This is our first episode of GOOD PULL, where we take time to find some quick hits of things that might have missed your attention otherwise. Steve recalls Kochab, hypes up Dwarf Fortress comic, Losing is Fun, and introduces everyone to Ramshackle. Jason recommends Hannah Templer’s GLOW work, updates us on the latest Patrik the Vampire pages, takes a trip to Lake Gary, and posits a theory about Penny Arcade‘s artwork. Catch it all!
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In our celebration around the show’s 500th episode, we looked back at some of the Digital Strips interview Alumni – people who, since their appearance on the show, had gone on to either great webcomics success, or [INDEFINITE HIATUS].
Today, we’re going to have another look back on some of the names and personalities that have graced the Digital Strips airwaves in times past, and examining what these creators are up to today. Continue reading
Ripped from the headlines or too absurd and surreal to be believable? That’s the crux of the argument against, and for, the comic, Warm Blood. It’s ambitious in the way it trades illustrators with each changing scene, and it certainly has a mystery that is worth delving into. Will it pay off? See if you stick with it long enough to find out! Also, Steve’s unquenchable thirst for all things dank and scaly takes him to Acquisitions Incorporated. He loves the vibe and stories and thinks you will, too. Join us and Make Your Movement!
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Jason personally gets to know Oops I Drew This, Steve wakes us up with the delightful 4 AM Shower, and a discussion about Penny Arcade’s latest target provides a frivolously heated moment between our two best webcomics buddies.
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We’ve spent the last few weeks getting to know a little more about the Dungeons and Dragons franchise. Its beginnings, the way its popularity and infamy grew in western culture, and the influence it had on a selection of creators in both the fiction-writing and webcomic worlds. For the finale of this series we’re bringing it back to webcomics in a big way, by pulling together a thematic overview of webcomics based on the property itself, and seeing where these influences are present in action. Continue reading
Swear to me! … that you’ll listen to this Bat-tastic episode! Jason runs down his brief time with Arkham Knight while Steve grapples with the concept of a grapnel. After a brief break, it’s nothing but webcomics, webcomics, webcomics! The guys chat about Sharksplode, Table Titans, The Brothers Chapman, Penny Arcade, and Reptilis Rex. Plus, stay tuned after the outro for a well-produced mix of idiocy.
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The good thing about doing only largely positive critiques is that our address book is full to bursting with names of enormously talented creators who are extremely eager to chat about the world of comics on the Internet. This week, I dialed up Lucas Turnbloom, the man who has crafted memorable, whimsical characters for Imagine This and 4G. And, according to our chat, it sounds like he has at least approximately 32, 458 more ideas bouncing around in his head.
… nope, make that 32, 459.
But before we explore these ideas, there are some news items, some Herdy Gerdy, if you will (and you will, at least until Steve gets back and tells me we can’t). Among the news items I’m cleaning up:
Once the business side is tended to, I take a few moments to ask Lucas about his beginnings in the biz, as well as his take on the convention-going side of being a responsible, responsive comics creator. We also delve into the divide between the new guard and the old, the differences that separate traditional creators from those who more readily embrace change and go with the Interflow. Sadly, we stop just short of solving the whole crisis. Ah well, maybe next time.
During our chat, we mention the following comics:
Leading us between segments is none other than Lucas’ own brother, whose band, Mrs. Magician, has a new 7″ dropping on March 1. This song, “The Spells” (31:28), is one of two songs on that record, so enjoy it more than once and stop by the band’s site to pre-order your copy to have forever and ever.
On the other side, Lucas and I peek into the shallow but rich waters of a comic that has blown up across the Web these last few weeks:
Also mentioned:
Like Molly and the Bear before it, this comic comes to us from one of the aforementioned old guard, or at least, older guard, a man whose portfolio more than speaks for itself. With credentials this solid, it’s hard to really critique the work before us, but with coloring this horrid and a story this agonizingly trite, you have to say something.
No, not really. This is a great start to yet another exciting comic, and it’s on the web, so it’s free! You can’t ask for more than that, but we’re also throwing in some conversation about that very comic, also, for free. All because we love our Digital Strippers.
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To welcome me back from my mini summer vacation (the first of many!), we have a delicious trifecta of tweets to start off the middle of the week. First up, my favorite embittered heroine, Wonderella, states her position on the whole Wonder Woman redesign kerfuffle that kicked off the week:
wonderella I don’t care what the other superheroes are doing. I will not be wearing a jean jacket. That is all. 23 minutes ago via Echofon
This is what happens when straight men design women’s attire
Next up, a tubular two-fer from Tycho, one half of the Penny Arcade machine. First, he gives a shout out to the fellas that ran the Mario Marathon over this past weekend, a noble effort to play as many Mario games in a short period of time, all for the purpose of raising money for PA’s Child’s Play charity. Judging from this tweet, it looks like they did a pretty good job:
TychoBrahe The Mario Marathon pulled in almost eighty-two thousand dolla? Nice work, fellas. http://bit.ly/9yOAF 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck
Finally, just a quick ponderance about the new iPhone 4 and its ability to let you see the person you’re calling. ChatRoulette may have just found a new competitor… :
TychoBrahe Apple has a service where you can call them and test out FaceTime on your new iPhone. I wonder how many peepees those people see in a day. 25 minutes ago via TweetDeck