Skip to main content

Clint Hollingsworth

DRAFT List of 100 Greatest Webcomics: Comedy and Drama

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on January 22, 2009 - 14:50

Last year I posted a couple times (Previous posts on this "research" project were here and here) about a possible article on "ComixTALK's 100 Greatest Webcomics" which would be something like the American Film Institute's list of the greatest movies of the last 100 years.

A recurring comment to the previous two posts was what is the criteria for this.  I'm always a little hesitant to give too much guidance when part of the point of asking this kind of thing out loud is to listen to the resulting discussion of what everyone else thinks the criteria should be.  For the AFI list judges picked films based on criteria such as Critical Recognition, Major Award Winner, Popularity Over Time, Historical Significance, and Cultural Impact.

That sounds about right to me.  We've got a round decade plus a year or two of webcomics to look at it.  Critical reception (both from peers and critics), and popularity are both relevant to thinking about the impact of a webcomic.  WCCA awards are somewhat indicative of what peers were impressed with in a given year and more recently awards like the Eisners and Ignatzs have recoginized webcomics.  Historical significance and cultural impact are a little harder to pin down but various "firsts" in webcomics are important and comics like Penny Arcade have had a much wider impact on popular culture than most comics do these days (put aside the legacy superheros of comics -- what other "new" comic, let alone webcomic, in the last decade has had a wide cultural impact?)

Another thing AFI did that might be useful here to help sort through the vast numbers of webcomics one could talk about is to also think about categories or genres of work.  Just as a simple matter of numbers if a webcomic isn't one of the best of a larger type of story -- or frankly, so startlingly unique it's hard to categorize -- then it's hard to imagine it's one of the 100 Greatest...

So to move things along I'm listing another "draft" of titles submitted by the crowds but this time I've tried to break them up into drama and comedy so as to help avoid complete apples to oranges comparisons.  In doing that I've realized (1) it's hard in many cases to decide; and (2) there are probably more comedic than drama on the list so far.  I think it would make sense to whittle down the two lists to 75 each so as the final list is no more than 3/4 of one type or the other.  Of course we could further do genre type lists but for now this was enough work on my part.

So -- your assignment (if you choose to play):

  1. Name the comic you're talking about (you're also welcome to nominate ones not on the list -- I KNOW there are many I haven't even thought about yet -- it takes time to review all of the corners of the web)
  2. Tell me where on one the two lists (comedy and drama) it should be (you could give a range of slots if you're not sure). (If you think I've got a drama on the comedy list or vice-versa let me know!  I'm not "done" - this is fairly dashed off still at this point)
  3. Tell me why!  Referencing awards, critics, historical achievements, strengths and weaknesses of the works are all really helpful!

November 14th DRAFT version of 100 Greatest Webcomics List

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on November 13, 2008 - 21:02

This is an update to a previous post here, thanks for the cumulative suggestions on that thread.  JUST so we're clear - this is open-sourced to everyone research for a possible article to appear next month at ComixTalk.  I don't endorse the list or the order at all; at this point I've tried to include all of the suggestions I've gotten and I also went through all of the comics ComixTalk has ever reviewed and pulled quite a few titles.

We're at the point where it'll be most helpful if you tell me comics you think should go on the list, where (what number approximately) and which comic should get bumped.  If you just want to change the order you can do that to but there'll be another post before the month's through asking for help with that.  

Melpomene now FREE Online

Submitted by Jamie Robertson on August 25, 2008 - 19:55

Melpomene: The Chaos Orb, the online graphic novel from Jamie Robertson and Clint Hollingsworth, is now online for free. The Clan of the Cats spin-off was originally intended for Keenspot Premium, a service Keenspot discontinued in May of 2008.

Rolling Monday Update

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 25, 2008 - 07:56

INTERVIEWS
Some new interviews right here at COMIXTALK - with Barry T Smith of Inktank, Clint Hollingsworth of The Wandering Ones and Peter Spicer of WordOwl. 

Elsewhere, Jennifer Contino talks to Danielle Corsetto of Girls With Slingshots, and Patrick Montero talks to Scott McCloud of ZOT! (h/t to Journalista!).

DEAD TREES
Sunday's Washington Post had a good article on the graphic novel publishing boom written by Bob Thompson (who is self-described in the article as "Prose Guy" so you know a bit about where he's coming from).  Be sure to check out the comics that are part of the otherwise text story. 

PORTRAITS OF CREATORS
Photographer Seth Kushner has been taking portraits of the many great NYC-based graphic novelists.  There are some wonderful photos in this series and it's just kind of cool to put a face to the name for many of these creators.

COPYRIGHT
This is interesting -- according to this story by Joseph Menn, Disney may NOT have the rights to the very earliest versions of Mickey Mouse.

Help Out Kazu

Kazu Kibuishi is racing to finish his graphic novel (which one!?!) and is asking for volunteers to help him with the flatting (and perhaps painting) of the pages.  My lead assistant, Alan Beadle, will still be joining me on this journey, as will Amy, Shadi, and Tim, but we'll definitely need some more brave souls to join the party.  If you are interested, send an email to kazu(at)boltcity.com with some examples of your work. 

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BLOGS
Redrawing pages of the Fantastic Four?  James Kochalka's take here; Ron Rege's page here.

The LA Times science fiction blog gives some love to the webcomics collective ACT-I-VATE.

I've probably linked to it before but it's still useful -- 50 Tools and Resources to Start A Webcomic.

Still Wandering: An interview with Clint Hollingsworth

August 24, 2008 - 21:51 | Xaviar Xerexes

Clint Hollingsworth creates the adventure saga, The Wandering Ones, which has been on Keenspot for its entire existence. The comic is set in the future after a manmade disaster leaves most of the world's population dead.  With more than 8 years of updates it's pretty epic in scale now. I caught up with Hollingsworth about still working on the strip, sticking with Keenspot and what's next.

The Wandering Ones by Clint Hollingsworth

Clan of the Cats - Two Part Interview with Broken Frontier

Submitted by Jamie Robertson on February 15, 2008 - 12:46

This past November Richard Pulfer posted an article on Clan of the Cats in Broken Frontier’s The Daily Read. Unfortunately I completely missed it, but Clint Hollingsworth was kind enough to point it out. That article can be found here. Since COTC doesn’t get much press, even from me, it was a nice little fifteen minutes. It turns out that 15 minutes has stretched out and now includes a two part interview. Pulfer recently emailed me asking for an interview, later stating that his editors were interested in “a veteran perspective” on webcomics. So, I’m a veteran, does this mean I get benefits or that I’m just old.

Here’s Part One and Part Two of the interview.

Part One and Two of Broken Frontier Interview

Submitted by Jamie Robertson on February 15, 2008 - 12:09

This past November Richard Pulfer posted an article on COTC in Broken Frontier’s The Daily Read.  Unfortunately I completely missed it, but

Part One and Two of Broken Frontier Interview

Submitted by Jamie Robertson on February 15, 2008 - 12:09

This past November Richard Pulfer posted an article on COTC in Broken Frontier’s The Daily Read.  Unfortunately I completely missed it, but Clint Hollingsworth was kind enough to point it out.  That article can be found

Lessons for Webcomics from Short Stories

March 31, 2007 - 20:06 | Joel Fagin

Joel Fagin discusses all of the many lessons webcomics can learn from short stories. Concepts such as effective beginnings, efficient storytelling, and showing not telling. All topped off with an examination of David Willis' reworked beginning to It's Walky. I could tell you more but why don't you click "read more" and I'll show you...