Shortpacked! by David Willis, Reviewed by Andrew Bonia

David Willis’ much beloved It’s Walky! was an epic science-fiction story mixed liberally with teen-angst drama and quirky, character-driven comedy. That story concluded last year (though the series is still showing signs of life) and for his next project Willis chose a more open format, free from the bonds of continuity and logic. The result was Shortpacked! a gag-a-day strip set loosely within the world of It’s Walky but with a whole new direction. Continue Reading

When I am King by Demian5, reviewed by Andrew Bonia

When you talk about infinite canvas, you’re walking a fine line between cliché and getting publicly attacked as an artsy-fartsy idealist. Still, while the majority of webcomic artists stick to tried and true printed page formats, a few have emerged to really try to grasp the narrative possibility of digital space without descending into pretension or inaccessibility. In the case of Demian5’s When I am King, the creator manages this in addition to plenty of dick jokes. Continue Reading

Spamusement by Steven Frank, reviewed by Andrew Bonia

Steven Frank’s Spamusement is summed up well on its front page: "Poorly-drawn cartoons inspired by actual spam subject lines!" It’s a simple concept that goes a long way.

Where most of us would automatically hit "delete", Frank has appropriated the detritus of his inbox and given it new life, recycling his junk mail into single-panel, often silent comics entirely based on the subject lines of his daily pile of spam. Continue Reading

Comix Talk for January 16, 2012

I have a dream that my comics will one day live in a world where they will not be judged by the means of their delivery but by the content of their… well, content. 

CHANGES: Paul Southworth handed over the art duties on Not Invented Here to Jeff Zugale. It's different, which I imagine is going to be more interesting and successful than simply aping Southworth.  But it will take awhile for me to get used to it.

ALL AGES: Saturday Morning Webtoons is a new portal to several all ages webcomics

NEW(ISH) STUFF

Andrew Bonia has a new webcomic, On the Bounty with a Dinosaur Comics approach to the art (or I guess I should say Angriest Dog in the World approach). Definitely worth clicking on for some funny dialogue.  Reusing the same art is a tough format though — good luck to Bonia for as long as he can work with it.

Kevin Church's new webcomic is a Star Trek parody called Boldly Gone about another spaceship Captain living in the shadow of one James T. Kirk.

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Week 2 of the May Issue is ALIVE!!!

This week we have a column from Eric Burns on collaboration, plus an Eric Burns interview with two collaborators in life and webcomics: J. Grant and Mel Hynes.

Alexander Danner has part one of a Practical Guide to Collaboration and Andrew Bonia reviews an interesting experiment in webcomics: Spamusement by Steven Frank.

It’s also time for the second installment of Welton Colbert at Comixpedia. This month, Colbert offers his opinions on Strip Fight, the webcomic content site.

And if you missed Week 1, be sure to check out Erik Melander’s news recap column, Through the Looking Back Glass; Mark Mekkes column on collaboration; an interview with the creators of Apple Geeks; and the third installment of Modern Humor Authority by Kristofer Straub. Continue Reading

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This Day In ComixTalk: May 15th

A look back at some of the stories we covered from the world of webcomics:

2008
I mused on the future of comics and links to all of the other news I found worth linking to that day – including the conclusion of Evan Dham’s Rice Boy.

2007
We had a review of the Paranormals and in award news: Brian Fies won the Blooker Award for Mom’s Cancer and Krahulik and Holkins won the UK’s Eagle Award for Penny Arcade.

2006
Artist Onezumi commented on the then-in-the-news Brownstein/Soma story, ByrobotDotNet started up, we updated the list of surviving contestants to the Daily Grind contest (as of 2009 there are still 8 surviving contestants listed – I wonder if anyone is still tracking this?) and links to all of the other news I found worth linking to that day.

2005
David "Shortpacked" Willis announced he was leaving Keenspot.
The 2nd week of our May magazine update went up: a review of Spamusement, an interview with J. Grant and Mel Hynes of Two Lumps, Alexander Danner’s guide to collaboration, a new column from Eric Burns, and a new Welton Colbert comic from Ryan Estrada.

2004
The 2nd week of our May magazine update went up: with a review of Spark Needle and an interview with Gilda Rimessi of The Sinner Dragon as well as columns from Frank "Damonk" Cormier and Jim Zubkavish.  We also had a look at the history of comics syndication.

2003
Eat the Roses by Meaghan Quinn turned 3 years old (I think the last time this was updated was in 2006).
Nominations for the 3rd edition of the WCCAs were almost due.

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