First off, there has been much talk in Webcomics (capital W, proper noun as Tycho reminds us) since small times of special interest strips versus general interest strips. Some decry special interest strips (and the decrying seems to be especially loud if the interest is video games); others wonder if it’s even possible to launch a general interest strip at all. Enter Unshelved, with items of note from both SxSW and the PLA conference; the latter is the more interesting one. From the Unshelved blog, a story about what happens when you create a strip about librarians and surround yourself with them:

We were mobbed. I thought I understand being mobbed before, but several times I looked up today and saw crowds of twenty or thirty fans deep, all wanting shirts, jackets, bags, hats, books, and of course limited-edition badge ribbons. Our exhibit hall neighbors were impressed and maybe a little scared.

Long story short, in two and a half hours we made as much money as the entire five days of Comic Con 2005.

Al Franken wrote something like this in Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot when he described the stand-up gig known as the “industrial” — you get paid by a trade group to appear before an audience that’s composed entirely of their members, and all it takes is an occasional nod to whatever it is they do and they go crazy. It’s like you exist to entertain only them, even if 90% of your material is generic. Now if you entirely tailor a strip to an under-served (in entertainment terms) audience, they’ll love you with American Cash Money. Some call that selling out; you might want to think of it as buying in.

Second item, it’s I-CON 25 in Stony Brook this weekend, and webcomickry will be amply represented by the likes of Greg Dean, R Stevens, Ghastly, and a pair of reprobates who are probably up to no good. Given that Randy has just decompressed from a schedule beyond crowded, and that Jon is, well, Jon, I’d advise all attendees that the very best way to make friends with either of them would be to recite the magic words:

Would you like this six-pack of IPA and/or bottle of Scotch?

And if you should happen across a dead-drunk webcomicker, the hospital is here; it’s a university, they’ve seen intoxihol cases before. If you need help carrying them, ask Hercules, the Beastmaster, or Mister Sulu. I’m sure they’d be pleased to help out.

There’s a million reasons to be reading Dr McNinja, ranging from the Strong Badian Cease and Desisted! to the GI Joe-like morals at the end of each adventure. You got your cameo by T-Rex, punching snakes in the face (almost as cool as tasering them), shades of Evil Overmom, high-fiving turkeys (Can you high-five a turkey? Sure, monkeys got five fingers, but turkeys don’t … anyway, nice Eraserhead moment there.), and a shout-out to Cartilage Head. The strip fairly hums with crackling dialogue, occasional scenes of pure domestic horror, and clean art, courtesy of Chris Hastings (story and pencils) and Kent Archer (inks; actual deep, black, wondrous inks! A tracer!).

But more than anything else, you should be reading Dr McNinja because it’s possibly the first, the very first to explain why pirates and ninjas have such a storied rivalry. Everybody on the internet just knows that pirates and ninjas hate each other, but even the Wayback Machine can’t find a historical reason why.

Plus: giant monkeys! I have a friend who’s getting a PhD in monkeys, and she likes these parts a lot. And yes, she knows that gorillas aren’t monkeys, but are you gonna argue with a primatologist? Didn’t think so. There’s only one Monkey Doctor in this conversation, and her name’s Katherine.

There’s something about Jeph Jacques that makes you want to be in a fake internet fight with him. Sure, we at Fleen decided to spite him by not reviewing Dr McNinja, but you know what? You’re not the boss of me, Jeph Jacques! At best, you are the Associate District Manager of me, which is totally not the same thing! All is forgiven, though, and Dr McNinja will seen on these pages soon.

The interest in the stealthy doctor may be partially attributed to meeting co-creator Chris Hastings last week, or to the fact that Jon Rosenberg of Goats (and publisher of Fleen, thus purchaser of my beer) is doing his best to pimp the Edo-era medic. He also tells us that creative genius Lore Sjoberg has a new blog over at Wired, but we’re not going to mention it. It’s pretty much been done to death that a website mentions a blog, which gets mentioned by another blog, which might eventually get cross-referenced by other sites or blogs along the same topic, even those by bloggers that don’t like the second (or was it third?) blog. So we are not going to perpetuate that vicious cycle which was identified by, of all places, User Friendly, even if the other blogs name-check me personally and cause my wife to ask, “Why would Lore pay attention to you?”

Instead, we’ll note that the Great Outdoor Fight has caused Ray to take a 90 degree turn with his personality; sadly, while you and I might hell of admire him for the way he’s grown, I’m afraid that he may end up shunned in his own world for ruining the Fight, perhaps even by Beef. In the meantime, we’re all just along for the ride.

PS: Lore has a new blog, and it’s heavy on webcomics.

So I was talking with a guy at the Andy Bell opening because he was wearing a Great Outdoor Fight shirt. “Nice shirt,” I said. “Thanks,” he replied, “What do you think is going to happen next?”

In truth, I told him, I had no idea. Everything we know, the entire storied legend of the Great Outdoor Fight, has been revealed in little pieces since Mrs Smuckles let slip a choice tidbit over Rib-eye and Chablis less than two months ago. And it’s always dangerous to predict what Chris Onstad is thinking; the only prediction I would make is that he would take the story in a completely unexpected direction. Ergo: The Jeeps. Like every other aspect of the Great Outdoor Fight (too big a fight to be constrained by acronym or abbreviation), this is new to us, but not to Roast Beef.

Ray, in his ignorance, is more than willing to face The Jeeps … or is that the real reason at all? Does he not appreciate the dangers that they face? Hard to believe, since Beef has filled him in; could he possibly be sincere in his defiant bellow:

Man, fuck those guys! The hell they’re gonna say how this Fight is won! BRING ON THE JEEPS, GOD DAMN YOU!

Ray, of all people, is trying to rebel against the system instead of gaming it or weaseling for advantage. He’s taking something like a principled stand here, maybe only because he doesn’t realize the import of The Jeeps. Beef, of all people, might be pushed by sheer terror to putting a major beatdown on Ray rather than face The Jeeps (and to save Ray’s life, but will he recognize that?). Or, given that it’s Achewood and death is malleable (especially where Beef is concerned), and the fact that keys are being passed around, maybe we see two more grave markers southeast of the Acres.

“Why should the Fight get to say how the Fight is won or lost! Become the ruling body, dude!” is no less impressive than “Give me Liberty or give me Death!” “Beat your best friend since small times ’til he can’t crawl, see or cry … or Death” doesn’t have quite the same ring, but it looks like Hobson had nothing on Beef’s Choice.

The Problem With Reproduction, 193c Gallery
Greenpoint, Brooklyn

“I got the idea for the name first, then the pictures followed. I was falling asleep one night and there it was.”

The “it” that Andy Bell got while falling asleep was The Problem With Reproduction, his new one-man show; what might not be apparent from the adverts you may have seen is how small a scale he took when looking at reproduction. Not the paintings, they’re all 12 x 24 or 12 x 16 inches; the scale of reproduction. Each of the 22 images in the series takes its shape from one of the (in-scale, proportionately-accurate) chromosomes in the human genome.

In each painting, a black background was masked with a black film featuring little chromosomes, leaving bare wood for the shape of the main image. These windows Bell to filled with his creature-iffic, humorous, occasionally disturbing images. To wit: please enjoy chromosomes 20 and 21 (Sudden Starvation and Defective Delivery, with the un-level photo being entirely my fault).

You can actually see those background chromosomal images somewhat better in photos (where they catch the flash) than with the naked eye. It’s worth looking closely at them, because Bell has them doing things appropriate to the main image. For example, in Inevetible End Bringers (on the left, next to Superfluous Cepalopod), there are little skulls in the mix and the chromosomes form crossbones underneath them. The main images themselves range from playfully anthropomorphized (as in 12, Vindictive Viruses, with the Sam Brownesque eyes and smiles on the bacteriophage) to highly abstracted (as in 22, Fertility Figures).

Being a gender-neutral show, the Y-chromosome was absent. “Plus, you need a second chromosome to match with each of these for there to be reproduction,” says Bell. “What I have on the walls is less than half of a human being.” So will there be a second show, featuring white-backgrounded matching chromosomes? The artist considered his hands, bloody from the effort of completing his work. “No.” He seemed quite cheerful about it.

Rounding out the show were several of Bell’s Zliks figures (look to the lower left corner), eggs filled with skulls, a bird, and a squid, and several of his famed Creature drawings (photo at the start of this post, to the right, behind the grumpy looking Mr Jon Rosenberg). With a healthy crowd filling the exhibit space, Bell’s first gallery show of 2006 was a rousing success, even as he continues to straddle the line between cartoonist and artist. So is he a cartoonist that arty types find acceptable, or an artist that works with cartoony subjects?

“I guess I’m more of an artist than a cartoonist, since I don’t seem to be able to form any kind of narrative with my cartoons. Do artists make more money than cartoonists? I’ll be an artist, then, but not the starving kind.”

Worthy goals. Check out The Creatures In My Head over the coming weeks, when photographs of all the works (and perhaps even the elusive Y-chromosome) will be available. And if you’re in Brooklyn before April 11th, be sure to consider The Problem With Reproduction.

As spring rolls around, I take a moment to reflect on the year-to-year trials of struggling online authors. Let us never forget the efforts of these brave souls, relentlessly striving beyond the constraints of time, finances, and common sense. Never losing sight of the acclaim, popularity, and substantial wages –- and boning — they deserve.

Melonpool is one of the oldest comics on the internet, and it’s been at war with itself from the start. Creator Steve Troop has spent a decade or more careening wildly through space, seeking the unseekable Fan Quadrant 7 in the Sector of Livable Wages. And all the way we’ve rooted for him, hoping beyond hope that every last Gilligan’s-Island-Meets-Star-Trek enthusiast would sit up and take notice for his cause.

Alas, finding a niche for an obscure comic is about as hard to find as an authentic girl in #worldofwarcraft. As of 2006, Troop has called it quits on the comic-making part of his life, and is ready to move on. With one hand nested snugly between the thighs of a felt doll, and the other furiously typing away — the former comic artist has entered into the realm of puppetry.

And I can’t say I blame him. As I said, Mr. Troop has just come out of a long, excruciating war with comics. The baby boom is inevitable.

Already, multiple puppets have found their ways into the hearts, minds, and personal space of webcartoonists and known artists alike. At this time next year, an interview with Mayberry or his irritable companion Ralph could be the newfound ticket on a rocket ship to Success’ 3rd moon.

Surely I’m not alone when I offer Steve and his Puppets the best luck in all of their endeavors. If Sesame Street, Star Wars and Avenue Q have taught us anything, it’s that puppets can drone, clone, and bone like nothing else.

Come back next week for our HOT gossip issue! You will not believe what Andrew Bell does with vinyl toys.

Okay, let’s be clear about something up front: this post is not meant to rag on the fine lads of Blank Label Comics. I’ve met or had exchanges with most of them; I like them, I like their work, I like what they stand for. I fully support their efforts to support themselves and their families by the sweat of their respective brows, which includes ads on the BLC sites. There’s nothing wrong with them accepting money to run a banner from people who want to sell you stuff.

But I reserve the right to call bullshit on the people selling stuff. It may not be in rotation when you click over there, but right about now-ish as I write this (Wednesday evening, since I’ll be covering Andy Bell’s gallery opening), there’s an ad from some conscienceless scam artists calling themselves “Life Technologyâ„¢” (no link to conscienceless scam artists).

They want to sell you a small aluminum tube with a screw-top and a lanyard ring; you can get them at outdoor stores for about three bucks. I have a red one that’s stitched to my dog’s collar in case her tags come loose; it contains contact info and phone numbers. I have a larger one that contains two tightly rolled $20 bills — emergency cash in my pocket in case I lose my wallet, just inconvenient enough to fish out and unroll that I’m not tempted to spend it.

But Life Technology calls theirs the Tesla Purple Energy Shieldâ„¢, and wants to sell it to you for eighty-nine bloody dollars and ninety-five cents. Plus shipping. They process payments through the UK branch of PayPal, perhaps because they’re British (note the spellings below), perhaps because the device makes unproven medical and nutritional claims that would run afoul of US law. But that nearly hundred bucks is necessary, because:

The Tesla Purple Energy Shieldâ„¢ outer shell is made of aluminium [sic], which is first anodised [sic] (electrolytic oxidation) and then colored. The spin of the atoms and electrons of the aluminium [sic] is thus changed in such a way, that The Tesla Purple Energy Shieldâ„¢ is said to vibrate in resonance with the fundamental energy (Chi, Prana, Orgon) of the universe. The Tesla Purple Energy Shieldâ„¢ coating was developed by Ralph Bergstresser after a patent and from the knowledge / information and ideas of Nikola Tesla, with whom he worked in the 1940s. With anodising [sic], the field of the plating is changed and interacts with tachyons. The surface of the plating has a unique crystal-structure.

Woo, anodized aluminum! I guess the cookware in my kitchen is keeping all my chi/prana/orgon even more tachyonically vibrant, plus it boils up pasta! There’s more on their webpage (still no link to conscienceless scam artists) about “Psychic Protection”, “Aura Amplification”, and “Crystal Enhancement” (presumably similar to “natural male enhancement”). Also something about “The Lost Cubit” and how it “is resonant at 177 megacycles” and it hurts my brain just to type this drivel make it stop what we need more of IS SCIENCE.

Better now. Please notice the fine print on the BLC site just above each ad (including that for the Tesla Purple Energy Shieldâ„¢):

We were paid to display the following

See, the fine lads of BLC, they’ll give you credit for being smart enough to read between the lines. Somebody is selling something — caveat emptor and all that, they’re saying. Conscienceless scam artists give them money, they fulfill contractural obligations by running the ad, you’re too smart to fall for the crap, everybody wins. Everybody except the conscienceless scam artists — but they think you’re stupid. Screw ’em.

There’s a new trend that some creators are taking, mixing published works with online in a fairly short timeframe; no waiting a year for a reprint here! Jeff Rowland is pushing new Wigu adventures as books, then will be making stripped-down content available for free afterwards. Over on Webcomics Nation, Tyler Page’s Nothing Better followed a subscription approach mixed with print copies, but has recently thrown open the gates on his archives and the current content. Go buy the first two issues so he’ll be able to print more.

Nothing Better is the story of growing up and letting go and making that big leap into college — and life, and Page has got it nailed. There’s the disgustingly chipper RAs that you want to bitchslap, the horrors of campus jobs, textbook sticker shock, and the certain knowledge that college is the time you can reinvent yourself. Nobody knows you from high school, you can finally be cool, and someday at a reunion, have your revenge.

Page has also taken the narrative step of setting the story at a religiously-affiliated (though fictional) school, which makes it easy to bring in the fact that when you’re new and unsure of yourself, there’s somebody waiting to recruit you to their way of thinking; it’s been a while since I was in college, but even then, this sort of thing was kind of forceful. Kudos to Page for exploring what many people would just step away from (Do lines like God wants us to be together really work? ‘Cause the rationalist in me thinks it would suck if they did).

The story is developing at a nice pace, with a full page delivered three times a week. Presently, we’re about three pages into issue #5 (about 75 pages in all), so you’re at a perfect point to jump in; there’s enough backstory to get to really know the characters and get good and hooked for future installments. Not to worry, though, Page has a nice fat buffer, having already worked up the cover for issue #6 and part of issue #7’s art. Art which, by the way, equally invokes Terry Moore, Chynna Clugston, and Alex Robinson, none of whom is a webcomicker, all of whom you should be reading. In fact, Alex Robinson provided the perfect taglilne for Nothing Better when he described his own work (to his wife, on their first date) as, “Like Archie with swearing and sex.”

Sounds great to me.

Admitted Dumbrellist Andy Bell is having a gallery show! Yeah, nothing new, guy does gallery shows all over the damn place, but this one is coming up soon! The day after tomorrow, you (yes, YOU) have the opportunity to wend your way into wildest Brooklyn and check out his majesty.

The promo posters exhibit Andy’s usual flair for whimsicality, with an absolutely sunny outlook on life. Honest.

So watch out for parasites and spores, and come shake the hand of the very scary man. Day after tomorrow. Here.

It’s here. Order!

Elizabeth Dean sends us the following:

Real Life Comics has left their publisher, Starline Multimedia, in order to “break out” on their own.

San Francisco, CA – March 13th , 2006 – After two years of partnership, Real Life Comics has decided to end their contract with their publisher, Starline Multimedia.

Real Life Comics is already working on building a new e-commerce store where new and old Real Life Comics merchandise can be purchased. A launch date has not been set, but they hope to have the store running by the beginning of May. Real Life Comics is hoping that this opportunity will allow smoother transactions for customers and perhaps some new features that were not feasible during their time with Starline Multimedia.

Watch RealLifeComics.com in the weeks to come for more details.

For questions, please contact Elizabeth Dean at liz [at] reallifecomics.com.

Coming on the heels of our discussion of aligning one’s webcomic with larger companies or going the DIY route, that appears to be one vote for doing it yourself. Future shifts of webcomics will be noted on this page.

Speaking of the discussion of syndication, your questions for Dave Kellett have been received and will be forwarded anon; the guy’s busy at SxSW teaching bloggers how to make money. If you got anything good, Dave, we’re all ears. Also, there were several requests for a larger version of the graphic included in part 2 of the interview. Here y’go.

Speaking of Dave Kellett, I know that lead times to syndicates are weeks long, but I’m going to pretend that our recent review and general (ha, ha!) pro-Zod stance had something to do with today’s Sheldon; check it out before the archive times out. What are you waiting for? KNEEL!