Noted on the front page of Modern Tales:

American Born Chinese nominated for National Book Award
October 11th, 2006
Posted By: Joey Manley
The book collection of American Born Chinese (one of the original Modern Tales strips) by Gene Yang has been nominated for the National Book Award in the category of “Young People’s Literature.â€? This is a very big deal. It’s probably the most prestigious American literary award. When I was in creative writing school, anyway, everybody I knew (teachers and students alike) all paid a lot more attention to the National Book Award than, for example, the Pulitzer. Congrats, Gene! Good luck!”

To add to what Manley said just a little, the National Book Awards have never previously recognized a piece of graphic literature for consideration — not MAUS, not Blankets, nothing. This is not just a presitigious situation that Yang has earned for himself, it’s unprecedented. My only quibble (and it’s a minor one) is that somebody at the National Book Foundation may still be hung up on the idea pictures = kids, with the result that the nomination was not in the category of “Fiction”.

If you haven’t read ABC yet (and why the hell not?), you’ve been missing a real treat. I don’t know if any mention of the fact that it’s a) graphic fiction; or b) originated on the web will make it into the awards ceremony next month, but we know the score. Please add your congratulations to those of Manley and the Modern Tales family, Fleen, and all those who love this crazy medium. I can’t think of a more deserving nominee.

As promised yesterday, the Third Annual Stumptown Comics Fest is kicking off at the end of the month in Portland, OR; as a relatively new event, this one has fallen a bit below the radar, but to me, it seems like a Pacific Northwest version of MoCCA. Check out the attendees list, which includes Christopher Baldwin, Vera Brosgol, Kazu Kibuishi, Jenn Manley Lee, David Malki !, Dylan Meconis, Kevin Moore, Los Bros Smith, Colleen AF Venable, and Chris Yates. Plus, the other Dinosaur Comics.

If you make it to SPX in Bethesda this weekend, something you might want to check out would be the stage production of Get Your War On, playing in DC through Saturday. Yesterday’s Washington Post had a hell of a good review of the show.

And if you can’t make it to SPX this weekend, there’s a good chance it’s because you’re at the launch party for Andy Bell‘s new Psycho Zliks toys in Manhattan. It’s a little early for Halloween, but knowing Bell’s work, you’ll still have that creeped-out, not-so-fresh feeling in 2½ weeks.

Beats me.

Much motion in the world of webcomics today. From the Science Desk, Randall Munroe of xkcd is now (at least temporarily) a full-time comics/t-shirts guy. NASA doesn’t know what it’s lost.

From the T-Shirt Desk, hot on the heels of last week’s prestigious STFRITDFTS Award, (the “Stfritty”), Jeph Jacques is at it again. Something in his brain just produces content that people want to wear, in a legible 100% cotton form, on their bodies. If we could harness this subconscious tapping-in of the zeitgeist, we could rule the world and oppress all living things. And by “we”, I mean “I”.

Speaking of oppressing all living things, Jennie Breeden (comicker, entrepreneur, and threat to all that is good and innocent) is asking for your help. If you recognize any of the men she blew with the aid of lawn-care machinery, have them contact her. She needs release forms signed, because there’s going to be a Men In Kilts calendar. This thought is horrifying and thoroughly intriguing at the same time; Breeden is to be congratulated for thinking so far out of the box that it can no longer be seen. One can only hope that we will be saved in the nick of time.

Speaking of the nick of time, Christopher Livingston’s Concerned is approaching the end of its pre-defined story. Will Livingston continue his Half-Life themed humorfest into the Lost Coast or Episode 1 content? Is this the untimely end of Milhouse? Whatever happens to the stalwart Gordon Frohman, one can only hope that things turn out well for him, and he finds his way to a happy place with friends.

And speaking of Milhous[e], david malki ! writes to inform us:

Hey guys, FYI Alien Loves Predator has officially become part of the Playground Ghosts collective.

Um, I would forward you a press release but there isn’t much more to say! Here I will write one right now.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ultra-amazing action-figure-based electriphotographicomick Alien Loves Predator has become a part of the Playground Ghosts webcomics collective.

Bernie Hou’s twice-weekly comic details the humourous adventures of the titular extraterrestrial, who live as roommates in New York City. The comic is freaking hilarious.

“I am happy to be a part of the Playground Ghosts,” Hou said, “whatever that is.”

The Playground Ghosts is a network of webcomics that includes Acid Keg, Fluff in Brooklyn, PIXEL, Reprographics, and Wondermark. It was founded in 1974 by then-President Richard M. Nixon as a federal exploratory program designed to combat the masses of Soviet webcomics then flooding the Internet.

Reached for comment, Kremlin spokesperson Ivana Gohome remarked, “где мой Ñ?лон?”

And, finally, speaking of Playground Ghosts, their website notes that members will be representing at SPX this weekend, and Stumptown at the end of the month, about which more tomorrow.

Something interesting over at Melonpool today. Let’s let Steve Troop explain, from an email he sent us on Friday:

After months of puppet-related hijinks, I’ve been getting the itch to draw again, so …

The comic’s coming back following my participation in the 24 Hour Comic Challenge on Saturday. Whatever is created that day will go on the site, one a day until that’s depleted.

If it goes well and revitalizes me, I’ll do a 24-hour comic in this manner once a month and post it M-F. If it has the opposite effect, I’ll probably hang up the brush and ink for good.

… and this morning:

Welp. I finished in 17 hours and am mostly-pleased with the 24 pages I produced. I was the third person to finish at my location (The Comic Bug in Los Angeles), and will probably do it there again next year. If you’ve never participated in one of these events, by all means do — or at least check it out.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it currently, but it IS the first Melonpool story in about a year, so I should make a cover for it and release it through Lulu. Or maybe online. We’ll see. ;)

The point is, of course, that the rumors of my retirement from comics may have been over-exaggerated. ;)

So there’s new Melonpool for the next 24 days; if you like what Troop’s doing, let him know. It would be interesting to see what happens if a webcomic were to be released only in 24-hour format — I can’t think of anybody else that’s considered doing this to himself on a monthly basis (Scott Kurtz can tell you that even as an annual event it’s a strain on mind and body).

In a related vein, William G has an interesting post on longform story comics, up at his blog. Reader’s Digest version: Bang Barstal will henceforth be updated monthly, but as a full, self-contained, 12-page story (in B&W; I’ll be sorry to see Bang’s baby blues go away). It’s not a masochistic as doing a 24 hour comic once a month, and the results will be presented all at once instead of doled out over a period of time; if Troop decides to forge ahead, consider this the companion in the new-ways-of-producing-webcomics experiment. So set your alarms for 25 November (Thanksgiving weekend, for you ‘Mericans out there), ’cause that’s when we see what hits.

This page has previously conducted interviews with Dave Kellett, one of the smarter guys in [web]comics, on the topic of newspaper syndication and the web. It’s been a while since we heard from Dave, so it’s nice to see that Wizard is continuing its series of talks with webcomics creators. As usual, he’s got some good stuff to say about syndication:

United Media has been good, but not great, because their online business model is flawed.

and about the freedom of the web:

I had always created Sheldon with the intention of going to a syndicate. So it always had fairly strong self-censorship in terms of the newspaper style. And in fact the readership in general since then has been pretty family friendly, so I don’t know that I’ll change that much when I go back independent. But I’m starting a second strip online in January. That one, having launched purely on the Web, will probably have more of an adult feel to it, or at least less of a newspaper feel.

What caught my eye (besides the part where he calls Bill Barnes a bastard) was this snippet, about his immediate plans:
about his plans:

I’m the head writer for Mattel Toys, so I name all the toys and write all the stories. I do that sort of stuff. After January, though, I’m going to be leaving Mattel and just being a cartoonist.

We’ve seen a number of creators in webcomics go full-time, either from loss of the day job, or a period of transition culminating in the announcement “I’m a full-time cartoonist now.” This is the first time I’ve seen a creator pre-announce it, though, and it’s exciting to think that webcomics have grown to the point that a plan can be made and it can be said, “I will do this on this particular date.”

On a side note, I always wondered who it was that thought it was a plausible tale that Barbie pays for all those Porsches and Dream Houses on a regular salary, and now I know. Seriously, Dave, does Mattel think we’re stupid? I’ve got $20 American cash money for you if you give us the real story just before you leave. Actually, I’d be willing to pay considerably more than that for a Barbie mint-in-box that says the wardrobe was a “gift” from a “special friend” who made his money in the oilfields; he didn’t find his fourth wife “exciting” anymore, but really likes “play time” and “parties” with Barbie and Skipper (and Ken watches).

Extra special bonus backup news item: The award for Shortest Time From Random Image To Demand For The T-Shirt goes to the customer base of Jeph Jacques. From initial posting of the image to pre-orders took about 25 hours and 4 minutes.

Item! Over Graphic Smash way, the second story arc of Bang Barstal by The William G wrapped up. The more I read of this one, the more I like it — it’s got a vibe like Matt Wagner’s MAGE with a Mojo Nixon soundtrack. The art style nicely meshes with the story, and the titular hero has been showing some surprising depths of late. And for a story that promises to make the “post-apocalyptic world better by hitting things”, this story ends on an unexpectedly cheery note. Don’t let any personal, umm, impressions of the creator steer you away from reading this one; you’ve got until next month to catch up with the first two stories before it comes back from hiatus.

Item! The Toronto Man-Mountain is gonna try to break a world record in just a couple of weeks, and you can help! From the voice of T-Rex himself:

On Saturday October 21st (the day after my birthday!), my brother and I will be getting up early and climbing the very tallest building in the world on foot. It is to raise money for the United Way. If you want you can sponsor me here and Victor here if you want but you don’t have to! I am trying to do it in record time because I am tall and have long legs so I am hoping to take the 1776 stairs three at a time.

And for the record, because some have asked, I do not believe that the third panel of today’s comic refers to me. Thank you.

Item! Starting today, the Family McCloud begins Hell Week-And-A-Half. In a couple of hours, Scott does his talk at Princeton, and tomorrow features some class visits and a trip to Manhattan. Saturday is 24 Hour Comics Day, cut short by a flight to Barcelona. Thursday is the return to American shores, followed by a fast drive to Bethesda, Maryland for SPX and Washington, DC for a bookstore signing. Finally, somewhere around the 15th, it’s up to Vermont and the possibility of breath-catching. After this little stretch, the rest of the World Tour should be a cakewalk. If you happen to see this family in the next ten days or so, offer ’em a backrub or something (but don’t be surprised if they politely decline in favor of the sleep of the just).

Update: Howard Tayler reports that the beta was so successful that as of about 10:00 AM EST today, testing has concluded. If you didn’t get in on the bargain price already, you missed it. On the bright side, pre-orders for SM book 2 will open at 10:00 AM EST on 17 Oct.

Ever want to be a beta-tester, without all the tiresome NDAs?

Howard Tayler is testing a new storefront, and he needs your help. Between now and sometime Monday, order the first Schlock Mercenary book and you’ll get a third off the regular price, plus you’ll help Tayler shake out any bugs in the system.

Got an interesting email ‘tother day from a gentleman named SuiZ. Allow me to quote:

I quit. Some time ago I found out I had little time to do comics along everything else I already do.

Recently I’ve been thinking about jumping back into the bandwagon with what was my flagship comic at the time, The Fermento Show.

Should I? Is there potential there? I’ve never had a stranger comment on my comic … thought I’d give it a shot.

The reason this one caught my eye is that my brain was still rolling around some of the recent discussion about what you can expect from a webcomic. The thought I had was you do a comic for the reasons you want to; if it’s a chore that you don’t enjoy (and don’t have time for), don’t do it. If you like creating it, and a half-dozen of your friends bug you when it doesn’t update, I’d say that’s more significant than the opinion of a stranger. If what you want is to appeal to the broadest possible audience, then my opinion alone isn’t as valid as those of lots of people.

But for what it’s worth, I think there’s always room for another webcomic. The Fermento Show is yet another two-slacker-guys offering (which accounts for approximately 83.353% of all webcomics), albeit one that is aware of the pitfalls of being yet another two-slacker-guys webcomic. And if you’re going to be self-aware about your comic, there’s something to be said about following up on the cliche suggestions for transforming the strip to gamer–themed.

Plus, if you don’t achieve success for ironically subverting the forms of an overused trope, you can always invoke webcomics movers/shakers in an ironically shameless attempt to gather eyeballs. Or, as others have done, reboot and make it a bit more story-oriented.

But keep in mind that I’m biased — the art of TFS reminds me of the old Bandwidth Theater shorts, and I’m a guy who can quote from Kevin Smith and His Magic Feather or The Adventures of Evil Overmom at length. Anything that makes me think of Fillll-thy Gophers!! or a depleted-uranium beholder statue is always going to have potential in my book.

So the real question is, SuiZ, do you think it has potential? ‘Cause from where I’m sitting, yours is the only opinion that matters.

So your average webcomicker knows a little something about gettin’ the work out to the eyeballs; this necessarily involves a certain level of self-promotion. Some are good at it, some not so much. Some are lightning rods for controversy, and some toil away quietly, delivering the product every damn day without fail.

Enter Brad Guigar. As of today, he’s done 2000 strips for the web, counting the old Greystone Inn and the new Evil, Inc. Guigar knows how to organize things, knows how to draw attention to worthy causes.

And in a world full of hiatuses (hiati?) and late comics, he knows how to draw, whether he feels like it or not (although I have a feeling that he mostly feels like it), cranking along in silent satisfaction that he’s doing his best work each and every day. A toast then, to one of the unstoppable machines of webcomics.