Archive - Dec 2007 - Article
December 20th
ComixTalk's People Of Webcomics List For 2007
And now... the fourth annual People Of Webcomics list! I'll be the first to admit that this list gets harder and harder to compile as the lines between "webcomics" and just plain "comics" blurs harder than a greasy windshield in the middle of a West Texas downpour. Plus as publishing comics on the web and other digital formats becomes more commonplace it gets harder and harder to find those "firsts" that take comics in new directions whether artistic, technical or businesss-oriented.
- Blank Label Comics
- Drunk Duck
- Dumbrella
- Zuda
- B. Shur
- Brad Guigar
- Chris Onstad
- Dave Roman
- Fred Gallagher
- Greg Carter
- Jeph Jacques
- Jerry Holkins
- Joey Manley
- Jon Rosenberg
- Josh Neufeld
- Kaja Foglio
- Kazu Kibuishi
- Kris Straub
- Mike Krahulik
- Nicholas Gurewitch
- Randall Munroe
- Rich Stevens
- Rob Balder
- Ryan Estrada
- Ryan North
- Ryan Sohmer
- Scott Kurtz
- Tyler Martin
- Achewood
- Goats
- Penny Arcade
- PvP
- xkcd
- People of Webcomics
The Year In Webmanga: Small Changes, Big Plans?
Things were quiet in the world of web manga this year, but there’s plenty brewing beneath the surface.
There weren’t any Big Events, a la Marvel DCU or Zuda, just the established channels chugging along: Netcomics selling chapters of manga online for a quarter a pop, publishers giving it away to build buzz for their print editions, scanlators posting their favorite titles in closed circles, and artists working out new projects online.
But behind the scenes, several publishers are preparing to launch web manga in one form or another.
December 19th
Five Webcomic Books For the Holidays
Michael Rouse-Deane blogs regularly at Webcomics In Print and has organized several charity efforts involving webcomic creators. Last year he covered his top ten webcomics-to-books of 2006.
This year he presents 5 webcomics-to-books from 2007 that you ought to take a look at. Sort of a gift guide to deadtrees, even if you just get it for yourself!
December 17th
Get Happy! An Interview with Matt Melvin of Explosm.net
Think xkcd is the most popular stick figure webcomic around? Don't be so sure - Cyanide and Happiness consistently pulls in similarly large numbers on publicly available sources of data such as Alexa and Compete.
C&H resides on the website explosm.net which features work from creators Matt Melvin, Kris Wilson, Dave McElfatrick and Rob Denbleyker. We recently interviewed one of the four: Matt Melvin about the webcomic, the website and what's next.
The ComixTalk End of 2007 Roundtable
Our third annual virtual round table on the year in webcomics features comments from Gary Tyrrell, Dirk Deppey, Tom Spurgeon, Heidi MacDonald, Brigid Alverson, Derik A Badman, Reinder Dijkhuis, and JT Shea and Scott Gallatin.
- Act-I-Vate
- Blank Label Comics
- Transmission X
- Zuda
- Cameron Stewart
- Chris Onstad
- Christopher Hastings
- Dave Kelly
- Derik Badman
- Dorothy Gambrell
- Emily Horne
- Fred Gallagher
- Howard Tayler
- Jennie Breeden
- Jerry Holkins
- Joey Comeau
- John Allison
- Josh Neufeld
- Kaja Foglio
- Karl Kerschl
- Mike Krahulik
- Mike Maihack
- Nate Piekos
- Raina Telgemeier
- Randall Munroe
- Reinder Dijkhuis
- Rich Stevens
- Ryan Estrada
- Ryan North
- Scott McCloud
- Shaenon K. Garrity
- Svetlana Chmakova
- Tatsuya Ishida
- Tyler Page
- A Softer World
- Achewood
- Cat and Girl
- Penny Arcade
- Sinfest
- xkcd
- Features
December 7th
Teaching Comics to Kids
For the last five years Neal Von Flue has taught comic illustration to kids. Maybe you can too!
In this feature, he writes about the importance of teaching comics to kids -- how it's in our best interest to get young people aware and interested in comics as a medium while they have a passing interest in it as a genre.
December 2nd
The Buddy Cop Fantasy Therapy Hour
In this episode, Dr. Haus takes a look at the webcomic The Prime of Ambition. Watch as he tries to help an androgynous black elf and white elf couple come together to realize that they both want the same things. Will Dr. Haus succeed in bringing the two sides together, or will this be as futile as trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis? Read on and find out.
This is Dr. Haus' second review for ComixTalk; last month he reviewed the webcomic Slackerz.
Looking Back Through 2007
In years past (2004, 2005) we undertook the monumental chore of picking out the biggest headlines of the year. This year, I took another swing at it. So without further adu, here's the biggest webcomic headlines of 2007.
If I missed a story you think was key to this year, please post it in the comments to this article.
- Act-I-Vate
- Blank Label Comics
- Bomb Shelter
- Chemistry Set
- Dumbrella
- Half Pixel
- Platinum Studios
- Sugary Serials
- Zuda
- Alexander Danner
- Bill Barnes
- Brad Guigar
- Brad Hawkins
- Brian Fies
- Chris Crosby
- Corey Marie Parkhill
- Dave Kellett
- Dave Kelly
- David Malki!
- David Willis
- Gene Yang
- Gordon McAlpin
- James Duncan
- James Kochalka
- Jennifer Babcock
- Jerry Holkins
- Joe Dunn
- Joey Manley
- John Allison
- John The Gneech Robey
- Jon Morris
- Josh Lesnick
- Kris Straub
- Krishna Sadasivam
- Mark Mekkes
- Matt Shepherd
- Mike Krahulik
- Mike Russell
- Mitch Clem
- Nicholas Gurewitch
- Pete Abrams
- Rich Stevens
- Ryan Estrada
- Ryan Sohmer
- Scott Kurtz
- Scott McCloud
- Spike
- T Campbell
- Terrence Marks
- Thomas K. Dye
- Tom Brazelton
- Tyler Martin
- Zach Miller
- Achewood
- American Elf
- Penny Arcade
- PvP
- Sluggy Freelance
- xkcd
- Through The Looking Back Glass
A Road Less Traveled: The Synopsis
"A Road Less Traveled" is a series of articles by Tim Broderick detailing the path to publication of his graphic novel, "Cash & Carry" (based on his webcomic Odd Jobs, featured at Moderntales and Timbroderick.net). In this month's article, he discusses crafting the synopis for a graphic novel.
In previous installments, Tim reviewed how he signed with a traditional publisher for his graphic novel and how he constructed his ultimately successful query letter.
Whereas writing a query letter is a creative challenge, writing a synopsis of your story is an exercise in patience.
Is This A Comic?: Four Criteria
In my first column, I took a look at the various previous attempts to define what exactly is a comic. The fact that so many people have struggled to define comics demonstrates that we have yet to do so successfully. Well, if everyone else is trying, why not me?
In order to answer the question “Is this a comic?†we need to apply four criteria: Intent of Creator; Audience Experience; Closure & Synthesis; and Use of Visual Language. Only if a work meets all four of these criteria can it be considered a comic.



