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Archive - Aug 2004

August 9th

From Neil Gaiman's Blog - Dave Sims Will Send You a Signed Cerebus

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 9, 2004 - 10:28

I'm excerpting the Sim-relevant part of Gaiman's post here but go take a look at Mr. Gaiman's blog as well, ok?

I don't want to be rude, but when are you going to talk about Cerebus?

Well, it was going to be at length in the same post that I talked about Gene Wolfe's The Wizard and the new Diana Wynne Jones book. But that one hasn't happened yet, mostly because I fell asleep on both of the plane journeys to and from Mythcon, so didn't get the writing time I'd hoped for.

So the long Cerebus post will have to wait. Still, I think it might be a good idea to kickstart the meme from the Cerebus post-that-hasn't-been written yet, and leave out all the stuff around it:

Amongst many other things, in Dave Sim's Cerebus (which is a story that took Dave and his partner-in-art Gerhard 300 issues to tell) he did, in the Women storyline, easily the best parody of Sandman anyone's ever done, as various members of the Cerebus cast of characters become Snuff, Swoon and the rest of the Clueless. It was wickedly funny, and had the author of Sandman curling his toes when he read it.

Dave Sim has made an extremely generous offer to readers of this journal (and indeed, to readers not of this journal, but just people who simply hear about his offer elsewhere on the Internet. Memes propagate, after all), which is the kind of offer that I found as interesting as he did. It's this:

If you'd like to read one of the Sandman parody issues of Cerebus, Dave will send you one. He'll send it to you very happily, free of charge. He will sign it for you, too. And he won't charge you a thing. Not even postage.

And if you're wondering what the catch is, it's this: Dave wants to know (as, I have to admit, do I) how many of the people out there in internet-land will actually go and do things that don't involve passively clicking on a link and going somewhere interesting. So what you have to do is write Dave a letter (not an e-mail. Dave doesn't have e-mail) telling him that you read that he'll send you a signed Cerebus, and telling him why you'd like him to send you a copy. It's as easy as that. And, quite possibly as difficult.

The address to write to is:

Aardvark Vanaheim, Inc
P.O. Box 1674 Station C
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 4R2

Dave, I suspect, thinks he'll get a handful of requests. In my more pessimistic moments, I think he's right, although I'd love it if he got deluged with letters, like those kids in hospitals who don't exist but are still collecting postcards...

We have a second-part of the plan too, which involves doing good things for the CBLDF. But that's for later. For now, if you're even mildly curious, write Dave a letter. Tell him you're curious...

(And for those of you who aren't sure if they want to risk having to go and find a stamp, you could go and look at http://www.cerebusfangirl.com/ -- and at http://www.cerebusfangirl.com/stories/stories.html you can even read several Cerebus short stories from Epic Illustrated, or the four pager from Alan Moore and partners' AARGH anthology.)

(But once you've read them, write Dave the letter. Don't forget to put your address on it, or to say why you'd like him to send you a signed Cerebus comic. And feel very very free to pass the word on to the comics news-sites or groups, or just to anywhere that people who might be interested congregate.)

Ben Wooler Comments on Comics Celebrity Defenders

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 9, 2004 - 10:21

Kindred Spirits by Ben Wooler is an interesting essay on public advocates of the comics form including novelist Michael Chabon and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez.

August 8th

What I Did Last Summer, umm, at Comic-Con 2004

August 8, 2004 - 23:00 | Kelly J. Cooper

Kelly J Cooper's Most Excellent Comic-Con Adventures
Part 2: Saturday and Sunday

Saturday, 24 July 2004

Checking In with FAUB's John Fortman

August 8, 2004 - 23:00

Lovers of beautiful black-and-white art and urban fantasy should know of the unique treasure nestled away at FALLEN ANGELS USED BOOKS gorgeous pencil artwork with a sure sense of proportion and the human shape, used to tell a story of a waif with wings and a Used Book Store owner, among many other fascinating characters. FAUB started in June 2003 and has already gathered a large following. John Fortman, the author, gave us a very thorough and revealing interview.

Why Do Online Comics by Iain Hamp

August 8, 2004 - 23:00 | Iain Hamp

How The Awesome Power of The Webcomics can help Print Comics Creators?

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about how the world of print comics and the world of webcomics interact with one another (or, as is more often the case, fail to interact with one another). I suspect that there are a variety of reasons for those who do print comics to have not embraced webcomics (beyond the loopy evil webcomics zealot in me who wants to think, "HA! They feel threatened by the awesome power of The Internet!").

Justin Offers More Webcomic PREviews

August 8, 2004 - 23:00 | Justin Pierce

Newbie comics are both cursed and blessed by their, well... newness. Spinoffs like Scary Go Round and Lizard taken aside, most webcomics are the author's first steps onto a new shore. Some creators will spend years, even decades developing their creative abilities before jumping onto the Web. Others may be borne of the online community, having yet to earn their artistic "sea legs". Whatever the basis of a webcomicker (and, by extension, their webcomic), we're all evolving, and it's usually most evident in the beginning.

Another Installment of the Webcomic Jam!

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 8, 2004 - 22:10

The second week of the second installment of the Comixpedia Weekly Webcomic Jam. This one is fom RPin and he takes the tale of condiment heroes and villians to new heights before throwing in a wrenching twist!

August 6th

BlogShares - 24 Hour Pixel People

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 7, 2004 - 00:41

What's the deal withBlogShares for 24 Hour Pixel People and can someone explain to me why I don't own shares in our own blog?

Keenspot Looking for More Keentoons

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 6, 2004 - 17:59

Over on the Comixpedia forums, Chris Crosby explains Keenspot's new animation division Keenspot and states that it should launch in August. He also notes that they are still looking for additional series to add to the site:

We're looking for two things:

* Original weekly creator-owned animated series (generally of 1-7 minutes in length per episode). If you create a series for KeenTOONS, you must be able to deliver every week without fail one high-quality animated episode of your series (preferably featuring ongoing characters and concepts), and you must be willing to sign a long-term contract with KeenTOONS (as opposed to our very short-term Keenspot web publishing contracts). We split all related profits with the creator 50/50.

* Talented FLASH animators who don't have a series idea themselves and would like to work on one of ours. We've got a bunch of shows in development that we don't have animators for. At first, pay will be almost nothing (at best), but we'll cut you in for a piece of the potential profits and give you full credit (obviously).

E-Mail me at superosity@keenspot.com with your series proposals and/or offer your animating services for an existing series. Include samples of your past work, and say how much time you can commit. Thanks!

Suzie View On the Road to Comics.com

Submitted by Dedos on August 6, 2004 - 12:19

Erik McCurdy and Tauhid Bondia's self-labelled "attempt at syndication", Suzie View, is apparently well underway to appearing on the United Feature Syndicate site Comics.com.