Restructuring TrekBBS Literature boards?

[Danlav05]

Hello

Followign the reorganisation of the TV/movie boards i was wondering if this place could be divided into two sections - Trek Books and Trek Comics/Magazines.

There is a variety of different topics on both in here, and it may be easier for people to find things if such a division was made, while there has been some crossover i.e. New Frontier and the DS9 relaunch getting a Wildstorm tie-in, the two iterations are largely separate. Also the Books seem to dominate so it would be nice to see the comics get some spotlight.

So I put it to you lovely people, what are your thoughts?

 

[Christopher]

I don't think this forum is busy enough to require that kind of split. If it happened, I think the comics/magazines side would be far less active. Also, I think it would impede discussion, because there are a lot of topics that cross over from one to the other. Not just matters of in-story continuity between books and comics, but discussions of creators who've done both (e.g. Diane Duane, Peter David, Howard Weinstein, Keith DeCandido, David Mack, Andy Mangels & Mike Martin, etc.), comparisons of how the novels and comics have handled the same characters or ideas (e.g. Harry Mudd, Gary Seven, the Mirror Universe, Kirk's first mission on the Enterprise, etc.), and so forth.

Also, why split it between books and comics/magazines? Dividing it by physical format seems like an arbitrary distinction, now that more people probably buy their comics in trade-paperback form than single-issue form, and now that so many people buy both books and comics electronically. If anything, a fiction/non-fiction split would seem to have more of a point to it, but I doubt there's enough interest in Trek non-fiction to warrant a whole forum.

If the comics aren't getting enough of a spotlight, I'd suggest that people interested in them make more of an effort to create threads about them. For instance, we don't seem to have a regular review thread for IDW's Kelvin-Timeline series. If people aren't creating many comics threads in the existing forum, then a separate comics forum would probably be no more active.

Maybe renaming the existing forum to Trek Literature & Comics would invite more activity from comics fans. Then, maybe if it got busy enough, we could assess whether a split was necessary.

 

[trampledamage]

Was typing, but Christopher's just said everything I was going to - except the renaming bit, that didn't occur to me

 

[stardream]

I'd go with the changing the title of the forum. I don't read the comics personally but I do like to keep up with the storylines. The last one I read which was forever ago was a Doctor Who crossover.

 

[Greg Cox]

I like the renaming idea.

 

[Stevil2001]

For instance, we don't seem to have a regular review thread for IDW's Kelvin-Timeline series.

Isn't that was this is?

 

[Daddy Todd]

I agree with Christopher's renaming idea.

I'm far more up-to-date on comics (and e-novellas) than I am on books (reading a comic takes maybe 20 minutes; and I read Rules of Accusation in maybe 90 minutes on a couple recent flights). I'd love more discussion of the comics!

 

[JD]

I don't think a split is necessary, but renaming could be a good idea.

 

[Jinn]

Isn't that was this is?

Yeah, but it is only one generall discussion thread, while there's a new thread every month for ST novels. Though I am not sure if a whole thread dedicated to discussing 23 (?) pages would really pay off. Maybe one thread for every story line would be better?

 

[Christopher]

Isn't that was this is?

Oh, I forgot about that. I may need more coffee...

 

[Stevil2001]

Yeah, but it is only one generall discussion thread, while there's a new thread every month for ST novels. Though I am not sure if a whole thread dedicated to discussing 23 (?) pages would really pay off. Maybe one thread for every story line would be better?

There used to be threads for every issue. I think they got like two posts apiece, hence the creation of a big thread. It does seem a shame there's not more discussion-- but I can't help because I'm way behind. The last IDW series I read was Alien Spotlight vol. 2.

 

[Jinn]

There used to be threads for every issue. I think they got like two posts apiece, hence the creation of a big thread. It does seem a shame there's not more discussion-- but I can't help because I'm way behind. The last IDW series I read was Alien Spotlight vol. 2.

I have never read a Star Trek comic in my entire life... I guess I'm not really helping the cause either...

EDIT: Though maybe seperate threads for each storyline would help people like me who are planning to read some comic stuff in the near future to talk about them as it would get pretty messy if everyone would just post their opinion on the issue their currently reading in one big thread.

 

[trampledamage]

Depends what you mean by story line - some of the comic arcs are only three issues long. And mostly that IDW thread was only ever posted in by a couple of people - the same people each time, and they knew where they were going.

Any different titles were given their own threads - John Byrne, Trek and Green Lantern etc.

But I'm open to changing it if you want it splitting. I think there's a big change coming up isn't there? So if someone wants to start a new thread for that, that'd be cool.


I'm not too keen on the idea of changing the title of the forum though. It's all literature.

 

[Christopher]

I'm not too keen on the idea of changing the title of the forum though. It's all literature.

I seem to recall the forums having descriptive subtitles in the old board software, but those don't seem to be around anymore. I was going to suggest maybe adding a subtitle to clarify that comics discussion was welcome. Maybe there's another forum title that could work.

 

[Jinn]

Depends what you mean by story line - some of the comic arcs are only three issues long.

Yeah, I ment the basically all the issues with an identical title + "part X" as listed on Memory Alpha

And mostly that IDW thread was only ever posted in by a couple of people - the same people each time, and they knew where they were going...

I guess a sepreate thread per storyline with the same couple of people ain't that practical then.

 

[Stevil2001]

But I'm open to changing it if you want it splitting. I think there's a big change coming up isn't there? So if someone wants to start a new thread for that, that'd be cool.

Yeah, it seems like a new thread for To Boldly Go would make sense, and another one for Waystation. And I guess another one for Discovery tie-ins once they appear.

I seem to recall the forums having descriptive subtitles in the old board software, but those don't seem to be around anymore. I was going to suggest maybe adding a subtitle to clarify that comics discussion was welcome. Maybe there's another forum title that could work.

They're still there. On the main page, hover your cursor over the subforum title and it will appear. If you're on the main page of a subforum, it appears under the title.

 

[trampledamage]

I don't read the comics - I'll leave it up to those of you that do to understand the storylines and name the threads accordingly. Make sure you put the storyline title and the series title/publisher (whichever is more relevant) so that a thread can be easily identified by people searching for it.

thanks!

 

[David Mack]

I would just like to be able to collapse the sections on the main page, since I don't visit most of the other areas of the site.

 

[Destructor]

I just want someone to give me props cause back in the day there WAS no Trek Literature forum on the BBS, and then I made a thread in general called 'Can we have a Trek Literature forum?' and then a few days later, lo, the thread appeared. Now it was probably a case of several people having the same great idea at the same time, but I *still* feel like I deserve some props.

 

[Idran]