Tweet Thread of the Day ~FOR~ Wednesday, July 28, 2010

After a well-deserved, battery-recharging vacation, TTotD is back! And what better way to get back into it than to talk about the death of webcomics! …Wait, what? Seems Joey Manley (as well as others around Twitter who have since escaped my Following gaze) is curious about the current state of webcomics, even going as far as to ask whether or not the medium (or genre, not sure what classification we’re using this week) has run its course.

We chatted about this on the podcast we recorded last night (which will be in your ears next Monday) so I figured it was well worth a post, especially since the thread is a contribution from Scott Kurtz.

pvponline Remember Joey Manley? He still apparently has opinions. http://joeymanley.com/2010/04/28/the-death-of-webcomics/ about 9 hours ago via Tweetie for Mac

Apparently Joey Manley still has LOTS of opinions. http://bit.ly/bRRInY about 9 hours ago via Tweetie for Mac

the iPhone needed a dedicated reader app. Pull out the strip, make it as big as possible. But the iPad? Man, safari on that thing is great. about 9 hours ago via Tweetie for Mac

I don’t see a reason for most webcomics to pursue an iPad app when their websites are already f***ing gorgeous on that thing. about 9 hours ago via Tweetie for Mac

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Digital Strips 206 – Book Club: Realm of Atland Ep 3

And the first round of Digital Strips Book Club has come to an epic end, just like Book One of Realm of Atland. We discuss what happened to our dear friends in the strip and why we cared so much about them. Listen in, if you care about us.

Like I said, this is our last episode about Realm of Atland. We’ve already got a pick for the next Book Club series but we’d love some feed back. Do you like this kind of show? Would you like more? Less? Hit us with your best shot in the comments. Don’t worry, we can take it.

Not much in the way of a description, sorry about that. I didn’t get much sleep last night on account of my son constantly kicking me in the balls. I’ll make up for it with a healthy list of show notes. Enjoy.

Show Notes
Alien Swarm
Good Ship Chronicles
Epicplosion
Bug
Cleopatra in Space
Pokeweed
Amity Blamity
Space Time Condominium
Smash
Indistinguishable from Magic
Pictures For Sad Children
Johnny Wander
Family Man

Download Digital Strips 206

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Synaptic Digital, Reviews, 3000, and Help

It’s been a whirlwind of a few weeks with a lot happening offline. It’s so busy I’m falling behind on the strip in our adventures. Maybe I’ll finally have some time this next weekend? On to the news!

Found this little tid bit about Kurtz creating two exclusive animations for Picross 3D, to highlight it’s fun and unique game-play. Nintendo worked with Scott Kurtz to use Flipnote Studio, a free application for drawing a series of images using the Nintendo DSi touch screen to create custom animations.

Next are some reviews. Since I’ve been out of it for a couple of months I feel like hearing news about Awkward Zombie is like hearing about an old friend. That’s why I enjoyed coming across this review of it by Spwug. Ok, it’s not so much a review as gushing praise but it does piont out some good parts. Another entry in TWO’s One Punch Reviews is a mention of the The Intrepid Girlbot. There’s just enough information given to make me click on links, especially since it’s been so long since I found a good dialogue free comic.

Sheldon reached 3000, Huzzah! Yeah, there’s no way I would even dream of creating a comic to last that long. DSA is slated to last 5 seasons (albiet at it’s current pacing that would take 10 years) so I can image about as far as a 1000.

Then there was a whole bunch of helpful little posts around the interweb about how to make a webcomic or just what not to do. Forgive me if I don’t read them because at this point the formula is pretty much laid and all you have to do is follow it.

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Tauhid Bondia of Good Ship Chronicles Wants ~YOU~ To Choose Your Own Adventure, Webcomics Style

I can’t say it enough: RSS feeds are the best thing to ever happen to the Internet. When you decide to up and end your comic, it’s wise to keep that domain in case you need to notify the public (or at least those that subscribed to your feed) of any new projects you might be working on. That notification will pop up in the audience’s reader (and let’s be honest, who ever deletes anything from their feed?) and BOOM! You’ve got yourself some free press.

Case in point, the criminally short-lived Good Ship Chronicles. Towards the end, creator Tauhid Bondia updated infrequently with blog posts stating that real life, as it always does, was getting in the way again and that he hoped to return someday to the comic. We’ve all heard it before, but that didn’t make it any less painful to endure. So what a pleasant surprise, maybe even a joy, it was to see something from Good Ship in Feedly recently.

Check out the site for yourself (Bondia states that he went live early to try and build up a buzz), but the title is Epicsplosion and the theme is a webcomic-based, Choose Your Own Adventure-style story. This is, by itself, a winning premise, but when paired with the gorgeous visual trappings that are sure to accompany each update (a taste of which can be found on the site now), this is something we’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on.

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Dr. Mcninja + Axecop ~EQUALS~ ZOMFG!!!!1!!LOLZ!!!11

As reported by Comics Alliance (and re-reported over on our Facebook page, which you’d know if you Liked us), the two silliest, most awesomest stars ever to hit a computer screen are teaming up and the ensuing blast is sure to melt faces and warm hearts. Words can’t begin to express how much this is going to rock and it starts a week from today!


Awesome + awesome = RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME

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Tweet Thread of the Day ~FOR~ Wednesday, July 14, 2010

As a fan of webcomics, as a webcomics creator, as a collector of comic books, whatever your comic inclination, you need to be familiar with the works of Harvey Pekar, who passed away recently. His body of work represents a slice of Americana that will go down as one of the touchstones of the American comic book art form. Here, Jeff Green, formerly of the school of gaming journalism, now at EA, shares a link to some of Pekar’s last work. Not for nothin’, Green is also worth following on Twitter, as he offers insight on all facets of life that comes highly recommended.

Greenspeak Been catching up on Harvey Pekar’s last webcomics. Great stuff. http://www.smithmag.net/pekarproject/ 12 minutes ago via web

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Tweet Thread of the Day ~FOR~ Monday, July 12, 2010

Conversations by big names in the business, especially ones about other, big name comics, are always worth listening in on, and this one featuring Spike, Kate Beaton, and Scott McCloud (yes, that Scott McCloud) is another for the record books. It all starts when Kate mentioned a recent XKCD update (and what class, she even includes the comic link):

beatonna http://xkcd.com/764/ give me a break about 1 hour ago via web

Iron_Spike @beatonna Wow, that kinda sucks a little. about 1 hour ago via web in reply to beatonna

Iron_Spike @beatonna Not a fan of how the very unique cultural quirks of 1 tribe (Piraha of the Amazon) has been generalized to ALL primitive cultures. about 1 hour ago via web in reply to beatonna

@beatonna If our ancestors were a stupid as this cartoon is trying to suggest, we wouldn’t be here. about 1 hour ago via web in reply to beatonna

beatonna @Iron_Spike jeez, I’m sure the internet has already had a field day with it.. What did you study, Spike? You seem keen on a lot of subjects. 45 minutes ago via web in reply to Iron_Spike

Iron_Spike @beatonna I only formally studied fine art. I watch basically nothing but documentaries (and bad reality TV) while I draw by dumb comics. 😀 41 minutes ago via web from Pilsen, Chicago in reply to beatonna

beatonna @Iron_Spike hahaha i see 40 minutes ago via web in reply to Iron_Spike

Iron_Spike @beatonna Also, I live across the street from a library. BOOKS. <3 40 minutes ago via web from Pilsen, Chicago in reply to beatonna

beatonna @Iron_Spike that’s better than my office being next to a nice used book store $$$$ there goes all my money 39 minutes ago via web in reply to Iron_Spike

scottmccloud @Iron_Spike @beatonna I think Monroe was just riffing on the chatter, not endorsing the myth. (Rollover=its-a-joke-people) My guess, anyway. 38 minutes ago via web in reply to Iron_Spike

@Iron_Spike @beatonna In other words, I see where your coming from, but I think there might be an extra level of irony there. 36 minutes ago via web

beatonna @scottmccloud haha Scott, it didn’t escape my notice that it was a joke 34 minutes ago via web in reply to scottmccloud

scottmccloud @beatonna I’m sorry, my phrasing was clumsy. I meant joke regarding the myth as well. 31 minutes ago via web in reply to beatonna

beatonna @scottmccloud aw jeez all my twitter phrasing is clumsy 26 minutes ago via web in reply to scottmccloud

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Digital Strips 205 Horizons Rewind Summer 2009

I love the History Channel. Well, I love it when it’s actually showing history and not fat guys driving in bad weather. I used to want to be a historian until I realized how important money is to daily life because I love the sense of looking about how things used to be and comparing them to the here and now.

Well this podcast is nothing if not a chance for me to live out my childhood dreams, so we’re taking another look back at Web comics of podcasts past. We’re looking at the strips that we featured for Horizons Watch in summer of 2009.

The comics (and our year old opinion of them) are:

I Love Tapes – An indie rocker tale with an amazing art style.

The Meek – An animated movie that you get to read one gorgeous panel at a time.

Cucuc – The most European thing you’ll read this week (even if you’re European)

and Tails – A story about cats.

Do we still feel the same way? Have these comics grown and improved? Are they even still alive? Tune in to the show to find out.

I’ll have proper show notes when I update the RSS feed at lunch. For now I need to go to work.

Edit-Apparently when I say lunch, I mean after work since I had to make an airport run instead, sorry about that.

Episode 164
Episode 166
I love tapes
The Meek
Lackadaisy
Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name
Chronillogical
Tiny Kitten Teeth
Combustible Orange
Facebook link
Realm of Atland

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Bid Now On Webcomics Artwork To ~BENEFIT~ The Gulf Oil Spill Recovery Effort

In the spirit of the Guigar-organized Webcomics Telethon for Katrina all those years ago, Carly Monardo has whipped up a webcomics auction to benefit the Gulf Oil Recovery Effort, with all proceeds going to The Colbert Nation Gulf of America Fund. Various webcomics types, including David Malki!, Kate Beaton, Chris Hastings, Jon Rosenberg, and many more, are all on hand to donate their hard work to go towards an even greater undertaking.

Drop by, see what you like, and put down your money to start making a dent in this blemish on our beautiful, green Earth.

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Tweet Thread of the Day ~FOR~ Monday, July 5, 2010

Two great stories ended over the weekend, so it is now decided that two more must take their place! And preferably by the same creators, as both Evan Dahm and KC Green are more than welcome on my RSS feed any day.

Choadmalma Almost a year later, I give you the finale. Anime Club part 5 http://bit.ly/blEoHH 11:52 AM Jul 5th via TweetDeck

Also my buddy @evndahm ended his comic Order of Tales today. It is top-notch and I will be reading it today http://rice-boy.com/ as should u about 21 hours ago via TweetDeck

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