I usually think analytically about things. I like to examine the nuts and bolts of how things work and what makes them do what they do. With these motives in mind, when I’ve been posting my comics up above, I’d post them with a written description of the comic and what I thought the joke was, or what I was trying to express. I’d also encourage people to give objective critiques of the comics, so to better help me figure out how they’re being received.
These practices have sparked some debate. (not just there, this has been discussed before too.) It’s theorized, that some people don’t want to know what I was attempting to do, or what went into the comic. Some people would rather just read the comic and experience it for themselves. To be perfectly honest, I think this is a valid argument. This leaves me with a bit of a quandary though. I’m not sure how to proceed. (I mean, I’m going to do whatever I want, because it’s my site, but what do I want?)
The way I see it, I can either continue posting descriptions of what I was trying to accomplish, and “put the machinery on display” so to speak, or I could back off, and let the comics speak for themselves.
This is tricky. I’m wondering if I couldn’t split the difference? Could I post my strips with a very brief related post, then link to a different post where people could read more? I could post more detail oriented blogs in the news section, (which I’d rename) where I could go into further nerdy detail about what I was thinking about making the strip, and discuss techniques I use and that sort of thing. But should I segregate the ‘Scott McCloud-esque’ discussions?
Or is that too complicated? Am I over-thinking this?
Split the difference. I would love more in-depth, detail-oriented blogs. Nerd it up. Please.
2 things.
1. You should read Dante’s _Vita Nuova_, in which he does pretty much exactly what you’re talking about. He presents a cryptic poem, and then follows it up with a little commentary. It’s very strange, but it might make you feel like you’re in good company (I have yet to read any scholarly commentary that ran along the lines of “crap, man, I wish that Dante would just shut up with all of this commentary!).
2. What kind of dork would complain about the presence of something that they’re not interested in? It’s not like you’re forcing people to read the commentary just because you put it there. I personally have zero interest in what you were trying to do with each comic, though I like the comics themselves… Sooooooo I just don’t read the commentary.
So what I’m about to say is totally self contradictory; keep doing whatever the heck you want, and give the uninterested a chance to practice their discerning reading skills.
T
I love hearing what you have to say about the comic and it definitely makes reading it all the better for me. In hearing what you have to say about the comic it gives me a better idea of what you were trying to communicate and where the comic might go in the future, which I think is great. Also agreeing with Toby, anyone who doesn’t want to read it doesn’t have to.
@ bug: I’m going to split the difference. I think it’ll be a better way for me to go into even greater nerd-riffic detail, but it also might be interesting because I’ll be able to avoid explaining the joke in the main post and coloring people’s opinions of what it’s about.
@ Toby: Thanks for the feedback! I always end up doing whatever I want, but I like these discussions, because it gives me ideas and helps me consider things I might not have otherwise thought of.
@ Rob: Thanks Rob. I like the commentary, but I do completely understand that some people might not be wild about it in the main post section. I think if I divide the commentary from the main strip (with a link), it could actually make things more interesting because people could comment with their impressions of strip without reading the extra commentary, and it might provide even more discussion material. I’m certainly not going to stop the commentary, but I think I really like the idea of separating it, somewhat similar to bonus material on a DVD.
I like the idea of multiple post sections. The more discussions the better.
Jim: FYI i was playing with my Wii last night (no jokes needed), and I decided to use the web browser to check out your strip. It looks really good on a 46″ DLP. No offense, but TPOM’s colors just jump more. IT’S THE MIRRORS!
One thing I forgot to mention, which is definitely relevant; I currently read JP&TM through RSS, and I really enjoy being able to read your commentary right there in the feed. If I had to click outside of the webpage though I don’t know if I would read it.
I’m starting to think you guys just want to make this difficult for me.
You won’t have to click out of the webpage Rob. The way this comicpress theme works, is that blogs get posted in two separate areas, the comics are posted at the top with an accompanying blog, and then the regular blogs like this get posted down below in what is currently the news section. What I would do, is post this part first, then the comic, that way as long as your feed reader posts the newest feeds first, you would see the comic and right below that you’d see the post with explanation.