Somebody out there might be able to correct me, but I recall Dave Gibbons strongly justifying the confined panel and page layout of Watchmen. He was on a panel at some convention or other just as DC was releasing Watchmen – and I’m sure Dave would’ve mentioned the same rationale in interviews elsewhere. If memory serves (and look, quite often it doesn’t these days!) he /forced/ himself to use a rigid nine panel layout, to ensure that his illustrations were the best they could be to relate the story – without falling back on big zig-zag splash panels with KAPOWs plastered all over. He only breaks from this when the scene demands a larger panel – allowing himself only a refreshingly few such diversions.

The result is a story that plays out with a specific meter for most of the time, only hastened occasionally by the tone and interaction between the characters’ dialogue.

Now, I’ll get something straight here and now: I’ve no problem with a comic being turned into a movie. I also don’t mind if a movie version diverts strongly from the events in the comic. These are completely different delivery mechanisms, and having a line-perfect adaptation would seem, to me at least, to be a very immature expectation.

However, a ‘limited animation’ video production of the Watchmen graphic novel has been produced, apparently under the guidance of Dave Gibbons himself. By ‘limited animation’ I guess they’ve added a few explosions and lighting effects, cut-out a few characters, and enlarged a few punching fists. I’m sure a workmanlike job has been done, and it will be appealing. However, I haven’t seen the thing, but for video delivery there’s no way a whole page could be viewed (and read) on the screen.

So, bang goes the rigid nine panel layout, and presumably some of the tension.

You could argue that the addition of a soundtrack would compensate: but I’d argue that this would advance the notion that this ‘motion comic’ is destined to be an unloved bastard hybrid.

Of course, Mr Gibbons is entitled to change his mind over the course of 20 years, and he’s entitled to earn a living. Or is it a case of the licensed property really being out of his hands, and the production company would’ve gone ahead with this anyway? So, better to be involved and have some input, than none at all?

Just take a look at this picture. Go on. If you’re a cyclist would you even attempt to use this micro-diversion? Okay, granted somebody on a mountain bike tootling along at 5mph might not be jostled too much, but for any other cyclist, perhaps tooling along on a road bike or racer, would look upon this with justified horror.

The camber of the pavement, and the poor quality of the kerb step-down conspire to make the ejection point a mite wobbly. A car passing at the same time would be faced with a bicycle pointing across its path. Not good.

These stupid little cycle ramps litter Dovehouse Lane in Olton, near to my house. They were tacked on after the road was pinched down into chicanes some years ago. Meet Joe Cyclist – the perennial afterthought.

Did the chicanes slow vehicular traffic? Well, judging by the fact that some of them were later scrubbed out due to being more like obstructions than traffic-calming measures,  I’d hazard that the whole project was a waste of time and money.

Me? I ignore the cycle ‘path’ and treat the whole shebang as if it were a parked car. I do hope I don’t get into trouble with the police…

I suppose we should be thankful that the school was open…

Grumpy old man mode/

At my primary school, during the 1970s, our playground was rarely gritted. The edges were done, and main through-ways – but not the playground itself.

The rear of the playground was hemmed in by a steep banking with a flight of 20 concrete steps up to the playing fields. Barking-mad slides were constructed by shuffling down the banking on coats, and then sliding on foot. A polished strip would encroach further and further onto the tarmac. Imagine the efforts of a school-full of children: five or six of these ‘runways’ were achievable within around 30 minutes, each strip traversing around 20 metres or more into the playground!

The janitor, Mr Cochran, would only spoil our fun after he’d given us all a fair crack of the whip. He wouldn’t lay grit until at least 24 hours had passed. We still complained vocally though!

Now, to all those folk who say we misremember snowy times at school: talk to any ex-pupil of Rimbleton Primary School, and they’ll corroborate my story!

/ grumpy old man mode.

Rewind to the late 1980s and early 1990s…

Once again I’ve raided my old scrap box, and discovered some wonderfully ostentatious pamphlets produced by Natwest. They’re DL-sized (standard envelope) but are printed on tough card, with some remarkable and expensive finishing effects. We’ve got quality embossed paper stocks, metallic foil blocking, cut-outs, blind embossing, tracing paper inserts – it’s all here!

Bear in mind that these were produced for a regular high street bank, and though some may be advertising premium services at the time (as now) Natwest was certainly not viewed as a ‘premium’ bank.

It’s hard to imagine any high street bank coughing up the cash to produce this kind of print now. And, for banks in particular, that’s how it should be. The massed throngs of recession-bitten Britain are shouting enough about obscene bonuses being paid, without having a national print-budget scandal to boot!

All well and good, but this is indicative of where design-for-print stands right now. For some time there’s been a reluctance to experiment and spend money on the print process, often to the detriment of brands that should extoll quality and innovation. Small wonder though, when changing the stock on a simple brochure from gloss-art to a branded paper can double the print cost!

Then the good lady asked me to watch Hotel Rwanda, recorded off-air some time ago. I managed 30 minutes I think.

Well, it transpired that Hire Association Europe (HAE) found a copy, and liked it so much that they had their designers rip it off do something similar ;)

This is their version…

This is mine.

The trouble is that, while I don’t claim my work is a prime example of cutting-edge graphic design, a designer will always spot technical, objective and subjective faults with another’s work. While I may feel that the copied work of EHA is inferior in a few ways, I’m sure the designer asked to copy my work was mentally ticking off problems with my version too.

I can’t think myself into the mind of the other designer. However, if I were asked to copy someone’s work, I’d feel considerably demotivated – perhaps to the point that I’d just dash the thing off, with nary a thought to accuracy or style. Just get the job done, move along, nothing to see here. Next job please! I suppose, at least, there’s a cost saving to be made, and the other chaps gets to go home on time ;)

Client: why re-invent the wheel?
Designer: well, I don’t think it should have as many spokes!

I’m not forced to go out into the snow first thing on a Monday morning because I have to trudge into town to an uninviting office and an uninviting day’s work.

The full thing here: Bear Alley: Comic Cuts.

If they’re all so worried about cost, I’ll nip round to few signs with a big black marker pen, and stick the sodding apostrophes in. Or back in, if removed – dammit!!

Or will that mean I’ll get prosecuted for tagging?