Garza! Demian5! Farley! McCloud! (Part 1)
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scott_mccloud: i want to empasize what's unique about the form
catgarza: there's so many things distracting would-be readers
patrick_farley: i've always thought of comics as being closer to the reading experience than the sit-on-your-ass-in-front-of-the-screen experience
patrick_farley: uh, i mean..
scott_mccloud: i accept that comics will always be a minority art form
catgarza: sure....
catgarza: it's a bit more interactive.... like reading
demian5: hmmm
catgarza: true, even
patrick_farley: it's more engaging of a medium than simply having the moving pictures pumped at you
scott_mccloud: but [people] need more than one window back into their world
catgarza: i'm just constantly questioning my motivations and where it's all going, don't mind me... lol
demian5: I think comics have the potential to be a bit more
scott_mccloud: i agree
patrick_farley: and this was something i heard often when i went to internet art conferences....
patrick_farley: "when are you going to animate it?"
catgarza: yup
catgarza: it's like [people] think we're limiting ourselves...
patrick_farley: there's the supposition that a comic is merely a storyboard.
catgarza: instead of pushing a great art form forward...
scott_mccloud: sound and motion can work in comics [though].
catgarza: true..
catgarza: we've seen that
scott_mccloud: but only in some contexts
patrick_farley: that's what makes it all so exciting, Scott
catgarza: but they just get frustrated and wonder why we don't just do full-on animation...
patrick_farley: we're playing with the borderline between all sorts of perceptions.
scott_mccloud: i'm using some myself now
scott_mccloud: I like seeing something at it's birth like this
scott_mccloud: raw
scott_mccloud: untried
scott_mccloud: i've always been more interested in potential than in "state of the art"
patrick_farley: the potential is huge. i only wish i had an army of production minions to make my ideas a reality :)
scott_mccloud: me too
catgarza: me three
catgarza: :)
scott_mccloud: :)
demian5: ok ok
patrick_farley: it makes me wonder...
demian5: me too
patrick_farley: what if, back in the 1970s, a spontaneous artistic movement arose on the CB radio
patrick_farley: what if there were whole schools of young artists attempting to revive the tradition of oral storytelling on CB radio...?
patrick_farley: and they succeeded, briefly, and are now forgotten because that technology is antiquated?
patrick_farley: sorry, i'm going off on a tangent here....
scott_mccloud: it's all tangents, P!
patrick_farley: but it's something i wonder about, given the transitional nature of computer technology that we work with here.
scott_mccloud: micro [payments] for instance
catgarza: yes...
catgarza: more for you than me, scott ;)
scott_mccloud: but i think we're finally going to see some action in 2003
scott_mccloud: SOON
demian5: yeah?
catgarza: i'm also curious about what i'd be doing now if you hadn't "opened my eyes" back in 97
scott_mccloud: Getting paid regularly
catgarza: man, i HOPE we see some real action soon...
patrick_farley: ahahaha
catgarza: moderntales was a pleasant surprise
scott_mccloud: Yes!
catgarza: and i was so very gung ho... (still am, to a degree..)
scott_mccloud: And think how young that is
scott_mccloud: how recent!
catgarza: a year old now
scott_mccloud: Things do move fast on the web
catgarza: and there's all these sites now... lol
catgarza: it's the most immediate publishing form to come along in human history
catgarza: and the most accessible
scott_mccloud: and much better quality artwork and writing emerging
patrick_farley: and what's funny is, while the greater commercial Web has sunk like the Titanic, we're still bobbing on the surface paddling along in our little dinghies.
catgarza: that's my main focus now...
catgarza: putting out QUALITY work with real FOCUS and NARRATIVE STRUCTURE...
catgarza: which is very frustrating..
patrick_farley: darn tootin.
scott_mccloud: I was a believer before the crash. I was a believer during the crash. I was a believer after the crash.
catgarza: because my motivation's dwindled CONSIDERABLY since 91-99
scott_mccloud: This is the real thing
patrick_farley: you can do it, cat. you've paid your dues, and you know your craft.
catgarza: blah...
catgarza: ;)
demian5: so, you guys will all stay on the web? Never planning to do a book?
scott_mccloud: Oh I'll still do books from time to time
patrick_farley: actually demian, i am planning on doing two books this year.
catgarza: i've been threatening to, but i think it'd be too big a distraction..
patrick_farley: but *ssshh*, it's a secret
scott_mccloud: Just wrote a Superman graphic novel!
catgarza: i'd rather focus on being CONSISTENT....
catgarza: and prolific...
catgarza: on the web
patrick_farley: rock on, Scott!
scott_mccloud: but if i could just concentrate on the web
scott_mccloud: i would
catgarza: yeah, i can't wait to see that book, scott
patrick_farley: i am going to publish Apocamon as a book later this year
scott_mccloud: cool!!
catgarza: i used to love superman and you really handle him well...
patrick_farley: supposedly Cafe Press is going to offer on-demand book publishing services
demian5: i like doing webcomics too,..
catgarza: you demian?
catgarza: more newpaper self syndication?
catgarza: a book collection
demian5: but I just want to make a book
catgarza: i'd love to make a children's book...
scott_mccloud: books can be beautiful
patrick_farley: dude
patrick_farley: children's books
catgarza: but not any comics in print i think...
scott_mccloud: you'd make a great children's book, cat
catgarza: lol, thanks
patrick_farley: i have a 3-year-old friend who loves Magic Inkwell
catgarza: i'm still working on it
catgarza: in my spare time...
scott_mccloud: I've been thinking lately...
catgarza: which is RARE these days...
scott_mccloud: What if we "win"
scott_mccloud: what if webcomics takes off
catgarza: win?
catgarza: ah...
catgarza: dunno...
scott_mccloud: if so, we better act to help get [people] back into comics STORES
catgarza: we're still not really doing more than scratching the surface of popular culture, you know?
scott_mccloud: cause i don't think it has to be an either or [proposition]
scott_mccloud: if we get real numbers
patrick_farley: i think this goes back to the way the technology is shaping up
scott_mccloud: we could actually help the stores
patrick_farley: i was saying something about how Generation Y uses computer technology
patrick_farley: the idea of webcomics becoming mainstream doesn't seem that farfetched to me
scott_mccloud: me neither
patrick_farley: there are many cultural/technological trends merging together
catgarza: i guess time will tell, you know?
patrick_farley: webcomics is a part of that, although it may not come out the other side in a form we would recognize right now.
catgarza: i like the idea of diary comics...
catgarza: on the web...
catgarza: like a blog comic...
demian5: I just started doing cel phone comics..
catgarza: where the artist posts comics as they make them each day
patrick_farley: yeah, [cell] phones.
catgarza: about their life and their experiences...
demian5: a whole new world
catgarza: hrm...
catgarza: dunno about the cell phone comics...
scott_mccloud: Demian, for Sprint?
catgarza: it *might* work...
catgarza: i just don't have a cell phone...
catgarza: don't like em
demian5: gridblock..
scott_mccloud: or another company?
scott_mccloud: cool!
patrick_farley: you know in japan, individual users, mainly teenagers, select their own cartoon-totem-AI assistant?
scott_mccloud: how big are they? (=pixels)
patrick_farley: scott, they are trans-media entities in the Hello Kitty vein
demian5: 160 pixels wide
scott_mccloud: wwwwwwow
demian5: you can scroll down...
scott_mccloud: you'll be great at that
demian5: I'll see
patrick_farley: demian: move to japan! you'll make a fortune!
scott_mccloud: 160... whoah
demian5: :9
demian5: :)
catgarza: that's just big enough
scott_mccloud: make a fortune in japan without moving to japan.
patrick_farley: i think that's great, demian
scott_mccloud: just as easy
demian5: I think gridblock is in japan as well
scott_mccloud: good luck with that, demian
catgarza: they approached me...
patrick_farley: i had the idea of doing all of my comics as two-panel comics in the tradition of "carl"
demian5: thanks
catgarza: i'm still mulling it over...
scott_mccloud: Sprint contacted me
patrick_farley: small and low-rez enough to be read on PDAs
catgarza: they're outta Austin...
demian5: I don't know yet if it will work out well
scott_mccloud: i go for webcomics because of expanded canvases and fewer middleman.
demian5: but I gave them 5 strips for now, so we'll see
catgarza: there's just so much potential and so many possibilities...
scott_mccloud: cell-phones = small canvas, giant middlemen
patrick_farley: but you must admit scott, there is an exciting challenge in making a comic 160 pixels square
scott_mccloud: so i'm passing for now
catgarza: and no real way to gauge what's "the right move"
scott_mccloud: :)
patrick_farley: really forces you to hone your visual storytelling skills
scott_mccloud: oh definitely a fun challenge!
scott_mccloud: might try it without the cell phone!
demian5: :)
scott_mccloud: it's like those paint-by-logic puzzles
patrick_farley: in fact, at that scale, it becomes closer in craft to needlepoint stitching!
scott_mccloud: technology comes full circle
patrick_farley: hear hear.
