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The Chris Carter Effect: Difference between revisions
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* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' has been suffering from this problem for some time. During the first six or seven years of the strip's existence, artist Pete Abrams created a veritable arsenal of [[Chekhov's Gun|Chekhov's guns]]... then stopped firing any of them. To make matters even more frustrating, Abrams often spends many months working on side plots that do not play a major role in advancing the numerous plot threads he already created. Things are beginning to move again, but at this point it's hard to believe Abrams could possibly wrap up the strip in less than four or five years, even if he created ''no'' new plot elements. Every resolution adds a few more questions. Arguably, though, Abrams has been lampshading this with the "fate spider" comics.
** Several things ''have'' been resolved, others clearly advanced; what seems like a majority of readers (on the forums) are confident enough Pete can pull it all together given (lots of) time. He has done it before on a more limited scale, and proven himself a master of planning in advance. So, averted in that faith has not been lost.
** [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/070122 Erica Henderson] did a very good job parodying this during her guest week back in 2007, pulling at several loose plot threads and even introducing "Pete" as a Wizard of Oz type god.
** The real irony? Back when ''[[The X-Files]]'' was still on the air, he made jokes at Chris Carter's expense about the need to resolve plotlines lest the reader lose faith or believe the writer is just making things up as he goes along.
** A decade after the "fate spider" comics and he's still tying up loose plot threads and abandoned side-stories - or at least weaving them back into the main plot. We finally know who Oasis and Kusari are, and what the connections are between K'z'k and the whole "Ocenas Unmoving" plotline.
* After some 1200 comics, the ''[[8-
** Of course, in this case, the [[Anticlimax]] was awesome. {{spoiler|Chaos defeated by four white mages, which completes the joke set up some ''1400'' strips before?}} ''YES!''
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' appears to be going for some kind of webcomic record with this trope, with a new mystery added nearly every other page. As to date, few bordering on none have definitive resolutions.
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** It's sort of a joke in the fandom about Act 5 in that the story will focus long enough to resolve one plot thread... and then make you realize that it introduced three others to do it.
** This is likely part of the reason why the plot became a literal [[Scrapbook Story]] near the end of Act 5. It conveniently separates the loose ends and advances them more or less simultaneously, while allowing the reader to see the connections between them.
** It's notable that the actual end to Act 5 wrapped up most of the loose ends and was considered to be immensely satisfying. Act 6 seems to be working on the rest, but it's introducing more threads of its own...
== Web Original ==
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