I’m sure you’ve noticed my Twitter feed in the upper-right corner of this page. “Why do you use Twitter?” people ask me. I do it because oftentimes I want to say something but there are just too few words for a whole blog post. So I make it a sentence and still get it out there. Up until recently my Twitter feed was connected to my Facebook status so whatever gets posted in the former goes to the latter. I recently unhooked them, which effectively cuts my postings by half (I felt I was posting too much!).
I digress. The point of this post is to direct you to the Keeley comics page. Now look to the right: hey, that’s not my Twitter! It’s actually Keeley’s Twitter, hiding in plain sight. I started it way back in March 2009 (!!!) but I wasn’t fully committed to it until 2010 when I was inspired by Marvel writer Paul Tobin‘s Twitter for the character Anya Corazon*. Tobin innovatively integrated her tweets into the actual paper comic, so the fictional tweets (used in the place of thought balloons) appeared in real life on the day of publication! Araña stopped tweeting with the cancellation of the comic, which is sad because it was really good. That was the Golden Age of college-age female protagonists with Anya Corazon, Young Allies, and Stephanie Brown Batgirl getting their own books. *wistful sigh*
Keeley’s Twitter feed started out as the usual thing with posts about cats and the weather, but it’s grown into a kind of laboratory for storytelling. I’ve had a few ‘episodes’ where Keeley describes a coherent series events happening from start to finish. They’re not even all about fighting crime: Valentine’s Day had a sweet little story about Keeley and her husband (it’s well within scrolling distance if you want to look). She also participates in hashtaggery, giving profound character insight that don’t really fit in her comic.
{ Like this one }
Keeley lacks followers, though. I’ve told a few Midmococoers about it over time and they’ve followed her like the good friends they are. I am a little perplexed by how few strangers follower her. She doesn’t even have robots subscribing to her! So, yes the gist of this post is that you should subscribe to a fictional character’s Twitter feed.
*Sidenote: Keeley’s goggles? Ripped off of Anyas’ Araña costume.