Interesting.
In theory, I really think this whole PSP for reading comics idea's really neat. (Honestly, I didn't even know you could do that with things like Kindle or iPhones either. I'm out of touch.)
In practice though, am I the only one who thinks the whole one-panel at a time thing sounds like it'd drive me crazy? I mean, seriously. I can't even handle books on tape because they talk so damn slow compared to how long it takes to actually read the book. One panel at a time would be like that dripping water torture!
But it's still a neat idea.
In practice though, am I the only one who thinks the whole one-panel at a time thing sounds like it'd drive me crazy? I mean, seriously. I can't even handle books on tape because they talk so damn slow compared to how long it takes to actually read the book. One panel at a time would be like that dripping water torture!
But it's still a neat idea.
posted by kalinara @ 7:49 AM
6 Comments:
At March 19, 2009 9:08 AM,
Nick said…
How damn fast do you read a book? lol.
Listen to something narrated by Neil Gaiman, it'll change your views on audiobooks.
I will agree with you on the one panel at a time issue however. A lot of my friends who can't afford comics anymore, download them and read them that way. I tried it, and after a couple comics I said screw it. When I want to read a comic I don't wanna have to work for it, I just wanna turn a page and read it. Till technology can find a better way to provide comic content to the masses it's but a nice notion for now. Trade is king now while singles die a lonely death. Course with rising prices on every issue and more ads versus actual content, maybe the single deserves to die.
Sorry for the long rant.
At March 19, 2009 10:08 AM,
Sea-of-Green said…
I've had a PSP for a couple of years now, and I love it. However, I also have some misgivings about the comic book idea.
Mr. Sea and I do have the all of the issues of Spider-Man (up to 2007) on a DVD-ROM. It's a neat thing to have, but we hardly ever look at the thing because, quite frankly, pulling up an entire page and reading it onscreen is really not a very reader-friendly way to view comics. It works for Kindle, but that's only because the Kindle is set up TO accommodate full pages.
I'm not sure the the PSP panel-at-a-time approach is something most ARTISTS will like, but it's been proven via marketing that viewing comic STRIPS a panel-at-a-time onscreen IS more reader-friendly than trying to view an entire strip. Don't know how that approach will work for an entire (much longer) comic book, though. I guess we'll find out.
At March 19, 2009 10:54 AM,
kalinara said…
Nick: I appreciate good narration, don't get me wrong. But speech just can't keep up with text, since it's inherently limited to one word at a time.
If I'm not familiar with the original book, it might work a bit better, but if I'm at all familiar with it, I'd just be endlessly chomping at the bit for them to get to the next part already. :-)
At March 19, 2009 11:44 AM,
SallyP said…
I would think that showing a single panel at a time would definetly take you out of the flow and rythm of the comic page. You would certainly miss out on all of those layouts, where there are a progression of silent reactions, not to mention that "beat" between the panels.
At March 19, 2009 3:22 PM,
The one letter wonder said…
I agree one panel at a time does seem tedious. I have been curious about comics on the kindle but, then I heard the kindle doesn't have color and lost interest (that's the same reason I don't buy the essentials/showcase books).Personally, I still think nothing beats the floppy regular comics.
At March 21, 2009 10:25 PM,
Flidget Jerome said…
You'd basically have to write the comic for the PSP for that one-panel-at-a-time thing to really work, otherwise it's going to play havok with the page-flow.
Also, those things have a ridiculously low battery life for a portable device. I've had one for over a year and I don't even use it to play games because I got tired of having to constantly charge it.
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