Author: kjc

Feeding Snarky by Eric Burns

kjc 4 Comments

We’re discussing print this month, which is an interesting topic for webcomics. Once, it was the goal. Everyone who was doing the web had an eye to print — the early successes, like User Friendly, Sluggy Freelance, and Kevin and Kell all moved into print collections as a matter of course. Plan 9 Publishing became the earliest resource for webcomics to bridge into dead trees, and it remains a vibrant publisher of comics and cartoons from both the web and print sides of the aisle. Derek Kirk Kim is perhaps the most successful example of a person who has bridged from the web to a print collection, with the clear and obvious exception of Megatokyo, which has transformed itself from a webcomic with collections available in print to a manga produced by Dark Horse that happens to put up teaser pages in sequential order on a website. Continue Reading →

Creative Commons and Webcomics by T Campbell

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Traditional copyright faces webcomics with an uncomfortable choice. Its restrictions, properly enforced, would mean a virtual end to crossovers and homages, fan art, fan fiction, and many other staples that make the webcomic a more entertaining creation and foster artistic growth.

A total lack of copyright, however, leaves unscrupulous readers free to “bootleg” subscription sites, program tools to deprive comics of advertising revenue, and even profit from others’ labor without permission.

The Creative Commons license presents a possible solution. It lets copyright holders to grant some of their rights to the public while retaining others, through a variety of licensing and contract schemes, which may include dedication to the public domain or open content licensing terms. Continue Reading →

A Practical Guide to Collaboration, Part One

kjc 2 Comments

One of the most liberating facets of online comics is that it has made it easier than ever for creators interested in working collaboratively to find each other. No longer must writers troll local comics shops and art schools in the hope of finding like-minded artists. Instead, they can go straight to a large community of comics creators, where geography is no barrier. They can get to know the people they hope to work with, and everyone can see samples of each others' work on their websites before committing to any sort of collaboration. All in all, the Internet has allowed for more people to experience more productive and rewarding collaborative experiences. Continue Reading →

Indiana Review Literary Magazine Adds Comics

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The Indiana Review literary magazine has been around for 25 years. They’re currently putting together a special issue about “marginal identities, immigrant experiences, transnationalism and hybridity.” They are looking for the standard poems and stories and non-fiction work, but they are also looking to add comics. From the IUB.edu website:

Attention Comic Artists: We’re looking for black and white comics that tackle these subjects to include in this special issue. IR is 6 x 9 inches. Ideally, we’d like to feature three or four artists, devoting about 16 pages total. Payment: $50/page.

Submission Deadline: October 31, 2003. However, we’ll keep reading until we fill the issue…

Check the link for more details about the subject matter and submission guidelines.
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Basil Flint by John Troutman

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Deus ex machina – it's a great phrase. Although it's Latin, we can trace its origins as a concept back to Greek theater where its creation is generally attributed to the Athenian playwright Euripides, in the fifth century B.C. It means "god from a machine", and refers to a particular trick that many playwrights used when their plots got stuck or just to clean up the end of the story. They would put an actor dressed as one of the gods into some rigging and lower him onto the stage, as though he were descending from the heavens. This appearance of the god could bring a swift and fortuitous resolution to any problem. The Romans picked up the habit from the Greeks and we got the phrase from them.

Nowadays deus ex machina is considered a shortcut or a cheat, but it can still be a fun device. Especially when the god is the machine, or at least a robot with seemingly infinite powers descending from the sky to free the good guys and help end the first story of John Troutman's Basil Flint, P.I.

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