Pixel Scroll 10/7 The Sprite Stuff

(1) “The Phantom Fame: ‘Space Ghost Coast to Coast,’ Secretly TV’s Most Influential Show”. Shea Serrano explains his theory on Grantland.

Repurposing existing Space Ghost images from the original cartoons, Lazzo created the first animated late-night talk show in 1994. Operated in tandem with Keith Crofford, a fellow Southerner with whom Lazzo shared an office as well as seemingly a brain, the show boasted a premise that was somehow both simple and endlessly, mutably ridiculous. Now retired from the business of fighting intergalactic evil, Space Ghost (real name: Tad Ghostal) and a support staff consisting of his imprisoned enemies Zorak (anthropomorphic mantis/bandleader) and Moltar (gravel-voiced lava man/director) flies face-first into show business, interviewing pop-culture luminaries through a monitor screen lowered into the chair where a guest would normally sit. Interviews with the celebrities involved were filmed separately, in largely improvisational fashion, then combined with the cartoon characters’ dialogue — often producing results diametrically opposed to the context of the original questions.

(2) Christopher Martin says “Everybody’s Invited To My All-Male, All-White Literary Panel” on McSweeneys Internet Tendency.

Dear Writers,

Congratulations on having a short story accepted for publication in the anthology Rusted, Lusted, Busted: Contemporary Southern Fiction, edited by myself and my good buddy Richard Head!

Richard and I, both of us straight cisgender nominally Christian white males, have put a shit-ton of work into this anthology, mostly over beers and hot wings at the local Tilted Kilt while our wives assumed 100% of the burden of watching our kids. Now this baby we’ve labored over is out and it’s time to party!

That’s why we’re hosting an all-male, all-white panel tomorrow at Lily White Books in Mansfield, SC, to celebrate the anthology’s release and your contributions to it. We’d love it if some of you could come be part of the panel!

Given the twelve-hour notice, however, along with our inability to compensate you in any way, and our unwillingness to compensate you even if we could, I completely understand that most of you — including all our woefully underrepresented contributors who do not identify as heterosexual white men — will not be able to participate in this seminal event, except perhaps as late-arriving, paying audience members ($5 at the door).

(3) SF Signal’s latest Mind Meld, curated by Paul Weimer, taps the contributors’ autobiographies.

For each one of us, there is a book, or a series, that hooked us on genre fiction. Maybe it was the first SF book you read, maybe you had to read a couple before you hit the one that hooked you.

Tell me what book got you to become a fan of SFF, and why?

Answering the question are Gail Carriger, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Yoon Ha Lee, Rachel Swirsky, Beth Cato, Tehani Wessely, Alan Baxter, Sarah Hendrix, Olivia Waite, Anthony R. Cardno, Ann VanderMeer, Sarah Williams, Pamela Sargent, Jaye Wells, Mike Glyer, Sabrina Vourvoulias, , Kerry Schafer, Jim Henley, Melanie R. Meadors, M L Brennan, Meghan B., and Jon Courtenay Grimwood.

(4) The author explains it all to you in “The Big Idea: Ann Leckie” on Whatever.

So instead of going over the AJ stuff again–what is a person? Who is anybody anyway?–I instead give you the Ancillary FAQ. These are all questions I’ve actually gotten (or oveheard) at one time or another.

Q: How can you possibly wrap the story up in one more volume? There’s too much going on; I don’t see how you could manage it.

A: The easiest way for me to answer that is to actually do it. Which I have, and you can see the answer for yourself wherever fine books are sold. Or at a library near you. I love libraries. They’re awesome.

Q: Will there be more books after this one?

A: There will be more books, and certainly more books in this universe, but not books about Breq. Nothing against her, I’ve had a lovely time these past three books, but it will be nice to do something different.

(5) Brian Fung’s article for the Washington Post, “’The Martian,’ NASA and the rise of a science-entertainment complex”, looks at the extensive cooperation between NASA and the producers of The Martian, and notes that NASA hopes to get more out of this film than other projects with which it has extensively cooperated (like the Transformers movies).

When Navy flyboy Tom Cruise got too close for missiles and switched to guns in the spring of 1986, what seemed like an entire nation got up to follow him. Military recruitment booths popped up in theaters, eager to attract young Americans who’d just seen Maverick tell Charlie about the inverted dive he’d done at four Gs against a MiG-28.

To say “Top Gun” was a boon for recruitment would be an understatement. That year, the Navy signed up 16,000 more people than it did the entire year before, according to the author Richard Parker, writing for Proceedings, the U.S. Naval Institute’s monthly magazine. Other estimates suggest that among naval aviators alone, this spike in registrations amounted to growth rates of 500 percent….

With “The Martian,” NASA has the same opportunity defense officials had in the 1980s, only now with additional social media superpowers. By highlighting everything from the real-world technologies depicted in “The Martian” to explaining the science behind Martian dust storms to calling on young women to take after the fictional Ares III mission commander, Melissa Lewis, NASA’s hoping to turn moviegoers into the nation’s next generation of scientists, technologists and the other all-around bad-ass eggheads celebrated in the film. In the run-up to the movie’s release, NASA even made a major announcement about the discovery of liquid water on Mars that some believed was simply too conveniently timed to be a coincidence.

(6) The Motherboard’s Jason Koebler eschews any idea of a jolly NASA/media alliance from the very first words in his post “NASA Wants Astronauts to Use Mars’s Natural Resources to Survive”.

Humans have thoroughly wrecked Earth’s environment, now it’s time to move on to using the natural resources of another planet.

Fresh off the discovery of flowing, liquid water on Mars, NASA said Wednesday it wants ideas for how to best exploit the natural resources of the Red Planet for human survival…. NASA plans on giving away modest $10,000 and $2,500 prizes to people who can come up with potentially viable ideas for Mars resource use.

(7) Todd VanDerWerff asked the editors of The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015 to name “10 of the best science fiction and fantasy short stories ever” for Vox.

Because some of the most exciting American writing is happening in the fields of science fiction and fantasy right now, I hopped on the phone with the book’s two editors, Joe Hill and John Joseph Adams, to hear their picks for the 10 best science fiction and fantasy stories ever written.

They included stories from Malamud, Tiptree, LeGuin, Keyes, Harlan Ellison, Link, Bradbury, Borges, and others.

(8) Today In History –

  • October 7, 1849 – Edgar Allan Poe succumbs to a mysterious condition, days after having been found delirious in the streets of Baltimore. Tragically, only seven people attended his funeral. Quoth the Raven: Nevermore.
  • October 7, 1960 — CBS broadcasts the premiere episode of “Route 66.”  Why do we care? Because Episode #79, “A Gift for a Warrior” was based on a story by Harlan Ellison.

(9) “Superman’s Getting a Brand New Secret Identity” and io9 has the name. Spolier warning!

Spoilers ahead for today’s Action Comics #45!

Now that Superman (and Clark) are taking the heat for Lois’ story leaking his alter-ego, Kal-El has had to go into hiding and lay low. Fired from the Daily Planet when his co-workers discover they’d been in grave danger simply by being in Clark’s vicinity all the time, and facing persecution from the Government, Superman has vanished… and replaced himself with a mild-mannered trucker.

Yes, Clark Kent is now Archie Clayton! It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it?

(10) The Today show reunited the Rocky Horror cast for an interview, including Susan Sarandon, Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick and Meat Loaf.

(11) Unlike many other original Ghostbusters cast members, Rick Moranis turned down the offer to appear in the reboot.

When the new all-female Ghostbusters reboot arrives in theaters next summer, nearly all the living actors from the original 1980s films — Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, et al. — will be doing cameos. But not Rick Moranis, who was offered the chance to appear in a walk-on role but turned it down. “I wish them well,” says the 62-year-old comedic legend, who’s so stunned by the outcry over his absence in the film that he decided to grant a rare interview with THR. “I hope it’s terrific. But it just makes no sense to me. Why would I do just one day of shooting on something I did 30 years ago?”

(12) In a follow-up to his “Fisking the New York Times’ Modern Man”, Larry Correia’s “Update! Modern Manhood ACHIEVED!” shares photos of his important new acquisition —

Yes! That is a melon baller! Despite my never buying shoes for her, my wife purchased this for me when she saw it in a store. Because Modern Manhood ACHIEVED!

Now all I need is some Kenneth Cole oxfords and a crying pillow, and I’m set.

(13) Coin World discusses a silver coin commemorating exploration of the space-time continuum.

2015-Cooks-Island-Space-Time-Continuum

A four-dimensional concept is now presented in a three-dimensional format.

A 2015 $2 coin in the name of Cook Islands visibly explains the relationship between space and time, as created by scientist Hermann Minkowski. Building on Albert Einstein’s 1905 Special Theory of Relativity, Minkowski suspected the existence of a fourth dimension (time, in addition to height, width and length), in which space and time are connected geometrically, and he created a diagram illustrating the connection.

The Prooflike half-ounce .999 fine silver $2 Space–Time Continuum coin was issued by Coin Invest Trust. It was struck by B. H. Mayer‘s Kunstprägeanstalt Mint in Munich, Germany.

The reverse of the coin depicts the Minkowski diagram, a geometric illustration of the formula of special relativity, which is engraved in one of the diagram’s columns together with the inscription SPACE–TIME CONTINUUM. The center of the high-relief coin is marked with a magnetic sphere, which can be removed.

The obverse, whose shape is a mirror or inversion of the reverse, displays the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the issuing nation and the face value.

Einstein incorporated Minkowski’s ideas into his general theory of relativity in 1915, six years after Minkowski died.

(14) A black eye for Myke Cole?

[Thanks to JJ, Martin Morse Wooster, Rob Thornton and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Will R.]

209 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 10/7 The Sprite Stuff

  1. Anna Feruglio Dal Dan on October 9, 2015 at 11:29 am said:

    Sorry, to correct what I said above: the red eye effect (which is completely separate and independent from the eyeshine seen in animals with tapetum lucidum) is not light reflected off the retina but the structure behind the retina, on which I will not elaborate more. It’s red because as a structure is is very vascularised, that is, rich in blood vessels.

    It was all good. I’m just waiting now for an opportunity when I can just casually drop all this stuff into an otherwise normal conversation at work.

  2. My relationship to Dragonlance was weird. I bought the first modules and loved reading them, but never ran or played them. And aside from any questions about railroads,

    Back in my former life as a game store owner, a customer once told me about how his players derailed his Dragonlance campaign early on (going off memory here so details fuzzy):

    The players go to an abandoned village at one point, one with a dry well leading into caverns. In those caverns is a dragon who will attack the players if they wake it up by, oh, dropping a coin into the well. Or it would have in this case had the PC who dropped the coin not gotten frustrated that he had not heard it hit the bottom and followed the coin up the village blacksmith’s anvil. Which did enough damage to kill the dragon outright as it flew up the well. Before anyone saw it.

    Having found nothing of interest, the party leaves the village. Months later, they decide that they missed something important in the village and go back. This time they find the caverns and in them, the decayed corpse of a dragon killed by a single bow to the head.

    Since the party completely forgot the incident with anvil, cue incredible fear and paranoia as they explore caverns that apparently are home to something that kills dragons with a single blow.

  3. Quick comment on link 1) before catching up –

    You actually got me to visit Grantland. And it was a good visit. Well done!

    (Really, the importance of SPC2C cannot be overstated. Adult Swim was the reason we held onto our cable package for so long)

  4. @junego

    I thought the Campbell eligibility was for first published novel, but now that I think about it, I must be wrong. Some of the Puppy nominees only had one published story.

  5. Just to confirm with the commentariat… Graydon Saunders is eligible for the Campbell, isn’t he?

  6. At one point I, too, had gotten the vague (but erroneous) notion that Campbell eligibility was based on novels only. It was a minor (if theoretical) disappointment when my first novel came out and I looked into the matter more closely and discovered that my hypothetical Campbell eligibility had expired years ago at a point when nobody except readers of the Sword and Sorceress anthologies had ever heard of me.

    There’s definitely an advantage, with regard to the Campbell, in having your first published work be a novel (to say nothing of being a novel from a publisher that gives it publicity support). I imagine that getting nominated on the basis of short fiction requires either a pretty big splash or a pre-existing fanbase. (Or, you know, underhanded campaigns.)

  7. I don’t think Graydon had any published fiction before he put out The March North but I don’t know for sure.

  8. Shall we start up round two of the Rory Root Memorial Comics Bracket?

    Now with numbered pairs for your convenience.

    1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

  9. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

  10. junego: Is Dickinson eligible? From comments I saw at either Amazon or Goodreads, I got the impression his short stories had been published for several years.

    Yes, in fact, his first SFF publication was in 2011: the short story on which Traitor is based, at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

    Editor’s Note, Nov. 2014: Beware! If you want to avoid spoilers for The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Seth’s Fall 2015 debut novel, don’t read this story yet; it spoils everything!

  11. Since the party completely forgot the incident with anvil, cue incredible fear and paranoia as they explore caverns that apparently are home to something that kills dragons with a single blow.

    Wouldn’t there have been an anvil lying near the remains of the dragon?

  12. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    Argh, difficult.

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt

    Also difficult, but not quite so much.

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    Another difficult choice.

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    I never particularly cared for Watchmen. V is much better.

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    Abstain.

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

    Sorry, RedWombat, but Planetary was a personal favourite.

    This vote is brought to you from the far future of 4859, where Mecki the Hedgehog is considered the best comic strip of all time.

  13. I can vote in a few of these.

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

  14. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    This was easy. No contest at all.

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt

    Oh, hard one. Thought Saga lost a little steam in the last volume, but I was never that fond of Corto Maltese.

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    Arrrrgh!!! This is just so…. arrrrgh!! This is horrible. Heinous. I will have to go for Tintin, but ouch. The worst in all brackets.

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    Not even a contest.

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    None. I’ll vote for Will Eisners “A Contract With God” instead.

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    Didn’t like Animal Man that mouch. Like any superhero comic, but a bit more boring.

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    Not interested in any of them. I’ll vote for Modesty Blaise instead.

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    Another horrible one, but I’ll have to go for Watchmen. So many details in it that it’s crazy.

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    Swamp Thing had John Constantine in it, and that is all that matters.

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    Akira was destroyed for me by having watched the movie before. But I’m not that fond of Bone.

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    Abstain.

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    I really liked X-Men at that time, but it hasn’t aged well.

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    Abstain.

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    Abstain.

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    For the artwork.

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    Not interested in reading books about comics. I want to read the comic.

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    No contest. But none of them should really win anything.

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

    Abstain.

  15. 1. Peanuts
    2. Saga
    3. Tintin
    4. Calvin and Hobbes
    5. Nemo
    6. Asterix
    7. Doonesbury
    8. ick, abstain
    9. Swamp Thing
    10. Bone
    11. arghghghghggh… We3, for more feels.
    12. X-Men
    13. Girl Genius
    14. Pogo
    15. Hark! A Vagrant
    16. Astro City
    17. Hyperbole and a Half
    18. Digger

  16. I can vote on some of these…

    1. PINK AND BROWN
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

  17. Shall we start up round two of the Rory Root Memorial Comics Bracket?

    Now with numbered pairs for your convenience.

    1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    Tie

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    Tie for hubby

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon

    Hubby weighed in so in some cases it’s my pick, others it’s his, others we agreed. LOL

  18. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Sorry Ms Marvel but Peanuts is too big,

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Corto Maltese didn’t click with me when I read some of it a longggg time ago but maybe a dodgy translation. Going with Saga.

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    Gaiman

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
    Bechdel – yes, I haven’t read it but this is for other things

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    A story about a man coming to terms with his father – and some other things…

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Getafix of Asterix.

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    We love you all….

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
    What’s a little fascism between friends?

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Can’t not vote for Bartleby

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe
    XKCD beats weaponised Plague Dogs

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    God Warrior beats X-Men

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Tough one but Beaton is more original

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
    Ouch – but MCloud wins

  19. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    evil evil evil person.

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon

  20. Lots of these are hard, but something has to go down I guess.

    1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon

  21. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    Poor Kamala. Not who you want to face your first time out.

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    Daughter’s proxy.

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various

    Sandman. Arguably Tintin is the greater work, but Sandman means more to me. And it’s all about me.

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    Very few things in the brackets I’d vote ahead of this.

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

    I certainly liked Animal Man, but not enough to beat the foreign classic this time.

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau

    The Trinity for me is Schultz, Trudeau and Watterson.

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

    Not a hard choice for me.

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch

    This Swamp Thing run even has a better Batman story than Dark Knight Returns.

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    This is one of those facecloth situations. But, Is Gud Dog.

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki

    More like Eff-Men amirite?

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    So great.

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly

    Despite the fact that there’s very little actual pogoing.

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    Sorry, Kurt. I still love Astro City!

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    I can even imagine a hilarious Brosh sequence about how creepy Donna Troy’s romance with the author stand-in was.

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon

    Turning savagely against Planetary this round because of the torture porn toward the end of the series.

  22. Bracket stalk!

    1. Peanuts
    3. Sandman
    4. Calvin & Hobbes
    5. Maus
    7. Doonesbury
    8. Watchmen. Oooof.
    9. Dark Knight Returns
    11. xkcd
    12. X-Men
    13. Girl Genius
    15. Kingdom Come
    16. Astro City
    17. New Teen Titans
    18. Digger

  23. 1. Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    2. Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt

    3. The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various

    4. Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    5. Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    6. The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

    7. Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau

    8. V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    9. Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch

    10. Bone, Jeff Smith

    11. We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    13. Zot!, Scott McCloud

    14. Pogo, Walt Kelly

  24. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

  25. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    I wanted to like Ms Marvel more than I did, but in this match-up I have to go with Schulz.

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    Oh ouch ouch ouch. *grabs forehead cloth (lavender-scented) and drops a few coins in the box* Bechdel on the strength of the entire corpus, although Fun Home is in many ways a very different genre than DTWOF.

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    The last three were easy ones for me.

    abstained from a bunch where I’ve read neither

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    I dunno, I’ve read bits of Girl Genius, but as I said on the last round, it kind of leaves me cold. Abstain.

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

    And once again I’ll remark that I really do mean to read Digger. In fact, if it were available in the iTunes store, I would have just bought it. Guess I’l wait for Chessiecon and get a hard copy (so I can get it signed).

  26. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

  27. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    pass

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    pass

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon

  28. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez

    With the number of people I know with depression, I feel especially badly about this, alot.

  29. @Jim Henley:

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch

    This Swamp Thing run even has a better Batman story than Dark Knight Returns.

    …and which issue of the run had that story? I bet you could take an educated guess.

  30. @redheadedfemme

    Stupid $&#% old, almost broken iPad. Tried to link to a page & it blinked and dumped everything I’d written.

    Shortened answer on John W. Campbell Award. Any professional publication of SFF fiction in previous 2 years is requirement/limit. No linky, sorry.

    (Getting new iPad soon as belated b’day gift from grandkids!)

  31. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
    Tie

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

  32. I can only vote on one pair.

    1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    I liked Ms. Marvel, but I religiously read Peanuts growing up. Uneven, but when it was good, it really hit you in the feels.

  33. @CassyB, @DavidGoldfarb —

    The March North is my first published fiction, but as I read the Campbell rules, it’s not eligible because there’s a minimum-print-run size rule, and for an ebook that pertains to copies sold and it’s not within an order of magnitude of meeting the requirement.

  34. @Graydon, but you now have two novels out; surely your copies-sold are high enough when totaled across both? (And if they’re not yet, rest assured I’ve been talking them up to everyone I know. Battle Sheep! So maybe by the time nominations close you’ll have hit whatever threshhold number the Campbells need….)

  35. I’ve read more of these than I thought.

    1. Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
    3. The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    4. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
    7. Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
    8. V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd
    11. XKCD, Randall Munroe
    17. Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
    18. Digger, Ursula Vernon

  36. @Cassy B — Thank you! I’m most glad you like it that much. (Or at least Eustace. 🙂

    If I’m unwinding the Campbell FAQ correctly, the easiest way to qualify is via the SFWA rules, option 2 in the Campbell rules. (Option 1 involves a print run and option 3 involves a paying market, neither of which are in evidence for the Commonweal books.)

    That gets to

    A published work of fiction of a minimum of 40,000 words either sold to a small press or self-published for which the author can demonstrate net income of at least $3,000 over the course of a year since January 1, 2013. Income can be in the form of advance, royalties, or some combination thereof.

    So I’m pretty sure I can’t aggregate sales across novels. Or count 2014 and 2015 sales together. (I suppose I could understand the “course of a year” as “a continuous twelve month period of time” but that doesn’t help.)

    If I ask Google how many copies have sold so far, it’s a bit under 300. (This is grounds for wide eyes and astonishment and some hopping up and down with glee; I expected that number to be about twelve when I sent The March North out into the world.) Other sales channels are about a fifth of the Google sales so perhaps 350 copies total since publication. That wouldn’t be close on gross income, and it says net, which remains negative. (One must pay the copy-editor and the cover designer.)

    The plus side is that if Commonweal #n-for-large-n is inexplicably popular and makes enough money to qualify, I will still be eligible for the Campbell when it does, a prospect I find highly amusing.

  37. The Rory Root Memorial Comics Bracket
    Now with numbered pairs for your convenience.

    1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    The dice are back.

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    Nope
    I can’t

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    Nope

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    sniff

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    Nope

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    Nope

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

    It’s just going to get worse from here on.

  38. Yay, numbers! Thank you for the numbers.

    1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    I was just listening to the musical last night.

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

    A lot of hard choices, and this time when I couldn’t decide, instead of declaring a tie, I didn’t vote.

  39. 1. Peanuts
    4. Fun Home
    5. Little Nemo
    7. Astro Boy
    8. V for Vendetta
    10. Bone
    12. Naüsica
    15. Hark, a Vagrant!
    17. Hyperbole and a Half

  40. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    While I’m not excited by Ms. Marvel, I’ve never felt the urge to own a book of Peanuts.

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    Because a page or two had me tearing up.

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    Ack! Tie.

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman

    The first autobiographical comic I’ve read and still the best, despite strong competition since.

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

    Because they’re hilarious!

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

    There’s lots of things I wouldn’t vote Watchmen above, but V for Vendetta? Watch,en every time. Even if I did skip every damn page of boring stuff about about owls.

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch

    Now, this Moore? This Moore is good stuff.

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    Even if it did knock Nimona out.

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe

    Honestly wasn’t all that impressed with We3 so this was easy.

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki

    I’m more of an X-Men cartoons person than a X-Men comics person, and Miyazaki is wonderful.

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton

    Alex Ross’ art always leaves me cold. Easy choice.

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson

    Since I finally got around to starting it… 🙂

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    Funniest thing in the bracket, but also delivers on the emotion and depth.

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

    Argh. Tie.

    (All abstentions = votes for Sydney Padua’s The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, Gail Simone and Neil Googe’s Welcome to Tranquility, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne’s Oglaf, Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona, or Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen’s Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E..)

  41. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Pass

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    Pass

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    pass

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    Pass

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Pass

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Pass

  42. 1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various

    For all the reasons everyone else has given. I’m more than a little sorry that Kamala went up against this juggernaut on her first chance….

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt

    I like Saga enough to vote it over something I haven’t read, plus this is a revenge vote on Corto Maltese for knocking out PS 238.

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    Tintin is fun, but Morpheus is part of my psyche.

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

    Abstain. Katie would disown me if I voted against Bechdel, and Calvin doesn’t need my help.

    (I don’t think I can vote for the Bechdel when I haven’t read it.)

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay

    Another tough choice, but Maus was too groundbreaking.

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    Hilarious beats brilliantly metafictional.

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    Abstain.

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    Wow, a tough one. V is an amazing, soul-searing drama; Watchmen is one hell of a piece of theater. Neither manages real closure on their ending.

    Aaargh, I can’t do it. Tie.

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    …now that one was easy.

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    The Great Red Dragon tries to avenge the fallen Nimona.

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    Nausicäa herself is an amazing feat of characterization: a saint/messiah figure who is credible as such, and who is also richly human. Chris Claremont was never as good; but he wrote characters who, when I was 12, felt like part of my family. A close one.

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
    Zot!, Scott McCloud

    Much as I love Agatha and her companions and her world, Scott McCloud wrote characters who, when I was 20, felt like part of my family.

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner

    Pogo is the more sustained and lasting achievement.

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross

    Eh, I was never that thrilled with Kingdom Come.

    This next one is almost as tough as the Moore matchup. McCloud won my lasting affection as described above; and Understanding Comics is a seminal and lasting work of criticism. But Astro City has been a title I’ve been actively excited to buy for a full twenty years now.

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    …and “lasting importance” wins out. Someone bring me a forehead cloth please.

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    For some reason I never bought Teen Titans as it was coming out, in its glory days.

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

    Nor the Ellis books neither.

  43. Pingback: Amazing Stories | AMAZING NEWS FROM FANDOM 10/12/15 - Amazing Stories

  44. Note: If you have not read the genius that is Hyperbole and a Half, “The God of Cake” is a wonderful place to start. I once got Allie Brosh’s agent interested in my pitch for a stage adaptation of the comic, but never heard back from Allie herself–suspect she was overwhelmed with email. Maybe some day… http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/10/god-of-cake.html

    1. PINK AND BROWN
    Peanuts, Charles Schulz
    Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
    Ms. Marvel is a strong starter. Peanuts is an institution that re-defined the form.

    2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt
    Stares at Corto Maltese. (“What… what IS this?”) Cheerfully votes Saga.

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi
    Sandman is one of the greatest works of fiction written in the past 30 years. Liked Tintin as a kid when I didn’t know about its casual racism.

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
    Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
    Ooooooffffff. Fun Home would’ve survived 90% of the matchups in this bracket. But I can’t.

    5. AMERICAN DREAM, GERMAN NIGHTMARE
    Maus, Art Spiegelman
    Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
    A contest, but I have to go with the terrifying Maus.

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog
    Morrison’ll survive.

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka
    Doonesbury still dominates.

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd
    Watchmen is so layered, detailed, intricate. V for Vendetta is good. Watchmen is great.

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Bone, Jeff Smith
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo
    Bone forever!

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    XKCD, Randall Munroe
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
    Like I said, Morrison’ll live. 🙂 At some point, emotional content and storytelling has to enter the picture. It sounds like I’m slagging XKCD–I’m not, it’s good for what it is–but We3 is both more ambitious and more successful. XKCD has the occasional gorgeous strip, but We3 is amazing throughout.

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne
    Just because.

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
    Zot!, Scott McCloud
    WHYYYYYYYYY.

    14. COWBIRDS VS. GRACKLEFLINTS
    Pogo, Walt Kelly
    Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner
    Kudos to Mage on a hard-fought battle, but with Pogo, we’re dealing with one of the greats.

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
    Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross
    Beaton’s style is so distinctive I can easily imagine a strip of her characters reacting to a bracket victory.

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    NOOOOOOOOOOO.
    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.


    I am deploying the emergency “TIE” option.
    Remember that one issue of Astro City about the guy in love with a girl he couldn’t remember, because she was from a parallel universe that never existed? And the superheroes track him down and explain what happened? Remember reading Understanding Comics for the first time? I do.

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
    Hyperbole and a Half crushes it.
    I am now recognizing that Hyperbole and a Half, Sandman, Calvin and Hobbes, and either of the items from 16 may go up against each other, which will probably cause my brain to explode.

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Digger, Ursula Vernon
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady
    THE CORN MADE ME DO IT, URSULA.

  45. (note: abstaining from #9 because I haven’t read Swamp Thing, so not fair to Moore to vote, although Dark Night Returns is fantastic.)

  46. 2. SAILORS ON DIFFERENT SEAS
    Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    4. EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY
    Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog

    7. FOREVER YOUNG
    Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    V narrowly wins out here for me.

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch

    10. COW RACE, MOTORCYCLE RACE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
    Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

    11. STAND BACK, I’M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE
    We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki

    Christ, that one was tough

    13. SPARKS FLY
    Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio

    15. HARK! A MAGOG
    Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    17. ALL THE FEELS
    Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

    18. CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN?
    Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady

  47. I’m going to close the bracket voting at 6:00 my time, so about an hour and a quarter.

  48. 3. IN DREAMS I WALK WITH U
    The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
    The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi

    The Sandman

    6. ANOTHER WILD BOAR, PLEASE
    The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
    Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog
    Asterix sorry Grant

    8. MOORE’S MASTERWORKS
    Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd

    Watchmen, but wouldn’t hate either winning

    9. WASN’T THAT ISSUE #53?
    Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
    The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller

    Swamp Thing easy

    12. RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS
    Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
    X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne

    Haven’t read Nausicaa but X-Men (fanboy)

    16. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
    Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

    Astro City

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