Comix Talk for Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Posted February 9, 2010 - 02:02 by xerexes
It's day 4 of Snowapalooza in Washington DC. I consider this a trial run for if I ever decided to move to Canada and so far... I don't think I'd make it. But being snow-bound has been great for catching up on comics. I also wanted to flag a few features at ComixTalk -- the calendar of comic events is available here, but you can also add it a number of other calendar programs and I'm always interested in co-maintainers. In fact I'd be very happy to see other blogs and sites join me in maintaining it and embedding it on their sites too. I also set up a hub page for the four webcomic titles that have run at ComixTalk over its 8 year history - click to discover work from Ryan Estrada, Kris Straub and Bryant Paul Johnson.
Awards: The Webcomics List, a hybrid tracking, popularity and news site for webcomics had a forum-organized awards program this year. It felt a lot like the old WCCAs. This Week in Webcomics covers the results. Gunnerkrigg Court won the nod for Best Comic and Moon Town won for Best New Comic. Coyote has a review of Moon Town here.
iWebcomics: So I'm kind of already burnt out on the iPad hype. I want to wait until the thing is available to think more about it. Others are though: Erik Larsen has an essay about it and Gizmodo salivated over how comics will look on the tablet device.
Dead Trees: Tyler Page talks numbers, costs and quality for taking the Print-On-Demand route for volume 2 of his Nothing Better webcomic. And starting this week, for a couple of months, Gordon McAlpin is working full time on Multiplex — and, the Multiplex: Book 1 print collection. This is all due to the funding he raised for the book through a Kickstarter drive.
JUSTIFY MY HYPE
- The recent rock concert contest storyline at Ornery Boy has been great - both funny and Michael Lalonde has done an awesome job with animating key panels. If you're going to do a flash comic than use it! Ornery Boy makes great use of Flash's capabilities.
- It's a been awhile since I've linked to Freak Angels. Things are happening again in the storyline and although I'm a bit annoyed that after a few years we still don't really understand the full logic of the "package" of the freak angels and their world, it's a hell of a comic. I'll also just flag again that what Avatar is doing here seems like a pretty good model for a publisher-creator relationship in the webcomic world. I'm not sure I've seen anyone else quite match it yet.
- The latest issue of Dark Horse Presents is out with webcomics from Graham Annable and others.
- Awards,
- Dead Trees,
- iWebcomics,
- Bryant Paul Johnson,
- Freak Angels,
- Gordon McAlpin,
- Gunnerkrigg Court,
- Kris Straub,
- Michael Lalonde,
- Moon Town,
- Multiplex,
- Nothing Better,
- Ornery Boy,
- Paul Duffield,
- Ryan Estrada,
- Tyler Page,
- Warren Ellis
- Array
- Comments
First and Last: Anders Loves Maria
Posted February 9, 2010 - 01:01 by xerexes
We used to do an irregularly recurring bit here at ComixTALK called "First and Last" which seemed like a good idea to revive. Particularly with a comic like Anders Loves Maria where creator Rene Engström has not only constantly improved but also taken several stylistic leaps during the comic.
Who Doesn't Love xkcd?
Posted February 8, 2010 - 12:26 by xerexes
I love this song... and xkcd too (h/t The Beat)
- Array
- Comments
Comix Talk for Monday, February 8, 2010
Posted February 8, 2010 - 01:01 by xerexes
Welcome to the new site design at ComixTalk. We're on a new server so let me know if it feels a bit zippier (it seems to be faster all around to me). Happy to hear about broken stuff -- I'm not done with tweaking things (never done!) and I can add it to the list. One thing I can warn you about is that a lot of the older URLs are still broken, but I hope to clear most of that up this week.
REVIEWS: I had the pleasure of sitting down with Copper in print this weekend and reading and re-reading it. Here's my glowing, gushing review. I also forgot to mention that we liked Kazu even before he was a star; here's the cover art he did for ComixpediaTALK back in 2004. Also, I'll have a review of Smile, the new graphic novel from Raina Telgemeier up this week. I did get a chance to read it this past weekend and it is an entertaining, moving story. Sure, the tale of the teeth and all of the work Raina had to go through are interesting, but she's done so much more with filling out the emotions and just the in-between-ness of those middle school years that it would have made a good story even without that hook.
MILESTONES: Last week marked the end of Anders Loves Maria, the breakout webcomic from Rene Engström. I'll second Gary's thoughts on the tale. Perhaps the ending felt a bit abrupt, even forced, but you can't deny it's impact. It's also worth noting that Engström's art continually improved throughout the comic and that in re-reading the archives of this comic, I'm even more impressed with where she is now as a creator. I hope the next comic comes soon.
CONTESTS: Ryan Estrada is competing in this month's Zudalympics and he needs your vote. His comic is called Sci-Fi Drive-By and you can vote by visiting his website. In non-Zuda voting, Comic Riffs, the Washington Post's blog about comic strips is having a Best Webcomic of the Decade Popularity Contest -- voting closes this Wednesday. The seven contenders are: Girl Genius, Hark! A Vagrant, Least I Could Do, Penny Arcade, The Perry Bible Fellowship, Schlock Mercenary, and xkcd.
- Milestones,
- Anders Loves Maria,
- Copper,
- journal,
- Kazu Kibuishi,
- Raina Telgemeier,
- Rene Engström,
- romance,
- Ryan Estrada,
- Smile
- Array
- Comments
Wes Anderson's Spiderman
Posted February 7, 2010 - 10:09 by admin
It's probably never going to happen, but it could be a pretty cool little movie. There's something about the Wes Anderson vibe that would be such a total warping of what everyone's come to expect in a superhero movie. (h/t The Beat)
- Array
- Comments
Copper by Kazu Kibuishi
Posted February 6, 2010 - 16:47 by xerexes
Copper is a beautiful comic. Kazu Kibuishi takes such care in rendering landscapes both natural and fantastic, that one can't help but be drawn into the page to fully appreciate the environment of Copper. In particular, I think Kibuishi must love drawing moving water because it is almost a constant presence in the book (The comic "Waterfall" is both a great bit of illustration but also an insightful commentary on it).
Comix Talk for February 2, 2010
Posted February 2, 2010 - 09:10 by xerexes
Quick update this morning - The Escapist website is having a contest -- more like an audition -- to pick a regular webcomic for the The Escapist. I haven't read the fine print so you should before you enter, but go check it out. Btw, SLG Publishing is going to have a workshop for "aspiring comic creators" this March in San Jose, CA.
DEAD TREES: Robot6 previews a lot of comics on book publishers' schedule for this year, includes several webcomics such as Goats, Octopus Pie and Penny Arcade.
INTERVIEWS: Lots of folks linking to this interview with Bill Watterson of Calvin & Hobbes worship fame... Be sure to check out Graphic Novel Reporter's interview with Kazu Kibuishi on his print collection of Copper.
Transfuzion Publishing Signs The Continentals
Posted February 1, 2010 - 09:41 by xerexes
Here's some good news for fans of the webcomic, The Continentals -- Transfuzion Publishing will be putting it out as a series of graphic novels.
Crisscrossing the literary genres of murder/mystery, action/adventure, historical drama, horror, science fiction, and steampunk, The Continentals by writer/creator Darryl Hughes and artist Monique MacNaughton, -- both nominated for the “Rising Star” category for the Glyph Comic Awards -- is a modern re-imagining of the classic 19th century Sherlock Holmes "who done it" murder mystery created for the 21st century comic fan.
Comix Talk for February 1, 2010
Posted February 1, 2010 - 09:33 by xerexes
Good morning world. The Cranky Old Gnome blog offers an essay on webcomics called "Critiquing Free Content". (h/t Paperless Comics):
It got me wondering–to what extent can free content like a webcomic be criticized? How much does the audience have a right to expect from the artist, and when do they cross that line?
iWebcomics: Paperless Comics has more reactions to the iPad announcement last week.
INTERVIEWS: Growly Beast has an interview with Gitte Tang Jensen of B.I.B.L.E. and Forbidden Planet has an interview with Daniel "Merlin" Goodbrey and his collaborator Sean Azzopardi on their comic Necessary Monsters.
VIDEO GAMES, VIDEO GAMES, VIDEO GAMES: Congrats - the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards are honoring Jerry, Mike and Robert of Penny Arcade, Inc. with an Ambassador Award for their Child's Play Charity work.
AWARDS: SPACE handed out some awards and Ryan Dow won in the webcomics category for Introspective Comics.
REVIEWS: Delos reviews Urban Jungle by David Willborn, "a gag comic which mostly covers cubicle humor but also has geek humor, tech humor, animal humor, pokes fun at comics and talks about issues and culture without being preachy."
JUSTIFY MY HYPE: Sailor Twain or the Mermaid in the Hudson by Mark Siegel. (h/t Scott McCloud); and David Lasky draws the ULTIMATE GRAPHIC NOVEL (in six panels).
Comix Talk for January 29, 2010
Posted January 29, 2010 - 09:44 by xerexes
Whew, made it to Friday. Sometime next week a new version of ComixTalk at the new server will emerge -- it won't be perfect but mostly what I need this year. And it should mean the end of me starting posts writing about Drupal and CSS...
I got a fever, and the only prescription... is more AXE COP! You've all read Axe Cop, haven't you? If I didn't know it was for real I might have thought Kris Straub was behind it... Coupling really funny and well-done art with scripts from his 5 year old brother Malachai, artist Ethan Nicolle has created something that is a gimmick but I swear I laughed the whole time I was reading it.
iWEBCOMICS: Paperless Comics has a nice round up of webcomic commenting on the iPad announcement. I'm not going to think too hard about it until the damn thing is actually in the store, but even though it's not perfect I'm kind of leaning towards getting an iPad right now. (I wonder if I can write it off as a business expense for this site?)
INTERVIEW: A really nice interview with Kean Soo, creator of the all ages comic Jellaby (and before that his journal comic at keaner.net)
REVIEWS: Tom Spurgeon has a glowing review of Kazu Kibuishi's book, Copper. Copper has long been one of my favorite comics and I really do want to get a copy of the paper version at some point. Missed it but earlier this month, Sean Kleefeld reviewed another all ages title -- the prose/comics hybrid book Malice.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BLOGS
Seth Godin read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics and thought it was... about marketing?
Over at Panel & Pixel forums, there's some information and discussion of how intellectual property rights in the U.S. work when a writer and artist collaborate. And another Panel & Pixel post covers creating model sheets for characters for your comic.
