FCBD 2008

Dotty · Post by **Dotty** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 3:56 pm

What's the Comic Genesis catchline? New Worlds, New Dreams?

Why not use that for the theme, since it has relevance to Comic Genesis?

Komiyan · Post by **Komiyan** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 4:10 pm

The theme barely matters, it's just to get you thinking. You guys may want to start thinking up stories instead of alternate themes..

Shishio · Post by **Shishio** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 4:22 pm

I THOUGHT WE TOLD YOU YOU DON'T GET TO TALK ABOUT CG ANYMORE.

Komiyan · Post by **Komiyan** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 4:56 pm

I'm not Komiyan, I'm Koniyan, it says so right above my picture over there- *flees*

Shishio · Post by **Shishio** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 5:12 pm

*Leads a mob carrying torches and pitchforks in pursuit*

Perk_daddy · Post by **Perk_daddy** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:07 pm

Turnsky wrote:we have a set number of themes, we pick the best one, we go with whichever's the most popular, then we can shut up about the themes, and get onto the actual business of making pages.

Amen.

If anyone else listened to this week's Webcomics Weekly podcast (yeah, I know I'll get crap for posting that), they were discussing anthology comics such as what we're trying to put together, and how stupid things get picked as themes (the example they used was "Butter", and I thought "Heh, like Water"). People will pick up the book and wonder what the heck Water has to do with ComicGenesis.

I heartily recommend Dotty's suggestion of using CG's catchline "New World's, New Dreams" as the theme and the comics will have something to do with each other that isn't so arbitrary.

Either way, if we keep arguing nothing's gonna get done, so just do another thread with a poll so we can vote on it, already!

LibertyCabbage · Post by **LibertyCabbage** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:53 pm

perk_daddy wrote: People will pick up the book and wonder what the heck Water has to do with ComicGenesis.

No, they'll think, "These guys were able to put together a coherent and unified anthology. They're organized and competent." Water doesn't represent Comic Genesis, but it creates a favorable impression. If the goal was to accurately represent Comic Genesis then I would suggest the book be made up of sprite comics and MSPaint orc porn, but that's just not appealing. Also, Comic Genesis doesn't have any inherent substance -- its value is derived from a collection of thousands of different comics that evade being grouped together under one label. So, trying to represent such a wide variety of content with a single theme is futile anyways.

I heartily recommend Dotty's suggestion of using CG's catchline "New World's, New Dreams" as the theme and the comics will have something to do with each other that isn't so arbitrary.

The problem with this theme is that it's so vague and unrestrictive that it won't help develop the anthology into being a coherent and unified work, and so it won't help present Comic Genesis as being competent and organized. Almost every story imaginable is based around some sort of new experience or deviation from the ordinary, and "worlds" and "dreams" are both such blurry concepts that I think you could make a case for anything being relevant to the theme. I haven't gotten a hold of a copy of the 2007 sampler, but I bet that every entry in it could be related to this theme in some way, even just in the sense that every comic embodies an imaginary world as interpreted by the audience. Or, what if dreaming is considered a creative act and hence since comics are a conscious creative act they could be considered to be a "new dream"?

Water is a good theme because it's restrictive enough that the content will appear unified but it's flexible enough that the content won't be too homogenous.

Komiyan · Post by **Komiyan** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 3:11 am

I agree with everything LC just said.

(the example they used was "Butter", and I thought "Heh, like Water")

You don't honestly think there are as many 'butter' concepts as there are 'water' concepts, do you?

Perk_daddy · Post by **Perk_daddy** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:32 am

No, I don't, I just think they both sound like ideas that were pulled out of someone's butt and don't make sense. All in all, I'm fine with whatever theme gets chosen and am willing to make it work.

(EDIT): And on further reflection, maybe it's not so bad after all. A lot of classic artwork has used the four elements as its theme. We may have built-in themes of fire, earth, and air for the next few years, too.

Let's just do this thing. I'm excited to get to work.

That guy · Post by **That guy** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:48 am

Hold it... (breathes) Okay...

BE LIKE WATER.

1) 'Water' is not a literary theme. It's not. I have a degree in English and studied literature and writing extensively for four years. It's not. In literature, a theme is conceptual, not just any old noun. It's an underlying idea, moral, or concept which you can explore and reflect upon.

2) Artistically speaking, water is a legitimate theme. You can have a gallery of water-themed paintings, a water-themed hotel room, etc.

3) Due to its significant written element, a comic book is literature, whether you care more about the art or the writing. Ours will be collected short stories/jokes, not just images. So, it's not a theme, but it can be a perfectly decent motif.

As one of the strongest opponents of the decision, I stand down. I will be like water, which, the more I think of it, is a decent theme for a collection of comicgenesis comics.

BE LIKE WATER -Bruce Lee
The quote refers to being adaptable and fluid and not letting difficulty stop you. An army would be greatly slowed if it had to hack through a bamboo forest, but a stream of water adapts and moves smoothly and nonviolently past the bamboo. Also, 'BE LIKE WATER' plays with the concept of being dynamic. A stream is always moving, changing, and never really the same.
Not bad for Comic Genesis.

WATER is our...

theme. Let's do this.

Kaloo · Post by **Kaloo** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:52 am

So, we do like a like 1 page comic to some theme?(water for now)
That sounds like something I could do a good job of. I'll have to come up with an idea.

Komiyan · Post by **Komiyan** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 8:07 am

Poor thatguy.. big long post about how water isn't a theme, perse, and the very next post?

theme

Kaloo- I think the idea was to do more than one page.. like 5 or so, right?

Spqrblues · Post by **Spqrblues** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 8:35 am

All these plans almost make me want to bring my comic back to CG so I can do something on the not-a-theme of water. But I love my new little URL. If somehow you can bring the price of the sampler/antho down and make it appeal to the bottom-line of comic shop owners ("get free comics today, come back tomorrow and buy"), I think a unified antho on any noun/adjective/adverb/gerund will show that CG isn't just the punchline to some sort of webcomics joke.

I'll suggest once more that a cover that encourages readers to go to shops and buy might have appeal to the people whose eyes you really need to catch--not the readers getting their bags of swag on the day, but the owners deciding what swag will be on offer. To get more shop owners interested in carrying the book than ones who already have a soft spot for the web and a fondness for the homegrown.

Disclaimer: I was a classics and astrophysics major. If it isn't about ancient astronauts building the pyramids while dictating to Homer, I dunno from all that nouns and themes stuff.

Robin Pierce · Post by **Robin Pierce** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:49 am

I'm locking this thread for the time being, because it's just going around in circles.

I'll open a new thread when we have the rules/roles/final theme sorted out. We will then give a date by which we want submissions.
See you then!

PS: Spqrblues - you know you can have a domain name connected with a CG account right?