Midnight Nation

[newnumber6]

So, been rereading Midnight Nation since I just got it back after loaning it to my brother. Still good all around, although the bits I found weak or annoying the first time around seemed a little more prominent.
And of course, it reminded me of two things...
If the premise of the story was true, that people can just 'fall through the cracks' and neither see nor be seen by the rest of the world, then I would be a prime candidate.
And secondly, it reawoke the urge I have to take my own Long Walk, leave regular civilzation behind and just start walking across the country, and then maybe back. And then maybe walk somewhere else after that. I can almost see the rest of my life just walking from place to place and being... well, not happy, but perhaps happier or more content than now. Again I recognize that the reality will match my idealized view of it, but my view is one I enjoy. Can't do it for years at least, anyway.

Comments

[fiddlersgreen.livejournal.com]

My dream if I ever win the lottery or otherwise somehow luck into lots of money without strings attached is to just travel. Forever. Invest in a reliable vehicle, spend a few weeks here and there, and just plain see as much of the world as humanly possible in whatever time I've got left by then.

Probably don't actually need *that* much money, but I would need a reliable seed fund of some sort. (Plus, you know, I'd want to have a super-duper works-anywhere wireless cellular phone/laptop internet connection or what have you.)

Yeah, Midnight Nation wasn't perfect (though I need to read it again), but I think it was JMS's strongest comics work of that time. (Not that it had much in the way of competition, back then.) I think Supreme Power's edged it out of that top spot, though.

Re: The Open Road

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

Conversely, if I ever lucked into a huge amount of money with no strings attached, I'd probably just get myself a nice place, not too big, close to where I need to go, and stay in classes much of my life, learning whatever strikes my fancy. I might travel some, but I don't think it'd be constant. I think it'd take _losing_ an awful lot to take me to the 'constant travel' state, but then since my plan involves walking and living off the land and what not, that's okay.

As to JMS, yeah I think the writing on JMS is generally sharper, but Midnight Nation has two strong things going for it: 1) It's more or less a complete story, beginning middle and end, and although you might wonder what happened to the characters after, it's not like in SP where you might wonder how long some plot point is going to be dragged out before resolution.
2) It's not Superheroes. Don't get me wrong, I love superheroes (or rather, stories of the super-powered, heroes or not), it's one of my favorite genres. But I think that while it's easier to be a lot of fun for superhero stories, it's harder to make me go 'wow', like MN did on first reading it.

So yeah, for now, I like MN more than Supreme Power.

Re: The Open Road

[fiddlersgreen.livejournal.com]

Oh, chances are I'd grow tired of the travelling eventually, and settle down too. But...I dunno, there's just something appealing about the utter independence that life would hold, and independence is a big thing with me.

And definitely agreed on both points about Midnight Nation. The biggest thing Supreme Powers's got going for it, I think, is that JMS is now a more experienced comics writer (as opposed to television writing), and it really shows.