Comic Discussion > ALICE GROVE
Alice Grove MCDLT - THE END...?
BenRG:
Well, that struck me not so much an ending as an abandonment. The problem is not that Jeph didn't answer all of the questions he raised (maybe he wanted the whole thing to be a fanfic hook). My problem is that he never really bothered to properly identify a primary plot. Was it why Gavia and Ardent came to Earth? Was it who and what Alice really was? Both of those things were addressed but only as a quick exposition burst.
At the most we see the end of a 'Part 1' here. A 'part 2' is definitely needed where we address more of what the presumed responsible parties' (because they were never definitely identified) goals were and how they carried them out. Then there is the issue of the Praeses and why they do what they do. Alice could easily want to find that out too! Then there is her so casually dropping her responsibilities to her town and the people there, which is fully out-of-character, no matter what a traumatic experience she's had.
IMO, this is exposing some of the limitations of Jeph's developed writing skills with sequential art. In QC, it is always allowable (even necessary) to leave issues unaddressed because you want something you can write further strips about. However, in a distinct, self-contained story with a defined start and end, you can't do that. You have to be much clearer about developing plot, identifying stories and, if not wrapping everything up at least giving a clear pointer towards where things have gone. I think that Alice Grove would have benefited from being written out in script form from beginning to end and then to have had some friends read through it and encourage him to tighten and bookend the narrative.
Onto the positives: As always, Jeph's characterisation is excellent. He's good at creating three-dimensional characters out of whole cloth whom you quickly find yourself caring about. Alice is a very flawed, very tormented and very real heroine, you find yourself laughing along with Ardent's misadventures and you empathise strongly with the shaking of Gavia's previously rock solid understanding of history and reality.
Overall? This gets a 6/10 from me. It's a brave first attempt (especially given the fact it's self-published) but ultimately it exposes more things that needs work in his writing style than anything else - Something that he must address before he tries something like this again. I wouldn't recommend it to a new reader.
Well, onto the stip itself: Past Alice/Sedna confirmed and I doubt that will come as a surprise to anyone. Also, it looks like Gavia is 'going native'?
Now, why is Laridia in panel 1? Why should Cupressceae care about whether they reached Earth safely? I find myself wondering if plant lady has been assigned to be Alice's keeper or something. Maybe the Praeses want to know what's 'out there' and figure having a set of eyes and ears with Alice will help achieve that goal. After all, it's implied that the Praeses have forgotten their true past and they may be at least curious about it.
pwhodges:
--- Quote from: BenRG on 20 Jul 2017, 23:41 ---My problem is that he never really bothered to properly identify a primary plot. Was it why Gavia and Ardent came to Earth? Was it who and what Alice really was? Both of those things were addressed but only as a quick exposition burst.
--- End quote ---
The ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion similarly leaves one up in the air (especially the extended film ending End of Evangelion). But that still generates intense discussion and strong opinions twenty years on (this very week saw the twentieth anniversary of the film) because it had a strong focus - not so much on the plot or the science fiction aspects in that case, but on character development. Jeph does character development in QC, but there was next to none in AG and in the end it was missed.
--- Quote ---Now, why is Laridia in panel 1?
--- End quote ---
Handing over Alice's spacecraft and making sure she actually does leave is a good enough explanation for me at this point.
Storel:
--- Quote from: Kugai on 20 Jul 2017, 22:01 ---It's been an interesting, fun ride as an aside to Jephs main work and I've really enjoyed it.
Who knows,, maybe he'll pick this up again sometime in the future - but whatever happens, I liked reading Alice Grove.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, what Kugai said.
Sure, it left a lot of questions unanswered, and yes, that's going to be frustrating to those who like to have all the loose ends neatly tied up. Too bad, so sad, don't go away mad.
If it bothers you THAT much, write your own ending or continuation -- we have a fanfiction thread, use it.
But suggesting, as some seem to be doing, that leaving so many questions unanswered is bad writing on Jeph's part... that seems pretty rude to me. Jeph's already stated he did it that way intentionally, and I think you can find evidence even from early in the story to suggest that Jeph never planned to explain everything. Like the wind turbine that Alice was working on, way out in the middle of nowhere -- what was that for? Who knows? Maybe Jeph doesn't even.
So relax. Enjoy the things you liked, don't obsess about the things you didn't. This was a helluva good story for a free side project. Thanks, Jeph!
BenRG:
--- Quote from: Storel on 21 Jul 2017, 00:05 ---But suggesting, as some seem to be doing, that leaving so many questions unanswered is bad writing on Jeph's part... that seems pretty rude to me.
--- End quote ---
Why are we obliged to not say if we don't like something? That is incomprehensible to me.
Maybe Jeph always did intend to leave things unsaid (after all, what reason do I have to doubt him on this?) but to have major plot devices like the Nightwalker unexplained is just inexcusable. It just makes me think that he decided to do it because it 'looked cool' but didn't think about how to integrate it into the story. Maybe others (professional writers who write novels for a living or who work for TV and movies) have done that too. However, I wouldn't give them a pass for it either. Indeed, one of the reasons I gave up on Star Trek - Voyager was because there were too many instances of "'Cause we said so" plot devices where there isn't even an attempt to explain things from an in-universe perspective.
Now, I don't want to start an argument but I would ask others to respect that this is not the sort of story I like; it isn't the sort of writing style I like. I feel that, if you have a discussion forum for a story, that necessarily includes allowing people to be critical if they can explain it reasonably.
sitnspin:
--- Quote from: BenRG on 20 Jul 2017, 23:41 ---. In QC, it is always allowable (even necessary) to leave issues unaddressed because you want something you can write further strips about. However, in a distinct, self-contained story with a defined start and end, you can't do that. You have to be much clearer about developing plot, identifying stories and, if not wrapping everything up at least giving a clear pointer towards where things have gone
--- End quote ---
This strikes me as a particularly narrow and restrictive view of storytelling.
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