Bellen!
I’ve had a short list of webcomics that I’ve been meaning to write about, taking into account general suggestions from a few columns back about trying to…well, not pre-write columns, exactly, but have ideas at the ready. Part of what I enjoy about this column is that it’s more or less what strikes me at the time. I have a few longer things I’m thinking about, still, like syndication and reading preferences (online, offline, both, whatever), and puzzling through why one of the webcomics I really like isn’t quite so appealing in print form (this admission feels tantamount to heresy, I think, which is why I’m delaying on writing that piece).
Anyway, the latest webcomic I’ve been meaning to write about for a while, is Bellen! by Box Brown. He gave me a wee print version of some of his strips at MoCCA, and I’ve enjoyed reading it. It’s a really different kind of reading, though, than the comics online–for starters, the print version is significantly smaller as well as not in color–and it’s complicating some of the ways I’m thinking about work that’s both online and off (which I enjoy).
It’s partially the use of color that I find entrancing, but also the ways in which the characters relate to the world, where it doesn’t take itself too seriously but it also doesn’t feel too glib. HIs bio’s pretty basic: “Brian Michael Brown is affectionately known as box brown to his friends and allies. He draws a comic about a couple.”
He draws more, of course, which you can see on his blog. But I was hoping–since I know he sometimes reads this column–he’d be willing to comment a bit below with more information about the strip. How did it start…?
Ha! Anne, I love talking about myself! Bellen! started about a year ago and looked totally different. I was thinking about a cute conversation I wanted to have with a pretty blonde girl that was just boldly honest (something I could never have done at the time) and then how I would want her to react. And, the whole layout kind just drew itself and fit pretty well. I’ve since altered the layout drastically and the comic took a lot turns and changes for better or worse. It’s mostly been a learning experience. It’s at point now where I feel free enough to have a lot of versatility and not feel tied down, but also has some framework. So, now I basically take whatever I feel like writing about and hammer it into Ben and Ellen’s world. Sometimes it hits and sometimes it misses. I’d like to think it works at least 51% of the time.
By Box Brown on 07.19.07 12:25 pm
[…] Anne Thalheimer was entranced by Bellen!: It’s partially the use of color that I find entrancing, but also the ways in which the characters relate to the world, where it doesn’t take itself too seriously but it also doesn’t feel too glib. … read more […]
By TalkAboutComics Blog » Webcomic Review Roundup 07/19/2007 on 07.19.07 2:12 pm
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