Dan: You know you have ice cream all over your face? And come on! MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ON MY KINDLE?!
Kate: ::sniffles:: But, I wanted to read “Insufferable” by Mark Waid and Peter Krause. And since it’s only available digitally, I had to use the fancy Kindle-machine. And I like ice cream. Shut up.
D: Are…are you crying?
K: ::sniffles:: nnNNNOOOoo….
D: Yes you are. THERE’S NO CRYING IN COMICS!
K: ::sniffles::
D: And you’re getting snot on my Kindle. Why are you crying?
K: “Insufferable”.
D: I know you’re insufferable, but what’s with the water works?
K: Ha, ha, funny guy. No, the comic “Insufferable” is kind of sad. A hero’s sidekick grows up and is a huge tool. The sidekick, Galahad, is a grandstanding jerk-face. He totally trash-talks his former mentor, Nocturnus. Just a real D-Bag.
D: No, that isn’t very nice of him. Are you crying because a guy in a cape isn’t playing nice? You might want to toughen up a little if you want to keep reading comics.
K: It’s more than that! See at the end of issue one they reveal that Galahad is…
D: GAH!! SPOILERS!!!
K: Right. ::wipes off Kindle:: You’ll just have to read it for your self. Check it out!
…
D: WOW. What a great start to the series! The quality of the story really shouldn’t come as a surprise. With storytelling by industry vets Mark Waid and art chores by Peter Krause, you know you’re in for a well-crafted story. Insufferable has an awesome twist on the “Night vigilante/Kid side kick” archetype.
K: I know! And the end of issue one?
D: Never saw that coming. I can’t wait to see where Waid takes that. And that’s the key with a team like Waid and Krause: You don’t know where the story will go. You can only keep reading.
K: I know! What did you think about reading the book on the Kindle?
D: A book designed for e-readers is considerably easier to read than traditional comics that are converted to a digital format.
K: I know! The…
D: Stop saying “I know”. You’ve said it like 6 times now.
K: I know!
D: ::scowls::
K: Sorry. As I was saying, the panels flow naturally in “Insufferable”. You can see the entire page and read all of the dialogue at one time, just like a paper comic. The traditional paper books converted for the Kindle force you to either try to see the entire page and squint to read the dialogue. Otherwise you are forced to read each page panel by panel, but you don’t get a feel for the entire page and how the panels flow.
D: You said it. Like most folks, I’ve experimented with various comics apps, but I’ve yet to duplicate the ease of traditional comics. This was a very streamlined process that didn’t interfere with enjoying the book. I’ll definitely be reading this regularly!
::eyes messy/sticky Kindle with dismay:: Why don’t you keep that? I’ll be reading Insufferable on Thrillbent.com…on the laptop. Ice cream free.
