VERTIGO: Rogan Gosh
John J Smith
Joel D. Priddy <cde...@cabell.vcu.edu> wrote:
>
>Rogan Gosh was a lot of fun, and in a completely new way. It reminded
>me of Gene Wolfe's books in that the fantastical qualities were so
>different from what you expect or have seen before that you can't
>really read very far into it at all before you have to set it down
>and daydream about the possibilities implied in just a fragment of a
>sentence. Wonderful wonderful good. I think the best, most
>appropriate comment I can make is that I've had a major craving for
>Indian food ever since I read it.
>BTW, does anybody know of Amurican sources for the Hindi comics
>mentioned in the introduction that inspired this story?
Rogan Josh seemed to sell out in our local comic shop, so I must ask
the question, since I haven't seen the first Vertigo issue... Is this
the same story as the "Rogan Josh" published in Revolver a couple of
years ago, before it went down in flames.. Or is it new stuff???
Smid
! sm...@fulcrum.co.uk, all opinions my own strangely enough !
! Obey, Consume, Marry, Reproduce: don't you ever feel sedated? !
Doug Shaw
In article <1994Mar25.1...@midway.uchicago.edu>, lf...@ellis.uchicago.edu (Rogan Glenn) writes:
|>
|> Highly recommended.
|>
I normally hate "I agree" posts but I'll do it on the off chance that
some of you believed that the only reason Rogan Glenn gave this book
a favorable review is that his name sounds like the name of the main
character.
I agree. Buy this book.
Doug
Damon B. Crumpler
i'd have to say skin is my least favorite milligan story,
and since macarthy helped him out
on that one, i
was none too enthusiastic over this one.
however, i picked it up anyway out of loyalty for
milligan, whom on his good days i like better than gaiman.
the art was absolutely fantastic, and just
blew me away, especially because of my former opinion
of macarthy from skin.
the story really worked (or is that i really worked on the
story?) once i figured out waht was going on
(to whatever extent that's possible)
i actually was displeased with milligan epilogue, as
i think it detracts from the theme of the
story by explaining what the theme is, when
the theme is partially that you're not supposed to figure out
the theme (or something to that effect- you've read it-
you know what i mean)
i would caution all you vertigo watchers out there
who are not familiar with milligan's work to think long
and hard before getting it. milligan is
not the most accessible of writers, and this ceratinly applies to rogan gosh.
as a postcript proof in addendum, the store owner from whom i picked up the book\
remarked upon my purchase that while he likes stories dealing with
indian subjects/culture, this book was "really out there",
and i don't think he enjoyed it at all...
--
We dance around the ring and suppose, but The Secret lies in the
center and knows.(Frost) I know things that have been forgot(Sim)
Knowledge is evil.Infinity means everything is true.Maximal chaos
=maximal homogenaeity.(me) 4.66920(Feigenbaum) z=z(2)+c
Food of the Glenns
>In article <2n6vii$7...@controversy.math.lsa.umich.edu>,
Glenn is a many-fingered thing. I gotta tell you this? :-)
(I stole it from Greg, I ain't the only one whose chron reminds him to
change his name :-)
>Good thing you weren't reviewing Xxxenophile!
>That would raise a few eyebrows (amongst other things).
Why, Iain, I didn't think you guys cared. :-) :-) :-)
A few years back, the finger name was in fact Xxxenoglenn. I also
meant to use Omaha the Cat Glenner, but I don't think I ever got a
Round Tuit. Anyway, at the time I was playing with PGP etc. at work,
so at the bottom of stuff was "finger xxxenoglenn for public key".
Except I misspelled public. Purely an accident, of course. >B^)
Finger is the only Unix tool that doubles as a straight line. :-)
And Rogan Gosh was great even before Milligan named it after me, So
There! >B^)
Pax ex machina,
Glenn
......................................................................
"Hoffmanite throwing fork. *Don't* make me use the spoon."
--- Buck Godot
"Secret, secret, what's a secret? This is the information age."
--- the Geek
"If I'm going to live an illusion, I wish it to be my own illusion."
--- Rogan Gosh
g-car...@uchicago.edu, if you must know
......................................................................
ber...@d0phy1.fnal.gov
> In article <1994Mar28...@d0phy1.fnal.gov> ber...@d0phy1.fnal.gov writes:
>>Hey Glenn, why didn't you tell us you were changing your name!!!
>
> Glenn is a many-fingered thing. I gotta tell you this? :-)
>
> (I stole it from Greg, I ain't the only one whose chron reminds him to
> change his name :-)
I know Greg does it.....
(well he wishes he did it)
>
>>Good thing you weren't reviewing Xxxenophile!
>>That would raise a few eyebrows (amongst other things).
>
> Why, Iain, I didn't think you guys cared. :-) :-) :-)
We don't I just want a good line out of all this.
>
> Finger is the only Unix tool that doubles as a straight line. :-)
Nice to nkow I'm not the only pervert on the net :-)
>
> And Rogan Gosh was great even before Milligan named it after me, So
> There! >B^)
Well its a convloluted I think so too.
>
Iain
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- DR A. - "Woof bloody woof." -
- - -- (Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures) -
- (Iain A. Bertram) - -
- BER...@FNALD0.FNAL.GOV - -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Food of the Glenns
>
>i'd have to say skin is my least favorite milligan story,
>and since macarthy helped him out
>on that one, i
>was none too enthusiastic over this one.
Huh. We're in serious disagreement here, it easily got my vote for
best GN last year (or the year before, whenever it was :-).
Seriously, I thought it was incredible, one of the best comix I'd ever
read. But that was a very straight-forward story for Milligan, and
Carol Swain did the colors, for the most subdued work I've seen from
McCarthy. They couldn't be further apart in terms of style and
substance and still be the same creators. :-) Maybe it's an age thing.
In '79 I was 18 doin' the punk thing and laughing at Hebdige
(predictively, I mean :-), so I'm a good age to relate to this stuff,
I guess. It's a solid book in any case, I think.
>however, i picked it up anyway out of loyalty for
>milligan, whom on his good days i like better than gaiman.
Well, regulars know what a Sand-boy I am, but Milligan's my favorite
Vertigo writer. All that means is that I generally have more fun
reading his books the first time. However, Gaiman's books are the
ones I go back and re-read several times. Neither one approaches
Moore in my estimation, though. Milligan's stuff doesn't always work
for me, either. As I believe Damon and I have discussed before, I
think he chokes sometimes on the endings.
>the art was absolutely fantastic, and just
>blew me away, especially because of my former opinion
>of macarthy from skin.
You should maybe check out Strange Days and Paradax (mid-'80s from
Eclipse here in the states), they may be more to your liking. It's
Milligan/McCarthy stuff that is more like Rogan Gosh. However, Rogan
Gosh is the best from them, IMnotsoHO.
>the story really worked (or is that i really worked on the
>story?) once i figured out what was going on
>(to whatever extent that's possible)
I'm not the best read in the world by any stretch, but I've never seen
a narrative technique quite like this before. The amazing thing is
that it worked (for me in any case ;-) as it was a pretty big risk.
>i actually was displeased with milligan epilogue, as
>i think it detracts from the theme of the
>story by explaining what the theme is, when
>the theme is partially that you're not supposed to figure out
>the theme (or something to that effect- you've read it-
>you know what i mean)
I understand what you're saying, and you'd definitely be right if
you're the sort of person that reads the afterword first (in which
case you asked for it :-). However, given the self-conscious way in
which it was written, it makes perfect sense to me. And he didn't
really make the decision for you, he just told you what he thought
about it, in a fairly non-commital and appropriately ambiguous
fashion. How often do you even get that? :-) I thought the foreward
and afterward were much better done than the average bear, and the
reason I say this is that they were both intimate to the reading
experience and well-integrated into the work as a whole. This is
*incredibly* rare in comix, you usually get "X writer/artist/whatever
is great because...., I've known hir since...., ". There are
exceptions, of course (Gaiman's script being a particularly notable
one, also V For Vendetta, and the Watchmen for the total lack thereof,
the latter couldn't have possibly been more appropriate :-). I'm not
belabouring this because I disagree with you, but rather because it
struck me as a unusually tight piece which was organically whole.
Well, apart from one intrusive bit which was obviously the beginning
of a new prog. If it weren't for that, the only analogue that occurs
to me, as pretentious as it sounds, is the Watchmen TPB. Please note
that I'm only speaking to the structure of all the pages between the
covers taken as one, I could write a thesis delineating other facets
of Watchmen that are far and away superior. ":-)
>i would caution all you vertigo watchers out there
>who are not familiar with milligan's work to think long
>and hard before getting it. milligan is
>not the most accessible of writers, and this ceratinly applies to rogan gosh.
I suppose. However, it is something different. If the Vertigo reader
is really an "alternative" reader, meaning they're looking for the
unusual and innovative, desperately hoping to escape the pedestrian
mainstream peacocks and the more cliched of the b&w's, this is the
ticket. Personally, in my experience they are. In general, Karen
Berger's simply managed to misplace what she once knew as well as
anyone, IMO. Although, if you believe The Hype, Good Things are
coming. Reprinting Rogan Gosh, is the first thing to dent my
skepticism on this issue this year. So, my advice would be to flip
through it and go with your instincts. If you're intrigued by what
you see, hit the ground running. If it turns you off, put it back on
the shelf.
>as a postcript proof in addendum, the store owner from whom i picked
> up the book
>remarked upon my purchase that while he likes stories dealing with
>indian subjects/culture, this book was "really out there",
>and i don't think he enjoyed it at all...
Heh. :-) That it is, that it is ... Wouldn't recommend stuffing your
Dad's Christmas stocking with it, either. :-) OTOH, I can't imagine a
Shade fan or an ex-fan who wouldn't get a kick out of it. But I'm
sure there are others, it never pays to generalize.
Pax ex machina,
Glenn
......................................................................
"Shake it and slide it on over here. I got corn. Hep."
--- Slap Daddy
Food of the Glenns
>Rogan Josh seemed to sell out in our local comic shop, so I must ask
>the question, since I haven't seen the first Vertigo issue... Is this
>the same story as the "Rogan Josh" published in Revolver a couple of
>years ago, before it went down in flames.. Or is it new stuff???
Yes, it is the Revolver story. However, it's the reprinted in it's
entirety (there's no second issue :-)
Pax ex machina,
Glenn
......................................................................
"Welcome to Neither-Nor. You ain't. We ain't."
--- Rogan Gosh
Dewi Morgan
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