rebecca
Reptile Researcher
No, thank you; I only take tea with my friends.
Posts: 41
Likes: 1
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Post by rebecca on Feb 20, 2012 15:29:01 GMT -5
Is anyone else a bit disappointed that Seth Gallant will be replacing Brett Helquist for ATWQ? Helquist has illustrated ASOUE for so long that I feel like his work is almost an integral part of the series. I don't really like the look of Gallant's work as much, either; it kinda seems more cartoon-ish and lighthearted than Helquist's. Still, I guess it'll grow on me when the series is released. I just hate change, haha. Thoughts?
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Post by B. on Feb 20, 2012 16:16:17 GMT -5
I have mixed opinions on this. Gregory Gallant's style is very different from Brett Helquist's, so much so that they are almost impossible to compare. I can't really imagine what the new series will look like. We also don't fully know of the nature of the illustrations. Will there be three full page illustrations and small chapter illustrations like in ASOUE? Or is something else planned? The format can make all the difference. I think, for now, the best thing we can do is keep an open mind on this.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Feb 20, 2012 16:23:23 GMT -5
While Helquist's style is very well suited to ASOUE, Seth does have a certain mysterious aura about his work that we also see in the paperbacks (that's not illustrated by Seth, of course, but it's a good example of how two dimensional work can be applied to different situations). ASOUE has always had a cartoonish element to it, I feel, so seeing Seth's take on whatever Snicket's childhood includes should be interesting.
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Post by Lady Whatever on Feb 20, 2012 19:05:48 GMT -5
I'm open to a different illustrator, and I love Seth's work, it has a Southern Ontario Gothic feel to it which I positively love. So I feel mostly positive about this decision.
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Post by Dante on Feb 21, 2012 5:21:55 GMT -5
I think I prefer Helquist's work, and I'm kind of disappointed we aren't getting more from him now that he's gotten really good - if you look at a lot of his recent work, especially in the paperbacks, it's so much more detailed and content-packed. But on the other hand, we really have no idea what to expect from Seth. For all we know, he might've been chosen specifically to help give the new series its own identity. Don't judge by the cover art alone - if you look up other examples of his work, you find that his range is a little broader. In addition, frankly, he fits Snicket perfectly - he uses a pseudonym and he dresses up like a 50s-era reporter. I think we won't be able to truly judge his work until we've actually seen what he does for WCTBATH, but there is reason to be optimistic.
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Post by andressa on Feb 21, 2012 16:45:35 GMT -5
I've always seen Lemony's work directed related to Helquist's one, like if it's not Snicket's if it's not followed by Brett illustrations.They complete each other. It will be very weird to me, like it's missing a part of the puzzle , when I read something related to ASOUE without the charactheristical images.
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Post by csc on Feb 22, 2012 12:52:40 GMT -5
Well, I've always been a huge fan of Helquist's work, but Seth's style seems suiting. I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed, but now I feel much better about Daniel's decision.
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Post by Lady Whatever on Feb 22, 2012 13:06:50 GMT -5
There is one thing that is somewhat disappointing about this decision for me: It robs Helquist of the chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the (internet) public with a popular new project. A lot of people are rather upset right now that his illustrations are replacing Stephen Gammell's in the new edition of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Their anger is misplaced if you ask me, the real villains are the publishing company and a parental public which seems overly happy to declaw anything remotely scary about children's entertainment, Helquist was just doing his job. But it would be grand if he had another popular project which suited his recognisable, awesome style and didn't raise people's hackles the way the Scary Stories re-publish did.
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Post by B. on Feb 22, 2012 16:00:21 GMT -5
What about the format of the illustrations? Also (slightly off topic) do you think it will have thirteen chapters? Will the chapters be titled? Two hundred and eight pages is around about the length of TWW (at least according to the Egmont edition). How long do you think each chapter will be?
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Post by Dante on Feb 22, 2012 17:08:48 GMT -5
Illustration formatting is a tough one; I don't know if Seth has illustrated any other books besides his own, or even if that would be his decision or the publishers. It kind of depends on the depth of the illustrations; it's my inkling that, if the illustrations are of the same relatively undetailed character as the cover art so far seems to be, then it should really pack the pictures in in the book itself to make up. Of course, if there are images for each chapter, that depends on how many chapters there are...
I wouldn't be surprised to see chapter titles, but I am personally expecting the thirteen-chapter structure to be abandoned and replaced by a more flexible chapter number that can change between volumes. ASoUE had thirteen chapters per book as part of an overarching motif, but that simply doesn't apply to ATWQ, which is distinguishing itself from ASoUE in far more significant respects - different illustrator, different title format. I'd also caution against taking page counts seriously because online sites basically never get them correct, no matter who's making the listing - and also because it's meaningless unless we know the actual size of the text. ASoUE books had relatively few words per page. What if ATWQ books really pack it in? A book with the same number of pages as TWW could even be twice as long (although probably not that much).
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Post by B. on Feb 23, 2012 2:43:44 GMT -5
Well we have to consider that the new series is autobiographical. This means it may well have an assortment of illustrated letters, notes or file papers. I'm not saying it's going to be exactly like TUA, but it may well have these. ASOUE wasn't afraid to use a variety of other text thingies either, like the story of Debbie and Tony, the mirror writing in TPP, the two pages of black in TEE and the two pages of "ever" in TRR. The teaser cover art might suggest the possibility of letters and notes being involved in the story, look at the all the post its. As for Chapters, pages and all that jazz, perhaps a ATWQ or WCTBATH speculation thread should be created, like with the Beatrice letters speculation thread. I think we'll only have more and more things to speculate about as the months go on.
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Post by Dante on Feb 23, 2012 7:36:12 GMT -5
You can always make a thread like that yourself, though! Although bear in mind that there's a fairly good chance the first chapter of WCTBATH will be released early; they did the same for The End and TGG, at least.
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Post by B. on Feb 23, 2012 11:40:41 GMT -5
Thread created! Now back to the subject of illustrations: I wouldn't be too disappointed in the idea of Seth's illustrations. Look at Brett Heliquist's other art compared with the illustrations ASOUE. There is a small but significant difference there. Seth's illustrations may look slightly different in the context of the new books, creating the new "atmosphere" of this series.
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Post by csc on Feb 23, 2012 12:47:52 GMT -5
the first chapter of WCTBATH It's sad we can't shorten the name anymore, without making it look like we just slammed our heads on the keyboard.
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Post by Dante on Feb 23, 2012 13:33:11 GMT -5
It's sad we can't shorten the name anymore, without making it look like we just slammed our heads on the keyboard. I've been thinking of calling it TFQ, for The First Question, although then we'd have a problem when we got to The Fourth Question. And that also suggests names like Q1. T1Q? Maybe "Hour"? BATH? I think I'll start using TFQ and see if it takes off. Also, I think people should try hard to keep an open mind about the new illustrations. If you go into the books expecting to dislike the illustrations, you probably will; same as if you go into anything expecting not to like it. You have to be prepared to enjoy yourselves, and I'm quite looking forward to seeing what we end up with.
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