Post by todd on Sept 21, 2007 11:51:44 GMT
My comments on Basil earlier (suggesting that he's only shown up once since Tom might not have found any uses for him other than a humorous "what really happened in the Labyrinth with Theseus" story) got me thinking about tracking the number of times that the various cast members show up, in relation to their role in the story.
The key to how often such-and-such a character should return is obviously based on how much fresh story potential he or she has. It obviously helps if you can do more with him or her; people with limited versatility are likely to be one-shot characters or little better, so that they won't get stale. Ones with a greater amount of depth can be used more often, obviously. So here's a look at most of the cast of "Gunnerkrigg Court", focusing on how many chapters each one has appeared in (counting on-stage appearances only, and counting only the chapters, not the Bonus Pages or the guest comics). I haven't listed everyone, just the more prominent figures.
ANNIE: Has appeared in all fourteen chapters to date; since she's both the protagonist and narrator, I doubt that Tom could do a chapter without her. She's enough of an in-depth character that Tom can do a lot with her (though he has on occasion, as in "Dobranoc, Gamma", made her more an observer than a participant).
KAT: Has appeared in twelve of the fourteen chapters (the only ones that she doesn't show up in are "The Shadow and the Robot" - at which point, she hadn't been introduced - and "Not Very Scary"). As Annie's best friend and partner in adventure, she's a natural for frequent roles, and also is vividly enough characterized that Tom has much room to explore her.
ROBOT: Three appearances (Chapters One, Seven, and Twelve). His appearances have been this far apart more, I suspect, because of the needs of the story (it took time for the infection process in Gillitie to complete itself, for example); I think that as a character who's moving towards free will, he's got much potential.
SHADOW2: Also three appearances (Chapters One, Eight, and Twelve). Seems more content to hide in the background at present, but will probably have more growing to do (in terms of characterization, at least).
WINSBURY: Four appearances (Chapters Two, Three, Ten, and Thirteen - five appearances if you count his cameo in the first page of Chapter Fourteen). The most commonly recurring classmate of Annie and Kat's - and the only one that I'm currently including on this list. In his first two appearances, he taunted Annie and Kat, only to get defeated by Annie both times. After that, he left them alone (Tom obviously had sense enough to not want his clashes with them to get stale - and I think that Winsbury might have been bright enough to realize that he's going to continue to lose to Annie if he keeps on picking on her or Kat, and when you're a boy of around 11 or 12, getting beaten by a girl in front of your peers is going to be very humiliating). He resumed his role in Chapter Thirteen when he picked on Alistair (also with disastrous results for himself), and was one of the Spacemonauts in Chapter Ten, though he didn't impact the story much.
MRS. DONLAN: Four appearances (in Chapters Two, Seven, Thirteen, and Fourteen). As Kat's mother, a faculty member, a former friend of Surma's, and a sorceress, she's obviously got much potential as a recurring figure.
BASIL: One appearance to date (as I said, he probably didn't have much potential beyond his role in Chapter Two).
MR. EGLAMORE: Five appearances (in Chapters Three, Seven, Nine, Thirteen, and Fourteen). Obviously a major recurring character, not only because he's the gym teacher, but also because of his "knight/dragon-slayer" role, and his links to Annie through Surma.
REYNARDINE: Six appearances (in Chapters Three, Five, Seven, Nine, Twelve, and Fourteen). His ties to Annie make him an obvious candidate for many returns, and he's clearly a major character. Not only that, but Tom finds ways to continue to keep him fresh - such as his new "white wolf" form, in which he takes on a more dignified and less snarky persona. We can expect to see more changes from him in the future, I suspect, as well as delving into the mysteries around him.
MORT: Two appearances (in Chapters Four and Nine). While Mort in his first appearance might have seemed like someone with little potential beyond "one-shot status", his crush on Annie (introduced in Chapter Nine) gives him room for further stories.
ZIMMY AND GAMMA: Two appearances (in Chapters Five and Eleven). They don't show up often - not surprisingly, since they're in a different house from Annie, and don't have the opportunity to meet with her frequently, therefore. Their connections with each other are of such a nature that they seem to work best (unless in a relatively small role - such as their "red herring" function in Chapter Five) as the leads in their own story, rather than as supporting characters in Annie's - but with obviously a lot of story potential there.
THE SUICIDE FAIRIES: One appearance to date. They've got the potential to return, though how they will do so depends on whether they can find anyone else to kill them, and how soon after their getting new bodies they'll be able to attend Gunnerkrigg.
MUUT: One appearance so far (unless you count his "flashback moments" in Chapters Nine and Fourteen). Not likely to appear often on-stage - unless there are more deaths at Gunnerkrigg - and likely to work best in small doses, but important to Annie's story, obviously.
GHOST GIRL: One appearance so far. She's obviously going to return at some point, but I think that Tom will probably keep her scenes far apart to preserve her tone of foreboding mystery.
DR. DISASTER: One-shot so far, and although his story was popular, it'd be tricky doing a sequel to it without it feeling like a less-inspired rehash (the usual problem with sequels). It's been speculated that there was an "Ender's Game" scheme at work in Chapter Ten, but I doubt that Tom's going to be copying Orson Scott Card - and I don't think that it'd fit the general direction of Gunnerkrigg, anyway, where the school's outside adversary is the inhabitants of Gillitie Wood (who have a fantasy/mythology nature) rather than sci-fi aliens.
ALISTAIR: So far, only one appearance. Is probably designed for that, given the nature of his story - but although we know that Kat won't meet him again, it's not impossible for Annie, on a second venture into Gillitie Wood (if that ever comes about) to see him. Tom didn't say that Annie never saw him again, obviously.
THE HEADMASTER, JONES, PARLEY, AND SMITH: One appearance only to date for all of them, but they've just been introduced, and seem to have much potential for returning roles. (We know that Parley and Smith will be taking classes with Annie in the upcoming year).
COYOTE AND YSENGRIN: One appearance only so far (unless you count Ysengrin's showing up in the flashback in Chapter Twelve), but it's clear that we haven't seen the last of them - and they're also people who have just been introduced. I think that Annie's going to have much more to do with them in the adventures to come.
THE TIC-TOCS: Reappear often, if most of the time in cameos (Chapters One, Three, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Eleven so far - not to mention playing an important off-stage role in Chapter Fourteen); I think that they're going to continue to be recurring frequently, if most of the time as watching presences in the background, to give a certain ominous quality.
The key to how often such-and-such a character should return is obviously based on how much fresh story potential he or she has. It obviously helps if you can do more with him or her; people with limited versatility are likely to be one-shot characters or little better, so that they won't get stale. Ones with a greater amount of depth can be used more often, obviously. So here's a look at most of the cast of "Gunnerkrigg Court", focusing on how many chapters each one has appeared in (counting on-stage appearances only, and counting only the chapters, not the Bonus Pages or the guest comics). I haven't listed everyone, just the more prominent figures.
ANNIE: Has appeared in all fourteen chapters to date; since she's both the protagonist and narrator, I doubt that Tom could do a chapter without her. She's enough of an in-depth character that Tom can do a lot with her (though he has on occasion, as in "Dobranoc, Gamma", made her more an observer than a participant).
KAT: Has appeared in twelve of the fourteen chapters (the only ones that she doesn't show up in are "The Shadow and the Robot" - at which point, she hadn't been introduced - and "Not Very Scary"). As Annie's best friend and partner in adventure, she's a natural for frequent roles, and also is vividly enough characterized that Tom has much room to explore her.
ROBOT: Three appearances (Chapters One, Seven, and Twelve). His appearances have been this far apart more, I suspect, because of the needs of the story (it took time for the infection process in Gillitie to complete itself, for example); I think that as a character who's moving towards free will, he's got much potential.
SHADOW2: Also three appearances (Chapters One, Eight, and Twelve). Seems more content to hide in the background at present, but will probably have more growing to do (in terms of characterization, at least).
WINSBURY: Four appearances (Chapters Two, Three, Ten, and Thirteen - five appearances if you count his cameo in the first page of Chapter Fourteen). The most commonly recurring classmate of Annie and Kat's - and the only one that I'm currently including on this list. In his first two appearances, he taunted Annie and Kat, only to get defeated by Annie both times. After that, he left them alone (Tom obviously had sense enough to not want his clashes with them to get stale - and I think that Winsbury might have been bright enough to realize that he's going to continue to lose to Annie if he keeps on picking on her or Kat, and when you're a boy of around 11 or 12, getting beaten by a girl in front of your peers is going to be very humiliating). He resumed his role in Chapter Thirteen when he picked on Alistair (also with disastrous results for himself), and was one of the Spacemonauts in Chapter Ten, though he didn't impact the story much.
MRS. DONLAN: Four appearances (in Chapters Two, Seven, Thirteen, and Fourteen). As Kat's mother, a faculty member, a former friend of Surma's, and a sorceress, she's obviously got much potential as a recurring figure.
BASIL: One appearance to date (as I said, he probably didn't have much potential beyond his role in Chapter Two).
MR. EGLAMORE: Five appearances (in Chapters Three, Seven, Nine, Thirteen, and Fourteen). Obviously a major recurring character, not only because he's the gym teacher, but also because of his "knight/dragon-slayer" role, and his links to Annie through Surma.
REYNARDINE: Six appearances (in Chapters Three, Five, Seven, Nine, Twelve, and Fourteen). His ties to Annie make him an obvious candidate for many returns, and he's clearly a major character. Not only that, but Tom finds ways to continue to keep him fresh - such as his new "white wolf" form, in which he takes on a more dignified and less snarky persona. We can expect to see more changes from him in the future, I suspect, as well as delving into the mysteries around him.
MORT: Two appearances (in Chapters Four and Nine). While Mort in his first appearance might have seemed like someone with little potential beyond "one-shot status", his crush on Annie (introduced in Chapter Nine) gives him room for further stories.
ZIMMY AND GAMMA: Two appearances (in Chapters Five and Eleven). They don't show up often - not surprisingly, since they're in a different house from Annie, and don't have the opportunity to meet with her frequently, therefore. Their connections with each other are of such a nature that they seem to work best (unless in a relatively small role - such as their "red herring" function in Chapter Five) as the leads in their own story, rather than as supporting characters in Annie's - but with obviously a lot of story potential there.
THE SUICIDE FAIRIES: One appearance to date. They've got the potential to return, though how they will do so depends on whether they can find anyone else to kill them, and how soon after their getting new bodies they'll be able to attend Gunnerkrigg.
MUUT: One appearance so far (unless you count his "flashback moments" in Chapters Nine and Fourteen). Not likely to appear often on-stage - unless there are more deaths at Gunnerkrigg - and likely to work best in small doses, but important to Annie's story, obviously.
GHOST GIRL: One appearance so far. She's obviously going to return at some point, but I think that Tom will probably keep her scenes far apart to preserve her tone of foreboding mystery.
DR. DISASTER: One-shot so far, and although his story was popular, it'd be tricky doing a sequel to it without it feeling like a less-inspired rehash (the usual problem with sequels). It's been speculated that there was an "Ender's Game" scheme at work in Chapter Ten, but I doubt that Tom's going to be copying Orson Scott Card - and I don't think that it'd fit the general direction of Gunnerkrigg, anyway, where the school's outside adversary is the inhabitants of Gillitie Wood (who have a fantasy/mythology nature) rather than sci-fi aliens.
ALISTAIR: So far, only one appearance. Is probably designed for that, given the nature of his story - but although we know that Kat won't meet him again, it's not impossible for Annie, on a second venture into Gillitie Wood (if that ever comes about) to see him. Tom didn't say that Annie never saw him again, obviously.
THE HEADMASTER, JONES, PARLEY, AND SMITH: One appearance only to date for all of them, but they've just been introduced, and seem to have much potential for returning roles. (We know that Parley and Smith will be taking classes with Annie in the upcoming year).
COYOTE AND YSENGRIN: One appearance only so far (unless you count Ysengrin's showing up in the flashback in Chapter Twelve), but it's clear that we haven't seen the last of them - and they're also people who have just been introduced. I think that Annie's going to have much more to do with them in the adventures to come.
THE TIC-TOCS: Reappear often, if most of the time in cameos (Chapters One, Three, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Eleven so far - not to mention playing an important off-stage role in Chapter Fourteen); I think that they're going to continue to be recurring frequently, if most of the time as watching presences in the background, to give a certain ominous quality.
