SMASH has finished its first season, twelve episodes or nearly 140 pages. In the Episode 12 finale, ten-year-old superhero Smash faces off against his arch-enemy, the brilliant lunatic known as the Magus. Co-created by brothers Chris A. Bolton (writer) and Kyle Bolton (artist), Smash is an all-ages web-comic that combines the humor of Calvin and Hobbes with the adventure of The Incredibles and Bone.

After trying to use Yahoo to build up followers Project Black Manga finds out, like the rest of us, that getting published is nearly impossible for an unknown. I have seen these before, where a comic broken up frame by frame and turned into a video. Typically done with mangas in the tradition of exporting to the rest of world, I’ve never seen it be successful with an unknown comic.

No other comic slams Digg like XKCD. Before Digg was full of trash, I use to find the webcomic on the front page at least once a week. Every time it would have at least 3000 diggs. This time they’ve topped the charts with two girls gaming with one of them who knows how to talk to guys.

iPhone only comics are stating to get noticed. Are these still being called webcomics or are we going to have to create a completely new moniker? Anyways, I found out here that David Gallaher has a new comic on that platform called Box 13. As their second comic along those lines, this strip seems to be taking advantage of the screen better and is being released serially.

The family comic series, “Silly Daddy,” posts its 500th online cartoon November 9th, 2009. Harvey and Ignatz nominated, this comic combines science fiction with real life family drama and humor, and has won the Xeric Award. Since 2004, Silly Daddy has also been a webcomic with an emphasis on one panel cartoons.

This is what I get for being away for so long. As you’ve probably already read here and here Amazon has been running a contest for comics. I find it very amusing that the guys selling the newspaper replacement, in the kindle, are running a contest where new fresh artists are creating newspaper style funnies. I doubt this will be the next wave but it does feel like a good jumping board for Amazon to get into comics distribution. Now if only they could create an E Ink display that used color…

The 10 final contestants are:
Belle Plaine by Eric Gapstur
About Josh and Collingwood, two fifth graders who use their wit and ingenuity to stave off boredom in a small town.

Büni by Ryan Pagelow
A dark comedy told in cute pictures. It revolves around a hopelessly optimistic loser bunny named Büni. The girl he loves doesn’t love him back.

CounterCulture by Kory Merritt
Follows the life of Margo, an oddball teenager who lives with her father, Bob Bower. Supporting characters include Margo’s ditzy ferret Kassidy, her laidback boyfriend Dobbs, and her giant boa constrictor, Stretch Armless.

Evil Twin by Alexander Matthews
Story of twins Myron and Ludwig, two 10 year-old boys who, like most brothers, are engaged in a constant battle of one-upmanship. They trade insults, devise devious schemes, and have a vivid fantasy world.

Girl by Dana Simpson
She’s a kid who’s awkward at school, awkward at home, and comfortable in the forest, where her friends all live. She has a name, but her forest-dwelling friends all just call her “Girl.”

Hemlock Heights by Todd Machen
Come join the denizens of Hemlock Heights as they combat some of life’s biggest challenges: first-time snack duty, oversized pool tags, and that most unnatural abhorrence… the neighborhood newsletter (shudder). Tennis anyone?

Joe 6-Pack by Mike Floyd
This strip centers around Joe and his everyday occurrences managing his six kids. Joe used to bring a lunchbox to work everyday, but now he’s a stay-at-home dad. He’s raising his kids on instinct and therefore solves problems and handles everyday situations in his own unique way.

Lil Wit by Andrew Paavola
Whitaker Lawrence, or “Wit,” is a delightfully dark eight-year old by with a barbed sense of humor. Fortunately, Wit is not without his unique charms as he takes pleasure in the simple things, such as giving his teacher headaches, and annoying his sister.

Nutz n’ Doltz by Michael Underhill
A modern update of what Rube Goldberg did so successfully. With a twisted sense of humor and an even odder sense of design, Nutz n’ Doltz mocks the modern gizmos and the way they are advertised to us.

Thatababy by Paul Trap
Babies have it made– they set their own hours and make their own rules, all while commanding the spotlight. Thatababy celebrates that glorious freedom through the eyes of a newborn who lives by one simple rule: It’s a baby’s job to drive their parents crazy.

Every once in awhile there’s big news I can’t help but trip over and read. First there is the news about Diamond deciding not to publish distribute any new comics during the last week of the year. There are many view points about this decision I can understand. Times are hard and sales of comics historically go down this week because their target audience tends to spend their time at home or on vacation. I don’t know about you but that seems like taking the easy road. Does it not make more sense to put out new comics and see which ones would do well next year?

That’s where a group of artists got together and decided to do just that. The Indy Comic Book Week was started as a call to action to challenge writers and artists to self publish new material for that week, and offer it to their local stores. From their site:

“This is a perfect storm that opens up those new release shelves for the independent community. We don’t have to be set aside to the small publisher shelf for once and can stand tall in the spots that the big, national publishers usually take. Not only is this an opportunity for creators, it’s a great opportunity for the reader as well. Instead of picking up their usual books, they can check out something new, different, and most likely something local.

So, I’m putting forth this idea to the comic book community. Let’s turn “No Comic Book Week” into “Indy Comic Book Week”. Creators, let’s step up and put those books together. This is our chance to show the world that our books and creations can stand strong on those shelves as well as any major publication. It doesn’t have to be a 22-page full color affair; it can be a small black-and-white ashcan. But it has to be new, it has to be a product of your own creation, and it has to be awesome. Then talk to your local comic shops about putting your book on those shelves for the week of December 30th. Comic book readers, go to your local comic shops and tell them you want to see “Indy Comic Book Week” on the new release shelves. Tell them you want to see something new and different on those shelves. Comic book retailers, show some support for your local creators by filling those new release shelves with great indy books and hopefully open up your patrons to something new that they would not have read otherwise.”

This is a group of people who know an opportunity when it knocks.

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?

So it turns out if you try to get to www.webcomics.com and you forget to type the ‘S,’ you end up at Least I Could Do. I had no idea those guys were so crafty.

In other news, yesterday was 24 hour comic day. One of those events that are so epic and fun that only the Internet and its community could possibly contain it. I know that Kris Struab and Scott Kurtz participated this year and I’m sure over the next few days we’ll start seeing the fruits of labors done by them and the many other creators who undertook this challenge.

I love this short of super-dedicated, short time, high output creative endeavor. My hat goes off to everyone who tried and the article of clothing of choice to those who finished. I’m a three time NaNoWriMo failure so I know true grit when I see it and 24 hour comic survivors have it in spades.

So super congratulations to everyone who did it and keep your eyes on Digital Strips, I’m sure we’ll find a couple excellent comics that came out of this years event.

So I’ve been thinking a lot about web comics and web design and how the to are married together in a way that is normally only reserved for Alabama cousins. Really a web comic is as much about the site as it is about the comic and web comics creators need to embrace this fact like your fat aunt embraces you at Thanksgiving. OK, that’s two creepy family references, thereby meeting my opening paragraph quota.

Assuming that no one is going to argue with me that how your site looks is actually important (although if you don’t feel that way, please let me know if the comments) let’s chat about a simple thing that not enough comic are doing to make their comic’s site and over all web presence that much better.

Everyone fire up your browser of choice and head over to PVP. Look in the top of your tab there, what do you see? Why it’s everyone favorite blue troll, Skull looking out to say hello. Now schlep on over to Sinfest. Look who’s there to greet you when you do, it’s Slick. I could send you to a bunch of other sites, all of which take advantage of favicons.

For those who don’t know, favicons are a little 16 by 16 pixel picture that you can tie to a web site. That doesn’t sound like much but it is a powerful tool for branding purposes. Here are three of the reasons why that came to my mind first.

One: Favicons make the browser part of your page. One of the biggest limitations of working on the web is the nature of the browser. No matter what kind of experience you’re trying to present to your visitors, it has to be accomplished within the confines of the browser. It’s not your giving them this wonderful free entertainment, it’s IE, or Chrome or whatever they use. A favicon lets you claim just a little bit of the browser as yours, and present a more unified comic delivery format.

Two: Favicons brand your page, even when readers aren’t there. In most browsers, the favicon also becomes he image next to the link name in the links list. This means every time a user who has book marked your page scrolls through their links, they’re going to get a more impactful reminder of your site if there is a unique image that you created rather than the blank page icon.

Three: Favicons let you flex your best muscle, your creativity. Most people would say that you can’t do much with the small size constraints that a favicon gives you. But web comics creators aren’t most people. Web comics creators do more creative things on their way to the bathroom than most people do all day. Take those 16 by 16 pixels and you make them do thing most people never thought possible, do you hear me?!?

I know this whole article is a little hypocritical since we are a web site and we lack a favicon. Knowing how useful they can be, I keep telling myself to make one, but now that I’ve called myself out on it, it would be a little lame. So if anyone out there (and yes Midnight, you count as out there) wants to get me a cool, DS themed 16 by 16 image, I’ll do what I can to insert it.

That’s a lot more than I thought I’d be able to write about a tiny picture, 600 words in fact. See what you can do kids, when you put your mind to it!

Sean Kleefeld has a very good, very thoughtful post on the Zuda interface and its faults. It comes down to a couple of basic philosophical questions that the Zuda folks chose the wrong answers to: Their webcomic model pulls people in, rather than pushing content to viewers (as, say, an RSS feed or an embeddable video does), and many of the things users like to do, such as share content or link to a particular page, are blocked by the viewer. I’ll add another complaint: When I write about a Zuda comic, it’s hard to show samples of the art because I can’t pull it out of the comic. Sarah Jaffe adds some thoughts of her own at Blog@Newsarama.

Ada Price talks to creators and editors about webcomics that go to print at Publishers Weekly Comics Week.

Girlamatic has a new podcast to go with the site relaunch, and episode 2 includes interviews with creators of their two new webcomics, Lisa Gilbert and Terry Blauer of Godseeker and Monique McNaughton of The Continentals. It is hosted by webcomicker Lynn Lau.

Brad Guigar has some suggestions for making the most of this month at Webcomics.com.

CBR has a preview of the Spider-Woman motion comic. Meanwhile, Johanna Draper Carlson notes that Eagle One is also doing motion comics, these ones based on comics based on an anime and a video game. So the circle is completed.

New comic recommendation: The Watson’s, a slice-of-life one-page gag comic with nice, tight art and slightly offbeat humor. Only four strips up so far, but it’s looking good. That apostrophe seems misplaced, though. (Via Fleen.)

The Archie folks announce that Archie Freshman Year #1 is the most downloaded comic on iTunes. As I observed at Robot 6 a while ago, it’s a nice comic that actually reads better on the iTunes screen than on paper. Still, Johanna Draper Carlson questions where they get those stats and how accurate they are. I don’t care, I just love the graphic that the Archie people came up with to celebrate, especially because there is no sign of an iPhone anywhere.

iVerse has launched its own comics app, the iVerse Comics app for iPhone/iPod Touch. Like comiXology, which launched a few weeks ago, it features an in-app store through which you can buy the comics, as well as features for organizing your collection. The cost is 99 cents, but that gets you 30 free comics.

Yaoi Press publisher Yamila Abraham has an interesting account of an avid customer who bought a Kindle to read her yaoi on. The problem? The customer is in Australia, and the Kindle doesn’t work there. Of course, this is a problem that is easily solved if you have friends overseas, but it raises some interesting issues, including the question of whether markets are being left untapped because of the regional restrictions.

Reviewer L. takes a look at the Kindle version of the Maximum Ride manga at The Book Bark!

Order of the Stick is back. It was only gone for month while creator Rich Burlew took a break to “recharge his batteries” Since we’ve gotten two excellent installments from him in as many days, I’ll say the wait has been worth it.

I tweeted about this earlier but I felt it deserved it’s own post for several reasons. One is Order of the Stick was one of the first Web comics I ever started reading when I discovered the medium six years ago and has remained one of my favorites for the whole time.

The second reason I wanted to push Jason’s Midnight’s last post off the front page, so that all Internet will know what a lazy fartknocker weiner he is (I don’t know how long I’ve been wanted to use the word fartknocker in a post, but it sure feels good).

Finally, I mention it because today’s strip leads into something that I really want to talk about. One of the reason Burlew has had the success he has is that he truly knows how to walk the line between new and old fans. Let me paint the picture for you. Order of the Stick has been around a long time. A really long time be Web comics standards. It’s 674 (as of today) strips long. And these aren’t gag-a-day strips. These are full pages that tell one continuous story.

One.

Continuous.

Story.

A lot has happened in this strip. Pretty much all of it has been good. But that means nothing to the new comer. A archive coming up on 700 strips looks really intimidating to some one who hasn’t already read through it a dozen times.

Still just about every strip that he’s put up has been one that I could show to someone who doesn’t read it without fear of them not enjoying it. They may not understand who these people are and why they’re fighting green-skinned ninjas but they get at least one of the jokes in the page and that makes them willing to read another, and then another and then another until one day they have a goldfish named Belkar. And it works. I know of at least two people who have started reading OotS because of a random link that I sent them.

There are a lot of long form story comics that don’t do this. Granted they usually have a lot fewer panels per page and therefore has less of a chance to do this sort of thing. But still, all it takes is a clever bit of dialog and you’ll be fine.

In an ideal world every page would have something for the new reader. A funny line, a cool turn of phrase, a panty-shot. Something. Anything, really, that will make my reading you most recent page an enjoyable experience. If have fun reading a random page, there is a much, much higher chance that I’ll hit that all important first button, and give your comic the chance it deserves.

That’s my rant for today. If you have any other examples of comics that do this well, ones that fail at it miserable or anything else you feel like saying, please use the comments section below. That’s what it’s there for.

Wizard interviews three webcomics creators—Scott Kurtz of PvP, Chris Onstad of Achewood, and Lora Innes of The Dreamer—and talks some serious nuts and bolts: What’s your traffic, how much do you pay for hosting, how do you build your site, and what do you use to draw the comic?

Apparently not everyone shares my aversion to scrolling; Von Allan did a poll and found that 80% of respondents weren’t bothered by it at all. I guess I’m in the minority.

And here’s a big-picture piece by Jake Forbes: Four Challenges for Digital Comics to Overcome. Forbes is a veteran comics editor whose credits include the best-selling comic Fruits Basket. (Yes, it’s manga, but the top manga outsell most other comics.) Anyway, upon reflection Jake comes up with a more concise list; both are worth a look.

The Monsters of Webcomics show is up at the Museum of Cartoon Art in San Francisco, and the local media is on the case with both the San Francisco Chronicle and SF Station filing reports this week.

Lori Henderson reviews the online manga anthology SIGIKKI. Speaking of which, in this article, Japanese publishers basically admit that they can’t do much about scanlations, illegally posted fan translations of manga, through legal means, so they are fighting back by putting their manga up on the web themselves. It’s so crazy it just might work!

Alex Dueben talks to Jonathan Rosenberg about Infinite Typewriters, the print edition of Goats, at Comic Book Resources.

Delos reviews >Will Write for Chocolate, a charming little webcomic by writer Debbie Ohi.