Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT: 2831-2835 (10 - 14 November 2014) Weekly Comic Discussion Thread
ReindeerFlotilla:
So far, I am not a fan of how much is being left off screen. That doesn't mean I won't adjust.
I read most of the archive in real time. It wasn't a slog, when the next button didn't do anything for 18 to 72 hours or more.. rereading the archives wasn't a slog either, because it was undertaken with no other motives than rereading the archives.
I also read very fast.
I'm not arguing that the word level is objectively a problem. Just that it is probably having subjective impacts that make it seem as if the pacing has slowed.
As it happens, I have no issue with running dialogue lite as a device. It's a comic, after all. But words, panel, panel, punchline can get monotonous. We just had two days back to back of exactly that. We learned that Veronica approves, as expected. But that was exactly what was expected. I, for one, wanted more Veronica pay off. This feels like individually wrapped bite size Veronica. It also feels like it's over.
It's all about the feels. For all we know, Veronica is about to go full transgressive. Rereading it via the archives might feel perfectly natural. But right now, taking the story in as it is presented, it does feel like it's in a holding pattern. That's subjective. I'm just laying out the why behind that subjective experience.
--- Quote from: FunkyTuba on 13 Nov 2014, 08:36 ---
--- Quote from: ReindeerFlotilla on 13 Nov 2014, 08:04 ---By lowering the word count, Jeph's lowered the information content of each strip.
--- End quote ---
I disagree... he's relying on his art more to tell the story without words. I think the average information content per strip stays about the same... strips with 4-panel layouts seem to have more words than more novel ones... when there's no words in a given panel it's because he has set up a beat panel or is conveying something in the art.
As far as pacing goes, he's microscoping the first part of Claire/Marten for some reason. I'm not put off by it because I'm pretty sure it'll pay off in the end.
--- End quote ---
Dialogue can also serve as a beat. When I say the information content is down, I mean total information content. The relevant information content may be exactly the same. It's the difference between drinking from a garden hose vs a fire hose. You probably imbibe the same amount of water, but one is going to be a more visceral experience and probably involve more broken bones.
MooskiNet:
--- Quote from: Aziraphale on 13 Nov 2014, 08:47 ---I'd rather see a balance of the two -- deploy each when they're called for -- rather than sacrificing one or the other just for a stylistic experiment. YMMV.
--- End quote ---
I agree with you, but I think finding that balance is often a matter of skating up to - even over - the edge of overdoing it so you know where the line is. Even then, finding the line can be damnably difficult - as the storyteller, you know what you're trying to get across, but being able to tell if it's actually coming across to anyone else can be a right bastard.
FunkyTuba:
Sorry to quibble:
--- Quote from: ReindeerFlotilla on 13 Nov 2014, 09:03 ---Dialogue can also serve as a beat.
--- End quote ---
(click to show/hide)http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BeatPanel
--- Quote from: tvtropes ---A silent panel in sequential art.
--- End quote ---
If there's dialogue, then it's definitionally not a beat. What am I missing?
AprilArcus:
I think my biggest problem is that Claire has been in a purely reactive mode since she made her (ultimatley successful) pass at Marten 48 strips ago. This is great for Marten watchers, since we've known him for 3000 strips and it's makes for a fun role reversal, but Claire's impetuousness is her most clearly drawn character trait, and she is suffering a lot without it.
Things Marten and Claire could do on their date night that would be more interesting that enduring other characters squeeeeeeing over them:
* Claire grew up in Northhampton, right? She must know all kinds of cool spots that relative-newcomer Marten doesn't. She grabs his hand and they go running off to the secret book store / nickel arcade / poetry slam. Maybe he meets some of her friends?
* Talking about the people they have in common over dinner. I like NemoX's theory that Clinton was Claire's only friend growing up. Use dialogue to shine some light in the corner of an otherwise unlikeable character.
* Claire and Marten talk about Tai, and the important role she's had in Marten's life, how Claire admires that she's so fearlessly out but can't / doesn't want to be like that herself for [insert reasons].
* Talk about their mutually overbearing moms.
* Talk about gender stuff in a way that touches lightly on it, and shows us Marten being cool instead of him just saying "I'm cool". "No, I didn't have any boyfriends in high school. They were too busy shoving me into lockers." "Oh yeah, I had that. I kept an emergency reading light and a copy of 'Dune' to pass the time until the principal would fish me out."
* Claire takes Marten for a drive. In her car. That she owns. Instantly reasserts her agency.
* Claire talks about where she wants to go with her library career. Marten talks about the show Deathmøle has booked that he's excited/nervous about playing.Anyone else got one?
MooskiNet:
--- Quote from: AprilArcus on 13 Nov 2014, 09:49 ---Anyone else got one?
--- End quote ---
I'd have sworn on my soul that the one about talking about her library career wasn't there on first reading, but I was going to suggest that, especially since the pass she took at Marten 48 strips ago seemed to indicate she thinks or hopes to be at the library for some time, and she's a summer intern. Maybe she talks about how she's applied for a permanent position?
They could try to draw one another out on what exactly led to their attraction.
"If you could ask me anything with no repercussions, what would it be?" Either of them.
---
Kind of a follow on to the 'anyone else got one-' if the elephant in the room is Claire being a trans woman, is it possible to deal with it in any manner besides pointedly looking in another direction, and if so, how?
Mind you, this isn't speculation about the mechanics of anything except storytelling, but if it's determined to be off limits, let me know and I'll delete it.
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