Thomas Pynchon reference. It started when I read David Malki !‘s tweet regarding “recent” events in Achewood —

Wow Téodor has been in that van for almost SEVEN MONTHS.

That can’t be right, I thought, but yeah — the current storyline started on May 9th, and Téodor got in the van on May 11th, which puts us just shy of seven months. In that time we’ve had approximately two dozen strips on the topic of High School Horror (excluding things like the odd Fuck You Friday), giving us a new literary parallel for Chris Onstad … he’s now less Faulknerian than Pynchonian.

Then the latest Webcomics Weekly and the lead post at Webcomics Dot Com today both referenced Achewood’s current situation (ironically, Onstad has been asking for donations to cover server bills at the same time that both strips and merchandise have become scarce — cross-referencing earlier Webcomics Weeklies, this would be an inversion of charging for the scarce).

That made me think that it’s been a good long while since I could exchange money for Achewood goods (the second cookbook has shown as out of stock for a solid year now), so it was a particularly telling thing when I hit the unexpected Achewood reference trifecta and happened to notice today that the newest Dark Horse volume will be out in two days.

Which is to say, if you like Achewood, tossing Onstad a few bucks for the latest collection might be the best way to incent him to get us some more strips.

• Also out in two days time, and without months of wondering: an original graphic novel about Danny Husk by Scott Thompson. Yes, that Danny Husk, and that Scott Thompson. It’s like a beautiful dream.
• Museum alert! Rene Engström and Rasmus Gran had a showing as part of the Östersund [Sweden] Documentary Festival over the weekend; basically, it’s done now so if you didn’t see it you won’t have the chance now. Also, I love that Rene uses the word vernissage to describe these kinds of showings — she’s the only person I know that’s that classy; everybody else just says preview or opening or the night with the free booze.

  Speaking of which, Hurricane Erika will have such a night in London at the end of December for her first international solo art show. And given that it’s Moen, you know what that means — tentacles ahoy.

• Final thoughts in a day full of random thoughts, this from Friend o’ Fleen Otter:
  

  I’m about 85% certain the Rifftrax for Clash of the Titans mentioned Axe Cop. As in “What the hell, there is a guy throwing lightning at scorpions that grew from demon blood while waving around the severed head of a snake woman. Is this an episode of Axe Cop?”

  Anybody that can confirm, please let us know. In the meantime, I’m going to pre-emptively declare that awesome.

Okay, I got a million things to do in advance of the holiday and I’m sick. Time for a super-brief post and then the couch to sleep this thing off.

• Anthony Clark: Awesome parade balloon art. My favorites were Alan Moore, Sue Storm, and Funky Winkerbean.
• Rich Stevens: Attracting Project Wonderful ads that have nothing to do with webcomics, but make perfect sense on his site.
• Child’s Play: two weeks on, up above US$425,000, and the big auction gala still to come.

Postings tomorrow and Friday depend on the progress of my disease, the supply of news, and the depth of my food coma.

So, um, I guess Ryan North went to Comics Alliance to announce his new book? That is okay Ryan we are still friends. In fact, the Toronto Man-Mountain and I are friends to the degree that something like two years ago he revealed to me that there is a secret code embedded in the name of this book, one that may not be apparent until two or even three more books come out in THE FUTURE. So if you don’t want to die all befuddled, buy lots of copies of Dinosaur Comics: fig. d Dudes Already Know About Chickens and all future Dinosaur Comics books and then you can figure it out too! It’s not for sale yet, but when it is, it will most likely show up here.

• Speaking of newly-announced books, Tom Dell’Aringa would like you to know that he also has a second book coming out, Marooned Vol 2: Mars Wars. In fact, pre-orders are now up for grabs, including standard and artist editions, with international customers getting the artist upgrade for free to make up for the fact that shipping is more. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a creator throw that freebie towards international customers previously, but it’s a terrific idea and I wholeheartedly support it. There’s also a stack of bonus comics from ten creators that have contributed to Sunday strips (including such notables as Christopher Baldwin and Ramón Pérez), plus a bunch of book-exclusive stuff adding up to more than 40 pages on top of the more than 120 pages of strips. Check ‘er out.
• Nathan Sorry, webcomic-presented graphic novel in progress is now also Nathan Sorry, digital-purchasable comic book. Creator Rich Barrett is making what would have been issue #1 (if print issues were still the goal) available via Graphic.ly for 99 cents, which he points out is not only about a buck cheaper than most digital comics, it’s literally “the price of a song”. Longform comics like Nathan Sorry are probably far better suited to this niche than gag strips, but as we’re still in the early days of digital issues, we’ll certainly have to see over the coming [insert unit of time here]s.
• Speaking of digital comics, I was invited to take a new webapp out for a spin, but it’s not playing happily with my browser (possibly a result of my halfway-paranoid settings regarding Javascript and other executable content on pages), so there you go. You, however, might want to take Caption Mash for a spin, as it promises to “add captions/bubbles to any image without doing any image manipulation.” Like I said, I haven’t played with it, but I can see possible uses — unless I miss my guess, this is less “tool for making comics” and more “potentially a tool for building community, as you let your audience do their own take on your comics”. Maybe? Demo here if you want to play.

There are days I see something out on the web and the only rational response is, “Yep, that’s my lead story.” In this case, it’s information that actually makes good on something I halfway-attempted pert-near four years back.

A little history: In response to an article at Comixpedia, I suggested we try to figure out if there was a magic “break even” number on unique readers that would render a webcomic economically sustaining for the creator. Because I’m a bit of a math nerd, I put out an open call for confidential data, with the caveat that I would only do the numbers if there were at least 100 respondents (and even that wouldn’t get us very close to statistical significance). At the time, 48 creators were willing to share data (including, it must be said in retrospect, a pretty goodly proportion of those that do make their living from webcomics), but as that fell way short of my threshold, no math.

Enter George Rohac, general fixer for Oni Press, publisher of anthologies, possessor of the worlds most nervousness–inducing grin, perpetual con-scene fixture, and Master’s degree holder. It’s that last one that’s important today, as Rohac has released both his thesis, Copyright and the Economy of Webcomics [PDF], and more importantly — his data set [Microsoft Excel].

There’s nearly 300 survey responses covering unique visitors, comic creation time, business management time, comic longevity, prior projects, copyright/copyright equivalent asserted, merch offered, income derived, and self-assessment of whether or not that income provides a living wage, and it’s all Creative Commonsed, so you can squash numbers to your heart’s content.

Most interesting numbers to me: more than 80% of Rohac’s respondents reported making less than US$8000 per year on the comic, but approximately 7% reported more than US$45,000, and more than half of that number reported more than US$65,000. On the “do you earn a living wage” question (and this one is highly subjective), a few respondents down as far as the US$8000 – 14,999 range answered “yes” (on the other hand, a few respondents in the US$65,000+ range answered “no”, so take that as an example of differing costs of living).

Also, the clearest correlation that I noted on casual inspection? Higher incomes pretty much go hand-in-hand with higher numbers of weekly unique readers. Yeah, I know — no surprise there, but even the most obvious intuitive assumptions work better with numbers backing ’em up.

Now that we have a first reasonably complete sample of hard numbers (although there are a number of missing responses across the surveys, by accident or deliberate omission, and of course more responses would make any conclusions drawn more valid), it’s time to move onto the “lies” and “damned lies” part of the game. Feel free to draw your own conclusions and remember — statistics has its own set of rules, and if you’re going to argue that “the numbers say x”, you have to follow them.

Multiple disciplines suggest themselves in today’s stories; it’s like an Ig Nobel in miniature around here.

• Chemistry
  Back in my college days (ah, nerd school) we had a simple test to determine what items went in which department — things that fell down were Civil Engineering, things that moved around and made noise were Mechanical Engineering, things that made your hair stand on end were Electrical Engineering, and things that smelled funky were Chemistry¹.

  Years later, I found myself doing a week’s work at a manufacturing facility of a flavoring and fragrances company and I was struck by the near total absence of any scents whatsoever — like the magic of chemistry had sucked out all of the olfactory noise that would prevent testers from judging tastes and scents on an isolated, objective basis. I wonder if Kaja Foglio knows what I’m talking about.

  This isn’t some idle speculation — Professora Foglio likely has experienced the odor equivalent of a sensory-deprivation chamber because she’s recently wrapped up the development of ZOMG Smells (noted geeks perfumers) development of a line of Girl Genius perfumes. Whether you want to smell like a Jägermonster, a madboy Spark! I meant Spark!, or the aftermath of the Nuremberg Pudding Incident (not to be confused with the Noodle Incident), ZOMG Smells (and shortly, the Studio Foglio online store and con booth) have you covered.

  If anybody knows of another webcomic that’s inspired a line of perfume, let me know. Since we’ve had songs recorded by/about webcomic characters (cf: Deathmøle, Dinosaur Comics: The Opera), interactive animations (cf: MS Paint Adventures, Dinosaur Comics again), recipes inspired by webcomics (cf: Webcomics: What’s Cooking?) and now perfume, I guess the only sense left to tie in would be touch. How long before we see a line of Girls With Slingshots sex toys?

• Economics (it’s sort of a science)
  Speaking of Girls With Slingshots, one may note that Danielle Corsetto has a brand-new design to her website, complete with spankin’ new RSS feed, blog capability, twitterfeed, con schedule, alt text, and the works. If you didn’t read Corsetto’s intro to the new design (and kudos to Tyler Martin for his work — it looks great) you might be confused by the list of conventions for 2011 where she notes she’ll be at the Blind Ferrett booth. If you did read the posting, you may have noticed that GWS has joined up with Blind Ferret — hosting, storefront, merchandise fulfillment, book publishing, handy excuse to head to Montréal every few weeks for “business meetings” (and absolutely not to enjoy a fabulous city full of comickin’ people).

  This is a big deal for Corsetto, and possibly a bigger one for Blind Ferret, who are now branching out into the sort of webcomics services-for-hire that this page has called for (and international/binlingual in scope, too); between the seeing-impaired mustelids and the toxic sentient solanid, those top-tier webcomickers that need business services appear to be better supplied than ever. Exciting times.

• Temporal Mechanics (okay, it might be Star Trek science, but it’s at least sciencey, right?)
  Michael Payne wrote to point out something important is happening next Friday, besides the expected post-American Thanksgiving tryptophan coma: the Daily Grind Ironman Challenge will cross 1500 updates. There are still six of the original 56 contestants duking it out for the status of Last Webcomicker Standing and the fabulous prize of $1120. How long is that, really?

  Long enough that most of the Final Six are actually approaching 2000 to 3000 updates in their comics, since they were merely hopping into the contest with whatever comic was actually running at the time. Long enough for contestants like Dean Trippe, John Campbell, Brian Fukushima, and Natasha Allegri (to name but a few) to build careers since they got knocked out, careers so notable that it’s a surprise to look down the list and say, “Crap, they were in that contest five years ago?” Long enough that the contest had already seen its field winnowed by half before I started my hack webcomics pseduo-journalism.

  Heck, it’s even been long enough for Brad Guigar to grow a sweet moustache/chinbeard combo and get a pair of contacts (compare/contrast). So to all of the remaining Iron Men, we at Fleen say well done and geez, are you gonna make us wait another 1500 days to see who wins this thing. Just bow out together and split the money.

_______________
¹ In large quantities, things that smelled funky qualified as Chemical Engineering.

Some interesting followups in the wilds of Webcomicstan today; let’s see what we’ve got on tap.

• Once, long ago, in the wilds of British Columbia, there lived a man named GORD, who owned unto himself a videogame store, and lo his legend is wond’rous. There are those that have dedicated themselves to spreading accounts of the Acts of GORD (love the GORD, fear the GORD), and though the miracles of GORD have not been recounted in many a year (last update I recall was around 2003, 2004, something like that).

  Towards the end of those days a young man took it upon himself to illustrate (nay, illuminate) the teachings of GORD. And verily did Other Things pass into the life of that young man, and the stories of GORD were not completed, even unto this very day when at last they are complete. And that young man’s name? Ryan Estrada. True story.

• New in your local comic shop: the collected edition of Captain Excelsior Stupendous by Zach Weiner and Chris Jones. I’d read the full story of the good Captain online, of course, but I was struck by how much more of a dick he becomes in the quicker-reading dead-tree format. Hell, in the entire book there’s really only one or two sympathetic characters, things are not resolved in a good way for just about anybody, and everybody is almost entirely the Worst Person Alive.

  The most sympathetic character (and the one on the receiving end of the worst screwing-over) is probably the creepy old pedophile at the prom. A’course, Weiner keeps up that sensibility (it’s a jerk world and everybody in it are jerks) in the SMBC Theater shorts that he contributes to, so no surprises; it’s a cynical, pessimistic, and very funny worldview from a guy who’s really pretty sweet and sunny in person. Pick it up.

• Machine of Death update du Jour: MoD has made it onto Amazon’s Best Books of 2010 list, and as MoD frontman David Malki ! points out:
  

  Every other book on that Amazon list is an entry in a massive franchise. Anita Blake Vampire Hunter BOOK 18? #genrefanslovethemserials

  So I guess that means that MoD2 will be nigh-obligatory at some point.

• A little light reading for you, aimed by John Allison at the indy comic “scene” in the UK, but equally applicable ’round the world — A MANIFESTO FOR UK INDIE COMICS IN 2010. Highlights include:

  2. Small press: it is not 1994 any more

  There are comics on the internet now. If you’re good enough, have a decent website, and keep a reliable schedule, you can have a whole career there. The notion of the primacy of a photocopied quasi-zine “small press scene” in the UK is ludicrous. 1 in 4 people in the world can speak English. Questionable Content has half a million readers. It is not rocket science.

  4. Forget what you learned at art school and read some business books

  You need entrepreneurial chops to make a living from your art, or the help of someone who has them. It’s not that hard. You copy someone who has already succeeded. It usually works.

  5. Making money from art is not vulgar

  Art is a commodity. It makes people feel something. It raises the greater sum of human happiness. It increases the gaiety of the nation. It has a value.

  7. Diary comics: stop it

  If your only comics outlet is a diary comic on the internet, you are wasting your time and your energy. The success stories in this field are the product of people with strong, often eccentric personalities and a robust visual vocabulary, capable of turning their lives into a compelling narrative. The 200 people who read your diary comic, on the other hand, all make their own dull diary comics. Or are about to start.

  The whole thing is good, and if there’s not at least two or three items that apply to you, you’re probably doing really well.

Only one item today kiddies, but it’s a good one: the much-respected (and usually amusingly snarky) Kirkus Reviews have started releasing their Best of 2010 lists, and we’ll be paying particular attention to the Best Children’s Books and Best Books for Teens (both lists are broken down to sub-groupings — historical novels, nonfiction, picture books, etc — just look at the complete lists for each age range), because there is where you will find webcomickers.

From the Children’s list (graphic novel and chapter books division), two by Collen AF Venable, creator of the late, lamented Fluff in Brooklyn and possessor of the awesome connect-the-dots giraffe tat — Hamster and Cheese and And Then There Were Gnomes (Guinea PIG, Pet Shop Private Eye, #1 and #2, respectively, with art by Stephanie Yue). Sasspants the guinea pig solves mysteries in the pet shop, with just the right tone of sarcasm to demonstrate that Venable knows kids get subtle humor, too (also discussions of animals and their poop). As an added bonus, Venable spends her days book-designing the :01 Second line, including fellow honoree Aaron Renier’s The Unsinkable Walker Bean.

Same division, two books by Fleen Fave Ursula Vernon, Dragonbreath — Attack of the Ninja Frogs and Dragonbreath — Curse of the Were-Wiener (the second and third entries in the Dragonbreath series). Same sensibilities and goofy fun as found in Vernon’s (soon to be wrapped, sniff) Digger, toned down a bit for the pre-teen set. Be sure to also check out the first (self-titled) Dragonbreath and the vaguely-related-to-Digger Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew for more delights.

Moving up to the Teens (or Young Adult, if you prefer) list, again in graphic novels, one each from Raina Telgemeier and Hope Larson — the justly-famous SMILE and Mercury, about which much has been said previously in these parts.

Fleen congratulates the honorees, and thanks them for their service to comics — keep in mind, all of the books recognized by Kirkus on these lists were for younger readers. The extent to which creators have jobs in the future (and that readers have worthwhile material to consume) will be determined in large part by the numbers of kids that pick up the habit of reading words + pictures. Larson, Telgemeier, Venable, and Vernon are doing their part to pass that habit on, and we are all luckier for it.

There are people that do work (wholly or partially) outside the realm webcomics that merit interest on a regular basis. Let’s check in with some of them, shall we?

• Andrew Farago (Friend o’ Fleen, curator of the Cartoon Art Museum, creator of The Chronicles of William Bazillion and betrothed of the Funk Queen of the 510 area code) has a love of Looney Tunes that rivals my own. So it should come as no surprise that not only has he written a big damn book all about these animated jewels, he got Ruth Clampett to write the forward, and he’s put together what may be the definitive gallery show on Looney Tunes.

  Seriously, he’s got Bob McKimson featured and over 60 originals for the walls. I collected Chuck Jones animation originals for ten years before everything worth having wound up in private hands, and in that time I never saw Looney Tunes originals for sale. Much like how you’ll have to pry my Grinch-and-Max from my cold, dead hands, I imagine it took Farago years to convince owners to lend their treasures. Overture: Looney Tunes Behind the Scenes opens on 4 December and runs until May 2011; if you’re anywhere near San Francisco, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

• If you haven’t seen this interview with Sergio Aragonés at The AV Club, stop what you’re doing and read it now. Read about how he determined he had to not only become a much better cartoonist, but quickly. Read about how he never stops drawing. Read about shifting tools and techniques to the presentation of the material. And don’t forget the money quote:
  

  Fortunately, cartooning is not a job. It’s something like eating or sleeping. It comes so natural, because I’ve done it all my life since I was a kid. The job is divided into parts—the writing part of it or the drawing part of it. It’s a 24-hour job, because sometimes I go to bed and I have to get up because the idea is there and you can’t stop doing it.

• Mentioned during the Kurtz/Guigar/Roberts roundtable on digital comics and the future was this little gem:
  

  Roberts: Actually, we announced today something we call self-authoring tools. This basically takes the responsibility for getting the work done and putting it in the hands of the creators, and we become more like Apple, acting as the curator instead of the publisher. You submit it, you do all the work, you get a bigger rev[enue]-share. Now I have to bring it up: motion comics. In motion comics, I see a move by the big publishers to reassert their dominance, because you have to have the resources to do it. It requires skilled people that cost money, and that kind of opens the divide. If people like motion comics, it pulls us back from independent creators.

  Followup time. This morning comiXology announced an early adopters scheme for authors to get in on what Roberts promised last month. Let’s cherry-pick a few good bits, shall we?

  The private, invitation-only Alpha program (recently launched with TOKYOPOP, Devil’s Due, and a few others) provides creators and publishers with a tool-set to prepare their comics for comiXology’s patent-pending Guided View.

  Translation: you don’t have to be Marvel or DC to get into comiXology’s distribution stream.

  Once the Alpha phase is completed, comiXology will open more spots for a limited Beta testing of the tools to more creators. The final product will be part of a comprehensive online system, allowing seamless submission for digital publishing for all comic book creators and publishers in an iTunes-like model. Creators and publishers can sign up for a Beta spot at http://www.comixology.com/self_authoring_signup/.

  Translation: early bird gets the worm. Of course, Calvin once remarked that a mouthful of worm isn’t exactly the biggest reason to get out of bed, but since comiXology are the closest thing to a sure bet in the forthcoming format fights right now, it’s worth getting a good look-over while you can. You don’t want to be the one creator whose adorable little tyke looks up and asks, “What did you do in the format wars, Gender-Neutral Term for Parent?”

• Pretty much directly related to webcomics: Cocksuckers. That is to say, the period vampire collaboration webcomic from Magnolia Porter and Kel McDonald, the creation of which is being documented in a series of streams. McDonald has posted the first couple at the Blank Label homepage, and future installments will be announced on both her twitter and Porter’s. Keep the dick jokes to a minimum, people.

It’s Monday, with all that entails. But you know what? I’m still having a good day, and hope that you are, too. I’m especially glad to be the 3,473^rd person to report that Scott McCloud is recovering at home from his gotta-be-Mr-Unique sudden medical condition that made last week suck for him. Everybody feel good for Scott!

• It’s become somewhat redundant, what with the amazing similarities year after year, but Child’s Play 2010 kicked off over the weekend, and is already showing nearly US$200,000 in donations. Okay, yeah, a big chunk of that it probably mass-donations from the various bigwig sponsors listed at the bottom of the page; don’t care. That’s because history has shown that over the next five-six weeks, individuals will increase that amount approximately fivefold. Go get ’em.
• Which is not to say that webcomics only involves itself in these massive, world-wide spasms of giving; Team Webcomics at Kiva maintains its position in, on average, the top 50 in the world in terms of total giving, giving per member, and loans per member. And there’s a new kid on the webcomics charitable block, with a tip-off courtesy of Stephen Geigen-Miller. Geigen-Miller writes:
  

  I don’t know if you’re familiar with fantasy author and avid webcomics reader Patrick Rothfuss. He wrote an amazing fantasy novel called The Name of the Wind that quickly and deservedly became a huge success.

  Mr. Rothfuss blogs via his website, and one thing he does with his blog is an annual charitable fundraiser that he calls Worldbuilders. It benefits a charity called Heifer International, which provides real, concrete help to families in developing countries (especially in Africa) by giving them farm animals and training in how to care for them and use their products in an environmentally sustainable way that also provides long-term benefits. It’s a really great cause.

  Patrick (and his friends colleagues in writing and publishing; Neil Gaiman is a supporter, for instance) provide items to the fundraiser which are given away via a draw to people who donate to Heifer International. Last year Worldbuilders raised over a quarter of a million dollars.

  Short form for those that didn’t read all the links:

  1. Donate to HI, Worldbuilders will bump up your contribution by 50%, and you’re in the lottery once for every $10 in your donation
  2. The lottery draws are on 13 December for fabulous prizes
  3. The fabulous prizes are donated by authors — signed books
  4. Alternately, you can just outright purchase swag or big on auctions directly from Worldbuilders

  Creators, you could have your books in that list of fabulous prizes, next to books from some of your favorite writers (including — just sayin’ — Phil and Kaja Foglio); you can also use your powers for good instead of evil, enticing your audience to bid/donate in the hopes of getting said fabulous prize while benefiting subsistence farmers around the world. FAQ here (including how to donate towards the fabulous prizes).

• New Discovery O’ The Day, via Box Brown‘s twitter:
  

  Only 11 comics in, but I’m totally digging this new comic #newwebcomic

  Rock Manlyfist by Johan Wanloo reads like Jason Fox gave up on his long-cherished Slug-Man comics, and I mean that in the most awesome way possible. Bit of the aforementioned Fox, bit of John K, and weirdly, a bit of Jay Ward in the art. Worth checking out.

Several things happening in and around webcomickers today, all with some bearing on the gooey, sticky bits that we find inside ourselves. Let’s take a look (metaphorically).

• Best wishes going out to Randall Munroe, who may be updating xkcd a bit sporadically for the next few months (although he promises us updates of some kind) due to a serious illness in his family. This is a horrible situation to be in, with alternating desires to help and feelings that you aren’t/can’t possibly do enough. I’m going to reference this page’s posting of 26 April 2009 where I told y’all that my brother and sister were in a serious motor vehicle accident and that I would be updating sporadically; more specifically, I’m going to slightly paraphrase Scott McCloud‘s comment on that posting:
  

  For Heaven’s sake, take off as much time as you need, [Randall]. We’ll be here whenever you get back.

  As Munroe notes, any suggestions of simple, distracting online games may be sent to sick, which is an email account at xkcd in the dot-com TLD.

• On a happier note, the Abominable Karl Kerschl had some good news to share:
  

  I’m sitting with @amybcoops in the ultrasound room, looking at our unborn child on the screen. Incredible. PS- I’m having a baby.

  Did I say good news? I meant the BEST news. On a Kerschl-related note, his print collaboration with Cameron Stewart, Assassin’s Creed:The Fall #1, is really, really good. I have no familiarity with the source videogame, but found it gorgeous to look at, and it hints nicely at mystical revisions of what we know as Russian history (others have had their takes on this sort of thing, but AC is a brisk and non-dragging story). On a down note, I should be raving about Stewart’s art on the recently-released Batman & Robin #16, but Genius Guy here bought #15 instead. Dammit. Next week, Cameron, I promise.

• Hope. It springs deep in the heart (or possibly liver) of every creator; hope that you’ll perfect your art, hope that you’ll be recognized when you share it, hope that you’ll make it big. Hope is also the name of the very smart and talented lady who reminded us this morning about how you have to temper your hope:
  

  If you’re a creator, YOU are responsible for not letting yourself get screwed. Every deal, every contract is a gamble, but don’t be dumb.

  … which was in reference to a truly disturbing piece on James Frey and the book contracts he’s offering. Creators, follow the link over to New York magazine and learn what a screw-job looks like so you can run the other way when offered the same.

• Wow, that motorcyle is so beautiful, it looks like it could be alive: Dr McNinja‘s forthcoming fourth book’s cover, by Chris Hastings and Carly Monardo. If the pure, vibrant life coming off that illustration isn’t enough to satisfy today’s theme, how about this, from Ms Monardo? Bam! Biological!