I'm feeling very alone.
I don't think there is a person in this world who would say that they see me as their best friend. I have never been, and I'm sure never will be, a godfather. I've never been elected to lead a group, no matter how small. Continue Reading
In May, Comixpedia published a "most-read" list based largely on information obtained through comparative traffic rankings from Alexa and Traffic Ranking. For July, we present version 0.2 of our audience measurement project. Remember that this project is still in beta mode, and that we welcome your feedback. Continue Reading
Write what you know.
Write from experience.
These are two major tenets you’ll hear spouted to you from a million million creative writing teachers, or from a thousand thousand famous writer/artist people when asked, "What should I draw/write about?". Continue Reading
I have a ruling reputation online as being outgoing and wacky. An online friend was once shocked to find out that my voice is not, in fact, at ALL chipmunky, despite the fact that I can yammer and pun and load on the sarcasm for paragraphs in chatrooms. But for some reason, around accomplished comic book people I’m a complete dimwit. Continue Reading
Making webcomics is a tricky process. There are lots of articles, discussions and advisors that offer information about the theories, processes and sheer practicalities involved in taking the phrase "I’m going to make a webcomic" all the way to fully-realized, charming cartoon characters galavanting within panels and trading clever quips on the glowing computer monitors of every internet-wired home on the globe. What doesn’t get noted is that quitting a webcomic is also as nuanced and involved a business as starting one. Most people stumble backwards into it without a plan. Continue Reading
Japanese culture has so thoroughly melted into American culture that we can't always tell where one ends and the other begins. Speed Racer, Godzilla, Voltron, and Tranzor Z are nostalgic for millions of Americans, almost a part of "Americana." Weightlifters train by eating sushi. The Matrix seamlessly blends Japanese martial arts and Eastern philosophy into Western cyberpunk and American car chases. Japan makes our cars, our computer parts.
Nowhere does the Japanese voice speak more clearly than in the true avant-garde, the avant-garde of comics, the Web, and especially of webcomics. Continue Reading
An Electric Manga Mirror
Scouring the Internet comic scene, it’s easy to see how prevalent manga imagery and ideals are. Thousands of fan sites are dedicated to Japanese anime, comics and characters. It’s a cultural tidal wave that can easily wash away the uninitiated with way too many facts and trivia about the multitude of worlds that have been created by eastern artists. Whether you’re a fan or not, you can’t deny its influence on popular entertainment. Continue Reading
On a personal note…
When I began "Why Do Online Comics?" it was my intention, above everything else, to have it act as a spur. Continue Reading
Issue #13 – Fixing the Notion of Breaking In
My first comic book convention was in Chicago back in 1993, when it was still the Chicago Comic Con and not Wizard World. The name change has much to do with why I have not been back since (although the 2000 mile difference between going to Chicago versus going to San Diego from my home in Phoenix is also a contributing factor). They might have renamed it “Ran Over Your Favorite Pet World,” for the title would elicit as favorable a response from me. Still, back then it was still just the good old Chicago Comic Con, and it was the first time I had been exposed to such magnificence as is offered up to a fanboy at such an event. Comics and related merchandise as far as the eye could see, women who left almost nothing to the imagination (and yet imagine many would), and Mr. T on his “Mr. T and the T-Force” tour (he’s so lifelike in person!); yes, it was truly a grand thing to behold. Continue Reading
Issue #12 – Since I Already Have My Two Front Teeth…
It’s a problem that has been with me ever since I got my first “real” job back when I was 23. When I started doing technical support for, well, let’s just call it Company X (and hope I don’t get sued by Marvel for it), I started earning enough money so that if there was something I consciously wanted that was $20 or less, I went out and bought it. Which is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, I think, but it created a lot of problems for my friends and family around Christmas and my birthday. They wanted to get me something I really wanted as a gift, but I could never tell them anything I wanted because I already bought anything that is of a reasonable price for most people to spend on a gift for me. So, I usually ended up with cash, or a meal, or a few beers, or the like. All these things were very nice, and I appreciated them at the time, but when I look back and try to remember what people have gotten me as gifts, I don’t remember money or food or beer (of course, there’s a fairly logical explanation for the beer one). I remember specific objects, things that I see on a regular basis and, when I do see them, think of the persons that gave them to me. I remember them because they mean something to me, and because I keep coming back to them and getting reminded again and again. Continue Reading
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