tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879027.post1909783116905832981..comments2024-03-19T08:07:41.556-07:00Comments on Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog: Hugo Reading - Graphic StoryTeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12625983869465172976noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879027.post-6084767318540067202015-06-27T10:38:01.769-07:002015-06-27T10:38:01.769-07:00Yeah, if you aren't a regular comic book reade...Yeah, if you aren't a regular comic book reader, the decompressed storytelling style would probably grate. I felt the narrative structure was pretty standard for a story like this... but then I read mostly comic books at this point in my life and I'm only starting to get back into prose thanks to this Hugo mess.<br /><br />Thank you for the insight! It's always good to step outside my expectations and see how other people think of a work.Teganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12625983869465172976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879027.post-67149563067358111692015-06-27T09:06:56.766-07:002015-06-27T09:06:56.766-07:00Tegan,
Maybe I had a failure of expectations then...Tegan,<br /><br />Maybe I had a failure of expectations then... I knew it was about a couple who stopped time by having an orgasm. And robbed banks while they stopped time.<br /><br />I'm a fan of the Parker novels (about a master thief who does heists) and I was expecting Parker with smut and time travel. I was flicking forward going 'Where's the bank robbery? What's with all the backstory? Give me a bank robbery'. <br /><br />I agree, Volume 1 seems to be setting up for a later volume and feels disjointed. I suppose, for me, getting to the point and filling in the back story as you go along is basic storytelling technique. I had no patience with the slow start.<br /><br />There may also be a cultural difference too. I read a lot of noir crime novels and I assume that bank robberies don't need a motivation beyond 'there is money in banks'. So I got annoyed by the panel-after-panel of characters justifying why they were robbing a bank. Likewise the pages of song lyrics was unforgivably loose.<br /><br />Perhaps I was expecting too much since, as you say, many comic books suffer from decompressed storytelling...<br /><br />Thanks for this! :D I thought I was missing some important bit of narrative. It seems like I understood the story, I just didn't like the narrative structure.Vivienne Raperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03249981708035155978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879027.post-17486887570417248052015-06-27T08:42:50.708-07:002015-06-27T08:42:50.708-07:00The three in white are people like them, who can s...The three in white are people like them, who can stop time, who are worried that the bank-robbing activities will draw attention to their abilities and result in discovery. They are introduced a little abruptly, which is my main complaint with the book. It read, to me, like their backstories are being saved for a future issue.<br /><br />The two main characters robbed a bunch of banks before the one they get caught at... some of the backstory was them figuring out the best way to rob a bank. Because of the nature of the book, a narrator who jumps around in time to explain how they got to the opening scene, it does seem very disjointed at moment.<br /><br />Another bit of the "early sexual experimentation" scenes was establishing the rules of the time stoppage as well as the narrator trying to justify robbing banks.<br /><br />It's really not for everyone, and I'm actually surprised I liked it, considering the subject matter.Teganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12625983869465172976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879027.post-86145314947349203852015-06-27T08:12:42.075-07:002015-06-27T08:12:42.075-07:00Tegan,
Thanks! I got that they stopped time when ...Tegan,<br /><br />Thanks! I got that they stopped time when they orgasmed and decided to rob banks. I just felt that the middle had FAR too much backstory and most of it was of the nature of 'character has early sexual experimentation, character visits sex shops, character talks about sex'.<br /><br />The story also kept flicking back to the bank robbery so that I wasn't sure whether it was the same bank, a different bank, etc. And, as for the woman in white with the cutaway coat and the black panties, I never got where she came into it at all... She stopped them at the bank, they thought she was the sex police, but in fact she was just an ordinary mum and not a cop? It felt very incoherent and confusing. Did you understand the significance of the three people in white who stopped them in the bank? I was baffled.<br /><br />I really wanted the story to go forwards and spend less time dwelling on the couple's sexual history. Having sex and deciding to rob a bank doesn't need that much explanation... Money and lust are Human Motivation 101.Vivienne Raperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03249981708035155978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879027.post-17976021702906635612015-06-27T07:35:53.696-07:002015-06-27T07:35:53.696-07:00Um, maybe? Spoiler alert!
Spoilers!!! The method...Um, maybe? Spoiler alert!<br /><br />Spoilers!!! The method of stopping time was *ahem* *blush* having an orgasm. The backstory all establishes that then introduces the two main characters AND their motivation in becoming criminals. I actually saw very little that was irrelevant, it all led up to the action as seen in the opening pages. In my opinion, it held together very nicely. It just was... blush-worthy.<br /><br />The book does suffer a bit from decompressed storytelling. That's the modern way comic books are written, so action that maybe could have been told more concisely tends to be spread out over a few panels/pages more than is strictly necessary. But that's actually a problem with just about every comic book on the stands right now.Teganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12625983869465172976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879027.post-54494654494229917442015-06-27T03:26:44.928-07:002015-06-27T03:26:44.928-07:00Did I just completely misunderstand Sex Criminals?...Did I just completely misunderstand Sex Criminals? I'm worried I missed something. I thought the plot was buried under heaps of irrelevant backstory. I was so baffled that I planned to no-award it!Vivienne Raperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03249981708035155978noreply@blogger.com