Delos's blog
Strip News 8-28-9
Submitted by Delos on August 28, 2009 - 09:00
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for all of us, so here’s a double sized issue to catch up…
- This Week in Webcomics gives us the ten best Nobody Scores!, Pigs of The Industry reviewed Bow & Arrow Detective Agency, Darrell gives us a glimpse of Melody and Smash and Webcomics Critique looked over Bottoms Up! and Pigs and Such. Tangents reviewed Saijiki Stories and Comixup shared a Gunnerkrigg Court review from i09. Lonely Panel did an anti-review of Reporterz, too. Webcomic Overlook opined on Dreamless and Legend of Bill. MPD57 reviewed Arctic, If You See The Hills, Rogue Royal and Simply Sarah. Peiz covered the multidimensional Fred Peterson: The Mighty Warlord.
- Fictions covered Pohadky, Talkin Bout Comics discussed Potential, Down The Tubes reviewed Omnivistascope and The Rainbow Orchid while Madinkbeard analyzed Le Voyage. Forbidden Planet looked at The Path and High-Low peered into The Deformitory – it’s the last review on that page.
- You know you’re big when you’re big in Pheonix, right? We also find out via ComixTalk that Voles Of The Dusk is now printed in a three story volume. Optical Sloth tells us about a bunch of small press comics by Rob Jackson, another batch by Mark Bennett, one by Jerell McFalls and one by Matt Feazell. The Floating Lightbulb highlighted Scrap Paper Comics and Hard Graft while ComicsGirl covered Chiggers and MPD57 reported that Dual is getting another season.
- Tweeterview interviewed Lonnie Easterling of Spud Comics and A Nickel’s Worth gave Dan Piraro twenty questions. I always dig question five… “Many of the best comics are Internet only.” Six Chix interviewed Stephanie Piro – I’m amazed that Stephanie doesn’t have a studio and instead depends on a lap and wheeled assistance. Not what I expected. And I’m not sure what I expected from MPD57’s interview with Sheldon Vella of Supertron but there’s more there than I would have asked for. Bob Scott’s interview (via Drawn!) was nice to read AND we got a look into his process, too.
- There was weighty discussion on Madinkbeard about a comic analysis article from 1986 which you may enjoy but it made me wonder if that’s how non-fans determine what a comic is or isn’t. If the words are small and almost touching the images then it’s probably a comic. If the text is larger and/or offset from the images then it must be an illustrated story. This is, in my opinion, a very arbitrary line in the sand. What if DC started publishing Superman comics composed mainly of larger story text partially overlapping splash page type images? Would that be a coffee table book instead of a comic? Pshaw.
- And Jason Thibault twittered about this interview with Tony DiGerolamo on Newsarama. It’s a pretty scathing take on the overall comic scene but it makes me wonder how things would change if all the big boys published comics online instead of in monthly print booklets… many things would become corporately standardized and general audience expectations would likely be harder to work around, for instance. It also seems likely that the Marvel and DC would truly begin to see the internet as a candy store of new intellectual property to mine. But enough of my paranoid delusions…
- The Last Panel had some thoughts on the loneliness you may feel when working on your comic while Rocket Bomber points us to Project Rooftop’s Wolverine: Look Sharp contest winners. Mindless Ones put some thought into how the Batcave has been treated in the Batcomics and I agree it deserves more.
- We also got to see D Bethel’s artistic process here but then we also saw the new, new methods he uses and the penciling techniques of Charles Yoakum on Ink Destroyed My Brush. Via Hero Spy, we also get Nick Edward’s process and you may want to check out all the good stuff in this Digital Strips Link post – especially Kyle Latino’s constructive visual critique and I agree that Kushner needs to read more graphic novels. Tom Richmond weighed in with speech bubble advice and Scott McCloud talks about the merits of editors.
- Webcomic Overlook is conformingly contrarian, if I read this right. Really, I’m not keen on critics – whose whole gig is about tearing creative works apart as opposed to reviewers who mainly tell you about them. Often, these two groups are lumped together though you are free to disagree with me if you like. (Reminder: El Santo is on another wedding vacation.)
- Have you seen DrawerGeek’s take on Spiderman? Superhero Nation talks about effective superhero costume design – it reminded me of the heroine’s design in Kukuburi. Harvey Pekar launched a webcomic (and Superheroine liked this) and the hubbub over motion comics is over but Comics Worth Reading covered it if you missed it.
- Do you track visitors or readers to your site? The Floating Lightbulb helps us find out how ComicRank can help. And here are eight things to not do if you want more Twitter followers. PW Beat had some very interesting links about comic site design and comic journalism.
- Addanac City crossed the one year line, so congrats to you George.
- Finally, I happened across this SiteAdvisor from McAffee which tests your site for spammy problems and links. ArtPatient is green, baby, green but you may want to check out your site, too.
Stardrop
Submitted by Delos on August 26, 2009 - 10:00
What Did I Learn?
weekly webcomic reviews by Delos
(this is a repost)
Bob The Squirrel
Submitted by Delos on August 23, 2009 - 09:00
What Did I Learn?
Bob The Squirrel by Frank Page is full of unique characters. You have Bob the talking squirrel, Frank the cheapskate cartoonist, Lucy the tree climbing dog, the relatively balanced Lezley who is Frank’s girlfriend, Lauren who is Lezley’s overly sensitive artistic daughter and a couple more dogs and cats, too.
Spotlights
Submitted by Delos on August 21, 2009 - 09:00
Yeah, I know this is supposed to be a news post but that’s not going to happen this week. I’ll catch up on the news next week – but I’d like to spotlight some things worth sharing…
Theater Hopper
Submitted by Delos on August 19, 2009 - 10:00
What Did I Learn?
weekly webcomic reviews by Delos
(this is a repost)
What Did I Learn?: Quirk’s Evil Little Webcomic
Submitted by Delos on August 16, 2009 - 09:00
Before we get into the review of Quirk’s Evil Little Webcomic, I need to warn you about it. Despite not having anything truly eeevell in it except maybe this and this, the comic has a perfect name. I also wanted to link to (about) every other comic I read, so you’re going to see a lot of that. Finally, there are lots of cat comics which normally I’m not a big fan of but you’ll get a link to one of those too. if you’re still reading this, you’ve had enough warnings. On to the review.
There are lots of puns and word play- both of which which never cease to amuse me – even when they are groaners. You’ve just been given a bonus warning, so now you can’t blame me if you find them. There are also truisms and life observations and words of wisdom (for potrait photographers, in this case.) I even found a general health infotainment segment.
Strip News 8-14-9
Submitted by Delos on August 14, 2009 - 09:00
This issue of Strip News is a bit introverted so I ask you to bear with me as I wool gather.
What Did I Learn?: The Deformitory
Submitted by Delos on August 9, 2009 - 09:00
Before I had a chance to read it for myself, I had read a number of other reviews of The Deformitory by Sophia Wiedeman. Virtually all of them talk about the deep themes that they found in the comic, which intrigued me because they all talk about slightly different themes.
When I first saw the cover, the theme that presented itself to me was about being a misfit. For me, that ties the book’s stories together nicely. The unicorn watcher saw something amazing, it consumed his life and he spent it alone. Dolores has a crippling condition (and eventually deadly) which she has to face all alone – which she’d prefer not to be at all. Both the Heart Monster and the mermaid are on the outside because of their outward appearance. The Slug gets that same treatment from her friends and also Dolores, of all people.
Strip News 8-7-9
Submitted by Delos on August 7, 2009 - 09:00
Kind of a slow week for things that caught my eye…
What Did I Learn?: Lullaby
Submitted by Delos on August 5, 2009 - 10:00
Lullaby is created and art done by Hector Sevilla, written by Mike S. Miller and Ben Avery, colors by Simon Bork, David Curiel and Ulises Arreloa, lettered by Bill Tortolini. It is this delicious mix of fairy tales and literary sources with an edge. The characters are familiar yet have some twists to them, as you can see from the picture. Alice, Jim Hawkins and Pinnochio are not what you’d expect, are they? The art is perfectly suited to the subject matter, too.
