- @Mickipedia Well, sure. Jesus is a name, but god is a word, right? Does it capitalise OTHER names? Or is the iPhone religiously confused? in reply to Mickipedia #
- Oh my gods, a major BSG revelation… Watching Episode 410. Actually, the episode is CALLED “Revelations”, so I shouldn’t be surprised! #
- OH GODS MORE REVELATIONS! This episode is turning out to be ALL revelations! Maybe it should have been called Exhaust All Narrative Avenues! #
- OH WOW THE FINAL BIG REVEAL! You know, I have to say, if I’d seen that last scene BEFORE hiatus, I probably would have slit my wrists… #
- … the whole last scene is like the most depressing Gap or perfume ad in the world ever. (Deliberately vague on @sulman’s behalf). #
- I know irritation & invasion of space is supposed to be the thing that bothers you most, but is anybody counting the emotional cost of… #
- … getting mail notifications about new Twitter followers that turn out to be marketing accounts? Surely all those tiny heartbreaks add up? #
- @thoughtmecca You mean EVERYBODY gets the porn accounts? You’ve just made things worse! I thought that was just me – that it was flirtation! in reply to thoughtmecca #
- @jackassletters I never have been good at pre-emptive rejection. in reply to jackassletters #
- HAH! There’s another! So other people boot spam? I’m not worried about accurate follower numbers so I tend to just leave them to fester. #
- @douglasnoble You’ve stopped them wearing those little elf dog outfits? At last! It’s frankly just undignified… in reply to douglasnoble #
- @douglasnoble Oh, for… Why would you…? They were just about to start trusting us with childcare again, and NOW look what you’ve done. in reply to douglasnoble #
- @idsharman It’s possible you just haven’t got the right sort of societal footprint. A couple of court orders & the right internet history… in reply to idsharman #
- … the pornographers will be clamouring at your door. @idsharman #
- Right. ENOUGH. I am NOT going to watch the next episode of BSG, OR the next episode of Lost. I am going to put the dog to sleep, regroup… #
- … & do the rest of my writing in bed. #
- “TO BED”! “TO BED”! Not “Put the dog to sleep”! Jesus, I ALWAYS get those two mixed up. #
- @joshhechinger God comes down and gives you actual, exchangeable God vouchers, you kick the head clean off… in reply to joshhechinger #
- The advert for the remake of Friday The 13th doesn’t leave much to the imagination… #
- @joshhechinger OH HA! Thass so funny I fergot to larf… </mackenzie crook> No, I mean, it has a title-card 13-count, & each shows a murder. in reply to joshhechinger #
- @joshhechinger … to the extent that in one it clearly seems to show a “machete in the back of head” moment, only without blade removal… in reply to joshhechinger #
- @joshhechinger … in another it shows a girl in the water about to be cut down by a power boat, only cutting away at the second of impact. in reply to joshhechinger #
- @joshhechinger I felt probably as freaked out and exhilarated watching the trailer as I would do watching the film…! in reply to joshhechinger #
- “I feel alone and detached from the world…”. “You, sir, are a freak!” VERY pleased to have found some old lost mp3s. EG. Nojahoda! #
- @wilw Do you know of Louise Wener? I reckon she probably gets defined as a britpop moppet all the time, though she’s been a writer longer… in reply to wilw #
- @wilw … which I imagine you can relate to. Still, I still kind of fancy her off the back of her music career, so… in reply to wilw #
- @douglasnoble Ah, you know, I forgot that. in reply to douglasnoble #
- N’night, Twitter! #
- @caseymckinnon I’ve not really heard anybody mention this new season so far – which seems like a contrast to the LAST season. in reply to caseymckinnon #
- I’m an ep behind on Lost at the moment, but for your consideration, my thoughts on the last bit of season 4 at nixsight: http://is.gd/hMDI #
- @wossy/@stephenfry As de facto Twitter ambassadors, I thought you may be interested in @davidbaillie’s Tweet-themed story: http://is.gd/hBE1 #
- @Bournemouthecho Well, it’s certainly good to know that we Brits don’t have the monopoly on wanky wounded outrage! in reply to Bournemouthecho #
- @Sulman I KNEW those bastards couldn’t be trusted! in reply to Sulman #
- @onelifeleft I don’t know from relevant, but does OLL have a Mario Kart Wii friend code? in reply to onelifeleft #
- @McKelvie HAH! That’s actually perfect. Kind of makes me want to see them do the whole movie… in reply to McKelvie #
- “CLEARLY IF GOD DICTATED A MESSAGE TO HIS PEOPLE, HE WOULD YELL IT OUT. CONSEQUENTLY, CAPITAL LETTERS ACCURATELY REFLECT HIS INTENT.” #
- I know retweeting is a bit lazy, but seriously – Lookit: http://is.gd/hNlm – via @McKelvie #
- @steevbishop She is like the anti e.e.cummings. EE CUMMINGS if you will… in reply to steevbishop #
- @steevbishop Quite the opposite. Our aircon & heating is set to the perfect schedule so that we are ALWAYS uncomfortably hot or cold. in reply to steevbishop #
- @Charlotta My mum failed to do her taxes properly for her business last year. Not sure exactly when the court dates are… in reply to Charlotta #
- @Bournemouthecho A circuitous effort to lose customers? in reply to Bournemouthecho #
- @Mykx 28…. uh… Gays Later? 28 Freaks Later? in reply to Mykx #
- @nixsight I Am Bell-end? in reply to nixsight #
- @Mykx Night Of The Giving Head? in reply to Mykx #
- @dailyecho Something for the weekend? REALLY? Tut tut. #
- @Mykx Um… You do know that Nemo wasn’t a zombie film, right? in reply to Mykx #
- @Mykx Hah! Is “Porn Of The Dead” a bit obvious? in reply to Mykx #
- @Mykx I don’t know, but they really should. It might be problematic… wasn’t it a curious case? Was Hitman himself creator-owned somehow? in reply to Mykx #
- @Mykx Hah… it’s got loads of DCU characters in it, so THAT won’t happen… in reply to Mykx #
- The… uh… the local newspapers are talking to each other. MEDIA CONSPIRACY! #
- @rstevens But, what, SIMILAR to Gary Coleman? Dammit, man, this story needs some fleshing out! in reply to rstevens #
- @rstevens Jan Michael Vincent? in reply to rstevens #
- Everybody should suggest alt-teen hearthrobs to @rstevens until it strikes a chord. We MUST get to the bottom of this… #
- (Actually, no, don’t. I’m just not cut out for this kind of rabble-rousing…) #
- (@rstevens Elephant Words fact: The busiest the site has EVER been was when we advertised at Diesel Sweeties. You rock!) #
- (@Bournemouthecho Is there a Portsmouth Echo?) #
- @Bournemouthecho Oh, but they’re not all Echoey. They’re much more Newsy, I’m guessing. That’s MUCH less fun. in reply to Bournemouthecho #
- @Bournemouthecho I was once interviewed by @dailyecho. Years later, the interviewer lived next door to us, by coincidence. TRUE STORY! in reply to Bournemouthecho #
- @Bournemouthecho HAH! Girl One is from near Dorchester. I only ever hear it WaHEYMouth, now. in reply to Bournemouthecho #
- My story on a proper, honest to godness anthology that – when it comes to light – will be awesome, is in the can. The feeling is new & good! #
- @kmellon It’s not nearly as good as the very similar “Some Kind Of Wonderful”. Aww, Mary Stuart Masterson! in reply to kmellon #
-
Found Objects
We need comics. We don’t need the comic mainstream – certainly not as much as it needs us. And we wouldn’t even be having this argument about Watchmen if that book wasn’t part of that industry. It couldn’t have existed without it, it wouldn’t have been relevant without it, and most of us wouldn’t have even had the chance to read it without it.
We don’t have to give a shit about Watchmen, or Before Watchmen. We choose to.
We don’t have to fight about issues that we really have no skin in. We choose to.
We should really grow out of it.
Last Friday I wrote a really long post over at my site about Before Watchmen. It was probably too long, fence-sitting and unstructured to get as much widespread attention as some of the more aggressive pieces out there, but I still feel everything in it.
This is the tiniest part of it - a sentiment that I feel is pretty important - you can read the whole thing here.
I AM IN CONTROL OF MY EMOTIONS!
The Newly Announced Before Watchmen Is a Prime Example of What's Killing Mainstream Comics
“I have no idea whether this project will be any good or not. But it sits as a shining example of the fundamental flaw that exists in the comic industry, especially within DC Comics. They spend most of their time chasing the readers that grew up with their iconic characters rather than attempting to attract new readers who are growing up right now.”
Totally agree with this - though I think DC52, being a company-wide initiative, was more indicative of it, and I said as much at the time.
However, that backward looking trait in comics isn’t unique to publishers. Comic readers - many of whom are also comic retailers, which is a bigger issue - run wild with entitlement on either side of any comic-related debate, and stand ready to jump on anything that they perceive as a deviation or affront to comic texts or characters that they feel shouldn’t be touched. It all adds to the stupidly binary way any comic-related issue is handled.
The huge amount of brilliant work that goes un-discussed, unsupported and unbought in-between those two dominant cultures is the only genuine ongoing tragedy in comics today, I reckon. The rest is just semantics and negotiation of contracts.
Yup, yup, yup…the fact that people are wasting their time arguing about the merits of Before Watchmen while amazing books like The Interactives go largely ignored is, quite frankly, criminal.
Not least because it means that yet again we’re all having a conversation about Watchmen. I came to Watchmen a little bit late - like, a year after publication - and loved it at the time. It encouraged me to go on and read so many more other books, to read them critically, and work out why they work and don’t work etc etc etc. But the more people hold it to this impossible standard in such a hyperbolic and aggressive way, the more I find reasons to chip away at it.
If you love Watchmen that much, write about how good Watchmen is in it’s own right. Don’t use it as a stick to bash everything that’s come since. Don’t use it as a way to try and win an argument about whatever your pet comic issue is that week. I think Alan Moore’s biggest issue is that his book isn’t regarded enough in it’s own right, and it’s an important enough work to be handled without gossip-context and all the other bollocks that passes for adults-who-read-comics-talking-about-comics.
Show Alan Moore and Watchmen a bit of respect, and don’t try and impose your fucking context on it. It’s a work of art. It genuinely can’t be ruined by any art that follows, but it can be ruined by every third word spoken about it being bleaty, entitled shite.
Sorry, you said something? The Interactives? What’s that? I have never heard of it, therefore it must not be worth bothering with.
Yep, I completely agree with you here. As great as Watchmen was it has been a big part of what has utterly ruined comics (and I know that Moore agrees with this himself) as so many people have spent the years since using it as a template for what comic should be. It was a work of satire! It was never intended to be a “How To” guide for aspiring comic creators.
And The Interactives is this - http://theinteractives.com/
Huh. That looks ace, actually.
The Newly Announced Before Watchmen Is a Prime Example of What's Killing Mainstream Comics
“I have no idea whether this project will be any good or not. But it sits as a shining example of the fundamental flaw that exists in the comic industry, especially within DC Comics. They spend most of their time chasing the readers that grew up with their iconic characters rather than attempting to attract new readers who are growing up right now.”
Totally agree with this - though I think DC52, being a company-wide initiative, was more indicative of it, and I said as much at the time.
However, that backward looking trait in comics isn’t unique to publishers. Comic readers - many of whom are also comic retailers, which is a bigger issue - run wild with entitlement on either side of any comic-related debate, and stand ready to jump on anything that they perceive as a deviation or affront to comic texts or characters that they feel shouldn’t be touched. It all adds to the stupidly binary way any comic-related issue is handled.
The huge amount of brilliant work that goes un-discussed, unsupported and unbought in-between those two dominant cultures is the only genuine ongoing tragedy in comics today, I reckon. The rest is just semantics and negotiation of contracts.
Yup, yup, yup…the fact that people are wasting their time arguing about the merits of Before Watchmen while amazing books like The Interactives go largely ignored is, quite frankly, criminal.
Not least because it means that yet again we’re all having a conversation about Watchmen. I came to Watchmen a little bit late - like, a year after publication - and loved it at the time. It encouraged me to go on and read so many more other books, to read them critically, and work out why they work and don’t work etc etc etc. But the more people hold it to this impossible standard in such a hyperbolic and aggressive way, the more I find reasons to chip away at it.
If you love Watchmen that much, write about how good Watchmen is in it’s own right. Don’t use it as a stick to bash everything that’s come since. Don’t use it as a way to try and win an argument about whatever your pet comic issue is that week. I think Alan Moore’s biggest issue is that his book isn’t regarded enough in it’s own right, and it’s an important enough work to be handled without gossip-context and all the other bollocks that passes for adults-who-read-comics-talking-about-comics.
Show Alan Moore and Watchmen a bit of respect, and don’t try and impose your fucking context on it. It’s a work of art. It genuinely can’t be ruined by any art that follows, but it can be ruined by every third word spoken about it being bleaty, entitled shite.
Sorry, you said something? The Interactives? What’s that? I have never heard of it, therefore it must not be worth bothering with.
The Newly Announced Before Watchmen Is a Prime Example of What's Killing Mainstream Comics
“I have no idea whether this project will be any good or not. But it sits as a shining example of the fundamental flaw that exists in the comic industry, especially within DC Comics. They spend most of their time chasing the readers that grew up with their iconic characters rather than attempting to attract new readers who are growing up right now.”
Totally agree with this - though I think DC52, being a company-wide initiative, was more indicative of it, and I said as much at the time.
However, that backward looking trait in comics isn’t unique to publishers. Comic readers - many of whom are also comic retailers, which is a bigger issue - run wild with entitlement on either side of any comic-related debate, and stand ready to jump on anything that they perceive as a deviation or affront to comic texts or characters that they feel shouldn’t be touched. It all adds to the stupidly binary way any comic-related issue is handled.
The huge amount of brilliant work that goes un-discussed, unsupported and unbought in-between those two dominant cultures is the only genuine ongoing tragedy in comics today, I reckon. The rest is just semantics and negotiation of contracts.
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