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We're post convention and post costume work, which means back to nerdery as usual. World War X, Mage, and even Sidereals are back on the table, while I re-engage in Persona 4. The latter in on the way to completion.
There are some spoilers, here, but I feel they're pretty oblique.
I tried a few times to review it in the past, and ended up getting bogged down in the particulars, so I guess I'll just start by saying that I read all 6 graphic novels and I enjoyed it. Reading it was quick, and the whole thing was really pretty light. I was impressed, in particular, at how O'Malley managed to create a character who was, on the face of it, pretty irritating, childish, and possessing little initial introspection and turn him into someone that, like the supporting cast, you're often irritated by but also pulling for.
That's because Scott, for all his seeming 2-dimensionality, grows and changes through the novels at just enough of a rate that you can believe that he's making a good faith effort. He's also, for all his obvious privilege, in a position that's honestly very trying for him. I don't want to compare it too much to the movie, because they're really quite different, but with 7 ex's to get through and only about 2 hours to tell a story, the movie becomes more like a kung-fu musical while the graphic novels spend a lot more time on character growth. So while Scott doesn't change too much before he 'gets it' in the flick, he comes to terms with himself and the world by degrees in the novels. In fact, while there's one major confrontation per book, they don't take up too much page count, while the rest is more like a story about a 20-something who doesn't understand himself very well, and is suddenly confronted by a reason he really needs to.
I guess what I like is that it's deceptively complex, and it treats its characters pretty fairly. Many (with some clear discrepancies) work the kind of unimpressive grunt jobs that you tend to expect people in their mid-20's to have, and they all demonstrate the kind of living conditions and lifestyle you tend to expect from people in their positions. Characters grow and change pretty dramatically over time, which not only adds to the realism but further underscores the reality of Scott's situation - that he's not the center of the universe.
So, there you have it, I guess. One of the reasons I liked the story so much is because I felt it got a lot of things right that I don't see represented in media very well, very often. When you get past the fairly sparse, manga-style, kung fu battles, it gets the messiness of relationships, how those relationships change over time, the perspective of many 20-somethings, and almost the dingy, small lifestyle-with-bright spots that this group tends to lead right. It's strange to say that, at least in my opinion, in a series of comics studded with rock bands, giant fights, media stars, and video game references, the demographic is almost un-romanticized, because it's being seen from within.
There are some spoilers, here, but I feel they're pretty oblique.
I tried a few times to review it in the past, and ended up getting bogged down in the particulars, so I guess I'll just start by saying that I read all 6 graphic novels and I enjoyed it. Reading it was quick, and the whole thing was really pretty light. I was impressed, in particular, at how O'Malley managed to create a character who was, on the face of it, pretty irritating, childish, and possessing little initial introspection and turn him into someone that, like the supporting cast, you're often irritated by but also pulling for.
That's because Scott, for all his seeming 2-dimensionality, grows and changes through the novels at just enough of a rate that you can believe that he's making a good faith effort. He's also, for all his obvious privilege, in a position that's honestly very trying for him. I don't want to compare it too much to the movie, because they're really quite different, but with 7 ex's to get through and only about 2 hours to tell a story, the movie becomes more like a kung-fu musical while the graphic novels spend a lot more time on character growth. So while Scott doesn't change too much before he 'gets it' in the flick, he comes to terms with himself and the world by degrees in the novels. In fact, while there's one major confrontation per book, they don't take up too much page count, while the rest is more like a story about a 20-something who doesn't understand himself very well, and is suddenly confronted by a reason he really needs to.
I guess what I like is that it's deceptively complex, and it treats its characters pretty fairly. Many (with some clear discrepancies) work the kind of unimpressive grunt jobs that you tend to expect people in their mid-20's to have, and they all demonstrate the kind of living conditions and lifestyle you tend to expect from people in their positions. Characters grow and change pretty dramatically over time, which not only adds to the realism but further underscores the reality of Scott's situation - that he's not the center of the universe.
So, there you have it, I guess. One of the reasons I liked the story so much is because I felt it got a lot of things right that I don't see represented in media very well, very often. When you get past the fairly sparse, manga-style, kung fu battles, it gets the messiness of relationships, how those relationships change over time, the perspective of many 20-somethings, and almost the dingy, small lifestyle-with-bright spots that this group tends to lead right. It's strange to say that, at least in my opinion, in a series of comics studded with rock bands, giant fights, media stars, and video game references, the demographic is almost un-romanticized, because it's being seen from within.
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