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Jerry Holkins

Penny Arcade Adventures

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on May 23, 2008 - 10:41

The Penny Arcade video game -- Penny Arcade Adventures Epsiode One: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness -- was released this week and I felt it was my duty to purchase said game.  Until I hear otherwise I'm going to assume this is the first videogame to be based on a webcomic (as opposed to a webcomic based on a videogame, a la Sam & Max).

I played it for a couple of hours last night and really enjoyed it.  If you like Jerry's writing and Mike's art then you'll more than likely get a huge kick out of experiencing them in this new interactive environment.  The game itself is a retro-but-updated version of those older point and click adventure games that used to dominate the PC.  And while I have no idea if the game is a good value for $20 it is chock full of content with very funny bits tucked into all kinds of objects in the environment.  The game has two modes - the 3d interactive environment part and then the 2d choose your words mode where you interact with characters (which cleverly invokes the comic origins of Penny Arcade).

I've read that the "fighting" system emulates Final Fantasy but since I've skipped the whole FF thing I wouldn't know.  The fighting is okay and for someone who isn't at all into twitch-anything like myself I liked that it wasn't incredibly difficult to master.  I also appreciated the ridiculousness of the "fighting moves" you see from various characters.

For other reviews check out metacritic and joystiq.  Joystiq also has an interview with Jerry Holkins.

Forget It Jake, That's Webcomic Town...

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on March 24, 2008 - 10:13

THE OPINIONATER The Daily Cartoonist reports that syndicated editorial cartoonist Matt Bors is creating a bi-weekly comic called Civil Discourse for the ACLU website.  I have no idea how many editorial cartoonists are running comics (original or re-purposed) on non-traditional sites but it seems like it might have potential.  A lot of groups (whether partisan or non-partisan) should have the budget to pay a reasonable fee for such comics -- the benefit to them being promotion of their message or increased recruitment (via more traffic to their website).  Of course unlike a "neutral" newspaper I imagine fitting the comic to the organization is a more subjective proposition, but there are organizations of all persuasions out there. GUEST ARTIST MAYHEMMike Rouse-Deane has created a webcomic project/fundraiser for Make-A-Wish called the Guest Strip Project.  It's sort of a "always guest comics" comic.  Should be interesting to check out and of course, it's for a good cause.

2008 WCCA Winners Announced

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on March 8, 2008 - 21:12

The 2008 WCCAs were announced today -- Phil and Kaja Foglio won Outstanding Comic for Girl Genius while webcomics veteran Meredith Gran won Outstanding Newcomer for her new webcomic Octopus Pie.  The Foglios took three total WCCAs this year, but Tracy Butler was a big winner too taking home 4 WCCAs for her work on Lackadaisy.  Click read more for the full list of winners:

WCCA 2008 Nominees Are Out

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on February 5, 2008 - 11:00

The nominees for this year's WCCAs were released this past Sunday (sadly without any fanfare, or press release... again). But lots of interesting choices (and good links to comics!):

OUTSTANDING COMIC FINALISTS:
Achewood by Chris Onstaad
Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio
Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell
Perry Bible Fellowship by Nicholas Gurewitch
The Phoenix Requiem by Sarah Ellerton

ComixTalk's People Of Webcomics List For 2007

December 20, 2007 - 13:31

And now... the fourth annual People Of Webcomics list! I'll be the first to admit that this list gets harder and harder to compile as the lines between "webcomics" and just plain "comics" blurs harder than a greasy windshield in the middle of a West Texas downpour. Plus as publishing comics on the web and other digital formats becomes more commonplace it gets harder and harder to find those "firsts" that take comics in new directions whether artistic, technical or businesss-oriented.

Webcomic Wire - 12/19/07

Submitted by NightgigTim on December 19, 2007 - 21:20

Drawn from sources all over the web…

David Silverman on BoingBoing TV showing off his illustrated holiday cards.
Comic Book Resources is running an interview with Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade. 
iComic delivers manga to the iPhone.
Can anyone withstand The Savage Critics?
British comic 2000AD goes digital.

Webcomic 101; a how to series.
Platinum launches SPLASTIK Cartoon Network.

 

foo

Webcomic Wire - 12/19/07

Submitted by NightgigTim on December 19, 2007 - 21:20

Drawn from sources all over the web…

David Silverman on BoingBoing TV showing off his illustrated holiday cards.
Comic Book Resources is running an interview with Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade. 
iComic delivers manga to the iPhone.
Can anyone withstand The Savage Critics?
British comic 2000AD goes digital.

Webcomic 101; a how to series.
Platinum launches SPLASTIK Cartoon Network.

 

foo

Rolling Into Tuesday Morning Update

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on December 18, 2007 - 01:00

I'm back from India! Happy holidays to all of you (including all of you Pastafarians too!)

COMIXTALK

DEAD TREES AHOY!

AWARDS

  • Instructions on submissions for nominations for the Eisners are here - the deadline is March 14, 2008. For webcomics there is a separate set of instructions:

    Entries are also being accepted for the category of best webcomic. This category is open to any new, professionally produced long-form original comics work posted online in 2007. Webcomics must have a unique domain name or be part of a larger comics community to be considered. The work must be online-exclusive for a significant period prior to being collected in print form. The URL and any necessary access information should be emailed to jackiee@mindspring.com.

JUSTIFY MY HYPE

INTERVIEWS

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BLOGS

The ComixTalk End of 2007 Roundtable

December 17, 2007 - 17:33 | Xaviar Xerexes

Our third annual virtual round table on the year in webcomics features comments from Gary Tyrrell, Dirk Deppey, Tom Spurgeon, Heidi MacDonald, Brigid Alverson, Derik A Badman, Reinder Dijkhuis, and JT Shea and Scott Gallatin.

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.