Tag Archives: mortal kombat

Digital Strips Podcast 242 – Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I’ll Maim You Tomorrow (Review – Spacetrawler)

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If there is one thing that makes for good broadcasting, it’s heated debate. Disagreements, hotly-contested opinions, fact vs. fiction, this kind of stuff is what we, as primal beings, crave in our entertainment. How else could the reality TV genre survive, nay, flourish, for all these years? Well, we’ve got just that for you in our third (that’s right, third) segment when we review Spacetrawler by Christopher Baldwin.

But first up, there’s news in the second segment!

Ok, so there really is no news to speak of, but we chat briefly about Mortal Kombat (if it’s not spelled with a kapital K, you’re just doing it wrong) in the first segment and then use one news morsel to springboard into a possible topic after the first break, provided by the fine folks at Overclocked Remix.

Are regular, planned breaks in an online-distributed comic cool so long as they come at a natural, bookended stopping point? Or should the online work continue flowing, never ceasing? Let your voices be known, via email, the comments (below), Twitter, or Facebook! We value all thoughts, social media-driven or no. During this discussion, we mention some key players with this thought in mind:

Leading us into the middle of the fracas is a delightful, inappropriately mellow tune from yet another talented artist found at FreeMusicArchive.org.

Alright, here it is, the brawl-to-end-it-all, the knockdown-dragout fight that ensues when two men don’t quite see eye-to-eye on a matter. That matter is the awesomeness that is Spacetrawler. Are its characters underdeveloped and suffering from a lack of investment, as Steve claims? Or are they the best ensemble put together since Danny Ocean first said, “Hey, guys, lets steal something huge to piss off a rich douche who’s doing my wife”, as Jason posits? Regardless, the end result proves we’re both lovers, not fighters (not like that).

Helping us out are a few comics that inspire and influence Spacetrawler, as well as a variety of other works, in various ways:

Join in the conversation and let us know where your allegiance lies! Is Spacetrawler a great comic? Or, is Spacetrawler the greatest comic?

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Tweet Thread of the Day ~FOR~ Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

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Time for a new regular feature for the site, and since The Geek has deemed me Master of Tweets for Digital Strips, I shall post daily that which tickles my fancy, straight from the free realm that is the Twitterverse. I kick this party off with a three-fer, some choice thoughts that seemed to permeate the thin layer between posts to become something larger in the scope of the community.

First up, Scott Kurtz take issue with Marvel’s idea to release a test digital comic book day and date with the print version, but still make the digital customer pay more. I couldn’t agree more with pretty much everything he’s said on the subject, but here’s what kicked it off:

Why Marvel shouldn’t care about what retailers think. http://bit.ly/9aa6Mt about 14 hours ago

You like this comic? Want to save a tree? You’ll need to pay more then, please.

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Next up, nearly everyone on the Internet today (everyone I listen to, anyways) passed around this YouTube link for a possible Mortal Kombat reboot. Too many people to choose from, so I’ll grab a tweet from Paul Southworth, whose backgrounds on Not Invented Here I praised earlier in the day:

Man, this new Mortal Kombat movie looks INTENSE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJHbdmbeaXQ

Upon further review, that would appear to be a joke link from Paul. He does that sometimes. Instead, I will borrow a retweet from him, courtesy of Scott Johnson, host of various excellent podcasts on the Frog Pants Network:

RT @extralife: Good lord. They really are doing this. http://bit.ly/bxrSnt #mortalkombatreborn

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Last but surely not least, Charlie “Spike” Trotman weighs in on the syndicated strip debate (not really a debate any longer, just a continuing thorn) and throws in some tips on how to grow your comic to boot. A lengthy thread, but when this girl gets goin’, it’s best to just sit back and listen:

“Syndicates are There for a Reason.” Oh, Daily Cartoonist. Why can’t I quit you? http://is.gd/cHz1v

Okay okay to be totally fair: Syndicates used to be meaningful, relevant organizations with a purpose. Syndicates got you into papers.

And there was a time when being in papers was a good decision that could eventually lead to a long, professional cartooning career.

BUT the average paper reader is now between 40 and 50. Less than 1/4 of Americans under 35 read a daily paper. The market is shrinking.

Newspapers are in decline. It’s much harder to make a living as a strip cartoonist. Syndicates can’t sell for artists like they used to.

Fiending for syndicate representation these days is like pounding on the door of a building under demolition, begging to be let in.

Cuz it’s been asked: If you want to be a professional cartoonist, 1) Start a webcomic 2) build an audience 3) publish & sell collections.

Don’t make any merch (books, shirts) until your readers ask, assume 1 in 100 will ever buy stuff, work hard, and know it’s not guaranteed.

That is what’s worked for me. Other stuff works, too, but that is what I did.

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Thanks for the wit and wisdom, folks, and all in 140 characters or less!

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