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Joe Zabel

From GURL to IGNATZ: Tracy White Talks TRACED

September 29, 2008 - 09:05 | Xaviar Xerexes

Tracy White is a pioneer of webcomics.  Although she may not be as well known as James Kochalka and his American Elf series, Tracy's TRACED is an equally powerful set of stories about self that marks out a unique piece of journal comic territory.  From working on the early website GURL.com to being named one of Scott McCloud's personal top twenty webcartoonists, (and from our archives: Tracy did the cover art for one of our earliest covers in August 2003) to more recently receiving a nomination for Best Online Comic at this year's Ignatz Awards, Tracy's work has had a consistently interesting and moving presence in webcomics.

Just Something Different

Submitted by apfurtado on May 6, 2008 - 11:26

I did a short, 8 page comic many moons ago for ModernTales' Longplay site. This is a newer version of that character. I'd share the comic but, I can't seem to locate the files or even the original art. Chances are, I probably wouldn't want to see it anyway.

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?

Webcomics Examiner Returns With Examination of "Cute" Comedies

Submitted by Joe Zabel on November 19, 2006 - 23:07

November 20, 2006-- After a five-month hiatus, The Webcomics Examiner returns with new reviews and features.

Editor Joe Zabel pledges that the magazine will return to a weekly schedule through the end of the year; says Zabel, "It will take us at least that long to catch up with the most important new comics to arrive on the scene in the past few months."

First up is "The New Cute," Michael Payne's examination of three humor series whose gentle all-ages humor has shrewd adult overtones.

Major New Interview with Scott McCloud

Submitted by Joe Zabel on June 20, 2006 - 05:46

June 20, 2006-- Author/artist Scott McCloud discusses his new book and fields questions about his previous ones in a major new interview conducted by Joe Zabel. Â

The feature commemorates the second anniversary of The Webcomics Examiner, a weekly forum of reviews, interviews, and critical articles evaluating webcomics as a fine art. The free-access website is at http://webcomicsreview.com.

Cool Banners, Bad Comics.

Submitted by apfurtado on June 18, 2006 - 20:22

This is just a comment and not meant to slam anyone in particular, hence the reason for not posting any example.

COOL BANNER LINKS = SHITTY COMICS.

Because i'm so friggin busy, i don't get a chance to read many webcomics. Maybe once or twice a month I catch up on my regulars and if time allows, I'll cruise the net, webcomic portals, list sites, looking for new and possibly entertaining webcomics.

Mega-News Dump

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on June 2, 2006 - 13:02

Two notable bits of book news this week:

John Allison reports that his fourth print collection of Scary Go Round is headed off to the printers. He'll also be crossing the pond for New York's MoCCA this June.

Howard Tayler reports that he's started working on the NEXT Schlock Mercenary collection. This one will collect episodes published online from August 2003 to March 2004. Fleen has a review of the current SM collection - "Under New Management" which I'm still waiting to get in my shiny maibox! Laughing

Some convention appearances to note:

Blank Label dude Brad Guigar is at his hometown convention, Wizard World Cheesesteak Philapdelphia. I don't have the details here on the WizWorldCon but I hear it's in Philly!

Plus several reviews and blurbs for webcomics:

Joe Zabel writes about Derek Kirk Kim's new comic work online entitled Healing Hands. Joe's blog post on his review has already generated a lively discussion.

The Webcomicker has a review of Banished and in it argues that the web has been key to the success of a number of science fiction comedy titles. I don't know if I agree with the assertion, but regardless, Gilead links to many of the best sci-fi ha-ha webcomics I'm aware of.

T Campbell drops that he's bringing back Search Engine Funnies on September 1st. No word on the new artist(s) though.

Here's a business bit of news:

Gary Tyrrell has an interview with Chris Baldwin who recently signed a "web syndication" deal with United Media for his other comic Little Dee.

Some other interesting webcomic-related stories include:

The Penny Arcade duo taught a class on comics to grade schoolers. They've done this before and it's good to see them at it again. Gabe mused aloud about creating some resources for school teachers to download - he should do that. (He might also talk to Brad Guigar who did a similar project with comics in schools a few years ago.)

The blog Filth Hole (which is sometimes NSFW) got linked to by Warren Ellis for a funny sketch (which is probably NSFW).

The Writer Response Theory blog has a post on the history of fiction on the Internet which of course includes webcomics. A project along these lines would probably be able to use T Campbell's book as a jumping off point for a chapter on webcomics - I'm not sure what has been written about other fiction forms on the Internet. More interestingly would be to take a look at any interplay between different forms (and their associated communties of creators and readers) in their development on the internets.

Webcomics In Print blog is having a competition - send in a picture of yourself wearing a webcomic t-shirt before June 10th. Winners will win fabulous prizes no doubt!

We're also happy to report:

Bob Stevenson appears to have updated his blog/comic site Journey Into History. Bob does both webcomics and webcomic reviews well - he's kind of the ultimate anti-FLEEN.

Zoinks reports that it's latest issue is going to press and will be available later this month.

And in Not-Webcomics news:

Lore links to this video of "superhero war re-enactors" which is both a spoof of civil war re-enactors and a total geek-out on Marvel's Secret Wars comic books.

Combining our last two month issues (Superheroes and Movies) in one long post, Phil Kahn geeks out on X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Geeks out in a good way of course! Cool

So, Webcomics?

Submitted by Fabricari on May 31, 2006 - 19:54

Seems to be an awful lot of dialogue here about Drupal and the sort. But not so much about webcomics.

With the WCCA Nominations I figure everyone would be goin to bat for their favorites this year. Or is that faux pas? Editorial silence in the house?

This Day In Comixpedia

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on May 22, 2006 - 11:08

Looking through Comixpedia's archives: interesting or pointless? You decide!

1 Year Ago:

2 Years Ago:

3 Years Ago:

Why You Should Not Rent an Unmanaged Server...

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on May 17, 2006 - 13:41

Oh Comixpedia - I can't watch you 24 hours a day.  Why do you need to collapse on the floor in a puddle of too many MySQL connections when I'm not around to help?