Tag Archives: the system

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

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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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Digital Strips Episode 229 – Horizons Watch – The Adam and Twilight Monk

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Two up, two down! Horizons Watch is at its best when Steve and I pick diametrically opposing forces and pit them one-on-one against each other. Seeing eye-to-eye on matters doesn’t make good podcasting. Now tearing someone’s opinions and preferences to shreds? That makes for a good listen! Of course, we don’t pick crap around here, so both of these comics are good enough to warrant a good discussion and discuss we do.

Before we actually talk about any titles, Scott McCloud blogged recently (2:43) that there are too many great comics coming to the web to keep track of. I simultaneously agree and disagree, Scott.

The first comic we mention is …

Unfortunately, the context we put it in this time around is in terms of delayed updates. Jon took a little time off to see to his affairs and though I want that next SFaM update as soon as I can get it, I’m glad he stepped away to do what needed to be done.

There is nothing that earns my creative respect more than watching a creator take a small cast of characters and really open them up to a larger world, one that can be expanded upon and developed further.

Sinfest is the best online comics example of this that I can think of, even though Steve thought of it first. The storylines are funny, sweet, poignant, and adventurous and the characters exist in a world that feels real, playing off one another in ways that are both hilarious and touching. Truly an inspiration for anyone hoping to take their established creation to the next level.

And it wouldn’t be an episode of Digital Strips if Steve didn’t mention his favorite comic:

I’d say the latest storyline is a can’t-miss, but really, the entire archive is can’t-miss, so go read it and Steve promises to stop mentioning it. Cool? Cool.

A brief mention, but deserving nonetheless:

And at precisely 13:26, Steve admits that my show notes and infinitely superior. This is not the hand of skillful editing talking, it’s just the truth.

Thanks to the Art Boys Collection for their song, “A 1 Freedom Voice Of My Soul” (14:11), which takes us into the second segment, where we enter Thunderdome! Our first competitor:

I really hope this comic sticks around and takes our, and any other criticism, to heart, because there is great potential in this work. It’s visually really rough now, but some polish and technique development could make this an amazing comic. Best of luck, Matt!

Steve’s pick realizes it’s potential from the beginning, even if it’s not my particular cup of tea:

It’s got some fantasy, it’s got a hint of manga, and it’s quite nice to look at. The archive is really shallow but what is here thus far makes this comic one to keep an eye on. Our discussion also brings up The Bean (29:09), as the two share some similarities in terms of style.

Our final mentions come courtesy of the guest hosts I have lined up to assist me in the coming weeks while Steve is in flagrante delicto (that means “out of the country”, right?). They are, in no particular order:

And if you’d like to stick around afterwards, we discuss the comparison between Lady Gaga and Ke$ha, the fact that watching Jeopardy automatically qualifies you for senior benefits, and the why I can’t just seem to let a sleeping segue lie. Enjoy!

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Digital Strips Episode 228 – Book Club: Templar, AZ – 4th Edition

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It’s time again to gather at Daku’s house for another Digital Strips Book Club! I brought lemon squares and my recipe for those Swedish meatballs and I hope you read the assigned pages for this month. We don’t… well, we don’t have too much to say about Chapter 4 because it embodies the antithesis of that classic Elvis tune (a little less action, a little more conversation).

But we kick things off with a team-up effort on the part of Rosscott and Caldy, both so named because they live on the Internet. Their comics? Respectively:

After a mutual friend of theirs was wrongly ripped off, intellectual property style, they decided to collaborate on a comic/flowchart (see als0: here) to determine whether or not you, the average-to-above-average Internet user, are harming the Web with your ability to give credit where credit is due. We debate the effectiveness and necessity to point out these facts to those who don’t seem to care about them in the first place.

Amongst this debate, I’d be remiss if I didn’t correct the first of my many mistakes in giving you the name of the store where you can find the fruits of this labor:

Another online shop destination that offers various shirts for geeks, supposedly (miraculously) devoid of any copyright infringement or IP theft:

Finally, we tardily note the rewarding of the Xeric Grant to Steve LeCoulliard.

His work on Much the Miller’s Son (which we reviewed here) is both old-school and rowdy, never anything less than hilarious and professional. This grant will help him produce Book 3 of his comic and couldn’t be granted to a more deserving cartoonist.

The Toothaches’ “Sisyphus” takes us into our second segment, where we give our thoughts on the fourth chapter of Templar, AZ. I’ll let that conversation speak for itself, but needless to say we hope the comic finds a new drive and purpose in the next chapter.

Regardless of where we end up at the end of this Book Club, I’ll be glad I read this comic for myself, so the opinions I have about it are none but my own. I encourage you to follow along with us and do the same!

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