Oh, YEAH
New Little Dee book! Woo hoo!
Time to clear the mailbag — first of all, appologies to Mitch Clem for missing a time-sensitive piece of news. Make him feel better by checking out his webcomic, if you don’t regularly.
Next up, Wes Molebash of You’ll Have That fame is dippin’ a toe into the wearable merch pool.
Alert reader Dave Martin wanted us to know that Mike Witmer of 44 Union Avenue (also on GoComics) has started a new webcomic called Pinkerton. Dave tells us So far it’s a lot of fun… which is good enough for me. I love things that are fun.
[Quick note for any that clicked the GoComics links above — you’re likely to see a large banner for For Better Or For Worse, and should be aware that today is the start of the End Times for FOOB (with bonus points to Comics Curmudgeon fill-in Uncle Lumpy for the term Fööberdämmerung).]
Speaking of the Comics Curmudgeon (an entirely worthwhile daily read), somebody using that name (but not Josh Fruhlinger, the real Comics Curmudgeon) wrote the following:
Here’s some topics: How about Dinosaur comics [sic] sucking ridiculously lately? Is it just me or has it turned into nothing more than glorified chat transcripts? I mean if I see a dinosaur saying “dude” one more time I think I might… I think I might die.
And I love Ryan North, and I know he’s done a lot for the community. I also love Dino comics. But sometimes, when your old dog gets sick, you have to put it to rest, you know? I think Dino comics [sic] has probably reached that point.
Also, what’s with Ben Shur and iamarocketbuilder.com lately? Has there been any mention of that here? I really like what he’s done. I hope he continues. He’s kind of right, too. I mean— has Ryan North kept Dinosaur Comics on longer than he should’ve because it’s his bread and butter? Probably!
Dear Mr Not Really The Comics Curmudgeon: As tempting it is to say It’s just you, there is no correct answer to that question. Every strip is a matter of taste, and any collection of fans will disagree about the ups and downs of a particular strip (hell, even The Great Outdoor Fight has detractors). For myself, I don’t see a decline in the quality of Dinosaur Comics, and as awesome as that I Am A Rocket Builder page is, I don’t see that it’s directed solely at Ryan North.
Finally, for those not listening to the new Webcomics Weekly podcast (with ScottKrisDaveandBrad), it’s damn good. If you make a comic, listen especially for the Tips and Tricks section that has so far been kicking in about 30 — 35 minutes into the show. The discussion about hand-lettering vs. computer fonts was worth the price of admission by itself.
Haha, what? Dinosaur Comics is pretty much as awesome as ever. And dinosaurs have been saying “dude” in the comic since 2003 (according to a quick ONR search).
Also there’s pretty much no reason to connect B. Shur’s thing with DC at all?
By Miles on 09.03.07 4:47 pm
Brad’s “I am a Financial Builder” page isn’t a direct jab at Project Wonderful or Ryan North. As far as I know he just made a page full of art using nothing but ads. I think it’s really funny stuff, and isn’t merely some criticism of how “things should be” in the comic world. Of course, though I’ve known the guy for a while, I could be completely wrong. He is mysterious.
By DresdenCodak on 09.03.07 4:53 pm
There is only one way to settle this between the three…
Knife fight at dawn. With guns.
By Autsa on 09.03.07 5:37 pm
As much as I’d like to establish a solid link between I am a Financial Builder and Dinosaur Comics, it’s not like there is any reason for anyone to believe that B. Shur is pointing his finger directly at Ryan North. I just thought it was an interesting parallel.
But I don’t know if you could really say that Commerce Comics came out of anything besides a critique of the (web)comics world- whatever Shur has to say on the subject. It’s pretty obvious what inspired it! Though it is a light-hearted take that’s not pointing fingers, he’s definitely pointing at something.
As for Dinosaur Comics– well, you can believe whatever you want to believe. But in my opinion something that was once as tight as a math problem has, over time, turned super loosey-goosey. The creativity is gone too, though it might still be funny, because North is funny. I guess I just might’ve liked him better when he had something to prove.
By Not Really the Comics Curmudgeon on 09.04.07 1:25 pm
I’m just on a kick of formal experiment. I’m trying (a bit slowly) to make webcomics that can only exist on the web to explore the potential of the media.
I liked that PW and Google ads already add content to comic pages beyond the creators intentions and I wanted to play with that. I thought my own silly internal debate about commerce and comics would be a really appropriate text to work with.
I read Dino comics pretty regularly and I am actually shocked at the way he manages to keep such a limited form interesting for so long.
Also, the apparel in the comic is all for sale, just click.
By B. Shur on 09.20.07 1:04 pm
The above comments are owned by whoever posted them. The staff of Fleen are not responsible for them in any way.