How Many Are Reading Alice Grove?

[BenRG]

Alice Grove definitely has a smaller readership than QC but I'd be interested in finding out how many of those on the board are actually reading it (as I know that only a relatively tiny proportion of readers will comment on the forums).

Please answer the poll above and, if you answer any of the 'no' categories, please specify why.

Thanks in advance!

[Wildroses]

My mother was reading it right from the start, but I made a deliberate decision to not pick it up for a few months just so by the time I did pick it up I wouldn't have to wait for ages to get an idea of the story/setting/characters. I don't regret the decision. I was content to go to a two updates a week schedule when I did pick it up.

In fact it was Alice Grove rather than Questionable Content which lured me back to the forums. There is a lot more mystery and emphasis on plot in Alice Grove, so for me it is a lot more fun to discuss and see what theories other people have.

[pwhodges]

Note that there is no official forum for Alice Grove as there is for QC.  Although I have added it here so that Jeph could make a URL and link for Alice Grove readers to join us, he has not done this, so the readers will be under-represented here by an unknowable amount.

[Mlle Germain]

To add to what pwhodges said, I think that only readers of Alice Grove will venture into this subforum. Of course, one can still count the forum members that read AG this way, I just don't expect there to be (m)any responses on the 'No' side of things.

[Neko_Ali]

No no no.. I don't read it. I don't refresh my brower repeatedly, hoping for extra pages to slip by. I don't go off on long speculations about the world, the characters, or the story. Nope, that's not me at all...

[Welu]

I'm reading it although I'm not talking about it in the comic discussion thread.

[jwhouk]

I read it but can't vote in any poll because Tapatalk sucks in that regard.

[ysth]

This poll really should be in the QC section...

[LTK]

Reading QC is merely a habit for me now, it's just there in my RSS feed among 30+ other webcomics, and Alice Grove looked interesting so I just slapped it onto my feed.

[swapna]

Hah, you forgot one option: I like to read Alice Grove, but the pace is, to put it mildly, glacial. I'd rather have a storyline I can follow and get into in a few hours/days instead of waiting for months, so I don't check it every time a comic is published but every few weeks or so.

[LTK]

Dohohoho. If you think Alice Grove updates at a glacial pace you obviously haven't been reading many webcomics.

[swapna]

It's update schedule is slower than QC, and the storytelling pace is also slower.

[explicit]

Most webcomics I read are on a 2-3 updates a week schedule. Many are also on a once a week schedule. Then there's nerf-this! which is apparently on a monthly schedule which makes me so so mad. But anyway, it's in line with most webcomics. People who make a living off of webcomics usually do post 3-5 times a week (sometimes more, as with Willis and now Jeph by adding this comic), but there are also people who do this who make fewer comics a week (like Dave Barrack, though many of his updates are double updates).

Wait... what was my point? ... um.... oh yes, this is fairly typical as far as webcomics go.

ADDITION!: especially science fiction ones which often need a lot of exposition

[pwhodges]

Slow?  What about Dresden Codak?

[Gladstone]

Please answer the poll above and, if you answer any of the 'no' categories, please specify why.

Maybe add a second "Yes" vote, something like "Yes, but only because Jeph is writing it/because it's there/etc.," because that one "Yes" option sounds more enthusiastic than I actually am.  I mean, AG is good, I like it, whatever, but I'm not totally hooked and I probably wouldn't bother reading on if I wasn't a fan of Jeph's work already.

[ysth]

Slow?  What about Dresden Codak?

Slow?  What about f8d?  Or better yet, ELER?

[Aziraphale]

I actually wish I'd waited to read it. I like the writing and everything, but the pacing drives me nuts... I'm not very patient when it comes to waiting for new installments of stuff.

[Kugai]

Yeah, The Lounge is updating, but grass grows faster.

[swapna]

Wow, I did not think that this would get into an argument about who has the most patience with webcomics. Yes, also read slow comics, but there I don' t check every installment but wait a few weeks until I can read the storyline, the scene, in full. Otherwise I'm getting frustrated with it

[Thrudd]

I find the concept and execution of the poll hilarious, in a Pythonesque satire of modern management / bureaucratic methodology.

ex.

Government official walks into cemetery.
Good morning everyone, I am here today to verify a citizens complaint that this area is full of dead people.
All those who are dead please raise your hands.
Nobody?
Okay, that's that then, I'm off.
*grumbles* Bloody waste of time.

[dexeron]

Yeah, I don't think anyone who doesn't read Alice Grove would even bother coming into this sub-forum.

The poll makes me think of the articles this week about how NC State Senator Jeff Jackson spent the snow day a few day's back (when he was the only legislator present in the building) tweeting about how he was passing all of this sweeping legislation unanimously, and how he defeated his own filibuster by leaving the room to get a drink of water.

[LTK]

Oh, I never come into this subforum (or any subforum), I do all my browsing from the Recent Unread Topics link. If I didn't read Alice Grove I'd still have noticed the topic.

[Rghfrgl]

I read it because I'm here for qc anyway, may as well click it. I don't think I would otherwise. At best it might be something I check out after a year, after some comics have piled up. Bottom line, it just doesn't update enough.

Really I think if it was Alice that updated 4-5 times a week and QC 2 or 3 they'd both be better comics. But I do kinda recognize that'd be financial suicide.

[Kugai]

There are probably more Readers than Forumites than we realise.

Look at how many new Members we've picked up just with the Claire/Marten thing in QC alone.

[pwhodges]

But have we picked up a single member who reads Alice Grove and not QC?  Officially there is no Alice Grove forum, and no way for readers to know about this one.

[Kugai]

True enough.


Unless Jeph mentions there's a Sub-forum here for the Comic, and I ain't taking any bets on that happening.

[cesium133]

What Jeph has to say about how many people read Alice Grove: https://twitter.com/jephjacques/status/572439352040538113

[rfrank dodelijk]

i've stopped reading it because it is insubstantial rubbish and a huge disappointment compared to what the author occasionally manages with qc.

[Kugai]

Your loss

[rfrank dodelijk]

you're right, it is. I really wanted it to be good. perhaps I expected too much.

[eschaton]

you're right, it is. I really wanted it to be good. perhaps I expected too much.

I'm not sure I'd be as rude about it, but so far I have to agree.  Going through the issues.

1.  There is nothing remotely funny in the comic.  Ardent occasionally says something which could theoretically be mildly amusing, but certainly it doesn't make me laugh out loud. 
2.  So far, there has been very little characterization.  We could summarize what we know about each of the three main characters in perhaps one or two sentences.  Everyone so far hs been pretty unlikable too, so it's not even as if I want to get to know them better. 
3.  The plot, such as it is, is unwinding very very slowly.

There are good elements.  I like what Jeph is doing artistically in some of the strips a great deal.  And the world itself is a bit of a mystery - I'm intrigued to find out more. 

But really, so far, I'm just clicking through hoping the pace will pick up somewhat.  It's been slow going so far. 

[Aziraphale]

Here's a thought exercise, of sorts: if you're disappointed in AG, how much of that is on the comic's own merits, and how much of that disappointment stems from what the comic is, or isn't, relative to QC? When I first discovered QC a couple of years back, it took me a few tries to get past the first couple hundred strips; the storytelling, and especially the art, were nowhere near as developed as they'd eventually become. Had I given up instead of finally plowing through, I'd have missed out on some good storytelling.

I suspect that the pacing of this is part of what's putting people off; the fact that it's not a gag-based slice of life comic like QC may also be a drawback for some. If you're new to it, it' s not like it takes long to get through the archives, and it's still very early in the story yet... the story and characters are still developing and maturing. But from the standpoint of the art and the story, this one's off to a much better start than QC was. I think it's early yet to pass judgment, but at the same time, I can't help but be encouraged both by what I've seen so far, and also because Jeph has generally been willing to change things up instead of settling into ruts.

[drewdane]

I haven't really been able to add Alice Grove to my routine because TUMBLR SUCKS GIGANTIC DONKEY TURDS AND I HATE USING IT, so I've pretty much given up. 

Fix the dedicated site and that's likely to change.

[pwhodges]

You don't really do anything with Tumblr, though.  Just go to the URL, and there's the comic.  Click a bookmark or the image at the top of this forum for even easier access.

[drewdane]

You don't really do anything with Tumblr, though.  Just go to the URL, and there's the comic.  Click a bookmark or the image at the top of this forum for even easier access.

Oh sure, NOW you tell me!   

Thanks!

[Mlle Germain]

Here's a thought exercise, of sorts: if you're disappointed in AG, how much of that is on the comic's own merits, and how much of that disappointment stems from what the comic is, or isn't, relative to QC?

I have to say that the aspects of AG that I am disappointed with are mostly those that make it more like QC: The silly gags (particularly related to Ardent) and the butt humour, which I don't find particularly funny. In QC, this type of humour is fitting, but Alice Grove has a very different feel to it and I think that there it doesn't fit particularly well. It seems rather forced at times.
I personally hope that future AG goes more into the direction of serious story-driven SF comic than drifting off into alien slice-of-life with butt jokes.

[jwhouk]

Well, it's more like "tail" jokes, but I see what you mean.

[CompSarge]

How about an option that says "Yes, but I only read it in batches so that I can follow the story better"? As cool as it is that Jeph's doing two comics, not having a set update schedule kinda kills it.

[Meilu]

How about an option that says "Yes, but I only read it in batches so that I can follow the story better"? As cool as it is that Jeph's doing two comics, not having a set update schedule kinda kills it.

This is my vote as well. Overall enjoying AG more than QC at the moment, if only because QC is making Emily even more of an empty shell of a person while Clinton has an inane "adventure" she's just there for.

I see people complaining about AG's characters being unlikeable... right now QC is suffering more. If I hadn't been reading since very near the beginning, I doubt I would be now.

[Kugai]

[gmod]It was a very good suggestion by CompSarge and I have added it to the Poll and reset it so you may change your vote should you desire to do so.[/gmod]

[ysth]

The regular schedule will come with time, I'm sure.

I enjoy every comic whenever it comes.

[Jimington]

Loving AG! Only wishing I'd discovered it a bit later so there was a bit more story to read through. I keep checking it thinking "COME ONNNNNNNN!!"

Lots of mystery and Alice is a great character...interested to see where it goes.

[oeoek]

By now Alice Grove is starting to work for me. I am a binge-reader, so I desperately need a massive backlog to get into a story (grin, guess what pulled me into QC earlier this year). With 3 chapters finished and things going 'ping' 'pek' and 'spak' in chapter 4, it is starting to grow on me.

[ThePerilsOfDan]

I've so thoroughly enjoyed QC that when he announced a new toon, I was ready to read it.

I first became aware of QC when somebody posted the strip about Martin wishing for a '52 black guard tele to fall into his arms similar to how a girl (Cosette falling into Steve's arms?) fell into his buddy's arms.

I'm a guitar player, I had to find out about a toon that very specifically and correctly identified a particular guitar of which I am quite fond of.  I binge on new toons I find, and wow did I have a lot to catch up on.

this was my chance to get in on the ground floor so to speak with Alice Grove

[Method of Madness]

Is it a toon if the pictures don't move?

[Channelore HellicottAtham]

OMG - the first post in this thread dates to February 2015. Alice is a year old already?! I know the slow pace of the biweekly updates slows progress, but even so, I hadn't realised it had already been this long. I am so curious about the story generation process, and how much of Alice's future Jeph already has mapped out to whatever certainty. The story and its backstory is so rich and detailed that this depth surely relies upon the extra time afforded by the update schedule, plus a good deal of foresight to enable small hints to future detail that may not become relevant for a good deal of time (as for example the Harry Potter series, where there exists significant callbacks to often much earlier storyline details).

Anyway, over a year of Alice, and I'm still totally hooked. Who knows where it will end up, or even whether returning the kids to the outer space will be the end of the story!

[Storel]

According to the archive, the first Alice Grove strip was posted Sep 25, 2014, so AG is about a year and a half old at this point.

[brasca]

I've been reading since the beginning, but didn't create an account until the this latest chapter began.  Gavia's plight motivated me to go beyond lurking. 

[Orbert]

I read Alice Grove, and have since the beginning.  It doesn't bother me that it's not funny; I'm not sure if it's meant to be.  It seems to be Jeph trying out a different kind of thing.  QC isn't outright funny most of the time, either.  I'm kinduva sci-fi nerd, so that aspect of it is interesting, and it does unfold fairly slowly, but that's how it goes sometimes.

[ThePerilsOfDan]

I've been reading from the beginning.