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Below are comments about the new continuity that emerged in Slow Wave January 3, 2009.
Some of these messages arrived before I posted an
explanation of what I was doing and why. Initially I feared that readers would dislike the
new format, so to document my anxiety I have included those first responses.
Date: 25 Jan 2009 From: Thomas Schrepfer I just wanted to say that I like the strip the way you're doing it now, but I liked it way better the old way. Way. Date: 26 Jan 2009 From: Kajira I love how you are trying several of the recent dreams together with the "victim or villain" theme. Date: 31 Jan 2009 From: Chris Are you doing something different with the strip? It seems to have a continuity to it that it never had before... Date: 1 Feb 2009 From: Ken Subject: Since 3 January I'm not a big fan of the "villain" and "victim" signs. I also find the change in the narrative style to have less of a comic edge. To me, it seems better when the "voice" of the strip in the voice of the dreamer. Date: 17 Feb 2009 From: Felix Subject: an opinion Stop editing the dreams so that they have continuity from the previous dream, it makes them less interesting. Why bother collecting them if you're going to change them anyway? Mildly irritated. Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 From: Michael Turniansky Subject: slow wave serial So Slow Wave is, starting in 2009, serialized (by which I mean one continuous plotline)? That sounds like an interesting idea, although it does of course become harder to tell where one person's dream leaves off and the next starts. It also sounds rather difficult to figure out how to sift through the submissions to best figure out what should come next. Are you planning to continue this throughout the whole year? (I also noticed that you have changed from a 2x2 panel format to a 1x4 format.) Former and perhaps future contributor, Mike Thanks, Mike, for your perceptive insights! I hadn't considered the danger of blurring different narrators' voices. I suppose I thought my editing would act as a unifying point of view. As for the layout, I finally accepted that web pages can now be longer than 600 pixels. The old Slow Wave format was designed to be 2x2 online and 1x4 in print. Unconstrained by the pixel-width of 1990s monitors, I've got more options for individual panel widths in the strip. —Jesse Date: 23 Feb 2009 From: Keith Setliff Subject: The old strip I liked the format of the old strip much better. It was consistently funny before, but now it's mostly just baffling (like a real dream, I suppose). Date: 19 Mar 2009 From: Michael Gigante The continuing storyline took a few weeks for me to get my head around, but I like it. Date: 12 Apr 2009 From: Kerry Dennehy Subject: new continuity in the strip You spoke of the surprising similarities in the submissions. At first I was going to ask if you considered writing out the sum total singular (without repetition) dream underneath all the submissions you received. And then, giving it a little thought, I wanted to instead ask you, do you think, having avoided repetition, that your pre-continuity Slow Wave work already represents that sum total singular dream? The possibility that that was the case reminded me of two things: first, of a dream I often have where I climb into my grandfather's attic and discover it's connected to all the other attics on the block. And second, of James Kochalka's comments to Tom Spurgeon in The Comics Reporter on the tenth anniversary of American Elf. He was talking about how his approach and format dealt with the repetition in life in a new way. He said his form could show how life had a different narrative form than the one we're used to from books and shows. It was instead a form made of "thousands of interconnected threads... starting and stopping and repeating endlessly." He goes on to say that over years "profound changes" emerge in this common but underrepresented form. That strikes me as like what you have been doing. Rereading The Comics Reporter article I see you are mentioned there, I hope that means you read it. It's a good article. Thanks again for all your work. Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Kerry. The Comics Reporter has some great articles. I have in the past considered publishing the textual submissions to Slow Wave, both those that I've drawn, and those that I haven't. But ultimately I decided that in Slow Wave I'm offering not only an illustrated version of the "collective unconsciousness," but a curated one (curated of course to my own tastes and interests). I like your recurring dream about discovering the interconnected grandpa attic. It strikes me as a metaphor for how the internet and new forms of social media provide the means to explore collaborative fiction. —Jesse Date: 17 Apr 2009 From: Maggie Korenblium Subject: a suggestion I'm a long-time online reader of your comic and I've always loved the way you capture the essential "dreamlikeness" of dreams. I'm interested in the ramifications for that of your recent switch to a more continuity-based one-strip format. I've noticed that the way you move from strip to strip is essentially in horizontal sequence, as though we are strolling down a path in a collective dream landscape. Now, it seems to me that the logical next step would be to make it a dream panorama. You could, beginning from the start of the new format, join up the strips in the archive so that it's all one long, long strip. A scroll bar would then enable the reader to flow more smoothly through the entire sequence from dream to dream. I'm not up to date on the specifics of the code, but I have seen several varieties that you could consider - from the regular scroll-bar to a simple play/stop button, perhaps with an option to increase or decrease the rolling speed. You could also insert tags into the script so that a person could still go straight to a particular comic from a list. You might be perfectly happy with the archives the way they are, and/or not have the time to implement something like this, but I thought I'd call the possibility to your attention on the off chance that it strikes you as a good idea. Thanks for your time and once again congratulations on this great comic, That's an intriguing navigation design, Maggie. Years ago I decided to forego avant garde navigation on my website, since I thought other people were doing it better (Eun-Ha Paek on Milky Elephant did some awesome scrolling comics in the late 90s), and also because Slow Wave has always been a web/print hybrid. But if newspapers do wither away, maybe I'll consider some strange navigation. —Jesse Date: 20 Apr 2009 From: Chris Subject: New Format, New Dreams I have been a fan of yours for several years now—I own a copy of Dreamtoons as well as several of your comic book format works. I read your explanation of the new Slow Wave format, and while I understand the reasoning behind it, I can't say that it's working for me so far. I'm not saying this just to be critical—I have some suggestions that I think might help: 1) Maybe instead of weaving multiple dreams into a narrative, you should do longer, multi-week narrative arcs on individual dreams. A large part of the charm of the original Slow Wave comics was their absurdist, haiku-like brevity. But given that you're moving away form that format anyway, spending more time on individual dreams might help you a) stop burning through material so fast & b) highlight the way different dreams are unique rather than similar. However, 2) If you are committed to the longer continuity concept then—and I hate to say this—it needs to be much more strongly written. As a huge fan of dreams, I have a list of writers and artists who have worked with dreams & dreamlike narratives in a way that I really admire. Your name is on the list, but some of the others include: Lewis Carroll (not just the Alice books, but even more, the obscure classic Sylvie & Bruno), director Michel Gondry (in addition to his films, also check out his music videos, particularly "Everlong" & "Bachelorette"), Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synecdoche NY), Samuel Delany (the hallucinatory Dhalgren), and Japanese author Haruki Murakami (The Wind Up Bird Chronicles). These are all people who have successfully woven dreamlike episodes into compelling longer narratives. There's also Sheri S Tepper, whose Maryanne books are masterpieces of dream logic—but sadly out of print and hard to find. And of course, Japanese animator Miyazaki. That said, a lot of what makes a longer dream narrative compelling—or even an individual dream narrative—is the way the seemingly absurd and random occurrences all reflect a larger theme that hovers below the threshold of consciousness, and that are all expressed in a dream vocabulary that is unique to the particular dreamer. I'm just not sure you can have that in a compilation of dreams from different dreamers—which is why I think spending more time on individual dreams is the best way to go. I do have a selfish motive in this advice. I have a few long dreams that I have remembered for years, that have had an impact on me in my waking life, and that I would love to see brought to life. But I can't see them working in the four panel format. Originally I was going to pitch them to you as material for a comic book or graphic novella—which I still think would be ideal. But given that you're playing around with the format of Slow Wave anyway, maybe there's a place for them there instead. Anyway, I know you didn't ask for this advice, but it's free! Let me know if you would be interested in hearing about the dreams I mentioned. Chris Thanks for your thoughts, Chris. I like many of the authors/auteurs you mentioned. That style of dreamlike fiction seems, to me, to be more fiction than dream, and generally the work of one mind. In Slow Wave I'm trying to do something that's more dream than fiction, incorporating a large number of voices. Sort of like the difference between a crafted comedic play and an improvised stand-up act...? —Jesse Date: 30 Jun 2009 From: Jade Nosbig Subject: Coloring/shading/format. Hi. I just noticed your link explaining why your comic has changed, as I normally just visit and view the comic without reading anything else (though previously I have clicked ALL links showing your artwork and enjoyed it immensely). Your site is one of the few websites I have visited regularly for years. Even here in Australia, I stumbled across someone (from America, I think) who was a fan of yours whilst pumping coins in to a hostel internet kiosk, and it was a special moment. I imagine many who visit your site feel like that; that they are one of few who can enjoy something a bit different, and somehow meaningful. I have to say, I have been disappointed with the change. Now that I have read the explanation, I understand the concept change. Though the artistic change ? The coloring, is kind of banal. The detail/shading/depth (?) is gone. Personally, I would prefer the older style along with the concept change. I am not a visual artist, so these are the only terms I can use to attempt to portray why I don't enjoy your stuff as much anymore. I have virtually never done anything like this, seriously. And I still immensely appreciate your site, and will likely visit it for many years to come. I just felt it would be dishonest not to comment, and perhaps it was dishonest to not comment whilst I was so impressed. :> . (though no news is good news ? :> ). I typed up one of my own favourite dreams, I wish I had sent it in years ago; I don't know why I never got around to it. You Rock. I appreciate your honesty, Jade! I tried out the watercolor style for a few years, and decided it was too time-consuming for the strip. (Also, some did complain that they liked the bold ink style better, believe it or not!) If it's any consolation, I am working on a 200-page graphic novel memoir called Couch Tag that's all in the shaded watercolor style. The book should be out from Fantagraphics in 2011. —Jesse Date: 22 Aug 2009 From: Kerry Dennehy Subject: continuity question I just read your newest strip. I really liked it. But it raised a question. In what you wrote about the new continuity you mentioned your concern over the repetition in dreams submitted to Slow Wave. Is the continuity being created by the incorporation of those repetitions? Hey Kerry. I'm hoping that repetition of subjects and themes aid the narrative. I didn't consider that maybe I'm turning a weakness into a strength! Thanks for the idea... —Jesse Date: 26 Oct 2009 From: Daniel Amstutz Love your artwork and the Slow Wave comic. I don't know how much I like the new format with the continuing story because I liked the four-panel enclosed dream stories so much. However, I do have the comic from May 23 2009 "Way Past My Stop" on my office wall (mainly because I live in Boston). Date: 23 Nov 2009 From: Daniel I would also like to comment on your recent decision to change the format of your comic to be one continuous narrative. "But in the past couple years many new submissions that I wanted to use sounded too similar to dreams I'd already drawn." I just wanted to know your thoughts on the concept of collective unconsciousness. It's kinda kooky but at the same time, people develop ideas on dream interpretation and the idea that there are certain symbols that reoccur in different people's dreams suggests that people aren't so separated and individual as people might like to think... I dunno what to think of that but I'd like to know your thoughts. The idea of a collective unconscious is pretty fascinating, but sometimes I find Jung's theories too mystical. I do appreciate the idea of archetypes, and I can see how those would inspire similar dreams in many people. But if there's some kind of "meta-consciousness" that's directing common dreams, I can only imagine it in the abstract. I also believe common dreams come more from persistent themes in culture and society, and not that they're hard-wired in human brains. But of course I'm no expert! —Jesse Date: 8 Feb 2010 From: Richard A. Russo I'm fascinated by the narrative continuity you've introduced into Slow Wave. Initially I expected you would base a sequence of strips on one dream, so that instead of having to distill a dream down to one strip, you could let its story line run across several strips. But you're doing something much more interesting with your hybrid of recurring characters and dreams from different dreamers. Richard, Thanks for your comments about the new format. It hasn't exactly gone as I expected—there's a number of narrative burps and transition problems—but overall it has been interesting to me, and I've had a few happy surprises. In any case, I don't think I could have kept doing Slow Wave as I was for 15 years, so it's better than nothing I suppose! —Jesse Date: 4 Dec 2009 From: Billy Subject: HUH? Are you serious? Zombies? For how many weeks in a row? You're losing me... although I know I'm just one dedicated reader, this is getting about as predictable as mainstream tv/cinema with all of the vampire stuff.... Know It'll Get Better... can't ever stop reading... Much Love From Texas Hey Billy, thanks for your feedback. I get tired of zombie stories too, but I had to admit that I received a lot of zombie dreams in the last decade, so I thought I should honor that theme in the comic. I grouped them to make the whole story flow better, but maybe you're right that it got too repetitive. Well, at least I'm done with zombies now, once and for all! —Jesse |