PART 2
I had a similar, but different experience with E.C. Segar's Popeye. I loved it when I first read it in the giant volumes Fantagraphics put out a few years ago. But after burning bright I realised I was running out of steam and quickly got bored. I quickly exhausted the things I could get from it. With Krazy Kat I didn't even get that far. This leads me to another thought that makes me tempted to give it another go.
In one a video I watched in the series Jim Rugg mentions that we can make the mistake of reading these old strips, once presented as snippets daily, in great gulps now as they are collected in large lovely volumes we want to read in one go. That's not how these comics were designed to be read. The slow pace of the one strip a day is built into the design and repetition of the ideas (as I see them). Instead Rugg suggests even in these bumper volumes we should ration ourselves, read a page or two a day. Allow that to sit and settle in our minds before charging ahead. Read them slower, as intended and that might enrich the experience.
That idea appeals to me. I think I should maybe give it another go. Try again, after all there's clearly a heck of a lot here to be loved. Then again maybe I should try to force it. It's okay not to get on with comics other, many others, see as a classic. If it doesn't present ideas, even if you might like these ideas - or the idea of those ideas... I'm stretching this aren't I, even if you might like the themes others see in it if it's not presented in a way that allows you as a reader to easily get to, or in a way that challenges you to get to them in a way that's enjoyable. That's fine, that's okay. We can't and shouldn't all like the same things and sometimes however much you might want to love a series its best just to shrug, except it's not for you and move on. There's far too many great comics out to burn too much energy liking something just because you feel you should, or folks you respect do. They aren't you, aren't seeking the same things , don't have the same reference points or experience to bring to their reading so there is no reason to expect to like the same stuff.
To do otherwise is just smacking yourself on the back of your head with a brick!
I had a similar, but different experience with E.C. Segar's Popeye. I loved it when I first read it in the giant volumes Fantagraphics put out a few years ago. But after burning bright I realised I was running out of steam and quickly got bored. I quickly exhausted the things I could get from it. With Krazy Kat I didn't even get that far. This leads me to another thought that makes me tempted to give it another go.
In one a video I watched in the series Jim Rugg mentions that we can make the mistake of reading these old strips, once presented as snippets daily, in great gulps now as they are collected in large lovely volumes we want to read in one go. That's not how these comics were designed to be read. The slow pace of the one strip a day is built into the design and repetition of the ideas (as I see them). Instead Rugg suggests even in these bumper volumes we should ration ourselves, read a page or two a day. Allow that to sit and settle in our minds before charging ahead. Read them slower, as intended and that might enrich the experience.
That idea appeals to me. I think I should maybe give it another go. Try again, after all there's clearly a heck of a lot here to be loved. Then again maybe I should try to force it. It's okay not to get on with comics other, many others, see as a classic. If it doesn't present ideas, even if you might like these ideas - or the idea of those ideas... I'm stretching this aren't I, even if you might like the themes others see in it if it's not presented in a way that allows you as a reader to easily get to, or in a way that challenges you to get to them in a way that's enjoyable. That's fine, that's okay. We can't and shouldn't all like the same things and sometimes however much you might want to love a series its best just to shrug, except it's not for you and move on. There's far too many great comics out to burn too much energy liking something just because you feel you should, or folks you respect do. They aren't you, aren't seeking the same things , don't have the same reference points or experience to bring to their reading so there is no reason to expect to like the same stuff.
To do otherwise is just smacking yourself on the back of your head with a brick!
