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Jan. 16th, 2008 10:50 amQuick note to comic book people.; I finally figured out exactly why I didn't like Phonogram.
I was told, repeatedly, "If you love music and love comics, you'll REALLY love Phonogram."
It was like somebody who's never touched a comic before being told, after watching the first X-Men movie, that you would like comics so go ahead and start reading Uncanny X-Men with #281*.
Too much continuity. Too much assumption that the reader has not just a basic but a very detailed knowledge of Britpop.
I had an average knowledge of Britpop and felt lost. Endnotes don't help if the basic concept all but requires you to have in-depth knowledge as you're reading it. If you don't have that, you're just skimming along until Kieron tells you what the hell he was talking about after you're done reading.
I can recognize that it really was a great book, but it was a niche book. As I once told![[info]](https://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
mythworker, I think that a lot of reviewers gushed about it based on the fact that they could tell it was fantastically done even though they didn't know over half of the references. I mean, who wants to admit that they weren't cool enough to get it?
b
* The first comic where a young benjamin got a letter printed.
I was told, repeatedly, "If you love music and love comics, you'll REALLY love Phonogram."
It was like somebody who's never touched a comic before being told, after watching the first X-Men movie, that you would like comics so go ahead and start reading Uncanny X-Men with #281*.
Too much continuity. Too much assumption that the reader has not just a basic but a very detailed knowledge of Britpop.
I had an average knowledge of Britpop and felt lost. Endnotes don't help if the basic concept all but requires you to have in-depth knowledge as you're reading it. If you don't have that, you're just skimming along until Kieron tells you what the hell he was talking about after you're done reading.
I can recognize that it really was a great book, but it was a niche book. As I once told
mythworker, I think that a lot of reviewers gushed about it based on the fact that they could tell it was fantastically done even though they didn't know over half of the references. I mean, who wants to admit that they weren't cool enough to get it?b
* The first comic where a young benjamin got a letter printed.
