Links you might have missed

People seem to be making lots of lists lately. Dave White of Blog 7415 lists the webcomics he reads, the ones he has dropped, and the ones that are at the border, while Johanna Draper Carlson accentuates the positive at Comics Worth Reading with some new webcomics worth reading. And this post, 10 Great Webcomics You Should Not Share With Your Kids, from Wired’s GeekDad blog, has been making the rounds a bit but is worth a look if you haven’t seen it already.

At The Floating Lightbulb, Ben Gordon critiques the business model presented in How to Make Webcomics. Then Gary Tyrell critiques the critique at Fleen.

Meanwhile, Sean Kleefeld ponders why one would buy a dead-tree version of a comic that’s online for free.

Blooks are getting to be old hat, but can you really make a book out of a MySpace page? Randy Lander of Comic Pants takes a look at a possible first, the print edition of MySpace Dark Horse Presents.

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Digital Strips 145 – October New Strips

We’re mixing things up again. Digital Strips 145

Here at Digital Strips, our goal has always been to bring to you the 10 percent of Web comics that are good. The problem has been that most strips that have been long enough to build enough of an archive to be reviewable already have a good deal of buzz around them. With this in mind, once a month or so, we’re going to forgo the in depth review and instead give a couple recommendations of strips that have caught our eyes (and therefore are worthy of your eyes as well) but are still too young in Web years to really really be reviewable.

This month we run the gamut in strips from the dark and druggy to the light and birdy. The strips are:

Sparko by Karl Stephan

Head in the Clouds by Niel Pearson and Tim Smith

Skadi By Katie Rice and Luke Cormican

With three strips this different there should be something you like. If not, let us know, we’ll do better next time. Also if anyone has any ideas for future episodes or even a name for this feature, drop us a comment as well. We like comments.

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Standing (Sitting, Actually) In Awe ~OF~ Sinfest

First up, I love RSS feeds. It’s the next generation of opening the Sunday funnies, but funnier, and even more convenient. And you can do it every DAY.

Panel from Sinfest, Copyright 2008 Tatsuya Ishida

Second, I love Sinfest, a proud member of my daily RSS picks. There are many strips in the span of a month that are really poignant looks at different aspects of our society, and today’s full-color update is one of the best.

The strip’s creator, Tatsuya Ishida, has taken the banking industry to task for the better part of this week and the whole thing is capped off with a strip featuring no less than Uncle Moneybags (Monopoly), Scrooge McDuck (DuckTales) and Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons).

Oh, and the whole thing is set to the tune of the Geto Boys’ “Damn It Feels Good To Be a Gangsta” (link to NSFW version, beware!). Enjoy!

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Harvey Awards Announce A Winner ~THAT~ We Already Knew Was Awesome

Comic book awards are typically given, like those of television and film, in an annual manner because they reflect the works of art in those particular genres that were presented in the time span before the awards are… well, awarded.

TheHarvey Award for Best On-Line Comic, however, is up for grabs, regardless of the time in which it was produced. Just started last week? I like what I see, here’s a nomination. Haven’t updated in at least six months? Have a nom. Whipped up a collected edition in book form, but put NOTHING online in the time period prefacing the awards? I think that’s good enough for a Harvey.

And this isn’t bitterness because mine didn’t win, I wasn’t nominated. It’s just that the winner, the Perry Bible Fellowship, while a great comic strip in nearly every aspect of the term, has been lingering in limbo for about the last year while a collected edition was produced by Dark Horse Books. It’s no secret how diverse and hilariously, uproariously funny PBF is, but the category even says it: Best On-Line Comic. Perry Bible Fellowship has been officially on hiatus since February of this year, and therefore, not on-line.

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Baltimore Comic-Con ~HOSTS~ Webcomics Panel ~HOSTED BY~ Scott Kurtz

If you attended the Baltimore Comic-Con this past weekend, you got to enjoy a pretty decent show, or so I’ve heard. And I’m sure you stopped by the webcomics panel, right? Hosted by Scott Kurtz? Consisting of the Halfpixel fellas and Danielle Corsetto (BREAKING NEWS: Corsetto joins Halfpixel, breaks up sausage fest!)?

Well, if you missed it, you have the opportunity to catch up, because CBR has a nicely portioned write-up of the event. Check it here!

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Webcomic Idol 2008 Is ~GO!~ For October 1st

For the third year running, Bomb Shelter Comics presents Webcomic Idol, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola and Nike, is go for an October 1st entry date! Starting this Wednesday, you too can enter your comic in the hopes of being the Logo for Webcomic Idolnext Webcomic Idol!

And the panel of judges is another stellar one, so make sure yours is up to snuff, because they have the most scrutinizing of eyes. This years crop includes:

Wow! Almost wish I could enter again! Get your submission in quickly (deadline is the 15th of October) and stay tuned for more on this exciting contest!

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Digital Strips 144 – Zuda Watch 6

One a very special Zuda watch, we learn a whole lot about Midnight. It turns out he’s a sensitive man who loves his grandmother and vampires. He’s a powerful defender of decency and is not afraid to admit when he is very very wrong. Tune in and we all grow closer together and tear down both emotional walls, and the egos of various Zuda creators.

We also see that Steve doesn’t get dirty names very often. Like at all. Even the obvious ones.

Show 144

Strips mentions in this show (let me know if I missed any)

The Pet Professional

Wonderella

Rex Libris (not a web comic but still awesome)

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Sunday (Monday) Sitdown ~WITH~ Zach Weiner

Anyone else remember the circa-1990’s Nickelodeon show, Weinerville? Whenever I hear or write Zach Weiner’s name, it reminds of that zany cast of puppets with their real life host/friend, Marc Weiner.

Zach had nothing to do with that show (that I know of), but he does keep the zaniness coming with his recently DS-reviewed strip, Captain Excelsior. This weekly look into the lives of a family of superheroes (and one not so super son, I’m looking at you, Not-Ward) is one of the best comics out there today, and certainly the best at lampooning the superhero genre.

Due to the immensity of my enjoyment with the Captain, I shot Zach a few questions about the strip to try and dig a bit deeper into the mind of this comic genius.

Digital Strips: What comic/webcomic did you first read that got you into them?

Zach Weiner: Probably Penny Arcade or Goats. There wasn’t a lot out there back in the late 90s, but those were both comics that were already pretty good by then.

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Digital Strips 143 – Review: The Robot is Sad

Sad Robots. Sad Dinosaurs. Sad Stick Figures. We haven’t review this much sad black and white stuff since Pictures for Sad Children. This show takes on The Robot is Sad by Tam Nguyen of The Daily Cougar. Beyond the nature of this strip we get into a bit about what works on the Web, what works better in a newspaper and where this particular strip falls. Good times are had all around.

DS 143 Review: The Robot is Sad

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