Webcomics Auction for the Gulf Coast
I want to point folks to the Webcomics Auction for the Gulf Coast organized by Carly Monardo. The actual auction will launch in early July but webcomic artists can look into donating work for the auction now.
Comix Talk for Thursday, June 17, 2010
Um… World Cup? World Cup! Oy, South Korea really let Argentina run away with that game this morning.
These stories aren't novel anymore but still interesting when a creator makes a public break with print for the web. Robot6 has the story on Rich Tommaso dumping print for webcomics. Tommaso has a new site up for his comics online.
This article on how to make webcomics from the Webcomics Builder site is full of obvious advice but it is in one handy place.
INTERVIEW: Battlemouth has an interview with John Allison (Bad Machinery).
SWAG: John Allison on the difficulties of coming up with a hit t-shirt.
NOT WEBCOMICS: A preview of a new videogame based on Scott Pilgrim.
Comix Talk for Tuesday, June 15, 2010
I really cannot believe THE MAN is making me work during the World Cup. I think in the spirit of the World Cup, I'll just use OLE in every sentence today (sort of like this NSFW new sketch from SMBC Theater).
I haven't talked about INTERVENTION in a bit — that's a new convention in the DC area this fall created by Harknell and Onezumi – both ubercool and long-time friends of ComixTalk. This looks more and more fun as it develops. They just opened up registration for Artist Alley — you have until June 18th to get your application into for review. The pricing (if I'm reading this right) is $50 for an artist alley table and you also need to purchase a con membership for $35. Total cost therefore for Con weekend with a table being $85.00. As for me, I am going to be doing various things there in an official ComixTalk kind of role and will announce more when I get it sorted out!
Code: A link to a post from Frump a developer of ComicPress Pro for Wordpress comparing it to the Inkblot webcomic package for Wordpress. I don't link to this to encourage any drama, but comparisons are needed to understand the real differences between these packages. This post is purely about the number of mySQL queries which can be pretty important for performance issues, particularly with a site with a lot of traffic. Frumph doesn't seem to have considered some of the cache plug-ins for Wordpress, however, I wonder if that would have any impact on the comparative number of queries per page per package?
iWebcomics: So this whole Apple playing net-nanny with apps for the iPhone and iPad? Well there's probably a valid concern over technical performance, Apple certainly has an interest in ensuring a minimum of glitches from its app store. But content… there's the rub. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said recently that the iPad offered "…freedom from porn." Well is this porn? On the other hand, for all of the fuss over Apple's app censorship, there is a completely uncensored application on the iPad, the browser, and there are a growing number of competitors like Google who will probably pursue a more wide open approach to their app stores.
UPDATE: Brigid Alverson has an interview with the creator of the webcomic Ulysses on Apple's decision yesterday to allow the uncensored form of the comic into the app store (originally Apple had required significant editing of the comic).
Around the Blogs
- Comics Should Be Good blogger Kelly Thompson's 10 favorite webcomics. (h/t El Santo)
- I would have thought this came from a Jeffrey Rowland comic but no you can blame Chris Onstad for infecting reality with… phone nuts.
- Goodbye Lil Orphan Annie!
FROM THE MAILBAG: I got an email from Gabriel Dunston who makes the webcomic The Pit of Despair. He's got a video on his site explaining how his current financial issues are keeping him from buying art supplies. Sometimes when I know someone (or have known of them) and they're trying to raise some money I plug it here because I personally feel like it's a good cause — either the person is in a bit of tight spot or it's going to lead to some great comics. I can't say that here as I don't know Dunston and this is the first I've heard of him, but he's definitely working hard on his webcomic. I didn't have time to read the full archives, but here's the basics: a journal comic about a 20-something guy who just became a father and the art has GREATLY improved in 2010 over 2009.
A Quick Review of the Dead Tree Version of Dash Shaw’s Body World
I finally got around to reading the paper version of Body World by Dash Shaw. It's an absolutely beautiful book from publisher Pantheon and presents the webcomic in book form extremely well.
As to the comic itself, it's a great thrill ride through a creepy little world with a fantastic character named Paulie Panther who is a professional researcher for the Encyclopedia of the Hallucinogenic Effects of North American Plant Life and a world class narcissistic creep. That alone would make a great comic but Shaw fills up Body World with so many more weird touches including the central plot gimmick, a strange plant that when smoked lets people transfer consciousness to each other. Body World is a bit like David Lynch and Stephen King made a webcomic — it's disturbing but engrossing and very much worth giving it a read.
Issue #2 of Outbound: The Science Fiction Comics Anthology
This spring saw the second issue of the Boston Comics Roundtable group's Outbound: The Science Fiction Comics Anthology. The first issue came out in the fall of 2009 and it's pretty nice that the Boston group was able to get the second edition out the door in about six months.
Comix Talk for Monday, June 14, 2010
What is this WORLD CUP you speak of? Sorry England, maybe you ought to play a few sports with your hands now and then…
HYPEY McHYPE: This week is the launch of The Gutters, the third webcomic from creator Ryan Sohmer. He's writing this one with collaborator Lar De Souza acting as art director supervising a rotating roster of artists. Ed Ryzowski is the colorist. The whole superhero genre is perhaps too easy a target for another parody/comedy comic but it's off to a great start with the first one. Updates three times a week.
TOOLS: Speaking of webcomic wordpress solutions: Webcomic CMS is moving from 2.1 to 3.0 very soon. There's a new site close to launching and a video on upgrading already out.
GUESTASTIC: Guilded Age is looking for a few good guest comics from its fans. Due by June 24th.
AROUND THE BLOGS
- The Comic Riffs blog comments on a Calvin Minus Hobbes effort (a la Garfield Minus Garfield) — verdict? too sad.
- Steampunk Costume blog recommends the webcomic Virtuoso, "an awesome steampunk webcomic" set in Africa. The story is created and written by Jon Munger, and drawn by artist Krista Brennan. Virtuoso is an alternate history of an Africa that never existed, one run by steel and springs, commanded by vast matriarchies and past the height of its culture.
FROM THE MAILBAG
- I got an email from Josiah Golojuh about Graphation, a film festival built around the idea that the winner gets their film turned into a graphic novel to be published by IDW. At least I'm pretty sure that's what's going on. It does seem… backwards as most of the time film is pillaging comics for projects these days.
- Got an email from Tom Sexton, creator of the webcomic Folly and Innovation. The art is… not great. A lot of the problems with the art could be fixed though — the creator could try varying the line thicknesses in the work, and experiment with his production process, part of the problem is a kind of poorly-scanned look on the monitor. Basically practice, practice, practice. There are some funny comics in the archives, I especially liked Awkward Speed Dating, Arguing on the Internet, Judging a Book By Its Cover, That Milkshake Song, and there were a few others that elicited a half-chuckle. There were also a lot that just missed for me. But if this were one of those contest reality shows, I think I'd say "Tom, there's something there, but you need to step up your game next week… or you're getting CHOPPED." Well if this was one of those Food network contest reality shows…
Webcomic Creator and Stumptown Founder Indigo Kelleigh’s Holding a Liquidation Sale
Do you like the comics that Indigo Kelleigh has created over the last decade? Ever been to Portland's Stumptown Comics Fest that he got started? Well right now he's in need of some financial liquidity so if you've ever been interested in owning some quality Kelleigh swag or just showing the guy your appreciation for his work – now's an EXCELLENT time to do so. Kelleigh wrote this Wednesday:
I try not to talk about personal stuff on the site too much, there are some things I just don't feel I need to share with everybody. But, this time I'm making an exception. Right now I'm having a Liquidation Sale over at my Lunarbistro.com store. All of my inventory needs to go, and everything is priced at or below cost, including my 8-Bit Tarot decks, and all of my Ellie Connelly merchandise and comics. The reasons for this sale are here in a blog post. If you've been wanting to help support the comic in some way, buying something from my store at this time would be a great way to do it, and would really mean a lot to me. Thanks, and I'll have a new page up later this week.
2010 Eisner Voting Almost Closed
Journalista notes that ballots for the 2010 Eisners must be submitted by June 15:
Voting has begun on the 2010 nominees for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. Sign in or Register to cast your vote now! If you voted last year, your login from last year should still work. If you have forgotten your password, click Sign In, then Recover Lost Password.
There are 29 categories in all, so be sure to visit all five ballot pages. You do not need to vote in every category. You also have the opportunity to write in votes if something you wish to vote for wasn't nominated. You can see a summary of your votes by clicking on Your Votes in the Voting menu after you sign in. Only one ballot per voter will be recorded.
ComicPress Goes Pro
Somewhat like the Webcomic.com subscription story earlier this year, the move of the ComicPress webcomic website theme/tools to a subscription model is causing some ripples in webcomicland. Now available at ComicPressPremium, the new ComicPress 3.0 is available for $79.00. Frumph laid all this out in April so none of it is a surprise. My initial reaction to this is pretty straightforward — if Frumph wants to try charging, more power to him. If people see a value in the offer he's making (which seems to include support) than it'll work out. If not, not. (Pretty much my initial reaction to Brad Guigar's taking Webcomic.com behind a subscription wall). For some non-technically-inclined creators I think $79 might be a really good deal. But for others, maybe not. Like I said, you have to wait and see how things shake out.
I got an email from Mike Jensen of the webcomic Lonely Fetus – he's clearly not a fan of the move to a paid model. Jensen doesn't think there's enough differences apparent to the user in the new version versus the last free version and he also doesn't like the fact that you have to let one of the ComicPress developers install the new ComicPress for you. You can read Jensen's reaction and a heated twitter discussion with a head developer over at thewebcomiclist.com forums.
Wowio Buys DrunkDuck.com
MarketWatch is reporting the Wowio bought DrunkDuck.com from Platinum Studios.
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Snarky commentary from Digital Strips and FLEEN.
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