Given the details - Grace and Clancy in dress clothes, the dad's own tie and dress shoes haphazardly strewn about his room - I can't help but wonder if this is right after the mom's funeral or anniversary of her death.
Yeah. They just got back from putting her in the ground, and now he's desperately trying to preserve her on canvas... and it's not working.
It occurs to me that one thing that Mike didn't have to research for this, merely let himself contemplate, was: "the grief of the artist."
When I saw Monday's post I was worried that this would end up like the last Eyrewood (sp?) series. Today's strip seems to have proven that fear right. There's such an opportunity to show and tell these worlds, but then they post updates with chunks of narrative missing in between that we as the readers are supposed to squirrel out from pure inference.
Maybe it's just a style thing that doesn't bother other folks, but for me it's frustrating as all heck.
No, it's not just you. But it seems pretty par for the course with the PA side story/project-related comics.
In truth, I think the guys just have more ideas than time to develop them all. So, in essence, we get snippets and 'tonal pieces' (as someone called them) to test the waters on new stuff. When (If) there's enough interest to justify it, then there's further development or additional story lines. And some of the worlds apparently aren't meant to be live primarily in the comic space (like Eyrewood), so we'll probably never have nice, neatly wrapped up comic story arcs there.
It's interesting to me that a lot of common themes appear to exist between Eyrewood and Nightlight. Monsters and protectors, children play a prominent role. I wonder if the newer universe spun out from some ideas that were originally slated for Eyrewood, and just didn't fit there or went in another direction for whatever reason. Or maybe it's all just in my head...
I think part of the "problem" is that they're too married to the three-panel strip. With Eyrewood too, it felt like a strip was always one or two panels away from gelling; unfortunately, without those panels, it often felt like the comics were being intentionally vague to cover up a certain shallowness in world building.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
I like stories that let me do my own thinking best.
This strip is hella dense.
All the feels.
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There is absolutely no way I would've been able to conjure any sort of meaning out of this comic without the help of the Comments. I had this exact problem with Silverside, where chunks of the narrative seem to have been missing, but they had a larger format to work with still.
Yeah, I definitely was not connecting Grace as a teenager. I assumed she was Clancy's mother, and the father was a different person from in the first strip.
GNU Terry Pratchett
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There is absolutely no way I would've been able to conjure any sort of meaning out of this comic without the help of the Comments. I had this exact problem with Silverside, where chunks of the narrative seem to have been missing, but they had a larger format to work with still.
I imagine this is what 90% of the reading audience thinks (myself included):
Oh, it's not one of the usual video game/dick/Gabe/Tycho comics. I'll give it a go.
That's vague but interesting.
I now have no idea what's going on.
I'll keep checking until the comics return to normal.
Most people won't interrogate the comments to see interpretations/explanations, in general I suspect there's a really small core audience for these and others just roll with it until things go back to business-as-usual.
I mean this isn't a criciticism, a break from the norm isn't a bad thing. All the extra stories clearly have an audience. It's just not for me; I'm a simple soul who checks on the comics once a week and has a quick chuckle.
I guess I'm in the 10%, then - I almost never have trouble "filling in the gaps" from what is shown, including when there are time-skips (like this one), without even needing to refer to the comments.
(I had more to say - mostly along the lines of "is it really that bad? really?" - but worried that I might get mod-smacked for it.)
well, for me it's "bad" in the sense of "that many people can't figure this stuff out on their own? something is wrong somewhere, then, because it's not/should not be that hard. This is something you should have learned how to do, if only by watching other forms of visual storytelling, like TV and movies. And if not, if you have to have everything shown and spelled out for you, then you are not being adequately prepared to understand and appreciate stories."
I hope it's a simple case of expectation mismatch, where (most?) people come here expecting three-panels-one-gag, usually about vidya games, and not, y'know, extended narratives, with subtext and stuff. That I could understand.
And I've seen comments from several people who do "get it." That comforts me also.
well, for me it's "bad" in the sense of "that many people can't figure this stuff out on their own? something is wrong somewhere, then, because it's not/should not be that hard. This is something you should have learned how to do, if only by watching other forms of visual storytelling, like TV and movies. And if not, you are not being adequately prepared to understand and appreciate stories."
I hope it's a simple case of expectation mismatch, where people come here expecting three-panels-one-gag, usually about vidya games, and not, y'know, narratives. That I could understand.
And I've seen comments from several people who do "get it." That comforts me also.
Too often, there is no narrative. Only vignettes and ellipses.
well, for me it's "bad" in the sense of "that many people can't figure this stuff out on their own? something is wrong somewhere, then, because it's not/should not be that hard. This is something you should have learned how to do, if only by watching other forms of visual storytelling, like TV and movies. And if not, if you have to have everything shown and spelled out for you, then you are not being adequately prepared to understand and appreciate stories."
I think part of it is the fact that a couple key clues aren't as explicit as they could be. And even after taking it all in, I still had to reference the first comic multiple times to be certain of my inferences. Going from Kid Grace to Teenage Grace in a single strip was a bit jarring, and the inclusion of a previously unknown sibling didn't help.
But! Now that we have the information, it's easy to see the other clues. Kinda like a magician explaining the trick, it seems obvious after the fact.
On an unrelated note, I disagree with those saying the emotional aspect lacks "punch". This is showing instead of telling, even if it is abrupt. The mom died, the dad's a wreck, and now Grace has to step up to the plate and keep the family functioning. Even if it doesn't resonate personally, it still serves as powerful character development for Grace. As a story conclusion, yes it'd be pretty weak; but I seriously doubt it ends here.
I think the next page packs that "punch" that people seem to think is missing.(Its up now for some reason maybe only for club PA members)
I don't understand how so many people had a difficult time following this. They were a young idyllic family that eventually expanded by one. You can tell they were happy by the facial expression and the finger paint on the door.
Here they have returned from the funeral of the mother and the father is trying to paint her, maybe just to find some solace, but the pain of the loss is too much. Grace is having to step into a parental role because her father isn't available, as of yet.
I'm anxious to see what the "spiders" are, they clearly aren't what one would normally think.
I'm a huge fan of when they stop doing Gabe and Tycho(not that I don't love them) and would not mind them doing it more often. They are really good at building worlds that make you want to see more. This is not a bad thing, and everything doesn't have to be spelled out.
As much as people like to complain or speculate that others are complaining about these strips. Penny Arcade Headquarters has detailed information on site traffic and such. And they keep doing them. So even if 90% of readers get nothing out of these deviations, it has been judged at the very worst to not hurt.
I think these comics may be harder to follow for people who "read" the pictures in a strip less. If you are person who mostly just follows the words, you will miss out on a lot of the storytelling that tends to happen in these. Which is a real difference from the normal strips.
I liked it. At the same time it was not obvious to me that this was even the same family from the first strip. The shift in art style to more realistic in this one made me think this was a separate family with their own story being woven in.
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Yeah. They just got back from putting her in the ground, and now he's desperately trying to preserve her on canvas... and it's not working.
It occurs to me that one thing that Mike didn't have to research for this, merely let himself contemplate, was: "the grief of the artist."
I think part of the "problem" is that they're too married to the three-panel strip. With Eyrewood too, it felt like a strip was always one or two panels away from gelling; unfortunately, without those panels, it often felt like the comics were being intentionally vague to cover up a certain shallowness in world building.
This strip is hella dense.
All the feels.
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
I imagine this is what 90% of the reading audience thinks (myself included):
Most people won't interrogate the comments to see interpretations/explanations, in general I suspect there's a really small core audience for these and others just roll with it until things go back to business-as-usual.
I mean this isn't a criciticism, a break from the norm isn't a bad thing. All the extra stories clearly have an audience. It's just not for me; I'm a simple soul who checks on the comics once a week and has a quick chuckle.
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Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
(I had more to say - mostly along the lines of "is it really that bad? really?" - but worried that I might get mod-smacked for it.)
I hope it's a simple case of expectation mismatch, where (most?) people come here expecting three-panels-one-gag, usually about vidya games, and not, y'know, extended narratives, with subtext and stuff. That I could understand.
And I've seen comments from several people who do "get it." That comforts me also.
Too often, there is no narrative. Only vignettes and ellipses.
I think part of it is the fact that a couple key clues aren't as explicit as they could be. And even after taking it all in, I still had to reference the first comic multiple times to be certain of my inferences. Going from Kid Grace to Teenage Grace in a single strip was a bit jarring, and the inclusion of a previously unknown sibling didn't help.
But! Now that we have the information, it's easy to see the other clues. Kinda like a magician explaining the trick, it seems obvious after the fact.
On an unrelated note, I disagree with those saying the emotional aspect lacks "punch". This is showing instead of telling, even if it is abrupt. The mom died, the dad's a wreck, and now Grace has to step up to the plate and keep the family functioning. Even if it doesn't resonate personally, it still serves as powerful character development for Grace. As a story conclusion, yes it'd be pretty weak; but I seriously doubt it ends here.
I don't understand how so many people had a difficult time following this. They were a young idyllic family that eventually expanded by one. You can tell they were happy by the facial expression and the finger paint on the door.
Here they have returned from the funeral of the mother and the father is trying to paint her, maybe just to find some solace, but the pain of the loss is too much. Grace is having to step into a parental role because her father isn't available, as of yet.
I'm anxious to see what the "spiders" are, they clearly aren't what one would normally think.
I'm a huge fan of when they stop doing Gabe and Tycho(not that I don't love them) and would not mind them doing it more often. They are really good at building worlds that make you want to see more. This is not a bad thing, and everything doesn't have to be spelled out.
I think these comics may be harder to follow for people who "read" the pictures in a strip less. If you are person who mostly just follows the words, you will miss out on a lot of the storytelling that tends to happen in these. Which is a real difference from the normal strips.
NOW THIS?
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