enterVOID Book Club!

enterVOID Book Club!
« on: Oct 22, 2017, 09:16 PM »
It's about time we had one! And as enterVOID's newest and firstest Official Comics Coach, it's my duty to get that ball rollin.

The premise is simple. Each month, I'll toss another book in here, explain a little bit about it; maybe toss in some things to look out for or things it does well.

This is becoming a thing because heck, we all make comics, but not all of us read comics. Or, at least, read a lot of comics. True, inspiration can come from anywhere, and a comic that only draws on comics for inspiration is a bit of a circlejerk, but ya'll gotta consume if you're gonna produce. And I'm gonna make sure that Consumption Junction is jam jacked with the good shit.

So without further ado, our first book,
Seconds, by Bryan Lee O'Malley




You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Or if you're broke, here's one that's hosted online fo' free.




The Summary:
Without giving too much away, it's a pretty cozy slice-of-life with a smattering of supernatural elements under it all.

The Goods
The big reason I'm recommending this and it's our first book is because it's very dialogue-heavy and panel-dense at times but actually never feels that way. It's a hard trick to pull off, but if you can pick up how O'Malley drafts his conversations and how each shot and panel is staged, you can really unlock the key to making a mundane conversation look super appealing. In this day and age of less-fighting more-friending, knowing how to keep us reading through the luls in action is an absolute must. But don't be mistaken, it's not all a talk-fest. There's plenty of action and supernatural craziness to spice up the inter-character drama. That being said, it's ultimately about people, their choices, and how they impact those around them.


In Summary
I'm not gonna quiz anyone afterward and I'm not gonna grill anyone who doesn't read each month's book. This is solely for your benefit and you can take it or leave it as you see fit. You're free to dip in and dip out as books catch and lose your interest.

That all being said, if you'd like to discuss what you liked, or didnt like, about a book and why, the community would appreciate it, and we'd all have another perspective to see from.


Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #1 on: Oct 23, 2017, 04:24 AM »
-slides in-
sign me the heck up, I actually have a copy of this book on my shelf!

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #2 on: Oct 23, 2017, 04:30 AM »
Sign m up!!!! :D

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #3 on: Oct 23, 2017, 06:11 AM »
Ello. I heard book club. I am here to participate.

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #4 on: Oct 23, 2017, 08:11 AM »
Sign me up as well!

I actually have my own copy, it's been gathering dust on my shelf for awhile now. Glad I found a reason to actually get around to reading it!

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #5 on: Oct 23, 2017, 09:52 PM »
I'm in!
Already read the whole thing today

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #6 on: Oct 24, 2017, 07:31 PM »
Should book club have a Discord? Or a channel in the Void Discord? Might make discussion easier.

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #7 on: Oct 24, 2017, 11:42 PM »
I second Rhim’s idea about a server or something alike! Also sign me up my dude.

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #8 on: Oct 25, 2017, 09:35 AM »
We discussed making a server or channel, but we would really like for it to stick here on the forums. It's way easier to keep track of stuff here and look back on it, even though I know the chatroom makes things easier and faster we will want to keep stuff here if we can. Hope that's ok.

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #9 on: Oct 25, 2017, 01:51 PM »
I read this, and I really enjoyed the book's witty dialogue, character designs, and I loved that one shot where you could see everyone in the building, through the ceiling, it was so cool! I thought that the mushrooms, made a compelling part of the story, and it was entertaining to see how things changed each time.

There were a few things in this book, that I wasn't the biggest fan of, for biased reasons, but even despite that, I still was able to enjoy it because of the art, and the witty dialogue, especially that that went on between the protagonist, and the narrator. A lot of the characters were very likable, and I thought it was amusing the expressions they gave the love interest, every time that Katie was obsessing over how handsome he is. In a way the expressions reminds me of Squidward, in that one episode of Spongebob, where he became beautiful, and so it was pretty entertaining.

Anyway, those are my main opinions, alongside that, I thought the palette in the comic was lovely, and that book was really well put together. Being a big fan of Scott Pilgrim, I loved the reference to "Bread makes you fat" as well. Overall, really nicely made book!

[img width=357 height=150]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/507304228587569162/5438149237386772

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #10 on: Oct 30, 2017, 01:55 PM »
I loved many many things about Seconds - some of the layouts were inspired, such as that basement cutaway layout that Desichan mentioned.
A few quibbles:
- He certainly loves to name every single character, no matter how inconsequential. While I found that endearing in Scott Pilgrim, I think the more I read of O'Malley's work it reads as false attention to detail--it's like, okay we don't need to know the names of the kitchen staff that have no lines or the name of the owner's fiance or whatever. How about just focus on the story instead of the minutiae. And he really needed to pay attention to the story, especially the ending...

Another thing I noticed here is that while the story is for the most part enjoyable, O'Malley has trouble sticking the ending--I felt this way about Scott Pilgrim's slightly muddled finale. The impact of the revelations about who is who and what is going sort of fell flat with me. The ultimate conclusion is nice, but I think the supposed reasoning behind everything wasn't as great as it could've been.

I wish Lis had more to do, she never really connected as a full character for such a pivotal role. Loved her design, though.

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #11 on: Oct 31, 2017, 12:54 PM »
The story was really good and relatable. I'm sure if we could go back and change things, we'd all try it at least once.

I noticed that it reads somewhat like... well, the way my scripts start out. I try cutting a LOT of dialogue from my intitial scripts, but ultimately it tends to hurt my story. Seeing comics handle dialogue like this is nice. I think its because they used a form of narration?


Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #12 on: Nov 09, 2017, 02:46 PM »
I personally have to disagree with the naming of charachters that are tertiary at best hurts the comic. It one of things I actually like about it. When you attach a name to a individual, that person become part of the enviroment, and in a setting such as a kitchen, we're talking about a place were everyone knows everyone else. It helped kind making he setting feel more personal and alive to me.

Re: enterVOID Book Club!
« Reply #13 on: Nov 20, 2017, 06:34 PM »
Our second book isn't even really a book, its a series of issues. Read as much or as little as you want!

Red Sonja (1977 run) by Frank Thorne (artist) and Roy Thomas (writer)






Read the first issue here, and click the drop-down box for more!

The Summary:
A series of one-shot adventure starring Red Sonja, She-Devil With A Sword.

The Goods
In short, it's pretty wild, and a far departure from what we see now-a-days. The compositions are all loosey goosey and constantly trying new things. The color palettes range from realistic to highly stylized. And overall it really knows the high-adventure pulpy tone it goes for and sticks the landing consistently.

In Summary
Whereas the last Book Club Comic, Seconds, was very grounded in realism with a touch of the supernatural; Red Sonja is absolutely the opposite. High-adventures, very surface-writing made to entertain and dazzle rather than examine the human condition. I picked it because its so removed from today's comic landscape: A very fun romp with little continuity and a lot of experimentation.

You can only read the first issue if you want, but there's 16 others if you're really feelin the poetry and tone of it all.


 

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