Archive - Feb 2007 - Story
February 28th
Last Day To Nominate Comics For The Eagle Awards
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 28, 2007 - 14:38
Over at Talkaboutcomics.com, DAJB writes that today is the last day to nominate comics for this year’s Eagle Awards. Only the five comics with the most nominations will get to be seen by the panel.
The Eagles have a category specifically for webcomics: the Favourite Web-Based Comics category.
February 27th
Harvey Awards Nominating Ballots Available
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 27, 2007 - 12:17
* The last batch of Blind Date II updates will go up tonight.
The official Nomination Ballot for this year's Harvey Awards are available here. I've copied in the official press release below (click read more) but first a comment - the Harveys seem to be nominated and final awards granted in the same way as the WCCAs - through a vote of creators in the comics field (webcomics field for the WCCAs). Might there be something the WCCA could learn from the Harveys? Conversations between the respective Executive committees might be productive.
February 26th
Two Comic Book Companies Float Plans to Begin Digital Distribution of Their Comics
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 26, 2007 - 12:58
Newsarama has good coverage of the two digital comics stories that broke at the New York Comicon.
Graphic Novel Sales Blow By "Pamphlet" Sales? ICv2 Panel Provides the Data
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 26, 2007 - 10:43
I'll try to have a round-up of news later today but I wanted to post separately on some news coming out of the NY Comicon from a presentation by ICv2. Let's pull some quotes from Dirk Deppey's Journalista! story on the panel:
February 23rd
Create Micro Hysteria
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 23, 2007 - 13:18
Seth Godin is a marketer and his insights range from the startlingly good to the blindingly obvious. This post though seemed to capture an idea that's rattled around my brain for a couple years. There's at least some portion of active webcomics creators that want to "succeed" and define that as some combination of readers, income, and attention. In a niche medium like webcomics by definition, successfully creating that perfect storm of success is something like what Godin calls "micro hysteria". It doesn't last forever, but achieving it at all tends to vault its creators into greater awareness (at least amongst the webcomics community).
In webcomics I can think of some things that seem like examples - the emergence of Eric Burn's blog Websnark in late 20052004; Adrian Ramos' then new webcomic Count Your Sheep; Dead Mouse's Ballad; - all things that seemed to suddenly be what everyone (okay - not everyone, but a significant number) was talking about for at least awhile.
News and Whatnot for Friday, February 23, 2007
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 23, 2007 - 11:08
BUSINESS
- Dirk Deppey has a great discussion today of the growth of graphic novels as the now-predominant form of print comics in North America. The discussion is based on analysis from industry analyst Milton Griepp (more of the analysis at ICv2). Interestingly, the total sales numbers also represent the highest sales for the comic and graphic novel market since the early 90s. Even more startling is Deppey's estimate that the manga market is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total marketshare for comics of any kind in the United States today.
INTERVIEWS
- The Daily Cross Hatch presents the second part of its interview with James Kochalka (link from Journalista!) (The Daily Cross Hatch is a great new blog on comics - worth checking out!)
- CBR has an interview with Wesley Green, who publishes the online indy comic site Independent Propaganda and also started up Ambrosia Publishing and the webcomic hosting service Ambrosia Digicomics.
OTHER WIKI(s) WATCH
- I don't know why the TV Tropes wiki has entries on webcomics but there's an interesting one on "webcomics time", and a list of other "webcomics tropes":
JUSTIFY MY HYPE
- PinkRayGun has an overview of a comics collectiveSweet 7000 Baaadassss Comics (7000 BC). Awesome name - go check out their comics. called
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BLOGS
- Over at Fleen, Anne Thalheimer writes a self-described "fannish" post on some webcomics she likes. If you're going to go all fan-boy on something, Scary Go Round ain't a bad choice...
- Thomas Mauer says, "Build a buffer kids!" I'd link to his webcomic, The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo (if for no other reason than the name) but he didn't link to it from his blog.
- T CAMPBELL says Hey Rich Johnston! TokyoPop still does the webmanga!
February 22nd
Thank God It's Blind Date II
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 22, 2007 - 19:33
We've got two more excellent Blind Date II comics for Friday!
- Our first comic for Friday is by Chris Chrysis (RPG-TV) and Neil Brideau (Sock-Monster). This one's really about the international trade in
his peniscoffee beans. - Our second comic for Friday is by Ozark (Mind Flayed) and Lance Icarus (+1 Comics). Roleplaying taken inside-out and then some.
We're heading into the home stretch Blind Date II participants! Email me those finished comics by the end of this Sunday, February 25th! The list of creators still yet to report on their "blind date" after the jump (nudge nudge, know what I mean?):
Rolling Thursday Webcomic Thunder (UPDATED)
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 22, 2007 - 11:26
WIKI WATCH
- Scott Kurtz, Kris Straub and Paul Southworth will be talking about Wikipedia and webcomics on PVP Live tonight. Click through for time and details.
THE COMIXPEDIA (dot org)
- A letter from Wikia, we need more administrators and for the love of god, someone help me with the templates!
HEADLINES
- Comics Worth Reading reports on the fate of the Friends of Lulu Empowerment Fund. Short answer: no more fund. Here's an excerpt from information provided by FOL President Shannon Crane concerning the problems surrounding the creation of the fund last year:
Ronee Bourgeois suggested to our entire board that we start an empowerment fund. We agreed that yes, it would be a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, instead of being patient to let the ENTIRE board come up with guidelines, rules, etc, she announced the new fund to the comics community without the board’s consent. We found ourselves between a rock and a hard place. We did what we could to make it work, and now we find that this is not something that we will pursue any longer.
- Joey Manley flags a job opportunity at DC Comics for a Web Content Administrator.
MILESTONES
- Unshelved reaches its 5th Year anniversary. Created by librarian Gene Ambaum and cartoonist Bill Barnes, the strip started February 16, 2002, and now over 35,000 readers enjoy the strip every day.
JUSTIFY MY HYPE
- Bernie Hou of Alien Loves Predator hints at big projects to come this year. He also shifts from twice-weekly updates of ALP to the dreaded "whenever I can" schedule.
- It's role-playing gamer meta-humor (getting overplayed recently?) and it just started (so not much to go on) but Cat's Grace may turn out to be a find. It's reasonably entertaining in a cute and unoffensive way (the use of toys in the photo-art helps).
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BLOGS
- Hey! Eric's back with a post about J. Grant's second novel (Grant is also a webcomic creator - most recently of Two Lumps). Burns is comparing Grant to George Carlin and generally raving about it -a very positive review.
- Reinder writes about the WCCAs that "[f]or all the criticism the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards for 2007 have received (admittedly, I could write that opening line about each previous edition of the awards), they do reflect a trend in webcomics towards more technically sophisticated material. In particular, the artistic standards of the nominated comics have been higher than ever this year."
- Deppey on men's magazine FHM versus comic book magazine Wizard: "I’d love to crack a joke about the culture of the two magaziness being similar, but frankly, FHM gives the distinct impression of having a readership that likes to get laid every once in a while, making the comparison somewhat dubious."
- Digital Strips latest podcast sounds good: a review of Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell and news about the upcoming New York Comic Con and the recent WCCA Online Ceremony.
- Johanna Draper Carlson (CWR) comments on this year's Glyph Award nominees.
- It's not on my radar screen but this parody of Marvel's Civil War cross-over series is funny.
February 20th
Wikipedia To Redelete WCCAs?
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 20, 2007 - 10:29
I had a notion to work on the WCCA entries at Comixpedia.org and checked in on whether or not there was still an entry at Wikipedia. There is, but it's up for deletion again (history-to-date: in, out, in, ?... call it the usual Wikipedia-webcomic hokey-pokey) and leading the charge is our old pal Dragonfiend:
Delete, has not garnered the type of verifiable coverage in reputable independent sources one would expect of a seven-year-old supposedly "notable" award, let alone enough to write from a neutral point of view. What, if we really stretch our standards, we might possibly almost have two reputable sources? We have better sources for last year's revisions to the Chelsea High School Perfect attendance award. [1] [2] [3] [4]. Also, the point of view that this is "the singularly most prominent and admired awards within an entire genre of art" is ridiculous when you have the awards' committee members blogging things like "The WCCAs are horribly mismanaged, they are not well organized and they don't do what they are supposed to. I know this because I have been part of the administrative process."[5] With a dearth of reputable sources, I don't see how to write this article without giving undue weight to wikipedia editor's personal points of view and original research about this topic. -- Dragonfiend 04:07, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
How much coverage do the annual pr0n awards get in the NY Times btw? Putting snark aside, if you're at all inclined to improve articles on the WCCAs please do it at Comixpedia.org - Wikipedia can always import our articles later if they come to their senses.
February 19th
Blind Date 2 Returns to Boogalooin'
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 19, 2007 - 23:13
After a Presidential Day Weekend Lull time for more Blind Date II webcomics:
- Our first post-Presidential Day-weekend comic is from Whitney June Robinson, creator of Alma Mater and Nathaniel Payne of Evil Avatar Webcomics. A mysterious visitor to Alma Mater - who could it be?!?
- Our second comic for Tuesday is from Petie Shumate (Girl/Robot) and John Troutman (Flint Again). It's probably happened to you - a long night of carousing leads to waking up with someone surprising. Not this surprising though...
And to the rest of our Blind Date II participants keep sending in the finished comics to me - I'm posting them in the order I receive them.
