Tymothi Godek’s “!”
May 19th, 2009
Tymothi Godek offers a gargantuan sidescroller simply called “!” that I enjoyed— it’s just a “rough draft” but an entertaining and brain-bending read nonetheless.
Thanks to the Neal Von Flue (no slouch in this department himself) for pointing us to “!” in the comments section of the XKCD post from Friday. Tymothi’s experiment, like the much shorter XKCD strip is playing with parallel narratives, but ramping it up with more characters and some great intersections. Despite the crazed fantasy storyline, Tym is mapping the sort of intersecting, branching, and colliding paths that people in real life take all the time, but that only comics can make visible. Very cool.
March 3, 2021
He’s actually working on putting together a print version of this as well, which will actually fold out as one monstrously long, accordion-folded comic. I only wish I had any hope of every owning a wall long enough to hang it on!
Cool. Just like the Mexican codices.
Its absolutely stunning work.
Not sure It would work in book form though, it needs the window.
Rolled out on a wall it would be like Escher’s “Metaphorisis”…fantastic, but perhaps not the best way to appreciate the “moments” that make up the narrative.
Metamorphosis, I meant.
That’s a good point, but I think each view would add something to the experience. The way the window doles out moments is certainly very satisfying, and is probable the ideal form for a first reading. On subsequent readings, though, I think there’s something to be said for being able to view distant moments simultaneously, to see the threads that connect them.
Thanks, Scott. (Thanks to you too, Neal)
I’m wrapping up my revisions right now and it should be set to print a little later this year. If I find the money, that is, to cover the cost.
It’s in review for a Xeric grant right now, so if you know any judges, anyone…
Glad you enjoyed it, Scott. Thanks for the plug!
My pleasure — and good luck. Can’t wait to see the print version. ^^
[…] | I dig this side scrolling comic by Tymothi Godek that Scott McCloud links to. “Despite the crazed fantasy storyline, Tym is mapping the sort of intersecting, branching, […]