Sinfest
Meet the Apple Geeks (Webcomics Not Computers)
One of the most popular comics these days is a webcomic called Applegeeks by Mohammad F. Haque and Ananth Panagariya, which has, among other things, a female robot named Eve (who destroys alternative/inferior OS) and a main character who talks to squirrels. Graced with beautiful art and excellent writing, it's an example of collaboration at its finest. The two creators were kind enough to grant us an interview.
Why Women in Webcomics Should Not Be An Issue by Ping Teo
|
Well, it's that time "The Women Issue" for Comixpedia.
I suppose I should be all excited about this. I mean, hey... I'm female, I make comics. I'm fairly vocal and campaign for a more realistic portrayal of women in comics and all that, and sometimes I'm tempted to do a comic where the females run around rescuing the hapless (but mighty fine-looking) men all the time just to show how odd it looks from a reversed perspective.
Oh wait... I almost do one like that already.... ;)
Measuring the Webcomic Audience Version 0.5
|
It’s been almost a year since our last effort to measure the webcomic audience. While in a perfect world we would have spent that time developing proprietary measurement tools capable of providing a highly accurate list of webcomic audience numbers this, in so many ways, is not a perfect world. Plus, we spent the development money on Mexican vitamins. But that alas is another story.
Yet Another Webcomic Reading Piece of Software
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on September 16, 2004 - 12:22
Another program to read comics that fetches images directly from servers. The creator's FAQ acknowledges some of the tensions such programs create for the artists who create webcomics:
Q: Don't you rip off the artists when you view the strips, but not the ads?
A: Ad revenue on the web is so low these days, comic artists have already added (or completely switched to) many other support models. And I encourage everybody to make those models work for them. Please buy books or T-shirts, join their clubs, tip them money, do visit their homepages and click on some ads... I do regularly!
These programs appear to be here to stay - how will they impact the "free" model so many webcomics, even highly successful ones, continue to employ? Is bandwidth cheap enough that a program such as this that can "rip" an entire archive of image files will not cause financial problems for creators? What other issues surrounding distribution of webcomics are on your mind this week?
Tallying Up a Sheep's Accolades: An Interview with Adrian Ramos
If popularity were sheep, Adrian Ramos would be counting to infinity.
Count Your Sheep surfaced very recently on the sequential dream scene, only to leap over the hurdles of obscurity and into the greener grass on the popular side. Now part of Keenspot, Ramos' webcomic is winning awards and gaining new readers faster than you can knit one or pearl two.
In the ensuing interview, a non-sheepish David Wright lets Ramos spin a few yarns about CYS's amazing success, its beginnings, and its inspiration. Some Moo-ish wisdom is shared, and perhaps a tear or two shed in the process.
One thing is certain: Ramos' recountings will NOT put you to sleep.
What I Was Reading in July 2001
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 6, 2004 - 01:16
Sorry to inflict this on the world but I feared this blog wasn't fulfilling the required "Self-Indulgent" Content requirement for blogs. I was Archive.org'ing my old site and pulled my daily webcomic reading list from roughly mid-year 2001. Here's the list with some comments on where some of them are today:
Absurd Notions: Creator Kevin Pease has moved the strip to http://www.absurdnotions.org/ and reduced the update schedule for this once daily strip but Absurd Notions is still one of the wittier comic strips on the web about young guys and gals of a computer/geek bent. The current story concerns a role-playing game the characters are conducting - it has been going on all year. Pease has also released a dead tree collection of AN: An Awful Lot of Absurd Notions.
Acid Reflux: This one appears to be dead (the old URL seems to have been grabbed by one of those lame squatter companies) although there is a Live Journal community about it. I never really got into this one but it was fairly popular.
Algernons Dilemma: Jim Alexander has been posting this daily strip since late 1999. I am under the impression that he has stopped making the comic but still posting this year because he had worked almost a year ahead. I couldn't find any status update on the website though so I'm not sure if that's still the case. I also think Alexander removed a large part of the archives - folks need to buy a CD-Rom from him to get those. I have read bits and pieces of AD in the past but I could never get past Alexander's unique take on the female anatomy to become a fan. A lot of old-school webtoonists are fans of his work though.
Alice!: is still one of the few GOOD PG comic strips on the web. A shame that McKay-Fleming isn't in your local newspaper.
Angst Technology: Barry was hot than stopped and now he's back again. I'm not as much into AT and the other strips on Inktank as I was pre-hiatus but it's probably more to do with the much more crowded field of webcomics than any drop in quality on Barry's part. There's just only so much time in the day!
A.P.E. Force: Nicely drawn - possibly gone from the web now. Couldn't find it this morning anyhow.
Aren't We Real: Case Yorke's webcomic before Gluemeat and I believe the archives are somewhere on gluemeat.com. Still my favorite Yorke project.
Arrogance in Simplicity: A funny comic, not always as funny as the creator thought it was but still a good read in its day. Definitely over according to the creator. Early pioneer in the "crap art but still a decent read" category.
Avalon: One of the original soap-opera-ish high school webcomics, Avalon is no more and Josh is now on to another comic.
BB of CS: Another comic that is done. Had to update the URL because the old was grabbed a URL squatter. Bad Boys of Computer Science was a pretty vulgar but sometimes painfully honest comic about college undergrad computer science students. It ran roughly from 2000-2002.
Bobbins: Bobbins is no more but Scary Go Round whirls on.
Bob N' Ed: Decent art, great parody riffs on Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Files, etc,but a horribly inconsistent update schedule probably has kept this comic from being more popular. Apparently he's actively working on it this summer.
BoxJam's Doodle: Original Blue Dude back after a brief hiatus this year.
Bruno the Bandit: Old School webtoonist still making the adventures of Bruno and filling in for Pete on Saturdays at Sluggy Freelance.
Burnt Dog Radio: Um this one would be mine. No comment....
Chopping Block: Herold updates less frequently now but still one of the rock stars of webcomicdom.
Common Grounds: Corey Marie Kitley's last webcomic before Life's So Rad. She's still on Keenspot pluggin' away at being emo.
Cool Cat Studio: Gone but Giselle is working with T Campbell on a new comic somewhere in the Modern Tales family of sites.
Cyantia Chronicles: Syke makes a lot of comics some of them hosted on Keenspot now.
Deathworld: I've completely lost track of Rudy's comic but he is as old-school webcomic as they come. He probably also holds the record for most active participation in the Fright Night Project.
Diabolica: Burke's first comic before Grimbles. Diabolica was good but Grimbles is better. Sometimes he out-Gorey's Gorey.
Diesel Sweeties: Pixel Power Activate! Form of a robot-elephant! Form of an Ice cube!
Dr. Lobster: I hope they keep the archives for this one up - in its own way it was quite good.
Down to Earth: Keenspot, indendent, quit and now back again I belive. Still kicking.
Dregs: This one was kind of bad. Doesn't look like it's still updating. I'm not sure I actually read this now that I'm looking at the site.
Elf Life: Some day Carson will complete enough of his tale to make this a coherent epic in comic format. Until than it's sort of the Similarron (I probably spelled that wrong) of the webcomics world. I just hope it doesn't take Carson's son to edit and publish it in a final format.
Exploitation Now: Done and onto Errant Story. Poe is growing as an artist.
Frankenstudent: Gone.
Fat Jesus: Horribly Inconsistent. Went from Keenspace to Keenspot because clearly Leffel is talented. Just a shame that not much work has actually been published. Owlie (his other comic) is still one of my sentimental favorites.
Funny Farm: I lost track of this one. Hard to catch up with everything I guess. Reportedly going to "end" but Smith seems to be a bit cagey about what that means.
GPF: Still kicking although more serious now than before.
Ghostz: Read the archives. Funniest copyright violatin' comic from the old school days around.
Goats: Rosenberg can actually draw now. It's always been funny though.
Greystone Inn: Why Guigar is not syndicated more broadly is beyond me. A fine work in the comic strip tradition.
Hang & Catch Fire: Terrance Marks does a gamer comic. Not sure if it exists anywhere online anymore.
Hobnob Inn: Now hosted on the Reuben (Awards for Comic Strips) website - this was a kind of wannabe Bloom County when basically everyone was a wannabe Bloom County. Haven't read it in a long time so I have no idea what it's like now.
Hotendotey: Right now the website says "PLEASE BEAR WITH US AS WE ARE PLANNING FUTURE ATROCITIES. THANKS." That sums up Hotendotey alright...
Hosers: Hosers got to do a cross-over with GPF. Less frequent updating lately although much better art than in the old school days.
Hound's Home: Brillant satire, erratic updating schedule.
Help Desk: Still making fun of Microsoft.
In2it: Scott Kurtz's buddy is no longer making webcomics I guess.
It's Walky!: Premarital Hanky Panky.
JoBeth!: Lost in space, alas...
Joe Average: It all went downhill after he got a girlfriend... :)
Just Another Vice: Back in a hazy cloud of dust..
Just Cheese: Just gone I guess.
Kevin& Kell: Furry goodness. (I can't believe I just said that...)
Ko Fight Club: Eclectic goodness.
Krazy Larry: It's alive I tell you. ALIVE!!!!
Lemont Brown: Used to be on Toonville. Not anymore I guess. Probably somewhere out there on the Internet but too tired to Google.
Limpidity: I don't remember this one.
Living In Greytown: Phil is Dead.
LWIBH: Still gross.
Lost & Found Investigations: Dog Detective as opposed to Basil Flint who is also a dawg detective.
Merlin's Crew: A 2001 comic that survived Keenspace's many meltdowns since. Not sure if it was any good or not.
Mr. Chuck Show: Jon Myers just quit one day in 2003 never to return. Or will he?!??!!
Nerdz: I've met Screwball McGoo sir and you're no Screwball McGoo!
No Outlet: I liked this one - too bad I can't find the archives anymore.
Nowhere Man: An angry comic that seems to have stopped in 2003.
Pentasmal: Now is the time for men to wear hats! Pentasmal is now locked away behind Keenspot's premium wall.
Randym Thoughts: I think this was done by Howard Shclock Tayler's brother but I can no longer find the archives.
Renegades: Not only does the url I had no longer work I can't remember even one thing about this webcomic.
Soup: Surprisingly this comic is still plugging along.
SporkMan: Four prongs of justice!
Together We Fall: Another one that seems to have slipped off the web and I can't recall anything about it.
Tonja Steele: still updating.
Too Fat to be a RockStar: Well the domain still points at Keenspace but it appears the site may have been wiped in one of Keenspace's mighty might meltdowns.
Tsuduku...: Although Ken's comic appears to have URL-hopped a bit I found it out there. Has to be experienced to understand..
Ubigod's Hurricane: It's Ubi's world and you're just living in it.
Unlike Minerva: Unlike active.
Unnatural, but true: Gone like the schwin.
Waiting for Bob: At one point this comic was popular, well thought of and doing cross-overs with all of the future "biggies" of webcomicdom. But it's been inactive since 2002 and I guess never to return. It's too bad - some of the most well written characters...
When I Grow Up: This was Jeff "WIGU" Rowland's first webcomic. I guess he lost the domain name though - I think he has the archives on his site for WIGU, his new webcomic.
Yuoma's Twelve Dragons, reviewed by Justin
|
The thousand year war, foreseen and foretold by the fates, has begun. Humans, Dwarves, Elves and most of the other Pangean ruling races are in a great fight against one another. Winner takes all and the ultimate losers get to be erased from existence. Sadly, as in all other wars, the only real victims are the innocents, too weak and weak to fight back.
This is how Yuoma sets up the premise of Twelve Dragons. It obviously borrows from Tolkien, as do many fantasy stories that followed his novels.
The really really little guys of webcomics
Submitted by Michael_Harker on July 8, 2004 - 00:38
My site isn't popular. At all. Last week I got 18 hits total. But that's understandable. It really is. I'm not offering, yet, a huge amount of comics on my site and I've spent almost no time promoting myself to people I don't know personally (ie the rest of the internet). The lack of audience ain't terrible. I decided to make webcomics so that somebody else besides me would ever see my work. I'm not making webcomics so that lots of people will read it. I'm making them, cause, damn it I like to draw and tell stories and make jokes.
Nonetheless, it gets frusturating. It's hard enough to overcome tight schedules, laziness, procrastination, and the difficulties that come along with the creative process, without the knowledge that almost noone will see the hours and hours of work I'm putting into this.
A great many people here have successful (popular) comics. I read regularly the comics of a couple people here. But I'm also pretty sure there are some here are in about the same place I am. If you're not at the same stage I'm at now, I'm sure you all were at some point. What are your thoughts on being one of the little little little guys of webcomics, and coping with that fact?
- Array
- Comments
Cool Tools for the Webcomic Jet Set
|
Creators make webcomics. Cool tools make the webcomic community go round. Here's to the geeks, the code monkeys, and the computer science students who come up with ingenious hacks to help creators automate publishing and fans find a webcomic's latest update.
I - Finders, Keepers!
WCCA 2004 Finalists Posted
Submitted by Dedos on June 21, 2004 - 16:55
The finalists for the 2004 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards have been posted. With this milestone, the polls are now open for all registered web cartoonists (registration information can be found here) to determine this year's winners. The fight for Outstanding Newcomer looks very interesting with Count Your Sheep, Questionable Content, Skirting Danger, and Sore Thumbs all vying for the title.
(Full List of Nominees Below)
- Events
- Adrian Ramos
- Chris Crosby
- Chris Onstad
- D.C. Simpson
- Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
- Dave Kelly
- Dave Roman
- David Willis
- Eric Schwartz
- Faith Erin Hicks
- Fred Gallagher
- Greg Dean
- Howard Tayler
- James Kochalka
- Jeffrey Rowland
- Jerry Holkins
- Jerzy Drozd
- John Allison
- Jon Rosenberg
- Justin Pierce
- Kean Soo
- Maritza Campos
- Meredith Gran
- Michael Lalonde
- Mike Krahulik
- Owen Dunne
- Paul Taylor
- R.K. Milholland
- Sam Logan
- Scott Kurtz
- Scott McCloud
- Scott Ramsoomair
- Steve Troop
- T Campbell
- Tatsuya Ishida
- Tauhid Bondia
- Vera Brosgol
- Achewood
- American Elf
- Goats
- Penny Arcade
- Sinfest
- Wapsi Square
- WIGU
- You Damn
- Zebra Girl
