Professor Smith over at Piled Higher and Deeper is out for two weeks on vacation, and obviously the lab has gone on vacation as well. (It isn’t as if he’s having a good time of it, it seems that he forgot his ear plugs.)

What I like about this comic is that the highjinks so plausible they make you cringe and hope they’re not true. Considering the hand writing of some professors, it wouldn’t be hard to believe that they handed red pens to their children and told them to go play.

So, as summer is winding down and we all start considering going back to the winter grind — including school — remember Piled Higher and Deeper. They suffer with us. Actually, they’re grad students. They suffer more.

Because it is hot, I am suffering from a lack of creativity.

Erik Schoenek of Loserz is suffering from the same thing. And the latest comic is the proof.

Reviews or something tomorrow. Right now I am enjoying a storm.

K Sandra Fuhr of Friendly Hostility is celebrating the 300 comic milestone by posting five comics this week, instead of the usual three. That’s 66% more Friendly Hostility for your viewing pleasure.

Just to recap: There was a normal post on Monday, and there was a post today too! And then there will be posts on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!

Never heard of the comic? If you like a character driven dramedy with an element of the fantastical, and you’re not offended by boy on boy action, Friendly Hostility is a good choice. [Also, as a bonus, Mexicans!] Before its archive gets too much on the hefty side… jump in!

As pointed out by Jeff Rowland, (And now Allison)there is a wiki with drinks and drinking games related to webcomics. The drinks are themed for a selection of possibly more well known webcomics, and may or may not actually be for human consumption.

I think there would be hours of amusement browsing a wiki such as this. But, alas, there is more to this wiki than mere amusement:

This website is intended as a tool for the gathering and organization of information related to the publishing of a book or books for commercial purposes.

All information entered by users, whether registered or anonymous, is considered to be an uncompensated contribution to the project.

Owners of copyrighted or other content submitted through this website grant to Phillip Kahn the unconditional and unlimited use of that material for all manner of publication.

It’s a derivative work, a spinoff, a tribute. Phillip Kahn seems to be a webcomic podcaster, involved in the policy of the WCCAs, and it seems he’s trying to make a book to capitalize on webcomic success. The idea that contributions are uncompensated says that he’s trying to be compensated.

Interesting. Very Interesting.

Edit: An earlier version of this post had content that was based on mistaken assumptions; Phil Kahn was kind enough to provide further information, and Fleen regrets the error.

Adis! once again has captured a raw yearning for things to be a little bit more simple, more finite and easy to solve. Ever since Hezbollah captured an Israeli soldier, and Israel put its policy into practice, scenes like this have come to life, escaping from their 132 bit video game screens.

Our newspapers need hugging, considering the headlines and the images of death, despair, and the inexorable march of nations which few in their paths can stop.

Scott McCloud did an interview with Wired.com in which he asserted that webcomics are the great wild card in the art form today. Seeing as he’s written books, and is seen as a “leading scholar,” you might trust what he has to say at face value. My understanding from the interview is this: Because there are no editorial limits, and with themes and genres multiplying to fit every niche audiance, as well as the techniques that can manipulate space, there are “mutations” which are changing the art form in new and exciting ways.

Colin Reed Moon wrote a piece in opposition to the assertion that webcomics were a wildcard. His argument, to the best of my analytic reading abilities, is that webcomics are often no different than their print counterparts, that they regularly crossover into the traditional print medium, and their influence is felt in the popular culture, as with the making (his verb, not mine) of Snakes on a Plane. Thus, webcomics are not a wildcard, they are an artform and they are influential.

Both identify the trend of webcomics becoming print comics in anthologies and such. However, McCloud mentions it in terms of how webcomics are like their print counterparts, whereas Colin sees it as a sign of success. How should we take this trend of anthologies? Does it limit the freeform and free-for-all nature of the webcomic? And is the influence that Colin identifies evidence that webcomics have arrived? Or is it more evidence of the wildcard nature of the medium — that anything can and will happen?

With one more volume of Inverloch to go, faithful readers are finally getting a reveal about exactly why Kayn’dar is wanted by the elves. There were always hints — Lei’ella’s similar coloring, but lack of magic, things that were said in passing by those who knew just enough to send the travelers in the right direction…

But, in a run down, here it is: Elves are immortal, and those with silver hair and yellow eyes die like mortals and possess no magic. Kayn’dar had the coloring, but kept the magic, and so he was supposed to save them all.

The question is, who is using him and why? Can a Da’kor with friends keep a hopeless promise? I can’t wait to see the rest of this chapter and the final volume take shape.

Lady Yates of Earthsong ocassionally makes the comparsion between her original artwork and her Redux of Earthsong for the readers, particularly when there are differences in character design.

Today, however, the story board of the Redux was highly superior to the original. Where as the original used one page to introduce the character, complete with declaration of identity, the Redux page gave the reader — and Willow — first a hand, and then a full page splash for our first view of Earthsong, the title protagonist.

While reading today’s comics, I skimmed the commentary of several, and came across this article written by Chicago City Arts about four Chicago based webcomic creators. They are Gordon McAlpin (Multiplex, Stripped Books), Lance Stahlberg (PowerfulPress), Neil Brideau (Sock Monster) and Gretchen Hasse (Freaks’ Progress).

Each creator has an individual interview discussing the nature of the medium as well as the community involved. It’s an interesting read, especially when they’re discussing the traditional and digital processes involved.

Something I find personally interesting is that they list Keenspot as a site to “discover the creative variety present in the world of Webcomics,” as well as The Webcomics List, but didn’t go far enough to look into independent webcomic collectives.