Storied Arcs
Welcome to Storied Arcs! A read-along deep dive into comics, one story arc at a time...
In each episode, we will discuss one story arc, typically in the form of a trade paperback, for a completed comic series. In general, we will be avoiding ongoing or continuing series so that we can discuss a work in its entirety.
We’ll also be avoiding the “big two” (Marvel and DC.) While we love those comics, there are plenty of podcasts covering characters like Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and so on. Instead, we’re excited to explore some of the great creator-owned stories. We’ll deep dive into the story while evaluating the prose, art, and all the easter eggs we can find.
Learn more at www.storiedarcs.com
Storied Arcs
Unfollow Volume 1: 140 Characters
"The great terror comes form the universe's actions that do not have a cognizant mind behind them. What if all we are is swept away by something that wants nothing? That means nothing?"
Welcome to book two of Social Media Summer! This week, Mike and Alex begin their look at Unfollow by Rob Williams and Michael Dowling from DC Comics/Vertigo with Volume 1: 140 Characters (issues #1-6). The guys dive right into the comic, breaking down the overall narrative setup (a tontine established by a dying billionaire tech genius involving 140 randomly-chosen social media users) and the deployment of certain story beats. They discuss the various characters among the 140 who seem to get a spotlights in this volume but without any real depth (yet), and how that affects their focus on the story. The guys' level of investment in these characters varies greatly after one volume, and they agree that there was just a lot of table setting to get ready for what the comic is actually going to be about.
It hasn't been a huge jump forward in publication time along the social media timeline from our previous book, Hacktivist, but the cracks in the technological veneer are already showing. So go read Unfollow Volume 2: God Is Watching (issues #7-12) wherever you get your comics and join us here again next week!
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