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Kurtz-Krahulik Webcomic?
Scott Kurtz posted a short bit about The Trenches, a new webcomic coming that's a collaboration between him and Mike "Gabe" Krahulik.
Guess What: I'm On A Panel on Saturday at Intervention
This Friday-Saturday is Intervention in Bethesda, Maryland, just north of Washington DC. Lots of fun folks will be there, maybe you too? Believe it or not I am on a panel on Saturday late afternoon titled "The Outside Perspective: Webcomic review/news sites" -- does that sound exciting? Perhaps we should rename it "WEBCOMIC MONSTER TRUCK DEMOLITION DERBY: SATURDAY! SATURDAY! SATURDAY*" but I don't think I can produce any actual monster trucks on one week's notice. Nevertheless it will be at the very least me, talking about writing about webcomics and maybe (knock on the nearest wood-simulated product) a few special guests.
The other panels going on at the same time include (1) a Q & A with the guy who does Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire who I have not met and so will not again; (2) a panel on Net Neutrality which perhaps is a panel I should have been on myself but now am wondering who is on it!?!?; (3) the Viral Video room where I am assured no one will catch anything (much); (4) Comic Press ADVANCED! workshop which actually will probably be 50% more useful than anything I say and (5) Club 242 Autopilot which is probably too hip for the likes of me. Oooh plus right afterwards at 6 PM in a different room is the Webcomics.Com Lightning Round with at least Brad Guigar (and maybe another Half-Pixelite?). Good thing I'm not going on right after that - you can't top genius like that...
By coming to my panel you're also bound to miss the chance to see anything at SPX at that time which includes a spotlight on legendary comic dude Jamie Hernandez; and Johanna Draper Carlson's panel on comics for younger readers with the likes of Raina Telgemeier and Drew Weing.
Wow I wonder what will happen at this panel from 5 PM to 6 PM to entice you to come despite the many other choices you (yes you!) could make this coming Saturday. Well... me too! Is there anything you think would be particularly interesting for me to talk about? Or do? I'm not above gimmicks here folks :)
On Art, or Make Bad Comics
Cartoonists (and artists in general, I suppose) love to argue. Or, at least, we have strong opinions on things; spend all your free time cloistered and toiling, you're bound to ruminate. One favored topic is the ol' “Art vs. Writing” debate, which usually seems to degenerate into “I think I'm good at X, and know that I'm terrible at Y, but that's okay, because isn't X more important, anyway?"
Truth is, if your goal is to make quality comics, Art and Writing are equally important. Intertwined. Yin and Yang. If one falls short, the other suffers. Which can be discouraging, because people tend to think that they're gifted with certain talents and not others, and thus it shall ever be. But Art and Writing are skills, not talents, and like all skills, you can improve your proficiency over time.
Relaunch of In Maps & Legends
Another interesting launch this past week! Michael Jasper and artist Niki Smith relaunched their webcomic In Maps & Legends on September 1st. They won DC's November 2009 Zuda contest, but their run there was cut short by the abrupt shutdown of Zuda by DC.
So the creators have cooked up a multi-outlet publication plan with the first issue for sale at 99 cents at a variety of online distributors:
- Comixology (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, Web Reader)
- Graphic.ly (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, Web Reader)
- Robot Comics (Droid Phone – coming 9/6/10!)
- Amazon’s US Kindle Store (Kindle format)
- Amazon’s UK Kindle Store (Kindle format)
- DriveThruComics (PDF download)
- Wowio (PDF download)
- Scribd (PDF download)
The comic is about a young woman caught up in a plot between our world and another:
Kaitlin Grayson considers herself just an artist until she gets recruited by a strange man named Bartamus, who shows up at her place in the middle of the night and demands she use her skills to save his dying world. Soon Kait gets caught between two worlds, and if Bartamus’ world falls, Earth is next — along with untold other worlds.
Guest Blogger Introduction: Ben Gamboa
Hello, ComixTalkers. My name is Ben Gamboa and I'm responsible for the comic “Tweep,” which I've been producing since early 2003. I'm not the greatest webcartoonist, nor the most well-known, but I like to think that I've learned some things about cartooning over the past few years. And, since this is Back-to-School season, I thought I'd use my guest stint to write posts aimed at folks who are thinking about starting a webcomic of their own. As there are plenty of talented folks who frequent this site, hopefully some of you will chime in with some tips of your own.
Weekend Comix Talk
A big thanks again to all of the great guest bloggers this past month. The site would have been pretty dead without their lively posts and comments. I'm extending the guest blogging one more week because I need a week now to dig out from the avalanche of work that piled up during my travels in August. This coming week we'll have posts from two comic creators: Brandon Carr and Ben Gamboa. Both have worked with webcomics for sometime now and I think you'll enjoy their contributions.
While I'm here let me point out a few stories I thought you might find interesting as well as take care of some of the ComixTalk mailbag.
INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF WEBCOMICS
Dave McElfatrick, one of the four creators of Cyanide & Happiness and the only one not based in the United States (he's from Ireland) -- recently got a visa to the U.S after initially getting rejected:
McElfatrick turned his Internet celebrity to his advantage: He asked his fans to sign a petition to show the government that “his work and the comic he’s a part of have a huge global audience.” More than 146,000 signatures later, the US Immigration Office has reversed its initial judgment: Today, McElfatrick announced that he’s been approved for the visa.
Also, I just saw this article in the Times of India on webcomics there. A few links in it to the webcomics mentioned -- a range of quality to be sure but great to see a story on a thriving scene there.
MILESTONES
I heard from the man himself, but haven't had a chance to post until now: Box Brown wrapped up Bellen! and launched a new comic project with three full stories in the archives for Everything Dies. Brown got some deserved hype from USA Today here.
BUSINESS
I've never heard of publisher DarkBrain, LLC before but they recently announced that all of their webcomic are now available for free. Their comics includes original music, and voice-over narration, hmm.... not sure what to make of that.
From the mailbag
- Nina Paley writes that she has a new webcomic -- Mimi and Eunice. Paley is the uber-talented artist and creator behind the animated Sita Sings The Blues and her earlier comics: Nina's Adventures, Fluff, and The Hots.
- Nikole Jones writes about her webcomic Full Armour -- a humorous action adventure all ages comic which has two stories finished and is in the midst of its third one. It's the saga of thirteen kids that make up a team that takes on special missions. Jones describes the comic as "one part character study, one part globe trotting treasure hunt, and one part explosive action with blue daemons and angels with no mouths."
- Jerome Genevray writes that he's made a trailer for Le Greenboy -- a movie project he's working on about a superhero in Paris which will feature two actresses you may have heard of: Alysson Paradis (the sister of the wife of johnny Depp -) and Diane Dassigny plus Aurélien Jégou stars as Greenboy. It's got to be a comedy -- it's about a guy who dresses up in a green costume and picks up litter, inspiring others to do the same. I think there's an unintentional cross-border laugh though -- apparently supporters of Le Greenboy put their index finger and thumb on their forehead in the shape on an "L" -- that's slang for "loser" where I grew up.
Muliplex Book Giveaway Contest
One of my current favorite comics is holding a contest. Gordon McAlpin's new Multiplex book, "Enjoy Your Show" looks great. He's giving away 5 copies - entries are due by September 22, 2010. Read the giveaway details at Goodreads and enter to win (The giveaway is valid for Goodreads users in the US and Canada only).
Printed Version of Walking the Lethe Available for Pre-Order
Daniel and Amanda Potter were guest bloggers at ComixTalk this past August. Daniel's webcomic Walking The Lethe is coming as a print graphic novel. It's written by Dan and the first two chapters are painted by Sam Ireland and the second half of the book is illustrated by Aditia Wardhana. Walking the Lethe Volume #1 encompasses the first four chapters of main character Richard Harrison's journey to win back his wife from her untimely death:
He will scour the afterlife until he finds her and will break down the heavenly gates if that’s what it takes. This first volume takes him from his home in Boston Mass, through the shadowscape and into America’s mountains of faith, the ghosts of the Twin Towers. All the while, Angels and Demons battle over the fate of his journey.
Walking the Lethe Volume 1 is available for pre-order for 15 euros (not sure what the exchange rate to US dollars is but I'd guess this is about $20?) -- the price goes up on September 19th.
Thierry Groensteen on Webcomics
Over at his "Neuf et demi" blog French comics theorist Thierry Groensteen just posted (what I believe is) an excerpt about webcomics from his forthcoming (in 2011) book on comics (a follow-up to his Systeme de la bande dessinée, translated as The System of Comics (UP Mississippi, 2007)). It's a mixture of clichéed anti-screen-reading objections and some more astute observations about the difference between reading comics online and reading them in print. Here's a quick summary with commentary.
Trade Paperbacks, Continued...
Hi, Folks! Now it’s time to fill out your trade paperback’s contents. It may seem a little unfair, because you’ve already spent the time to get all those comics created, but these are some of the considerations you need to take into account:
Trade Paperbacks
So, you are ready to collect your comic into a trade paperback.
Fine Art vs. Illustration, the Eternal Battle...
Hi, Folks—Scott Story here. I was going to write today about preparing your comics for a trade-paperback collection. Maybe I will tomorrow. Today, I’m going to write about a subject much closer to the heart: Fine Art vs. Illustration.
On "Long Form Comics..."
My co-guest blogger Scott Story (a pseudonym of some kind, surely) posted yesterday with some tips about long form comics on the web. While his advice has some merit for certain types of webcomics, I'm not at all in agreement that they are general rules or even good rules.
Some of his tips are all too focused on a webcomic that is based on the single episode/strip/page as the primary structure of the narrative. This is the traditional model that so many webcomics seem to work from, the comic strip model. Scott suggests each episodes have a "beat" and a "cliffhanger" the same type of advice you see in action when you read classic comic strips, particular those in the adventure genre: Roy Crane, Alex Raymond, Milton Caniff, etc. But I don't think this applies to webcomics working in more of a "graphic novel" mode where the work is considered as a single story/book not an series of episodes. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few webcomics that work in this latter mode, such as Family Man or Finder.
Jed McGowan's Lone Pines
(web to print, print to web, part 3)
I wrote about one of Jed McGowan's webcomics at ComixTalk back in September of 2008. After that he started posting a longer comic (which at the time he called "Bluesy Face") to his website that was an intriguing and slightly abstract mystery that had a wonderful visual style using light blue and grey screentones. (I wrote a bit about it here.) McGowan won a Xeric award for the finished work and now it is being published with the title Lone Pine. He has a pretty long preview up at his site.
McGowan recently posted some photos from the printers as his book was being printed. As of November the book will be available, distributed by AdHouse. And just today he added images of some test prints, pages that have been printed on twice.
Tuesday's Webcomics
Comics in my Google Reader "Webcomics" folder between Monday night and Tuesday night (or thereabouts):
This must be my lucky day as far as online comics discoveries goes. Brian Chippendale's new webcomic "Puke Force" has it's first eight strips up at the Picturebox site. It's about what you'd expect from Chippendale's work if you've read Ninja. Thought the art is less dense that a lot of Ninja, the ubiquitous marks that almost define Chippendale's work is still to be found, as well as his might-as-well-be-trademarked snaking panel reading path.
Long Form Comics, Short Attention Spans…
When I got into comics, I figured that I knew how to write and draw comics pretty well—I had years of print comics under my belt, after all. But, I was wrong, because presenting a long-form comic on the web calls some special considerations into account.
Mincomics to Downloads
(Web-to-print, print-to-web, part 2)
I first discovered Jason Overby's comics as printed minicomics. His "Jessica" mini really impressed me when I read it (as have others of his minis). When he ran out of printed copies he posted a pdf of the comic on his website. He's done the same with some of his other minicomics (in the sidebar of his website). Minicomics really aren't about making money (they're about losing money in most cases), they're more about creating an object and exposure. Offering a sold out minicomic as a download is a great way to allow others to read the work (and people are surely more likely to download a pdf then send money for a comic they're not sure about).
Monday's Comics
Contents of Webcomics Folder in Google Reader for Monday: 1 episode of Lewis Trondheim's Les Petits Riens, 1 episode of John Allison's Bad Machinery (Note to John if he's reading this: Do you realize the only place your name appears on your home page is in the copyright notice at the bottom?), Yeast Hoist #1 by Ron Regé Jr..
Pixels and Panels...
Hi, Folks—Scott Story here. You may know my work from “Johnny Saturn,” and if not I invite you to visit and check it out. Before I got into webcomics, I worked for a bunch of different print publishers, such as Amp Comics, Arrow Comics, Blue Line Productions, Digital Webbing Presents, Image Comics, Nifty Comics, Powerful Press, Rogue Wolf Entertainment, and Rorschach Entertainment. "Johnny Saturn" has been used as prop on a Nickelodian show, been reviewed in the "Comics Buyers Guide," and won two awards (1st and 3rd, respectfully) in the Webcomic Readers Choice Awards.
Print It Yourself Comics
(Web-to-print, print-to-web, part 1)
I've been making webcomics for a few years now (since 2005), but long before that I made minicomics. There is a certain pleasure in having a physical manifestation of your comic, and the turn of page, not to mention the multi-page spread just isn't the same online. So, I occasionally make non-web minicomics. I made a set of three this summer in preparation for the recently passed here, here, and here (Warning: abstract, experimental, and barely narrative comics)). I heard from a few readers that it wasn't the easiest thing to do: you needed to print double-sided, and the margins were such that you'd only get the full artwork if you printed with a laser printer. I ended up uploading a pdf version for screen reading too (at the same pages above). But I do like the idea of downloadable piy (that's "print-it-yourself") minicomics.
I'm not the only one doing such things. I was inspired by Warren Craghead's many piy minicomics, which he's been posting online for quite awhile. If you scroll down on his home page, you'll find links to a number of printable pdfs. Warren's books are often rather complicated to fold and cut (there's one that I never did get working right) but the work is worth the trouble, it's beautiful and mysterious, not your normal webcomic by any means. His latest piy comics is a series called "A Sort of Autobiography", which take the form of a six sided "StoryCube" for every ten years of his life (projected into the future up to 2060). You can print them out and put them together. The site hosting that series "Diffusion" seems to be devoted to different piy books and cubes. They even have a page of instructions and some pdfs you can use to make your own piy ebooks.
Claire Folkman has also been offering printable versions of her webcomics. I found this out when she gave me a copy of her printable mini about making a mini from a single page at PACC. She posts webcomics at her site and often includes a printable pdf version.
Why not try one too.
