InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "To Eat the Chicken Cross Road"

dorksidefiker (dorksidefiker) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-07-25 11:08:00

Entry tags:

creator: jamie mckekvie, creator: kieron gillen, publisher: image comics, title: phonogram

I may have sold the soul of my firstborn for these...
One page from Phonogram #6, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKekvie that I felt HAD to be shared. I have FINALLY gotten my gubbey hands on all six issues of this story, and this needs sharing because in a work that is FILLED with awesomeness, this is one of the most beautiful pages that I could ever show that wouldn't give things away.

Now go get this book. Meanwhile, I'll be seeing who I have to sacrifice to get my hands on the new series.

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	legba 2009-07-25 06:52 pm UTC (link)
	Phonogram is indeed great. I picked up the trade and have been singing its praises to everyone I know ever since. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	endis_ni 2009-07-25 09:29 pm UTC (link)
	Rue Britannia? Quite possibly the best comic I've read for this year. You don't need to be able to follow more than one musical reference in ten to follow and enjoy what's going on, but keeping YouTube open while you read helps immeasurably. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	legba 2009-07-26 09:53 am UTC (link)
	That's the one. I ended up rereading it with YouTube on hand, because I'd only caught a few of the references before. A great read the first time was made even better by knowing the music. (Reply to this) (Parent)

(Anonymous)
2009-07-25 10:46 pm UTC (link)

I really think it is an incredibly overrated comic, the writing reminds me of the late 90s NME and is incredibly pleased with itself. The magical music angle reads like rehashed Moore & Morrison ideas and the central character in Rue Britannia is such a blatent self insertion of Kieron Gillen that he should of just written the whole thing as an autobiographical comic.

Still the art is very nice.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	statham1986 2009-07-26 09:48 am UTC (link)
	And why, praytell, shouldn't Gillen insert an approximation of himself into the books he writes? You think Morrison was doing anything different when he wrote Batman #666 and had Damien bald, very much like himself? Or Ennis, with whom every character espouses a complete and utter dislike of superheroes, much like Ennis himself? This is nothing new. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	cmdr_zoom 2009-07-26 05:09 pm UTC (link)
	Other writers behaving badly is not an excuse. Otherwise, the existence of ff.net would be a blank check for everyone and everything. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

statham1986
2009-07-26 07:51 pm UTC (link)

I don't call it writers behaving badly, though. Writers using their characters as a personal mouthpiece is nothing new, and Gillen and several other examples just do it a tad stronger than anyone else.

Also, the original comment suggested Gillen should have just made this an autobiographical book - but it basically is. Gillen has developed beyond his personal perceptions of music, it seems, in writing the Singles Club issues, but for Rue Britannia, it deals largely with Britpop and the like, which Gillen experience firsthand, therefore, self-insertion is basically necessary. I just view it as Gillen not being egotistical enough not to name the lead after himself, given that's what everyone would accuse him of, what with Kohl's saving the world and the like.

Everybody does self-insertion, to some degree. Ben Grimm reflects Jack Kirby, and there's dozens of other examples.

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	psychop_rex 2009-07-26 05:00 am UTC (link)
	Mystical mods? I coulda gone with it if it would have stayed that way - but as it is, I don't get any - ANY - of the musical references, and without those, the point is lost. (Now, if someone writes a series centered around obscure Celtic music, I'm there.) (Reply to this) (Thread)

statham1986
2009-07-26 09:52 am UTC (link)

I didn't get many of the references, either, but it's inspired me to go out and get some of this music, to see what the characters are talking about. And I think, to a degree, the fact that you don't get the references might not matter, so long as you understand the passion a particular character has for their chosen tunes, or the disdain they feel toward some particular songs, like how Emily Aster describes the Manics, cruelly, as a 'training bra', I think, and displays a total loathing of anyone willing to die for their music.

So I'd disagree that the point is lost, but it is perhaps a little more difficult to understand. The glossary they printed in the back of the trade was a massive help to me.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

psychop_rex
2009-07-26 09:23 pm UTC (link)

Well, but see, I DON'T get that; I mean, I have a completely different relationship with music than that. I like music fine - some of it I even love - but I'm not PASSIONATE about it like some people are. If you asked me to tell you my favorite band, I really don't think I could answer - and from what I've gathered, this comic is about people who ARE passionate about their music, who could get into fistfights and screaming matches over a minute detail. If I were there, I'd be off in a corner going 'these people are crazy'. It strikes me as a Type A comic for Type A people, and I'm Type B or C.

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