You know who is more self-contrasting than anybody else in webcomickry? Josh Lesnick. On the one hand, he works mightily to keep the adult side of webcomics economically viable for creators (perhaps putting so much effort to the advantage of his associates that he neglects the success of his own works), struggling against things PayPal and credit-card processing policies that shy away from anything even vaguely hinting at naughty bits.

On the other hand, his loose, scribbly style is made for the absolutely cutest, most innocence-projecting images possible, without quite slipping over the line into diabetes-inducing treacle. Good samples of both sides of Lesnick’s work can be seen at Pink Snow Bunny [sometimes NSFW, but so very cute; also: moustaches].

And now, the full cute potential has been unleashed in tribute to his fellow creators. Ladies and gentlemen: Josh Lesnick presents Webcomic Pony Party. It’s mare-velous.¹

• It took me eight “turns” to get through the latest Dresden Codak, with a couple of free rolls thrown in for good measure. I’m only now realizing that Latin Heart-throb Aaron Diaz may have meant me to use something other than a six-sided die. I’m pretty sure I have some other geometric solids around here somewhere.
• One of the better webcomics to hit in the past year has been Odori Park; while it doesn’t feature axes or the cops that love them, it conveys a pretty strong sense of creator Chris Watkins’ life and experiences … heart, if you will. With a first anniversary coming up, Watkins has a call for guest strips out. Anybody interested, deadline is Monday.
• Almost missed it: Weregeek‘s second book is up for pre-order until tomorrow, and if you’re going to be at EmCity, creator Alina Pete will be there with copies in hand. Lots of other creators there too, with lots of new and con-specific goodies. Those in the great Pacific Northwest, let us know how it goes.

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¹ I’m so, so sorry.

ROFLCon II (30 April & 1 May, at MIT; that’s my anniversary weekend, so I think I’m gonna have to miss it) now has an official shirt. Oh, but it is glorious. Obviously the work of the very sexy R Stevens, riffing on Antonia Neshev’s now-ubiquitous design, and printed by the same design shop that did the original, so no concerns about anybody ripping off anybody. Hooray!

• As I mentioned back in the autumn of last year, xkcd volume 0 was chock-full of puzzles that I intended to let other people solve. And solve them they have, at long last.

  As I suspected at the time, the puzzles scattered throughout the book were smaller components of a larger puzzle, and the final pieces were put together yesterday by xkcd forum member aspragg, who announced the solution to the meta-puzzle (needless to say, spoilers ahoy). Word of the solution will no doubt spread like wildfire, but if you don’t want to know, don’t read the footnote.¹

  In the meantime, it’s still up in the air whether the Dinosaur Comics cipher from last week will take as long or longer to solve.

• In other news, looks like James Kochalka will have his videogame. The Kickstarter campaign for Glorkian Warrior has reached its goal with 13 days to go; in Kochalka’s words, Any pledges beyond our goal will help make the game even better!, so if you were planning on kicking in a couple bucks, you still have time.

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¹ Solution proposed: (more…)

For those that enjoyed the Jess Fink covers yesterday, we’ve got more eyecandy for you today (this time from Hurricane Erika), along with some process porn. Is it weird that I, who creates no visual art, cannot get enough of this image-building? Anyway, it all builds up to a tentacle-rich conclusion, and should be available in time for TCAF.

• Okay, not exactly webcomics, but I’ma go with it anyway. Andrew Farago, the oft-mentioned on this page curator of the Cartoon Arts Museum and champion of [web]comics in general, wants to raise some money for the museum and is willing to put his pride on the line to do so:
  

  In honor of the Cartoon Art Museum’s current exhibition, Batman: Yesterday and Tomorrow, CAM Curator Andrew Farago is turning back the clock to 1989. Or, to be more specific, he’s turning his head back to 1989. If the Cartoon Art Museum receives $5,000 in donations between now and the evening of April 2, Farago will shave the famed Bat-Symbol into his hair at the Museum’s annual WonderCon weekend fundraising party, just as many Bat-Fans did in the months leading up to the release of Warner Bros.’ 1989 Batman film.

  “My mother thought it was a bad idea 21 years ago, and I’m sure she’d still think it’s a bad idea today. I’ve had plenty of bad haircuts before, but this is the first one I’ll be getting for a good cause,” said Farago.

  Not mentioned in the press release is the reaction of Farago’s wife, who will likely find the prospect of a Bat-Head husband to be either irredeemably stupid or rad beyond all measuring; I’m betting on the latter, actually. Donations can be made through CAM’s website, Facebook pages, tinyurl, or by mail to the Cartoon Art Museum at 655 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 (please indicate “Bat-haircut” in the subject line, and don’t forget to deduct it from next year’s taxes).

• So we’re less than a month until the Jesus Pad completely changes comics (both print and web varieties) or doesn’t. In the meantime, I have to believe that those that might be most impacted are publishers currently trying to distribute for-pay material electronically, but not going through any of the mega storefronts to do so.

  Case in point: iPulpFiction.com, distributing some fairly big name authors, at really low price points, what appears to be be online-only material. At least, their new graphic novel, The Cobweb Dective Club is described specifically as “an online graphic novel”, and I can’t find any references to eventual dead-tree versions (while they’re advertising the iPad as a viewing platform, near as I can tell, they maintain their own payment system).

  General question for all of you early adopters — if you buy an iPad and oh look, no iPhone tethering to avoid having to purchase a second data plan — are you likely to then also pay to third parties, or will the ongoing costs drive you more toward free content? I’m trying to get a sense of what you’re willing to purchase.

• Quick reminder: Danielle Corsetto signing in Dallas tomorrow; details here.

Let’s just right to it, shall we?

• Jess Fink gave us a treat on Saturday: the covers for her two forthcoming (i.e.: this summer) books from Top Shelf: We Can Fix It (a memoir of Fink’s time-travel exploits) and Chester 5000 XYV (hot, hot Victorian robo-erotica) (warning: contains wang, both organic and robotic). I love both of those pieces, but the Chester cover just might be my new favorite thing ever. How Fink can do something so sexily charged and yet balance against a certain demureness, I’ll never know.
• There’s a couple of major centers for cartooning scholarship in this country: SVA, of course, CCS and SCAD are fast establishing themselves, and CAM is the public face. But for good old-fashioned throw yourself into the collection stacks archivery, you really have to go with Ohio State University’s Bily Ireland Cartoon Libary & Museum, which is undoutedly the premier collection of comics in the country, with maybe only the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée to rival the depth and breadth of its collection. The entire stack of original BONE pages is just one of the treasures that OSU has.

  Every three years, they have a festival and academic conference on cartooning; the tenth one will be in October, and there’s some interesting names on the presenter list: Matt Groening, Roz Chast (the best and most prolific New Yorker cartoonist since Charles Addams), Gene Yang, and some guy named Kellett. Kellett’s particularly an interesting choice because he plans to speak in response to a speech at the same event 21 years ago by some guy named Watterson. As Kellett puts it:

  At the 1989 Festival, Watterson spoke of the incredible potency in comic strip cartooning: This rarest of arts that let one artist, one voice, speak to millions. This artform that lets the personal outlook shine through, where so many other mass media arts do so by committee.

  I want to speak to his concerns about the space allotted comic strips in newspapers; about zombie comic strips still being drawn long after their original creator had died; about why so many features have stale, interchangeable voices; or why so many are merely advertisements for dolls and greeting cards; or why comic strips in general have been on this slow, downward trend of diminishment in American life for the past 20-30 years

  Because basically, I’m going to talk about this incredible change of fortune for the comic strip. I’m going to talk about Webcomics.

  Note to self: see if the limited seating at the festival includes press access or not.

• The hottest writer in webcomics is now six: Happy Birthday to Malachai Nicolle.
• The donation drive to benefit Cheyenne Wright is underway here. From Phil Foglio:
  

  Originally it was feared that he had congestive heart failure, which was surprising, as he is in his thirties and a quasi-vegetarian. It has since been disclosed that there is a fucking virus (Coxsackie B virus) that can cause it, and you don’t even have to eat 2 pounds of bacon every day. He is doing better, but can only taste lemons, and is under the illusion that he has a pet squid named ‘Renaldo’. We ascribe this to dosage issues with his medication.

  That’s just what Foglio wants you to think, as I happen to know that he’s prejudiced against squid. All kidding aside, Phil & Kaja Foglio, and everybody that works with them, are stellar people and if you have a few bucks to spare, there are far worse things you could spend it on. How much food and shelter do you need anyway?

• Finally, from Danielle Corsetto, jet-setter extraordinaire, news that the new, previously-unnamed New Jersey comics show now has a name, and a date, and a guest list! Wild Pig Comics II presents Wild Pig Comic-Con, May 15 & 16, in Springfield, New Jersey, complete with Ms Corsetto, her partner in infamy, Randy Milholland, David “I did exclamations before Malki” Willis, a stack of other web- and print-comickers, and the latest iteration of Super Art Fight. Total cost to you for all this? FIVE BUCKS. Seriously.

Everybody’s gearing up for Emerald City Comicon, with a more-than-healthy contingent of webcomickers slated to be in attendance. Alice Bentley has done her usual bang-up job compiling a list of said reprobates, with the TopatoCo crüe providing a handy-dandy map of where to find their associated creators.

Speaking of TopatoCo, they’ll be sponsoring a special Live ! performance of Tweet Me Harder ! starring Kris Straub and David Malki ! at the night-before pre-party. Judging from the Dr McNinja book release party in San Diego last summer, TopatoCo know how to throw a serious party.

• Wired weighs in on the nature of webcomics (haven’t found a link at their site, so enjoy a photo instead). Not sure that I get the claim that Octopus Pie tends towards esotericism and Achewood towards accessibility, but what the heck. Jump in and start quibbling.
• Webcomic book review reviews book of webcomic. Recursive film at eleven.
• I need a ruling on awesomitude. Is this more or less awesome than this? Both feature doctors with blades on motorcyles, although one does also feature helicopters, which are known to be severely awesome. Show your work and give examples.
• The second part of the guide to effective Ustreaming (brought to you via the efforts of Rob Tracy, driving force at Webcomics Community, and rumored backup Thunderbird pilot) is now available. All who wish to broadcast their arting, have a gander here.

For those that didn’t see Tim Tylor’s comment in yesterday’s post, there’s an arguably happy ending to the Hot Topic/Kawaii Not dust-up:

About Hot Topic: All Kawaii Not merchandise there is OFFICIAL – and is good news for me and Kawaii Not. Turns out there was a miscommunication issue between me and my licensing company, but that has all been settled. So the bottom line? If you buy Kawaii Not at Hot Topic, you support me and the craziness! Hooray!

Yay for Megan Murphy; I still say that Hot Topic needs to clean its procurement process the hell up.

• It’s specifically for days like this that I don’t require people who make things I like (or people I know personally, for that matter) to get along with each other — I can like them separately just fine. If Gabe & Tycho’s take is that Jesse Thorn is likely a serial killer, I can live with that. Heck, Rene Engström can’t stand Radio Lab (although I don’t think she’d accuse Jad & Robert of having heads in their fridge). I can be the one guy that likes webcomics and public radio, that’s cool. In fairness, Jesse’s take on the PA situation is here.
• Overdue public thanks: the fine people (mostly, Gina Gagliano) at :01 have put me on their review copies distribution list, and I am being presented with more fine graphic novels than I can keep up with. Recurring themes: plucky teen girls, World War II, awesome cover designs by Colleen AF Venable, and a number of webcomics-related artists doing fantastic work. Proper reviews to be worked up.
• Know what just turned five years old? The Daily Grind Ironman Challenge; five years on, and seven webcomickers are still in the running for more than a thousand bucks. Literal updating machines have been out of the running for more than four years, and the last challenger to fall by the wayside did so more than ten months ago. How long can they last? How long can this madness continue?
• As long as we’re acknowledging longevity, congrats to David Malki ! on 600 installments of Wondermark, with one of those optical illusion deals that never works for me. DAMMIT.

Note to self: Park cars at the street end of the long-ass driveway prior to snowstorms. Dumbass. Also, ow my back.

• Box Brown‘s Everything Dies now up for ordering.
• See this? It’s the Blank Label homepage. Once it had a more-than-passing resemblance to the main title screen of The Brady Bunch, with characters from nine different creators there. Then the Halfpixel guys left, and of late Paul Taylor wandered away, and now we find a general jumbling of the roster. Gone: Greg Dean and Howard Taylor. Still there: David Willis and Steve Troop Added: Spike and Kel McDonald.

  I’ve spoken to several of the principals, and they report that this shift in membership is just the way that their respective businesses have developed; no animosity reported, there won’t be throwdowns on the show floor at conventions. Picking up McDonald in the aftermath of the Keenquake seems logical, as does the addition of Spike (given that she’s been a member of Bomb Shelter, Love Shack, and as many as fourteen other collectives, some of which don’t exist yet).

  In fact, the only loser in all of this is me, as I no longer have one convenient page to read so many comics on. I now must click between multiple tabs and subscribe to multiple RSS feeds, which as any reasonable person know, is practically the same as living under a fascist dictatorship. Clicks! On tabs! This does not fit well with my busy lifestyle! Also, I fear change.¹

• Update: Cheyenne Wright is much better than he was previously reported to be. In the words of Kaja Foglio:
  

  [I]t appears that what he has is some weird virus that only imitates the symptoms of congestive heart failure.

  So that’s definitely the good news of the good news/bad news pairing. The bad news would be the costs associated with finding out that Wright’s heart isn’t failing, toward which end the previously-mentioned fundraiser is still on.

• Finally, KC Green threw us a massive update to the Anime Club saga today. How massive? How about 173 panels worth? No permalink yet, but dang that’s good stuff, and now’s the time to get caught up, because it promises in the last panel — To Be Concluded.

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¹ Not really. Congratulations to all involved.

Everybody read the interview by Rick Marshall Will and Holly with Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins over at MTV Splash Page? It’s a good ‘un. I particularly liked this bit:

MTV: While “Penny Arcade” has certainly evolved over time, one thing you’ve never really embraced is a pay model for the comics — something we’re starting to see more of around the webcomic landscape as more publishers move to the digital world. Why have you avoided the subscription model or other types of pay-for-content systems?

HOLKINS: I consider that a political discussion, and we don’t really traffic in politics generally. As somebody who’s followed webcomics as you have, you know how strenuous those arguments about pay become. For us, I would take it a step before that and say that we think a webcomic is a freely available comic.

We think that’s one of the things that defines a webcomic. It can’t just be that it’s on the web — though that’s the term we have and it makes sense. For us, a webcomic is a comic that is freely available, with an author who is a real person, and who is accessible to the consumers of their work. I would say those are tenets that we think are inextricable from webcomics.

KRAHULIK: As soon as you put up a pay barrier, you really limit the number of people who are going to be willing to look at your work. As “Penny Arcade” was growing, I don’t think we were ever in the position where we wanted to limit the number of people who could look at the comic. That always seemed like a bad idea.

A’course, we’re no closer to a single definition of webcomic that everybody will agree upon; my working definition is probably closer to that espoused above than any other I’ve seen, although I’m not sure that I’d make an absolute requirement of freely available. It’s too nice a day (as it rains upon the just and un-just alike) for political discussions, manifestos, and the like. One day we’ll have to have a summit of all interested parties whereupon such things are decided once and for all (until the beer runs out and we instantly fall into squabbling factions full of muderous intent — which is pretty much the same state as before the beer).

• In other news, I got a nice package in the mail from Tom Dell’aringa, who you probably know best from Marooned. This was a minicomic — so mini, in fact, that the envelope was sized such that it could have been mistaken for a tasteful greeting card from a respectable publisher of such. Inside was a copy of Rag The Viking: The Cubicles of Valhalla, the first joint effort between Dellaringa and Steve Ogden, newly released by their nascent WishTales Publishing Studio.

  It’s a clever riff on fantasy that left me not quite sure whether Rag Ragnarsson is indeed a viking trapped in cubicle hell, or merely a guy daydreaming about how much awesomer his ancestors had it. It’s a hoot and a half, and I’m seriously impressed by how much story and character can fit into just sixteen pages. Since RtV:TCoV is listed as the first minicomic from WishTales, I’m looking forward to what others might be coming down the pike. Also whether or not that pike has the head of Rag’s enemy upon it (in the coffee room, over by the artificial sweetener).

• Stray thought for the day: Scott Kurtz notes that Scripps is looking to dump United Media Licensing (the story is a little vague, but it appears the sale does not include the related United Feature Syndicate, but UML definitely includes licensing rights to a bunch of comic strips). Since Kurtz is singlehandedly killing newspapers, it makes sense that Ryan Sohmer suggested that he and Kurtz buy up the corpse (at press time, it has not yet been determined if their aim is revivification or desecration).

  The real punchline here — in another three to five years, the economics might actually make such a thing possible.

Not because of my pants, mind you … because I make a habit of getting out of a nice warm bed in the middle of the night to ride an ambulance for free. This occasionally puts me in the same category of sleep deprivation as my friends who have reproduced themselves, only without the added benefit of having offspring that I could guilt into taking care of me someday. Genius. Anyhoo, I got almost nothing in the way of higher thought processes going today. With any luck, I’ll be more coherent tomorrow. Onwards.

• Photos of a Tiny Kitten Teeth gallery show in Godzone are available for you, as is a new episode of the Frank’n’Becky project; they’ve been a bit busy of late putting together the Tigerbuttah book and dealing with a three-continent migraine as a result (the printer is in Hong Kong, but the books will largely be shipped to the US for easy distribution during their Spring/Summer convention trek/death march). As a bonus, headache-inducing part of the book production appears to be waning, TKT itself is updating again, with a goal of getting the first storyline done before said trek starts. Neat!
• Anybody out there a) got a Kindle, and b) reading comics on it? A search of the term comic at the Kindle store produces 3318 results as of this writing, although how many of those are actually comics, versus books with the word “comic” in the title is anybody’s guess. Second question, is how many of those are expressly designed for the Kindle (or the Nook, or the forthcoming Jesus Pad)? So far, I’ve found one, by a fellow named Mark Goodwell, but I’m certain that there are others. Big question is, will the future presence (and probably, eventual prevalence) of e-readers finally obliterate the division between webcomics and other (let’s restrict to independently-owned, freely-delivered) comics? I’m warning you now, I’m not buying different format e-readers to keep up with the offerings on each platform, but I am interested in your views.
• Received via the contact link, reproduced in its entirety:
  

  Phlip wrote:
  review request! C-:

  http://zeekland.zeroplayer.com/

  Website: http://zeekland.zeroplayer.com/

  Per Phlip’s request, I am reviewing ZeekLand and giving it the requested grade of C-, unless that’s some emoticon that I’ve never seen before. Although I will say that the art in the later installments is quite a bit better than a C- might indicate, and the use of language is vaguely Pogo-esque. Object lesson here, which I have to repeat a couple of times a year: the most bare-bones the communication, the less likely you’re going to get what you want out of it and the more likely I will use you as an object lesson (although, props to Phlip for knowing the Uncle Wiggily stories, as few people these days do).

Hating snow, happy thoughts. Like a Vera Brosgol Alice watercolor — if you can look at this and not smile, you have a heart of stone.

• You know who might be the most subversive webcomicker out there? Francesco “Ces” Marciuliano. Guy writes Sally Forth, an occasionally snarky, but still entirely typical newspaper strip. And he relentlessly mocks the conventions of his own profession in his web strip, Medium Large.

  He’s now been doing so for more than 1000 installments, including a bite-the-hand-that-feeds-him gem (which I can’t find in his archives, curses!) about “the many moods of Sally Forth” (here were repeated head-and-shoulder shots of Sally, with the little dots that form her eyes shifting left and right in an otherwise static image; if anybody can find that beauty, link it in the comments, please). Anybody willing to mock the static conventions of his own field is good by me — here’s to the next 1000 installments.

• One may recall that late last year, the Dallas Art News did a piece on webcomics and famous works of fine art; it was apparently intriguing enough to contine the experiment. Samantha Wikan points to the announcement on the DAN page:
  

  Dallas Art News is starting a webcomic section that will feature a new art-related webcomic each week. We are inviting all established webcomic artists to participate via our Guest Webcomic Artist Program.

  Dallas Art News received the most web traffic for a single post for Special Feature: Webcomics Imitating Art, which featured nineteen talented artists.

  We would like to start the Guest Webcomic Artist Program when Dallas Art News turns one year old in April. If all goes well, we would like to compile all 52 weeks of webcomics into a book.

  Some relevant points to consider:

  • Each guest artist will product 4 or 5 comics, one per week for a designated month
  • You can use your current characters, or create a something totally new
  • It’s got to be related to art somehow
  • Keep it friendly for a general audience (although, y’know, an arty audience, so boobies and even knobbly bits are probably cool if properly classical and/or abstract)
  • DAN gets first dibs on displaying your submissions
  • You keep all rights, and they’re figuring out if they can afford to pay you a little something

  All interested webcomic artists should contact Dallas Art News via the account called comics, which may be found at dallasartnews, which is a dot-com.

• Via Tom Siddell‘s twitter: the first volume of Gunnerkrigg Court 2009 award for Best Graphic Novel for Young Adults from the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards. My only objection: labelling stories as “Young Adult” tends to make actual Adult Adults pass them over, and Gunnerkrigg is some damn fine storytelling regardless of your age. Well done, Mr Siddell.