Lotta stuff coming up in the immediate future. Let’s dig in.

• Waves of webcomickers are, even now, making their way toward ConnectiCon, including all the fine folks listed here. A pretty significant subset of them will be heading home after the weekend and then promptly u-turning their way cross-continent to San Diego in — urk — eleven days time. Before they do, though, keep an eye out for Super Art Fight, both in Hartford, and in SAF’s secret underground lair of Baltimore next weekend for SAF7.
• Speaking of San Diego, they’ve not only got booth numbers now attached to the exhibitor list (highlights below the cut), but the schedule of events is going up, and it’s personalizable this year. I’m going to be playing around with this a bit this weekend — I’m particularly interested to see if it detects schedule conflicts and lets me know that the BONE panel probably runs over the start of the Dumbrella panel (which I usually get drafted to moderate).
• Also: holy crap, TopatoCo got a new client, and it’s Jhonen freakin’ Vasquez.

Below the cut: as complete a list of webcomics-related folks as I could find. If there are any missing or incorrect entries (especially where people are sharing space), let me know. The small map previously posted fits into the big one here. (more…)

WordPress’s spam filters held a Bill Barnes infocomment for moderation, and passed along two posts hawking bogus Sony Viao batteries. Bad algorithms, or does it know something we don’t?

In any event, we can update yesterday’s SDCC Webcomics Locate-o-Matic as follows:

Booth 1228 — Evil, Inc and Friends
Booth 1229 — Keenspot
Booth 1231 — TopatoCo
Booth 1234 — Tiny Kitten Teeth
Booth 1237 — Penny Arcade
Booth 1330 — Blank Label
Booth 1337 — Dumbrella
Booth 2300 — Unshelved

As this list grows, we’ll just keep including it at the bottom of posts so that it doesn’t get in the way.

• Latest Web-Comics Auction for the Gulf Coast total: $1888.02, with most of the swing in just one or two items. Come on, people, there’s some real bargains still out there. NB: the Thursday tranche of offerings has not yet gone up.
• From the Webcomics Past department, Padraic Harley wrote:
  

  I was wondering if you folks know whatever happened to Matt Milby and his Malfunction Junction webcomic? It disappeared aaaages ago and myself and my friends still get pangs of missing it.

  Milby did some pretty good work and contributed a fair number of guest comics around 2006 – 2007 before completely dropping out of sight about two years ago. If anybody knows of Milby’s whereabouts, let him know that at least one fan is curious.

• Speaking of past webcomics experiences, I remember archive trawling my way through Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic a couple years ago; something about beholder home life made me chuckle, and you can never have too many beholders.

  Somewhere around strip 200 I had to go do something else and never got back to it. I noticed ’em at Archive Binge realized that the only way for YAFGC to be at 1502 updates would be to update pretty much without fail every day since. That was worth a trip over to the site, where I was pleased to see that the art has gotten sharper and more ambitious, the story arcs regularly run for hundreds of strips, and there’s now a book out.

  Volume One: The First Year covers exactly that — 366 comics by Rich Morris, who I now realize was the guy that did the ultimate in nerd-tastic tribute comicking, a 257-page Doctor Who epic that included all ten Doctors (as they were at the time) and every companion (again, as of the time of writing). Oh, and about a zillion other pages of comics, too.

  Given the sheer volume of comics (in different genres) that Morris is cranking out, a bit of sketchy, pencil-y work is entirely understandable (actually, it looks a bit like animation pencil tests, and the faces especially have a slightly exaggerated, animation feel to them, which is doubly understandable given that Morris lists his day job as storyboard artist). If fantasy gaming and Doctor Who aren’t your thing, there’s surely something here that will appeal to you. Check ’em out, and try not to spend more than five or six hours at a time crawling through back strips — it’s bad for your posture.

My faithful hound, even now, is sprawled across the A/C vent, hogging all the cold air for herself. Let’s think of other places with more temperate weather.

• For example, the Gulf Coast, which surely can’t be this unpleasant, the roiling waves of petrodeath aside. We’re into day three of the Web-Comics Auction for the Gulf Coast, and as of this writing the various auctions have reached a total of $1654.51, with several heavy hitters still to be listed, and 12 days to go before it all wraps up.
• One of those aforementioned heavy hitters? Brandon Bird. He’s part of a Law & Order-themed art show coming up at the end of the month (it largely coincides with San Diego Comic Con) called These Are Their Stories at Gallery Meltdown in LA, 24 – 30 July. I saw “part of”, in the sense that Bird is well known for this L&O themed work, and he’s pretty much the driving force behind this show and is contributing three of the nearly 50 pieces. Also part of TATS: Kate Beaton, Box Brown, Scott C, Carly Monardo, and Christopher Hastings.
• Speaking of Scott C and LA, his Great Showdowns artblog will be releasing a new print set of great showdowns via Galleries 1988; this will be in conjunction with G1988’s annual Crazy 4 Cult show, which starts Friday. Not only will Scott C prints be available, but ten originals of the showdowns will also be up for grabs.
• Speaking of San Diego (we were, couple items back), the first webcomics map for this year has dropped; one might be forgiven for thinking that webcomics at SDCC ’10 were all-Guigar all the time, but I’m sure we can fill in a few more of the numbers. Unfortunately, although the SDCC Exhibitor list is current as of today, it doesn’t yet feature booth numbers.

  Traditionally, space 1237 has been taken by Penny Arcade, 1330 by Blank Label and 1229 by Keenspot (which should make for an interesting neighborhood). 1231 was previously the Dayfree table, since acquired by TopatoCo, and 1337 (island, not shown) is where you can find Dumbrella. If you know of any other booth assignments with certainty, chime in.

It’s hot. And not in the good way, either. Think cool thoughts, chum, and here’s some webcomickry to help distract you from the fact that small dogs are spontaneously bursting into flame out on the sidewalk.

• Latin heartthrob Aaron Diaz tweeted up a storm of artistic advice last night; I’m not any kind of artist, so maybe I’m not the best person to judge the helpfulness, but these looked pretty good. Highlights included:
  Don’t overuse 1-point perspective. The most “common” or natural perspective is normally 2-point.

  Actually remembered some more essentials (bear with me): In digital painting, don’t use two base tones for faces/skin. It’s too small. You need warmer tones for tips of nose & ears, as blood vessels are closer to the surface. The paler the skin, the starker the redness.

  Good comics (imo) shouldn’t mimic photographs because a comic panel has to capture several moments. We have to exaggerate poses to convey it. This is why (generally but not always) photo comics come off as really stiff. They’re little slices that don’t convey action.

  If your characters are interacting with their environment in a panel, always render the environment first. This helps avoid “body floating.”

  I think it’s important to have the right balance of self-hatred (knowing everything you draw sucks) and ego (knowing you can get better). Estimate 87% self-hatred.

  There was lots more, and fortunately Diaz has semi-promised a more permanent archive of advice after next Dresden Codak update goes live (which should be this week).

• Jeff Zugale (creator of the most awesome painting ever) was also in wisdom mode, with advice to the working artist on the all-important topic of getting paid:
  Simple rule, artists: NEVER, EVER EVER work for anyone who can’t or won’t pay you upon completion, or within 30 days of it by contract. Exceptions to the simple rule: known good clients, work brought in by your agent, charitable contributions, and work you do for yourself.

  Also, artists: beware agreeing to “total fee” for the work up front. You leave yourself open to endless changes for which you won’t get paid.

  Real clients agree to pro payment terms without trouble. If their budget is small, they tell you, and you can offer simpler work, or pass.

• Back to comicking after a two-month hiatus: Max Huffman (no longer 15 years old, thank you very much), creator of Mocktopus, having successfully crowd-funded his new drawin’ computer. The laugh-chuckles resume here.
• Is it just me, or would a Pinkwater-scribed webcomic be just about average on the weirdness scale in our weird little medium? In any event, newspapers in 1989/1990 couldn’t handle what he was dishing out, but Shaenon Garrity is willing to share what we all missed out on.

I’m celebrating the end of both Order of Tales (two chapters, consisting of 81 full pages) and The Anime Club (part 5, 22 images, each with upwards of a dozen panels) with comprehensive re-readings of both epics.

Carly Monardo’s Web-Comics Auction for the Gulf Coast has gone live, with the first batch of six offerings now biddable. Each day until Friday, another five to seven pieces will go up, with the auctions running for ten days. Prices start at $5.00 (US) plus shipping, and people seem not to have noticed the auction is live yet, because there’s a Becky Dreistadt original gouache painting that’s presently going for six bucks. That won’t last long, but still — incredible bargains to be had in service to a good cause. By the end of the week, there will be 28 different auctions to browse, so scrape up all the spare cash you can and good luck to all the bidders.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have about a thousand pages of webcomics to re-read.

Let’s get this thing done — I gots grillin’ to do this weekend.

• Something I saw on Twitter last night that you might have missed:
  

  oops, I missed a few months when I transferred to the new site. I hit 3k two comics ago. Ah well, I’ll do a big strip for the 4,000th toon.

  Which, if my count is correct, would make this the 3000th update of The Devil’s Panties, complete with color. The list of webcomics long runners at the 3000 threshold appears to now number 12, and in a few weeks will hit 13. Well done Jennie Breeden, and (in three weeks) Dave Kellett.

• We’ve mentioned a number of the Meredith Gran Octotour dates here, and we’ve missed mentioning a few. What looks to be one of the larger signings will kick off on Tuesday, 7 July at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn. The fun starts at 7:00pm, and Gran will be joined by R Stevens, Jon Rosenberg, and Chris Hastings signing their own offerings, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see other webcomics luminaries drop in to say howdy. This is my local stop on Gran’s tour, and dammit, I can’t make it. Tuesday is EMS night, and if we get no calls I am gonna be pissed. Hear that, citizens? Get seriously sick and/or injured to justify my absence from this event.
• Blast from the past: it’s got to be five years now since Scotty Arsenault’s Commander Kitty went on a temporary hiatus that became pretty permanent. Yesterday I got an email from Arsenault informing me that the hiatus was over, and CK is back. There was a lot of goofy fun in those strips way back when, and the reboot seems to be just as enjoyable. Whether you ever read about the intrepid spacefaring felines before or not, take a moment to check out the all-new Commander Kitty.

Best wishes to the entire Canadian contingent of webcomicdom — it seems that every other person I know in this crazy community is/was/will be Canadian one way or another. Happy Canada Day to them all, and to you non-Canadians as well. In the heart of hearts, we’re all Canadian.

• News broke in the past few hours that Zudacomics has folded, effective now-ish; Zuda ended its competition format about two months back, and it looks like the new submission format won’t take place, at least not under the established name. From Ron Perazza’s blog post:
  

  It is the new DC Co-Publishers’ plan to expand submissions beyond just Zuda Comics and the Online group into a larger, more comprehensive system that covers all of DC Comics’ wide variety of needs, skills and interests. Jim and Dan are very excited about bringing in and developing new talent so look for more information about that from them as plans develop.

  As for the site, from here on out, Zuda Comics will be folded into DC Comics’ exciting, new Digital Publishing initiative. Expect more Zuda series to be released through the DC Comics and comiXology Apps, the Sony PSP and on both the comiXology website and, eventually, the main DC Comics website as well. You’ll be able to read all of your digital editions and manage your entire library in one place, whether DCU, Vertigo, WildStorm or Zuda. The goal there is convergence of technology and convergence of editorial.

  Not an unforseeable action to take, but I have to admit to a certain amount of … trepidation about that last sentence: The goal there is convergence of technology and convergence of editorial. While I haven’t seen anything announced regarding Zudastaff being shown the Zudadoor, I’ve worked for big corporations long enough to pick up on euphemism in public announcements, and right now convergence of editorial sounds a hell of a lot like Bob has decided to pursue other interests.

  It’s no secret that I thought that the competition model of Zuda wasn’t the best thing that [web]comics could develop, but everybody I’ve met associated with Zuda has been an absolutely stellar, professional, admirable person. Here’s hoping that in the condensation of the the imprint into regular ol’ DC, the individuals find their way to stable, rewarding work quickly.

• Speaking of uncertainty, something I saw yesterday may be of interest to those of you that process credit card transactions — starting today, small merchants are compelled to participate in a data-security initiative:
  

  From 1 July small and medium enterprises using electronic point of sale terminals and e-commerce systems need to reach basic compliance with an entry-level version of the standard or face higher merchant fees or, in extreme cases such as in the aftermath of security breaches, the withdrawal of merchant statuses.
  …
  Requirements include a mandate to build a secure network and protect cardholder data. Compliance is achieved by self-assessment for mom and pop shops processing less than 20,000 e-commerce transactions a year and compulsory external audits for e-commerce heavyweights.

  Those of you using Google Checkout or PayPal, it would appear the onus is on them, as they would be the actual payment processors. Creators with their own swipecard merchant accounts (hello, Square users) might think that 20 000 transactions a year is a lot (more than 50 transactions a day, after all), but they could add up quickly. If you’ve reached the point of establishing your own merchant account, make sure you read the fine print.

It’s absolutely gorgeous out, why am I at work? Wherever you are, take a peek outside and if it’s nice, close out the browser and go enjoy it for a half hour or so. I’ll still be here.

• Following up on the previously-reported screening of Sita Sings The Blues sponsored by our friends at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francicso, some additional information. As previously announced, the movie screens on Tuesday, 20 July (aka the day before Preview Night in San Diego); now we can share that the screening will be at 7pm (doors open at 6:30) at the Delancey Street Foundation Screening Room, located at 600 The Embarcadero; tickets are $25 in advance from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, $30 at the door. Tell Nina I said hi.
• The first ever “Feel Free To Say Hi If I’m Wearing A Dinosaur Comics Shirt Day, Woooooo!” apparently had some success, so Nexus of All Webcomics Realities (Canadian edition) Ryan North is declaring a second such day, this time with a bit more lead time and on the weekend so more people can find romance. Saturday, July 17th will be what is now officially named the annual “July Dinosaur Comics Check Out My Sweet Shirt, And Then Talk To Me Because I’m Awesome Day”.
• Another webcomic has crossed the decade mark; Darrell M. Stark wrote to remind us that today, June 30th, makes ten years of Breakpoint City by Brian Emling. I think you can count the number of webcomics that have managed such on two hands and zero feet, so well done Brian, and thanks for the reminder, Darrell.
• Not quite anniversaries, but two epic stories will be wrapping up next week: on Monday, 5 July Evan Dahm will be finishing Order of Tales with an update of 60-odd pages. Add it to the previously-completed Rice Boy, and Dahm has a couple zillion pages of affecting, weird, compelling story for you to enjoy.

  To make the day extra special, KC Green will on the same day post the final chapter of The Anime Club. For those of you that find Monday to be a holiday, you should find plenty of free time to read both sagas over in their entirety.

• Finally, nothing to do with webcomics, but I wanted to share this: from the TEDx conference held in Princeton earlier this year, the guys who provide me with drinks: Francis Schott and Mark Pascal on the value of old style social networks. Anybody passing through central New Jersey, I am always available to have a drink with you at their bars.

Chris Hastings art decorates Boy Scout shoulder patches. I will go so far to say that in the entire, century-long history of the Scouting movement, this is the first time that any one of a ninja/doctor, 12 year old bandito sidekick, raptor, gorilla, or explosion (!) have appeared on a council patch, much less all of them together. Hey, Chris, if you want to bring some of those to San Diego, I got some traders of my old council patches. They have, um, Thomas Edison on them?

In other news …

• David Malki ! cuts straight to the heart of engineering. I can see this going up on a lot of nerd school dorm room doors.
• Why is it always France that gives Andy Bell the chance to work large? Photos of his contributions to the Nouveaux Monstres show in a retrofitted submarine base in Saint-Nazaire, for your enjoyment.
• For those that caught the announcement of musical guests at Pax Prime that dropped last week, a correction. Your Labor Day weekend will include Anamanaguchi, Jonathan Coulton, Metroid Metal, The Minibosses, Paul and Storm, and The Protomen as previously announced, but somehow MC Frontalot was left off the list. Please adjust your expectations accordingly.
• Finally, a really nice overview of tablet PCs for artists by John Allison. I can’t recall seeing something this comprehensive before, so all those that want Cintiqish behavior in a portable form factor, give this a good read.

My wife’s back from a trip, so mine started looking up considerably when I picked her up at EWR.

• If you haven’t donated art to Carly Monardo’s Webcomics Auction for the Gulf Coast, I’d say you’re probably out of luck unless you get it to FedEx today. Deadline for submissions to be in Carly’s hands is day after tomorrow, but if you can manage it, you’ll be in some pretty impressive company — twenty-six creators by my count, including names like Beaton, Dreistadt, and Foglio. The bidding kicks off next Monday, 5 July.
• The more I read by Darryl Cunningham, the more I’m convinced I need to buy him a beer; he did the stellar bit of investigative cartooning (that is, representing the work of investigative journalists in cartoon form) on the history of the vicious lie linking autism and childhood vaccination.

  Cunningham is back with another blow for rationality, in the form of a 19 page strip on homeopathy, and how buying into its promise requires a complete rejection of evidence-based … I was going to say “medicine”, and then “science”, but really, the only appropriate word is “reality”. It’s a good ‘un.

• A couple of days ago, I read a plaintive tweet that worried that Nice Pete was “going to do the murders to Téodor” (can’t find it right now; add a comment if you know who wrote it), and given recent events, it was hard to dispute that such might be Nice Pete’s dark intent. Then again, an earlier creepy ride in Nice Pete’s murder van actually arrived at a super-secret ice cream shop, so maybe things aren’t so bad?

  But just how bad things could get wasn’t revealed until today — I can’t tell if Nice Pete is hallucinating the whole thing, or if he really is a thrall of his own shadow. Does this make him more or less of a sociopath? Regardless how much he and I may agree on the subject of Rachel Ray, I must say that he is lately proving himself not very Nice at all.

• Notability, ho. Friend o’ Fleen (and good-natured recipient of my Land of the Lost jokes) Rick Marshall took some time out from wrangling comics news at MTV’s Splash Page to guest-write the pop culture blog over at USA Today; lots of love for the webcomics packed into his column, including an inexplicable mention of your humble hack webcomics pseudo-journalist in the company of some giants of the medium (and he spelled my name correctly, which nobody ever does. He hearts me!).