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Our friend Noel Orosa, an avid reader of graphic novels, spoke to David Lloyd, creator of V for Vendetta and most recently, Kickback.

Photo: Graphic novelist David Lloyd

Noel Orosa: How did you come up with the idea of not having the usual comic book sound effects like “kaboom” in V for Vendetta and keeping the page silent?

David Lloyd: Well it’s because I wanted to make the experience of reading V as close to the narrative experience of watching TV and cinema as possible and that’s why it was all designed for that effect.

It was all rectangle – because the medium through which we experience comes in mostly rectangles- and so that was the basic philosophy behind that.

But on top of that I’ve never really liked sound effects. If you’re talking to intelligent adults, you shouldn’t treat it like a children’s fantasy. If you’re telling stories to 6-year-olds then a sound effect like kaboom is an interesting decoration for them—it makes it nice and colorful—it’s for kids. But if you’re telling an intelligent story, there’s actually no reason to use it and it will co-opt any adult who is not familiar with comics. Immediately. Which it has done for decades.

NO: Somehow because there are no sound effects it makes things noisier.
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This is an artwork we spotted at the Tate Modern: a staircase made of fabric, dangling from the ceiling.

Write us a story about it. 1,000 words or less, due on or before Friday, 27 May 2011 at 11.59 pm.

The prize is a stack of hardcover books: 13 Steps Down by Ruth Rendell, Zugzwang by Ronan Bennet, The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst, and Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland.

We’re turning the Yucch-meter evaluations into a regular podcast so you can hear your work being discussed! Is that exciting or terrifying?

The Weekly LitWit Challenge is brought to you by our friends at National Bookstore.

Friday was my last full day in London. In the morning my brain suddenly kicked into gear and I ended up cramming several days of stuff into 12 hours.

First I went shopping in Oxford Circus. (More stuff for my wonderful sister who will cat-sit for me once again when I go to Korea at the end of the month. Also I shrank one size from ten days of healthy living in Bristol haha.)

Then I had lunch with Harry near his office, a feat of scheduling. Harry’s weekdays are parceled out in 40-minute segments, like one half of a rugby match. He’s a. . .he’s a. . .he’s a yuppie. I always expect him to bring out a PowerPoint presentation on how he will achieve world domination. (I would begin by not revealing my schemes to the competitor. Who is leading the who-gets-recognized-in-public tally haha.)

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The coffee with readers at Caffe Nero on Tooley Street was so much fun that it became dinner at Nicholson’s on Southwark by the river and ended with drinks at the 184-year-old Globe Tavern on Bedale Street off Borough. Not bad for a bunch of people who had just met. Here we are at the Globe (from left): Will, Cielo, me, Tess, Anthony and Shivaun. Not in photo: Claire, Ryan and Bodhi.

Thanks for the company and the stories! Everyone who turned up at this meet-and-greet works in the mental health, nursing and biomedical sectors, so it was just like group therapy.

If you’re living in Korea or planning a holiday there, come and see the Philippine Volcanoes national men’s rugby team do battle with the teams from Korea, Singapore and Malaysia in the A5N Division I tournament. They need your support!

According to Will this elevator at Canary Wharf appears in the Jude Law movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Caffe Nero on Tooley Street near Tower Bridge, 4ish to 7ish. (Ooh near a dungeon! Perfect venue.)
We have your books (if you made a reservation). If you didn’t, come anyway for the chitchat and you can claim your book in Manila.