Common Tricks Comics

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about an issue that has irritated me this week, but first it requires a little context.

As part of my degree we have to do two dissertations, one which I handed in during January and another which we started this week. Or shall I say were supposed to start this week. You see, I deliberated for a while about what to do my second dissertation on, wondering what would be entertaining to write while also being a topic which I knew a fair amount about already. I finally settled on writing about comics (both printed and web) feeling that I could explore how they maintain their readership and develop storylines, characters and various other devices that contribute to the form. So I handed in my proposal last June and went about my merry way until Christmas where I began gathering various books and resources that I would need.

Then I went to my first dissertation meeting for this semester.

Apparently comics aren’t suitable for an academic dissertation and I have to do graphic novels instead.

What.

Now, this is irksome for two main reasons. One: There have been at least two dissertations in my year group that I would class as being much less academic that what I proposed. A girl in my group is writing about erotic fiction (the other type of graphic novel. Hohohohoho.) which, while I’m sure will certainly be an interesting thing to look into the history of, more power to her and everything, is not exactly what you’d consider to be the most scholarly topic. My housemate too wrote her last dissertation about fanfiction. A work of Fanfiction is seen as more academic than the in depth storylines that can be found in a comic book? You’re allowed to write about a fan’s slash perception of Iron Man and Captain America but not Iron Man and Captain America in their original forms? Really?

The other thing is that ‘graphic novel’ is a somewhat contentious term mostly used as a way to try and lift certain parts of the form away from the slightly ‘common’ reputation of comic books. Neil Gaiman, the writer of Sandman should you need reminding, has compared calling comic books graphic novels to a prostitute being informed that ‘she was not a hooker, she was in fact a lady of the evening’. And Neil Gaiman knows what he’s talking about.

If there actually is a difference between graphic novels and comic books then it is surely such a minor trait that it would make no impact on the content of a piece of academic writing written about the form as a whole? Pictures are pictures, words are words and stories are stories. Combine them all and you get a comic book. Clearly the guy that made the decision to restrict my dissertation topic to ‘graphic novels only’ didn’t do his research. And judging by how I was told this information during the week when we were supposed to start, even though I handed in the proposal months ago, suggests to me that this was a last minute decision brought about with little consideration.

I’d be tempted to write an email arguing my case, but I’m afraid that the guy wouldn’t consider it worthy of his time unless it was a full epistolary novel.

The previous part can be found here!

Part One can be found here!

Best Gameplay: Ape Escape

Ape Escape was the first game on the Playstation to require a ‘Dual Shock’ controller. FACTS. This meant that when it came out it was pretty revolutionary, and was really the forerunner for a lot of control systems today. That said, the controls were really pretty simple; the left analogue stick moved you around, while the right controlled whatever gadget you had equipped.

Gadgets! They were all designed around the analogue stick, that was pretty clear to see. But that meant that it was extremely satisfying to use pretty much all of them. My favourite was always the green propellor-type-thing that you spun around and flew into the air with a whoosh! There was also a hula hoop, or dash hoop, that let you run super fast, a stun club, that looked like a lightsabre and, well, stunned, a remote controlled car and a slingshot.

It’s still good enough to pick up now, although it has aged a little.

Gaming System of Choice: Nintendo Wii PC

I’ve had a change of heart since I wrote the first draft of this post, as you may be able to tell. While the Wii is great and all, especially on multiplayer (I’m talking specifically Smash Bros here), I couldn’t really think of any time that I really play it otherwise. Bearing this in mind, I settled for the PC as my choice for this category.

The main attraction of the PC as a gaming platform is the sheer scope of the games available for it. If you include the numerous flash games and free downloads along with more traditional releases and virtual shops like Steam, the amount of games available compared to the other platforms outnumbers them by the hundereds, if not thousands!

It is also is a great place for independant developers to try out ideas without the pressures and restrictions of mainstream companies, which neatly brings us onto the next category…

A Game Everyone Should Play: Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid! I wrote an article about this fairly soon after it’s pre-alpha became available for testing, which gives a nice out of date introduction if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

This game is pretty damn awesome, and actually got me into the genre of zombie games. It’s basically a zombie survival game that focuses on realism (or as realistic as you can get with the walking dead) with the added pinch of no prospect of survival. Seriously, the game is about how you die, and there is no way to get out of that, Sonny Jim. You might avoid starving, getting sick or simply eaten, but eventually something will end you. That something could even be as innocent as a pillow or a bowl of soup.

Since I wrote the above article- over a year ago now, yowch- it’s progressed with it’s development, and you can now save, wield a knife, push furniture, drop stuff, climb in windows, jump from windows and break your leg as well as being able to die of thirst! If that hasn’t got you interested then there’s clearly something wrong with you.

The reason I chose it for this category is pretty simple; as an indie game, the developers need as much support as possible to bring the game into fruition. This is especially relevant to the Indie Stone, as some of the events of the previous year have not been especially positive for them, what with burglaries and all sorts of nasty stuff, which I won’t go into detail here. So show some support for this little bit of undead treasure, and check out the website, HERE!