[914] I guess that's all they wanted

[Max]

Closure

[Alex]

now back to Annie and Jack of course right? right?

[Deleted]

Tom said:

Fact time: I had the idea for this story back when I was originally planning Gunnerkrigg Court. It was originally going to be a whole chapter, and Annie was going to be in Margo's place. Annie cannot sing worth a damn.

Would be cool if one of these stories involved those mirrors from chapter 2, but I'm not counting on it.

[Raph]

It'd be nice if one of the side stories here included them.
I like the idea of being able to regonise a good idea from a bad one and being able to adapt the good ones.

[smjjames]

Looks like the big mouthed ghost is about to eat melted ghosts face at first. Pretty sweet short story though.

Also, is it me or is there a family resemblance between mandolin playing ghost and Bubba (fat Bhudda look-alike who appeared in Springheel Jack)? Then again, they're both short, fat, and bald.

It seems to have been one of those 'tragic' ghost stories than the more classic ghost story.

[Rex]

Looks like they just wanted to sing-ah about the Moon-ah, and the June-ah, and the Spring-ah.

Also, Annie being crap at a singing made me laugh pretty hard.

[Alexandragon]

That's little lovely and in the same time sadly story...

Jul 29, 2011 7:02:35 GMT Alex said:

now back to Annie and Jack of course right? right?

I hope so

[kazuki]

Annie cannot sing worth a damn.

Am I the only one that rofled at this? xD I just couldn't help it. Its like. I read that page, and was all "Aw, well isn't that sweet." Then five seconds later I was on the floor dying of laughter.

[furubafan3]

Super cute side story..makes you wonder how they could give Jeanne closure..

[fronzel]

Jul 29, 2011 7:25:23 GMT furubafan3 said:

Super cute side story..makes you wonder how they could give Jeanne closure..

Destroying all warm breathing life.

[mudmaniac]

It seem an unexpected tragedy that Annie, whose voice sounds like Kate Rusby, cannot sing.

[basser]

Jul 29, 2011 8:57:42 GMT mudmaniac said:

It seem an unexpected tragedy that Annie, whose voice sounds like Kate Rusby, cannot sing.

Not all that unexpected for me. Singing is at heart an expression of emotion, and until recently Annie had all the emotiveness of a brick.

[legion]

Singing is really doing the right notes on the right times with your voice; emotion is a bonus;


Well, I'm glad those ghosts had a fairly simple find-peace conditions, not all ghosts are this easy to deal with.

[Eversist]

Jul 29, 2011 7:02:35 GMT Alex said:

now back to Annie and Jack of course right? right?

I wish. Tom tweeted a silly comment about him not wanting to rehash what he's already gone over in the past. Hahaha.

Aw, this is suddenly sweet. Man, my emotions are being jerked around like crazy this chapter. :V

[darlos9d]

I feel like "Annie cannot sing worth a damn" should have been the thread title.

[atteSmythe]

Thanks for the little 'behind the scenes' note, Tom. It's fun to hear about the process every now and again.

[Mezzaphor]

Silly ghosts, Margo and John would have finished singing a lot faster if you hadn't bothered them.

[vollie]

Aww, John and Margo look so tired. See their hair? I kind of want to give them hugs. And of course the ghosts, too.

Tom, stop making your art so gorgeous! Goddamn.

[crater]

that was touching! I'm still getting goose bumps thinking of it, feels pretty good.

[todd]

On Tom's behind-the-scenes note: I wonder if that might reflect the shift in Annie's role in the comic. In the early chapters, she was clearly stage center. As time went on, though, the chapters began to revolve more around other characters (starting with Chapter Eleven, which was almost a backdoor pilot for a spin-off about Zimmy and Gamma, and then Chapter Thirteen, the first Kat-centered chapter, but not the last), with Annie frequently in the background. (Not to mention that her narration last appeared in the comic in Chapter Fifteen.) By now, I think she's become more "connecting character" than "main character".

[azurablue]

I've enjoyed this chapter so far. I like having the focus shift to side characters from time to time.

[Starrylight]

Jul 29, 2011 22:29:00 GMT todd said:

By now, I think she's become more "connecting character" than "main character".

Hmm, that's interesting...I see what you mean. However, I'd say that it's more that the other characters became more complex and important as time went on, so now Annie isn't the only main character anymore. It's still her story (assuming she's still narrating somewhere), but it's become the others' story as well. I guess that's just two ways of looking at the same thing.

[todd]

Jul 30, 2011 1:45:24 GMT Starrylight said:

It's still her story (assuming she's still narrating somewhere)

I'm not sure that she is. The last narration caption that definitely came from her was in Chapter Fifteen. In fact, the most recent narration caption, in the last chapter, was written in the present tense ("days pass" rather than "days passed"), suggesting that it was from the voice of an impersonal narrator on the outside rather than a character in the story looking back.

[Starrylight]

I remember Tom said a while back she was still narrating, even though it wasn't appearing in the comic. Maybe that's not the case anymore...so the question would be, when did she stop? Why did she decide to narrate in the first place?

[paxjax123]

Jul 31, 2011 3:04:42 GMT Starrylight said:

I remember Tom said a while back she was still narrating, even though it wasn't appearing in the comic. Maybe that's not the case anymore...so the question would be, when did she stop? Why did she decide to narrate in the first place?

She's telling a story. A lot of the time, as a character tells a story, their narration will slowly fade out and the actual story becomes more forward.

[todd]

Or Tom might have changed his mind as "Gunnerkrigg Court" became increasingly an ensemble story.

[smjjames]

Jul 31, 2011 11:08:03 GMT todd said:

Or Tom might have changed his mind as "Gunnerkrigg Court" became increasingly an ensemble story.

That seems likely since Annies future self hasn't appeared in the narration again as far as I can tell.

I wonder if the big mouthed ghost is based on the banshee in appearance? It is certainly wraith-like and had tom said that one screamed like a banshee, I would have connected it perfectly. He has done gaelic (I think) mythology before in the form of moddey dhoo (the demonic looking dog psychopomp) and a panel on the 'black dogs of the british isles'. Melted ghost seems to be straight out of Toms own imagination though.

Anyways, the (old?) womans clothing look sort of victorian to me, at least its the style that we see in movies, etc that take place during the 19th century up to turn of the century maybe.*

*It is in no way a professional historical observation, but the fashion is certainly 19th century.

[rafk]

Jul 31, 2011 11:08:03 GMT todd said:

Or Tom might have changed his mind as "Gunnerkrigg Court" became increasingly an ensemble story.

Ensemble? It's still very Annie-centric, and to a lesser extent Kat, and everyone else is lucky to even appear 1 chapter in 4, let alone get more than a handful of lines per appearance.

I mean, look at the last half dozen chapters.

33: Annie, Kat and the old robot.
32: Annie and Kat reconcile after Annie return from the forest.
31: All about Annie. Annie with Anja, Annie with Jack, Annie cheats off Kat's stuff, Annie fights with Rey, Annie runs to the forest. Annie Annie Annie Annie.
30: Annie, Kat, Parley and Smitty v Jeanne. Parley gets a good amount of time (and then we haven't seen her since) but no more than Annie.
29: More Kat than Annie, with the robots and Paz.
27 & 28: Spring Heeled. Mostly Annie and Jack (and in part 2, Zimmy), with a bit of Jones and Gamma.

[Stately Buff-Cookie]

One thing is..

As Annie lets herself become connected to more people, their story becomes important to her story. It shows how much she's become wiling to share her life with others.