Issue #12 – Since I Already Have My Two Front Teeth…
It’s a problem that has been with me ever since I got my first “real” job back when I was 23. When I started doing technical support for, well, let’s just call it Company X (and hope I don’t get sued by Marvel for it), I started earning enough money so that if there was something I consciously wanted that was $20 or less, I went out and bought it. Which is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, I think, but it created a lot of problems for my friends and family around Christmas and my birthday. They wanted to get me something I really wanted as a gift, but I could never tell them anything I wanted because I already bought anything that is of a reasonable price for most people to spend on a gift for me. So, I usually ended up with cash, or a meal, or a few beers, or the like. All these things were very nice, and I appreciated them at the time, but when I look back and try to remember what people have gotten me as gifts, I don’t remember money or food or beer (of course, there’s a fairly logical explanation for the beer one). I remember specific objects, things that I see on a regular basis and, when I do see them, think of the persons that gave them to me. I remember them because they mean something to me, and because I keep coming back to them and getting reminded again and again.
Christmas is coming. This year, I’ve been trying to think of something I actually want for Christmas that I haven’t got yet, and I got the answer by listening to National Public Radio (www.npr.org). They recently had their semi-annual pledge drive, and I was thinking I would like to donate to them since I appreciate NPR so much. Then I thought it would be great if I just asked everyone to make a donation to NPR for me this Christmas as my gift. While I still think that’s a great idea, there’s a “cause” I support even more than NPR.
OC. Online Comics.
So it is official. This Christmas, I am asking all of my friends who don’t know what to get me to support online comics. Here’s my convenient wish list:
1.) Buy yourself a subscription to one or more of the following websites (don’t buy one for me, as I either already have a subscription to these or am already expecting them from my family for Christmas):
www.moderntales.com
www.serializer.net
www.adventurestrips.com
www.goats.com
2.) Buy someone else a subscription to one of the aforementioned sites. Preferably someone who has high speed internet access but doesn’t read comics (or at least online comics). The sense of obligation to use the gift you get them will hopefully lead them to appreciate what the world of online comics has to offer.
3.) Make a donation to my website, in person if you can but if not then through the PayPal donation box at the bottom left of the front page of this site. I will use any money earmarked for the website towards hosting costs and convention appearances and, if you read the fine print, you’ll get a reward for your donation.
4.) Make a donation to another online comic, preferably one that is listed in the comics section of my links page.
5.) Buy merchandise from your favorite online comic. Give it to whoever you think might like it, and just let me know you did it as my Christmas gift so I know this crazy plan o’ mine is bearing fruit.
And, finally, if you are an online comic creator yourself, what I want for Christmas from you is for you to ask for similar things from your own friends, family, readers, stalkers, etc. It’s a time for giving, so let’s give back to our industry for the opportunities and enjoyment it has provided us.
Whichever of these things you do, let me know. I’m going to put all the information about who did what for the industry into some sort of consolidated work, frame it, and hang it on my wall next to the computer I create and read online comics with (I’ll post it on the site in some form as well, of course). Every time I go to use my computer, I’m going to look at the effort people made towards this, and remember the gifts fondly.
P.S. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, ask people to give you these things just because you’re so cool, or have better fashion sense, or are double-jointed… whatever the excuse, so long as dollars are put into the online comics industry.
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