AgentBirdnest: Good mornoon, everyone.

New (old) game!
Any thoughts? Has anyone played it?

toxicTom: Thanks. I didn't know that... "visual novel"... pretty silly term. Comics, games, movies are all visual media.

FearfulSymmetry: Yes, that is true. What sets Maus apart from many others is its very serious subject matter.

It's a good read, I'd definitely recommend it.

toxicTom: The term is actually pretty old, (Wikipedia mentions 1964 as first appearance) and was made popular with the publishing of Eisner's "Contract with god". But it does not exclude Superheroes, since Moore's Batman and Gibbons' Watchmen also fall into the category.

I think the distinction made sense when it was created, to separate "pulp" from a more serious approach, including fiction with a classic story arc, and even non-fiction like "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art" by Scott McCloud. Even works from the 1920's have been categorized as "graphics novels" in retrospect. I think nowadays the distinction is rather arbitrary, I mean, we don't have different terms to distinguish "Knight Rider" from "Damages" or "Call of Duty" from "Ether One", they're TV series or video games, "TV novels" or "interactive novels".

j0ekerr: Ah, the "carajillo" pronounced kar-ah-hi-joh. but with brandy and none of that fancy-schmancy poofter cognac. Sure to put hair on your chest.

j0ekerr: Bande desinée?

CarrionCrow: If you want a beverage that will sprout hair while simultaneously eroding your will to live, try this festive concoction I came up with a while back -

Take half a cup of cheap egg nog, then fill the other half of it with some even cheaper pinot noir from a crappy bottom-shelf grocery store.
Wait a few minutes while the two substances battle it out. When the drink resembles a cross between half-coagulated dairy, a fresh bruise, and tentacle porn in a pit full of Jello, drink it all in one swallow.

I call it a Weeping Boil due to its appearance and the general feeling that you're literally sucking the pus from an infected wound when you drink it.
Have fun, kudos on not throwing a brick through the office window out of sheer impatience. ;)

moonshineshadow: Good morning :D
Perhaps you should coordinate with owl, since she wanted to derep me to see a rep of 1000 ;-)

j0ekerr: The Wire a visual novel?

Shakes head at the sillyness.

You are aware the term is already taken and associated with a very specific genre?

LaPtiteBete: How do you call a book like TINTIN for example ? Comics ?...

j0ekerr: The Wire a visual novel?

Shakes head at the sillyness.

You are aware the term is already taken and associated with a very specific genre?

EDIT: Now I'm thinking what the wire would have been like if filled up to the brim with japanese tropes.

LaPtiteBete: Good morning Toxic Tom !!
How do you call a book like TINTIN for example ? Comics ?...

j0ekerr: But did you light it on fire?
j0ekerr: What?! Blasphemy, 1001 is so much more symbollic.

CarrionCrow: The answer to that would be...shit. It would be total shit.

LaPtiteBete: Good morning Fearful !!

j0ekerr: Although usually not associated with the word novel. There are some jewels floating around in the cesspool of the harem, fanservice, panchira and nekkid imoutos that has become the manga industry.

Do take a look at Adolf, it's a brilliant masterpiece of storytelling. And coincidentally deals with the same time period.

When I read it, I was surprised because in spite of the cartoony, stylized and downright silly at times art style, the mastery shown by Tezuka over the narrative form made it feel unimportant. Credit where credit is due. The use of differently sized panels, backgrounds and perspective is downright brilliant.

j0ekerr: Really, or would it have been even more awesome?

Imagine if the characters in the wire called out their attacks, or if every single female character had an upskirt shot showing us their panties in all their stripped detail. And steamy-filled bathroom scenes in every episode.

And the obligatory beach episode in which all the different factions go to the beach to ogle at swimsuits in the same day, and they meet each other at the beach only to engage in hilarious hijinks?

Yeah you're right, it'd have been shit.

LaPtiteBete: Good mornoon, my favorite Agent !! :)
** Big tired hug **
How are you ?

CarrionCrow: That wouldn't be shit. That would be something so awful, the creators would need to put signs around their necks saying "I'm sorry" before they collectively hung themselves to atone for what they did.

FearfulSymmetry: Good morning Owl, how are you? :) *big post lunch and tea hug*

That seems interesting, thanks for sharing it. Good visual techniques can really change a story.