Boxjam
What I Was Reading in July 2001
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 6, 2004 - 01:16
Sorry to inflict this on the world but I feared this blog wasn't fulfilling the required "Self-Indulgent" Content requirement for blogs. I was Archive.org'ing my old site and pulled my daily webcomic reading list from roughly mid-year 2001. Here's the list with some comments on where some of them are today:
Absurd Notions: Creator Kevin Pease has moved the strip to http://www.absurdnotions.org/ and reduced the update schedule for this once daily strip but Absurd Notions is still one of the wittier comic strips on the web about young guys and gals of a computer/geek bent. The current story concerns a role-playing game the characters are conducting - it has been going on all year. Pease has also released a dead tree collection of AN: An Awful Lot of Absurd Notions.
Acid Reflux: This one appears to be dead (the old URL seems to have been grabbed by one of those lame squatter companies) although there is a Live Journal community about it. I never really got into this one but it was fairly popular.
Algernons Dilemma: Jim Alexander has been posting this daily strip since late 1999. I am under the impression that he has stopped making the comic but still posting this year because he had worked almost a year ahead. I couldn't find any status update on the website though so I'm not sure if that's still the case. I also think Alexander removed a large part of the archives - folks need to buy a CD-Rom from him to get those. I have read bits and pieces of AD in the past but I could never get past Alexander's unique take on the female anatomy to become a fan. A lot of old-school webtoonists are fans of his work though.
Alice!: is still one of the few GOOD PG comic strips on the web. A shame that McKay-Fleming isn't in your local newspaper.
Angst Technology: Barry was hot than stopped and now he's back again. I'm not as much into AT and the other strips on Inktank as I was pre-hiatus but it's probably more to do with the much more crowded field of webcomics than any drop in quality on Barry's part. There's just only so much time in the day!
A.P.E. Force: Nicely drawn - possibly gone from the web now. Couldn't find it this morning anyhow.
Aren't We Real: Case Yorke's webcomic before Gluemeat and I believe the archives are somewhere on gluemeat.com. Still my favorite Yorke project.
Arrogance in Simplicity: A funny comic, not always as funny as the creator thought it was but still a good read in its day. Definitely over according to the creator. Early pioneer in the "crap art but still a decent read" category.
Avalon: One of the original soap-opera-ish high school webcomics, Avalon is no more and Josh is now on to another comic.
BB of CS: Another comic that is done. Had to update the URL because the old was grabbed a URL squatter. Bad Boys of Computer Science was a pretty vulgar but sometimes painfully honest comic about college undergrad computer science students. It ran roughly from 2000-2002.
Bobbins: Bobbins is no more but Scary Go Round whirls on.
Bob N' Ed: Decent art, great parody riffs on Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Files, etc,but a horribly inconsistent update schedule probably has kept this comic from being more popular. Apparently he's actively working on it this summer.
BoxJam's Doodle: Original Blue Dude back after a brief hiatus this year.
Bruno the Bandit: Old School webtoonist still making the adventures of Bruno and filling in for Pete on Saturdays at Sluggy Freelance.
Burnt Dog Radio: Um this one would be mine. No comment....
Chopping Block: Herold updates less frequently now but still one of the rock stars of webcomicdom.
Common Grounds: Corey Marie Kitley's last webcomic before Life's So Rad. She's still on Keenspot pluggin' away at being emo.
Cool Cat Studio: Gone but Giselle is working with T Campbell on a new comic somewhere in the Modern Tales family of sites.
Cyantia Chronicles: Syke makes a lot of comics some of them hosted on Keenspot now.
Deathworld: I've completely lost track of Rudy's comic but he is as old-school webcomic as they come. He probably also holds the record for most active participation in the Fright Night Project.
Diabolica: Burke's first comic before Grimbles. Diabolica was good but Grimbles is better. Sometimes he out-Gorey's Gorey.
Diesel Sweeties: Pixel Power Activate! Form of a robot-elephant! Form of an Ice cube!
Dr. Lobster: I hope they keep the archives for this one up - in its own way it was quite good.
Down to Earth: Keenspot, indendent, quit and now back again I belive. Still kicking.
Dregs: This one was kind of bad. Doesn't look like it's still updating. I'm not sure I actually read this now that I'm looking at the site.
Elf Life: Some day Carson will complete enough of his tale to make this a coherent epic in comic format. Until than it's sort of the Similarron (I probably spelled that wrong) of the webcomics world. I just hope it doesn't take Carson's son to edit and publish it in a final format.
Exploitation Now: Done and onto Errant Story. Poe is growing as an artist.
Frankenstudent: Gone.
Fat Jesus: Horribly Inconsistent. Went from Keenspace to Keenspot because clearly Leffel is talented. Just a shame that not much work has actually been published. Owlie (his other comic) is still one of my sentimental favorites.
Funny Farm: I lost track of this one. Hard to catch up with everything I guess. Reportedly going to "end" but Smith seems to be a bit cagey about what that means.
GPF: Still kicking although more serious now than before.
Ghostz: Read the archives. Funniest copyright violatin' comic from the old school days around.
Goats: Rosenberg can actually draw now. It's always been funny though.
Greystone Inn: Why Guigar is not syndicated more broadly is beyond me. A fine work in the comic strip tradition.
Hang & Catch Fire: Terrance Marks does a gamer comic. Not sure if it exists anywhere online anymore.
Hobnob Inn: Now hosted on the Reuben (Awards for Comic Strips) website - this was a kind of wannabe Bloom County when basically everyone was a wannabe Bloom County. Haven't read it in a long time so I have no idea what it's like now.
Hotendotey: Right now the website says "PLEASE BEAR WITH US AS WE ARE PLANNING FUTURE ATROCITIES. THANKS." That sums up Hotendotey alright...
Hosers: Hosers got to do a cross-over with GPF. Less frequent updating lately although much better art than in the old school days.
Hound's Home: Brillant satire, erratic updating schedule.
Help Desk: Still making fun of Microsoft.
In2it: Scott Kurtz's buddy is no longer making webcomics I guess.
It's Walky!: Premarital Hanky Panky.
JoBeth!: Lost in space, alas...
Joe Average: It all went downhill after he got a girlfriend... :)
Just Another Vice: Back in a hazy cloud of dust..
Just Cheese: Just gone I guess.
Kevin& Kell: Furry goodness. (I can't believe I just said that...)
Ko Fight Club: Eclectic goodness.
Krazy Larry: It's alive I tell you. ALIVE!!!!
Lemont Brown: Used to be on Toonville. Not anymore I guess. Probably somewhere out there on the Internet but too tired to Google.
Limpidity: I don't remember this one.
Living In Greytown: Phil is Dead.
LWIBH: Still gross.
Lost & Found Investigations: Dog Detective as opposed to Basil Flint who is also a dawg detective.
Merlin's Crew: A 2001 comic that survived Keenspace's many meltdowns since. Not sure if it was any good or not.
Mr. Chuck Show: Jon Myers just quit one day in 2003 never to return. Or will he?!??!!
Nerdz: I've met Screwball McGoo sir and you're no Screwball McGoo!
No Outlet: I liked this one - too bad I can't find the archives anymore.
Nowhere Man: An angry comic that seems to have stopped in 2003.
Pentasmal: Now is the time for men to wear hats! Pentasmal is now locked away behind Keenspot's premium wall.
Randym Thoughts: I think this was done by Howard Shclock Tayler's brother but I can no longer find the archives.
Renegades: Not only does the url I had no longer work I can't remember even one thing about this webcomic.
Soup: Surprisingly this comic is still plugging along.
SporkMan: Four prongs of justice!
Together We Fall: Another one that seems to have slipped off the web and I can't recall anything about it.
Tonja Steele: still updating.
Too Fat to be a RockStar: Well the domain still points at Keenspace but it appears the site may have been wiped in one of Keenspace's mighty might meltdowns.
Tsuduku...: Although Ken's comic appears to have URL-hopped a bit I found it out there. Has to be experienced to understand..
Ubigod's Hurricane: It's Ubi's world and you're just living in it.
Unlike Minerva: Unlike active.
Unnatural, but true: Gone like the schwin.
Waiting for Bob: At one point this comic was popular, well thought of and doing cross-overs with all of the future "biggies" of webcomicdom. But it's been inactive since 2002 and I guess never to return. It's too bad - some of the most well written characters...
When I Grow Up: This was Jeff "WIGU" Rowland's first webcomic. I guess he lost the domain name though - I think he has the archives on his site for WIGU, his new webcomic.
Sunday Night Geekery!
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on June 6, 2004 - 22:47
The June issue puts Geekery under the microscope.
Week 1 comes out of the lab freezer with a fresh sample of Geek Women and webcomics, while a Poppycock review whizzes up in the cyclotron. The bunsen burners blast full force, causing interviews with Michael Jantze and Josh Lesnick to bubble and froth in livid neon colors.
In the middle of it all, Dalton Wemble and Boxjam cackle out their columns maniacally, like the mad mad scientists they are.
Week 1 is alive!!! ALIIIIIIVE!!!!!
The Blue View by BoxJam B. BoxJam
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The Beginning of the...?
Things are changing for me. I just finished up almost a year of unemployment, but I have a contract position that should turn into a job now. Never say always, though, especially if you’re not good at most things – nothing’s ever certain.
BoxJam's Back - Yes We Missed You Blue Guy
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on June 4, 2004 - 16:02
BoxJams Doodle May Begin Updating Again
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on May 13, 2004 - 12:05
BoxJam's Doodle drops the hint that it will begin updating again soon. Good news.
The Blue (Inter)View: Dan Piraro, Creator of Bizarro
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For we who inhabit the cartooning world, 2004 may well be remembered as the year of Dan Piraro. Piraro is the Reuben-Award winning cartoonist of Bizarro (best panel three years in a row), and in a few short days, he will be attending the Reuben Awards again, this time nominated for "Best Overall Cartoonist". He’s also got a successful book out and has organized a political comedy show tour.
And when Comixtalk asked him for an interview, he was gracious enough to say yes.
The Blue View by BoxJam B. Boxjam
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BoxJam Does Boffo! (Interview-style, That Is)
Joe Martin has produced 30,000 individual strips, by his count, has Mr. Boffo, Cats With Hands, and Willy 'n' Ethel in current production, and produces other strips as well. He does all these without collaborators. He's been able to keep all his strips among the consistently funniest around, and his productivity has landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records.
He's also written other strips, he paints, he writes books, he writes songs, and has written for TV. We didn't ask, but he probably writes ballets and operas as well.
The History of Online Comics by T Campbell (Part 5)
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Spot And The Panda
"Whatever happened to Bryan McNett?"
It's a question experienced webcartoonists ask each other, now and again. It was a question many of them asked their e-mail inboxes as they pounded their desks in frustration.
In one respect the answer is easy: McNett is now a video game developer. He posted to an abortive, eponymous blog in September 2003.
But to the webcomics community, he is as remote as if he had passed to the Great Beyond. Many of today's webcartoonists don't even know who he is. Those webcartoonists who did business with him consider him a failure. Some who knew him had reason to hate him. And because he has never told his side of the story, it's difficult to balance the picture. Yet in his contribution to webcomics history, McNett may be as important as any of his successors, maybe even as important as any of the Five Horsemen.
The Blue View by BoxJam B. Boxjam
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Hey Everyone and Your Mother!
Hey everyone and your mother – fuck you!
Why can't I offend you?
I wish I could piss people off. I've had kids playing crucifixion, had God say that every religion was wrong – I even said that God hates Danes – and nothin'. I made fun of addiction. I've made every Canadian joke there is – damned Canucks are too easy going, I guess. I just don't seem to be able to set people off.
Smurf Passover! Offended yet?
Tuesday Morning Update
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on January 13, 2004 - 16:06
Another solid update from Journalista! Deppey is a one-man newscast for comicsland.
MICROPAYMENTS: Deppey points to a fairly useless article on micropayments from ecommerce times. Recycled quotes from Scott McCloud (optimist) and Clay Shirky (pessimist) included. I don't think this is so hard really - if there's a perceived vaule for the price people will pay if it's not too hard to do so. Same as offline transactions.
Shirky's big mistake is creating a straw man of multiple, piece by piece purchases as if we wanted to buy every little thing separately. As if I went to the grocery store and paid for each thing when I picked it up. Or per page in a bookstore to be even more ridiculous. No one is advocating that. No one (that I'm aware of is even trying to be that boneheaded about it).I think there's a real question of whether people want to buy the equivalent of a comic book (like McCloud's I Can't Stop Thinking) or a magazine subscription (Modern Tales) but really it comes to down to perceived price to value. A buck a song - yeah that works. A quarter for a comic, that'll probably also work. I think we're getting there.
NEW KEENSPOT: Nicer site layout for the Keenspot site along with less garish logo. However, now that they're classifying their comics I'm scratching my head. They've grouped the following comics as "Surreal": BoxJam's Doodle, Checkerboard Nightmare, Chopping Block, Framed, just another Vice,Men in Hats, and Road Waffles. Compared to several other Keenspot comics I'm not quite sure what's so surreal about this lot. BoxJam's Doodle is a rather PG-rated blend of painfully honest-Charlie Brown stories and clever word play. Chopping Block is a pun-filled horrorfest. Checkerboard Nightmare and Framed wear their meta-hearts on their sleeves but I've never heard meta described as surreal. The others don't even come close really. Even beyond the mislabeling here is grouping them together at all. Sure a Chopping Block fan might like Road Waffles (similar violence content) and Framed fans might go for Checkerboard Nightmare but I'm not seeing much guaranteed cross-over beyond that.
