No Barcodes Needed

This upcoming Saturday down in Camden Lock Market a whole new convention has begun. Six months ago in Camden a small stall run by Oli Smith (and several others) set to allow small press comics as well as webcomics the chance to publish their works with bare minimum cost and get it to a whole different market. Not only has the stall been popular with people cramming it full of their latest works but also the market itself has integrated with it now becoming almost a firm fixture amongst the others.

Now this weekend the stall launches its first big project – a convention. The No Barcodes Convention has a multitude of small press and webcomic characters appearing at their tables, all within bare minimum cost to them and also bare minimum cost to the general public (there is no entry fees). So pop along down to London this weekend, take in the sights, sounds, air and sea and pop along to Camden and buy a few comics with No Barcodes because to be honest, they’re no longer needed.

No Barcodes Convention

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A pilot’s life

Well, Tokyopop introduced their Manga Pilot program this week, and the internet lost no time in opening up a can of whoopass on it. First blood goes to Lea Hernandez, who points to a major problem with the contract: It requires creators to sign away their droit moral, the crazy notion that creators can retain control of their works. Lea has been critical of Tokyopop’s global manga contracts in the past, but Tokyopop really left themselves open to this by not only posting their contract online but also attempting to put it in user-friendly language, while retaining several blatantly user-unfriendly clauses. At his LJ, Bryan Lee O’Malley picks up the cudgels and pretty much finishes this contract off. At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson wonders if she’ll even bother with Tokyopop books from now on. Also weighing in: Christopher Butcher, Niki Smith (who was considering sending in a story and has reconsidered), Gia Manry, Jen Wang, and Hope Larson.

All these people are looking at it as comics creators. I used to be a book editor before I became a freelance writer, so my perspective is a bit different.

To me, Lea nailed it—signing away the droit moral is bad. When you read about people having long-term snarling matches with their publishers, it’s usually about that sort of thing.

Also, one of the big points people are making about the contract Continue reading

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Interface counsel

Lisa Anderson has some advice for would-be webcomics artists at Comics Village, and it’s actually pretty good counsel for anyone thinking of embarking on a creative career: plan ahead, be original, stay committed. And there are a few suggestions that I wish more webcomickers would take to heart, such as this advice on website design:

Before running off to the land of fancy effects and complex coding, consider your readers. Black backgrounds are rarely a good thing, as most colors (especially fonts!) look horrible on it. Standard red and blue should not be used atop one another…they have different depths, and many can become sick at the difference it causes their depth perception. Frames can be handy, but bad layouts and complicated formatting can leave the reader lost and annoyed. Try to keep your archive neat and accessible. (A personal pet peeve are those archives based purely on date posted. It makes finding specific arcs or strips impossible.) When it doubt, go for something simple with a soothing color scheme.

Here’s my own pet peeve: putting so much stuff up top that I have to scroll down to read the comic. Sometimes I can’t even find the comic in the mess of banner ads, titles and subtitles, blog posts, pictures of the kitties, whatever. Almost as bad Continue reading

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Under Review With Midnight ~FEATURING~ Looking For Group Vol. 1

More and more creators are learning that it’s easy as cake to take their webcomics and get them printed. Even if an established printing house won’t pick up a collected work, there are options via Lulu and other print-on-demand services that ensure your ego, large and shadow-inducing as it is, can be seen by as many eyes as you can shove it under.

And so, with that in mind, I bring you Under Review, my weekly (and in some/most cases, bi-, tri-, and quadra-weekly) review space for the latest in webcomics print volumes. I inaugurate this new column with the first volume of Looking For Group, the fantasy-adventure webcomic, written by Ryan Sohmer and drawn by Lar DeSouza.

Under Review logo

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Beaver and Steve Contest Winner Announced ~BUT~ What A Contest!

Newest addition to the DS team and Senior European Correspondent Michael Rouse-Deane (or Mike Rouse-Deane, to those who know him) wrote about the recent Beaver and Steve contest to determine who might take over art chores on the next few weeks of strips for the hiatus-fearing B&S creator, James Turner. From the moment I spotted this on
my RSS, I knew I would have to peer deeply into the souls ofevery entrant of this competition.

Luckily for you, that time is now.

Turner has already named his winner and runners-up, so speculation can be laid to rest. It’s now time to take a second look at the pool of hopefuls and see what made this a grand try at matching, and in some cases surpassing, the dry-as-bones humor of B&S.Andy Powell B&S entry

Alphabetically (by first name, anways) we shall go, and we start off with my personal favorite, the runner-up Andy Powell. It took some lookin’, but I was finally able to track down more of his work and don’t you worry about Mr. Powell. Dude’s got enough chops to make it in any art field.

Clare Potts’ entry must be noted as she is the only one with the stones to have her own human characters act out the script as Turner wrote it. Bravo on a job differently done, Clare.

And the award for Best Alternative Milk-Pouring Style goes to… runner-up, Drew Mokris! Behind-the-back!

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Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness ~HAS~ Gone Gold

If you play video games, and have played either Assassin’s Creed or Grand Theft Auto IV, you’ll know (and possibly even understand) why I’ve had few updates recently.  I also put my own strip on indefinite hiatus which you would think would free up more time for more posts, but whatever.

If you know what the above title means, then you’ve probably already heard this news and are saving up your Xbox Live coin to get it.  If not, the term “gone gold” means it is finished and ready to be shipped to retailers.  Except in this case, the game is downloadable, via the PA crew’s own new Greenhouse service or Xbox Live.  PC owners can take their own created character side-by-side with Gabe and Tycho sometime later this quarter, but 360 players will have to wait a bit longer for their chance to fight alongside two of the most charismatic characters ever created.

For those who salivate over such things, the press release can be found here.

Penny Arcade Adventures wallpaper

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