The NPR show On the Media recently ran a piece on the depressing state of comics in the newspapers and ever growing influence of the web. From the site you can listen to the audio of the show. If you download the MP3 version the comics part starts at around 32 minutes.
There’s an interesting article being run over on Comixpedia. It’s a walkthrough / discussion of creating experimental comics for the web created in comics form. It’s reminiscent of Scott McCloud’s own explanations of comics. The article is a good read and worth checking out.
Charles Schwab runs a web site for children with learning disabilities, SparkTop.org. They have just signed a deal with Jim Davis to run new Garfield comics on the site. Considering the recent announcement that the L.A. Times was dropping the Garfield strip does this new deal mark a move from print to the web for Davis? Web sites hiring out comics to run on their pages could be an interesting business model for web comics to pursue.
Get in on the ground floor with two brand new web comics. Check out the Secret Friends Society run by web cartoonists Hope Larson and Kean Soo for some excellent illustration work. They are just getting started with their site, so let’s give them some support.
I’ve updated the site with a new logo I came up with. More of my own attempts at cartooning will follow soon.
Mike Wieringo has worked in the comics industry for years and has worked on Robin, Superman, Spider-man, X-Men, and tons of other titles. Along with a gallery of his work and links to online stores to buy his stuff Mike runs a blog. Recently on the blog Mike has started a really interesting experiment. Like a lot of comics artists Mike has been drawing since he was very young. He has now started sifting through his old drawings from childhood and is re-imaging them with his current skills. He has images of his original character drawings and his new visions of them. This idea is very cool and well worth having a look.
Maria Schneider runs a great online comic called Pathetic Geek Stories. In the strip Maria solicits stories from readers about sad and embarrassing things that have happened to them and she turns their stories into a comic strip. What a great use of web comics and the strip is so funny it’ll make you cringe.
Maria will be on G4TechTV tonight on the Screen Savers. If your cable provider carries the channel be sure to check it out. We’ll be talking more about Pathetic Geek Stories on an upcoming show.
You can check out a pretty interesting web comic all done is 3D computer modelling at Syntax Error. Damon Riesberg works at Dreamworks and has credit in Shrek 2. His strip is created using Alias Wavefront and is updated 3 times a week. A very new look to comic strips.
The Texas Star-Telegram wrote up a piece by David House that any new or potential comic strip creators should be warned about. This essay seems to suggest that the newspaper industry alone is responsible for all comic readership. House pats the paper on the back for doing so well at finding such a “diverse readership” he also goes on to explain their survey process by which they decide which comic strips stay and which get cut.
You can get a pretty cool service over at Komik Werks. For a small fee you can have some exclusive comic content personally selected by comic legend Stan Lee sent to you on a weekly basis. The most recent stuff is available for free, but having it sent to you and viewing archives require a subscription. Some really cool stuff here.