There are lots and lots of dead strips on the internet. Most of which died quietly in the night, and thank God too (the Internet can take only so much crap). However there are some strips that died, I belive, that left us all too soon. There are strips that hammered our souls as the nails were put into its coffin; that tugged on our heart strings as it was lain into the ground; and that took a part of us with it as it was burried under the dirt. For me, Drew Weing’s The Journal Comic, was such a strip. [Direct link to comic in the title above]
When I first read it, I was in highschool dreaming about going to the Savannah College of Art and Design and it was nifty to read about someone who had graduated. That was a few years ago and I have done some growing since (you can tell because I didn’t go there), but the comic has grown with me. I can relate to so many parts of Drew’s life in my own. The funny way we talk to room mates, the way look at the world, and the way we think about comics none stop. There, I believe, inlies the genius. The entire comic was a model of perfection because it was so universal. Each strip was cute and funny. Though I never did have a belly laugh during the 4 seperate occasions that I read his archive, I always did really enjoy reading about Drew’s life. He was not a rich man nor was he terribly dashing or interesting, but there was so much funny in his life. Funny because it was all true. It was all commonplace. We have all been down the roads his comic has shown, and there is a real beauty in that.
So, Drew Weing, if you are reading I say unto thee: please please please PLEASE return to us our beloved journal comic. Resurect this lost love of the Internet ages that we might find joy in your [our] commonplace again.
The Journal Comic was one of the first comics I stumbed on once I got past the initial Penny Arcade/PvP introduction to the medium. I always thought Drew\’s style was excellent and he did a lot to keep me insprired in the early days of my comic whether he knew it or not. We exchanged e-mails once. I never brought it up to him.
I used to check his web site often after he ended it hoping there would be the odd update here or there. Alas, nothing new.
On the one hand I think it\’s good that he\’s moved on to new projects. It seems like if he stayed with The Journal Comic it could have been popular for years.
But you can tell by his work that he\’s too creative to settle into a groove.
I haven\’t visited his site in a while. Thanks for reminding me about it!
But you can tell by his work that he\’s too creative to settle into a groove.
That\’s for sure.
I\’d rather see a creator hopping from project to project rather than watching them driving a concept into the ground. But that\’s just me, I guess.
That\’s true. Driving into the ground is never good, but one of the purities of the journal comic is that the concept is nigh-impossible to run into the ground.
Kudos to Drew on his bigger and better projects, and I wish him luck. I hope however he might be able to perhaps resurect the journal comic as a side thing. It doesn\’t take TOO too much concentration as far as I know.
Wow – a fellow SCAD alum – I read Drew\’s Journal Comic – it\’s really really good – thanks for turning me on to that, Pookie.
I love TJC, and I think I preferred his original personal style to this old-fashioned looking comics he\’s making now. I dunno. His own style seemed so fresh in comparison.
Although I have to say, his attention to detail in Set to Sea is highly impressive.
Maritza
CRFH.net