In the beginning, Seven Seas published global (i.e. non-Japanese) manga, and they started out with a nice set of titles with a similar feel: adventure stories with a dose of cuteness, all suitable for the tween/teen market.

In the past year they have also started licensing some really interesting Japanese properties, but the global manga are still a big part of the mix, and their website always features four global web manga that are eventually released in print as well. The web comics are strictly line art, while the books feature fully toned comics as well as quite a few extras. Plus they take the web manga off the site eventually.

Some changes are in the works at the moment, so this is probably a good time to drop by and check it out. Continue reading →

It's Valentines Day and I'm an insensitive jerk so rather than write an emotional, sensitive love letter to my wife, I'm going to write one to Web comics. I just hope she doesn't check this site for a while.

Dear Web comics,

It's The Geek again. You haven't written or called me back yet? I know I spend too much time staring at you. It's only because you're so beautiful. I'm sure you find that a little creepy. It's my own fault, I'm willing to change it you give me a chance. Please write me back, let me know you still care.

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Well, Daku is right about Free Comics Book Day being about advertising, not charity. Every marketer knows that free samples are the best way to get the public to check out your product.

Still, there’s something counterintuitive about making more by charging less, so I was intrigued by this interview with Phil Foglio, the creator (with his wife Kaja) of Girl Genius, who claims he’s doing better than ever since he shifted over to a webcomics model. Foglio says his earnings have increased, even though the webcomic, and the online versions of his older print comics, are all free.

This came about partly because he was spared the expense of pamphlet comics; he still publishes Girl Genius in print, Continue reading →

If the mere thought of Valentine’s day is making you break out in hives, Rachel Nabors has the cure.

In fact, she has declared a Valentine’s Day Massacre of her own, but instead of machine guns, her weapon of choice is Cupid’s arrow.

Nabors, who works in a loose, manga-influenced style, has confected a series of short strips starring Anti-Cupid, Crusher of Crushes and Destroyer of Insignificant Others, who is created when Rachel’s lead character runs over the real Cupid with her car. Anti-Cupid’s arrows break up relationships, and then she jumps in to explain why You’re Better Off Without Him.

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The post I wrote a few weeks ago about why webcomics aren’t included in best-of-the-year lists has sparked a discussion on the print side of the comics blogosphere about what people like and don’t like (mostly don’t like) about webcomics. Now, you can read this as a lot of bitching and moaning from people who don’t like webcomics anyway, but that would be wrong. Every one of these bloggers loves comics in all their forms and would love to like webcomics as well, but they see obstacles in their way. So I’m linking to these posts not to be negative but to provide some opportunities; the webcomicker who comes up with a better interface, like the inventor of the better mousetrap, may very well find the world beating a path to his or her door.

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Christopher Butcher, a comics retailer whose blog Comics212.net is must-reading in for fans of dead-tree comics, poses an interesting end-of-the-year question. As the year-end retrospectives come trundling down the information highway, Chris asks: Why are these all print comics?

Why aren’t webcomics, by and large, included in all of these critical “Best Comics of the Year” lists? For my money*, Dinosaur Comics, Achewood, Diesel Sweeties, and Penny Arcade were as enjoyable reads as most of the other comics topping my list.

Well, DS readers, what do you think? Continue reading →

Here’s one of those things I found on the way to looking up something else, and it’s really interesting: Central Park Media, a manga publisher that has had its ups and downs over the past year, is putting its books online.

Manga publishers have been putting samples online for a while now, but CPM is unusual in that it is making entire chapters and indeed entire volumes available on the internet for free. Continue reading →