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Comixpedia's List of 25 People Of Webcomics for 2005

December 5, 2005 - 18:03

15. Ryan North

The creator of Dinosaur Comics and the co-creator with Joey Comeau of Whispered Apologies, one of the most interesting collaborative projects in webcomics this year. He also co-created with T Campbell, OhNoRobot, a collaborative search engine for webcomics text.

Q. How would you assess your webcomic work this year? What were the highlights?

I'm pleased with my webcomic work, anyway! This seems a little like tooting my own horn (which I don't mean to use as a euphemism for masturbation) (yet), but launching Whispered Apologies has been great, as has doing Dinosaur Comics, and getting nice emails and letters that people send me sometimes.

Q. Outside of the webcomic, the OhNoRobot.com project is a big deal - how hard was that to get from idea to reality and who did what between you and T Campbell? What do you hope to accomplish with that project next?

It wasn't THAT hard to put together - I've got a few degrees (okay okay TWO) in computer science, so development wasn't much of a problem. The idea behind the site was pretty much fully realized when we started talking about it, so it was basically a process of saying 'man oh man we should totally do it', and then doing it. T is responsible for getting the site out there and known and used, and I'm in charge of technical stuff: making sure it works and enhancing it and so on. It's a great partnership, I think, because we're both playing to our strengths. Actually, there were a few troubles early on, just because we were so popular so fast. Two hosting companies buckled under the load (and one was Dreamhost, which isn't a small company at all), but now that we're on the dedicated Goats server things are faster than ever. But if your only trouble is that people are going for your service in a big way, that's good news, I guess! There's lots we're working on now: some technical features like XMLRPC updates, and some new features too. We've already added things like RSS feeds, a random comic browser and archive pages - but there'll probably always be something we can add that can make the service easier to use for our comics. It's fun! Incidentally, most of those features came about from suggestions from our members.

Q. I'm a big fan of Whispered Apologies - who came up with that concept? It seems like between that and the strict format of Dinosaur Comics that, well, you like the limits of formats! Are you happy with Whispered Apologies so far and how do you see it evolving next year?

Thanks! I was actually talking to my friend Victor and he was telling me how I should come up with a new comic and I kept repeating how I can't draw and he proposed the idea for Whispered Apologies (where someone sends in a comic without words, and we write for them) which was very close to an idea I'd had before and rejected as being Too Implausible. So it was a good conversation to have!

I'm really happy with Whispered Apologies. I'd like for it to update more often, but it does take time to work within the limits the format sets. We've got hundreds, literally hundreds of comics that need to be written, so we've got a good task set out for us. I'm not sure how it would change in the future: more writers is certain, but I don't think anything needs to be changed with the format itself. I like how it's an ad-free way for people to discover new artists and writers in an interesting way. I've heard from people who have found new favorite comics through WA, so I think it's working!

Q. Any thoughts on what you're hoping to accomplish in 2006?

More comics, I guess! I'm making myself sound pretty directionless, but it's not true. It's just I don't like to announce things before they're ready (Whispered Apologies and Oh No Robot both launched without any 'ramp up' press, which is how I roll), but there will be some big things in the future! I guess I can say that my Dinosaur Comics book will be out in early 2006, and available both online and in real bookstores, which is exciting.

Q. What do you think were the milestones for webcomics generally this year?

I think this year webcomics have become a little more mainstream, which is great for webcomics (more readers = more interest in the form), and also great for comics (it helps people realize that not all comics suck SO HARD, which is the impression the average person might have from reading their paper's comics section). It's the year my comics really took off, and talking to other cartoonists, a lot of them have seen an increase in their readership as well. That's cool.I expect next year we'll start to see a bit more diversity in what's being done, and more comics that cross genre boundaries. Well, I hope so, anyway!

 

14. Jon Rosenberg

Both on his own and as part of the Dumbrella collective, Rosenberg had a lot going on this year. Mostly though he kept on making Goats, his now eight and an half year long series.

Q. How would you assess your webcomic work this year? What were the highlights?

Creatively, this has been my favorite year so far. Goats has really developed into a robust storytelling machine without sacrificing any of the wacky fun that came with its previous gag-a-day incanation. I've also had an opportunity to tear lots of holes in everything we've set up over the last nine years, as well as see the fruits of seeds I'd planted in anticipation of this change. The 'Infinite Typewriters' storyline is the longest and most ambitious story I've done so far.

I've been drawing Goats for almost as long as Calvin & Hobbes' entire run, so keeping the challenge fresh for me is particularly important if I don't want to burn out. I also think it's nice for the audience to have something meatier to chew on. We also launched Goats spinoff MegaGAMERZ 3l33t this year, which has been a fun distraction, and allows me to write with completely different goals from Goats. MG is pure punchline. There's no character, continuity or plot to help things along, so I really have to bend my brain to keep it coming. It's been a fun and rewarding experiment.

Q. Outside of the webcomic, your experiment with Bitpass caused a lot of hubbub. At the end of 2005 what is the approach you're taking to making a living from your work and how do you see that potentially changing next year?

The Bitpass experiment, despite the massive amount of non-science involved, seems to have put the final nail in the coffin of that discussion. Maybe someone else can figure out a way to make that work, but it's not going to be me.

Right now merchandising still works best for us. I'm not really trying to reinvent the wheel right now, just trying to refine what we do and make the process more efficient. Designing compelling merchandise is always a challenge, and I think I'm beginning to figure out just how to do that. We're going to be expanding beyond t-shirts and such this year; there will be new books, of course, but there's also going to be a Diablo action figure, and probably a line of barware. As our audience gets older we're trying to figure out how to appeal to folks that already have enough funny t-shirts, and that's going to be another experiment I'm looking forward to.

Q. How has the Dumbrella group evolved this year? It seems like from the outside that taking over t-shirt distribution from Vault was a big step - is that effort a collective Dumbrella business?

I think the challenge for Dumbrella this year is going to be figuring out how to grow in new directions and create new business opportunities while still having fun and drinking heavily. I think we're going to be hazing new member Steve Cloud a lot this year, too. I personally don't think he can down a gallon of milk in an hour without vomiting, but Jeff says otherwise.

Rich and Jeff have taken over a lot of Vault's business, which is good news for our customers, since their orders have a non-zero chance of arriving, and is good news for me, because I pay less money and get a lot more sleep. It's mostly their gig, although it's certainly not the traditional relationship you have with a vendor. If Rich needs help during the holidays, I'll be on the next train up to Massachusetts to help him out. Phillip and I are working on some complimentary projects which hopefully I will be able to talk about a bit more in upcoming months.

Q. Any thoughts on what you're hoping to accomplish in 2006?

My goal for 2006 mostly centers around good storytelling and fun comics. If I can keep up the pace I've set for myself I'll consider that a success. There are other goals, dark, devious goals having to do with money and power, but I have no desire to disturb your audience with the gristly details. This is a family publication, right? - Are there plans for additional books next year? My hope is to have Book 5 out the first half of 2006. It's been a long time coming because the artwork is just so terrible and I've had to reletter everything to keep myself from vomiting every time I look at it. That will round out the "Early Years" collection, we'll maybe sell the whole thing as a box set, but after that I plan on never reprinting anything from that period. It's time to move on. Book 6, hopefully for Xmas 2006, will be the first book of the modern era, and we'll probably do a new format for that. It's going to be a huge book. Book 7 will be our first color book, but I can't be certain when that will be out, since it will contain the "Infinite Typewriters" storyline, and I'm still working on that.

 

13. Chris Crosby (2004 List: # 2)

Crosby had to drop out of the Daily Grind Contest because he lost power during a snowstorm raging through South Dakota. He has updated Superosity seven days a week without fail for so long that it was a shock to not see a new one go up. He also continued work on his second series Sore Thumbs.

Crosby is the co-CEO of the webcomics publisher, Keenspot, which continued to add new webcomics and this year launched a site hosting animated shorts called Keentoons. More recently, 20th Century Fox signed a development deal with long-time Keenspot webcomic, You Damn Kid by Owen Dunne. Although it's a long way from a deal to an actual television series, it's still an impressive story for Keenspot which had a major role in overall discussions with Hollywood on behalf of its creators.

Q. How would you assess your webcomic work this year? What were the highlights?

I dunno... I thought taking Superosity into outer space for four months was fun, and I'm digging writing the introduction Fairbanks' and Cecania's long-lost ultra-hippie father in Sore Thumbs. 2005 was about shaking things up a little bit. Not too much, 'cause I likes my consistency... but a little bit.

Q. Outside of your webcomics, what were the highlights for Keenspot generally?

Welcoming to the 'spot TODD & PENGUIN, TWO LUMPS, ZAP!, PENNY & AGGIE, THE DEVIL'S PANTIES, GEEBAS On PARADE, LANDIS, GOD MODE, an MAD ABOUT U. Welcoming back DOWN TO EARTH after four years away. Great new comics from Keenspot superstars: Adrian Ramos' NO ROOM FOR MAGIC and David Wright's TAKING UP SPACE, plus the relaunches of ROAD WAFFLES and (briefly) SPORKMAN.

Our first real foray into Hollywood met with some success, as the smart folks at Phase Two and 20th Century Fox TV responded to the wit and wisdom of Owen Dunne and the tenacity of Keenspot manager Marc Manus. Also, other stuff that I wish I could talk about but I would be shot by a Manus-guided laser if I did.

The rebranding of KeenSpace to ComicGenesis.com. If only for the slick logo by Joel Fagin. 2005's hilarious KeenToons shows, particularly Ed Atlin's Space Tree, which I think is genius and will be a cartoon icon of tomorrow. And the debut of John Berry's Evil Josh & Billy, which is also awesome. The hiring of El Goonish Shive creator Dan Shive to do much of the maintenance stuff we haven't had a lot of time for in the past, which is already making Keenspot ten times better. The hiring of an experienced ad sales staff to rep Keenspot, resulting in wildly increased advertising sales that turns on the hopelight in my heart and makes it glow.

Q. How hard was it to get the option for an animated series for Owen Dunne's YDK?

YDK is so great that I can't say it was HARD to sell it... but if I put the YDK book in your hands and it made you laugh like a crazy man, a TV show would probably not be the end result no matter how much you dug it. But if we could get it into the hands of Fox TV powerhouse Sandy Grushow so HE could read it and laugh like a crazy man, we're that much closer to a TV show. We did that, he loved it, and things are happening. The trick is to get the right comics in front of the right people.

Q. Any thoughts on what you're hoping to accomplish in 2006?

I want to accomplish so much that everyone has no doubt what Keenspot is, why it's existed for six years, and why that's a good thing. I want to see some of the major goals we set out to accomplish way back in 2000 finally come to fruition.As for myself creatively, I want to just keep making comics that I like. If some other people like them, too, that's icing on the cake.

Q. What do you think were the milestones for webcomics generally this year?

Jeff Rowland's hilarious "It's On Now" T-Shirt being worn on VH-1's BEST WEEK EVER multiple times. That was where I said to myself "webcomics have finally made it." Webcomics were having the BEST WEEK EVER.

 

12. Carla Speed McNeil

If the Foglios move to the web was an earthquake, McNeil's decision to put Finder online was more than just an aftershock. Finder was published in periodical format for 38 issues and has a devoted fanbase. The decision by McNeil to end that run in favor of the web is either a sign that the web is maturing to a point where it is attractive to established creators or that the direct market is in worse shape than we realize.

Q. How would you assess the results of putting Finder online this year?

My shopping cart runneth over.

Q. Has has publishing Finder online impacted your creative process at all?

Somewhat. While my inclination right now is to allow the composition spread out, to use events as punctuation, I can see the merits of having an event per page -- which is, oddly, how I've been accustomed to work in the past. I draw a page per day, so having an event per page is more satisfying for me.

Q. What were the highlights of 2005 for you?

I won an entirely unexpected Ignatz. I had my most successful San Diego ever. I realized that going to the web made sense, and was potentially a step up, not down or sideways, and that it afforded me a room to do more color work (as 'covers').

Q. Any thoughts on what you're hoping to accomplish in 2006?

A new trade paperback, this one titled Five Crazy Women. The story just took a swerve in my mind that I hope will take it down a very interesting road. Hoping to get the art-blog side of the website together properly. Work out my new work methods.

Q. To the extent you read comics online, what do you think were the milestones for webcomics generally this year?

On that score, I watch and wait and listen to Joey Manley and Joe Zabel.

 

11. Shaenon Garrity

Garrity is arguably the best newspaper comic strip creator working today. And she's not published in the newspaper. That folks, is the problem with comics in a nutshell. Last year, Garrity's also quite talented husband Andrew Farago took Comixpedia to task over our failure to include Garrity on the 2004 List. Although Garrity may not be the only deserving person we left off of last year's list, she was probably the closest, toughest cut from it. And this year, it seems like Garrity has only gotten better as she has moved the storyline of Narbonic forward and successfully navigated the always tricky falling in love of the romantic leads in it. In fact, Garrity won the WCCA for Outstanding Writing for Narbonic this year. Moreover, Garrity continues writing Li'l Mel and rebooted her More Fun webcomic as Smithson.

Q. How would you assess your webcomic work this year? What were the highlights?

My work? Erm. I guess my biggest project was re-launching my comic More Fun, previously on GraphicSmash, with a new title (Smithson), a new artist (Brian Moore, with Roger Langridge still doing amazing special pages), and a new URL. This is currently my only non-subscription webcomic, so that's a change for me. Plug plug plug.

I also got my husband, Andrew Farago, to draw a Li'l Mell storyline for me, mainly because I can pay him in sex. And stuff happened in Narbonic. Stuff is always happening in Narbonic. My assessment of my work is that it's very very slowly improving, and hopefully I'll eventually get good enough that I can finally sell out. I'm looking forward to that.

Q. You were recognized by your peers for Outstanding Writing at the WCCAs this year. What was your reaction to winning?

I was all, hell yeah! All the nominees and winners for the WCCAs, myself politely excluded, were super great this year. It was a very strong year for the award, and I was very flattered to have my work in there somewhere.

Q. Any thoughts on what you're hoping to accomplish in 2006?

Next year will be the final year for Narbonic. It has a set story arc, and, if all goes well and I pace myself correctly, that story will end on December 31, 2006. That's the main thing I'm hoping to accomplish. I guess I also have to think about what I want to do after Narbonic, but I'm not too concerned about that right now.

Q. Are there plans for additional books next year?

Narbonic Volume 3, reprinting roughly the third year of the strip, is planned for early 2006. It will feature an introduction by Kaja Foglio and a bonus story drawn by Phil Foglio. I put in lots of monkeys and girls in skimpy clothing so he wouldn't get bored drawing it.

Q. What do you think were the milestones for webcomics generally this year?

Hmm. This didn't feel like a big milestone year, but maybe I'm just out of the loop. The launch of WebComicsNation (at long last) has been a boon to many webcartoonists, myself included. Some major print cartoonists made the switch to web serialization, most notably Phil and Kaja Foglio and CARLA FRIGGIN' SPEED MCNEIL.

Oh, and the Eisner Awards finally added a category for webcomics. I guess there have been a few milestones, after all, come think. The overall trend seems to be increased traffic between print comics and webcomics. Whether this indicates that webcomics are coming into their own or just that the print comics world is getting more desperate, I can't say.

 

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