Comic Discussion > ALICE GROVE
Alice Grove MCDT - January 2015
plusorminus:
Ah, okay. That makes sense. I was under the (apparently mistaken) impression that AG was a story Jeph had been wanting to tell for awhile but could not because QC is his main source of income and therefore had to be the priority. Yes, I think that it's very true that no story springs fully formed. I was just confused because AG is such a plot-driven webcomic. I feel much better now, thanks for the additional information.
Isyrion:
I think what we have here is the general framework for the story. For example, Gavia and Ardent's characters have board traits right now (IE the foundation) and Alice has been slightly fleshed out (Foundation and Framework) but has also been established in board strokes. I think we will see some slow character development in the next chapter or two. Jeph did something similar with QC after all, Marten, Faye and Pintsize were established in board strokes then refined through solid story telling.
While not WOWed by Alice Grove I see potential here and willing to give it the time it needs to become great. Well there are my two cents.
On an unrelated note my computer refuses to let me spell Jeph's name right it keeps making it Jeff.....grrrrrr.
Skewbrow:
--- Quote from: mikmaxs on 29 Jan 2015, 20:40 ---... there's about to be a time-skip or something?
--- End quote ---
I am expecting a time-skip, too. Forward or backward?
ReindeerFlotilla:
Actually...
QC was unlike AG. We meet Marten and right off we are offered a reason to care about him. He's unhappy. He's unhappy about things a lot of people can relate to. In speech and inner dialogue, we are introduced to the inner life of Marten Reed. We don't know who he is, exactly. On the other hand, he isn't a cipher, either. What he does, and why, is explicable by his previous actions.
Faye IS a cipher, but that's okay because we have a viewpoint character, and we've been offered multiple opportunities to care about him. At strip 22, the situation is clearly introduced. The question isn't "What's going on here?" It's "where's this going to go?" About 480 strips later, we find out.
I'm not dumping on AG. I'm simply saying that nearly 40 strips in and I still don't have a sense of connection to the main character. The ONLY character who seems to want something they don't already have is Ardent. And he's self-centered in an unsympathetic way. You get the sense that he has enough toys. Sure, Marten was the woobie in his intro, but it was an effective hook.
That's what I mean about the current state of AG. It's like reading the first chapter of a book and realizing that author expects you to read chapter two because of whose name is on the dust jacket, rather than for the content.
Part of me is desperate to tell the other half. It's not exactly easy to build a strong hook. Connecting the reader to the character isn't a trivial thing. but this is getting long. Suffice it to say, I understand the challenges. I'm just saying AG hasn't met them. A for effort, though.
ysth:
I'm pretty sure the plural is Praeseses.
--- Quote from: BenRG on 29 Jan 2015, 23:33 ---I don't think anyone here doesn't believe that Ardent and Gavia have been deliberately marooned. The unanswered question is: Why?
--- End quote ---
And by whom. I don't think we have sufficient evidence there.
--- Quote from: TinPenguin on 30 Jan 2015, 00:24 ---Why are most of them genera, but Cupressaceae is a family? Is Cupressaceae the Praeses of Praeses?
--- End quote ---
If so, that could be one reason they are such special snowflakes.
--- Quote from: plusorminus on 30 Jan 2015, 04:44 ---I'm not sure if AG was supposed to be a "Welp, I've got this idea and let's see how I sketch out the beginning and if it seems to catch on, I'll try to figure out the rest."
--- End quote ---
He didn't say "rest", he said "next"; important distinction there.
--- Quote from: Isyrion on 30 Jan 2015, 09:22 ---While not WOWed by Alice Grove I see potential here and willing to give it the time it needs to become great. Well there are my two cents.
--- End quote ---
I'm enjoying it quite a lot, and getting very attached to Alice. I like her sense of humor.
I think having a different style of comic will stretch Jeph in ways that will pay off handsomely in QC too.
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