My buddy, Ms K. Brooke “Otter” Spangler has an unholy love of SyFy channel original movies. So what to get such a person that will hold a place in their heart forever? This is why my wife has put up with my cursing needles and threads as I mutilated several Toys Backwards-R Us plushes into the hideous form of a Sharktopus. Otter got the box in the mail yesterday, so I can finally share this bit of arts-n-crafts time with the world. None of this has anything to do with webcomics, other than my usual admonition that you should read A Girl And Her Fed because it’s really good, and that Otter’s got an in-universe series of prose stories that she’s been working on, and she is a hell of a writer.

The annual nerd-wrangle kicks off in about … 10 hours, as I’m writing this; rather than try to do daily posts, I’m going to do my best to update as information hits me, so look for lots of random updates. As always, RSS is your friend.

For those not entering the Nerd Herd of the Mexican Frontierland, may I direct you to a show that you can attend from the comfort and convenience of your own home? ComfyCon is the brainchild of Corsetto and Milholland, who really shouldn’t be allowed in each other’s company, but what are you gonna do. Neither of them is making it out to San Diego this year, so they’ve announced a virtual con to take away the lonelies:

The idea is simple. Danielle and I are gonna do video conference panels – some together, some alone – for any readers who wanna show up. We talk, answer questions, swear… all while in our pajamas or whatever. No travel. No cost to attend. No con flu or “too many people in the room” smell.

We’re also talking to a few other webcartoonists about “attending,” namely:

• Aaron Diaz
• Anthony Clark
• Angela Melick
• Bill Barnes

Howard Tayler

My tenative schedule (up for change – check the site every day around 10am ET for updates):

• Thursday: 9:00 pm EST panel with Danielle
• Thursday: midnight-ish, EST, late night S*P ramblings
• Friday: 9:00 pm EST general panel/hangout
• Sunday: 9:00 pm EST panel with Danielle

Google+ is likely going to be the engine for the hangouts, so keep an eye on the Something*Positive site, or Randy’s twitter for announcements.

But first, what US$211,223.04 in cash looks like.

And, because it’s dropped this morning, big news from Penny Arcade with respect to Kickstarter. This is too new for me to put together anything reasonable in the time I’ve got, so I’m just gonna go find Mike and Jerry and Robert and ask them directly, ‘kay?

As previously noted in the discussions of this year’s MoCCA Fest, Benign Kingdom was not a one-shot, and the second iteration of the artbook is upon us, with four more beyond-talented creators: Aaron Diaz, Danielle Corsetto, Emmy Cicierega, and Anthony Clark, once again under the guidance of George Rohac, mysterious man of [comics] mystery. The only thing that could make this project better (which, naturally, is sitting near 200% of goal around 15 hours after launch) would be if Cicierega and Clark were to resurrect their occasional online collaborations known as Laserpony Studios.

• SDCC update #1: Know who I’ve never met that will be in San Diego? Sarah Becan, debuting her new book, Shuteye. Catch her in Artists Alley, table DD-07, and in the Small Press Pavilion, table M-04, which the alert reader may note is the same space occupied by Eliza Frye — two mad-talented creators in one stop? Bonus.
• SDCC update #2: Seen on the website of one mister Jim “Jim Zub” Zubkavich, the oddest, most clever approach I’ve ever seen to The E-Bay Problem. Namely, creator spends time signing, sketching, knocking themselves out for a “fan”¹, who immediately turns around an slaps that book/sketch/whatever on an auction site to make money. It’s dickish behavior of the first rank, and it’s always pissed me off. But what to do?

  How about providing a financial disincentive?

  Our exclusive for the show this year is our Kitten variant cover for Skullkickers #15, which will be available in limited quantities.They’ll be selling for $5 personalized, or $10 signed/raw as an incentive for fans to keep their copy rather than flipping it.

  Genius. You want to E-Bay that show-exclusive? It’s going to cost you more if you don’t want it personalized, because the only possible reason you wouldn’t want that comic made out to you is because you’re a profiteer and Jim Zub is putting a five dollar bounty on your activity, Bunky. Here’s hoping other creators put a similar surcharge on unpersonalized exclusives/commissions.

• Last thoughts for the day: For those of us who have been going back to Starslip since the strip wrapped because it’s a hard habit to break, and for everybody that wants to enjoy it for the first time, Kris Straub is bringing his sci-fi epic to GoComics:
  

  “No catch, kid. Howzabout your Starslip runs five days a week at GoComics.com starting July 9?” I tried to act nonchalant but suddenly realized I was wearing mismatched shoes. “Sounds like a sweetheart deal for you, maybe,” I said coolly, “but what’s in it for me?” I glanced down again. Getting dressed in the dark, I had also accidentally put on one of my wife’s blouses.

  “A whole new audience who’s never heard of it before. They’ll probably love it. With Starslip finished, maybe this’ll give it a chance to reach new people. Give it new life.”

  Your job: find somebody that never read Starslip the first time around, and tell them to clear a few minutes each weekday morning for the next seven years. Go.

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¹ Who insists it’s not necessary to sign the work in question made out to any particular name.

As we hurtle headlong into next week’s San Diego Comic Con, now is as good a time as any to remind you that postings next week will be on their own schedule. Cool? Cool.

• Previously noted, the hands-down best publisher of graphic novels, :01 Books will be at SDCC, but now it’s time for me to share with you some of who and what they’re bringing (many thanks to Gina Gagliano at :01 for passing along the info, as well as numerous advanced copies throughout the year).

  To start, I realize that some of you may object to that “best publisher” claim that I made, so check out the Eisner nominees from :01 this year: Nursery Rhyme Comics (Best Publication for Early Readers and Best Anthology), Zita the Space Girl (Best Publication for Kids), Anya’s Ghost and Level Up (Best Publication for Young Adults), and Zahra’s Paradise (Best Graphic Album — Reprint). Bascially, a :01 publication has a one in three shot of being recognized by the most prestigious awards in comics.

  Second, check out who will be visiting the booth: Jorge Agurre and Rafael Rosado, Vera Brosgol, Zack Giallongo, JT Petty, Thien Pham, Nate Powell (also an SDCC Guest of Honor), Dave Roman, and Jen Wang. They’ll all be signing at least a couple of times during the show, so drop by the booth for the schedule. Also check out the program guide for the many :01 creators and staff that will be talking about various topics near and dear to their heart; if nothing else, try to catch up with Colleen AF Venable to tell her how awesome her book designs¹ are. Among those book designs: the just-received, not-yet-released Sailor Twain, which I can’t wait to get my hands on (October, can you come quickly enough?).

• Know what you won’t be able to pick up at SDCC? The Schlock Mercenary boardgame. When my evil twin told me that his game guys wanted to send me a review copy, he didn’t mention it was going to be the single largest item ever delivered to The Fleenplex for review. This thing is heavy, on account of it’s stuffed full of thick cardstock pieces, in a box that is far more solid than anybody used to American boardgames would ever consider necessary. Those of you that like Euro-style games, it probably feels right at home.

  So yeah, all those pieces (which, by the way, are double-sided) — gonna be a while before I get the chance to punch ’em all out but when I do, I can tell that the good folks at Living Worlds Games love me and want me to be happy, because one of the items in the box was a little bundle of sealable bags to sort those pieces into. Just saying, I had to make a trip to the supermarket for Zip-Locs when I bought Settlers of Catan.

  My only complaint being (and this is preliminary, as I haven’t punched out all those double-sided pieces yet), the designers put in such necessary play-pieces as banana peels and cursing, but didn’t manage duct tape or an ominous hummmmmm? Priorities, man! On the other hand, the entire purpose of the game is to be recklessly violent and make a bunch of attorney drones go Pop! Mostly; the rules (which I have had time to read through) feature different styles of gameplay, from kill people and break things to retrieve the macguffin without dying. With all the characters, tools, objectives, floor layouts, and game styles, it’s going to have a hell of a lot of replay value.

  Schlock Mercenary: Capital Offensive is up for pre-order at Game Salute, or you can get it from Howard Tayler at GenCon Indy (mid-August) or ChiCon 7/WorldCon70 (end of August), and eventually at his store.

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¹ You could also note that she’s got the Best Tattoo Ever, but if you lead with that it could come off creepy.

Short posting today. I’m certain that you will, somehow, perservere.

• Ever wonder how many pages of comics James Kochalka has done, updating American Elf as a daily diary since 1998-ish? The first comic in the AE archive is dated 26 October 1998, and the most recent is 3 July 2012, which happens to be exactly 5000 days if we count both the start date and end date¹. I’m certain that the mathematical possibility exists that there’s a day or two missed in that time, but I’m not going through the 164 months of archives to count up how many there might be; let’s just agree to call it 5000.

  Big number. Imposing. Solid. A little intimidating, if you want to be perfectly honest, so perhaps it’s not just a good thing, but the best possible thing, that Kochalka is planning a comprehensive e-book program:

  We’re going to digitally publish new volumes each month, each volume collecting a single year of the strip (except the first volume which collects all of 1999 plus the tail end of 1998).

  So if you’ve got the means to read an Apple-type book file, each year (or in the case of the first volume, year-plus) of comics is available for two bucks at iTunes, with the first volume available now. Rounding off very slightly, that’s about US$25 for about 5000 pages, or half a penny per page for some of the most important comics of the past forever.

• Updating the Fleen Field Guide To The North American Webcomicker, I missed Eliza Frye’s name on the exhibitors lists, but fortunately received an email from Ms Frye herself² fixed that oversight. Frye will be debuting Regalia, her recently-kickstarted collection that includes nine of her stories (including The Lady’s Murder, nominated for an Eisner in 2009 and well deserving of the recognition) at the show. You can find it, and her, splittingn time between the Small Press Pavilion (table M-04) and Artists Alley (table DD-07).

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¹ Kochalka was somewhat more modest, only noting it was “like 4500 comics”.

² I’m not saying this is the first time I’ve received a piece of SDCC PR that was actually helpful, but let’s just say that my Spam folder is looking unusually well-stocked at the moment, or would be if I didn’t empty it about fifteen times a day.

Much as I want to just eat grilled things in the manner of my people, there is something to discuss, albeit briefly due to a paucity of reliable details.

Late yesterday afternoon, just before offices and businesses and courts closed for the holiday, Charles Carreon withdrew all his suits related to Matthew Inman making him and his client look foolish.

None of the principals have, as near as I can tell, commented publicly on the dismissal. The best analysis (hampered by the lateness of the filing and the incipient holiday) remains that of Ken White at Popehat, who reminds us that this may not be the end of the crazy. Hard to believe that somebody might momentarily decide to stop digging the hole that he’s in, pause, reflect, and then go back to digging, but weirder things have happened.

Should the story flare up again, we’ll be sure to take note; in the meantime, I just want to see what the picture of the money looks like.

So many talented folks to talk about today. Are you ready? You should be ready.

Updating more people at SDCC (which kicks off, goodness, a week from tomorrow for Preview Night), namely:

• I missed Becky Dreistadt and Frank Gibson because they’re exhibiting under the name Monster Milk, their LA-based collective of friends and colleagues; had I but known, I would have pointed you to booth 1232. And I managed to completely overlook the fact that Kazu Kibuishi has taken out space under the name of Bolt City Productions, booth 2235; lots of Flight, Flight Explorer, and Explorer: Mystery Boxes contributors will be dropping by there, so keep your eyes open.
• Speaking of big comics shows, the Harvey Awards have announced their nominees, to be voted upon and handed out at Baltimore Comic-Con, 8 and 9 September in (obviously) Baltimore. As is often the case with the Harveys¹ there are some headscratchers and discussions as to whether or not a particular nominee really belongs on the ballot, but they’ve done a pretty good job in the category of Best Online Comics Work, and I don’t have any complaints with this year’s field:
  • Battlepug, Mike Norton
  • Bucko, Erika Moen and Jeff Parker (and just in time for Bucko’s print release)
  • Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, Tony Cliff
  • Gronk, Katie Cook
  • Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton

  Fantasy (with giant critters), murder-mystery (with juggalos and dick jokes), swashbuckling action (with kick-ass ladies), all-ages humor (with cutie-pie of a monster), and history/literature used as a prism to comment on the state of society (with Strong Female Characters searching out yogurt that makes you poop) represents a pretty wide swathe of story forms and genres. Nicely done, nominators!

  The Harveys also have a number of creators from the web/indy-comics world scattered through the other categories, including Beaton’s print edition of Hark! A Vagrant (Special Award for Humor in Comics), Vera Brosgol’s Anya’s Ghost (Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers, and this page’s Best Comic of 2011), the many talented creators of Flight #8 (Best Anthology), and Beaton one mo’ ‘gin as Best Cartoonist. Fleen wishes all of the nominees the best of luck.

• Speaking of burying the lede, you have probably noticed by now (since the story broke yesterday while I was messing with SDCC session listings) that Pendleton Ward’s other Frederator Studios animated series, Bravest Warriors, is getting a comics treatment, and it comes courtesy of artist Mike Holmes and A Softer World scribe Joey Comeau, with cover work from Boxer Hockey creator Tyson Hesse.

  Should I mention that it is completely a coincidence that Ward’s Adventure Time comics are written by Ryan North², in whose attic Joey Comeau once lived? Or that Mr North can often be found in proximity to Mr Comeau in a shirtless and/or unconscious state? Coincidence?

  Only in the sense that Mr North and Mr Comeau, both being incredibly creative individuals with a habit of seeking out likewise creative individuals, would inevitably meet. And in all honesty, I can’t think of anybody better suited than Joey Comeau to embody the spirit of teens that save aliens with the power of their emotions, since we all know that Joey Comeau is 147% unfiltered emotions by weight.

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¹ Which are nominated by petition, with no jurying or comitteeing between the masses and the nominations, resulting in sometimes unusual choices dominating with nods in multiple fields.

² Nexus of all Webcomics Realities and So Many Other Things, You Guys.

Programming for SDCC is up, and despite the fact that the “webcomic” tag doesn’t seem to be in use this year¹, I have plowed through and found those sessions that are most intersecting with the interests of this page. As usual, I’ve probably missed some, so let me know of any that should be included, yes?

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

I’ll be doing my best to attend these sessions (obviously, except for where they overlap), and trying my damndest to avoid the Hall H line at all other times. See y’all there.

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¹ This could either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on if you read it as a marginalization of webcomics, or a recognition that webcomics and comics are not entirely distinct things.

The website teased on Friday is found here: http://www.the-whole-story.com/. Go get some comics and pay what you want.

I got other stuff for you today.

• Scoop! Fleen can reveal exclusively exactly what it is that Ryan Estrada (and a passel of co-conspirators) have been working on. Launching Monday, 2 July, all of the projects that he’s teased (and more!) will be available as a digital comics equivalent of the famed Humble Indie Bundle.

  The Whole Story will feature as many as seven full e-books, a combo platter of new and established creators, combining both new and previously-seen work. Three books await you for free, with the remaining four available at various purchase tiers, adding up to a total of nearly 500 MB of comics. We’ll give the launch address on Monday, and remember: you’ll only have about three weeks to grab what you can. They’re in Retina resolution, and in case you were wondering — Estrada’s dropping hints that this will be an ongoing publication channel, so look for more bundles in the future.

• Next up: updates to where to find everybody at SDCC; Zach Weinersmith will be hanging with Unshelved (booth 2300), Bill Holbrook and John Lotshaw will be with Moonbase Press (table L-02); Weregeek and Little Vampires are tabling together (booth 1831), and Keenspot are indeed double-boothing.
• Next, if you’re in Philadelphia this weekend, you can watch webcomics own Brad Guigar¹ perform stand-up on Saturday night. Fun starts at 3:30pm.
• Shaenon Garrity² has launched a new webcomic where she recaps one X-Files episode per week and the first one is magic. I shouldn’t be surprised, since Shaenon + recap = comedy gold, but there is a very deep downside to this new endeavour: if she keeps to a one-a-week schedule and does them in order, it will be early July 2013 before she gets to Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose and September of the same year before she reaches Jose Chung’s “From Outer Space”. This is tragic.

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¹ He’s dreamy.

² Tiki Queen of the Greater Bay Area and Nexus of All Webcomics Realities, non-Ryan North Division.