Phonogram - The Singles Club #1

[kingrockwell]

*No Magic

Meant to do this yesterday, but my internet's been giving me trouble.

The second series of Phonogram ended last month, and in that time I've absolutely fallen in love with it, so I figured I'd share. I'll try to showcase an issue each day, as the internet'll allow me.

So let's take it from the beginning.
About five and two-thirds out of seventeen pages (you could argue that the title page also counts, since all the later stories incorporate it, but we'll err on the side of caution here). With regards to iskander for pages posted previously.


(pay attention to those last few line, it's called "foreshadowing")

Meet Penny B.

She'll be your host for the evening on our visit to Never On A Sunday.


She's actually forgetting the other two rules of the evening, but you don't need to make a rule to get Penny B to dance, and, well, we'll get to the other one when it comes up (though, for the record, she's already broken it on this page).

I'll skip the part where we meet Marc and his serious friend Lloyd for page limits. Boys aren't what Penny's all about, anyway. For her, it's all about the dance.


The worst? Oh, Penny just doesn't know our DJ. Some of you have already seen the fearsome Seth Bingo on the back cover and know how much worse he can make a refusal, but Penny's about to learn for herself. Here's where that third rule comes back to bite her.


Shot down in flames, Penny sees Marc leaning against a wall and decides to pick herself up and make the best of things as the wail of "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above" begins. Her timing couldn't be worse, but we'll talk about that tomorrow.


Things don't go well for Penny after this. She thinks the DJ's stolen her magic, her friend Laura's ditched her, and, while feeling utterly defeated, he asks Lloyd if anything's wrong with her only to be told that she's "a precious, self-serving, egotistical bitch who feeds off people's attention like a leech."

And just then, when she's at her lowest, that's when the magic happens.

i've kinda butchered these next few pages for the sake of a compressed narrative
they're not totally ruined, but they originally had reaction shots from everyone else
which not only does a lot for the timing, but serves to introduce most of the cast
but enough of that

"Sorry," Penny tells us, "I'm really sorry."



You enjoy yourself, doll.

Now, while there are gratuitous references to musical things throughout the tory, I'd dare say they aren't essential to the enjoyment of the comic. Matter of fact, I was unfamiliar with the majority of them when first I read this.

Nevertheless, for those of you that must know, I've frankensteined together the relevant bits of the glossary for you. So open up a Youtube search box and enjoy!

Comments

[protogarrett]

So I have seen bits of this before and I just don't, well, get it. I mean, what is the plot? They talk about magic but nothing ever seems to happen.

All I've ever seen just seems to be about a girl. Here she is. She says stuff. She dances. And so on.

A quick plot run down would be nice.

Also, at that point you tell the DJ to fuck himself in his self important asshole.

[northstarfan]

So far as the magic goes, watch Penny's eyes.

[nezchan]

She...can make them turn black?

Gotta agree with protogarrett, I really don't know what's going on here at all.

[kingrockwell]

Well, for one, she uses it on the doorman to get into the club (a trick we saw Kohl pull a few times in Rue Britannia), and tries to use it on Seth to make him play her record (i guess he keeps wards and charms to protect against such things).

My guess as to when she's dancing is it might draw attention to her maybe? That might've been what Lloyd was getting at, I guess. Though possibly a different effect when he goes white at the end?

[kingrockwell]

The Singles Club doesn't really revolve around a plot so much. It's a singles club, each issue is a standalone character piece revolving around a different perspective of the same night. Chances are all you've seen so far was this first issue, which yes, might've been ubiquitous due to it being the only one out for a while, but you'll see more as we go on.

If an overarching plot is important to you, the first series, Rue Brittania, might be more your thing. There was an intro to it posted here. It is good for sure and worth the read, but I personally am all about the Singles Club.

[pyynk]

It's kinda hard to tell from the scans, but to boil it down phonomancers can make things happen by kind of absorbing the emotions and feelings people experience while listening to or reacting to music. Penny, for example, is able to absorb and project those feelings while dancing.

I've managed to snag a few issues of the Singles Club and if you love music, if a song gets in your head and your heart and won't let go, then Phonogram is for you. Also while I like the first issue, the second and third issues of Singles Club are a little bit more direct about the magic.

[kingrockwell]

Definitely. The second issue is an especially strong proof of concept, making Phonogram's "music is magic" premise understandable on a very basic level. We'll get into that tomorrow, of course.

[pyynk]

Awesome. I should also mention that this was one of the series I picked up because of s_d. Thanks scans_daily!

[kingrockwell]

Well, s_d put me on to Gillen at least, which put me on to Phonogram...
...Though in retrospect I certainly remember the first b-side on 1.0, I can't quite say it affected my purchasing decision, being retrospect and all.

Hopefully these posts'll encourage some folks to buy the upcoming trade, though!

[foxhack]

It's not just you.

I found the original series to be utterly incomprehensible. It's the same problem I have with many long-running comics, except those long running comics often interest me enough to try and learn the character backstories, unlike this.

[ghosty732]

According to Kieron Gillen's workblog, the trade of this has just gone to press. So it should be released in trade in 2 weeks or so.

I'm not sure whether I want to continue reading your posts or wait and have it all un-spoiled for me when I pick up the trade.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to get these single issues (I believe all 7 issues just sold on e-bay for around 100$ U.S.)

[ghosty732]

Also, I never noticed the last line of the cover, and that's horribly depressing to think about...

[northstarfan]

Holy fuck. O.O

Guess I won't be trying to find those last two then. Yay, trades.

[kingrockwell]

I actually dug out all six back-issues from my LCSes the weekend after stumbling across the seventh. They're out there, sometimes.
(though yes, i intend to end this series with a giant-sized plug for the upcoming trade)

[ghosty732]

Not at mine, unfortunately.

The trade will be good to get the overall story of the night, but I'm a bit peeved that I'll be missing out on the back-ups. I'm under the impression that they do a lot of world-building for the series (I know there's a focus on Indie Dave from Rue Brittania).

[kingrockwell]

Yeah, most of them are Indie Dave or Kohl, the only time either gets any major focus in the second series (Kohl's around in the main feature, but he already got his time in the spotlight).
I'll try posting what I can from them once I've finished the seventh issue.

[northstarfan]

Hey, Seth: tppppth!

But man, this art. This art makes me want to find a song to go get lost in and dance like no one can see me.

[kingrockwell]

Gillen and McKelvie are reuniting for the Siege: Loki one-shot next month! I'm excited.

[dorksidefiker]

OhmygodsYESplease! *tries to work out what she'll have to cut from her budget to buy that*

[ghosty732]

This art is fantastic. The added coloring is SUCH a treat, as good as the black-and-white pages of Rue Brittania were.

[iondan]

I like Artic Monkeys or atleast their singles but boy singer so they break the rules. I know Le Tigre and Blondie too but I doubt I'd recognize their lyrics.

[kingrockwell]

The Blondie reference specific to these scans is Penny's poster, though "Atomic" makes an appearance in pages not here. I'll prolly include some of that from the fourth issue when we get to it.

[iondan]

Ah, I missed the "Parallel Lines" poster my focus was more on Penny and the magic(?) scribbles on the wall.

[kingrockwell]

yeah i kinda want to look up Theban runes so i can decipher that one

[kingrockwell]

Ah, here's a key. I'll try transcribing later.

[iondan]

looks like "what do you do when the music stops"

[kingrockwell]

That's...kind of amazing, actually.
And a line from "Pull Shapes", too!

[ghosty732]

I never knew they were actual runes. I thought it was just nonsensical symbols. That is really neat.

[kingrockwell]

I only know because of a note in #2's glossary. The reference is to "the ban" as in the smoking ban instituted in UK clubs starting in 2007, but Gillen mentions offhand that, coincidentally, if you remove the space it's also the name of the rune alphabet they use in the series.

[nezchan]

Ah, I get that. I downloaded a live show that Robyn Hitchcock did (a benefit show where he and the band played the entirety of Sargent Pepper), and he frequently made jokes about the smoking ban.

Said it was the work of the Blue Meanies at one point.

[retro_nouveau]

Pandora threw the Pipettes on about a year ago, love at first chorus. Of course, they had already gone separate ways by then. I have a YouTube playlist with ABC first, then Pull Shapes, then 15 other songs/clips. RiotBecki <3!

[stubbleupdate]

I do like Lime Cordial, of the solo stuff

[iskander]

I posted this when it came out.

[kingrockwell]

As I mentioned (and linked) at the top! I even used the same four pages you did.
That was, however, a few months after it came out.

[rhythmbandit]

I saw this last time and didn't really *get* it either, maybe it seemed a little too pretentious. But Rue Brittania seems interesting, I might check that out.

[endis_ni]

Oh dammit, this is the series that gave me my brief one-week-phase of liking the Pipettes.

Though on the other hand I later developed an admiration for Diamanda Galas, so I'm going to call that a one-all draw for my brain.

[kingrockwell]

I'm gonna go ahead and Motto here because I've had the Pipettes ear-worming me all day, with a touch of Diamanda Galas. These are both Phonogram's fault.