the grandfather of some of them.
--- End quote ---

More than a mere possibility in my case - I do have grandchildren in their 20s (as well as one who's 2).

As for the comic, I can't really think of much different from what's been said so far.  It is  compelling, and though there are times when I find one or a few strips less so, nearly always they fall into place when reviewed with those before and after.  It's this quality of the parts being less than the whole that leads to some of the craziness in this forum, I suspect - if some particular strip had only become available with the whole arc it was part of, then much of what might have got said about it would have been seen to be irrelevant.  It also creates the need to go on reading to see that perspective that will make it work.  This is a tribute to how fully formed the QC world must be in Jeph's head, because much of the time he doesn't actually plan from day to day where the plot is going, but lets the characters show him (my interpretation, based on recollections of remarks he's made).

horsefish:
Thanks for that insight.  it is a good way of explaining why it can be so jarring to go from reading the archive after one "discovers" QC (or any other episodic entertainment with strong story arcs - I watched all of Battlestar Galactica on DVD after it was done - never saw its original run and can't imagine waiting for those to play out a week at a time - even without the writer's strike...) to reading a strip a day.  I've posted briefly here and there about the phenomenon, and seen occasional mentions of it in the forum archives, but I've never been able to really put my finger on it other than to think "hurr, it sucks to wait instead of reading 100 strips a day"

I hope this thread takes off.  I like it.  I finally got my wife to start reading QC - actually she was bored and started reading the QC vol. 1 book that I left laying around a couple of days ago and got hooked.  She's at around 800 now.  She actually called me at work to talk about "the talk."  That arc goes a long way toward answering the title question of this thread.  Before that, I liked QC.  A lot.  After that, I really had respect for it.  Not that I didn't before.  You know what I mean.  


Also, regarding Paul's point above, sometimes I'm tempted to try to not read it for a couple of weeks at a time so I can take bigger bites.  Ummmm, yeah.  Haven't been able to pull that one off yet. :roll:


tl;dr  I totally agree with Paul; QC rocks; now my wife reads it too.

*EDIT*  I know it's bad form to quote the immediately preceding post, but I wanted to refer to a certain part of the post? Maybe it still wasn't necessary?  :?

*EDIT* Removed the quote .  Realized the "part" was like 80 % of the post and I guess it's obvious what I was talking about.  Still getting my sea legs in here.

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