"I Think It's Time"
September 10, 2009 8:21 AM Subscribe
Published in 1989, Richard McGuire's Here is a 6 page comic that spans billions of years and about 25 square feet: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Special Bonus Student Film Adaptation For The Comic-Phobic
Specialer Bonus Material: A scene from the animated anthology Peur(s) du Noir directed by McGuire | Micro Loup, an animated short designed and directed by McGuire | And he also plays bass!
Specialer Bonus Material: A scene from the animated anthology Peur(s) du Noir directed by McGuire | Micro Loup, an animated short designed and directed by McGuire | And he also plays bass!
That was amazing. What's that thing they are dedicating in 2033? And I hope the family escaped the fire OK.
posted by DU at 8:49 AM on September 10, 2009
posted by DU at 8:49 AM on September 10, 2009
Man, that's brilliant - I love it. I always get nostalgic about physical spaces, thinking about how the people that lived there before pinned hopes and dreams on this room or that room. This perfectly captures all those thoughts I've had on the topic but couldn't quite put into words.
posted by jbickers at 9:11 AM on September 10, 2009 [5 favorites]
posted by jbickers at 9:11 AM on September 10, 2009 [5 favorites]
I love it. But I really hope we don't ressurrect 1950s pop design in 2030. I'd hope we've moved beyond that as a species.
posted by Theta States at 9:12 AM on September 10, 2009
posted by Theta States at 9:12 AM on September 10, 2009
I really hope we don't ressurrect 1950s pop design in 2030
ugh 50s pop design is so 2016
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:14 AM on September 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
ugh 50s pop design is so 2016
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:14 AM on September 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
Sad and thoughtful and amazing.
posted by HumanComplex at 9:39 AM on September 10, 2009
posted by HumanComplex at 9:39 AM on September 10, 2009
I guess I like that Chris Ware's influence is spreading, but it feels to me like a well drawn, but less thoughtful imitation.
/Ware Fanboy, if such a thing exists
posted by cmoj at 9:59 AM on September 10, 2009
/Ware Fanboy, if such a thing exists
posted by cmoj at 9:59 AM on September 10, 2009
I guess I like that Chris Ware's influence is spreading, but it feels to me like a well drawn, but less thoughtful imitation.
If you read the post, this comic was published in 1989, so if anyone was influenced, it was the other way around.
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:11 AM on September 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
If you read the post, this comic was published in 1989, so if anyone was influenced, it was the other way around.
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:11 AM on September 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
Fantastic post BTW. Fantastic strip.
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:12 AM on September 10, 2009
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:12 AM on September 10, 2009
I guess I like that Chris Ware's influence is spreading, but it feels to me like a well drawn, but less thoughtful imitation.
McGuire and Here predate Chris Ware*; actually, Ware recently wrote an appreciation of McGuire for Comic Art #8, which I unfortunately can't fine online in any substantial form.
*Or at least the style we associate with Ware - his Floyd Farland was published in 1987, but near as I can tell his next non-newspaper work appeared in the second issue of *kaff* RAW Vol. 2, a year after Here was published in RAW Vol. 2, #1.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:24 AM on September 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
McGuire and Here predate Chris Ware*; actually, Ware recently wrote an appreciation of McGuire for Comic Art #8, which I unfortunately can't fine online in any substantial form.
*Or at least the style we associate with Ware - his Floyd Farland was published in 1987, but near as I can tell his next non-newspaper work appeared in the second issue of *kaff* RAW Vol. 2, a year after Here was published in RAW Vol. 2, #1.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:24 AM on September 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
Around the same time Ware started publishing. Probably no influence anywhere. Remove chronological references, and my sentiment still stands.
posted by cmoj at 10:27 AM on September 10, 2009
posted by cmoj at 10:27 AM on September 10, 2009
my sentiment still stands.
Your sentiment is misguided though, since this doesn't even look like Chris Ware particularly. How about you replace it with something useful, like nostalgia for Teddy Ruxpin tapes or hatred of bees?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:32 AM on September 10, 2009 [3 favorites]
Your sentiment is misguided though, since this doesn't even look like Chris Ware particularly. How about you replace it with something useful, like nostalgia for Teddy Ruxpin tapes or hatred of bees?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:32 AM on September 10, 2009 [3 favorites]
I remember reading this in some anthology (maybe the Smithsonian?) recently. Thanks for the links to the animations, too; I'm really digging those.
posted by not_on_display at 10:36 AM on September 10, 2009
posted by not_on_display at 10:36 AM on September 10, 2009
I first saw this in a RAW anthology. I read it when I was fifteen and it MELTED MY BRAIN. I think about it all the time. I look around my apartment and think about it. I see the cats looking out the window and think about it. I listen to old Jack Benny programs and think about it. I reread it just now and am amazed at how much seems familiar. The cat in the corner, the hat on the woman of the future. The arrangements of the panels. I'm so happy to see it again. (The RAW anthology was lost in a flood along with a copy of Chris Ware's Floyd Farland.) I'm going to print it out and put it up on my wall. Thank you.
posted by ftrain at 11:03 AM on September 10, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by ftrain at 11:03 AM on September 10, 2009 [2 favorites]
You know that guy who used to live here?
VOLCANO
meow
Brilliant!
posted by quoquo at 12:05 PM on September 10, 2009
VOLCANO
meow
Brilliant!
posted by quoquo at 12:05 PM on September 10, 2009
It reminds me of Nic Roeg's time-slipping editing in films like Man Who Fell to Earth, Don't Look Now, and Bad Timing - I love it!
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 1:30 PM on September 10, 2009
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 1:30 PM on September 10, 2009
I remember this from RAW! It was great to see it again. This made my shitty day a tad less shitty. Thanks!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:09 PM on September 10, 2009
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:09 PM on September 10, 2009
Well, for the record, it also reminded me of Chris Ware (though a lot "flatter"). And I have two boxes of RAW and zero Teddy Ruxpins as my bona fides.
It's not the drawing style, it's the emotional connections across different time periods in side by side panels.
Neat stuff, anyway.
posted by rokusan at 3:20 PM on September 10, 2009
It's not the drawing style, it's the emotional connections across different time periods in side by side panels.
Neat stuff, anyway.
posted by rokusan at 3:20 PM on September 10, 2009
Wikipedia suggests that Ware was influenced by McGuire, citing an essay Ware and two others wrote about McGuire in Comic Art Magazine. Unfortunately, only a preview is available online, so I was unable to look for mentions of Teddy Ruxpin.
My wife and I are expecting a son in a couple of months. I showed her the comic, which made her cry. Which was good, as I was crying already.
posted by obruni at 5:46 PM on September 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
My wife and I are expecting a son in a couple of months. I showed her the comic, which made her cry. Which was good, as I was crying already.
posted by obruni at 5:46 PM on September 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
It doesn't look like Ware, it uses a very similar device as Ware. You know, the point of the comic? The layering of time-frames with layered panels?
Also, Teddy Ruxpin was scary, and bees are cool.
posted by cmoj at 10:28 AM on September 12, 2009
Also, Teddy Ruxpin was scary, and bees are cool.
posted by cmoj at 10:28 AM on September 12, 2009
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After Page 2 I thought this is strange and it sucks.
After Page 3 I thought I glimpsed something.
After Page 4 I was hooked.
By page 6 I thought it was a lovely rumination on time, space, ephemerality and permanence.
posted by MasonDixon at 8:29 AM on September 10, 2009