versions
what's the acoustic version of a comic book?
Three times this weekend, I ended up enjoying singing and performing in front of an intimate audience with a minimal ensemble of a guitar player accompanying the voice of: 1. an actor (aided at times for some parts of his performance by a female voice of an actress), 2. two women writers and 3. the woman singer/songwriter. The proximity between these performances made it impossible for me not to compare one with the other and extract where each exceeded and where they might have fallen a little short.
In terms of musical experience, the singer was the most exquisite experience, and left everyone in the room talking about it for hours afterwards. I came home and went on Spotify to search for her album, and by founding it I discovered how different the songs sounded in their intimate acoustic version and in the studio produced “official” version. Some songs sounded better (to me) in this latest, minimalistic approach, a playful lighter tone that left more space for the singer’s voice to stand out, and less layers which made the lyrics stronger.
The mutual strength of all the performances was that its live aspect. People, in front of you acting, reciting, singing and dancing is always different than just the sound of that performance, or even the image of that show if you watch it on your tv (or, more likely these days, your phone). There’s the energy of our bodies occupying the same space, breathing the same air, and it gives us the sensation of being part of the performance – because, in fact, we are. The singer herself pointed that out when the audience sang along to some of her songs, telling us how hard it was when the audience didn’t engage and left the artist free falling in the silence of their lack of response.
As much as we hope it happens, we never know when the audience will engage. We jump, hoping we will fly.
What would the acoustic version of a comic book be?
Would a black and white comic be more acoustic than a colored one?
Would a silent comic be more raw than one with words?
What do you think?
Be safe, be kind, be curious.
Pa-ZOW!
Fábio Moon
Moon Base, São Paulo
December 8th, 2025
The first two things that came to mind - Larry Hama's GI Joe #21 "Silent Issue," which made for a classic, breathtaking issue and the B&W Walking Dead comics, with the lack of color causing a feeling of dread and death.
"Acoustic version of a comic book" had me immediately remember one I saw at a local indie con where the artist KNITTED the book out of cloth, including the artwork. Somehow they scanned or photographed this work and printed it to sell, but the original was on their table to actually see and touch.