Posting from the road, in a hotel in Edmonton, excited for the comic con tomorrow, the panel on Let's Play videos I'll be co-presenting, and getting my hands on some issues to fill in my spaces.
There are, in the annals of literature, those writers who are considered to be the epitome of particular forms. In the case of the short story, names like Edgar Allen Poe, Raymond Carver, Jorge Luis Borges are lauded as being amongst those writers who understand the short story form in the most sublime of ways. I think we can make the argument that, in the case of comics, Bruce Jones is a master of the short-form sequential story. Short stories are, more often than not, moments in a life, where novels and other long form works are, again more often than not, lives in and of themselves. The short story narrates moments rather than series of moments. Jones' stories do this in such perfect, succinct form, building entire worlds and back stories but telling pointed and brilliant little tales in the space of 6 or 7 pages. He's assisted by this amazing array of artists, of whom the standout in this issue is Scott Hampton, with a story about dolphins that would make Douglas Adams proud. I feel like if I just wax lyrical about this comic, it will come off as disingenuous, and certainly less than critically rigorous, but Jones' scripts and the artists who collaborate on them are all just great. If you're looking for a series that perfects the short, sequential science fiction story, this is the one.
While I'd love to post tomorrow about another issue of this comic (and I might, if I can find the ones I'm looking for at the con), I only brought the single issue with me. I'll blog one of my finds from the reams at the convention tomorrow. See you then!
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