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Michael Carlisle examines the world “outside” sequential art to find… more sequential art.

I had the distinct pleasure, during a random walk down the aisles of BookExpo America last May, of finding a preview copy of Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth, which is due for release in the US on September 29, 2009.

First, I’ll say that I am overjoyed that this book exists, as it shows that mathematical content can be relayed, and relayed well, in the comics medium. I am also rather frustrated by the existence of this book, as I did not write it myself.

If I was to sadly be scooped by someone on the comic I wanted to write about mathematicians, logic, infinity, madness, world wars, and self-reference, then I would hope it would be by Apostolos Doxiadis (whose Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s Conjecture I’ve read only a portion of but am awaiting the rest) and Christos Papadimitriou (whose Combinatorial Optimization text I used as an undergrad, and will use again when planning a course I’m teaching in the fall).

(Them, or maybe Neal Stephenson. But he’s already done a few things similar to this, in text, for cryptography, calculus, and religion.)

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Michael Carlisle examines the world “outside” sequential art to find… more sequential art.

Flow, as a mathematical idea, is based in the notion of time. When looking at a discrete-time flow, we are really talking about a sequence of things, moving in time. Since this is a mathematical idea, though, the sequence can be examined “outside of time,” and so we have a directed sequence, laid out for all to see. When multiple sequences share elements, we have a directed graph. There’s another word for his when content is present: flowchart.

Flowcharts are typically thought of as technical devices used for complex decision-making processes (and so are often considered BO-RING, but lately (last 30 years) they’ve offered writers, game designers, and comics creators a nice device in which to construct work.

Is flowcharting a sequential art?

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Michael Carlisle is a mathematics Ph.D. candidate at the City University of New York, where he earned a certificate in Interactive Technology and Pedagogy. When not teaching or researching probability or rambling about dystopian films and surrealist animation, he volunteers with the Sequential Art Collective and New York Center for Independent Publishing.

On alternating Fridays, Michael Carlisle examines the world “outside” sequential art to find… more sequential art. Expect mathematics, a bit of madness, and a dash of pessimistic optimism.

Previously, I discussed infinite sequences; this time I would like to give an application that has changed the way humans interact with the world. And I’d like to play with comics.

One of the most important results from mathematics of the last 300 years is called the Law of Large Numbers.

Taking the sequence of sequences that is a comic strip “series” – the body of work of that strip – I propose a bit of fun.

(If you want to skip the text and go straight to the images, here you go. I’ll understand. Otherwise, read on, Faithful Lurker.)

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