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Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.info,rec.answers,news.answers
Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!leafusa!tyg
From: tyg@hq.ileaf.com (Tom Galloway)
Subject: Welcome to rec.arts.comics: Glossary
Message-ID: <comics-faq-2-766189091@hq.ileaf.com>
Followup-To: rec.arts.comics.misc
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Reply-To: tyg@hq.ileaf.com (Tom Galloway)
Organization: Black Ink Irregulars
References: <comics-faq-1-766189091@hq.ileaf.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 22:22:07 GMT
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Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu rec.arts.comics.info:849 rec.answers:4864 news.answers:17984
Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4
Archive-name: comics/faq/part2
WELCOME TO REC.ARTS.COMICS (part 2 of 7: the r.a.c. glossary)
written by lots of different people
edited by Paul A. Estin 1990-1993
Tom Galloway 1993-present
[last update: 11/30/93]
2. The USENET/ Rec.arts.comics lingo glossary:
Terms defined here (a + before a term indicates a changed definition, a *
indicates a new entry).
bandwidth
btw
FAQ
flame
flame war
FYI
IMHO
IMPO
kill file
newbie
signal-to-noise ratio
SOL
wrt
:-)
Alternative Squiddy
ashcan
CBG
comix
Crisis
CSN
dangling plotline/dangler
fanboy/fangirl
fourth wall
furry
JLA, JLE, JLI, JLUTB
LNH
LSH
OHOTMUDE
PAD
patch
phonebook
pod person/pod
pogs/milk caps
post-Crisis
pre-Crisis
retcon
spoiler
Squiddy
Suicide Squid
TMNT
General Usenet terms:
bandwidth = analogous to a radio bandwidth (frequency), referring to
the resources needed to propagate posts. Usually used in the
phrase "stop wasting bandwidth", which means simply "don't post
if you don't have anything relevant to say."
btw = by the way
FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions; topics which have come up repeatedly with
answers to try to avoid having them come up again. See part 3.
flame = an inflammatory, insulting post
flame war = a flame response to a flame responding to a flame...
FYI = for your information
IMHO = in my humble (or honest) opinion
IMPO = in my personal (or pompous) opinion
kill file = a file usable in the "rn" and "nn" news programs that one can
keep to "filter out" disliked topics, keywords, or posters
newbie = [General] anyone new to Usenet or a particular newsgroup.
[Specific] anyone who makes a netiquette mistake showing that
they've not bothered to learn the customs of either Usenet or
the newsgroup they're posting to.
signal-to-noise ratio = in a newsgroup, the proportion of useful articles
to useless ones (such as flames). We like to keep the signal
relatively high and the noise very low.
SOL = shit out of luck
wrt = with respect to
:-) = a "smiley", used to indicate humor or sarcasm
Specific R.a.c terms:
Alternative Squiddy = The sillier and more net oriented annual r.a.c.
awards. See "Squiddy" for more detail.
ashcan = a half-sized (4" x 5"), typically black and white,
promotional copy of a comic book. Originally, ashcans were
produced to claim trademarks. Today, ashcans are produced more as
a promotion than to gain guardianship of intellectual property.
CBG = Comic Buyers' Guide, a weekly newspaper
comix = independent, non-mainstream comics, such as _Yummy Fur_ or
_Desert Peach_.
Crisis = the Crisis on Infinite Earths (usually). (See the Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ) in part 3)
CSN = Comic Shop News, a free weekly hype sheet
dangling plotline/dangler = an unresolved plotline or mystery which an
author has apparently forgotten about, since it hasn't been
mentioned in a long time.
fanboy/fangirl = a rabidly devoted fan, often said to be "drooling". This
can be used in a general sense, or a specific sense, such as X-Men
fanboy, Sandgirl, Image fanboy, etc.
fourth wall = originally used with reference to stage sets, this
term refers to the imaginary wall between the characters and
the audience. "Breaking the fourth wall" refers to comics
in which the characters are aware that they exist in a comic
book, sometimes for the purpose of humor.
furry = an anthropomorphic animal, such as Mickey Mouse, Cerebus, or Omaha
JLA, JLE, JLI, JLUTB = the popular DC super-hero groups "Justice League
America", "Justice League Europe", "Justice League International",
and for those tired of them, the hypothetical "Justice League
Up-the-Butt"
LNH = Legion of Net Heroes, a parody of sorts of...
LSH = Legion of Super-heroes (a DC comic book)
OHOTMUDE = Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Deluxe Edition
PAD = Peter A. David, a comics writer known to read r.a.c
patch = see retcon
phonebook = name for the collections of 20-25 issues of Cerebus, so called
because they're the thickness of the phonebook for a large city.
Sometimes applied to other hefty collections, but most often to
Cerebus.
pod person/pod = a character who has been taken over by a
new writer and/or editor and immediately acts very inconsistently
with previous characterization, with no explanation given for the
change, and no change noticed by other characters in the book. The
term is from the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where aliens
grew duplicates of people in giant pods. First use of 'pod' was in
reference to the changeover after Keith Giffen left the JLI titles,
concerning the characters Fire, Ice, Max, and Oberon.
pogs/milk caps = Round, approximately 1-2.5 inches in diameter, and
cardboard, pogs are the element of a game from Hawaii. While the
game involves stacking the pogs and flipping another to knock them
over, on the continent in recent months, they have simply become
another alternative to trading cards, bearing art and/or text
concerning super-heroes. Many here consider pogs on the mainland an
example of a manufactured fad.
post-Crisis = events/history/characters in the DC Universe as they existed
*after* the Crisis on Infinite Earths. (See the "Frequently-Asked
Questions" section in part 3.)
pre-Crisis = events/history/characters in the DC Universe as they existed
*prior* to the Crisis on Infinite Earths. (See the "Frequently-
Asked Questions" section in part 3.)
retcon = to retroactively change the continuity of a character or title.
(This term, a r.a.c favorite, was coined by Damian Cugley).
Originally, the term "retcon" was used only in cases where the
interpretation of "facts" from earlier stories is changed, but the
facts themselves are preserved. For example, Alan Moore took took
Swamp Thing, previously considered to be a man transformed into a
plant creature, and with minimal changes to facts presented in
previous stories, wrote Swamp Thing to be a "plant elemental", one
of a long line of such beings.
A "patch" was the term used (taken from programmer's
jargon) to mean an actual change, rather than merely filling in
details.
These days, however, "retcon" is used increasingly to mean
changes to history as well as to retroactive continuity. So, to
"retcon" is to change history, so that something that had existed
in the continuity of the fictional universe, not ONLY doesn't exist
now, but in the fictional history, NEVER HAS existed. This can be
true of an event, of a character, or whatever. For example, if
Hawkman appears in the Justice League, and then years later a
writer decides that "No, Hawkman just came to Earth, he was *never*
in the Justice League," that's a retcon.
Retcon is also listed in the New Hacker's Dictionary, with
credit given to r.a.c.. In the second edition, this is disputed.
In the third edition, should there be one, there will likely be a
dispute of the dispute...
spoiler = any item which "gives away" information about a comic. Proper
netiquette is to give a "Spolier Warning" first, to allow people to
avoid the spoiler if they wish to not have their surprise ruined.
Squiddy = what some people call the annual r.a.c. Awards. See section 3
for why this is the case. These are the more formal and serious
categories.
Suicide Squid = See the FAQ in part 3.
TMNT = Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
[end of part 2]
"There are no net.gods, just some people with bigger mouths than others."
-- Dan'l DanehyOakes, net.roach
tyg tyg@hq.ileaf.com