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I know after growing up reading webcomics, I'm quite reluctant to pick up a new serialized one unless the author has a history of finishing projects or moves it along fairly fast- I've invested my time and energy into reading so many that just never finished or stopped. No hard feelings to the authors, webcomics are usually a side gig or hobby and people move on, but it's really hard to start reading something unfinished that I know will take years to tell it's story, or likely never finish. That doesn't mean you need to not write a serialized work, but there may be a segment of readers, similar to me, who are really hard to convince to pick up a slow burn story comic, regardless of quality and it's not a judgement on your comic. Also it sucks to feel like you are putting a creative labor of love out into the void, my sympathy.
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May 3, 2020 23:15
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 03:29 |
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I enjoyed GG as a fun genre romp even if I have some issues with the writing but god as my witness I will not open that comic up again until I know it is finally over and has a loving ending.
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May 11, 2020 01:48
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I started finding GG an exercise in frustration to read when I realized they introducted new characters and dangling plot points at an astronomical rate, but gave satisfying (to me) resolutions to existing dangling mysteries or plot points so rarely I can't, off the top of my head, think of any since Agatha got in touch with the castle. If I'm going to spend years to decades waiting for a story to finish, I need fairly satisfying miniplot resolutions along the way or I start to give up without anything to get my teeth in. I'm trying to articulate how it feels different from something like Gunnerkrigg Court, which is a also a slow burn that provides more questions than answers, and I think it's partially because GC has a smaller cast/scope, only one location, and raises new plot threads/shocking twists at a pace which is much more palatable to me. GG feels like a roller coaster ride of constant new people, settings, and twists. I'm no longer suprised when a totally new character or setting arrives to pull the rug out from under the cast because I became numb to it the last fifteen times it happened and left another dangling, unresolved plot thread. I was starting to just kind of groan every time more stuff to keep track of popped up. That's of course subjective and is not me casting judgement on people who are enjoying it, GG's clearly got it's niche and is filling it and making people happy, including the writers. : ) mycatscrimes fucked around with this message at 13:48 on May 11, 2020 |
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May 11, 2020 13:42
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Cat Mattress posted:The big one is Gil and Agatha getting rid their respective parents out of their minds. Has that happened yet? I haven't read it in a year or so (maybe three?). But yeah I'm happy to wait until it officially ends. : )
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May 11, 2020 17:52
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also would be happy to see them subvert the whole 'sparks are natural ubermensch who the lessers crave to be ruled by' thing by actually having a 'normal' be allowed to consistently show up sparks or resist their mojo. they occasionally made gestures in that direction but seem too in love with the concept of sparks to ever do it. so they show sparks to be BAD rulers frequently but in the end the Natural Order of superior people on top always reasserts itself, and that started frustrating me as well. this may be me having distaste for a genre signifier or something or just wanting a kind of story the authors don't want to tell. that's fine, if they don't want to go there, it's their right and I don't begrudge them
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May 11, 2020 18:29
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In the end GG pretty much knows what it wants to be and is taking its own path to get there and you could do a lot worse for long running webcomics. You just need high tolerance for certain pitfalls of the heavily serialized webcomic format. I like Zeetha and Violet : )
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May 11, 2020 18:51
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PMush Perfect posted:Like many webcomics, I recognize that GG is very good at being exactly what it wants to be. That something just isn’t a work I’m interested in. I don’t personally like it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good.
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May 11, 2020 19:56
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celadon posted:Is girl genius actually meant to end? I sort of stopped reading a year or two back but it eventually felt like it was just sort of doing the endless serials thing where you have the long term goal but never get there. Just an endless array of new sets and small plots that just introduce new sets and small plots. Like its fine and fun to read though! I also don't know if its gotten more focused recently but I am gathering from those remarks that it has not. All I know is I will never start reading it again unless it does end, because I found the endless diversions and how long it took to get resolution on anything maddening, even though I liked it well enough. Also after a while the whole treatment of Sparks as superior, even with lip service to the idea that their personalities can make them dangerous and destructive, just got grating to me. More of a me issue, I think, it's not really conflicting with the tone of the story or anything, I just dislike it. mycatscrimes fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Aug 4, 2023 |
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Aug 4, 2023 22:07
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the holy poopacy posted:It's a comic about mad scientists Yes that's what I mean by paying lip service to it. However in terms of what's actually in the comic, the Sparks are always the best, most impactful, etc etc. It's not about the worldbuilding or set dressing, either, it's about who gets to be narratively important and a mover and shaker in the plot, as well as the nonpowered characters, even ones we are supposed to find very cool and competent, constantly being shown up by the mad science ubermenschs. No one character is actually allowed to outshine a Spark, even in what is supposed to be their core competency, ala Gil and his spy butler, or Viola and Tarvek. Even the one character who wants to get rid of Sparks is a Spark, lmao. I get that it's a genre thing, it's just not one I enjoy. I've enjoyed a lot of super power fiction that manages not to fall into that, and consistently don't really enjoy when it does, but I don't think fiction has like, a moral obligation not to or anything. It's not wrong for a writer to be overly enthusiastic about the 'power' part of super power fiction. Just the longer it goes on and the more blatant it gets, the more it turns me, personally, off. SlothfulCobra posted:It sure has meandered for a long while, but in that respect it's not really very different from most longform narrative content. It's rare for most of these things to have much actually planned for what the ending will be. But it's also perfectly natural to get tired of that, especially if you've gotten older and seen a lot of other stories just not finish after going on forever (or coming up with some last minute bullshit when they do finish). I agree it's a natural trap for long serialized fiction, GG is far from the only work I'm waiting to see if they actually end before I put more energy into reading it. It's exactly as you say, getting older and a little tired of it all. I also am hesitant to pick up long running unfinished manga/anime or book series. GG is just a particularly excessive example. But the authors clearly have a lot of passion for the project and they have shown they are going somewhere and definitely in it for the long haul, so I do think it will get there eventually! I'll take your word for it on the spark/nonspark dynamics having progressed, I haven't read the comic in a few years after all. mycatscrimes fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Aug 5, 2023 |
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Aug 5, 2023 00:37
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Having a literal mad science gene does lead to some unsavory implications, but the comic is also very clear that it is not actually a good thing; there's a reason that late 19th century Europe exists in a largely medieval state despite the existence of futuristic technology. The "good" rulers like Wulfenbach, Voltaire, and Albia are still very much the least bad options.
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I feel like that was all very negative. The comic isn't bad and I don't mean to be too down on it, I had a lot of fun with it before I stopped reading.
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Aug 5, 2023 00:54
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The Foglio Marshmellow People
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Jan 19, 2024 23:35
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an egg posted:i sincerely admire the foglios because there is no greater pain than wanting to make a comic when you know you can't draw humans for poo poo, yet somehow they just went ahead and did it anyway and have never let criticism of their art dampen their passion I think their people are unappealing, but they do the job, and the machinery and environmental art can also be quite nice. The lack of finesse doesn't typically detract from the story and they are able to bring some unique appeal to their visuals. Hopefully someday Girl Genius will reach a satisfying end point.
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Jan 20, 2024 03:34
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Pogonodon posted:I want to second What Happens Next, I've been enjoying it. Might not be as good if you didn't spend a lot of time in terminally online tumblr spaces, but I'd definitely still recommend a quick look. Under the aesthetic and social dynamics, which are really married to that specific community, I do think there is a very good underlying story exploring some interesting moral territory.
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Jan 20, 2024 22:56
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A lot of things about Donna Barr wouldn't fly in 2024 lmao But yeah I think the Foglio character art is fine and does what it needs to do, even if I sometimes find it ugly. It never impedes the storytelling.
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Jan 21, 2024 00:10
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I think Steeple is Allison's best comic outside of Bad Machinery, and it has the vibes of if Scary Go Round was a lot more focused and polished. I'm gonna miss it, but I do admire Allison's ability to finish a project and move on, a precious commodity in webcomics.
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Jan 21, 2024 02:36
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Inkspot posted:Rural flea markets are full of custom junk nobody wants. No surprise there. Finding a Lackadaisy backpack, though? That was a little surprising. This is a terrible backpack. I can't believe it. Utter trash. Obviously if Mordecai was going to have a dance partner it'd be Viktor.
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Mar 9, 2024 21:33
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