Alexander Danner

Looking Back Through 2007

December 2, 2007 - 18:53 | Xaviar Xerexes

In years past (2004, 2005) we undertook the monumental chore of picking out the biggest headlines of the year. This year, I took another swing at it. So without further adu, here's the biggest webcomic headlines of 2007.

If I missed a story you think was key to this year, please post it in the comments to this article.

Updates On Entries in the Ill-Fated Webcomic Directory Project?

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on July 24, 2007 - 14:31

I built a "library" of webcomics and creators back in the fall of 2005 which I put into beta before realizing it was too much editorial work to deal with and the same information could be better provided through the community edited webcomic wiki - COMIXPEDIA.

Nevertheless looking back on the assortment of names collected (some from me, some sent in from you) I wonder if anyone has any significant updates on these creators 18 months later. Maybe we should interview some of them?

Full Story Highlights: Fantasy

June 27, 2007 - 12:05 | Tim Tylor and Alexander Danner

Last month, I complained that it was difficult to dig up enough stories to fill a full column for an â€œall agesâ€ themed issue. I had no such problem this month! Of course, itâ€™s no surprise that fantasy stories are plentiful in webcomicsâ€”fantasy comics have long been one of the most successful genres among independent print comics, from Elfquest, to Bone, to Finder. Fantasy creators continue to explore every inch of the genre, from philosophical, to action-packed, to erotic, to the downright silly.

Full Story Highlights: All Ages Webcomics

May 20, 2007 - 20:58 | Tim Tylor and Alexander Danner

While there is certainly a wealth of all-ages material out there, remarkably little of it is in the form of short stories or completed series.

It seems all-ages webcomics tend even more toward the infinitely-ongoing format than webcomics in general do.

Withrow and Danner's Character Design for Graphic Novels Now in Stores

Submitted by Alexander Danner on May 16, 2007 - 09:27

Character Design for Graphic Novels not only showcases the best in character design from the world's leading artists on-screen and on the printed page but also provides a hardworking guide to the process behind the evolution and development of character design, the key milestones of the art, the genre busters, and the genre definers.

A New Story by Alexander Danner and Steve Harrison

Submitted by Alexander Danner on May 1, 2007 - 02:23

After a much too long hiatus from the creative side of comics, Iâ€™m very happy to return with the short story Lending Can Openers, illustrated by Steve Harrison (Fabricari).

News for Wednesday, April 18, 2007 (UPDATED)

Submitted by Erik Melander on April 18, 2007 - 09:55

WIKIWATCH

Is Todd Goldman's plagiarism of Dave Kelly's Purple Pussy going to make it notable enough to have the comic's deletion from Wikipedia overturned? Follow the excitement in the Purple Pussy deletion review. (related note: Wired's Table Of Malcontents Blog picked up the Goldman story just this Monday, but adds a funny personal anecdote about Goldman to the mix.) (Second related note: Mike Tyndall catalogs all of the possible plagiarism in Todd Goldman's "work".)

TELEVISION

Jason Kruse's The World of Quest which appeared as a webcomic on Komikwerks in 2003 and as a graphic novel in 2006, will be a Saturday morning cartoon series this fall on the CW television network.

INTERVIEWS

Can't get enough K Thor Jensen? Here's part one of an interview with him at The Daily Crosshatch.
The Believer interviews Scott Mccloud.

BOOKS

Steven Withrow and Alexander Danner's new book Character Design for Graphic Novels is out.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BLOGS

(Xaviar Xerexes contributed to this post)

Comments

News and Views for Monday, February12, 2007

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 12, 2007 - 00:40

COMIXPEDIA

This week's magazine update includes another installment of Full Story Highlights by Alexander Danner and Tim Tylor; a column by Gilead Pellaeon on collectives; and the first installment of a new column by Derik A. Badman called Panels & Pictures.
I hadn't looked at it in awhile but the Comixpedia Flickr map has 458 members.
I'll be at the Washington Webtoonists Meetup this week. If you're in DC come by and say hola.

INTERVIEWS

Pop Syndicate interviews Girls With Slingshots creator Danielle Corsetto.

BUSINESS

T Campbell tried Google Checkout last year but dropped it when it started charging fees this year. Anyone else have anything to report about this Paypal alternative? UPDATE: T writes to clarify:

Google Checkout is not charging fees yet, and will not until the end of 2007. However, once we switched to Google Checkout, we stopped receiving any donations, and once we switched back, they started up again. From the limited evidence, I have to conclude that our donors were too reluctant to sign up with a new payment system, even with the venerable Google brand attached. This may mean that Paypal has a de facto monopoly on e-cash. Better hope they don't start acting like it.
A business plan for a gag cartoonist (link via Journalista!)

JUSTIFY MY HYPE

The Ryan Estrada Expeditions has launched! New episodes every Monday and Friday!
ButterNutSquash is updating with a storyline which has one of their characters being dragged around by a dog. They've posted links to some other webcomics where that character has showed up. Not sure if they're looking for more webcomic crossover action but a funny gimmick nonetheless.
Davd Morgan-Mar's collaborative, community webcomic project has a title, Infinity on 30 Credits a Day, and a new URL.
Publisher's Weekly has a webcomic: Tales From the Slushpile (link via Journalista!).

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BLOGS

The weekly round of up webcomics in print from the Webcomics In Print blog.
Operation Screw Wikipedia makes the frontpage of ComicNe.ws Tracker.
The Webcomicker notes that the webcomic Banished is updating again with a new artist and is impressed.
Indy Propaganda reviews Chaos! PhD by Nathan Staples and Ben Dewey.
Scott Kurtz summarizes PvP in one strip. I challenge everyone to do this - and make it funny to boot.
More Valentine's Day cards from Big Fat Whale creator Bryan McFadden.
Aaron Sacco demonstrates how to achieve an effect similar to that used in A Scanner Darkly.
The Disney Artist Tryout Book. A scan of a book from 1938 - it provides an overview of the production process and description of the various job categories at Disney.
This seems interesting: how to measure anything with a camera and software. Might be useful in crafting perspective.
A webcomics hater gets his hate on. Equal opportunity bashing of Penny Arcade, Ctrl-Alt-Del and Shortpacked among others.

Comments

Full Story Highlights: Collaborative Comics

February 11, 2007 - 14:05 | Tim Tylor and Alexander Danner

The spirit of cooperation is alive and well in webcomics. In that spirit, this month we present five stories that exemplify the value of cooperation: Agnes Quill, Vulture Gulch, Rip & Teri, After Days of Passion and The Archeologists.

Full Story Highlights: Beginnings

January 15, 2007 - 11:09 | Tim Tylor and Alexander Danner

The second installment of Alexander Danner's new column bringing you selections from the Full Story directory of completed webcomics. This month we look at firsts and beginnings, with five comics by Srdjan Achimovich, Andrew Dabb/Ben Templesmith, Hope Larson, Ryan North/Josh Rosen, and Raina Telgemeier.