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Zortic

Troop and Mekkes on The Gigcast

Submitted by NightgigTim on March 30, 2006 - 09:37

The latest Gigcast featrures an interview with creators Mark Mekkes (Zortic) and Steve Troop (Melonpool).  Both of these webcomics have been around for years, and should be on your daily read list.

Making Their Marks on Webcomics.

February 5, 2006 - 18:03 | Iain Hamp

Between the two of them Terrence Marks and Isabel Marks have done a whole lot of webcomicking.Terrence Marks is responsible for writing the early anthropomorphic tale, Unlike Minerva (which is now concluded). UM is cool for among other reasons, for being one of the first webcomics with a single writer and a rotating crew of artists. In fact, Terrence notes on the UM website that he first encountered Isabel when she emailed him in September of 2000, "offering to draw [Unlike Minerva]." It wasn't until almost a year later he adds that they were "properly introduced."

Isabel Marks is the creator of Namir Deiter, and with Terrence, they collaborate on You Say it First and Spare Parts.

Terrence is also the founder of The Nice, an online network for webtoonists and he organized the first April Fools' Comic Swap and Fright Night webcomic events. And as if he wasn't busy enough, for the past five years, Terrence has also done the coloring for Bill Holbrook's Kevin & Kell.

The Web Cartoonists Choice Awards announce their 2006 schedule

Submitted by Mark Mekkes on January 16, 2006 - 14:41

The schedule has been finalized for this year�s Web Cartoonists� Choice Awards. We're hoping for a great year with some exciting changes. So please keep watching the website at www.ccawards.com for more details.

The process will begin on May 15th when the nomination round begins. At this point, eligible cartoonists will be allowed to register and begin choosing nominees based on their work within the previous year. The nomination round will run until May 29th.

Increasing reader participation

Submitted by Mark Mekkes on January 3, 2006 - 22:17

There's always alot of talk about how to increase readership of our comics. But I haven't heard many ideas on how to increase the interactivity of readers. I've noticed that there are some comics who's fans seem to fill the forums with discussions about the characters, fan fiction and theorizing plot points. But then I've seen other comics (even some with greater readerships) that don't generate nearly as much discussion.

Why is this? Any ideas? I assume more vocal audience reaction is something that we'd all want, wouldn't we? It would seem that more active fans would also be more active in spreading the word about a comic.

So how do we get the fans that we do have to become more active in our communities?

New Year's Resolutions for Webcomics

Submitted by Fabricari on December 27, 2005 - 22:04

I saw the headline about the new year's resolution gigacast, and I thought that'd be a good one for us to talk about here. So how about it? Let's hear all those resolutions we'll try not to break by second week of January.

My resolutions? To make Fabricari into a better comic.

I want to finish the first graphic novel in 2006. I'm gonna attempt to color. It's not something I do well, but it seems to be well received.

And the big one is to improve my time management. I'll try to cut down on the missed days. And less time bullshitting online. Of course, that means mundane blogs and less drama.

Hopefully a year with less gimmicks and a better comic will yield in a more loyal readership.

This last year showed me just how many hard working artists there are out there trying to find an audience for their art. It was humbling. And it was inspiring. Thanks to all of you!

Oh, and one more. How about we get this forum hopping a little bit more. Xerexes and gang built a pretty cool joint here.

Ideas for Future Issue Themes

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on December 10, 2005 - 01:59

We're heading into our fourth year of publishing Comixpedia in 2006. So what do you want us to cover next year in the magazine? Throw out some ideas for future issues here.

New York Times Article on Webcomics

Submitted by Erik Melander on August 17, 2005 - 03:59

The New York Times has an article on webcomics entitled Comics Escape a Paper Box, and Electronic Questions Pop Out (free registration required).

The article starts by refering to Scott Mccloud's Understanding comics and Reinventing comics and Gary Groth's (The comics journal, Fantagraphics) rebuttal to it. It continues by mentioning ways to find webcomics, the Webcartoonist Choice Awards and a number of webcomics who won awards this year. The article also has a paragraph dedicated to the trouble of making money from webcomics.

Unfortunately, the writer focuses almost exclusively on what she perceives as the negative aspects of online comics and the idea of infinite canvases. Few, if any, advantages are mentioned.

But when it comes to the content of Web comics, Mr. Groth was right. The comics that use digital technology to break out of their frozen boxes are really more like animated cartoons. And those that don't are just like the old, pre-digital ones, without the allure of the printed page and with a few added headaches for reader and creator alike.

The Monday Morning Xerexes Update

Submitted by scarfman on July 11, 2005 - 12:02

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!

Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards winners announced!

Submitted by kjc on July 10, 2005 - 15:04

The winners of the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards (AKA the WCCAs) have been announced! This year's ceremony was hosted by Comixpedia's own Welton Colbert.

If you aren't the ceremonial type, the complete list of winners (which includes the nominees) is available.

Congratulations to everyone, organizers and participants alike!

SciFi Zone Webcomic Show!

Submitted by Mark Mekkes on July 2, 2005 - 18:54

On Saturday July 9th, tune into the SciFi Zone Radio show. The entire show is going to be devoted to webcomics. The show can be heard in Florida on AM 540 WFLA Saturday, 10 pm – Midnight Orlando and AM 1040 WWBA Sundays, 10 pm – Midnight Tampa (taped) or In Missouri on KCXL AM 1140 Live Saturdays from 9-11pm CST Kansas City. You can also listen via the internet here.