[mix tape] Marten Reed from Questionable Content Shares Some Sad Songs
After undergraduate and graduate studies and years of on-the-job training, I’m more or less an expert in online procrastination and its hierarchy. From what I’ve gathered, anyone who spends enough time behind a computer – e.g. those working a desk job or enrolled at a university – maintains a list in their head of 5-10 websites that they check on a almost-daily basis, not counting Google or Wikipedia.
Usually, the list starts with the same FAB three – Facebook, any news source (e.g. CNN, Yahoo, Fox News), and bank balance. However, a person – we’ll say a “hypothetical” female – can only check Facebook, CNN, ESPN, or the balance in her bank account so many times before she faces the sad realization that she’s devouring much quicker than they’re refreshing.
This accounts for the high traffic volume of the next set of sites, which I’ve grouped together as “the entertainers.” After the depression-inducing content that the FAB sites offer – pictures of exes, losing sports scores, the realities of unemployment – it’s imperative that web-surfers add sites like YouTube, Hulu, The Onion, College Humor, Gawker, and/or Dooce to their litany. Those who prefer to stick with news sites will browse over to Slate, HuffPo, or the Drudge Report, politicos = Instapundit, Daily Kos, die-hard sports fans = nfl.com or its European ilk, etc. While the sites on the list may range across demographics, their names will be familiar to the population at large – perhaps due to their Alexa or Technorati rankings – and their positive effects on their segment’s spirit and well-being, if not IQ, remain consistent.
After visiting one or two of their favorite, entertaining sites, many responsible people choose to return to their boring conference calls or their o-chem lab reports. If they’ve already read TMZ, they find no need to read Perez Hilton. They figure the faster they complete their work on the computer, the faster they can go outside and chase after butterflies or something. Too bad they’ll miss out on gems like McSweeney’s and Jerks in Your Area.
Without trying to get anyone fired from work or cause anyone to fail one of their courses this fall, let me make one, small suggestion for everyone’s must-read sites: If your list of 5, 10, 25 must-read sites does not already include a web comic, find one that you like and add it to your rotation.
NOW!
Updated anywhere from one to seven times per week, web comics provide a few minutes respite from whatever responsibilities you may have by offering byte-sized portions of illustrated, story development. As opposed to most websites, especially blogs where news and fact or opinions on news and facts reign supreme, web comics work the imagination muscle by bringing fiction to the computer-screen. (More posts about web comics and their relationship to blogging/journalism to come! Interesting read here.) Trust me. The extra 10-15 minutes you spend online each week will add up to a lot of pleasure. No excuses either. There are web comics from every thinkable genre with vastly different styles out there. I’m sure with a little digging you’ll find something you like.
…Which is all a very long way to explain how I got to know Marten Reed during my best years of web-crawling/most intense years of studying (a.k.a. law school).
Marten, the kind, gentle soul that he is, is the lead character from Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques. Wikipedia classifies QC as a “slice-of-life” web comic. Because I have no idea what “slice-of-life” comic actually means, I’ve included a reference for the uninitiated.
You’ll (probably) like QC, if you like…
…websites like Stereogum, Pop Candy, io9, and/or have a love/hate relationship with Pitchfork;
…graphic novels/comics written by Jeffrey Brown, Craig Thompson, or published by Vertigo;
…movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Rushmore, or I Heart Huckabees;
…sustenance like coffee, whiskey, or pancakes;
…books like Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, or A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius;
…shows like the Guild (also available for streaming), Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog (Hulu), Dead Like Me, Small Wonder, or Veronica Mars;
…clothes from Urban Outfitters, thrift stores, American Apparel, or QC merch store (NOT Hot Topic).
In other words, if you’re a hipster-hating-hipster who appreciates a good poop joke and/or a twenty-something with a penchant for booze and pop culture and a cynicism towards all sub-cultures (goths! emo kids! and surfers! oh my!), you’ll probably enjoy Questionable Content.
Sometime this weekend, QC virgins and experienced readers alike should click over to the first panel and start reading. Not only can you see how QC has evolved since 2003 but because Jeph includes short notes underneath most of the episodes, you really get insight into his writing/artistic process and publishing/making a living producing something you love on the web. (For the truly hardcore, you can also read Jeph’s LiveJournal.)
Jeph has always shared his music recommendations with readers and hinted at Marten’s “superior-than-thou” good taste. (I kid. Honestly, Marten is the nicest indie kid you’ll ever “meet.”) While we’re looking forward to getting proved wrong about this in the comments, nonpretentious snagged an exclusive, one-of-a-kind mix-tape from Deathmøle’s lead guitarist himself (if you’ve never given Deathmøle a listen, here are some tracks for download). Without further ado, a mix by your favorite make-believe friend and mine, Marten Reed…
