Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Book worm

I'm looking at the new Scary Go Round collection and trying to decide (well, I have decided) whether to leave out the Christmas Island story (and the little two week appendage with Shelley and Shelby in New York). It's substantially weaker material than what would replace it (the Carrot story currently running) but is there anything that wouldn't make sense if I take it out? I'll probably have to patch up a couple of holes in the plot but I often spot them too late. I throw this question open to you...



...the audience.

26 comments:

Rob Turner said...

leave it in,as it brings the whole "shelly'll be back in six months" into context,which made it so good when she came back, i didn't expect it at all.

clickie said...

Leave it in, because I love Malcolm Gladwell almost as much as Shelley does.

Paul said...

Leave it in, because "TOP HATS AND MONOCLES! THAT'S WHAT I LIKE" amuses me to no fixed end.

Unknown said...

thirded! I loved the pairing of Shelley and Shelby, and the entire storyline is worth reading for the Malcolm Gladwell cameo alone!

Also Blogger allows Open ID now...

Unknown said...

Dude, I've been reading your webcomic for like, five years now?

Maybe this is just my impression and I have been huffing too many industrial cleaning chemicals, but I have lost track of all the plot holes. You seem to just reboot continuity whenever you feel like, and you leave characters just sort of hanging there. This is the distinct impression left in my memory.

It's okay because you make up for it with witticisms.

Also, the Shelley/Shelby storyline was a gem.

John A said...

Phill, there aren't any plot holes, my plots are rock solid and water tight. People think their are plot holes sometimes because they refuse to acknowledge that personal outcomes can be unsatisfactory. Ha ha!

The answers on this thread are giving me a clue as to what I should do, keep em coming.

evaristo said...

I say keep those pages, they were (are) enjoyable and will help critics from the future to study your mental and physical conditions at the time.
Unless of course you plan to do the opposite of what the audience suggests, in which case please remove them.

Jon said...

Any time we get to see Shelley's approach to life is a time that should be preserved is what I say.

sleek said...

I'd say leave it in.

I got the last collection, and a couple moments I thought were weak in the day-to-day reading came across really nicely...

Those being the *abrupt* ending to "Super Crisis", which I thought played poorly originally, but loved in the book, and the bit where Crowley and Erin had their denouement in hell, which I thought was juat a mean-spirited way to dispose of a hated character in the day-to-day, but came across as unexpectedly poigniant in the book...

...plus I just like seeing the fabiouloius gals running around wiv pervy ol' santa!

felix said...

Leave it in - if I want to buy the collection of your new works, I want to buy all of them. The part you consider weaker is a small part of the whole, so I think the quality concerns are outweighed by just liking having a complete set.

Don't start cutting out bad stuff until you get to Best Ofs (which I personally hate).

The Lake Fever said...

I'm an enabler. I think you should do whatever it is that you want to do. (But not a suck-up! Just an enabler.)

Nicole said...

I love that storyline. I love top hats and monocles so much. It's one of those things that consistently makes me giggle when I think of it, and makes me seem stupid when I try to explain to someone why I just started laughing.

Nicole Robitaille said...

o please leave it in! only because i would be so sad if i got the book and that whole part was missing. i loved it.

Snath said...

Hey, I like the Carrot story, and your 'zine week was brilliant (I just really liked the use of the "real people" versions of the characters)!

fontgoddess said...

I also tend to be a completist. I would like your book to include all of the material, and then have Carrot's story lead off the next collection. I like all what you've done. Your work is consistently entertaining, amusing, and quotable. But it's nice to know you do strive for quality, rather than accepting mediocrity or doing something that bores you.

V^e said...

Leave it in. The plot may be weak, but the dialog is always funny and the artwork for those sections was gorgeous!

wfflprince said...

Christmas Island was one of my favorites! I hope you leave it all in.

Unknown said...

If you remove it now, I'll know what I'm missing when I buy it from you. Also, you don't look fat and those shoes fit that dress perfectly.

Zalarus said...

"TOP HATS AND MONOCLES! THAT'S WHAT I LIKE"
That line made my day when I heard it. Leave it in, if you will.

Old-Red-Dog said...

Would it make any difference if I said leave it in? ;)

Sparkles F said...

Aw, so leave it in then. I love Shelby! She's almost as loud and rude as I am.

Drew the Falconeer said...

We want it all (well I do). Weaker or not. And I don't even think it IS weaker, actually.

Unknown said...

Another vote for leaving it in - the Shelley/Shelby team-up was ace.

Aslo MALCOM GLADWELL.

Joe B said...

The Christmas Island story was excellent. Many wonderful things there. Moon hitting Desmond in the ear to make ink squirt-- no one goes up the mountain because of the curse-- Shelby compliments Shelley: it's what I would write if I thought electricity was witchcraft-- the Conde Nast assistant going eenie meenie between the award winning writer and the unlikely listing of a Tackleford Courant stringer-- Shelley to Amy: I'm silly but I'm not stupid-- come on, this is great stuff that needs to be preserved for all eternity on paper. And that was all from memory. Plot? Who cares? Don't worry about it.

andré said...

Anyone with OCD is going to be very angry if you leave that Christmas story out! Not that you should be specifically pandering to that market.

allenellisdewitt said...

another crazy fan's vote for leaving it in! I like that i can have the whole of Scary Go Round to read, even after the fall of civilization, and to lose *sniff* even a small part *sniff* would be Horr-ib-lay.