It’s always a proud moment when one of your own does something noteworthy and today, we at Digital Strips can share in that pride.

Our very own webmaster and resident fix-the-Internet-it’s-broken-again guy, Jerry Stephens, is proud to announce that his webcomic management system, BitArtist, is now out of beta and open to the public! Here’s the official word from Jerry himself:

Last month I mentioned that I’d put out a webcomic management system, BitArtist. At that time it was in the beta-testing stage and people were encouraged to submit bugs so that I could get a stable release out to the public. Well, I’m happy to say that BitArtist is now in its first stable release version, version 1.0, and it’s ready for the world.

If you were one of the beta testers and are running release candidate 3, there is no need to download and reinstall the stable release as no bugs were found in RC3, or at least none were reported anyway. Otherwise, you’ll need to download the latest version and install it.

There’s information on configuring and installing the software on the support wiki, and the bug tracker is still open for any bugs that may turn up eventually. I’m also in the middle of setting up a support forum, in case there are problems that arise which aren’t covered in the documentation.

Check it out and let us and Jerry know what you think! I’ll be trying it out myself soon, though you might as well go ahead and subtitle that post, “~OR~ How I Broke My PC Beyond Repair.”

I’ve always wanted to be asked to do this.

Like many other cartoonists before him, Wes Molebash has taken the time out of his busy schedule to drop by a local school to teach the kids the joys of cartooning.

Me? I don’t know that I would have the patience to give the tykes a pointer or two about anything. “No, Billy, those proportions are ridiculously off, just stick to the fingerpaints.”

Still, it warms the depths of my dark heart when creators give back to their community, so check out the Flickr photo set of the event. And yes, I’m pretty sure that kid on the left (see, below) is the most excited to be there.

This upcoming Saturday down in Camden Lock Market a whole new convention has begun. Six months ago in Camden a small stall run by Oli Smith (and several others) set to allow small press comics as well as webcomics the chance to publish their works with bare minimum cost and get it to a whole different market. Not only has the stall been popular with people cramming it full of their latest works but also the market itself has integrated with it now becoming almost a firm fixture amongst the others.

Now this weekend the stall launches its first big project – a convention. The No Barcodes Convention has a multitude of small press and webcomic characters appearing at their tables, all within bare minimum cost to them and also bare minimum cost to the general public (there is no entry fees). So pop along down to London this weekend, take in the sights, sounds, air and sea and pop along to Camden and buy a few comics with No Barcodes because to be honest, they’re no longer needed.

Newest addition to the DS team and Senior European Correspondent Michael Rouse-Deane (or Mike Rouse-Deane, to those who know him) wrote about the recent Beaver and Steve contest to determine who might take over art chores on the next few weeks of strips for the hiatus-fearing B&S creator, James Turner. From the moment I spotted this on
my RSS, I knew I would have to peer deeply into the souls ofevery entrant of this competition.

Luckily for you, that time is now.

Turner has already named his winner and runners-up, so speculation can be laid to rest. It’s now time to take a second look at the pool of hopefuls and see what made this a grand try at matching, and in some cases surpassing, the dry-as-bones humor of B&S.

Alphabetically (by first name, anways) we shall go, and we start off with my personal favorite, the runner-up Andy Powell. It took some lookin’, but I was finally able to track down more of his work and don’t you worry about Mr. Powell. Dude’s got enough chops to make it in any art field.

Clare Potts’ entry must be noted as she is the only one with the stones to have her own human characters act out the script as Turner wrote it. Bravo on a job differently done, Clare.

And the award for Best Alternative Milk-Pouring Style goes to… runner-up, Drew Mokris! Behind-the-back!

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