Friday Free-For-All
Yes, I know
everyone
else
linked
to this
Fortune
magazine profile on Tokyopop's Stuart Levy long ago, but this part
really jumped out at me:
During production, every piece of information about the
books is on an online database that allows employees in Tokyo and the
U.S. to get instantaneously updated information about anything, from
how far along the translation is to whether the graphics have been
scanned.
As someone who works in QA, I found this fascinating. I wonder if
other comic publishers have anything similar to this?
For some reason, I
highly doubt it. Sounds like Tokyopop is running a really smart,
streamlined operation.
Zombies!! Finally got around to reading
The Walking Dead,
thanks to Image's smart decision to collect the first six issues
quickly in an
inexpensive
trade. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There were
a couple spots where characterization or dialogue didn't ring true for
me (mostly with Shane, Rick's fellow cop buddy), but then again I've
never been involved in a massive zombie infestation, so who knows how
people would really react in such a situation. (I probably also
tend to over-estimate how rational people are. I blame my years
as a philosophy major where we were directed again and again to
consider what "an ideally rational agent" would do.) Reflecting
on the Grotesque Rampage "
What
is Horror?" thread, I would definitely consider
Walking Dead
an example of the genre. I guess my definition of horror
would tend to be results-oriented, much like Mr. Maxwell's:
Horror is that which which attempts to elicit fear or dread in its
audience. Reading
Walking Dead definitely caused
sensations of dread, but most of my apprehension centered around the
human cast and what they might do to each other when stressed and
strained to their limits. (I wonder if
Battle Royale
should be considered a horror book for similar reasons?)
More zombies!! Following
Shawn
Hoke's recommendation (not a permalink), I've ordered
Bogus Dead,
an alt-comix anthology focusing on zombies. Shawn's descriptions
of the stories make them sound very entertaining, so I plunked down $10
via PayPal on the
website
of Jerome Gaynor, publisher and editor of the book. And that ten
bucks covered everything, including shipping. Quite a bargain for
a 144-page book. (I also picked up
Flying
Saucer Attack, an 80-page sci-fi anthology, for just six
bucks, shipping included.)
