Ok, so the move is now complete! I’ve uprooted my life for the fourth time in as many years and relocated to scenic, urban Richmond, VA! I REALLY loathed the idea of gathering up all my stuff AGAIN and reclaiming my nomadic ways AGAIN, but it’s the crazy things that we do for love, right?

But excuses are for the timid and the weak, and The Midnight Cartooner boasts some of the most incredible webcomic blogging abilities you’ll ever see! Take my lifting of this giant heap of webcomic news as an example of my awesome might!

• So many milestones, it’s hard to keep up! Congratulations to Steve Napierski for reaching that video game skewering 100th strip milestone over at Dueling Analogs! Also, Gordon McAlpin’s Multiplex has reached it’s 100th appearance on the Interweb and is celebrating with a slew of guest strips on Wednesdays and Fridays by webcomics’ biggest and brightest stars. Check out both strips and help Gordon and Steve make it to several hundreds more!

• Print-on-demand web-service Ka-Blam announced recently that they are doing away with their set-up fees, meaning self-publishers only have to pay for printing, shipping, and handling fees. Why the change now? I’ll let you find all the answers the same way I did, by checking out the blog of those fine, fine folks over at Zoinks! Suffice it to say, though, it’s mostly just a case of technology barreling its way towards cheaper methods of production. But it’s great to hear Ka-Blam is passing on that savings to the already-strapped-for-cash self-publisher.

• Everyone knows Ryan North. He’s the guy you have to thank for every replica strip full of dinosaurs you read over at Dinosaur Comics. It seems that North isn’t done with changing the way we think about webcomics, either. Enter Project Wonderful, the newest (and best?) alternative to Google AdSense for webcomics everywhere! Tired of the pay-per-click model? Try PW’s pay-per-day idea, sure to decrease click fraud and increase profit! Don’t believe me? Here’s Ryan himself with more!

• As one search for the next big webcomic comes to an end, another begins. Wes Molebash of You’ll Have That has announced that the powers-that-be at Viper Comics have reached their decisions pertaining to their own submission contest and are simply whittling down the list of lucky hopefuls.

Another chance for exposure is just around the corner, as Bomb Shelter Comics has announced the first-ever Webcomic Idol experience! After the submission deadline of Nov. 9, the finalists will be voted on and voted OFF until one is crowned the Webcomic Idol! At that point, we will all be asked to forsake all other gods and worship the one, true Webcomic Idol.

Ok, so I don’t expect that will ACTUALLY be the outcome, but it is an interesting project and one which we should all take notice of. This is the kind of publicity that the mainstream press latches onto and, like it or not, it could get webcomics more visibility from the public eye. Also, our own bossman, Daku the Rogue, has been chosen as one of the judges, so you KNOW the quality of the winner will be top-notch. (Christmas bonus is JUST around the corner…)

• The list of webcomic creators featured over at Wizard Universe is growing too rapidly for me to keep track. Phil and Kaja Foglio of crossover-success Girl Genius were recently interviewed and the webcomic goodness doesn’t look to be stopping any time soon. Start checking the WU site daily for the best in overall comic news!

• The newest webcomic collective on the block is called Koala Wallop and it features some of the most professionally presented webcomics on the web. Stop by Fleen for a continuing, in-depth look at every strip in their arsenal and tell ’em Midnight sent ya.

Ah, it’s good to be caught up again. Until the next unearthing, make sure to get your dose of fully-colored, twice-a-week awesomeness with the new and improved Pet Professional and keep your fingers crossed that you might be the next… Webcomic Idol. Midnight… out!