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Post by Casey on Nov 24, 2009 1:01:47 GMT
You make some good points there chiparoo!
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Post by TBeholder on Nov 24, 2009 15:52:53 GMT
Ah, some mood whiplash and the smell of twist. That's why i love ol' good Gunnerkrigg.
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Post by the bandit on Nov 24, 2009 18:30:24 GMT
The real question is, how does he -know- that what he's playing isn't musical Clearly, the other robots never noticed.
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Post by spoonvonstup on Nov 25, 2009 2:42:05 GMT
This question reminds me of a chapter of Understanding Comics, which discusses character detail. To sum up (and really this is very cool), when you're having a conversation with someone, you see that person's face in complete detail. In contrast, we are aware of our own faces in the smallest of detail. Like, you are aware of your eyes, your lips, perhaps the tip of your nose, but really unless you are looking in a mirror, to we are only aware of our own faces in the simplest of terms. McCloud goes on to explain that this is what makes simplified, 'cartoony' characters so compelling to us. If we are shown a character in a highly-detailed design, we see it as someone else, but if a character is simplified, we see ourselves. So when Tom simplifies his character's faces, it allows us to project ourselves onto them place our own emotions of the situation onto them. Which is a really cool effect, no? Thanks for your reply, chiparoo. Now that I've had some time to think it over myself, I have three or four ideas to add to this discussion. 1) Tom isn't a superhero. These comics take time, and foregoing faces sometimes is a practical solution to save a few hours. 2)The juxtaposition between details and faceless characters clearly adds to the humor of Gunnerkrigg Court. This chapter alone is a clear example of how hilarious the lack of a face can be (enter FaceBot). As chiparoo kindly cited for us, no face also allows the readers to project their own "Haha! What?" or "what the heck?" or "Blank face; mind exploded" face onto the characters. I also feel that it is the juxtaposition itself that creates the humor. Moving from incredibly high detail to a complete lack allows Tom to play with the preposterousness of existence at the Court. How can one page include a beautifully rendered Kat or Annie, followed immediately by the girls in blank face? It's too ridiculous to be true! And yet, it is (and it is all the time!) So, too, is the Court itself. The court is not as simple as all humor or all serious. It is both, all the time, at the same time, one on top of the other. The two cannot really be taken apart. Life remains ridiculous, and that's what makes it wonderful, intriguing, hilarious, and painful. 3) Perhaps this is the metafictional bias coming out in me, but I also enjoy the detail/faceless thing because it draws so much attention to the form of the comic. If the plot and characters weren't enough to constantly remind people of what they are reading, then the sudden lack of detail forces the reader to keep in mind that they are, in fact, reading a COMIC. The form is deliberately chosen, with all of its good points and limitations. Tom's comic never tries to make you forget that it is a comic (by pouring on the detail, by attempting photo-realism, by wishing that it were a movie and not still images and text bubbles). Other comics pretend, and that can grate on me. GC doesn't. It embraces its form, and so it uses it to its full potential. The detail//faceless thing reminds me of all of this. 4) The lack of faces also seems (to me!) to place the focus away from individual plot moments and actions. Instead, the focus (at least the most practical, artistic work) remains in the background, in the small details that accumulate and make up a world. GC's plot is intriguing, it's characters make you fall in love with them, but I enjoy GC because it is absolutely dedicated to constructing a complete world. Details/faceless-ness seems to add to this for me. I do not claim to understand or discover Tom's reasons for his particular artistic decisions. Rather, I am trying to understand why I enjoy them so much. This is what they make me think about, and this is how it encourages me to read the comic.
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Post by the bandit on Nov 25, 2009 5:35:34 GMT
It's also a rather common feature of manga / anime, which is an influence in Tom's art (either directly or indirectly).
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Post by Mezzaphor on Nov 25, 2009 6:22:57 GMT
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broommaster2000
New Member
A stick, a bunch of twigs, a bit of rope, and presto!
Posts: 15
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Post by broommaster2000 on Dec 2, 2009 20:42:41 GMT
That would be simple awesome. Robots like that can roam my school.
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Post by Casey on Dec 2, 2009 20:59:24 GMT
Haha, the title of this thread changed from "your help" to "thine help" with the new board filter!
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Post by Yin on Dec 3, 2009 3:09:19 GMT
I can approximately follow thy* journey through the threads upon discovering the 'thine filter', Casey, and it is hilarious.
*Fully intended and properly grammatical!
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Post by King Mir on Dec 3, 2009 4:23:08 GMT
Heh. You can look at it to yοur hearts content here, at least until Casey makes 20 more posts.
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Post by Yin on Dec 3, 2009 4:24:24 GMT
Piffle! It's more fun being a detective.
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