From Pictures to Prose

Webcomic authors are creative people – who can’t always be constrained by the number of words one can fit into a comic panel.

Although Lord knows the constraints haven’t stopped a creator or two from time to time (Rich Burlew, Order of the Stick #282)

As they grate to narrate, more than one webcomic artist has dabbled in the time-honoured practice of the novel – not only for collections of their comics, but for fully-fleshed works of fiction or non-fiction that either tie into their webcomics worlds, or even stand fully apart. Today, we’re going to look at a few webcomic writers who’ve crossed the comic page’s gutters and tested the idiom that a picture is worth… well, you get it!

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SMBC Theater Proves The Internet Is An Awesome Place To Be, Fully Funded Kickstarter Project Is A Go

But you know what’s not awesome about the Internet? Fleen. But it is Fleen we have to thank for news that the Kickstarter project for SMBC Theater Goes To SPACE! has not only achieved funding five times over for the upcoming webseries, but celebrated doing so by putting the entire first DVD’s worth of content up on YouTube for everyone to enjoy, cheapskate and gracious contributor alike.

If only Congress could work together on this level and get something done, we wouldn’t have to rely on geniuses like Weiner and his crew to lampoon political snafus like that and…

Wait, on second thought… Congress! Keep on screwin’ that pooch!

Slackers Rewarded, Exchange High-Fives; Gary Tyrrell (Fleen)

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Digital Strips Episode 232 – Review – RatFist w/ Guest Co-Host Lucas Turnbloom

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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Digital Strips Episode 231 – Review – Yellow Peril w/ Guest Co-Host Rosscott

Co-Host Month rolls on in Steve’s absence with a creator I’ve actually met, face-to-face, mano a mano. Rosscott is responsible for those hilarious play-on-word strips you’ve seen over at The System, featuring characters that hail from such renowned places as The Door to the Bathroom and Just Outside the Bathroom.

As I found out in our first interview segment, he also helped create the growing comics phenomenon known as Super Art Fight (13:50). Part pro wrestling (sports entertainment?), part artist’s studio, this battle sounds intense, hilarious, and most of all, ridiculously fun. Head over to SAF’s YouTube page for just a small taste of the raucous, inventive experience that awaits you.

With SAF at his disposal, Rosscott has encountered many names in the world of comics, making the list of name drops in that first segment quite long, but entirely worth mentioning:

Things take a turn for the dirty, but in name only, as we break with The Missionary Position’s “The Big Sleep” (21:00). In the second review segment, we take a look at a comic that Rosscott himself brought to our attention:

This comic plays exaggeration into the genre of journal comics pretty well and creates an atmosphere that is instantly familiar to all Northeastern dwellers and graphic designers alike. To the rest of us, it’s just a humorous, fun romp through what may or may not be a true person’s story. Either way, I enjoyed getting to know Kane (pronounced kah-nay, so you know he’s not a girl, apparently) and the gang and I think you will, too. Another comic mentioned in our critique:

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