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Aug. 22nd, 2008 09:31 amMy coworker just walked up to me and asked, "Have you ever heard of this guy Neil - something . . . he's a writer . . ."
Becca: ". . . . Gaiman?"
Coworker: "Yeah, that's it! Tell me about him."
Becca: "Well, he's probably most famous for these graphic novels -"
Coworker: "Uh, what's a graphic novel?"
Coworker is a very nice guy, but I don't think I'm in geekland any more. :( Also, I don't know whether to be amused or chagrined (or both!) that after two weeks of work I am already pegged as That Girl Who Knows Lots About Books, Also The Walking Thesaurus. And I haven't even taken out any books at work hardly at all! I save that until I'm outside in the park for lunch break. It must just be an aura or something.
However, while I'm on the topic of graphic novels, and of being That Girl Who Talks About Books A Lot . . . I just finished reading Watchmen for the first time, and . . . wow. My thoughts on it are still sort of disconnected, so this may not be terribly coherent. I went into it knowing nothing about it but that it was Landmark and involved superheroes, and coming out, I can definitely see all that anyone ever says about it is that it's groundbreaking - there are about fifty different twists, subversions, and commentaries on the trope in there, any one of which would have made a good story in and of itself (and those are just the major plotlines). Combined, I was kind of continually in awe at the sheer density of story. There were some things I didn't like as much, but it's an - I think the right word for me is just impressive - work. ( A few more specific, some spoilerish comments. )
I am also going to put in a mention of another graphic novel series I read a while ago and haven't written up yet. When![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rushin_doll was visiting, we traded texts; I gave him The Homeward Bounders to read, and he gave me the entirety of the published Red Star saga to date. I will admit, the first book didn't actually grab me that much - the artwork was beautiful, but the epic tragedy focus was a little too much for my own taste. But I went on to the second, once the focus shifts to pseudo-magic-USSR's battle with one of its would-be-splinter nations, and there I, too, became a Red Star convert. What this series does really well, I think, is pull off an epic storyline - good vs. evil, in very absolute terms (which is kind of the utter opposite of Watchmen) - and make it still feel very close and individual and personal.
. . . unfortunately, I can't afford to buy issue-by-issue, so I'll be waiting until the next collected graphic novel comes out to find out what happens next. But I'm excited for then! . . . however many decades in the future that ends up being.
Becca: ". . . . Gaiman?"
Coworker: "Yeah, that's it! Tell me about him."
Becca: "Well, he's probably most famous for these graphic novels -"
Coworker: "Uh, what's a graphic novel?"
Coworker is a very nice guy, but I don't think I'm in geekland any more. :( Also, I don't know whether to be amused or chagrined (or both!) that after two weeks of work I am already pegged as That Girl Who Knows Lots About Books, Also The Walking Thesaurus. And I haven't even taken out any books at work hardly at all! I save that until I'm outside in the park for lunch break. It must just be an aura or something.
However, while I'm on the topic of graphic novels, and of being That Girl Who Talks About Books A Lot . . . I just finished reading Watchmen for the first time, and . . . wow. My thoughts on it are still sort of disconnected, so this may not be terribly coherent. I went into it knowing nothing about it but that it was Landmark and involved superheroes, and coming out, I can definitely see all that anyone ever says about it is that it's groundbreaking - there are about fifty different twists, subversions, and commentaries on the trope in there, any one of which would have made a good story in and of itself (and those are just the major plotlines). Combined, I was kind of continually in awe at the sheer density of story. There were some things I didn't like as much, but it's an - I think the right word for me is just impressive - work. ( A few more specific, some spoilerish comments. )
I am also going to put in a mention of another graphic novel series I read a while ago and haven't written up yet. When
rushin_doll was visiting, we traded texts; I gave him The Homeward Bounders to read, and he gave me the entirety of the published Red Star saga to date. I will admit, the first book didn't actually grab me that much - the artwork was beautiful, but the epic tragedy focus was a little too much for my own taste. But I went on to the second, once the focus shifts to pseudo-magic-USSR's battle with one of its would-be-splinter nations, and there I, too, became a Red Star convert. What this series does really well, I think, is pull off an epic storyline - good vs. evil, in very absolute terms (which is kind of the utter opposite of Watchmen) - and make it still feel very close and individual and personal. . . . unfortunately, I can't afford to buy issue-by-issue, so I'll be waiting until the next collected graphic novel comes out to find out what happens next. But I'm excited for then! . . . however many decades in the future that ends up being.
