We at Fleen have, in the past, mentioned the need for creators to keep backups of their work so that years of effort can’t be lost. We’ve mentioned creators who’ve had the bad fortune to run afoul of those who would use their sites for nefarious purposes. But last week took the proverbial cake as the main Blind Ferret hosting servers got taken down by nefarious types, seemingly not to host their own content, but for the sheer vandalistic joy of breaking stuff. I come to this conclusion because they didn’t just break the websites — they also wiped the local backups.

Have we ever mentioned how many webcomics are hosted by Blind Ferret? It was a week of creators scrambling to redirect URLs to secondary sites, wondering how much content might be lost, and sleepless night after sleepless night for the BF crew to try to restore as much as could be. It is my sincere hope that if the miscreants behind this attack are ever identified, they get to learn first hand exactly how many swords and crossbows Ryan Sohmer keeps around the office.

There were some bright spots — Danielle Corsetto got her site back, minus a big chunk of blogposts, comments, and alt-text for her comics. By coincidence, Bernie Hou was able to surprise her with the news that as part of his work for the imminent Comic Chameleon beta launch, he actually had all her alt-text and was able to return it to her — everybody send some good wishes towards Hou, on account of he did Corsetto a solid. But even more than Bernie Hou is a stand-up dude, the lesson here is Backups don’t exist unless they exist in multiple places.

There will never be a way to completely defeat those with server-murder on their minds, but you can make things more difficult for them and reduce their impact to you from A week of frantic workarounds with all the attendant loss of traffic, advertising, and audience to An inconvenience mixed with a bit of righteous rage.

Find out from your server folks not only how backups are being taken, but how they’re being kept. If the answer isn’t On removable media in another room, and preferably another postal code, politely inquire what would be necessary to get a bit more of an air gap in the mix. Oh, and if your favorite webcomic is a bit clunky around the edges, archive not loading, things not absolutely perfect? Give ’em a break while they’re rebuilding.

Let’s finish up on something cheerier! Much like he did almost two years ago, mad scrollsaw maestro Chris Yates is going to spend a couple of weeks doing one-off Baffler! puzzles with designs by fellow webcomickers, then put the whole tranche up on eBay. The first entry of Webcomics Baffler Fortnight 2¹ is courtesy of Angela Melick² and features some seriously joyful bees. Engineers man, we get bees.

Anyways, the next two weeks will reveal who the other creators are/what their designs look like, and they’ll go up for auction on Monday, 18 February, so keep an eye on Yates’s Flickr set or the Baffler! store page, figure out what your budget and favorite puzzles might be, and best of luck to all in the bidding. Unless you’re bidding against me in which case I hope I bury you and salt the earth where you fall. Nothing personal.

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¹ Electric Baffaloo.

² Right-hand rule. Respect.

Hoo boy, where to start? Since we spoke last on Friday, the following things have occurred:

• In their continuing march to dominate independent artist merchandising, TopatoCo now has its own building, which is being leased from Sheriff Pony LLC¹. As a measure of the growth of TopatoCo, consider this brief history from TopatoCo Vice President of Kicking Ass and Taking Names Holly Rowland:
  

  It may not look like much, but it is a huge deal to us. Ten years ago, TopatoCo was a shelving unit in Jeffrey’s bedroom in Oklahoma. Seven years ago, it was a third of an office space. Five years ago, it was one full office space. As of now it is four consecutive spaces, five employees, fifty three clients, a 44” giclee’ fine art printer, and a publishing imprint.

  We have big plans for 2013. Stay tuned.

• In her continuing march to dominate independent artist themed anthology collections, Spike announced the contributors to The Sleep of Reason, a list which includes the likes of Aaron Diaz², Evan Dahm, and Carla Speed McNeil, three creators whose world-building will lend itself towards the creeptacular.

  Not convinced? How about KC Green, and Sophie Goldstein, whose work often tends towards the cutely humorous with an underscore of sorrow verging on menace? Not convinced yet? How about the no-brainer of the year, the woman whose work is the definition of atmospheric, existential fear-inducing dread, Emily Carroll? Oh, and 22 other creators/creator teams, including Spike herself. This one is going to rock any sock left tragically unrocked by Smut Peddler.

• Ryan Estrada, last mentioned as stretching outside webcomics via the medium of an online gameshow, has announced a launch date for Asking For Trouble: Thursday, 10 January (that would be this week) at 9:00pm EST. I know that the event invite says Japan Standard Time (GMT+9) instead of Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5), but I’ve confirmed with Estrada that it’s EST.
• Danielle Corsetto, last mentioned as stretching outside webcomics via two graphic novels she’s writing, has announced the first of them as an Adventure Time original graphic novel, to be illustrated by Zack Sterling, entitled Playing With Fire. It’ll be the story of Flame Princess’s romance with Finn, clock in at 160 pages, and show up in April. Sharp eyed readers may note that Corsetto is working on two graphic novels, but I’ve confirmed with her that the second is not another AT book; it will be an original story for another publisher.
• Returning from hiatus: Jim Zub and Shun Hong Chan’s Makeshift Miracle, moving on to what will form the second volume of the rewritten series. Less a return and more a new-material launch: Dave Roman’s Astronaut Academy will shortly have a second volume, and it’s serializing courtesy of publisher :01 Books. And because Roman loves you, Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry already has 25 pages of story ready for your enjoyment.
• The definitive numbers for Child’s Play 2012 came out on Friday, and the result is staggering: more than five million dollars were raised last year, eclipsing the prior year’s record by nearly 50%. For reference, the Child’s Play history looks like this (all figures in US dollars):
  

  2003: $250,000
  2004: $310,000
  2005: $605,000
  2006: $1,024,000
  2007: $1,300,000
  2008: $1,434,377
  2009: $1,780,870
  2010: $2,294,317
  2011: $3,512,345
  2012: $5,085,761
  To date: $17,596,670

  Not a bad first decade all at all.

• Finally, sneaking in just before press time, Bernie Hou announced on Twitter that Comic Chameleon (last mentioned three weeks back) is opening its submission process so that more creators can get in on the webcomics reading app that doesn’t screw them over. Looks like launch on CC is getting close.

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¹ Sheriff Pony LLC exists as a distinct entity from The Topato Corporation for reasons of Business.

² The Tolkien Scholar Par Excellence.

Some of you may have noticed a brouhaha in the web-o-spheres over the past day or two regarding another webcomic scraper by another person that couldn’t be bothered to ask permission from creators before lecturing them how copyright works (his version: I can do what I want because I want to). I didn’t mention it earlier on account of the takedown requests were flying fast and furious and he was at least removing strips from his site (albeit with a lot of whining, as I understand it). Less attention given, the better.

Which is why I do want to mention a webcomic reader (an app this time, for iDevices) that’s Doing It Right. Comic Chameleon is the brainchild of Bernie Hou, creator of Alien Loves Predator, so he knows what a creator wants from an app. He’s contacted other creators and asked permission up front to include their work. Instead of being a glorified browser or RSS reader, the app permits panel-by-panel reading, so there’s actually a functionality value-add there.

Best of all, he’s worked out a revenue-distribution plan so that ads within CC itself end up paying the creators (granted, probably not a lot of money, and divided a bunch of ways, but still — it’s a choice that indicates the app is for their benefit, not his). Look for Comic Chameleon in early 2013, and check out the demo on YouTube.

• There was a very nice comment in yesterday’s posting by a fellow named David Welsh; as is my practice when I see a poster I’m not familiar with, I followed the link to Welsh’s site and found … okay, let me back up for a moment. Something you should know about me is that I cannot even think of certain scenes in stories without getting choked up; any time, any place, they will get to me without fail. Mayday, mayday, India-Golf-Niner-Niner is buddy spiked; It shames the armored cavalry to abandon a courageous warrior. Our squad wishes to ride in support of Princess Nausicaä; Let’s make sure history never forgets the name ‘Enterprise’; Su per man.

  At the top of that list, the top of the top, will always be stories (sometimes just scenes, but more often the entirety of the story) of extreme loyal dogs. I will seriously use this single issue to judge your entire worth as a person; there is something wrong with you, like sociopath wrong, if you can think about Seymour or Hachiko¹ without being moved to your very core.

  Which is a roundabout way of saying, when I followed Welsh’s link, it went to a new (fewer than ten updates) webcomic that he writes, the topic of which is the original loyal-beyond-death dog, Greyfriars Bobby. And just for topping on the heart-tugging, this version of Greyfriars Bobby returns to his master’s grave every night not just to guard it, but to fight supernatural beasties that would threaten all of Edinburgh. Extraordinarily loyal and brave? I’m not made of stone, people — I am in, all the way in.

  I should also mention that art, by Junelle Faye, treads the line between cute and threatening nicely, and hopefully both Welsh and Faye will be able to crank out more strips on a regular basis. Check out Greyfriars, and let the sniffles begin.

• Received at the comic store yesterday: the 300+ page Dr McNinja: Timefist and the concluding issue of Marceline. Two thumbs up for each of them, which requires me to borrow a couple of thumbs.
• Received in the mail when I got home yesterday: Benign Kingdom, Fall 2012, hardcover edition, plus additional goodies. I cannot begin to tell you how gorgeous this book is, and as soon as Danielle, Emmy, Anthony, or Aaron² can point you in the direction of sales, buy it. I suppose you could get the individual art books, but you don’t look like a chump, so get the very handsome hardcover to go with the Spring 2012 edition.
• Expected in the mail any day now, like tomorrow, because I got an email from TopatoCo: Tiny Kitten Teeth. Hell, yes.
• Not expected in the mail anytime soon because of time-sink potential: Either of the Homestuck collections, although I do not know what my deal is on delaying. I should just take the week between Christmas and New Years and binge my way through all 6000+ pages just like the mother of two who is powering her way through and has made it as far as the Midnight Crew intermission.

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¹ Don’t even get me started on service dogs like Endal or Comet.

² The Latin Hobbit-Throb.

Yesterday morning I carpooled into town with my housemate on the way to work (it’s a longish story involving a haircut appointment, a crap bus schedule, and the Dalai Lama). I was in the middle of a transaction at the teller window when I heard, “Anne! Look!”
I turned around and saw a scruffy looking kid sauntering across the bank lobby with the Red Robot on the back of his black hoodie, and then my housemate said something that sounded like mumble mumble Exploding Dog? mumble and I realized, interestingly, that even though she reads both Exploding Dog and Diesel Sweeties, she knew the character but didn’t associate it with the comic of its origin.

It got me thinking about how webcomics references pop up in the most random places. Not long ago, I was at a drugstore on the main street of the town where I live, and I was being rung out by a teenaged cashier who’d stuck a hand-written sticker on her uniform which read, “I’m a rocker. I rock out.” It was weird enough that I couldn’t help but comment, “Hey, I know a guy who makes t-shirts with that slogan on ’em.” She looked at me with the disdain reserved for old, un-hip folks and said, petulantly, “Well, it is a really popular webcomic, you know.” Yeah, I thought, that was kind of my point.

I had begun to wonder if it was just going to be all Diesel Sweeties references (surely other webcomics show up in weird random places!) but last night I returned to my alma mater to lecture, and the first thing out of someone’s mouth in the audience participation part was “goats!” Which of course led to a digression about Goats.

When I got home yesterday evening, I found a charming wee email from Kyle Sanders, prompted by my column last week. He’s the creator of Standard Deviation, which he describes as “a webcomic based on the college experience.” I figured I’d have a look, for a few reasons (including the timing, which was just too perfect with me all nostalgic and such). First, I know that there’s a whole lot of webcomics on the college experience. Second, I usually enjoy reading them since my college experience deviated pretty radically from the traditional experience (did you check out that alma mater link?) It updates Tuesdays and Thursdays, and has been online for just over a year (though, of course, he’s been drawing for a while longer than that…), so it’s still fairly new and the archives aren’t too difficult to read through.

But while I was reading through his archives, I also clicked on a link for Blue House Comics by Stirling Morris and Shawn Miller. It’s also about the college experience and seems relatively new as well (it updates Mondays and Fridays).

I’m still, of course, reading through them both, but my initial responses are fairly positive. I’m enjoying reading through the archives, despite a few small navigation issues, and I was wondering if there were other “college experience” webcomics out there that folks read and enjoy?

News roundup from the world of webcomics, kiddies! Keep those press releases, announcements, and suchlike coming through the contact page.

Item! Fleen fave Alien Loves Predator celebrates 200 strips by switching to a twice a week schedule. Bernie Hou, chronicler of the soul of New York City, tells all:

Here we are, episode #200, and what better way to mark the occasion by announcing something crazy that I’m unprepared to do. Starting this week I’ll be posting two new comics per week instead of one. This week, the next update will be on Friday, and then Tuesdays and Fridays thereafter. I figure most of the new comics will be the old-school, shorter 3-panellers that you enjoyed through the first year for about 130 episodes, but for those of you who dig the full-page pieces of the last year, I’ll probably do some o’ those once in a while. All depends on what mood I’m in.

We at Fleen sincerely hope that Hou is frequently in a good mood, ’cause those full-page pieces rock. Especially when he channels Chuck Jones.

Item! Alex [redacted: see posting from 17 March 2010] informs us:

I’m not sure if you do this kind of thing, it is definitely a “shameless press release.” I just started a webcomic, Monkeys In Orbit. It’s about two monkeys that get stranded in space during the space race of the 50’s and 60’s. It’s in the prologue stage right now, but it would be really cool if you checked it out. I hope you like it!

Alex, it’s most definitely the sort of thing we do, at least since we rededicated ourselves to it last week. We’re a bit late running your release, but that just means that people will have more strips to enjoy when they click over. The story starts in the depths of WWII, and the art reminds me of Wang Xuanming (which, as far as I’m concerned, is a very good thing). Alex has had a few delays, but will be kicking the strip back into production this week, which can only mean more monkeys. If you can’t get enough of space, monkeys, space monkeys, or backwards “R”s and “N”s, check out Monkeys In Orbit!

Item! Speaking of those space monkeys, Alex Jeffries fills us in more about its collective:

The Chameleon Collective is now fortified with even more essential webcomics, welcoming newcomer Steamed Carrot and Running in the Halls to an already hilarious line-up of Awesome Burger (a new project from the creator of the Sordid Affairs), It’s Not Abuse It’s Love and from the creator of Hell Ain’t So Bad, Monkeys in Orbit.

This former-triumvirate now pentarchy plans to flex its newfound power and return to its roots! That’s right. We aim, once again, to connect more fully with the fans and provide a greater experience. Expect an overload of contests and collaborations.

The doors are definitely open to other eager artists who wish to join up! We look forward to the future (it’s rather hard to look back on the future…) and what it will bring our members. I imagine it’ll be pretty fun.

Item! Darren J. Gendron likes pirates!

To properly celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Dear Pirate is running a special double issue today, featuring the secret Pirate Alphabet.

Item! David Willis is takin’ care of his Blank Label-mate, Paul Taylor in style. Bid on a piece of webcomics history and help out a little guy that needs it all at the same time.

Item! Speaking of Blank Label, {K|Ch}risto{ph|f}er Straub reports that next week you should be able to grab a Starslip Crisis mini-book.

And Item! Fleen congratulates Christopher Wright on beating the unemployment bugaboo. Today he goes back to work, stickin’ it to The Man. As we all know, The Man is very stickable.