ASB...

[altivo]

So I finished the whole thing. I had to, it was quite compulsive. It feels unusual to have a comic story actually come to an end with nothing more forthcoming, but it was well done just the same. The characters are just adorable, every one of them, and if the setting is a little over the top, it just serves to showcase the interactions that much better. I can't express how delighted I was at the end to find out that Ricky was a top of the class student in physics and astronomy and that Stephen was in pre-med. As for Marcus, well, I can't blame Danny for falling in love with him. Who could help that? I sure couldn't. There are sure a lot more stories that could have been told in there, but I can understand the desire of the author and artist to reach a point of closure and turn to other things. It must be very time and energy consuming, creating something so complex.

As much as I love Leo Magna's Fur-Piled and some of the other furry strips that are still running weekly or more often, Associated Student Bodies is a masterpiece that can be re-read and studied to get more out of it each time.

OK, so that's done. Now I have some real stuff to do, but I'm going to be daydreaming about Marcus, Ricky, Nigel, Danny, Thomas, Stephen, David, Tiny, Vince, and Timmy for quite some time I'm afraid.

Comments

[dongstyle-ltd.livejournal.com]

Hm, have you read Circles?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Doesn't sound familiar, so probably not. I've read a couple of non-furry gay comics that I liked nearly as much, such as Kyle's Bed and Breakfast or Leonard and Larry for example. But I don't recognize Circles. Is it current or something from the past?

[rustitobuck.livejournal.com]

ASB was titillating and made me wish I was young.

Circles makes me cry. (And Marty makes me think I don't have to have a perfect bod to be cute/wanted/etc.)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Mmm, not so much wish I was that young again as just feel nostalgia for the period. Actually it wasn't nearly as idyllic as ASB, though. However, I did have an almost Marcus-like room mate and a vaguely similar plot line that developed over about three years. Things weren't nearly as uninhibited in those days.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh wait, do you mean the book by Perry Brass? Or a comic somewhere? I've read the Brass some years ago, yes. It's quite entrancing too.

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Heh, daydreaming about the whole gang is something I did for the longest time after my first reading of ASB as well. And every time I reread it, too. :)

By the way, thank you so much for chatting with me today. I'm feeling a whole lot better now than I have been for days. *snugs*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'm in love with Marcus AND intensely curious about a couple of unnamed horse characters who appeared in the background. The fascination and charm of the comic lies not in the artwork, which is creditable but doesn't quite measure up to Carspecken or Magna, but rather in the characters and the way they are developed. It would have been a magnificent furry novel.

I enjoyed the chat too. I'm glad it helped, though I hardly felt I was doing much to be helpful other than providing a distraction.

[lobowolf.livejournal.com]

I quite enjoyed ASB myself, and I bought them one by one as they were coming out (no pun intended). That must have been 2000 or so?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

From what was said in the introductions to the anthology, 1999-2000 must be about the right dates, yes.

Graveyard Greg's Carpe Diem almost measures up to the same standard of character development, but his policy of changing artists all the time becomes rather distracting. It's interesting to see the different styles but it keeps me from growing so attached to the characters. I haven't ever been a great devotee of comics and graphic novels, but Leo Magna is probably the only other author I know who does as well in developing and presenting characters. Since he does his own artwork, Fur-Piled is more consistent than Carpe Diem, though you see some change as his own skill has grown over time. Leo's characters are more believable to me, too, where Greg's are exaggerated stereotypes (deliberately so, I'm sure.)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oops. I have to qualify that. Magna is one of the best comic authors I know for developing and revealing character, and Lance Rund is equally good. In furry writing, there are others who are doing even better. Kyell Gold and Tim Susman are both top notch.

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Gregg's style seems to take a stereotyped character and make you question that stereotype by what he does with them, plus it better allows you to view the intereactions between them as the stories progress. I like seeing new styles myself... it keeps things fresh and allows for news perspectives on the look of a character. I wish a lot more comics had such creative shakeups, myself.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I enjoy seeing a guest artist occasionally, or even a guest writer. But I'd prefer that the overall look stay consistent for the most part.

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Oh, I understand. I once got a Darkhorse collection of Godzilla stories -a comic book collection- in which a different artist did each story, and it changed my mind on that... I used to be like you in regards to this topic though :P I did like they way they used to do Josh & Burt, but i'm pleased with how all the other characters look now :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Josh? Oh, him. Yeah. He's soooo adorable and sexy. It bugs me that he is so insistent on being straight. ;p

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

I think he's got insecurity issues & what I call "virgin anxiety"... I wouldn't be surprised if someday he jumps the fence and is found by Kevin snuggling with Burt :P (great story arc, BTW) Yeah, he's definitly the ideal "dreamboi"...I like the way Gregg keeps his character hovering in the netherworld of almost breaking the ice with so many people :)

Virgin anxiety

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, I still remember what that feels like.

Re: Virgin anxiety

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

LOL So do I :P *tingles a little* I've had dreams about breaking in guys like Josh, so I can say it's an experience I'd savor :P

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed. Circles is defiantly worth a read. It's about a household of diverse folk, one of whom has HIV. It's written in the form of a review of his life.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'll have a look for it.

[bergandsheepy.livejournal.com]

I followed the two year, 8 issue arc when it came out. It was great for the artwork, good for the story, and "Furrlough" when it came to non story arc. (It went from fun with decent art to miserable.) The biggest complaint for me was the beginning story, it was just too fast. "Hi" "Hello" *wack* "I saw you wacking" "I'm nervous" "lets UNF" *UNF* I know, it's fiction... Still, overall quality and care that was put into ASB shines, and was IMO one of the best Anthro comics even if you don't like some of the stories. -Ric

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Lance Rund explains in the introduction to the anthology how the whole thing happened, and the story line grew out of just that single frame of Marcus watching while Danny was (not as secretly as he thought) pawing himself. So it's understandable that the opening sequence was a bit rushed. It could have been developed over more time, I agree. On the other paw, Marcus is pretty worldly and experienced compared to Danny, and by the time we learn of his character flaws it is pretty believable that he might have used that leverage to "take advantage" of a younger room mate, only to end up falling in love unexpectedly. ;D

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I realised after reading it that my uni life was very boring.

[hrrunka]

Mine likewise. Mind, that was in large part because I did a pretty good (bad?) job of repressing anything "improper"...

I first read ASB one weekend when Darkclaw (WINOLJ) came to stay for a few days and brought his set with him. I figured I'd read one or two, then go to sleep, but I didn't stop 'til I'd read the lot. The experience was quite intense.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*snicker*

You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to admit you had the least inclination to find something like that interesting in any way. ;D

Yeah. It's an absorbing read for those of us who can appreciate just what it's about.

[hrrunka]

I was more than twenty years out of university before I got there... ;)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

And I thought *I* was a late bloomer. About four years after getting my undergraduate degree before I really admitted to myself that it wasn't just a "phase." I already liked you, but this just makes it better. XD

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh. Mine was not, though it certainly wasn't anything like what Danny got into. The first year was *painful*, there's no other way to put it. That's because they stuck me in a suite with a football player, a hockey player, a junior who was a total womanizer, and a confused black guy who had grown up in an all-white rural community and was totally lost in the mixture of cultures and ethnic/racial groups that made up the university. The jocks were the worst of it, they bullied me almost as badly as the ones in high school did. Second year was a lot better. I got to pick my own room mate, a guy from my high school that I'd had a crush on. (I think he was totally straight, but still he was nice to me and respected me for my academic abilities.) And I really fell in love for the first time with another guy I met in the science fiction/fantasy fan club. He would never let anyone call him gay or probably even bi, but... When we roomed together the last two years of school, his behavior just didn't match the front he put on to the rest of the world. ;p

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Now that seems like a post all of it's own. ;)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Post? Heck, it's a whole soap opera, or was.