Comix Talk for Monday, February 8, 2010

Sci Fi Drive By by Ryan Estrada

Welcome to the new site design at ComixTalk.  We're on a new server so let me know if it feels a bit zippier (it seems to be faster all around to me).  Happy to hear about broken stuff — I'm not done with tweaking things (never done!) and I can add it to the list.  One thing I can warn you about is that a lot of the older URLs are still broken, but I hope to clear most of that up this week.

REVIEWS:  I had the pleasure of sitting down with Copper in print this weekend and reading and re-reading it.  Here's my glowing, gushing review. I also forgot to mention that we liked Kazu even before he was a star; here's the cover art he did for ComixpediaTALK back in 2004.  Also, I'll have a review of Smile, the new graphic novel from Raina Telgemeier up this week.  I did get a chance to read it this past weekend and it is an entertaining, moving story.  Sure, the tale of the teeth and all of the work Raina had to go through are interesting, but she's done so much more with filling out the emotions and just the in-between-ness of those middle school years that it would have made a good story even without that hook.

MILESTONES: Last week marked the end of Anders Loves Maria, the breakout webcomic from Rene Engström.  I'll second Gary's thoughts on the tale.  Perhaps the ending felt a bit abrupt, even forced, but you can't deny it's impact.  It's also worth noting that Engström's art continually improved throughout the comic and that in re-reading the archives of this comic, I'm even more impressed with where she is now as a creator.  I hope the next comic comes soon.

CONTESTS: Ryan Estrada is competing in this month's Zudalympics and he needs your vote.  His comic is called Sci-Fi Drive-By and you can vote by visiting his website.  In non-Zuda voting, Comic Riffs, the Washington Post's blog about comic strips is having a Best Webcomic of the Decade Popularity Contest — voting closes this Wednesday.  The seven contenders are: Girl Genius, Hark! A Vagrant, Least I Could Do, Penny Arcade, The Perry Bible Fellowship, Schlock Mercenary, and xkcd.

Xaviar Xerexes

Wandering webcomic ronin. Created Comixpedia (2002-2005) and ComixTalk (2006-2012; 2016-?). Made a lot of unfinished comics and novels.