Serving as a follow-up to my previous post about Wizard and their valiant attempt to cover webcomics, Rick Marshall has posted his own thoughts on the subject over on his personal blog.

Marshall, you will recall, teamed with Brian Warmoth to bring the Cursory Conversations to the Wizard website every couple of weeks.  When the archives of these interviews were erased and forgotten, so were Warmoth and Marshall.  Then, months later, Wizard decides to do the same thing again, with the same creators, and hopes no one will say boo about it.

Well, boo.  Marshall gives some detailed accounts from not only his side of the story but from other vantage points of people who have worked at Wizard.  The very provocative and scathing post includes this quote which still shocks me on its fifth reading, coming from someone on staff at Wizard:

“Why would we want to cover any comics people just give away on the web? They’re not REAL comics.”

If that was the only criteria for real comics, the long-suffered debate over what webcomics are could have been solved years ago!  Still, if people with that much influence on the industry are that clueless about the exciting possibilities being explored on the Web, it explains why there are some who still have yet to wrap their heads around the concept.

Humor comes in all different flavors and colors on the Web, and webcomics is certainly no differrent in this regard.  You’ve got your Penny Arcade-ish, in-your-face action shots that inspire laugh-out-loud moments (known to some as LOLs) and there’s also the XKCD, dry comedy route that brings about more of a hearty chortle or two with nearly every update.

Now the sharp comedic writing of Gabe Strine can reenter those ranks as Brinkerhoff is back, with updates on every Monday and Wednesday.  A horribly overlooked gem of a webcomic, Brink has been the source of some of this blogger’s favorite webcomics moments, full of characters who expound rather extensively on all subjects without prejudice or fear of reprisal.

But I’ll let Gabe himself tell you all about it, after the break!  Welcome back, Gabe!

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Many remember the bi-weekly column over on the Wizard Universe site titled Cursory Conversations.  It was a great little pick-me-up for various webcomics creators and a good intro to the medium for newbies written by Brian Warmoth and Rick Marshall.

If you recall that, then you probably also remember that this welcome addition to the increasingly Maxim-ified Wizard world was cut before it could even build up a head of steam.  Then, that steam was forcibly evaporated, never to be found again.  Where did Warmoth and Marshall and their webcomics exploits disappear to?  The Internets would never know.

But lo!  The Wizard has again graced us, the webcomics people, with his presence, and brought us words from our gods from on high!  Listen as he tells us in his new column, Webcomic of the Week, of The Adventures of Dr. McNinja and Girl Genius! Marvel as you wonder whether or not these are the same strips they featured when Cursory Conversations began all those months ago!  Scream when you realize that it is indeed the same very strips!  And be thankful, ye who believe, that we have the Wizard to tell us of the webcomickers and their brave tales!

Sheesh.