For everyone who thinks keeping every strip of a web comic posted in archives free for anyone is a deterrent to selling hard copies should look again. Megatokyo volume 3 reached the third spot on the BookScan list of graphic novels sold in bookstores for the week ending February 20th.
Thanks to Comixpedia.
I can’t stop laughing at this one. Every guy wants to be Rayne but we all know the best we can do is to find a Rayne and be his wingman. Least I Could Do, by Ryan Sohmer and Chad WM. Porter, is a strip about a group of friends spending time together. Most notable are Rayne, who is a guy’s definition of a player, the only reappearing female Melissa, Rayne’s roommate John, and Rayne’s near opposite Mick. The writing is outrageous and centers on Rayne’s plots to get in bed with the opposite sex and all the problems these cause. Continue reading
Those who are annoyed by the typical motivational posters probably get a kick out of spoofs. Bad Day Studio has posted some with villains giving the motivation. My favorites are still over at Overcaffeinated and if you know anymore send them in.
On Feb. 18 a Federal court ruled suspensions given to two students, in August 2004, for comments made in an off-campus strip was unconstitutional. The ruling was in response to a suit by the two senior students attending Greenwood High School in Arkansas.
U.S. District Court Judge Jimm Hendren ruled that the postings on Neal and Kuhl’s Web are protected under the First Amendment [and] that under the standard created by the Supreme Court’s decision in the 1969 case Continue reading
Last week Wildstorm began posting complete first issues of many famous comics. These include various TOP TEN issues, Tom Strong, and Tomorrow Stories. This is an excellent example of using the web for comics and how both can be used together. The next step is to convince the comic industry to use the web for all promotions and new releases. The biggest obstacle in this pursuit is the belief that readers will not buy the hard copy if they can simply get it for free online, but the print industry is simply not paying attention to how many web comics have no problem selling hard copies of what they provide free in their archives.
I love getting user submissions which are already on my read list. Scary Go Round is one such strip which can be placed in the mini series category. It is a well drawn strip by John Allison consisting of several different stories with a large cast. Most of the tales are focused around typical horror themes but in a humorous manner in which most horror movies belong.
The artwork is excellent as by the time you finish with the archives I have no doubt you could recognize John’s work anywhere. Continue reading
Every industry has them and here’s the Iron Man Competition for web comics. The Daily Grind is hosting this competition starting next Monday Feb. 28. This looks to be a good competition as several good artists are lined up so far to post a new strip every weekday until only one is left posting. You can find more information at http://www.crowncommission.com/dailygrind/.
Thanks to Phil McAndrews at Talk About Comics for this post.
This may be the first convention solely dedicated to webcomics. It is being held in Tilburg, Netherlands on May 1 in the Hall of Fame building. The website is in Dutch so use your favorite translator to read the contents in English. The convention is created by the newly formed Clickburg foundation.
The Washington Post ran a short article (reprinted at Editor & Post) about the dying off of print. Most notable are the quotes about how the younger generation 18-34 is simply not reading paper but instead going to websites and reading non-newsprint. What does this mean for syndicated strips and for web comics? Should we soon be expecting uComics and Comics.com to start using subscriptions?
In my endless search to actually know what I’m talking about I came across this article. It was posted on June 03, 2004 but history never goes out of date. Mainly talks about the emergence of sprite comics from Bob and George by David Anez to today’s sprite goliath 8-bit Theater by Brian Clevinger.