Patreon Power Hour #4: As the Crow Calls, Dystopia

Hi folks,

This week on July 25th is the Patreon Power Hour again. As usual it is at 10 am AEST. Though we are considering moving the timeslot to better accommodate international viewers. 

This month we're looking at DYSTOPIAN FICTION and the titles are:

- V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, Tony Weare (Vertigo)
- Sweet Tooth: Out of the Deep Woods by Jeff Lemire (DC Black Label)
- Attack on Titan Vol. 1 by Hajime Isayama (Kodansha)

Some questions to get you thinking for the discussion:

- What commentaries do the dystopias presented in the three books provide on today's society?

- Is all dystopia fiction inherently socio-political? Can it be anything else?

- Should a distinction be made between stories set in dystopic worlds and stories about the dystopic worlds?

- V for Vendetta was first published in the 1980s in the context of Margaret Thatcher's government and commented on the social unrest of the time, does the story transcend that context and is it still relevant today?

- Sweet Tooth and Attack on Titan both started their runs in 2009, one in Canada and the other in Japan. How do they compare? What are the similarities and differences and what impact do you think the culture they were each created in has contributed to this?

- What is the attraction of dystopias to readers?

- There are often cycles of popularity in genres and dystopias have been highly popular for well over 10 years now, especially in the young adult range. Is the popularity of this genre waning and to what extent should we follow trends of popularity in our acquisitions?

- How has the turbulent period over the last few years impacted mainstream perception of the genre? Has there been a shift towards or away from dystopias or has there been little to no change, and why do you think this is?

I look forward to seeing you all this weekend.

Cheers,
Liam