Just sent off the last page of numbercruncher. Thanks to everyone who's supported us by buying the meg.
Feel a little emotional... *sniffle*
-pj
It'll be a big miss for us too PJ, it's an excellent, excellent read.
You've got a trade paperback coming out haven't you?
Yeah, ive really enjoyed numbercruncher- it's never been a chore to read, has been genuinely clever and the art has stood up to repeated closer examination- which isnt true of the majority of (non-prog) strips ive come across of late. A trade edition would be very welcome.
SBT
http://www.pauljholden.com/blog/2011/08/11/numbercruncher-2/ blg with art!
I've been waitng for this to finish before I read it, better be good.
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 11 August, 2011, 08:01:55 PM
I've been waitng for this to finish before I read it, better be good.
I think it's got the best feedback of anything I've done so far - hopefully that means it's good. Or everyone feels sorry for me...
-pj
It's the reason I get the Meg at the minute
Quote from: pops1983 on 11 August, 2011, 09:42:26 PM
It's the reason I get the Meg at the minute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2mPs-VJ3vA
It's the best thing in the Meg at the moment.
I will be getting the trade if it sees the light of day - but the intro pages have to stay as they are ace!
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 11 August, 2011, 09:45:43 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 11 August, 2011, 09:42:26 PM
It's the reason I get the Meg at the minute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2mPs-VJ3vA
There's a load of music that I'm old enough to remember but have NEVER seen the videos for. That's one of them. Hard to imagine that's how people dressed, but there it is...
Definitely deserves a trade. Been the highlight of the Meg for me.
I admit I wasn't keen on the series at first, but it's grown on me, to the point where it's among the best things in the Meg right now. The storytelling's very clever, although I'm less keen on the constantly fruity language. Some nice art too. Looking forward to the conclusion.
How clever is Number Cruncher?
Just read this in the latest meg, building up to a great finale. Now this I didn't perceive happening.
A big thumbs up all round.
V
The only way to make Numbercruncher better is to write a letter to the Meg saying how good it is, and receive a free book as a result.
That's what I did. YAAAAAS!
- Trout
What are the prospects of a trade? It certainly something I'd like to get (not being a Meg buyer). I guess its too to say at this stage it as its creator owned I was wondering if either of the creators have early plans?
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 15 August, 2011, 10:37:05 AM
What are the prospects of a trade? It certainly something I'd like to get (not being a Meg buyer). I guess its too to say at this stage it as its creator owned I was wondering if either of the creators have early plans?
We want a trade and it's always been something we had in mind. Just have to find a good home for a collection, which may take a little time.
-pj
Just in case I've not said this before: for the last three months I've read Numbercruncher before anything else in the Meg. Loving it and can't wait to see how you finish it.
Quote from: pauljholden on 13 August, 2011, 09:14:28 PM
Hard to imagine that's how people dressed, but there it is...
Do you mean the band or the 'street punks'? personally I'm more offended by the band's attire ;)
Good luck with the collected NC I'd buy that for a dollar! ( well £14.99 at a push)
Wossname from Chicago was wearing a Bauhaus t-shirt trying to look cool. Awwwwww...
Hard to think of a band less inspired by Bauhaus. :D
And yes, Numbercruncher has been consistently been really original, clever and beautifully illustrated too.
I've already gushed a bit about it in the Meg thread, but just to add my voice here, Numbercruncher was brilliant and the highlight of the meg for months. Great work!
Really enjoyed the Meg, yet again!
Wonderful Fegredo cover. More please. Or better yet, strongarm him into doing a Dredd or something along those lines.
Dredd was surprisingly good. Grant's more miss than hit these days, particularly when it comes to Dredd but this one had a nice sting in the tale.
Also a very good Tales from the Black Museum. I usually find this only passable but this was a nice, dense story.
Numbercruncher was fantastic. Along with this and Lilly McKenzie, the 'creator-owned' spots in the Meg have been consistently the strongest thing in the Meg. Sadly, it's replacement - American Reaper - has me worried. I like about half of Mills' output, the other half is the stuff he's done with Langley. It's not an art style I particularly like (I'd rather he go back to his older, painted style than this computerized, fuck-the-frame style he's been doing for the last few years). I hope to be pleasantly surprised but just in case, does anyone know how long I have to endure it?
Cursed Earth Koburn was surprisingly the dullest thing in the Meg. Next ep seems like it might actually be about something!
The articles were all good to great. Really enjoyed the creator Interrogations (as usual). How about one with Steve Yeowall (or has that been done already!?)? The Western article was ok, and I'm still liking these film reviews.
As for the Mercy Heights supplement: oh, dear. Found myself enjoying the first two volumes, especially Kev Walker's art on the first few eps and it's always nice to see Trevor Hairsine's work (where's he gone!?! He doesn't seem to have done much for Marvel over the last few years either...). This third volume, however, was poor. Sloppy art and at times unintelligable storytelling. I'm guessing Book 4 is the final few eps of MH, then on to Tor Cyan. Probably enough material from that series to stretch this into a Book 5...
I echo the requests for Black Light and Sancho Panzer from one of the letter writers too! Would like to re-read both those series again, please!
Aaaaaaaand I'm a dumbass and put that on the wrong thread. Well done, me. Is there no way to delete posts?!!
Yay for Numbercruncher and stuff! *ahem*
Thanks all for the kind words on Numbercruncher. Si & I want to get 'er collected and we'll let you know!
-pj
I'll add my belated praise to Si and PJ, if I may.
Thanks for an intelligent and beautifully presented story.
Paul, have you and Si ever looked at the Rudyard Kipling short story "On the Gate: A Tale of '16"? It's more optimistic than Numbercruncher's vision of Office Hell, but it has a similar concept of the afterlife-as-bureaucracy that you might find interesting and worth tipping into the Idea Machine when it comes round to cranking out the next series.
I'd also like to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed the series as well - it intrigued me right from the "Quantam mechanics. With menaces" tagline, and kept it up with a smartly witty title (crunching bones as well as maths) and an entertaining gambit of gaming the system - Kafka's Gaolbreak? - executed as slickly as a casino caper.
Quote from: Robert Frazer on 24 September, 2011, 03:14:10 PM
Paul, have you and Si ever looked at the Rudyard Kipling short story "On the Gate: A Tale of '16"? It's more optimistic than Numbercruncher's vision of Office Hell, but it has a similar concept of the afterlife-as-bureaucracy that you might find interesting and worth tipping into the Idea Machine when it comes round to cranking out the next series.
I'd also like to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed the series as well - it intrigued me right from the "Quantam mechanics. With menaces" tagline, and kept it up with a smartly witty title (crunching bones as well as maths) and an entertaining gambit of gaming the system - Kafka's Gaolbreak? - executed as slickly as a casino caper.
Si's in charge of all the clever word stuff, but the idea of a bureaucrat afterlife is very familiar to me from movies more than anything, a matter of life and death (a great, great film), for example, is the direct influence for the idea of grey wash for afterlife and pure b&w for real world. And, if you ever catch the musical Carousel http://classic-film-tv.blogspot.com/2010/05/most-unusual-musical-rodgers-and.html there's a bureaucratic angel, right at the start that wouldn't look out of place in the world of the devine calculator (you can see him in the link, I only noticed this AFTER I'd started the book though - so not a direct influence...)
-pj
(
Great to see one of the creators on here. :)
Wanted for the series to be finished and read it over a few days. Might need to do it again. . . as i might have missed a few things. Loved that he was doing things over multiple lives to save himself as a girl from doing bad things. To live a life without sin and all.
Just a question on the very ending, Was it the mathematician re:born as a child?
And didn't he arrange for the love of his life to also get a new life, one without him causing her to go crazy?
cheers.
SPOILER follows:
[spoiler]
At the end of Jess's life, her soul is reincarnated as Richard Thyme - the Mathematician.
[/spoiler]
Awesome!!!!
that answers both my questions with one hit.
Great series. One that warrents a few re:reads. The craft level . . . up there with the best.
It's series like these that saves the meg from getting the chop.
cheers
Oh and if Si is reading this. Simping deceptive dude . . . it's been too long.
Quote from: pauljholden on 26 September, 2011, 09:16:25 AM
SPOILER follows:
[spoiler]
At the end of Jess's life, her soul is reincarnated as Richard Thyme - the Mathematician.
[/spoiler]
so...[spoiler]he's been trying to get off with himself all the time?[/spoiler] pass the anadin.
Quote from: mogzilla on 06 October, 2011, 10:40:03 PM
Quote from: pauljholden on 26 September, 2011, 09:16:25 AM
SPOILER follows: [spoiler]At the end of Jess's life, her soul is reincarnated as Richard Thyme - the Mathematician.[/spoiler]
so...[spoiler]he's been trying to get off with himself all the time?[/spoiler] pass the anadin.
I originally posted my own theory about it over on the Meg thread. Seems to fit better here so I hope you don't mind me copy/pasting.
Quote from: The Cosh on 21 September, 2011, 04:13:18 PM
Hmm. I reread Numbercruncher in full the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't think there is anything wrong with your presentation of the last page PJ. What you've said is exactly what I thought was happening. My problem with it was why? I couldn't figure out what good that did.
A day or so later, the following occured to me. Feel free to correct it if you like.
[spoiler]In his final incarnation, where he will have no knowledge of his past lives, the mathematician sends himself back as the hippy Allmother chick. Having already ensured that she will get to live a life free of sin, he is then ultimately released from whatever the deal was about that. Finally, he arranges for Jessica to come back as him so that ultimately she will also be the Allmother and they will both be freed from the wheel of Karma together. Or it's a paradox and their love really was the expression of one soul living in two bodies, but that's a bit soppy.[/spoiler]
Sorry to necropost, but is there any news on a collected edition yet?
Yeah would be great as a none Meg reader if this was collected.
Sorry to necropost, but this is the thread I was looking for...
I've just finished this for the first time, as part of my determined effort to catch up with my Meg back-log.
I really enjoyed this, right up to the last couple of pages.
Could someone explain the ending for me? Was he trying to cop off with himself all along? Or was it a way of getting out of the original deal? Or something else?
I actually first thought he was Bastard Zane in some way.
Could one of the brighter boys help Mr Thicko catch up, please?
(And American Reaper next)
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 July, 2012, 10:26:48 PM
Sorry to necropost, but this is the thread I was looking for...
I've just finished this for the first time, as part of my determined effort to catch up with my Meg back-log.
I really enjoyed this, right up to the last couple of pages.
Could someone explain the ending for me? Was he trying to cop off with himself all along? Or was it a way of getting out of the original deal? Or something else?
I actually first thought he was Bastard Zane in some way.
Could one of the brighter boys help Mr Thicko catch up, please?
(And American Reaper next)
Think there's an explanation on the previous page, check that out!