Web Comics and Libraries

Here's something that's starting to bug me: Libraries and Web Comics. Basically, the titles that are in libraries are limited and I would kind of like to know why. Lately, it seems there are a lot of great web comics are coming out in book format, but are libraries picking them up? Not really. The epic exception seems to be Unshelved, which while great and is library humored, is NOT really what I'm talking about here. Unshelved will be the example to explain web comics. Basically, a comic done by an artist with or without a writer and syndicated on the Internet. Simple.

The latest web comic to make waves in library land is/was the epic Axe Cop (which, my library copy got no where fast because the binding split). Every review I saw was like "THIS IS AWESOME." Don't get me wrong, I know it is awesome (even though I haven't read the first volume but I've seen a few strips). It is entertaining and fun, but of ALL the web comics in the last few years, this is what catches everyone's eye? What about Dr. McNinja (which I need to read but hear about a LOT from The Philosopher Musician)? What about Machine of Death which is a hybrid of sorts and includes a collaboration of web comic artists, authors, and The People (not to mention is coming out with a sequel and had a blast fighting it out with Glenn Beck not too long ago)? Many artists are coming out with books and loyal fans are picking these up. But what about poor readers who can't run out and buy every book, no matter how much they want to support the artist? What about exposing readers to comics they haven't seen? What disservice are we providing when all we have are the "classics*"?

I'll tell you. Simply you are missing the 20-somethings, the 30-somethings, and maybe their kids. I don't read as many web comics as I used to but I am partial to Questionable Content (which mind you, brought you the She Blinded Me With Library Science gear), XKCD, Red String, and a few I really can't mention on my blog (epically awesome, epically NSFW). I have respect for many, many more web comics because I've read bits here and there and despite not reading them after a period of time, they are still good or have improved. Plus, The Philosopher Musician has his list of web comics he follows (and is known to go on "archive binges" here and there) and many of my friends love different web comics yet we share a love of many of the same titles.

So, what's our excuse? Tight budgets? They're indie published? We don't have the reviews to justify them in the collection? We don't want those 20 somethings in the library? Real comics are books? That's all available on the Internet; why would they want the book? Tell me why you don't have them. I really want to know.

In the mean time, tell me what collections you want me to review. I'm starting with what I have easy access to (QC vol 1, Red String vol. 1, Axe Cop vol. 1, and Wondermark), but want to find more. Got stuff your teens are talking about? Let me know. Web Comic Wednesdays will start up soon where I'll talk about web comics where either The Philosopher Musician or me will talk about a web comic turned book, or the web comic itself.

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"Classics" include such hits as Penny Arcade, MegaTokyo, Wondermark, Gunnerkrig Court, and...Unshelved

Machine of Death: The Review

Well, we first visited the topic of the book Machine of Death around when it was published. Some updates on it before I (The Philosopher Musican) give a review:

It has begun to see a wider distribution. In fact, it has slowly been appearing in major bookstores. It has also just garnered a more high-profile review at The Onion A.V. Club.

The editorial team also released an e-book version for free under the Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 license at the start of November.

So, now, its profile is still growing. But, most of the issues Little Librarian highlighted in her previous post are still present. We still haven't seen a NY Times review, nor has it been on their best-sellers list. The professional titles still haven't touched it (as far as Little Librarian knows).

Now, here's a review for you:

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Title: Machine of Death

Editors: Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, & David Malki!

Publisher: Bearstache Books

Copyright: 2010

Price: $17.95

ISBN: 978-0-982167-12-0

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Summary and Some Thoughts: It's a fairly large collection of stories about, to quote the comic that inspired the anthology, "a world where everyone knows how they're going to die". This is all thanks to the "Machine of Death" of the book's title. It works basically the same in each story: you put your finger in a slot on the machine, it gets a small blood sample, and spits out a piece of paper. Written on it is how you'll die. You can't change it. Of course, the machine is extremely vague, so the information it gives isn't always useful; in the stories, it tends toward irony instead of straight predictions.

That's what all the stories have in common. They all explore the consequences of The Machine and what it brings to the world. Most of them see a world that isn't completely remade by The Machine. It alters society, but society usually adapts while still resembling the world-of-today (the exception to this is the story, "Loss of Blood"). The tone varies immensely throughout the book. There's sadness, despair, brightness, horror, and humor. Actually, there's a great deal of humor through many of the stories. They all deal with fate in some way, of course. It ends up reminding me of existentialism and absurdism, but that's a topic for later.

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Will Teens Like It: Well, I'm pretty sure this isn't a YA title. So many of the themes are adult (violence and mature subjects; there's not really any sex in it that I can recall) that I can’t at all recommend it for a teen collection. That said, of course some teens will like it. Teens willing to tackle the themes and length of the book could enjoy it. Teens who've heard of it online might well be interested in reading it as well. (This most likely belongs in adult collections folks! -LL).

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Things to Be Aware of: As I said above, I personally don't think this should go in a YA collection, but here are a few things that could get you in trouble with parents: The titles of some of the stories (after all, they're all causes of death; the standout here is "Exhaustion from Having Sex with a Minor." Surprisingly, though, the story itself isn't at all a problem, I'd say.), and some violent subject matter in the stories themselves (a decent amount of murder in various flavors)

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Personal Thoughts: With the recent A.V. Club review I'd love to say that this review is great timing on my part. Of course, that's not really the case. I've been struggling with writing this review for a while, actually. The truth is that there's so much diversity in the book. The many stories, despite the common premise, vary so greatly that I have had a hard time giving a good critical analysis about the collection.

Now, if it wasn’t clear, I loved this book. I'm a fan of many webcomics, so, yes, I'm already a fan of some of the authors. Even when I set aside my own personal views about some of the authors' other works, I can easily say that the entire collection is strong. Compared to what I've been reading recently, it was a fairly long read. I never actually got tired of reading it, though, and it wasn't at all difficult. I loved the philosophical explorations it leads to. As I said above, more details about that would have to go into a separate post (and I might well write one up), but either way, it's right up my philosophical alley.

Really, I’m having trouble coming up with any negative things to say about it. If you can get it into your library collection and get people checking it out, they’ll love it.

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Source: Review copy provided by one of the editors.

Bonus: It has been determined that in the first round of books sent out, a little slip was included that stated how you were going to die. In the review copy, we were surprised to see that there was no slip included, so it was determined that the prophecy from Little Librarian's undergrad days that "librarians don't die" must be true. :)