Cipher volume 1

[Helschadenfreude]

Since I just got my copy yesterday, I thought I share my thoughts on it.

Compared to the CMX books of old, there is no more stiff binding, and the logo has become small and blue, which makes it look vastly different from my other two titles from CMX, Swan and Musashi.

Content wise, nothing really happens, but it was somewhat amusing, and gives me an old style feeling(though I'm guessing this is not even ten years old).

There was one annoying thing about it however. In flipped manga, when you have speech bubbles, you read from right to left. However in Cipher case, sometimes you would read from left to right, instead of right to left, but until I caught that, a lot of sentences and bubbles didn't make a iota of sense. I don't get this feeling in Swan or Musashi, so I wonder who was in charge of editing? cipher.

Thoughts? Should I talk more about the content of the book? I mean, really, nothing happens.

[onigiri]

I haven't read more than the first few pages yet, but one thing that annoyed me was that they had text that you were supposed to read vertically.

L
I
K
E

T
H
I
S

ARGH!!! And not only that, but you had to read up and down from right to left.

T L
H I
I K
S E

and it wasn't just a few words (I could've dealt with that), it was whole paragraphs of intro text. What were they thinking!?!?!? Suffice to say it was very difficult to read. I hope they never do that again.

[Jake_Forbes]

Hey! We were joking about that in some other thread just a few weeks ago. Someone finally upped the stakes in "Authenticity!"

[shuironeko]

[ QUOTE ]
onigiri said:
I haven't read more than the first few pages yet, but one thing that annoyed me was that they had text that you were supposed to read vertically.

L
I
K
E

T
H
I
S

ARGH!!! And not only that, but you had to read up and down from right to left.

T L
H I
I K
S E

and it wasn't just a few words (I could've dealt with that), it was whole paragraphs of intro text. What were they thinking!?!?!? Suffice to say it was very difficult to read. I hope they never do that again.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, I don't mind the first so much (it seems the logical thing to do where the bubble was only drawn to hold a single line of vertical text. If it fits, it seems better than the ugly approach of laying it in perpendicular to the bubble and letting it run all over the place.

But a paragraph? If there is room in the bubble, of course they should try to change the layout, or if it is against background you don't want to mess with, just put a gutter note, for goodness sake.

Can't wait to see this now. I have to find a copy. [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img]

[onigiri]

Well, it is text over a background, but they could've put the text left to right to make it easier to read eventhough it's vertical. I've scanned in the page so you can see it:

Cipher vol.1 vertical right to left text

[witega]

[ QUOTE ]
Jake_Forbes said:
Hey! We were joking about that in some other thread just a few weeks ago. Someone finally upped the stakes in "Authenticity!"

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, this was done at least once before, in Comics One's edition of Onegai Teacher, although I don't recall if multiple lines of the vertical text was read right to left or left to right.

Having looked at the scan, I have to say that I don't really have a problem with it. I don't particularly care about its 'authenticity' but doing it that way appears to have significantly less affected the art (and the flow of the panels referencing one of Toren's comments) than any other approach would have. And it doesn't read any more difficult than tracking meaning left to right does already.

[philnicau]

[ QUOTE ]
GyBaNOJunior said:

Content wise, nothing really happens, but it was somewhat amusing, and gives me an old style feeling(though I'm guessing this is not even ten years old).



[/ QUOTE ]
Cipher vol 1 was first published in 1985, so it's actually 20 years old!

[Helschadenfreude]

[ QUOTE ]
philip said:
[ QUOTE ]
GyBaNOJunior said:

Content wise, nothing really happens, but it was somewhat amusing, and gives me an old style feeling(though I'm guessing this is not even ten years old).



[/ QUOTE ]
Cipher vol 1 was first published in 1985, so it's actually 20 years old!

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, I'm actually sort of on track for once! Lately my guessing how old it is, is way off.

Actually this is what I have problem with:

I know where his locker is (on the right)

on the left:

Let's see



I read that instead as See Let's, and was like huh? ....Does anyone get what I"m talking about? Hmmm, so if you flatten the how sentence out : I know wher his locker is. See Let's. This the way it is in the book... which I don't like.

Or on page 25.

Don't look back.

S W
H E
O A
W K
N
A E
N S
Y S

Remebmer... we're reading right otleft...so at first I read it as weakness show any.. and I was like ???? [img]/images/graemlins/depresse.gif[/img] Hmmm maybe I should scan it....

[Helschadenfreude]

This is sad. I thought I mention the paper in Cipher is already yellowing.. I only had it for as long as I had Bring it On! , chocolat, and Angel Diary.. yet that paper is still white.... or even my Mushashi #9 is still white...argh.. bad paper, bad paper.