THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: BenRG on 04 Oct 2018, 03:11
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Jeph has said that he thinks that there have been several 'books' of Questionable Content where the direction and theme of the strip have been noticeably different and that we're on the third or fourth right now. I've been thinking about it and have a feeling I know what they were:
- "I Was A Young Californian, Unlucky in Love" - Marten's story from the beginning to the Space Station arc;
- "The Library Assistant and the Interns" - From the arrival of Emily, Claire and Gabby at the library to Faye's break-up with Angus;
- "The Fayesurrecction" - Faye's story from just after her brush with death up to her and Bubbles becoming a couple;
- "The Lives and Loves of the Synthetic" - The current storylines
Agree? Disagree? Discuss?
EDIT
Thread title changed - Thanks for the suggestion cybersmurf
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Not intending to sound like a heckler or whatever, but "Ages" is a little bit deceiving here. IMHO Chapters or Periods would be better fitting though.
You could see it like this. "Fayesurrection" probably is the most prominent section here, and I definetly like that to be a section of its own.
But spanning the first section of more of half of the current strips? feels a little bit of a stretch, but then again, it's probably Marten becoming non-mopey there I guess.
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There was the indie music and snark era, followed by a stretch about relationships, and later the AI rights theme. I could change my mind on any of that.
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Some of these can be broken into smaller units.
The Fayesurrection could be at least three by itself. At least one of which should be called "Bigger Fish".
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It's worth noting that there is never a clear break between arcs. Sometimes, the existing arc drifts to a halt over a few score strips and the new one starts appearing in its place. So, there is usually a transition period of sorts between the two of semi-random mini arcs and moments when both main subjects are being addressed in parallel.
I don't think that Jeph actually has ever set out to have the strip so easily dividable into distinct major arcs and really it's something that is only visible from hindsight.
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Going to be honest, those examples at the top just feel like they've been pulled out of thin air.
The ending of the first QC epoch has to be "The Talk", it signalled the change in the fundamental relationship between Marten and Faye, as well as the relationship between Marten and Dora, triggering their relationship. It also saw "the bit players" gain more substantial roles and storylines of their own.
The next major landmark and thus the opening of a new book would most probably be "The Breakup", because again, it fundamentally changed the relationship between the characters. It also saw several of the characters begin to mature or at least become more developed (Marten's fling with Padma, his experiment with a one night stand, Dora entering therapy and so on).
The end of the third epoch is marked by Faye's descent in dangerous alcoholism and her near death experience. It changed the core of Faye's character and forced her to take stock of herself and her relationships with everyone. She lost her job at Coffee of Doom, but managed to keep her friendship with Dora. She lost her relationship with Angus, but seems to have found a healthy one with Bubbles.
When there is a fundamental change to a character or to the relationships between characters, it changes the potential storylines for them and thus changes the kind of stories we end up seeing.
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Interestingly, all the events you describe coincide with greatly increased forum activity.
One might even say, "blowing up" the forum. In one case, almost literally.
Actually, I wasn't involved as far back as "the talk" so I may be talking out my ass - did we even have a forum at that point? I seem to recall hearing it was mostly Jeph and a few friends originally, and they didn't really talk that much about the comic in the early days. I can see "the talk" leading to an influx of fanboys/girls, and I do recall seeing posts of the early forumites saying how annoyed they were by the comic fans...
My, how times change.
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I suppose that when something major does happen in the comic, there would be a massive spike in the forum.
I remember back during the breakup where it was nearly impossible to post in the WCDT because so many people were posting.
But I also suppose that makes sense. When something major like that happens, of course its going to attract attention.
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It's like the resolution right after the climax of the arc. And the stronger the response, the more it's a chapter end.
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Remeber when Sven dragged his writer friend to the coffee shop? You could add this subplot as its own chapter called "A Penny for a Poet".
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There are plenty of small arcs in QC but the names I chose were for the main overarching theme of that set of strips, what Jeph kept going back to time after time.
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Yeah, but I liked my pun too much to not share it.
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Duly noted.
:clairedoge: