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Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7494
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 6:25am | IP Logged | 1
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Oh boy. Getting the feeling that Kitty and Peter's walk in the woods did NOT go as they'd hoped....
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L Hunt
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 November 2020
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 159
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 6:26am | IP Logged | 2
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And another great page. Love the detail of the final panel seeing the characters react - Mac protecting Heather, Michael reaching for his pouch etc.
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Darren Ashmore
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 951
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 6:29am | IP Logged | 3
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After the more 'laid back', almost, dare I say it?,
decompression of issue #25, this one fairly barrels along.
Today's page transits from the Logan plot to the demon plot
so effortlessly, in a half dozen panels. Superior work,
lesser talents would take half an issue to accomplish what
happened in one page.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132386
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 6:37am | IP Logged | 4
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The whole "decompression" mentality springs from lazy writing. After all, it's so much easier to fill pages if we must see EVERYTHING. If Joe Shmoe is sitting in his living room and decides he needs to take a quick jaunt down to City Hall, we must see him get out of his chair, cross to the door, go out the door, cross to his car, open the car door, get into the car (possibly fumbling with the keys), pull out of the driveway…My approach would be to show him in his living room, thinking he needs to go to City Hall, with the next panel showing him arriving there. (There are various depths even to that. Do we show Joe's car pulling up in front of City Hall, or do we show Joe entering the pertinent office with a "Later, at City Hall…" caption. There is much than can be safely left to the reader's imagination.)
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Jean-Michel Walker
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 August 2016
Location: United States
Posts: 5
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 6:39am | IP Logged | 5
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Oh Man! Like the days of old of the X-Men, but better!During Mr. Byrne's original tenure on the X-Men, there were hints dropped here and there of future character developments or plot lines that, from my perspective, were often left dangling or went in awkward directions . None of that here in ELSEWHEN. Everything has it's payday, appropriately, and then some!
I'm at work early and fortunately, alone in the office, so no is hearing me cheer out loud... like comics used to do.
Thanks JB.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 6:42am | IP Logged | 6
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During Mr. Byrne's original tenure on the X-Men, there were hints dropped here and there of future character developments or plot lines that, from my perspective, were often left dangling or went in awkward directions .•• Chris is/was notorious for his dangling subplots. It was most frustrating working with him, as he'd often toss in a caption or line of dialog that had nothing to do with the scene we were in, but suggested something going on elsewhere. Something we'd often not see resolved for years, if at all. I have several subplots dangling at the moment, but I also have a slip of paper on the drawing board to remind me what they are!
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John Northey
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 June 2020
Location: Canada
Posts: 199
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 6:58am | IP Logged | 7
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Heh. I remember reading X-Men back then and wondering about the 1001 subplots that were there and often seemed lost or forgotten, and then years later some old fan who couldn't let them go would become a writer and do something with it. Sometimes good, sometimes not. Of course, as a Legion fan the infamous v4 (where old fans took over writing) saw tons of those old things from the 60's used for plots that some of us loved, and some hated. In general probably best if a subplot has dangled for a decade+ that you just forget it ever happened. Or do like JB did here with Peter's leg - stepping in and 'fixing' it by deciding it never happened.
I am happy to see JB is enjoying doing this and glad he has the financial security (I assume) to be able to dedicate this much time to a project for no profit (at least none we fans can see - don't pretend to know if there are other ways to get money than I know of). Hopefully some of the $100 it cost me for that AF Omnibus went to JB - probably not much, but hopefully some. Have a stack of those massive volumes now (FF Omni, MU by JB, etc.) which are nice to have and I hope DC & Marvel both send some cash to him when we fanboys buy them.
Looking forward to the many subplots here being resolved in less than a decade (I hope).
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Darren Ashmore
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 951
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 7:11am | IP Logged | 8
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JB (There are various depths even to that. Do we show Joe's
car pulling up in front of City Hall, or do we show Joe
entering the pertinent office with a "Later, at City Hall…"
caption. There is much than can be safely left to the
reader's imagination.)
.............
I suppose a lot of that goes back to the shorter stories of
the 50s and 60s where a lot of story had to be fit into
eight pages. Anyone brought up reading those earlier comics
would be used to the quick transitions and filling in the
blanks for yourself. Certainly I'm not a fan of the
talking heads style of storytelling.
Edited by Darren Ashmore on 13 September 2021 at 7:13am
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Steven Queen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 February 2020
Location: United States
Posts: 893
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 7:21am | IP Logged | 9
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What JB says about tight scripting and pacing is just good storytelling. In many ways, Hollywood has forgotten it too.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132386
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 7:25am | IP Logged | 10
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William Goldman maintained that every story, and every scene, should be started as deep into the "action" as possible. I was delighted to learn this, since it was what I had been doing all along.(I suppose I was in some way trained by those short stories Darren mentions. I recall one Superman story in which he has to retrieve an artifact from Mars, and that sequence ran TWO PANELS. 1, he realizes he needs the thing; 2, he's RETURNING from Mars!)
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Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2004
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Posts: 7494
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 7:52am | IP Logged | 11
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You just know some writer these days would look at those two panels and think, "What a waste! That guy could have gotten two or three issues out of that trip to Mars, easy!"
And there wouldn't have been any more "story" to it than... Superman went to Mars, got the thing he needed, and came back to Earth.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 13 September 2021 at 8:00am | IP Logged | 12
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Sad thing is, a lot of readers have been trained to expect this “decompressed” style. If they don’t get a full page of someone falling out of bed, they feel short changed. Somehow, paying for six issues to get a “story” that could have been told in one (or less) doesn’t leave them feeling as if their pockets have been picked.
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