Is four walls and bare floorboards. Haven’t been raped and killed yet. It can only be time.

Our house has hot water, the electric internets and… oh, that’ll do, yeah?

I think I was florrid enough last time, yeah?

Adios city of White.

I was there this weekend. I probably should have mentioned I was there, yeah? Man, I’m going to have to sort out this blog.

(And I will - Jamie starts on PG2 in a couple of weeks, so the proper hyper machine will start GRINDING ITS TEETH. And there’s a couple of other projects I’m going to end up speaking about too.)

Also, Jamie McKelvie’s Suburban Glamour trade came out last week, and I urge you to go and buy it. Here’s a positive review to give you a taste.

And as I finish issue 4, I’m left with 7 complete scripts. Not finished article, but a something. If I was struck by a crashing helicopter when I went out to get milk tomorrow, McKelvie would be able to draw it. It’d be full of plot holes, and people would be wondering how someone could go to the toilet, immediately leave, and then it’s six songs later for everyone else, but… it’s a structure. I can see the errors, and fix them with surprisingly little problems. The general thing now is basic bog standard polish. Jokes made funnier (or even just funny). Theory pointed. Panels made sure they only actually have one action in. Not having an extra two pages in Issue 5.

That kind of thing.

I’m going to end up saying a lot more about this clearly, both boring you in the months ahead as I’m polish it off and in the interviews and - oh, lord help us - the backmatter, but… it’s just a very different beast. Generally speaking, it’s lighter in tone - there’s two episodes which are primarily comedy, which is something you wouldn’t have seen in series one. But conversely, there’s two episodes which will have the sort of people who called Suburban Glamour Emo in all seriousness probably arranging a lynch mob. But since I’ve been expecting them, I’ve laid critical claymores so they can blow themselves up.

Generally speaking, I think individual stories are easier to follow - the structure means that each one stands alone, and all the relevant pieces are to hand. It’s possible that someone may not get the point of the story, or why the denouements should resonate but they won’t be actively lost. Equally, in terms of the content, while it’s working in the slice-of-life mode - so we lack the big archetypal quest structure which we hung Rue Britannia’s Philosophy off - the scale of the issues I’m illustrating is a little more accessible. The ideas you get into a sixteen page story is a different thing than you get from a 142-page sequence.

(Though the higher level connectivity between stories is a different thing completely, and much more complicated than Britannia… however, its complexity is more formal and emotional and - I hope - universal that people who make the effort are going to be able to put it together and not be completely bewildered.)

I dunno: I suspect I’ll feel differently when I’ve taken it apart. The issue I considered weakest, when I went back to it a few weeks later I reconsidered as probably the strongest.

We’ll see. Seven issues in file. A couple of weeks before McKitten starts work on the first - probably doing a promo thing first, before diving in. And then there’s the issue of the ridiculously complicated B-side thing I’ve made for myself, which I know is going to break my heart.

But… well, my second big hefty fucking comic story finished, in a minor way. I have to be pleased, and I dance to the Sugababes while stealing whiskey.

As always, I’ll worry about my worries in the morning.

I draw your attention to comrade Alex De Campi’s entry in the current aniBoom In Rainbows competition.

I draw your attention, because you should vote for it.

Because:
i) It’s splendid.
ii) I have commanded it so.

Remember the lesson that Orwell wrote into 1984: It’s pointless to resist.

OBEY.

“The challenge, laid down by the University Of Michigan, was to write a book that in some way encapsulated and extended what I did with my essay on Korean gaming culture, published in 2006. I jumped at the chance, and begun to throw down ideas about what I wanted to do. The things that came up were all similar to that Korea piece: the interactions I’d had with gamers and the various exploits of gamers that I had spent so much time reporting on in the past few years. This was what interested me: gaming as part of life – my life and the lives other others.”

Jim finally gets around to talking properly about his book on RPS. I urge you to go and read the thing and then order the bloody thing, as the man owes me money for internet bills and if this doesn’t sell I’m never going to see it again.

Also, it’s somewhat splendid.

It’s available to preorder from the UK here and the US here

So, I crack open a Reef of all things, put on Abba and start proper scripting issue 4 of PG2. The last one.

A line from my notes: I don’t know if this comic will be good. But it will be clever.

Here I go again.

They bring to mind the idea of what pop music would have been like in a Third Reich who won more than any band since Steps.

Has anyone seen any noted writer on games - as in, has written something genuinely insightful and become known for that - actually taken the “It’s okay” position?

I can’t think of anyone. If anyone’s seen anyone do so, I’d appreciate them pointing me in the direction. While it’s proved divisive amongst gamers, media critics are kind of all in agreement (Bill Harris does probably the most complete take, and takes his time to show his working. Worth reading).

I’m wondering why - is it just because we’re all mind-washed drones or is it because we kind of look at things harder or is it because we’re more of aware of the history of such things or… what?

(And, yeah, I know including myself in any category called “Noted writer on games” is wanky beyond belief. But you know what I mean. Pretend I wasn’t including myself if you like.)

(And, as a further edit before someone goes for it, this isn’t me saying that the arguments of people who think it okay are automatically rubbish. There’s been some people pushing thoughtful stuff amongst the “It’s only a game!”, “So it was okay to kill Spaniards!” and “Only racist people see racism” cards. Just no-one with a rep, y’know…)

The Marvel solicits for July have gone up at newsarama, revealing amongst many other pieces of fine comic product, the following item…

newuniversal: 1959
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Penciled by GREG SCOTT
Cover by BRANDON PETERSON
This is a story about killing the future. 1959 is the dawn of the new age of superheroics—the so-called “Fireworks” have granted superhuman powers to three Americans, and set the world on a collision-course with destiny. But it’s a destiny Philip Voight must prevent at any cost. The first newuniversal one-shot expands the mythos of this world, thanks to writer KIERON GILLEN (Phonogram), hand-picked by newuniversal’s Warren Ellis, and the brilliant art of GREG SCOTT shows us the world, like it never was…in 1959.
48 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99

*******

Which is lovely.

I’ll be saying more about this at a later. If you’re not aware, newuniversal is Warren’s reboot of an old 1980s property. It’s in the serious approach at Superheroes subgenre - if you’re not a comics reader, the most obvious reference would be Heroes. In other words, no costumes, no wackiness, real emotional reactions to the unreal, real stakes, real decapitations (It’s got that Parental Advisory sticker for a reason). It’s one of my favourite current comics in the genre, so it’s been amusing going and adding my own spin on a little corner of it. And it’s a novel experience getting money for writing comics too.

If you want to order it, you can ask your friendly neighbourhood comics chap to do so. If you haven’t actually read any newuniversal, the first six issues are currently available in a trade, and the second series is just underway if you want to join. If you just want to buy it, however, it’s actually a self-contained thing. And… oh, that’s enough for now. I’ll be rabbling about it soon enough.

People have been asked what it’s like being hand-picked. It’s not quite as sticky as you’d expect.