Phonogram - The Singles Club #3

[kingrockwell]

If you've read Rue Britannia, tonight's cast may be more familiar to you.
Our host for the evening is Emily Aster, who "snipped away the bits [of herself] she didn't like and traded them for power."

About five and a third out of sixteen pages.


Kohl has somehow managed, despite her protests, to drag Emily to an indie night. He did this mostly by promising the first rule'll keep most of her least favorite music out, and that they'll play at least one song by the Knife.

It does end up involving a meeting with our misanthropic DJ, whom Emily shares some bad history with (they were apparently after the same girl, but are just a bad match to begin with). Seth is, as he is, very rude, but Emily rolls with every punch and comes out of it on top.


"Let's have some fun," she concludes, as Kid-With-Knife pops in to complete the triumvirate. He seems a little more...excited than usual.

(for those following along at home, KWK was the resident non-phonomancer of the cast. this is kind of a thing, we'll talk more on it in a later post)

Enough of that, though. Time for dancing!

(this panel pops up in reviews a lot, and for good reason. you can tell a lot about each of the three from it alone)

Emily excuses herself to the ladies' room.


Meet Claire. She's what was snipped away to create Emily.


Emily's interrupted when another lady recognizes her. As Claire.
"'Claire' has long been banished," she replies.





"I was never like anyone else," she tells the mirror. "Least of all you."

Heading back to the floor, she demands dancing. She even gets her Knife song, finally.

But things aren't feeling right somehow.







A sort of war between Emily and Claire is the premise for the hypothetical third Phonogram series, The Word "Girl", and while it would make for incredibly fascinating comics, there are currently no plans to pursue a third series, at least until Gillen and McKelvie are rich enough they won't have to worry about living month-to-month. The only way this can happen is to buy the books! The trade is due in a few weeks, and word is it might be on Longbox's launch list. I'll spread more information as I receive it, but I'm planning a giant-sized plug for the final post. Keep watching this space!

On with the glossary, then.

Comments

[ghosty732]

The previous issue and this one (at least, from what you've posted) do such a good job of showing what music can do to people. I suppose that's what the entire series is all about, but you really don't need to get all of the references to recognize the points that Gillen is making. Yes, songs are attached to specific events (and hearing it can dredge up those memories) and yes, looking at one's music-preference history can show the evolution of who they are as a person.

It's so enjoyable just looking at it like that. Getting the music references is just a bonus.

[kingrockwell]

Yes, exactly this.

[ghosty732]

I mean, obviously if you're one of those people who does not get any of these experiences from music, this series would not be for you. But even if you're not part of this hipster/indie scene, as long as you have a love for ANY kind of music, you've most likely experienced most of the things that this series is about.

(Thanks for posting these scans!)

[darklorelei]

See, the fact that I don't know any of the music makes me not like this comic. I've tried to read it in the past, and it just...doesn't click for me, and I feel bad for not liking it because I'm the only person who doesn't.

I mean, I adore music, it's my life. But I've never even heard of any of the bands referenced in the comic, so it's just kind of dead for me. And I read fast enough that looking it up on youtube or last.fm or something would just be a drag.

I don't know. I'm just a killjoy I guess.

[lissa_quon]

Motto, I'm not really feeling this series either.

I practically have music as an IV unit to my brain most of the time but not this music (though I have pretty odd taste). The music I don't know and when I look it up is defiantly not my taste and the stuff going on in this series just isn't grabbing me either.

I just chalk it up to this comic was made for someone else and move on.

[kingrockwell]

I'd never known most of this music when I first read it.

[ghosty732]

I still don't think that getting the references are all that crucial. Of course, I'm obviously biased in that because I DO get (most of) the references, and don't have a frame of reference for someone who doesn't.

I just think that his personification of the way music affect people can transcend genre. ANY song can bring back the memories of a past love (as in issue 2), and ANY song can remind us of who we used to be during the period when we liked that song (as in this issue). But I suppose I can see how it may be hard to get past the references.

[iskander]

Yeah the reff. is one of the best parts of the book. If your life fits into the music they use in the story it adds much depth. The other day I was in a really bad mood and then "every day is like Sunday" came on the radio backed by "Last of the international playboys". It really turned things around for me. I hope the trade comes out with alot of extras :)

[rhythmbandit]

I can't think of anything to say but "great stuff".

[mllesays]

I love the annotations. It's too bad the trades don't reproduce them.

[kingrockwell]

They'll be there in some form, but likely not the same (especially given all the doubles). I don't have Rue Britannia in floppy to compare, but they'll always be there for information.

Yes, though, the jokes are a loss. You won't get Gillen rolling his eyes at having to write about "Pull Shapes" or "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above" again, which was a lot of great fun when I last read through the whole thing.

[mllesays]

Hmmm, I thought when I flipped through the original trade, they were gone entirely? Maybe I just missed them.

[kingrockwell]

They can be easy to miss if you're not looking for them, but I've got last four pages worth at the back of mine, and I can't really see them being removed from the second printing.

[golden_orange]

Don't mind me, just trying to make head and tail of this:

So, is Claire an aspect of Emily that she somehow purged from herself?

[dorksidefiker]

More or less. At least, that's how I interpret it.

[stubbleupdate]

"Lovely stuff Michael. Not my words, the words of Shakin' Stevens"