Tag Archives: xkcd

Why 4-Panel Comics Aren’t Always Dominating Your Screens

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Last week, a great article by Peter Rubin popped up on Wired.com: Why 4-Panel Comics Now Dominate Our Screens. In this examination of ‘What makes a webcomic go viral’, Rubin posits that:

Four-panel strips have been a fixture since early 20th-century newspaper comics like Mutt and Jeff and the concomitant appearance of yonkoma (“four-cell”) manga in Japan. It’s the perfect three-act-structure: You start at one end, develop conflict in the middle two panels, and resolve with a punch line at the end. But thanks to a number of factors—not least of which is the rise of Instagram and Reddit—a gridded, two-by-two variant has come to dominate the internet.

Peter Rubin, wired.com

Whilst Rubin’s article is clearly well-researched and definitely bags the incredible and recent cultural phenomenon which has been the Aliens from Nathan W. Pyle’s Strange Planet (the erstwhile E.T’s were originally planned to feature in this week’s blog post themselves!), I keenly felt Rubin’s omission of the greatest rival to this ‘dominant’ form: The Infinite Canvas.

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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:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Tweet Thread of the Day ~FOR~ Monday, July 12, 2010

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Conversations by big names in the business, especially ones about other, big name comics, are always worth listening in on, and this one featuring Spike, Kate Beaton, and Scott McCloud (yes, that Scott McCloud) is another for the record books. It all starts when Kate mentioned a recent XKCD update (and what class, she even includes the comic link):

beatonna http://xkcd.com/764/ give me a break about 1 hour ago via web

Iron_Spike @beatonna Wow, that kinda sucks a little. about 1 hour ago via web in reply to beatonna

Iron_Spike @beatonna Not a fan of how the very unique cultural quirks of 1 tribe (Piraha of the Amazon) has been generalized to ALL primitive cultures. about 1 hour ago via web in reply to beatonna

@beatonna If our ancestors were a stupid as this cartoon is trying to suggest, we wouldn’t be here. about 1 hour ago via web in reply to beatonna

beatonna @Iron_Spike jeez, I’m sure the internet has already had a field day with it.. What did you study, Spike? You seem keen on a lot of subjects. 45 minutes ago via web in reply to Iron_Spike

Iron_Spike @beatonna I only formally studied fine art. I watch basically nothing but documentaries (and bad reality TV) while I draw by dumb comics. 😀 41 minutes ago via web from Pilsen, Chicago in reply to beatonna

beatonna @Iron_Spike hahaha i see 40 minutes ago via web in reply to Iron_Spike

Iron_Spike @beatonna Also, I live across the street from a library. BOOKS. <3 40 minutes ago via web from Pilsen, Chicago in reply to beatonna

beatonna @Iron_Spike that’s better than my office being next to a nice used book store $$$$ there goes all my money 39 minutes ago via web in reply to Iron_Spike

scottmccloud @Iron_Spike @beatonna I think Monroe was just riffing on the chatter, not endorsing the myth. (Rollover=its-a-joke-people) My guess, anyway. 38 minutes ago via web in reply to Iron_Spike

@Iron_Spike @beatonna In other words, I see where your coming from, but I think there might be an extra level of irony there. 36 minutes ago via web

beatonna @scottmccloud haha Scott, it didn’t escape my notice that it was a joke 34 minutes ago via web in reply to scottmccloud

scottmccloud @beatonna I’m sorry, my phrasing was clumsy. I meant joke regarding the myth as well. 31 minutes ago via web in reply to beatonna

beatonna @scottmccloud aw jeez all my twitter phrasing is clumsy 26 minutes ago via web in reply to scottmccloud

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