Is it just me, or is every improvement accompanied by a disappointment? Let’s get the bad news out of the way and move onto the good after.

• As was linked in a tweet yesterday, from the good folks at TopatoCo:
  

  With regret, we must announce that TopatoCon 2 is canceled. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we are unable to present the convention we hoped for, and we have decided that the best choice is to cancel the event completely.

  We do not make this decision lightly, and rest assured that we are as disappointed as you are. Thank you for your interest in TopatoCon.

  Well, dammit. I was really looking forward to my trip up to *hampton in October, to see the many quality folks who’d be exhibiting, to get into more liquor-based mischief. TopatoCo is a small company — pretty much the epitome of the small business that fuels the economy and which politics fetishizes — as is the Eastworks venue, and the slightest bit of bad luck could make things prohibitively complex and/or expensive for them to carry on with their plans.

  I know for a fact that this would have been a hell of a hard decision, particularly this far into the planning process; we at Fleen thank everybody at TopatoCo and TopatoCon for their considerable work, and if you think a little thing like canceling the show is enough to keep me from driving north that weekend, you’ve got another think coming. I’ll be there, and I’m ready to buy meals/booze for the best damn people in webcomics.

• It’s pretty much a given that new means of communicating will live or die by how easy it is to get porn on them¹. But in the modern world, moral squeamishness on the part of payment processors² and various funding platforms, along with legitimate economic concerns, makes the business of adult content difficult to realize at time. You can produce tasteful, non-harmful, quality erotica material and have no way to distribute it (and no way to get paid even if you can distribute it). Which is why the announcement (as first noted via the always tied-in and porn-savvy Brad Guigar) from Patreon yesterday is pretty damn important:
  

  Patreon’s announcement — in an e-mail to creators — that it will once again be able to offer its users to use Paypal to pledge to NSFW creators is a huge victory for the crowdfunding service. Patreon had to remove Paypal functionality for creators who were offering NSFW content after Paypal threatened to stop all payments to Patreon.
  …
  [A]dult websites face annual fees of upwards of about $500 — as well as higher processing fees — from credit-card processors. They’re considered high-risk merchants. And when Paypal found out there was NSFW content on Patreon, they made the move to classify the crowdfunding service as “high risk.”

  From Patreon:

  After many long discussions we were able to convince PayPal, or more specifically their subsidiary Braintree, that Adult Content creators on Patreon are not a serious risk. Our content policy, and the nature of subscription payments, means that Adult Content creators on Patreon are less risky than most creators making adult content. We also have a very diverse mix of content types, so even if our Adult Content creators are higher risk than other types of creators, Patreon as a whole is less risky.

  We are very happy about this victory, but the payment industry does not provide much transparency around payments for adult content. As a company we are not happy with this lack of transparency since it impacts the livelihoods of Adult Content creators. We will continue to work towards more certainty around these issues, but for now we feel that the benefit of allowing PayPal payments for Adult Content creators outweighs any hypothetical risk that it may change in the future.”

  And those risks are so, so malleable. Don’t tell me that something like TJ and Amal doesn’t get more scrutiny for involving two dudes than something that doesn’t existentially offend would-be child-protectors³ to the same degree.

  For everybody that’s out there trying to make something as literary as Chester 5000 or Smut Peddler, as educational as Oh Joy, Sex Toy, or just something that’s super hot, this is great news. For everybody that wants to read those things and support the creators, it’s even better.

Spam of the day:

Finish Your MBA In Under 2 Years. 100% Online & Accredited. Get Info.?

Assuming that I wanted to spend between one and two years becoming a computer and utter douchebag, why on earth would I click on a link that purports to be on behalf of a company in Chicago, but which offers me the opportunity to unsubscribe by contacting either an address in Samoa or a completely different address in Mississauga, Ontario? Make up your mind, identity thieves.

_______________
¹ Trust me on this, I spent most of a year looking at the evolution of large, distributed, networked systems, and this was the inescapable conclusion. Someday I will dig out and complete my master’s thesis on this topic, when I have no other demands on my time.

² No doubt enhanced by the heavy hand of various political officials. Everybody see how the Republican platform decided yesterday declared porn to be a national health crisis to be stamped out at all costs?

³ Also in that platform? A defense of anti-gay conversion therapy, for fuck’s sake.

Saturday, oh Saturday, the day where hopes go to die in San Diego. Sunday, the day where the light at the end of the tunnel is visible, except for those that have to wait to bring their cars around to the docks for load-out. Before we get to those, let’s make a quick visit to a pair of Fridays.

First, last Friday, C Spike Trotman¹ announced her latest forthcoming publication, this Sarah W Searle is bringing her Sparks from serialization at Filthy Figments {NSFW, depending on your W]. Second, this coming Friday, when Kel McDonald finds out if the second and final Sorcery 101 omnibus funds or not. I’m kind of astonished how many established creators are having trouble making funding on their Kickstarts, and McDonald’s sitting on a projected 97% final funding, so this is literally make or break time.

Okay, onward and conward, and as always, let us know what we overlooked.

Saturday Programming
Once Upon A Time: Teaching Fables, Fairy Tales, And Myths With Comics And Graphic Novels
10:00am — 11:00am, Shiley Special Events, San Diego Central Library
The aforementioned Ms McDonald will be talking about fantastical tales for a library-centric crowd, along with Chris Duffy, Alexis Fajardo, Ben Hatke, and Trina Robbins, with moderator Tracy Edmunds, MA Ed.

Spotlight On Kate Beaton
10:30am — 12:00pm, Room 5AB
This will be my first chance to tell Kate Beaton in person how much my niece loves The Princess And The Pony. Hint: a lot.

Comic Book Law School 303: New Revelations
10:30pm — 12:00pm, 30CDE
Part three, which bee-tee-dubs is qualified for continuing education credits for lawyers. This one’s on complex issues of copyright and trademark.

Spotlight On William Gibson
11:30pm — 12:30pm, Room 24ABC
Appropriate, since we seem to be living in one of his cyberpunk dystopias at the moment.

Spotlight On Jeff Smith
12:30pm — 1:30pm, Room 8
Jeff Smith is the opposite of a dystopia. Let’s all go and have some fun and ignore stupid, stupid [fill in horrible person type here]s.

The Kids Comics Revolution
1:00pm — 2:00pm, Room 29AB
Best panel ever? Emily Carroll, John Patrick Green, Noelle Stevenson, G. Willow Wilson, and Gene Luen Yang.

Spotlight On Noelle Stevenson
4:00pm — 5:00pm, Room 23ABC
Because she’s a shark, AAAAHHH.

Buckaroo Banzai: Getting The Band Back Together
5:30pm — 6:30pm, Room 8
Holy crap: Perfect Tommy, Pinky Caruthers, Scooter Lindley, and Rugsucker will be on stage together.

Sunday Programming
Historical Comics
1:00pm — 2:00pm, Room 28DE
Kate Beaton, Chester Brown, and Derf Backderf in conversation with Calvin Reid. Hopefully to contain Nemeses.

YA? Why Not? The Importance Of Teen And Young Adult Comics
1:00pm — 2:0pam, Room 24ABC
Going to be tough to decide where to be this hour — Kate down the hall, Hope Larson, Raina Telgemeier, Cecil Castellucci, and Brenden Fletcher over here at the same time.

Spotlight On Emily Carroll
2:00pm — 3:00pm, Room 4
It’ll be the spooktaculariest room all weekend for an hour.

Kickstarter Secrets Revealed
3:00pm — 4:00pm, Room 4
At last, they finally admitted that if you’re gonna do a how-to on Kickstarter, you got to get goddammned George Rohac there. Also the afivementioned Kel McDonald, Hope Nicholson, and Kickstarter’s comics outreach lead, Jamie Turner.

Markiplier Comics & More: Keenspot/Red Giant 2016
4:00pm — 5:00pm, Room 7AB
The annual Keenspot panel, pretty much closing out the programming for the year.

Spam of the day:

Make $7,682/month from home

a. That’s a supiciously specific number. b. Who’s to say that I don’t already?

_______________
¹ C Spike Trotman. Trotman, Spike, Trotman!

No? Fine.

Oh Achewood, how you play with language delights me as few other things can. Let us just hope that Téodor has learned his lesson, and while we’re at it, let’s see what happens in the panel rooms for the first half of this year’s San Diego Comic Con. As always, let us know if we’ve overlooked anything.

Special Program For Those Who Maybe Don’t Even Go To SDCC
Space Time With Marian Call and Friends
FRIDAY 7:30pm — ??, 98 Bottles in Little Italy
An evening of music and nerdery; tickets $12 + $10 food/drink minimum, 21 and up.

Thursday Programming
The Graphic Novel Medium
10:00am — 11:00am, 29AB
Derf Backderf, Peter Kuper, Hope Larson, Sydney Padua, and Maximilian Uriarte kick off the show with a discussion of the graphic novel, moderated by Evan Narcisse who is seriously smart and a hell of an interviewer/moderator. I still remember the great job he did at SPLAT! back in 2008. I also enjoyed hearing him recently on This American Life.

Comic Book Law School 101: Genesis
10:30am — 12:00pm, Room 30CDE
The basics of intellectual property law, from actual lawyers and not people on the internet that got opinions.

Getting Into Comics And Staying There
12:00pm — 1:00pm, 28CDE
This year’s iteration of Jim Zub and others willing to share their advice for getting into comics creation, thus creating more competition for themselves.

The Business Of Creativity: Can Comics Find The Balance?
12:30pm — 1:30pm, Room 4
Paul Levitz had a long and storied career with DC and is now a board member for BOOM! Studios. So maybe ask him why BOOM! financially screws their creators so badly, because it sure as hell doesn’t seem like they’re in anything resembling balance.

Something For Everyone: Indie Comics
1:00pm — 2:00pm, Room 29AB
Moderator Andrew Farago (from the Cartoon Art Museum) talking to Emily Carroll, Lisa Hanawalt, Jennifer Hayden, Keith Knight, and Ed Luce about how comics need not equal capes.

First Second Tenth Anniversary Celebration
1:30pm — 2:30pm, Room 4
Because they’re the premiere art-house publisher of graphic novels, that’s why.

Fantasy Mixology: The Perfect Literary Cocktail
3:00pm — 4:00pm, Horton Grand Theater
Don’t be fooled, it’s not about booze. Dammit!

We Need Diverse Comics
3:00pm — 4:00pm, Room 9
Nidhi Chanani, Ben Hatke, Nilah Magruder, Raina Telgemeier, and Ron Wimberly talking about how comics have changed and still need to change. Anybody arguing that white guys can write characters unlike themselves will be beaten by me. Moderated by Petra Mayer of NPR.

The Mark, Sergio, Stan, and Tom Show
3:30pm — 4:30pm, Room 8
You never listened when I told you to go listen to Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier, so now they’ve added Stan Sakai and Tom Luth. These guys have known each other forever and have about a century and a half of stories between them. Go.

The Nappy Hour
5:00pm — 6:00pm, Room 32AB
The latest iteration of Keith Knight’s lightning-round discussion of comics/nerdstuff by, for, and involving people of color; joined this year by Lalo Alcaraz, Roland Poindexter, and Ashley A Woods. Anybody arguing that there should be panels about white guys and comics/nerdstuff will be beaten by me.

The New Comics Journalism: Representation For All
7:00pm — 8:00pm, Room 23ABC
The latest iteration of the state of comics journalism panel, with comics journalists Heidi MacDonald, Megan Purdy, Emma Houxbois, Brett Schenker, and others talking about journalizing.

Webcomics Advocates: The Webcomics Gathering
8:30 — 9:30, Room 4
As was done last year, webcomics creators will have 30 seconds to promote their work to the crowd. Seems like most creators will be getting dinner but you never know.

Friday Programming
Keeping It Short: Short Form Comics
10:00am — 11:00am, Room 28DE
Kate Beaton, Emily Carroll, Lisa Hanawalt, together, holy crap.

The Black Panel
10:00am — 11:00am, Room 5AB
Not the one with Keith Knight, but it does have Wayne Brady (who is more than that one Chappelle sketch).

Cartoon Network: Steven Universe
10:15am — 11:45am, Indigo Ballroom
Crap, crap, crap, do I try to get into the Steven Universe panel (that defeated me two years ago) or go see Beaton, Carroll, and Hanawalt? This one has Rebecca Sugar, Jeff Liu, Ben Levin, Zach Callison (Steven), Estelle (Garnet), Michaela Dietz (Amethyst), Deedee Magno Hall (Pearl), and Charlyne Yi (Ruby), with composers Aivi Tran and Steven Velema, moderated by Ian Jones-Quartey¹.

Comic Book Law School 202: Numbers
10:30am – 12:00pm, 30CDE
Part two of your legal education, talking about licensing, rights transfers, contracts, and the like.

Exploding Kittens And The Oatmeal
6:00pm — 7:00pm, Room 25ABC
Huh, I thought for sure that Matt Inman wasn’t going to be around, seeing as how he doesn’t seem to have a table. He’s welcome to come say hi over at Dumbrella Central.

How Old Is YA In Europe And The USA?
6:30pm — 7:30pm, Room 8
Alas, I have tickets for the Space Time show or I’d be checking out this transatlantic discussion moderated by the invaluable Brigid Alverson.

The Girl Genius Radio Plays
8:30pm — 10:00pm, Room 24ABC
Because you haven’t lived until you’ve heard Phil Foglio do a dramatic monologue as Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer.

Spam of the day:

Biblical Miracle Confirmed(pg. 1117 King James Bible)

That’s a new one — biblical reference by page number. Every bible I’ve ever seen numbers the testaments (sometimes the individual books) separately, which means there isn’t a page 1117. And even if there were, I doubt that whatever’s on that page actually contains the secret to curing your diabetes in three days.

_______________
¹ Ask him about RPG World, I dare you.

Holy crap, somebody went and made Ana-Tomix. Chris Onstad is, once again, ahead of his time. Let me know when you’ve got the three-ball option, or the counterintuitive uniball model.

Okay, so the Harvey Awards. The ballot got announced yesterday and again there’s the inexplicably high number of nominations for one publisher (Valiant this time) due to block voting (it’s part of the game)¹, and again there’s an inexplicable set of nominees for the webcomics category. Let’s take a look:

Best Online Comics Work

• Albert the Alien, Trevor Mueller and Gabriel Bautista
• Battlepug, Mike Norton
• Bloom County 2015, Berkeley Breathed
• Oh Joy, Sex Toy, Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
• Zombie Boy, Mark Stokes

Where to start, where to start? Once again, nominees are distinguished solely by their medium for distribution, with no regard to length, format, genre, or purpose. The longform Battlepug and Albert the Alien are up against the strip-based Bloom County and Zombie Boy, and the educational, page-oriented Oh Joy, Sex Toy. Could there someday be a recognition that OJST should be in the educational category (okay, the Harveys don’t have one, but the Eisners do, if memory serves), or at least matched up against educational comics like Your Wild City and Battlepug against Dr McNinja? Also, how is Bloom County nominated for both Best Online Comics Work and Best Syndicated Strip or Panel? The one really should preclude the other.

Then again, complaining here has no value, since this is based off of how many people nominated their own work and got their friends to do likewise. Get organized and see what you can do for next year. And while you’re plotting out the takeover of the webcomics category next year, check out the webcomickers that are competing in the print arena:

• Giant Days (written by John Allison, art by Lissa Tremain and Max Sarin on art) and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (written by Ryan North, art by Erica Henderson) are competing for Best Continuing or Limited Series against the likes of Bitch Planet and Saga
• The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal (written and drawn by EK Weaver) is contending for Best Graphic Album Previously Published against five Valiant books²
• Giant Days again, up for Best Original Graphic Publication For Younger Readers versus Lumberjanes and Over the Garden Wall (although, mysteriously, nothing by Raina Telgemeier or Kazu Kibuishi)
• Lissa Tremain is up for Most Promising New Talent, to complement Giant Days (again!), up for Best New Series

It’s John Allison’s year, people. We’re just living in it.

Balloting for the Harveys is open until 8 August, with comics professionals eligible to vote. The awards will be presented at Baltimore Comic-Con on 5 September.

Spam of the day:

truTV PR: Media Alert: truTV’s Impractical Jokers Invade San Diego with Fan Events

Heh — Gmail has categorized an actual PR email blast as Be careful with this message. Similar messages were used to steal people’s personal information. Unless you trust the sender, don’t click links or reply with personal information. Awesome.

_______________
¹ Then again, I see that both Terry Moore (for Rachel Rising)and Stan Sakai (for Usagi Yojimbo) are nominated as Best Cartoonist, without publisher-wide blocks behind them. That’s gotta be purely the respect of their peers, and well deserved, too.

² Take that, voting block!

If there’s a better way in webcomics to work on your craft and get noticed outside your usual audience than getting that one idea you’ve got perfectly polished and tight and accepted by an anthology full of super-skilled people, I don’t know what it is. Examples follow:

• We were just talking about Beyond Press the other day and look what happened over the long weekend: they went and launched the Kickstart for an anthology that looks pretty damn impressive. Elements: Fire is going to present stories from the speculative fiction end of the spectrum (your basic sci fi, but also horror, cyberpunk, and the like) featuring characters — and, crucially, creators — from the underrepresented end of the talent pool¹:
  

  Elements looks to add to the current conversation happening in the book industry: yes #WeNeedDiverseBooks, but #WeNeedDiverseCreators too. We are no longer just the sidekicks or token characters, we’re creators with our own stories to tell. In Elements we’re the main characters, dismantling tropes with our own stories that see people like us saving the day. Be it quelling a volcano, learning to fight with our brand of love, or breaking cyberspace, we want to let these stories and characters take center stage.

  The contributor’s list features names that I recognize — Aatmaja Pandya, Der-shing Helmer, edited by Taneka Stotts with an assist from Shing Yin Khor — and a bunch more that I don’t, which is great (cf: above, about getting noticed). Taking a cue from anthology maestro C Spike Trotman, Elements: Fire will be offering bonuses to its creative team based on funding levels, which is becoming a welcome trend².

  Since launch on Friday (and over a long holiday weekend with people away from their computers), the campaign has cleared 58% funding on a US$30K goal and attracted enough early support to qualify for the Fleen Funding Formula, Mark II, which now predicts a total of US$50K +/- $10K (this is the first time numbers have ever turned out so beautifully round), which would mean bonuses of US$100-$300 per creator/team. The opportunity to discover killer talent with an experienced editor, and everybody gets paid? Time to make with the clicky and support.

• Speaking of anthologies, the Spike-helmed New World anthology got some damn good notices over at The AV Club today courtesy of Caitlin Rosberg:
  

  Though each creator’s style is different, the level of skill and talent is consistently high and there is something for every reader’s taste….But all 24 of the comics are excellent in their own right.

  If there’s one thing that ties all of the pieces together beyond the genres they fit into, it’s that each forces a character or characters to make an incredibly weighty choice….Each of the pieces has a clear perspective and message, as much speculative fiction does, but every single one of the creators avoids heavy-handed manipulation and preachiness, two common pitfalls for less skilled sci-fi/fantasy creators. Rather than lecturing the reader, they start a conversation by shifting perspectives and inviting introspection, which is speculative fiction at its best.

  New World is available in both print and PDF from the Iron Circus store.

• Anthologies need not even be big ol’ book; they can fit into floppy-style comic books as well. We mentioned previously that Faith Erin Hicks would be doing a Ms Marvel/Squirrel Girl story in an Avengers annual due in August; now it appears that other creators (Natasha Allegri! Zac Gorman! Scott Kurtz! Chirp Zblarglblarg!) will be adding their own takes as Ms Marvel gets to share all her in-universe fanfic.
• Tomorrow is First Wednesday, meaning it’s time for the second of the previously-announced TopatoCo Summertime Funtime Drink ‘n’ Draws, and what is a drink ‘n’ draw but an anthology of people instead of stories? Making the trip to Easthampton will be special Drinker/Drawers Meredith Gran and Mike Holmes; fun starts at 7:00pm at Eastworks, runs until 10:00pm, and is unfettered by filthy cover charges. All in the Pioneer Valley area, go and have fun.

Spam of the day:

Limited Time: 60% Off Silicone Wedding Bands

So millennials don’t want to buy diamonds, and your counter is to try to market unsized squeezy bits of medical material that behave like slow-acting tourniquets? Okay.

_______________
¹ Anybody that’s sputtering about Why aren’t there anthologies for white creators? can leave now. Door’s to your left.

² Also to be noted for bonus payments: Erika Moen & Matt Nolan.

You gotta hand it to Ryan North, the guy know how to play the long game. Today’s Dinosaur Comics installment (which would be number 3000) continues a gag from DC #2000, which in turn continues a gag from DC #1000. Look for the next mention of Kangaroo Kicking Kraziness™ in let’s see, 1000 strips divided by three strips a week is 333 weeks or six years and 146 days or let’s call it … Wednesday, June 29th, 2022 (or Year 6, SixthMonth, NinthDay of the GTC¹).

• Speaking of long games, will this page ever tire of talking about Raina Telegemeier and the revolution in comics that she sparked starting with Smile and continuing to the present day?

  Nope! Telgemeier is responsible for shaking up the industry, shaking up the demographics of who reads comics, who will be making them in the future, and given that she started pulling in fans with her Baby Sitters Club adaptations ten years back, shaking up who (in the near future) will be raising their kids as the next generation of comics readers.

  Although the big capes comics companies tend to ignore the lessons that Telgemeier and her contemporaries offer at their peril, in each passing year there’s a greater appreciation for the changes they (and particularly, she) have brought about. The discussion to that end at The AV Club today is especially on point because a full half of the participants aren’t tremendous fans of Smile, but all recognize it for the watershed moment that it is.

  As usual, the invaluable Oliver Sava makes the best points, but the entire group knows the score: comics is an industry that needs new readers to live, and right now it’s imprints like Graphix and :01 that are leading the way. Anybody that doesn’t get on board is dooming themselves to obscurity. Read the whole thing, set it to the side, and read it again.

• Speaking of book publishers and comics, I’m adding Knopf Doubleday to the SDCC exhibitor map from yesterday; I missed them initially as they’re away from the publishers row in the 1100-1200 aisles, but with offerings like The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew and The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage by Sydney Padua, it would be criminal not to point you towards Booth 1520.
• Finally, speaking of nothing in particular other than a damn good story, Christopher Baldwin announced today that come September and the conclusion of his current sci-fi story, Anna Galactic, he’ll be returning to the first of his sci-fi stories for more Spacetrawler:
  

  Yup! That’s right. All new adventures of the comic, Spacetrawler will begin in September.

  Anna Galactic ends sometime in August/September, and then I’ll switch over to Spacetrawler. There will likely be some overlap, and my best guess is that Spacetrawler will begin the first week of September.

  And helping bring about this is the generous support of many of you through Patreon! Please, follow that link and help out in bringing back all the awesomeness. Also, my weekly Patreon blog will include Spacetrawler development drawings and blather! You can unlock it to read it by helping out too, by contributing over on my Patreon page.

  Speaking for myself, Spacetrawler’s Dmitri may be my favorite of all of Baldwin’s characters, ever; he maintains a carefully-cultivated air of hedonistic amorality, but he’s the most altruistic schemer that Earth’s ever produced. I hope the revival is all about Dmitri as a truly benevolent philosopher king who pretends to be a dictator while actually spreading freedom, because I think he could actually pull off all the contradictions inherent in that job description. Of course, the booze helps!²

Spam of the day:

worked out well for me

Good to hear! Feel free to tell me all about it from way over there.

_______________
¹ Glorious Trumpalo Calendar.

² From approximately his fifth speaking appearance in strip #21, Dmitry was never without a drink in hand unless in a sealed space suit in hard vacuum. For reference, that’s 120+ appearances over nearly 400 strips, which I guess counts for one hell of a running gag. Theme complete!

Hey, look at that! A map of San Diego Comic Con 2016’s exhibit hall, which you can pull down to your device of choice here [PDF].

There will never be an extension to the San Diego Convention Center, so once again the bend in the hall divides things roughly in half, with our attention mostly on the north — or away from Tijuana¹ — side of the hall.

The Great Geek North
Let’s start over to the right side of the map, which is the side of the building closer to most hotels, the harbor, and the road from the airport. Conversely, it’s further away from the stadium and the surrounding lots where much of the offsite eventing will take place. It looks like this:

The Webcomics, Small Press, and Independent Press Pavilions are all reasonably accessible from the “B” lobby. Let’s break ’em down.

Upon The Webcomics Sea
Centered roughly on booth #1332, you’ll find a majority of the webcomickers who will be at the show within about a 1.5 aisle radius; some are slightly outside the orange area, but not too far. Those that return are for the most part at the same booth number as previous years, but there’s been some upheaval, as we shall see.

Notes:

• Blank Label appears to have given up its space, with David Willis deciding that twin boys are preferable to SDCC crowds. Booth 1330 will be the home of newcomers Cool Cat Blue.
• Similarly, it appears that Matt Inman will not be at the show, perhaps the better to defend against pornbots (or, more likely, spend his time and effort on his ever-expanding series of Blerch Runs; coincidentally, yesterday marked seven years of The Oatmeal, so happy strippiversary to Inman).
• Other listed newcomers to Webcomics Central include Jefbot in 1232, Mystic Revolution (boothing away from the rest of Keenspot, see below) in 1235, Digital Pimp in 1237 (which is odd, considering their latest newspost is about SDCC 2014), and Rhode Montijo (of Happy Tree Friends fame) in 1329. Lotta turnover.
• No news yet on which TopatoCo creators will be along; we’ll update once we know.
• Given all the book deals flying about, I would be remiss not to mention the presence of Hachette (1116), Harper Collins (1029), Macmillan Children’s Publishing (1117), and Simon & Schuster (1128) in Publisher’s Row; Knopf Doubleday is staking out their turf on the other side of Webcomics Central (1520).
• As of this writing, Booth 1332, the heart of Webcomics Central, is not listed as having an exhibitor. If this situation persists on arrival, I will claim that space in the name of Garylandia. So much for territorial ambitions. Looks like Phicno.com (an indie community for comic book, graphic novel, children’s books, cartoon and original content authors and fans) grabbed up the space.

Small Press And Such
Right by the Webcomics section is Small Press. Here you should find:

From the Small Press section, you’re close by:

Notes:

• Gallery Nucleus will feature arty types when they aren’t hanging out at Mondo down in booth 835. Keep an eye out for your Scotts C, your Beckys and/or Franks, and alumni of the various Flight anthologies.
• No confirmation yet on which webcomickers will be at the BOOM! booth when, but I’d expect a pretty strong rotation.
• Gene Yang and Hope Larson will be spending at least some time at DC’s enormobooth (1915).

Now head back toward the “B” Lobby into the Independent Press area and you’ll find Jeff Smith (no longer webcomicking but so what, he’s the best) again splitting booth space with Terry Moore (who’s announced no new series work — miniseries only from here out) at Booth 2109. You’re also not too far from the Jack Kirby Museum at Booth 5520 which, yes, is a very large number but is actually just inside the B1 entrance. Weird, right?

Going back to that larger map of the northern half of the exhibit hall. Wedged in between the Marvel and Image megabooths you’ll find Keenspot in Booth 2635.

The South Shall Rise Again
There’s still some neat stuff if you keep wandering past the video games, Star Wars, Legos, and suchlike.

Give yourself half an hour or so, try not to spend all your money on Copic markers (Booth 5338), and you’ll find both Udon Entertainment (home of such worthies as Christopher Butcher and Jim Zub at Booth 4529); and The Hero Initiative (at Booth 5003). Zub’s onetime Skullkickers artist, Edwin Huang will be in the Artists Alley at table EE-19, and Katie Cook will be at table HH-17.

Offsite
Every year for the past half-decade the amount of stuff you can see outside of the exhibit hall has grown; I’m guessing we’re only a year or so away from complete parity. If you know of anything especially good, let us know and we’ll add it here. Otherwise, just wander the city and see what you got.

Spam of the day:

Lonely Asian Girls Looking for Boyfriends

Nothing special about that, but the fake disclaimer at the bottom that tells me how to get off their list (liars) is hilarious: Click here if you no longer want to receive offers of Safeway coupons.

_______________
¹ The happiest place on Earth.

²Don’t forget that Ms Call has a concert on Friday night over in Little Italy with a passel of internet musicians, NASA scientists, and David Malki !.

I may have vented in the somewhat recent past about how NYCC has decided I no longer serve their purposes; a year ago I was venting about how SDCC couldn’t get their act together to either grant or deny me press access. This is a cyclical process, as there have been years that each show has been really smooth and painless to interact with, and years when it’s nigh-impossible to tell what the hell is going on. Typically, they stand in opposition to each other, so I really should have expected rejection from NYCC because SDCC has been pretty painless this year.

Case in point: I got the customary receipt for my registration from SDCC via email back in April; as in prior years, I expected to print it out, line up with a lot of people early on Preview Day, get the barcode scanned, and then get my badge. It usually takes 10-20 minutes. This year, I found an email on Monday morning that said to expect my badge in the mail (no more lining up!) in 3-5 days.

Later on Monday, it was in my mailbox. I can line up for a lanyard, a program book, tote bag, and the rest at my leisure. The rest is done, and I appreciate the time that will not be spent in line.

Interestingly, this is a more complex badge than in past years — SDCC has taken a cue from NYCC and gone to an RFID-enabled hard badge that needs to be tapped on entry and exit. But that’s only good for building access — to provide at-a-glance determination of when/where you’re allowed, there’s a printed paper frame with category coding (PRESS), validity coding (P1234 = Preview Night, Days 1, 2, 3, and 4), and what I assume is color-coding (light blue for me, presumably other for paid, pros, exhibitors, VIPs, etc)¹.

The frame sits behind the RFID badge in the plastic holder with its text peeking around the perimeter, and contains some additional barcodes/QR codes on the back. If this doesn’t prevent counterfeiting, they’ll have to escalate to DNA testing and even then I bet some enterprising crook would find a novel use of CRISPR.

Since it appears nothing barring travel fiasco can keep me from the show, we’ll get to our traditional markup of the floor map in the next couple of days, and discuss programming when the event schedule is released in about two weeks.

Spam of the day:

Be in the biggest truck on the road.

Dude, I’m already qualified to drive a multiton ambulance with lights and sirens. Appealing to my sense of insecurity ain’t going to work.

________________
¹ Now I just have to remember to bring the damn thing with me and hope that the airport scanner doesn’t fry the RFID tag.

News and things! Things and news! Let’s see what there is to see out there.

• I believe I’ve mentioned the excitement that we at Fleen have for the imminent release of Hope Larson & Rebecca Mock’s Compass South (that would be in just under a week). I don’t know if I mentioned that a chunk of the story involves twins Cleo and Alex trying to make their way to San Francisco (by steamer and train, in the mid-1800s, when such successes were not guaranteed and plagued by greater dangers than a lack in in-flight WiFi), thus tying into today’s theme.

  What I know that I haven’t mentioned is that Larson and Mock will be taking a virtual book tour in support of Compass South, visiting on-line and in the [virtual] cafés talk about how Compass South was created. The blogtour kicks off Monday (the day before release) at Supernatural Snark, and in subsequent days will make daily port calls at Love is not a Triangle, Forever YA, YA Bibliophile, Sharpread, and finishing up at Watch. Connect. Read. on Saturday.

• And while Cleo and Alex might have to wait a century or so before the Cartoon Art Museum gets organized in San Francisco, we need not engage in any such temporal chicanery, and CAM has plenty of events in the coming weeks, just in case you missed their just-closed exhibitions with the Queer Cultural Center at SOMArts Cultural Center and were wondering what’s up next.

  The highlight, at least in my opinion, will be A Salute to Chuck Jones¹ at the Castro Theater. Jones, naturally, is best defined by his cartoons and so the salute will be a screening of over a dozen shorts, including One Froggy Evening, Feed the Kitty, Duck Amuck, Rabbit of Seville, and motherscratching What’s Opera, Doc?.

  You have probably never seen these on the big screen. You need to see these on the big screen, with a big, booming sound system². If you are anywhere near San Francisco on Sunday, 10 July from noon to 3:00pm, you must see these cartoons on the big screen. Packages run from US$17 to US$150 (with various goodies and perks on top of admission, naturally) and may be purchased in advance through Guestlist. Presenters from the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity — conservators of Chuck’s³ legacy — will be on hand to talk about the films and memories of their creator.

• Should you find CAM’s efforts to continue to bring you the finest in cartoon art laudable (and really, you damn well better), there’s a new channel by which you can indicated your support. Check out their new Patreon, where you can help unlock curator blogs, online exhibitions, member pricing for events, and the general running of the museum.

  Granted, they only just launched it, but at the moment the Patreon has a shamefully insufficient eleven (11) backers pledging US$33 (thirty-damn-three dollars) per month. The people who love cartoons and comics (and who do you know that doesn’t?) can do better, and CAM deserves better. Support, and spread the word.

Spam of the day:

Re:Scelerisque Dui Suspendisse Corp. Please find attached the bill

I’m supposed to believe that your company is actually named after a section of lorem ipsum text? Nnnnope.

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¹ Very possibly the greatest animator America’s produced yet, and definitely a dominant influence on every comicker, animator, filmmaker, and teller of stories and jokes for the past 60 -70 years.

² Not that I ever have, at least not by actual modern theater standards, but even a poor imitation was life-changing. Below the cut, a small story how how life-changing, adapted from a letter I wrote in 2001 to be included in a collection of letters from Chuck’s fans as a birthday present for the master.

³ It is Fleen’s editorial policy to refer to people by given and family name on first reference, and family name thereafter. There are two exceptions to this rule, namely Chuck (because he is always Chuck) and George (because he is always George).
(more…)

Well, this is where I was going to quote from the initial announcement from Spike Trotman about how Iron Circus Comics has started a series of announcements regarding its releases through 2018 or so. Was, because the filter here at work has decided that http://ironcircuscomics.tumblr.com/ (which in turn redirects to poorcraft.com is blocked:

due to potential malicious activity or other security reasons.
Phishing, malicious, spyware sites are compromised or unsafe websites that may trick you into revealing personal or financial information (e.g. username, passwords, credit card information, PIN numbers, etc.).
These unsafe websites may install software to your computer often without consent to damage your system or use your computer to attack others.
The website may also contain other malicious threats (e.g. viruses, trojans, worms, spyware) as part of the malware ecosystem.
Additional information about website blocking at [redacted] can be found here (Authentication required).

Your request was categorized by Blue Coat Web Filter as ‘Pornography’.

Which, okay, I could see that if I’d linked to Iron Circus itself (which is not blocked), where you get the Smut Peddler books for sale and even samples. Or heck, I could see it if the link stayed on Tumblr, which is itself a cesspit at times. But no, Poorcraft, which is one of the most useful things ever, is blocked by Blue Coat, who I noticed over the weekend is being bought by Symantec¹. So anyway, check that announcement out, Spike’ll be making them weekly, just don’t ask me to report on the specifics during the day.

In other news:

• What may be the very last A Softer World ever dropped earlier today; as co-creator Joey Comeau pointed out, there have been a few ASW strips up in recent weeks as side effect of the successful Kickstart to print the strip-spanning best of collection, Anatomy of Melancholy, and these have now concluded. As co-creator Emily Horne pointed out, if you missed the Kickstart, you can now order a copy from Breadpig.
• My Evil Twin passed a Big Damn Strippiversary yesterday; when Schlock Mercenary launched on 12 June 2000 it was a far simpler strip (in scope and visuals), Tayler was still slaving for The Man, and two of his kids didn’t exist yet (nor did Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Tumblr, or the George W Bush administration). A kid born on that day would today be eligible for a driver’s license in most states², and Tayler himself can now claim to have updated 5846 days in a row without fail.

  Today he’s got a thriving business, a dozen books (with more on the way) and a damn Hugo award.; not bad for a kid of twelve birthdays from the wide open space of the west, armed with nothing but imagination, a drawing tablet, and gumption.

Spam of the day:

Finally, Give Your Woman What She Wants
Is it time to grow your confidence even more?

Curiously, only one of those two spams was for a questionably-sourced “male enhancement supplement”; the second is actually for discount breast enhancement surgery, which is not a series of words I ever wanted to see placed together.

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¹ Weirdly, the internet filter is no longer blocking He Is A Good Boy which it has in the past. I mean, that was annoying when it did, but I could at least see the logic in blocking material like Crange Is Horny. Still not going to try to check out Oh Joy, Sex Toy, though; just the ads on that site could get me hauled down to HR.

² My own home state of New Jersey wisely makes the little menaces wait until 17 when they’re hopefully one year less stupid.