- @RichMOMB Well, THAT fucking sucks. #
- @davidwynne Ha! Is that anything to do with our conversations over the last couple of days? in reply to davidwynne #
- @kierongillen Just read on Bleeding Cool about SWORD. Guessing you're busy enough that this is sad but not devastating news for you, but… in reply to kierongillen #
- @kierongillen …want to let you know that I'm loving it. Think it's one of the more competent books Marvel have. Anything we can do? in reply to kierongillen #
- @kierongillen Um… "Most competent" sounded a lot more complimentary in my head. I meant it as the highest of praise! in reply to kierongillen #
- @kierongillen Stronger ideas, characterisation, plotting and more fun than anything else I've read from either DC or Marvel the last year. in reply to kierongillen #
- @davidwynne Hah, yeah, I realised that as soon as I'd written it. I fucking love SWORD, though. in reply to davidwynne #
- @Sulman That should certainly help things along…! in reply to Sulman #
- Think we're going to use http://is.gd/6sHJK The Knot to present travel/accomodation info to wedding guests. Anyone got better site suggests? #
- (@SamShepherd, I'm mainly looking at you.) #
- @Chris_TOMP Is that the bit about her liking comics for ladies? He cracked me up with that at the time. #MOMBCast in reply to Chris_TOMP #
- @steevbishop Oh, yeah! Heh. in reply to steevbishop #
- Watching Being Human with G1. She caught up today, & the 2nd series is going strong now. Wogan, conspiracy, humour. Good stuff! #
- Being Human 0202 pretty fucking swell. Intense episode, you guys! #
- @jamiesmart Avatar was pretty bloody awesome, wasn't it? in reply to jamiesmart #
- @McKelvie G1 hadn't seen the 1st series so we just played catchup on it. It was harsher than I remembered. in reply to McKelvie #
- @dcurtisj Talking about it feels a bit like that all the time. in reply to dcurtisj #
- Where were Spandau Ballet from? Ed Norton just played one of them as straight up American Cockney on Modern Family. #
- @Chris_TOMP It's when American actors do an OTT Cockney accent. Allroit, then azzabaht it? in reply to Chris_TOMP #
- Why everybody seem so down this morning? I woke up to the smell of chicken stock on the slow cooker, throughout the house. Then to work! #
- …Oh, actually, yeah, I see. Wish I was still at home with the chicken stock and the fiancee. #
- @Chris_TOMP Uuuuhm… I… shouldn't answer that. in reply to Chris_TOMP #
- @SamShepherd Oh, is it? How does it feel? in reply to SamShepherd #
- @rolhirst Oh man! I hate that too! We're like twins! in reply to rolhirst #
- @Sulman Teehee, Alison Kock. Shark Scientist!M Also, the onlookers who saw the whole thing as quite "colourful" made it sound almost pretty. in reply to Sulman #
- It's about right that on the grumpiest day of the year, @RichMOMB would be so productive. Always swimming against the current, making waves! #
- @RichMOMB It really wasn't, though, was it? We loved those fucking cakes. Now I'll be upset if we don't have them EVERY week. in reply to RichMOMB #
- @rolhirst Why of course! in reply to rolhirst #
- @steevbishop Lols. And then double lols! in reply to steevbishop #
- @RichMOMB It did! But in reality, not NEARLY as loud as your protests…
Lesson to be learned there. Oh, yes, birthday cake, #MOMBcast! in reply to RichMOMB # - @MissDracula But why? #
- @jhewlett Oh, but it was a GOOOD season, sir. Well worth it. I recommend grabbing/watching it before you see the new one. in reply to jhewlett #
- @MissDracula Oh, well, there IS that. When you say it out loud like that, I think I want to cancel my account, too.
in reply to MissDracula # - @MissDracula First neiceynephew? (A smarter way to put that would be: First time being a prospective aunt?) in reply to MissDracula #
- @jhewlett Well, that's just a TERRIBLE attitude. I swear, you youngsters have NO patience. in reply to jhewlett #
- Right, talking to Southern Water trying to find out what they actually have records of so far. Spoke to man who was actually quite helpful. #
- …This time I am making notes of every person I speak to. Don't know how much this will help. #
- @JamesMOMB You know, I still haven't put that thing up on the podcast site. Stupid me. STUPID STUPID STUPID! in reply to JamesMOMB #
- A very short Elephant Words piece from me this week. It's called Potential – http://is.gd/6waI9 – Go! Read! Enjoy! Comment! Share! #
- @ElleSergi Listen to @JamesMOMB… when it comes to food & eating, he knows what he's talking about… in reply to ElleSergi #
- @ElleSergi (…as galling as it is as a Greek Cypriot to take advice on EATING from an ENGLISH guy like @JamesMOMB! They are AMATEURS!) in reply to ElleSergi #
- @JamesMOMB Did you ever see this site?: http://is.gd/6wfhn – pre-cleared independent music. Oh yea! (No idea how GOOD it is, mind!) in reply to JamesMOMB #
- @JamesMOMB Also, are we already on the Libsyn directory? in reply to JamesMOMB #
- RT @kierongillen: I write a little about The SWORD situation: http://gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/?p=1779 #
- @SamShepherd Primadonna! in reply to SamShepherd #
- Have included Show Timings in #MOMBcast details. Will be interested to see if people find it useful: http://is.gd/5LWa9 #
- http://is.gd/5LWa9 – I think timings will be useful for creators of comics we review, such as: @mattfraction @kierongillen @butwin et al… #
- … Like if @brianmbendis wants to hear what we say about Siege, but not listen to the rest of our blather, for eg. http://is.gd/5LWa9 #
- Did anybody else spend a worrying amount of time trying to see the lady alien's nipples in Avatar? #
- @mrtonylee OH MY GOD. You're listening to TMBG. You really are a class act, aren't you? in reply to mrtonylee #
- @mrtonylee Oh wow… you're not just listening to They Might Be Giants. You're listening to motherfucking Flood! in reply to mrtonylee #
- @georgelondon She was nothing to me. She was alien meat, and nothing more. in reply to georgelondon #
- @mmetcalfe Nichten spickten Fritzenheinen. Ein illiteraten dans la multiplical linguism. So nein. in reply to mmetcalfe #
- @mmetcalfe Which is to say, I am astonishingly poorly read for such a verbose guy. I haven't read ANY Kafka. But I could probably blag it! in reply to mmetcalfe #
- @DJDarren But… EVERYBODY has nipples! in reply to DJDarren #
- @Butwin Phew, good. I mean, I know SOME people, like yourself, love listening to our lovely nonsense, but it might be a bit much for some! in reply to Butwin #
- @Butwin BTW, did I ever insist that you read this: http://is.gd/6wxi1? From one creator of self-contained super-hero universes to another… in reply to Butwin #
- Also, did anybody else start forgetting that the main female character in Avatar was a weirdly proportioned alien at… uh… key moments? #
- @DJDarren Obviously, that last tweet was partly aimed at you… in reply to DJDarren #
-
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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