Okay, so this was going to go up today, notifying you that Commissioner James Gordon previously noted on this page as vying for the office of Cutest Dog, was into the semi-final voting and needed your support.

But we’ve recently received word that voting was only to occur Sunday night. The reasons for this are not clear at this time, but screw that. If you’re reading this, I don’t think that it’s still Sunday where you are, but it appears you can vote still for Gordon. As of this writing, Gordon has approximately 5400 votes and his nearest competitor 4000, but this is no time to be complacent; if he makes it to the finals it will put Chris Hastings and Carly Monardo that much closer to paying for their wedding and having something even more important.

That’s actually what I wanted to talk about, if you’ll indulge me. Some people in the contest are pledging their winnings (if they win) to various causes (most notably, to the shelter where week 12 winner and currently second-in-vote-totals Little Bitsy was rescued). There was apparently a lot of talk on the forums of the competition site about whether or not a particular dog “deserved” to win based on where the money might go.

You know what? There’s a lot of places that a million dollars might to a lot of good, more than Chris & Carly’s bank account, more than a shelter. My volunteer EMS agency is perpetually underfunded, and that $33,000/year would make good on our insurance payments (although even at implausibly low rates of premium growth, we’d be falling behind by year 22) but not even come close to clearing our operational expenses (much less capital expenses — you have any idea how much an ambulance costs?).

Point being, the contest itself is, by definition, a frivolous thing. The prize will not Carly and Chris sit back in unearned luxury while poolboys and cabana girls feed them peeled grapes. By itself, it would just about come to married couple only needs one roommate to make rent stage in Brooklyn. But it would give them something most artists can only dream of — a safety cushion to their income for the next couple of decades (head over here for the story of another artist who just achieved the same). There’s a lot of things I’d give a million dollars to in an ideal world, but if one of them is ensuring some talented people (who entertain me for free) don’t have to worry about whether they can pay for health care? That’s a pretty good start.

Frankly, since the rules say that the votes at this stage are only guidance to the judges, I fully expect that the grand prize will go to one of the I’ll give it to the shelter dogs. However, $5000 for making it to the final stage would make a nice dent in the Monardo/Hastings wedding bills, so let’s see if we can start there.

• In other news, damn you, Randall Munroe. My eyes are bad enough without you foisting that monstrosity onto us. I thought I’d never have to see another animated guy working/site under construction GIF.
• For those of you that didn’t listen to NPR’s On The Media this weekend, it was all about the music industry and its current tribulations. Nice piece towards the end of the hour about Amanda Palmer and her contention that artists have to get over their reluctance to say to their audience, I want you to give me money. Those seeking to make a living from their art, give it a good listen.

Hope you got your comfy shoes on today, we’ve got some travellin’ to do.

• From the muck and mire known as copyright law, a musing on the Shepard Fairey case and the extent of Fair Use from Leah Riley; in a previous stage of life, Leah was one of the movers-slash-shakers at Lulu, and thus had plenty of context to consider the various interests that must be balanced as we consider who owns what ideas (and what expressions of those ideas). As she asks about the current state of copyright (vis à vis large institutions vs individuals):
  

  Has copyright law changed substantially?
  Has the attitude of businesses towards artists changed?
  Has the public’s attitude towards artist’s rights changed?

  Also a nice reading list for you about the state of copyright and Fair Use. Creators, take note.

• From the far side of the Pacific Ocean, an interview with Rumiko Takahashi, the woman with probably more eyeballs on her comics over the last thirty years or so than anybody else currently alive. Seriously, every ongoing story that she’s thought up — Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, Inu Yasha — has run in print for five or ten years, spawned multi-year TV series, and original films (five or six for UY, if my memory serves me correctly).

  The proximate cause of this interview is the publication of the first print collection of her latest series, Rin-Ne, which is released online for free (and in print simultaneously in English and Japanese). As a twenty-year fan of Takahashi’s work, not having to wait years for translated versions to become available is pretty awesome … and as much as I’m enjoying Rin-Ne online, the reader is a it clunky, and the first eight chapters (to be found in print volume 1, released two days ago) are now pulled.

  Interesting model, treating the online much like the phonebook-sized manga anthologies that release weekly in Japan, but are seen as a disposable means of driving readers to the collections. It’s pretty unlikely that this model could work for anybody with less of a built-in audience, though it doesn’t hurt that a weekly “update” of Rin-Ne is actually a full chapter of 18 – 24 pages, often with the first 4 – 6 in color.

  I’m also thinking that at some point, the archive may become deep enough that it’s impractical for a new reader to collect all the in-print volumes and get caught up on all the backstory, but one thing that Takahashi is very good at is providing frequent jumping-on points for new readers (something most American comics authors don’t have so good a handle on — remember, every issue/update/arc is somebody’s first introduction to your story and needs to allow new readers an easy entry).

• From the depths of Europe, an email:
  

  Hi! This is Eugen, from Fredo & Pid’jin. It’s a humor webcomic about two white pigeons on a mission to bring The End. You may not have heard about us, but we’re huge in Romania, which almost means something.

  Not just big in Romania, but also apparently sponsored by the local branch of Adobe, so that’s something right there. It’s easy to read, in that creators Eugen Erhan and Tudor Muscalu have a way with languge and cultural references that aren’t readily distinguishable from any random Americans in the youthful demographic. If you’re of the mindset that Romanian creators should provide a distinctly Romanian sensibility and cultural perspective, you’re outta luck; Fredo & Pid’jin reads like Pinky And The Brain Minus Pinky With Another The Brain and it’s real easy to believe it was put together by creators born & raised in North America.

  I don’t get the feeling that Erhan and Muscalu feel that they have to work with an American voice to gain an audience; the smartassery and humor are too unforced and the rhythms of the gags too natural. Grab a random strip (here’s one, and another, and another) and you’re likely to find something absurdly, rudely funny. Not groundbreaking, but it is an accomplished presentation of a familiar artform from an unexpected quarter. That’s gotta mean more than just something.

If Chris Onstad wrote nothing more than alt-text for Achewood, it would still be better than most of what’s on the internet. The Lash of Thanatos kind of petered out at the end, but the very next strip (on strip-club etiquette) started a chain of events that led to Todd becoming Kim Jong-Il’s flunky in a new country called PEOPLE’S KINGDOM OF ECSTACY AND WRATH! (complete with Malkian exclamation point) in an early-80s text adventure game. Also, there is a van, and peeling out. Reading back over the past month, it’s perfectly logical that we wound up here.

• Couple things are probably pretty likely if you read this-here blog:
  1. You are aware of the fine work done by the Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco (guy in charge: Andrew Farago)
  2. You are a fan of Pixar‘s work (readers of good conscience may disagree on Cars)

  Bunky, you are about to see those two things combined:

  The Cartoon Art Museum is delighted to host its sixth annual benefit on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at Pixar Animation Studios. This year, there are two great ways to experience the magic of Pixar up close and personal at the studio’s Emeryville home:

  The Family Fun Tier (1:00 pm – 4:00 pm)

  Entry includes the chance to get up close and personal to rarely seen Toy Story art, sculptures, and other items from the Pixar archives and experience a gallery exhibition featuring stunning pre-production artwork from Up. [M]embers will also be able to participate in a Silent Auction to bid on original and signed works by Pixar creators. Pixar artists will be on hand to teach kids how to draw Pixar characters ,[and] a selection of Pixar short films will be showing in Pixar’s state-of-the-art screening room in a continuous loop.

  Tickets are $35 for an individual or $100 for a Family Four Pack, which includes entry for 2 adults and 2 children under 18 (or 1 adult and 3 children).

  The VIP Screening Tier (11:00 am — 4:00 pm)

  Entry includes access to everything from the Family Fun Tier plus access to Pixar’s Studio Store where guests can purchase Pixar items at employee prices.The centerpiece of the event is a noon time 3D screening that includes the rarely seen Cars toon Tokyo Mater, and the feature film Toy Story 2, hosted by Dr. Michael B. Johnson (Pixarian and CAM board member), who will lead a Q&A session along with several other Toy Story 2 crew members. The VIP Screening Tier also includes an offering of light lunchtime snacks, treats and conversation with the speakers and other Pixar employees.

  Cartoon Art Museum members can purchase tickets for the reduced rate of $99, while the non-member rate is $149. Call 415-227-8666, ext. 300 to purchase tickets. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

  Days like this, I’m almost wishing I lived out on the left coast (although, my company used to be headquartered in Emeryville right next to Pixar, and is still in the Bay Area … hmmmm …).

• I know all about the CAM/Pixar event because I’m on Farago’s press release list; not everything he sends me is of interest to this blog’s purpose, but they’re always well-written and to-the-point, so I pay attention to them. The other way to get attention is to … well, see for yourself below the cut. Just keep in mind that wacky for wackiness’ sake can lead to one (i.e.: me) to contemplate the difference between good attention and bad attention. You have been warned.

(more…)

Okay, it’s not a “report” in the traditional sense, but it surely is the definitive account of webcomics at APE. Kate Beaton once again wins at everything. Also, I very much want one of these thank you.

• In other news, life is getting pretty spookifying, what with Halloween coming up and all (and wouldn’t you know it, I’m on EMT duty that weekend, while all the rest of you will be getting drunk and dressing up like sexy cops, sexy ninjas, and sexy Weedmaster P). To celebrate, Split Lip (the horror webcomic specialists) are releasing a new comic and a new contest.

  The comic, Termites in Your Smile, is the tale of a two-timing law student, the women in his life, and a ghostly, ghastly revenge; the contest involves the giveaway of Split Lip Volume 1 (a sampler of the macabre) to as many as ten lucky winners on Twitter and Facebook.

• Quick followup: K-9Lives, an animated short with webcomic roots did pretty well at the Marbella International Film Festival; let’s let creator Doug Wilson share the news:
  

  K-9Lives was nominated for best animation at Marbella International Film Festival alongside Leonardo by Pixar artist Jim Capobianco, and Body by Zhivko Dimitrov an MA alumni from St Martins College in London.

  That’ll do, little dog-attached-to-a-cat, that’ll do. For more information, see Wilson’s festival diary entries.

• Know who’s always looking out for the community (such as it is)? Xaviar Xerexes. Guy’s gone ahead and created one a’ them resources that everybody into comickry is going to find helpful, a Google Calendar of upcoming comics event-type things; go to the main page at ComixTalk and click on the “Members” tab over to the right.

  Now the thing is, he put the damn thing up, which means that he’s going to become the de facto data entry maintainer guy for this calendar, and that’s gonna suck for him. So I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if you want to help keep the calendar up to date (that is, you’re amenable to getting flooded with press releases once word of this thing gets out), are a reliable sort (that is, you won’t flake out after saying you want to help) and are a skilled communicator (that is, you can spell and use proper punctuation on a regular basis), go ahead and drop an email via that contact link over there to the right, and I’ll forward the lot of you onto XX-Man.

See that up there? That is the wedding cake of David Malki ! and Nikki Rice from a few years back. It’s not the anniversary of the event or anything, but Mr Press Release (seriously, get yourself on the TopatoCo press release list, because those things that Malki ! writes are freakin’ hilarious; they are the only ones that reward you for reading all the way to the bottom¹) saw fit to share it with the world, and I share it with you because it is the coolest cake ever that could only be improved by the little bride figure kicking one of the black-clad agents of doom in the face.

• Similarly, this world was rocked on this day in both 1976 and 1980 as John Allison and Ryan North were born (or, as rumo[u]r would have it, sprung fully formed from the forehead of Zeus) in, respectively, Englishland and Canadia. Fleen wishes a very happy birthday to both.
• And blasting forth into the marketplace are not one, but two separate books from Tyler Page. Up first, the second volume of Nothing Better, which remains the benchmark for headin’ off to college storytelling. When last we left our intrepid heroines Kat and Jane, they had just come to the uneasy realization that sometimes the Freshman Roomie Match-o-Tron does a better job than either would be willing to admit; with semester one part-way over, school rhythms starting to gel, and old lives starting to drift further away, the real work of growin’ up in Ermerica can begin. It’s my very next webcomics purchase, you betcha.

  Second, you got The Saga of Rob Harvard, the first publication culled from Page’s daily sketchblog, and the first (only, really) extended story arc from that creative stew. This one is hand-bound and limited to 250 copies, so get it while the getting’s good if you really want it. Both The Saga of Rob Harvard and Nothing Better Vol 2: Into the Wild are available now in the Stylish Vittles store (along with NB volume 1, for those needing to catch up).

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¹ Case in point, from a recent release authored by Mr Malki !:

ABOUT TOPATOCO / www.topatoco.com
Founded in 2003 by maverick cowboy cyber cartoonist Jeffrey Rowland, TopatoCo handles the production and fulfillment of licensed merchandise for over forty independent artists and entrepreneurs. TopatoCo is the exclusive online retailer for dozens of the comics world’s most popular online brands and maintains a commitment to helping content creators worldwide establish sustainable careers from their art. TopatoCo was also the first corporation in Massachusetts to get super scared of a wolf this one time, but in its defense, it was a really scary wolf.

Where to start?

• Perhaps with the almost-overlooked PC Weenies anniversary? Turns out that you won’t be able to see those first efforts, since the current site only goes back to the retooling of January Aught-Eight, but there it is: Krishna Sadasivam’s been using the same characters to poke fun at kohm-puu-tars since October 1998, which is about 93 years in internet time.
• The long wait for new Erfworld strips is finally coming to a close; as of this writing, the site is down (presumably for retooling), but expect to see the new “book” start soon, with a new artist, and a new model: twenty-five pages equals a book, short texty interludes between books; by that model, “Book One” was actually about six books worth (and, coincidentally, will be available from Giant In The Playground early next year in dead-tree form).
• APE happened, and the news was joyous as a sizeable portion of the TopatoCo roster (including all of the ruling junta) plopped themselves in a limo and toasted, Here’s to stumbling ass-backwards into good decisions. Big Apple Comic Con also happened, and the news was decidedly more mixed, with none of the major comics publishers present, one of the two “biggest” draws (Gary Coleman) not showing (that building-super job must have kept him too busy) and the show’s management announcing that next year, BACC will take place the same dates as New York Comic Con (which has made a pretty good name for itself in only four iterations). So, webcomickers — NYCC or BACC, and why?
• Tweeted this AM: Templar, AZ books to be distributed by Last Gasp, which ought to make them available anywhere that artcomix are to be found. Whoa.
• John Baird of Create A Comic Project (oft-featured in these pages) sends word of interest to all New York City area comickers of all stripes:
  

  LearnPlay is looking to bring a series of speakers to Teachers College at Columbia University to speak on the combination of comics and education. The monthly speaker series starts in November and will go through April.

  LearnPlay is TC’s student organization for the research and development of educational games and activities, including comic making. If you’re interested, please contact LearnPlay’s president, John Baird, at jlb2226 at columbia dot edu.

  Okay, everybody else who is not in charge of multiple educational/outreach programs for kids? You’re officially slackers now. Baird’s the man.

And that’s it for today. Nothing else going on in webcomics, nope. Aaaaaaabsolutely nothing. Move along, and don’t bother to click on that completely non-descript link that leads nowhere.

(more…)

Per an email I received yesterday, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art is doing a children’s programming track at Big Apple Comic Con (which is going on as you read this), by partnering with the con’s sponsors, MFTW¹ Entertainment. You may insert your own joke about MFTW Entertainment producing anything that child-appropriate here.

• The big Chris Yates secret project list that we hinted at yesterday is now live, and we at Fleen can now reveal exclusively, from a conversation that took place over beers in San Diego, that one of these projects is TRUE. That’s right, the yak that’s going to star in ЖYPMblH HEXeP is named “Batukhan”. Scoop!
• Speaking of secrets revealed, this was all secret yesterday if you don’t follow Kris Straub‘s twitterfeed, but there is now an Ichor Falls book available for purchase, just in time for Halloween. Those with weak constitutions are warned that this books is likely very scarifying, and should approach it with caution. Also, please stay the hell away from that particular corner of West Virginia, no matter how polite the realtor seems.
• You guys have seen Kickstarter, right? Got a project you want to run, but you need funding, so people can pledge to you, and if you don’t get enough nobody pays up anything? Think Grameen Bank for the first world. Friend of Fleen (and sporting bet nemesis) Goron McAlpin‘s using it for a Multiplex book, and he’s now being joined from the webcomics world by Templar, AZ creator Spike as she seeks to revive a project on Modern Livin’ On The Cheap:
  

  Poorcraft is a project I’ve been thinking about for years. No one gets into comics for the money (no one with a clue, anyway), so I got an involuntary crash course in the discipline after I left school. I’ve learned a lot about poorcraft since then, most of it the hard way.

  Over time, I’ve noticed people who read comics are often people who want to make comics. But aspiring creative types are pretty easily discouraged by the specter of the “starving artist.” It doesn’t have to be that way! And not enough people realize that.

  So, I want to make a book. A comic book, naturally. Full color cover, black and white interior, 100-120 pages, with a $10.00 cover price. And at least 75% of that book would be comics. Comics about housing, food, entertainment, education, travel/transportation, health care, and employment, and doing all those things on a dime.

  Diana and myself have a six-month schedule from a successful Kickstart to publishing. Production-wise, the book is already outlined and ready for scripting. The $6,000 I’m asking for would go towards paying Diana [Nock, the illustrator] a fair price for her work, and publishing costs.

  As of this writing, Poorcraft has 71 backers worth nearly $1200 of pledges, a little more than 12 hours into the three-month fundraising window. Oh, and McAlpin will be on Fanboy Radio’s The Indie Show this Sunday, on a Kickstarter-themed broadcast.

• Euro-folks! Talented creators from Transmission-X are going to be stomping around your fair continent, and now there’s tour dates up for Ramón Pérez, Cameron Stewart, and Karl Kerschl (this might explain why Stewart’s Sin Titulo is hiatusing just as we’re hitting big developments, dang).

  Anyhoo, the tour swings through Portugal, France, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, and England, with at least three festival appearances. Quick hint for the happy travellers: one of my all-time top-five comic shops is near the canalfront in Ghent. Bigger, more comprehensive selection of English-language comics than most shops in the US, and then all the bande dessinée. Oh, it was glorious. Speaking of which, block out an afternoon for the CBBD in Brussels, and check out all the public comics art in the city (my favorite: a reproduction of a Blake et Mortimer cover on the entire side of a building.

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¹ Megan Fox Tits Wolverine, of course.

I might be the only one, but I miss the discontinued theme song to The Sound of Young America, a radio show about things that are awesome, hosted by America’s Radio Sweetheart, Jesse Thorn.

Readers with a good memory will recall that we have spoken about Mr Thorn previously on this page, and that he’s generally the best interviewer in the radio business right now. I can think of no demographic crying out for lengthy interviews with hip-hop artists less than that of public radio listeners, yet that’s exactly who Jesse provides them for — and interviews with comedians, writers, and the odd (sometimes very odd) webcomicker or two. He keeps a statistically older/whiter-than-the-median audience listening to people they don’t have a pre-existing interest in because he’s that damn good.

And now, Thorn and his general awesomporium have a new storefront provided by TopatoCo. When we spoke with Holly Post, VP of TopatoCo a while back, there was an unused bit from that interview where she mentioned (all offhand-like) that there were people that create stuff on the internet that’s not webcomickers that they might find to be a good fit. At the time, I figured she was talking about, say, Brandon Bird, but now I see that they were thinking bigger. Congratulations to all involved.

• Chris Yates has schemes, which apparently he might share some hint of tomorrow. We at Fleen have heard some reports of what could be Very Big News, and are just waiting for confirmation; will Yates, in fact, tell us about how he’s getting ready to make ***-*** ****** ******* for a major, international ****** *******? Watch his strip and this space for updates.
• Gunerkrigg Court‘s first book got really delayed as its publisher had cash-flow problems; now that those are sorted, we can look for volume 2 next month. To celebrate, creator Tom Siddell is talking with CBR about the forthcoming volume.
• For the past week or so, Joey Manley has been holding forth on how to make it in the world of webcomics, but today’s musing on the topic is the one you need to read — it’s why it’s flat-out impossible for you to achieve success in webcomickry:
  

  Have you given up yet? Good. Because if I was able to talk you out of it so easily, with one stupid blog post, then you didn’t have what it takes. Not everybody gets to make a living at webcomics, because not everybody is talented enough and determined enough to do so. And guess what? That’s just fine. You’re better off where you are. Making a living at webcomics is hard, it’s unlikely, it’s the most impossible thing you could ever decide to do for a living, and in order to stand a chance you have to want it so badly that you’re willing to push through anything, anybody, any time, push beyond human reason and common sense, and then push a little harder, even, than that, if you’re going to really commit yourself to the grueling effort that is required to succeed at webcomics (or at any art, but maybe especially webcomics).

  Hint: Don’t stop reading until you reach the end.

First, a little visual Wow. For everybody that’s ever asked, “Why webcomics? What can they do that’s so special?”, Rich Stevens has your answer hangin’, boy.¹

• Next, a little financial Wow[io], with news that WOWIO payments for Q2 of 2008 are going out. Chris Crosby informs me that a sizeable sum has been presented via check (edit to correct: actually, it was a wire transfer; Fleen regrets the error) to settle back payments owed in full, plus a little extra for interest. The optimist in me is thrilled for creators finally getting paid what they’re due. The realist in me hopes the next Great Thing doesn’t leave them hanging for more than a year. The cynic in me is astonished that previous securities filings hinting that payments would never come were overly pessimistic. And none of them would never dream of suggesting that checks be deposited quickly.
• Charitable Wow up next: Nick Nitro emailed to tell me about his cousin, Amie Morgan, founder of Amie’s Angels:
  

  Relay for Life team. Created by Amie Morgan when she found out she had been diagnosed with cancer, Amie’s Angels has helped raised more than $75k for the American Cancel Society’s Madison County [Ohio] Relay for Life, upon many other activities such as volunteering at the Arthur James Cancer Hospital assisting other head and neck cancer patients.

  Ms Morgan died after five years of fighting bone cancer this summer; at Mid-Ohio Con few weeks ago, Mr Nitro got a buncha creators to do up a piece of jam art to benefit Amie’s Angels as they continue to raise funds to kick cancer’s ass. No reserve, and three days left to go. Let’s bid this one up, shall we?

• Ubiquitous Wow: Jenny Everywhere caption contest coming down to the home stretch. Did we mention this before? If we didn’t we should have, since the very idea of an open source cartoon character is just so neat. I first encountered Ms Everywhere in the pages of a now-discontinued offering of Graphic Smash variously known as Flick, Kokonino, The Chaos Prince, The Crossover Thingie, etc; elements of it can still be found here. She’s literally everywhere, though, and you may use her in your own webcomic if you so wish, as long as you include the following text:
  

  The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed.

  Go to it.

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¹ ‘Long wit a two-week supply of IGNINT McNUGGET, de breakfast o’ champiums!

Character art by Scott Kurtz, background art, voices, Blamimation by Kris Straub, inspiration by David Mamet. Welcome to the Harvey Awards, ladles and jenglemints. For a list of Kurtz’s intro gags, see Webcomics.com; I myself will now only refer to that magazine as Megan Fox Tits Wolverine.

• Super Art Fight 5 meets the The Brady Bunch: GO!
• Alternative Press Expo: this weekend, mess o’ webcomickers, including what I believe is the first show with Topatoco‘s new artists on a signing schedule approach. No promises, but this may mean that some famously grumpy webcomickers are less so. Yeah, I know, empty words. Have hope.
• Interviews! Julia Wertz talks with a university-affiliated, independent creator-focused literary review, and Randall Munroe talks books with Comics Alliance (which really has become the best all-around comics info and snark to be found on the webs today).