The Kalem Society

Sorry the comic is late this week. This is a bonus update.

There's no transcript for this page, because there is no dialogue and I felt that sound effects would just clutter the scene, but that brings to mind an interesting point. (At least, it interests me.) I love comics, but I think the single greatest limitation of the comic medium is that you can't have a sound track. And what is a good fight scene without a soundtrack? Oh sure, real life combat doesn't come with a soundtrack and a director might choose not use one as a sort of artistic statement attempting to de-glorify violence. Obviously, that's not what I'm going for. When you want really over-the-top, larger-than-life, superhuman protagonists duking it out with maybe thousands or millions of lives in the balance, all the brightly colored "Bam!" and "Pow!" effects in the world can't take the place of something playing in the background like "Flight of the Valkeries," or some women wailing in latin, or maybe just some really good metal.

Of course, there are ways to evoke tension and drama through purely visual art. Maybe someday I will learn to use them better. In the mean time, I invite you to imagine or play some good dramatically appropriate music when reading this comic, or any other comic.

Some of you already know this comic is based on an rpg I played in college. That game actually had a theme song - Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." It's not exactly fight music, but it wasn't supposed to be. For us, it was more like the opening theme of a television series. Once my friend came up with the idea, it really helped the group get in the mood at the start of the game. I think most campaigns could benefit from a themesong to set the mood and to signal the group that its time to get started.

You can see a You-tube video of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" here.

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