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[Doc]

Yeah, I liked the gentle absurdity, the lack of continuity. I like the new stuff too, Cartilage Head couldn't have existed in the old Achewood because that world wasn't explicitly bizarre enough to allow him to, but I still dug it.

[wombat]

I got the book and have not finished it yet but here are my preliminary observations. First: yeah, I guess if you were only going to buy either this or his self-published books, you'd have to buy this, because it has many paragraphs worth of words that are new to the book. And if can't say you are one of the cool kids who bought the first self-published volumes back in the day, maybe there is less point to having them in addition to this.
 
Second: as I am sure I don't need to mention, Chris Onstad is a god to me, but ick, what was he thinking with this typeface that is used for the titles of the strips, which is very irritating. And before you say the book designer chose it, he is one of the two people credited as the designers.

Last for now, I think it is a little unfair to say the first strips are in the back because he's embarassed by them. I think his intro of them explains pretty much what I said in my earlier post. The first few pages of a book need to tell you what the rest of the book is like. He could have just not printed the first strips at all, after all - it's not like he doesn't have plenty of other material to make up a long enough book. There was no reason for him to spend 35 pages of an only 135 page book on these if he didn't want to.

I plan to return with a detailed review of the strip commentary, which I fear is a terrible idea on a par with the DVD commentary track, but which I have great hope that my hero will turn into a great literary form of its own.

[Toaster]

I like DVD commentary tracks, they give an insight into what the people behind the scenes are like, and more importantly into the creative process. If it weren't for DVD commentary tracks I wouldn't know half as much as I do about film.

And I think they work for comics too, at least in general (haven't read WSPoUG yet); Arkham Asylum (the book, not the game) was great on its own, but then I read Grant Morrison's annotation/commentary thing, and it opened up new layers of meaning. And the Calvin & Hobbes 10th anniversary book pretty much speaks for its own merits.

ADDENDUM: This just popped into my head: Would anyone have ever thought of DVD commentary tracks if it weren't for MST3K? Or is sitting down and talking about a movie while watching it such a universal experience that it would have happened anyway? But by that logic, MST3K itself is some kind of destined thing, a Platonic ideal made manifest on the physical plane, which waited until the technology existed to make it real. Like the flying car, or cold fusion. Or toothbrushes. I'm okay with this view, actually.

What if there was some kind of pre-motion picture version of MST that has been lost to history? Like, a troupe putting on a production of Titus Andronicus, but in the front row is three guys making witty remarks about the play, and they are who the audience has really paid to see. That would rule. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I'm going to believe that this happened.

[wombat]

You must listen to different DVD commentaries than I do. Or do they get better halfway through? Because I can never go more than ten minutes without wanting to gouge my ears out. They're all talking about what sandwiches they had while waiting for that scene to be filmed or something. It always seems like they're not even trying, it's just, hey, look at this, we are getting paid to sit around and watch this movie we made.

As for the strip commentary, I haven't got very far but already the third one made me laugh out loud, so it seems to be a much better idea.

[miles]

DVD commentary is hit or miss, but the commentary track for This is Spinal Tap is as good as the movie, and certainly elevates it to an art form.

I just got my copy of the book in the mail today. Haven't read enough of it to really say anything new, except that Onstad doesn't give himself enough credit for his earliest work. I say if people aren't hooked by the first strip, fuck 'em. But not really. His explanation makes sense and I don't get the impression that he's embarrassed by the early strips.

[Dangermoose]

Okay, imagine (if possible) that Achewood actually had to be syndicated in order to be seen by the public anywhere.  What would we see in anthologies?  Only the stuff after it hit its stride and got picked up by the Syndicate.  All the pre-Ray stuff is the equivalent of the cartoonist's desperate submissions to potential syndicates back in the bad old days.  Finding his voice, tweaking it till it hums.  We're lucky that stuff is even visible -- for free -- to us.  And still purchasable in self-published volumes.  We're especially lucky he's willing and able to put it in Dock Hoss boooks.

[pmcd9]

The only commentary track I've ever watched in it's entirety was for The Conversation by Coppola.  I think I went for the commentary because I love that movie so much I wanted to watch it again immediately after seeing it.  Coppola gave a great deal of insight into the making of the film.  His commentary was mostly about the film.  He spoke a little bit about what was going on while the film was being made, but mostly he spoke about his creative process. 

I've watched a few minutes of several commentary tracks that were something like Wombat describes.  I guess a commentary is a good idea if they have something to say, but most don't.  However they have become de rigeur so it's just something to skip.

Oh wait, I almost forgot, I also watched the entire commentary track to UHF, with Weird Al.  It was mostly bullshit, but funny. 

[CortJstr]

I did exaggerate Onstad's description of "Achewood before it was Achewood", clearly.

The NewsRadio commentaries were pretty painful but had just enough interesting stories to keep me listening. Like the little war they had with Kathy Griffith on Suddenly Susan.

[AugustWest]

DVD commentary is hit or miss, but the commentary track for This is Spinal Tap is as good as the movie, and certainly elevates it to an art form.

Would you say it goes to 11? 

Nah.

[AugustWest]

The only commentary track I've ever watched in it's entirety was for The Conversation by Coppola. 

It's been forever since I've seen that, but ain't it a great movie?  Gene Hackman, dude, Gene Hackman.

[AugustWest]

The NewsRadio commentaries were pretty painful but had just enough interesting stories to keep me listening. Like the little war they had with Kathy Griffith on Suddenly Susan.

I love me some NewsRadio.  Great writing, great acting, great show. 

And I'm not ashamed to admit I have a huge crush on Vicki Lewis.  The episode where she goes to the banquet with Bill in the tiny little dress... BOING!

Sorry, TMI, I know...

[wombat]

More than the appendix, the strip commentaries are where he has a tendency to apologize for things that need no apology. But enough of them are really funny instead that I am willing to cut him some slack. The strip has developed an awful lot since the start, and it's hard to grow up in public like that.

[pmcd9]

It's been forever since I've seen that, but ain't it a great movie?  Gene Hackman, dude, Gene Hackman.

It's really one of the greatest movies ever made in my humble opinion.  I think I've seen it about 4-5 times and I rarely watch a movie more than once.

[Choop]

the first time i saw the conversation i was about halfway through before i realized it was coppola, not cronenberg. hackman's fantastic in most everything, but especially in that.

[Doc]

I really like the commentary on Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, I've watched them both multiple times just for the commentary. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright are complete movie nerds and it's fun to listen to movie nerds talk about their movie. They should start doing commentaries for other movies as well.

Worst commentary ever (that I've bothered to sit through) was Brad Pitt and Edward Norton on Fight Club because Pitt doesn't seem to care at all and Norton uncomfortably passionate about random things (Oh, the new VW Beetle is car companies selling people faux nostalgia of a previous generation? That's nice, but please get back to talking about the movie.)