The Monday Morning Xerexes Update

scarfman tipped us to the Daily Grind Ironman losing another competitor – Scott Kurtz announced he was dropping out as he began running guest strips from Chris Giarusso while Kurtz is at the San Diego Comicon. Kurtz is also on 3 panels this year – one for Image and two for webcomics (more details after the jump).

gordonmcalpin also caught that there is a new Stripped Books webcomic in the new edition of the online magazine Bookslut. The new strip, by guest illustrator Dan Henrick and Stripped Books creator Gordon McAlpin, adapts Sandman writer Neil Gaiman’s keynote address from the 2005 Nebula Awards dinner, in which Gaiman muses about the state of science fiction today.

The Yirmumah boys are having a fundraiser week – if you’re a fan of Coffman and McDeavitt’s biting sense of humor (see today’s installment!) then drop these guys a buck or two.

Gary Chaloner kicks off a new site hosting his ongoing series: Will Eisner’s John Law. Chaloner is holding a July draw for a signed (by Will Eisner and myself) limited release hardcover of Will Eisner’s JOHN LAW: Dead Man Walking (from IDW). WEJL updates on Mondays at Modern Tales and the new stand-alone site.

Click READ MORE for a list of webcomics-related panels at the upcoming San Diego Comicon!

There will a be several great webcomics-related panels at this year’s Comicon (here’s the full list of comics panels):

THURSDAY,
11:00-12:00 Broken Saints: Paving the Road for the Future of Comics—Thanks to countless awards, mainstream critical acclaim, and a legion of loyal fans worldwide, Brooke Burgess and Andrew West have taken their haunting brainchild Broken Saints from free internet Flash comic…to groundbreaking 16-hour DVD set. Join the series creators for an in-depth look at the saintly phenomenon, including candid advice to indy creators on the pluses and perils of do-it-yourself epics, and an exclusive Comic-Con announcement regarding the incredible future of their techno-spiritual saga! Room 8

2:30-3:30 Spotlight on Scott McCloud—He helped us to understand comics, then he showed us how to reinvent them! Since bursting onto the comics scene with the fan favorite comic Zot! back in the 1980s, Scott McCloud has gone on to become one of the comics world’s best-known figures. Scott will talk about his career in comics, including his new book, Making Comics, due out in 2006. Room 5AB

4:00-5:00 Anthologies Take Flight—Kazu Kibuishi, editor of Flight from Image Comics, is joined by Phil Craven, Kean Soo, Neil Babra, Chris Appelhans, Rodolphe Guenoden, Michel Gagne, and Scott McCloud to talk about the creation and success of the Flight comic anthology series. Room 3

6:00-7:00 Adventures into Digital Comics—Artists profiled in the new independent documentary Adventures into Digital Comics will be on hand to answer questions about the changes—some seismic, some glacial—in the parallel worlds of print and web comics. A trailer and several clips from the film will be shown. Participants include writer/director/producer Sébastien Dumesnil, Leonard M. Cachola (www.inniesandoutties.com), Patrick Farley (www.e-sheep.com), Shaenon K. Garrity (www.moderntales.com), Chris Gossett (The Red Star), Scott Koblish (Last Hero Standing), and Ben Raab (Living in Infamy). Producer Robert Nichols (www.toptwothreefilms.com) will moderate the discussion. Room 3

FRIDAY
12:00-1:00 Comic Arts Conference Session #5: The Visual Language of Comics—It has been proposed that the sequential images in comics create a language that unites with writing to create a meaningful whole. Neil Cohn provides a general overview of what it means for there to be a “visual language” used in comics, an introduction to its structure, and an examination of how it fits into a broader understanding of human communication. Room 7B

3:30-4:30 Modern Tales—The leading subscription-based webcomics service is now three years old! A panel of cartoonists and editors from the Modern Tales family of websites will discuss the art, theory, and business of online comics. Panelists include Girlamatic.com editor (and creator of Rumble Girls) Lea Hernandez, GraphicSmash.com editor (and creator of Fans!, Penny & Aggie and Rip & Teri) T Campbell, and cartoonists James Kochalka (three-time Ignatz-winner American Elf), Steve Bryant (Athena Voltaire), Shaenon K. Garrity (Narbonic, Li’l Mell, More Fun), Ted Slampyak (The Jazz Age), Dave Roman (Astronaut Elementary) and Raina Telgemeier (Smile). Room 7B

5:00-6:00 The First-Ever Fanboy Radio Panel!—Hosts Scott Hinze, Oliver Tull, and David Hopkins have been broadcasting comic book talk on the airwaves and the Internet for over three and a half years. In this panel, the fanboys talk about the history of the show, what’s next, and other fanboy projects, will have a Q&A session, and will be giving out TONS of great prizes! Guest panelists will include Joe Quesada (EIC Marvel Comics), Jim Lujan (jimlujan.com), Scott Kurtz (PVP), and many more! Room 4

6:00-7:00 Comic-Con WebComics School 101: Getting Started—What should you write about? Should you collaborate? Should you build your own website? Bill Barnes (Unshelved) leads fellow web cartoonists Jonathan Rosenberg (Goats), Dave Kellett (Sheldon), Kristofer Straub (Checkerboard Nightmare), Ted Slampyak (Jazz Age), and Stephen Notley (Bob the Angry Flower) in a discussion of how they found their unique voices and surmounted the technical and logistical challenges of publishing comics on the web. Room 4

8:30-11:00 Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards—The gala 17th annual Will Eisner Awards ceremony will feature special tributes to the late comics giant, including a retrospective slide show. Celebrity presenters will be handing out Eisner Awards in 26 categories. Other awards to be presented include the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award, the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, the Bill Finger Excellence in Comics Writing Award, the CBLDF Defender of Freedom Award, and the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award. The MC for the evening is Eisner Awards administrator Jackie Estrada. Seating is open to everyone with a Comic-Con badge. Doors open at 8:15. For more details, see page 8. Room 20

SATURDAY, JULY 16
4:00 – 5:00pm WEB COMICS 102 : Building an Audience. You’re doing great work but no one is reading it. What can you do? Bill Barnes (Unshelved) leads fellow web cartoonists Scott Kurtz (PVP), James Kochalka (American Elf), R Stevens (Diesel Sweeties), Dave Kellett (Sheldon), and Kristofer Straub (Checkerboard Nightmare) in a discussion of what did and didn’t work for them in attracting a following for their webcomics. Room 4

5:00-7:00 Keenspot 2005: Don’t Label Us!—The biggest, best, and definitely most humble webcomics publisher returns for its much-anticipated fifth annual Comic-Con panel! Cartoonists who may very well appear (if no cooler panels conflict with this one) include Jeffrey T. Darlington (GPF), Dan Shive (El Goonish Shive), Meredith Gran (Skirting Danger!), John Troutman (Andiewear!, Basil Flint), Teague Tysseling (Mad About U.), Thomas K. Dye (Newshounds), Alan Foreman (SSDD), Mark Mekkes (Zortic), Matt Wilson (Bonus Stage), and Darren “Gav” Bleuel (pnes) as “The Moderator.” There’ll be major announcements (which do not involve the purchase of school buildings), free stuff for attendees, and unspecified surprises! (If we specified them, they wouldn’t be very good surprises, would they?) Room 2

SUNDAY, JULY 17
1:30 – 3:00pm WEB COMICS 103 : Making Money. You may be widely read and much adored, but when will your webcomic start paying the bills? Bill Barnes (Unshelved) leads fellow web cartoonists Scott Kurtz (PVP), Steve Troop (Melonpool), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), and Andy Bell (The Creatures in my Head) in a discussion of how they have succeeded – and failed – to make money from their webcomics. Room 4

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