Finally: Understanding Comics

07/12/2015 Leave a comment

Sometimes I can’t decide where to write a post – here is one such. It belongs both places, so now here it is!

Comparative Geeks

Life being what it’s been, it’s taken me a while to finally finish reading Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud. This had been recommended to me by several reliable sources, like GuestGeekBrian, and KazuKibuishi. And how long it took me to get to and read it should be no comment on this book either for how important it is nor how good it is.

[tweet https://twitter.com/compgeeksdavid/status/608305527031013377]

Because it is quite simply one of the best, most important books I have ever read.

In short, this 1992 book attempts to explore the art form of comics at the very core. What it is about comics that make them comics, and not just drawings, or picture books, or illustrated literature, or really any other medium or thing – they are their own thing, described in the singular and plural as “comics.”

Along the way, he argues against any thought that comics…

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If we were having coffee… Welcome to Night Vale edition

06/27/2015 13 Comments

Sometimes, coffee is hot. Sometimes, coffee is cold. Sometimes, it’s a gibbering mass from outside our time and space.

Welcome to Night Vale.

*cue opening music by Disparition*

If we were having coffee, I would definitely tell you that I have spent the week listening to a new podcast – Welcome to Night Vale. This one comes to me highly recommended by a number of sources. The problem before hasn’t been interest, more just that I had not integrated podcasts into my life at all.

I was dubious after just listening to the pilot. The community radio style they’re going for, the NPR style they’re going for, is not something I’ve listened to before. The Lovecraftian subject matter, the Arkham-Horror-card style descriptions and strong sense of genre-awareness, is something I could listen to. So by the second episode, well, there was a line that hooked me…

[tweet https://twitter.com/compgeeksdavid/status/613509266066948096]

I’m not the only one. There’s merch with that on it!

This has me thinking about a short story project I’ve been planning. The Mists of Juneau. What I’ve been needing is not a plot or a feel, but a voice. And while I don’t want to rip off Night Vale’s voice, I do think that level of genre awareness could be just the right thing.

And now, I bring you the weather.

I’ve also been processing a lot more digital files at the library this week – including the university’s literary journal. So I think I have a place I’d like to see if I could get The Mists of Juneau published. Which means I also have a deadline. Which with that, it should be everything I need…

Assuming time continues to exist in such a way that I can make that deadline. There’s no guarantee of that. There’s no guarantee of anything.

How about you – ever listen to Welcome to Night Vale? If not, the librarian in me would recommend the Summer Reading Program. But until next time, good night, Night Vale.

Good Night.

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Introducing Flash Fiction Friday!

08/15/2014 6 Comments

I mentioned on Monday that I had been thinking about rearranging some of my Features here on DBCII. One that I have been working on is Six Word Story Saturday, which, while fun, is not the easiest thing to write. And, given I wasn’t getting a lot of interaction on these, I feel no problem with shifting that project to a slightly different one: Flash Fiction Friday.

Because blogging Features need alliteration.

So this is this week’s little story. I am, for now, going to keep doing the stories on Twitter, as an interesting forced limit to them. However, working within 140 characters is still a lot more than six words, so it’s some room to breathe. And, as I discussed last week, trying to create any sort of genre story in six words is very difficult – but I think that with 140 characters, there’s a shot!

So it’s a big improvement over a story like this:

Let me know what you think, and if you have any experience with Flash Fiction!

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Six Word Saturday 8

08/09/2014 2 Comments

[tweet https://twitter.com/dbc_ii/status/497170163590893568]

I’m thinking about a bit of a shift in my Six Word Saturday posts. I feel like I’ve played this out as an exercise where I’m learning anything. And I’m not really getting feedback from others to help enhance it any more, so I may be doing something similar and soon. Read more of this post

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Discrimination against Science Fiction and Fantasy – The Sunday Re-Blog

06/29/2014 Leave a comment

Yesterday was my new best day for likes on Comparative Geeks… nice to get WordPress feedback like that, to help you realize that things are growing for the blog, and people are reading and interacting more.

The main reason was this post, which I think is a nice addition to my series on Science Fiction and Fantasy and genre fiction in general, about how they get discriminated against for no good reason. Also got some very encouraging comments, but definitely feel free to weigh in as well!

Comparative Geeks

One of my favorite things I’ve written on the blog is my series on the definition and importance of Science Fiction and Fantasy – of fictions that might be called Speculative, or Romantic. And when asked, I said that one of the things that I would most like to change in the world is people’s opinions about these genres, or maybe about genre fiction in general. However, through all of this, I lacked a solid, concrete example. An example of prejudice against Science Fiction or Fantasy.

There are a lot of things in this world that we shouldn’t discriminate against. Things you can’t control, things that aren’t a choice, things that should have no bearing on life. But then, there are things that are opinions, that are a choice, that I can go right ahead and be upset about. And for me, the one that takes the…

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