Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

Couldn't this comic stop?

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WAYF:
Actually, I think that the comic HAS been telling a story, and although admittedly extremely distant, there is a point to be reached.
At least, that's what I got out of that recent interview Jeph did where he spoke about Marten's ambitions or lack thereof. The comic is about many things, but most of all it's about people who are as real as Jeph can make them. (that is to say, at times almost completely real, and at other times you have Pintsize and friends wandering around :P) All of the characters have obstacles to overcome, but overcoming them takes time. Yes, it takes a lot of time, but eventually I imagine we WILL see Marten develop a sense of purpose in life, Dora WILL manage to get past the envy she feels for her brother which leads to her insecurity, Hannelore WILL be able to interact with people normally, and Marigold WILL develop some self esteem. Just to name a few examples.
The thing I think Jeph really nails down though, and the reason why he can't make the narrative as engaging as you'd perhaps like it to be, is that life doesn't just throw the answers at people who have problems. People are given opportunities to do things which help them with their problems, and usually it doesn't go all the way to solving them. It does however help the person (or character in this case) overcome their problem gradually, and eventually after enough help has been given, the problem is solved or its impact is negligible. That's proper character development.

(A good example is Faye and Dora's reactions to therapy. From the little that we've seen, Dora seems to be a lot more initially dismissive of it than Faye does, so naturally it is helping Faye a lot more than it probably will Dora.)

Yes, I imagine that it would be very initially satisfying if, say, Sven and Dora sat down and Sven expressed his regret for not being a very good role model for her and generally being chauvinistic and lazy while refusing to acknowledge his huge amounts of luck, and Dora managed to use this talk to move out of what she considers her brother's shadow and develop more healthy relationships as a result, but a few months, or even weeks after, you would look back on that momentous occasion and say "Hang on... that came out of nowhere!" It's completely unrealistic and unsatisfying in the long run, so that's why Jeph doesn't do it.


And if I may say, it's quite rude to request that Jeph stop the comic because you're bored of reading it. You come off as antagonistic because that request is, by nature, antagonistic. :(
Besides, I don't imagine that stopping the webcomic now would be a very economically smart move for Jeph, given that, you know, it's both his and his wife's source of income. :P

Carl-E:

--- Quote from: WAYF on 01 Aug 2011, 22:11 ---Yes, I imagine that it would be very initially satisfying if, say, Sven and Dora sat down and Sven expressed his regret for not being a very good role model for her and generally being chauvinistic and lazy while refusing to acknowledge his huge amounts of luck, and Dora managed to use this talk to move out of what she considers her brother's shadow and develop more healthy relationships as a result, but a few months, or even weeks after, you would look back on that momentous occasion and say "Hang on... that came out of nowhere!" It's completely unrealistic and unsatisfying in the long run, so that's why Jeph doesn't do it.

--- End quote ---

Instead, we get Sven making an overture to Dora by returning a doll he hid from her 15 - 20 years earlier.  Just like in real life...

I cleaned my garage last week, and found two toy sailboats that I had given my daughters.  We sailed them once, then I put them up in the garage for another day.  They sat there, behind accumulating clutter, for 12 years. 





We're going sailing again tomorrow. 

pwhodges:

--- Quote from: Stantonhello on 01 Aug 2011, 11:53 ---You Are Too Kind and You Could Stop This Comic If You Wanted to.
--- End quote ---

Presumably, as it is his source of income, Jeph does not  want to stop any time soon.  And as has been mentioned, Jeph does not often read anything in this forum these days - as far as I can tell, he may glance at it every few months.  In any case, it seems to me that that you are not merely making a commentary on the comic here, but on how Jeph chooses to live his life.  It would be more usual to reserve this kind of advice for friends - people you have got to know personally, and who in turn know you sufficiently well that they are able to judge the spirit in which it is given.


--- Quote ---Me and others only return to the comic every day out of a sense of loneliness and habituation. But I don't know that there is anything I'm waiting for. [...] This is not to say that the comic is totally without merits or is always unfunny or is not in some way charming, because it is and has been. [...] I think you are capable artistically of more than this.
--- End quote ---

You're 22; you should be getting to see that many aspects of real life are exactly like that.  Indeed, the comic shows people largely in this state, and vignettes of how they cope with it for better and worse.  As for the demographic... there have been people active in this forum at times with ages ranging from 14 to 70, so perhaps age is not the determining factor.  Two other replies have shown how the comic can be viewed as achieving more than you are prepared to acknowledge.  I imagine that Jeph has some ideas about he he plans to develop his life and his art - he is much more intimately involved with them than any of us.


--- Quote ---do you not have the artistic responsibility to engage a narrative, especially being someone with the fanbase, resources, and talent to really make our time worthwhile? [...] Webcomic criticism is almost universally torn down on places like this so I don't expect much discussion to result.
--- End quote ---

Jeph has no responsibility to you, or to me.  He makes his offering, and enough people enjoy it for him to make a living from it.  And if the criticism and discussion here break the rules and guidelines which are in place, then those rules and guidelines will be enforced - as you'd expect.

Is it cold in here?:

--- Quote from: WAYF on 01 Aug 2011, 22:11 --- eventually I imagine we WILL see Marten develop a sense of purpose in life, Dora WILL manage to get past the envy she feels for her brother which leads to her insecurity, Hannelore WILL be able to interact with people normally, and Marigold WILL develop some self esteem. Just to name a few examples.

--- End quote ---
But then where will the humor and drama come from?

New characters, of course!

Also:
Pwhodges put it better than I would have, but I'll just point out that there is an important distinction between criticizing the comic over the pace of the storytelling on the one hand and suggesting that Jeph find another job on the other hand.

dragontart:
Actually, I would find it rather creepy if a (to me) random guy from the other side of the planet had any responsibility to me or my time only because he's drawing/writing and posting something on the internet.

Also, for reasons unknown, I don't feel an urge to keep checking on something that gets uninteresting on a daily basis, so I guess I don't quite understand the problem with a webcomic getting uninteresting, which somebody might please explain to me.

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