Comics and Manga

Every Hollywood Film Seems Alike? We May Have Found Writer Zero

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save-the-cat-imageThe book Save The Cat seems to have had . . . undue influence on the writing process in Hollywood.  As in, most of it.

It’s hard to argue with the thesis of this article (especially with the checklist right there) and with the fact Hollywood films have gone awful checklist – as we’ve talked about here endlessly.  So this might be “Writer Zero” in any attempt to track the epidemiology of sameness.

I might be skeptical that one book could have an influence, but then again there’s the disturbingly believable claim that it looks like one dumb idea helped lead to our cultural-econmic-financial-business culture problems.

Serdar of course will be writing more of this on his blog, which I look forward to.  I wish I could do more than nod and go “probably” and may in the days to come.

– Steven

Amazon Enters Comic Market

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With their own imprint.

I’m actually surprised it took this long, and it sounds like they’re bringing in some heavy hitters.

I also figure it won’t take long for them to combine this with their fanfic options, CreateSpace, etc.  It’s just them entering a logical market.

Of course this also puts them in competition with a lot of others out there, especially e-comics.

– Steven

 

The Value Of Stupid Stuff

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Recently in my viewings of various anime, I came across "Oh! Edo Rocket", a show that borders on the inexplicable, as it's an anime based on a play based on a legend that is loaded with parody elements.  I vaguely described it as "Excel Saga with a continuing plot" but it's hard to explain it.

One theme touched on, especially later in the series, is that sometimes things can be inspiring but aren't necessarily "useful" or "even lasting."  Sometimes big useless, even stupid stuff is indeed a good thing.

Big, giant, useless, crazy stuff can inspire people.

Stupid blatant nutty things can shock people out of complacency.

Huge insane efforts can help you explore your limits and yourself.

It can also be fun, and we usually need more of that.

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