If there was ever a diamond in the rough in the world of webcomics, then Much the Miller’s Son would have to be that shiny gem. The recently reviewed comic doesn’t rank with the best in terms of web design, but the comic itself is top-notch and, at the end of the day, that’s what really matters.

Since we’re now BFFs, Steve has let us know about a promotion he has started which will benefit all involved. Take a listen:

From now on, if you donate $10 or more to Free The Children I’ll send you a free copy of my book! Just fire me an e-mail at stevelec (at) hotmail.com or a Facebook message with your mailing address and I’ll mail you a copy. Also, if you aren’t comfortable with using your credit card to donate, you can twitter or blog about what I’m doing or about the organization or set up your own fundraising page and I’ll consider it a fair trade.

I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do for the kids!

If there’s one thing the webcomics community has proven it can do better than anyone, it’s get behind a cause and see it through to a positive end. Help Steve do the same with this very worthy, Colbert-approved organization!

Back in the Spring of ’08, Brigid, Steve, and I sat down to review Josh Way’s Chronicle, a newspaper-style strip about a young man named Charles and his riches-to-rags-to-more-than-rags tale about trying to bring a struggling newspaper back from the dead and survive the local riff-raff in the process.

While we certainly didn’t see eye-to-eye on the strip itself, we all agreed that Way showed a lot of promise in the webcomics arena and would someday be a force to reckon with. The short name of the comic kept it fresh in mind, fresh enough to pick the title out of my Google News Alerts when it scrolled by yesterday.

Turns out our own former Digital Stripper, Brigid Alverson, tracked Way down for an interview about the ending of Chronicle and the subsequent beginning of his new comic, Strewth!, which starts November 30th. Check out the interview for an in-depthness only Brigid can deliver and make sure to check out Strewth! when it launches later this month!

Did you attend the first annual Webcomics Weekend is beautiful, sunny Easthampton, MA? Did you know someone who did? Did you live on the West Coast and lament that you just couldn’t give up the gas mileage to make the trip? Well then NEWW organizer and webcomics superstar Meredith Gran has some GREAT news for you!

By the way, do you live in Portland, OR or a city nearby? My studiomates Aaron, Luke and I are having an open house on Saturday, December 5th, and it’s open to all! Merch will be for sale, schmoozing will be had, and you can see where and how I get my cartooning done. We’ll also be joined by some awesome guests.

RSVP on Facebook if you wanna go! It’s going to be lots of fun, so I hope to see some of you there.

And this here amazing event poster gives you all the juicy deets, as well as some tasty pixel art for each creator. If you live in Oregon, have heard of Oregon, or just want to finally see the United States, make it a priority to be there!

Imagine that intro in my best Tom Bergeron impression and it will have more impact. And I feel sad for the one person in our audience that got that reference.

There’s a new strip to check out, and it’s by the enigmatic, ever-present, all ’round nice guy, Wes Molebash. It seems wherever we go, Wes is there to provide a real-life moment with warmth and humor like no one else. There was the webcomic, You’ll Have That, a large body of work that is highly recommended if you’re in need of some uplifting stories, and Wes even dipped his fingers into the Zuda waters with The Litterbox Chronicles.

Now, Wes has returned to writing human characters with Max vs. Max. This comic looks to cover the same territory as YHT, with perhaps a stronger emphasis on faith and its role in today’s hectic, selfish world. Here’s the word straight from Wes himself:

It would seem that Maxwell Stanton’s worst enemy is, well . . . Maxwell Stanton.  Recently divorced and struggling to find direction in his life, Max does his best to stay optimistic while wrestling with his insecurities and feelings of guilt.  Fortunately for Max, he has an awesome group of friends and a loving family to help him out and kick him in the pants.

Max vs. Max is about the underdog in all of us – that determined feeling we get that urges us to conquer the world even when the chips are down and the light at the end of the tunnel is still several miles away.  Max is proof that seemingly insignificant people can do very significant things.

If anyone can write down-to-earth, human tales of perseverance, it’s Wes. When you just need a good smile (and really, who doesn’t?), make sure to check out Max vs. Max.

This is the only post I get to write every year involving nudity, but have no fear! It’s not the inevitable webcomics-to-porn changeover that you’ve all been fearing! No, it’s that time of year again, time to start thinking about you’re going to do in the New Year! Maybe lose that spare tire? Kick that nasty habit! Or start reading more, quality webcomics.

Whatever your desire, you can mark each important occasion with the Tastefully Done 2010 Calendar! The Tastefully Done Calendar is comprised of the biggest names in webcomics, bringing their signature characters to the printed page in their completely natural, nearly-nude forms. Official word of the calendar from Lulu.com is as follows:

Featuring Danielle Corsetto, Lem Pew, Aric McKeown, Jess Fink, Guy Hodge, Huw Davies, Rasmus Pettersson, Rachel Dukes, Frank Page, David Wolfe, Michael Lalonde, James Norris, Jamie Smart and Krishna Sadasivam. All of these great people band together to show the other side of their webcomic characters for Cancer Research. Allowing them to bare all, once and only for your viewing pleasure. ALL PROFITS GO TO CANCER RESEARCH!

Those are some mighty fine creators, and they’re all naked, for only $15.99! Wait, I’m not sure I get how this works…

“Tastefully Done – Webcomic Characters Showing It All (2010) by Krishna Sadasivam, Danielle Corsetto, Aric McKeown, Lem Pew, Jess Fink, Guy Hodge, Huw Davies, Rasmus Petterson, Rachel Dukes, Frank Page, David Wolfe, Michael Lalonde, James Norris, Jamie Smart” (Lulu.com)

Are you tired of seeing the heroes get all the attention? Me neither, which is why you should go check out Digital Strips Adventures, now featuring Captain Excelsior!

Ok, so if you are jonesin’ to see antagonists get their time in the spotlight, you should also check out Chillin’ Like Villains by the one-and-only, Ryan Estrada. With this, Estrada’s first daily comic strip, he’s trying something a little bit different…

I’m trying something new with this comic- most webcomics will run for a while, then collect the comics you’ve already read into a book. Well, I’ve got a 100 page buffer, so I’ve decided to put the book for sale on day one. So if you like what you see, you can snag a copy of the book and read half a year ahead!

‘Twere anyone else, I’d say, “Good luck, buddy!” and cheer, albeit in a low-key manner, from the sidelines. But this is Ryan Freakin’ Estrada we’re talkin’ about here! This is ALREADY a success AND the rights to the film, TV show, and regular series have likely already been optioned, or whatever one does with rights once they acquire them.

I’d say go read, but you already did that when I said “new” and “Estrada”, didn’t you?

The August ZudaWatch is in the can and on its way to the presses! (That’s right, Steve, correct? Presses?) So while you wait patiently to find out what we thought of this above-average crop, stop over at Comic Book Resources (proud new home of Digital Strips‘ own, Brigid Alverson) to partake of their monthly Q&A session with every Zuda contestant, cheekily titled “Zudist Colony”.

Zudist Colony: Talking to the August Zuda contestants (CBR)