Monday Morning Comics http://mondaymorningcomics.posterous.com the pretend pull list posterous.com Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:25:36 -0700 Test http://mondaymorningcomics.posterous.com/test http://mondaymorningcomics.posterous.com/test

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Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:21:12 -0700 Ex Machina #2, Fables #2 http://mondaymorningcomics.posterous.com/ex-machina-2-fables-2 http://mondaymorningcomics.posterous.com/ex-machina-2-fables-2
Ex_machina_vol_1_2
Thos:
 Ex Machina
Thos: wow talky talky talky
Thos: I dunno - if every book is gonna preach to me i may check out pretty quickly
Job: heheh. yeah, there was a lot of dialogue
Job: about not a whole lot i care about, but whatever
Job: i remember LOLing the first time i read it when i saw the painting
Job: this time, it didn't really do it for me as much
Thos: well yeah - it would have been fine if they showed the painting - had him make a comment about 'i dont need this today' - or something
Thos: and then you know- get back to comic book life
Thos: but now
Thos: no 
Job: heh
Thos: we got 3 pages of actual intellectual arguments
Thos: plus you know- more of the dreadlock sidekick
Job: yeah, I guess, in its defense, this issue seemed to serve as a set up for just how damn difficult it is to run New York City, even if you have superpowers
Job: or maybe especially because you have super powers, as in the conversation with the police commissioner or Chief or whatever she is
Thos: yeah - i dunno - im not writing it off yet 
Job: the ending was kind of awesome
Job: at least i thought so . the seemingly random shooting that will no doubt play into bigger things later
Thos: yeah - im just tryign to think if i would have read it when it first came out
Thos: seems a pretty slow pace for the first two issues
Job: also, i don't have any real concrete examples, but have you noticed how a lot of frames from ex machina look a lot like they're retouched Life Magazine photos?
Thos: and since im reading them once a week - thats ok
Thos: but wow- how did this book make it to issue 5?
Job: heh. wildstorm was used to losing money, i'd imagine
Thos: yeah - the backgrounds all seem like images of actual city scapes
Job: yeah, i think it's a cool look, although for all the great composition, his faces don't look real good, i don't think
Job: kind of plain and blotchy
Thos: its definitely a different style
Fables_2
Thos:
 Fables?
Thos: did we puposefully pick two of the most -anti-action-slow-paced books available?
Job: maybe it's an across the board problem with issue #2s
Thos: heh
Thos: someone should do a study on a random sampling of issue #2 books
Job: sounds like another blog project we'll never get to
Thos: heheheh
Thos: mroe than likely
Job: so we meet bluebeard
Thos: yes
Job: yeah, i wiki'd him, fuckyouverymuch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard
Thos: hehehehehe
Job: murderous psycho / frenchman
Thos: i love the fact that he ran an underground railroad out of the fairyland and charged people
Thos: a regular coyote
Job: yes. we also hear about the amnesty, which i think we didn't know about before
Job: so there was a wiping clean of the slate at some point around the exodus from the homelands, I guess, eh?
Thos: apparently - hence the fact that the big bad wolf can stroll around town and have pigs sleeping in his apt.
Job: do we eventually find out who or what the Adversary is? or don't you know?
Thos: i do know - 
Thos: but im not gonna spoil it
Job: fair enough
Thos: well
Thos: let me rephrase
Thos: you find out who the advesary is- -- but not till like issue #50
Thos: a long fucking time
Thos: and a lot of build up
Job: are we sticking with it that long? we'll see i guess
Thos: so if we run out ambition on this blog project then i'll tell you :)
Job: i think i'm more likely to run out of patience for this book than i am to run out of ambition on this project, but that's just me
Job: speaking of pigs, when charming is talking to snow white in the diner, the truck drives by with the pig in it from Bigby's apartment, then again more prominently outside the candy store
Thos: yeah - 
Job: don't know if you noticed or not. just thought it was funny
Thos: i think thats just to showcase him running around - free as a bird
Job: right
Job: er
Job: free as a pig
Thos: heh
Thos: also - him eating ham in front of the pig is a nice touch
Job: yes, absolutely
Job: a note on the art, or really the color and layout i guess
Job: they leave a lot of white gutter space between the frames on most pages
Job: but then on some pages they color in the space
Job: but it seems to be random colors that have nothing to do with anything
Job: sometimes black, one page with red, a couple with like a tan color something
Job: seems sort of random
Thos: oh yeah? i guess i hadnt noticed
Job: i thought maybe like Snow White pages were one color and Bigby pages were another, but i don't think that's the case
Job: kind of a distracting choice, i thought
Thos: i'll have to go back and look - i read it kind of fast since i was late on my book report :s
Job: heh. nice
Job: you automatically lose a grade letter
Job: late work can't be tolerated
Job: i could also mention (since i was thinking about it) that ex machina has almost every page laid out with one or two edge-to-edge images, and then other frames sort laid on top of those
Thos: (editors note: the reason this is tuesdayeveningcomics instead of mondaymorningcomics is because Thos forgot to read the books until monday afternoon)
Job: we'd forfeit our paychecks, but we're not getting paid
Thos: heh
Thos: ex machina - again - i wasnt paying close attention - i did notice the circutry lines on his forehead - is that intentional for the reader - or do you suppose people in the book can see those too?
Job: i would assume everyone can see it, i guess
Thos: also - the mention of the weather by teh driver/security guy - you get the sense that that is something we'll find out more about
Job: yeah, was that actually the great blizzard in new york? i don't remember if it was 2002, but they have other things that actually happened worked in there
Job: don't remember the dates in the book. wiki says the one i was thinking of was in February of 03
Thos: you are a wiki-whore
Thos: wikhore
Thos: whorki
Job: happens in the midwest, people put on another sweater. happens in NYC, OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BLIZZARD OF ALL TIME
Job: thus, there's a wiki page for a blizzard
Thos: hehehe
Thos: we should make a wiki page of christmas 09 - sioux falls
Thos: ZOMG 25 inches of snow!
Thos: still had to fucking drive to work :)
Job: absolutely
Thos: there again though
Thos: the driver complains about hte snow
Thos: and i get three panels explaining the logistics behind running the city in a snow storm
Thos: i get it
Thos: its' hard
Job: i think the set up is kind of like the episode of House where Cuddy has to juggle like 8 different crises all at once
Job: so i guess i didn't mind that bit. if it winds up that "it's a helluva week" isn't the main theme of the arc, then we have a problem. but i'm fine with it so far
Thos: heh - fair enough
Thos: ok - lets grade it out bitches
Thos: Ex Machina - im gonna go B - 
Thos: too much talky - not enough smash for me 
Job: you're too kind. i was gonna say C
Thos: heh
Thos: here i was grading on a curve for you
Thos: C it is
Thos: or we should avg out our grades for the final rating
Thos: C+
Job: ok
Thos: Fables - B- again -lets pick up the pace people
Job: punctuation confusion. is that B -?
Thos: yes
Thos: i looked at that and realized what i did
Thos: im a fan of the dash - sue me
Thos: B-
Job: yeah, i don't know. i just hope something happens in both of these 
Thos: whats our cutoff point? 
Thos: evaluate after 12 issues if we continue?
Thos: that would be a full year of books published
Job: 12 books or 2 arcs, whichever comes first?
Thos: sure
Thos: allright - i gotta call it a night
Thos: your in charge of editing/posting
Job: ok. i'll get on it

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Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:49:00 -0700 Ex Machina #1, Fables #1 http://mondaymorningcomics.posterous.com/ex-machina-1-fables-1 http://mondaymorningcomics.posterous.com/ex-machina-1-fables-1

So here we go - our first conversation - you can pretty much bet all of our posts on the actual books we are reading are gonna go like this - we tend to wander (although to be fair we tried hard to stay on topic for this first one. .) Any way - I dont have much of an intro other than that - i'll let our words speak for themselves .. Oh - and in a later post in the week i'll explain what all the <cock>'s are about :) -- So without further ado - let's do it.

 

THOS:
3:53

Ex Machina
go

JOB:
3:54
I liked Ex Machina

THOS:
3:54
yes
an interesting start
my guess is  - if we had read it when it was first published it would have resounded more with us
when did #1 come out?

JOB:
3:54
I think the whole one-tower thing probably came off as a little pandering when the thing came out 5 years ago or so
it just finished with #50, so it's been about 5 years, i think

THOS:
3:55
04 according to wikipedia

JOB:
3:55
fucking wikipedia
I like that it's overtly political, but not as a platform for one party or another necessarily

THOS:
3:56
yeah - a little nitpick but did the black guy have to have dreadlocks?

JOB:
3:56
it came off a little less preachy than West Wing for instance (realizing that you love west wing and I don't) :)
progressive black guys had dreadlocks in 2002, i guess

THOS:
3:57
lets just make him crippled in a wheel chair and smart with computers if we're gonna have a stereotypical sidekick

JOB:
3:57
heheheh
for that role, we have Kremlin, who's kinda awesome

THOS:
3:57
heh - yeah - that and the police lt. -

JOB:
3:57
right.  it's set up right from the start to be a TNT show

THOS:
3:58
although - does EVERY fiesty reporter in comics have to be a gal?
granted - we are one issue in - but she has "lois lane" stamped on her as far as im concerned

JOB:
3:58
heh
or His Girl Friday, if you've seen that movie

THOS:
3:58
.. now your just trying to look smart for the blog

JOB:
3:59
feisty male reporters just look like assholes, so maybe one tries to avoid that
fine, edit that out if you like.  but i've seen a movie made before 1950
like six or seven of them
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Girl_Friday )

THOS:
3:59
heheheh

JOB:
4:00
can Iuse another big word?
aptronym
when your name reflects your job or personality

THOS:
4:00
overall a good 1st issue - set up a lot of stuff - but gave us enough backstory to not be left in the dark

JOB:
4:00
Like Journal

THOS:
4:00
an interesting thing that you rarely see in comics - they actually did his origin in 2 pages or less
didnt drag it out-

JOB:
4:00
hehe.  yeah, you pretty much get the idea

THOS:
4:01
he grabed some crazy thing in the water - and boom - talks to machines

JOB:
4:01
in 50 years, that'll all be compressed into one paragraph on teh splash page that nobody reads anyway, so you might as well not dwell on it

THOS:
4:01
yeah
<cock>
Fables

JOB:
4:02
are we editing out <cock> or explaining it?

THOS:
4:02
im interested in hearing your thoughts
I think we should explain it
I dont want it edited
a) there’s a reason behind it
b) it makes us look hip and edgy

JOB:
4:02
you edit too much cock, and you're no better than hotel porn

THOS:
4:02
...

JOB:
4:03
don't pretend like you don't know what i'm talking about

THOS:
4:03
 heh
so
again
<cock>
Fables

JOB:
4:03
right
Fables

THOS:
4:03
your thougts?
thoughts
fuck it – I’m spell checking this before I post it

JOB:
4:03
again, it's a good set up.  To me, it came off a little too.... 
like a parody, like Hoodwink'd

THOS:
4:04
I can see that

JOB:
4:04
let's run all this fable shit out there right away, so we can get past it
which is as good a way to start as any, I guess
but I questioned why I needed to have it all explained right up front
they didn't dwell on it too much, though, and you get the idea that there's a lot more to it than just the 8 or 9 characters you meet in #1

THOS:
4:05
bare in mind Fables started in 02

JOB:
4:05
yeah, you can really tell the difference in the way the book is put together, I thought

THOS:
4:05
so really before all the parodying of the Shrek movies, hoodwink'd etc.

JOB:
4:06
yeah, I suppose

THOS:
4:06
I’m just sayin - don't hold that against it

JOB:
4:06
no I don't.  it was an interesting setup

THOS:
4:06
I love that Prince Charming is a leach

JOB:
4:06
yeah, that's pretty awesome

THOS:
4:07
"dont ask about the dwarves"
I hope we get THAT story soon

JOB:
4:07
heheh.  was that supposed to be Little Boy Blue of the hornblowing fame?

THOS:
4:07
yeah I think so

JOB:
4:07
I have to be honest, I don't know fairy tales all that well
so hopefully it won't get too obscure

THOS:
4:08
if I remember correctly I don’t think so
cheer up - this could be one of those books that keeps sending you to wikipedia - I know how you love that

JOB:
4:08
well, I do kind of appreciate the effort that goes into that
doesn't make it any easier though

THOS:
4:09
as far as art goes - nothing spectacular from either book - but that’s not necessarily a bad thing

JOB:
4:09
I really liked the look of Ex Machina
I think i'd read that the artist (who's the artist?) used live models a lot

THOS:
4:09
it could just be that I was reading it on the ipod - but it seemed kind of dark
I did like how they differentiated him talking to machines and humans
rarely do you get to see a letterer showcase their talent

JOB:
4:11
yes.  they also did a good job with the coloring separating the different time periods

THOS:
4:11
yeah - I don’t know - I hope every book isn’t like that -
jumping back and forth in time
a guy can only read so many Tarantino comic books

JOB:
4:11
I usually don't like that, but it seemed to be more with a purpose than just to fuck with a reader

THOS:
4:12
yeah

JOB:
4:12
you get the bits of the story you need as you need them

THOS:
4:12
oh - we should mention the language

JOB:
4:12
English?

THOS:
4:12
not that I was against it - just caught me off guard

JOB:
4:12
really?  I didn't even notice, I guess

THOS:
4:12
seemed like there were more shits and fucks etc  thrown in simply because they could
maybe I’m just a prude

JOB:
4:13
hehe.  a side of you we don't see too often
I guess I read a lot of vertigo and other mature reader type books, so I didn't even flinch
but if you're used to the marvel-style #$@@ whitewashing, I could see it being jarring

THOS:
4:13
yeah - unless its "The Boys" I don’t really see swearing in the books I read

JOB:
4:14
Alan Moore said mature readers labels were just an excuse for "tits and innards"
should've probably added "f-bombs" to the list

THOS:
4:14
although it'd be awesome to see Cyclops blurt out a "FUCK!" once in a while
(you know he's got it in him)

JOB:
4:14
hehe.  I will look for that if they ever let Warren Ellis off the leash at marvel
the art for Fables was maybe supposed to look .... fable-y?

THOS:
4:15
I think so

JOB:
4:15
just going from memory, it seemed kind of chicken-scratchy
sketched out, I should say

THOS:
4:15
as it goes on  - the artist really branches out
does some awesome border work framing pages etc

JOB:
4:16
ah
how far have you read on that?

THOS:
4:16
it should be noted that although we are reading Fables from #1 i've actually read the first 30 or so
so i'm biased
but I read them as they came out
so 6 years ago

JOB:
4:16
yeah, I read the first couple arcs of Ex Machina when they were new too, but I never kept up

THOS:
4:17
no 6 yrs is EM -- fables I read in 02
8 yrs ago
fuck im old

JOB:
4:17
heh
kids these days, with their baggy pants and their hippety-hop music

THOS:
4:17
they just don't understand
no wait
that's parents
oh now I really dated myself

JOB:
4:18
so are we ending with a letter grade or something definitive?

THOS:
4:18
yeah I think so

JOB:
4:18
how about

THOS:
4:18
A = Dark Knight

JOB:
4:18
"diseases or maladies I would rather have than miss the next issue" ?
A = sniffles
through F = ass cancer
i'm too lazy to come up with any more than that, though

THOS:
4:19
heh
I was gonna just grade it on past books

JOB:
4:20
yeah, you're probably right
don't want to offend any ass cancer survivors
so A is Dark Knight.  fair enough
can F be the last two or three years of JLA?

THOS:
4:21
Heh
yeah

JOB:
4:21
regardless of your signposts, I'd put both of them at a B

THOS:
4:22
yeah'
id say thats fair too -
Ex Machina = B with a lot of potential for awesome
Fables = solid B
(I know that it has potential)

JOB:
4:23
ok.  sounds good

THOS:
4:23
wait
b's for both
but I want to lower the bar for F

JOB:
4:23
ok

THOS:
4:23
id put JLA at a D
Youngblood = F

JOB:
4:23
heheheh

THOS:
4:23
(yeah I went there)

JOB:
4:24
I haven't read youngblood since I was in high school

THOS:
4:24
me either - but damnit i'm still pissed that I shelled out hard cash and stood in line for it

JOB:
4:24
heh.  ok. fine
actually that's probably about right, cuz what the hell are you doing reading things that you're rating an F?

THOS:
4:25
heh - exactly

JOB:
4:25
are signing off on this then?

THOS:
4:25
yeah - I think that’s a good first post
even though its 6 hours late - that's my bad

JOB:
4:26
you'll do better next week
are you posting it?

THOS:

done.

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Mon, 20 Sep 2010 13:16:40 -0700 What is Monday Morning Comics? http://mondaymorningcomics.posterous.com/what-is-monday-morning-comics http://mondaymorningcomics.posterous.com/what-is-monday-morning-comics mondaymorningcomics.com is going to be a book club of a couple of nerds reading their way through previously published, established, comic books.  Together we will discuss the books every Monday morning - and see where the adventure takes us.

Hey -  if Oprah can do it - so can we.

Our first two books will be "Fables" and "Ex-Machina". I had petitioned Job that we try "Cerebus" but he pointed out that both he and I lack any sort of work ethic and trying to stay the course through over a 300 issues would be a task of epic proportions. Who knows? We may actually end up tackling something like that if we find that we've enjoyed the experience of blogging our way through old books. We may even from time to time throw un-related comic reviews up here on more current books - just for the heck of it. We're kooky like that.

So - sit back, relax, and tune in next Monday morning for the first installment of mondaymorningcomics!

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