Comix Talk for Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Intervention Convention in Washington DC

I really cannot believe THE MAN is making me work during the World Cup.  I think in the spirit of the World Cup, I'll just use OLE in every sentence today (sort of like this NSFW new sketch from SMBC Theater).  

I haven't talked about INTERVENTION in a bit — that's a new convention in the DC area this fall created by Harknell and Onezumi – both ubercool and long-time friends of ComixTalk.  This looks more and more fun as it develops.  They just opened up registration for Artist Alley — you have until June 18th to get your application into for review.  The pricing (if I'm reading this right) is $50 for an artist alley table and you also need to purchase a con membership for $35. Total cost therefore for Con weekend with a table being $85.00.  As for me, I am going to be doing various things there in an official ComixTalk kind of role and will announce more when I get it sorted out!

Code: A link to a post from Frump a developer of ComicPress Pro for WordPress comparing it to the Inkblot webcomic package for WordPress.  I don't link to this to encourage any drama, but comparisons are needed to understand the real differences between these packages.  This post is purely about the number of mySQL queries which can be pretty important for performance issues, particularly with a site with a lot of traffic.  Frumph doesn't seem to have considered some of the cache plug-ins for WordPress, however, I wonder if that would have any impact on the comparative number of queries per page per package?  

iWebcomics: So this whole Apple playing net-nanny with apps for the iPhone and iPad?  Well there's probably a valid concern over technical performance, Apple certainly has an interest in ensuring a minimum of glitches from its app store.  But content… there's the rub.  Apple CEO Steve Jobs said recently that the iPad offered "…freedom from porn."  Well is this porn?  On the other hand, for all of the fuss over Apple's app censorship, there is a completely uncensored application on the iPad, the browser, and there are a growing number of competitors like Google who will probably pursue a more wide open approach to their app stores.

UPDATE: Brigid Alverson has an interview with the creator of the webcomic Ulysses on Apple's decision yesterday to allow the uncensored form of the comic into the app store (originally Apple had required significant editing of the comic).

Around the Blogs

FROM THE MAILBAG: I got an email from Gabriel Dunston who makes the webcomic The Pit of Despair.  He's got a video on his site explaining how his current financial issues are keeping him from buying art supplies.  Sometimes when I know someone (or have known of them) and they're trying to raise some money I plug it here because I personally feel like it's a good cause — either the person is in a bit of tight spot or it's going to lead to some great comics.  I can't say that here as I don't know Dunston and this is the first I've heard of him, but he's definitely working hard on his webcomic.  I didn't have time to read the full archives, but here's  the basics: a journal comic about a 20-something guy who just became a father and the art has GREATLY improved in 2010 over 2009.

Xaviar Xerexes

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