Features
Webcomics Versus eBook Readers
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This article was originally published on webcomics.com in 2008.
Okay, so the Amazon’s Kindle can’t handle images. Neither, for that matter, can Sony’s Portable Reader System, a similar E Ink product that arrived in 2006 but received considerably less buzz. This lack of image support has caused much complaint both within webcomics and in the general market. Obviously, a device without image support is useless to webcomics readers and creators. But the level of disappointment surprised me. It hadn’t occurred to me that webcomics readers were really waiting for a new portable display technology.
RSS Reconsidered
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This article was originally published on webcomics.com in 2008.
Last month I presented a list of webcomics technologies that have failed to ignite my technophilic enthusiasm, despite their popularity or general usefulness. Over the past several weeks, I have given one of those technologies, RSS, a second chance.
Off the Radar: Catching Up with Past Luminaries
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This article was originally published on webcomics.com in 2008.
Webcartoonists disappear every day. Not off the face of the Earth, of course, but certainly out of the collective conscious of the webcomic community. Creators may take a hiatus, or decide to focus on print projects, or complete a well-loved work and move on to something less wildly popular. Or they may simply not bother with self-promotion, so that when the initial buzz surrounding their work calms, they are not active in maintaining the level of attention that was briefly paid to their work. And fickle as the Internet is, it’s easy to go from famous to forgotten at any given moment.
Of course, just because a creator isn’t dominating the critical sites or public discussion forums the way they once did doesn’t mean they’ve stopped working, or publishing, or playing some other role in the comics community. Presented here is a survey of the current projects of four of those creators whom we haven’t heard much about over the past year or two, despite their notable accomplishments of the past.
The Old Made New: A Look at the Static Comics of Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
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This article was originally published on webcomics.com in 2008.
“I’ve always felt driven to keep trying new things creatively and experimental web comics just started to feel a little too familiar, y’know? Too safe. I wasn’t going to improve as a creator sticking to that ground.”
–Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
Best known for his impressive formalist experiments, usually featuring Flash interfaces (eventually culminating in his Tarquin Engine), Goodbrey was one of the early pioneers of the new artistic realms that web publishing opened to comics creators (For my thoughts on Goodbrey’s early works, see my contribution to The Webcomics Examiner’s article "Aggressive Experiments"). In the past three years, however, Goodbrey has produced only one of his “hypercomics,” the 24-hour comic Never Shoot the Chronopath, which he published this past December. Most of his efforts these days have gone into more traditional seeming fare: two static humor strips and a longform tale of undead cowboys.
It would be a mistake to think that Goodbrey has given up on pushing himself creatively just because he isn’t inventing wild new interfaces, though. “Experimental” is a relative term, and nothing stymies innovation faster than repeating oneself. And even the most traditional methods can help a creator to break new ground if they’ve never tried those methods before. In fact, the least interesting work that Goodbrey has produced in recent years is the most overtly experimental; “Never Shoot the Chronopath” is an enjoyable little comic, but nothing we haven’t seen Goodbrey do before.
On the other hand, Goodbrey’s Brain Fist, All Knowledge is Strange, and The Rule of Death all incorporate forms and ideas that are new to Goodbrey’s body of work, even if they don’t look so different from the kinds of comics most people read every day.
Surreal Estate
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I tend to stick to my comfort zone when it comes to webcomics. Reading about a new one here or on one of the other review sites, if I'm not familiar with the creator or if it doesn't sound a little like something I already read, I'm sorry to say that I'm not all that likely to go and take a look. Unadventurous: that's me.
So I'm very glad I took a chance three-and-a-half years ago and signed up for the Daily Grind Contest. It's introduced me to a whole group of comics from my fellow competitors that I doubt I would ever have known about otherwise, and I'd like to mention three of them at some length here -- Trains of Thought by Stephen Burrell (his Livejournal page is at http://stephenwastaken.livejournal.com), Tartpop by Phil Redmon (his Livejournal page at http://destro-simpson.livejournal.com), and Young Adventure Friends by Billis, a.k.a. Bela Whigimill.
Is This A Comic? Closure and Synthesis (Part 3)
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For the past couple of columns (part one and part two), we've been examining "closure and synthesis" -- the third of my "four criteria" for a new definition of what is a comic. Closure was defined as "the phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole" while synthesis is defined as "the process of the human mind to take the elements provided to them in a work and to create from the
The Road Less Traveled: Still Traveling
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There's one last thing to pass on in this series about publishing your graphic novel through a traditional prose publisher: Does this work?
Easy answer: Yes.
DrunkDuck Founder Dylan Squires Moves on From Platinum Studios
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DrunkDuck.com founder and administrator Dylan "Volte6" Squires announced yesterday at the DrunkDuck forums that he has left Platinum Studios to pursue new opportunities. I caught up with Squires via email to fill out the story.
The Road Less Traveled: Selling the Book
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Most people, like me, are not very good at selling things.
But according to what I've learned, there's really only one true thing about selling your book: You have to do it - one on one, one at a time.
Unless you're John Grisham, you're not going to get a marketing budget, a promotional manager or personal assistant. You'll have to do it all on your own.
First things first - you've got to track your money. Only you know how much it makes sense to spend on things like conventions or advertisements, but to know that you have to have hard data. That means get in the habit of saving your receipts and maybe even setting a budget. Purchase a financial program. But know how much you're spending - you can use that knowledge to test what works and what doesn't.
Here's where you'll spend that money:
Conventions
Is This A Comic? Closure and Synthesis (Part 2)
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Last month, we began delving into my third of Four Criteria which I propose help to define comics, Closure and Synthesis. We looked at what has been a widely (though not universally) accepted concept of closure, best defined by Scott McCloud as “the phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole.” This time around we’re going to be further exploring the other half of the criteria, synthesis.
