Three? Hundred? Pages?!
What do you need 300 pages to tell that Charles Schulz couldn’t say in four panels? Well, you’re right. Who wouldn’t pick a good, dirty limerick over Ulysses? But I’m biased, of course; I think the length gives me width and depth as well.
The sheer volume of Sortmund allowed me to elaborate on the characters, not to mention the metaphysics of their world. The fantastic elements of the book would have to carry a certain weight to be pulled off, meaning they needed more space. And, the story itself wasn’t about to be told in a single chapter.
What can I say? There are lots and lots of ways to get your comics and illustrations out to people, but I also like the books. I like to have them on the shelf, sometimes as little prizes, things to be proud of; sometimes they’re like embarrasing, old drunk anecdotes coming back to hit me in the neck. 300-page drunk anecdotes … *shudder*
Tags: Astoria, comic, experimental, pantomime, work in progress