John Allison asked about a month ago if he should reprint his first Scary Go Round collection, Looks, Brains and Everything, and the audiences of the inernets said, “Yes, please”. Well, he’s a man of his word. If you don’t own the first SGR collection, now’s your chance to order it and reinforce John’s faith in humanity. If you asked for it and don’t order it, you’re an evil bastard and you’re going to hell. Come on, people! Zombie Shelley! New cover art! Unruly charges! This is cooler than the way-hot art chick I saw wearing the Eggbert shirt at the MoMA Pixar exhibit!

Also on this fine Monday, what will probably be the final word on Child’s Play 2005: the long-awaited $20,000 guest appearance is finally here. As Tycho remarks in today’s newspost:

Many stories about the man who donated that money bubbled to the surface that night. Was he a friend to young people, fashioned from transient living snow? Ex-game developer, perhaps. Possible vampire, dispensing a hoard of ancestral wealth over lonely centuries. I even heard (actually, for real heard it) that he was the luminous counterpart to Jack Thompson: a lawyer who used his powers for good, not evil.

Truth is, his name is Christian Boggs, and he deserves your praise and thanks. Thank you, Christian Boggs.

This is a complicated post to write. It’s a follow-up to an earlier post about ClickWheel.

And between then and now, T Campbell and I have had some mostly unnotable miscommunications. So I’m hesitant to write negative things, because in general I prefer not to be misunderstood and it might seem that I’m making a personal attack (which, I promise, I’m not).

But I can’t worry about that – I have to write what I think needs to be written.

ClickWheel, as it stands, is not providing any value to the end user.

None. There is nothing that ClickWheel itself is providing that gives me, as a reader, any reason to come back.

I said I would follow-up on ClickWheel when I’d given it a fair trial, and looked at the comics on the iPod screen. I’ve done that, but I can’t say I gave it a fair shot. I couldn’t.

The download process takes too long.

Flat out, it takes too long and involves too many non-intuitive steps. If I want comics on my iPod, I want them there for the same reason I want everything else on my iPod – for later use. And unlike movies or videos, I can’t imagine reading the same three-page gag strip more than… twice. So the only thing that I’m going to put on my iPod is stuff I haven’t read yet, that I want to read later. Like on the bus to school, the train to work, at the airport waiting for a plane, etc. But I don’t want yesterday’s comics, or comics from last week. I want today’s comics. And I don’t want to spend twenty minutes copying them all to my iPod, one at a time and manually – because I’ve got to catch that bus!

The process of copying a comic to your iPod is as follows.

1. Go to ClickWheel.
2. Find the feature you want, and the episode or set of episodes you want.
3. Click the download button.
4. Receive a zip file, or perhaps on a Mac an archive in a different format.
5. Unpack the zip file.
6. Import the directory into your iTunes photos.
7. Sync with your iPod.

At least, this is what I’ve had to do. Nowhere on the ClickWheel site, or in their forum, have I found actual instructions for the end-user.

Nowhere.

Everything I see is focused on the comic creator, not the reader. The FAQ is focused on the creator. The marketing message is focused on the creator. The end user appears to be an afterthought – if we build it, they will read?

The only value that ClickWheel provides at all to end users is the content. And there are some big names providing content, so a lot of it is probably pretty great. But it’s too painful to get at. How many of you would read as many webcomics per day as you do now, if you had to manually download and extract each strip?

But here’s the thing I’ve realized. ClickWheel is Beta. It says so right there on the main page! It’s not the modern bazaar style open source development use of the word beta – where beta means “The things that work, they work the way they are supposed to and everything else doesn’t break anything”. It’s the old-school use of the word beta – use at your own risk and let us know everything that breaks, cause we’ve still got a lot of work to do.

So the problem I have is mainly expectations.

I expect that someone with a name as wide-spread as T Campbell won’t waste that name by rushing to grab mind/creator share before there’s something of use and substance. Although, let’s be clear, T Campbell is only the editor of ClickWheel – so he’s not responsible for the technology. He’s responsible for helping creators explore this new and possibly valuable channel for their content – or whatever it is that a webcomics “editor” does these days.

And I expect that something that claims to be “a whole new way of using your iPod, and a whole new way of reading comics” would actually have some technology behind it above and beyond basic CSS/HTML, with some RSS thrown in. (And the RSS doesn’t seem to be sufficient for the RSS reader in iTunes to respond in a more natural way – perhaps because of the archived format of the content?)

Neither of those expectations have been met, but that’s because I read “Beta” with the new meaning, not the old meaning. In the old days, nobody ever installed anything that was labeled “beta” unless they got paid for it, and had an extra computer.

So I’ll follow-up with ClickWheel again, when they are out of beta.

In the mean time, I wonder what the creators who are signing up are expecting? If someone like me, who is very technical in many ways, finds this tool so cumbersome to use… What are the regular iPod users going to do? How many comics readers who got a shiny new video iPod for Christmas are going to use this to explore the new (to them) world of web comics? And how many regular webcomic readers are really going to go through all the hurdles to make the jump here, when the content is so frustrating to get at?

First of all, Jephy McJacquespants got snippy with us the other day — mocking, even — and so we’re not going to give him the satisfaction of a full writeup of Dr McNinja, no matter how much he pimps it. We’re just going to quietly enjoy it ourselves.

Secondly, Achewood appears to have settled once and for all who the cooler character is: Roast Beef or Ray. Sure, the focus these days shifts between them about equally (probably favoring Ray), and they’re both cats of high comedic accomplishment; they straight-up think the deep thoughts like, if an atom bomb goes off, you should check Yahoo News. And plus I have been wanting to drink beer. Truly, lessons for life.

But what tips things permanently in favor of Beef is his reaction today when he realized that Ray comes from a noble lineage:

Serious dude in the 1973 Fight your dad pioneered some of the rawest moves in modern brawling ! He was like the Thomas Edison of handing a dude his ass !

First off: Beef used punctuation. He hardly ever does that, generally only when his is truly delighted and at his most polite; you gotta get some truly deep-down Beef emotions for punctuation to appear.

Secondly, today saw the birth of what history will surely record as the Very Finest Roast Beefism Ever: the Thomas Edison of handing a dude his ass. I predict generic form of x is like the Thomas Edison of y will be the next nerd-culture meme, even displacing the venerable Step 3: Profit! and Needs more cowbell. But what did you expect? Chris Onstad is like the Thomas Edison of amazing dialogue.

So Chris Baldwin over at Little Dee pointed us (and by “us”, I mean, “the population of the intarweb”) at a promising new strip called Pirate and Alien. It’s still relatively new, so hop over and take a look at the archive, then we’ll talk. It’s cool. We’ll wait.

Okay, first things: creator Tyson Smith is typically the art half of a brother act that has several comic/music/movie projects under its belt. Normally his brother Ian does the words, so it’s encouraging that Smith seems to have an ear for dialogue, and a strong enough sense of character that the titular Pirate (Filthy Jerome to you) and Alien (not yet named) feel like different people. He even left enough character over for the Pirate’s parrot, Bartholomew. The art has a loose, scribbly feel, like Tom Hart’s Hutch Owen with a more controlled line. Smith’s use of color in broad swaths is also pretty Hartesque, which isn’t surprising given the indy comic work that the Smith brothers have produced.

That link to Emily is important about now, because it’s got a hint of J. Otto Siebold in it, which you want to keep your eye on. It’s the common element between Smith’s work here, and the rest of his portfolio, which has a J. Otto-meets-John A. feel to it. It’s impressive that Smith is able to shift between such different styles, as most illustrators using the, uh, Illustrator style come off as highly derivative of Stephen Silver or those Esurance commercials (which themselves are more than a little derivative of everybody’s favorite Girl Spy; call your solicitor, Mr A!).

Where were we? Right: good characterization, art that evokes (but doesn’t mimic) some standouts in various fields, and booty. And thus far, Smith has avoided the cliches of ninjas and monkeys, so bonus points for originality! Oh, and Baldwin? Dee better be safe, or we’re going to have words.

About four weeks ago, we mentioned that RStevens was teasing us with a reunion of Maura & Clango.

Today, it happens.

But he’s still playing with us. The title of the strip is “To Boink, Perchance To Scream”. And Maura does not seem pleased to wake up next to her old toaster. In fact, Clango doesn’t look ecstatically happy either.

There’s more going on in today’s strip that it seems at first. For something that pretends to be as much of a gag strip as it possibly can be, Diesel Sweeties goes very deep into complex relationships between people – without turning it into DRAMA. It’s one of Rich’s gifts as a writer, to express intricate emotional nuances and the interplay between people without being gratuitous about it. I suppose it helps that most of his characters are shallow, and thus not as willing to indulge in the dubious joys of high drama, but Rich still brings a deft and subtle touch to this aspect of writing.

And now I wish I knew if International Brotherhood of Naked Ladies had a local chapter in my area…

John Allison is now selling his first poster/art print.

It’s quite excellent.

From Penny Arcade, a message from an insider on the world of viral marketing:

I actually hired a company called Hype Council…. Their technique is quite insidious. Let’s say they were hired to pump up PA (not like you need the buzz, but whatever…). Using one of the hundreds of shill accounts they have across the net, they post a new thread that says something like “hey guys, I’ve been looking for some new web comics to read. Anybody have any recommendations?” This is non-threatening, and gets the community engaged. They then wait a couple days and post again, this time with “Well, I asked some friends and they suggested I check out Penny Arcade (insert link). I thought it was pretty funny, although I didn’t like all the cuss words. What do you guys think?” Again, seeking engagement, they now have stealthily inserted the client’s link, thereby encouraging trial.

It’s all very insidious and, I’m sure, widespread. So much so that I don’t trust anything I read. Unless it’s a board where I “know” the posters, I always assume everyone on the board is a shill.

Fortunately, most webcomics types appear to be poor to the point of starving, so you need not worry that your favorite forums are the province of paid shills. OR DO YOU? The drunken Burnsian lament about us making fun of him (2 taps on the Page Dn should do it) and the followup comments name-checking us? Clever product-placement dollars at work, my friend.

On a cheerier note, the “Comics of Note” feature at The Onion AV Club has a brief review of On the Origin of PCs, the new book from The Order of the Stick. Highlights:

It takes a fairly geeky mind to properly appreciate all the gags in Rich Burlew’s thrice-weekly webcomic “The Order Of The Stick,” which follows a band of Dungeons & Dragons-style warriors on a series of quests, complete with occasional references to die rolls, skill points, and the fourth wall. But while the jokes are occasionally insular and the art is simple, the increasingly intricate and cleverly scripted adventures should appeal to a much wider audience….With its black-and-white art and character-introducing storyline, it’s really a fans-only release, but there’s never been a better time to become a fan.

Congrats to Rich Burlew for cracking the mainstreamish press, and if you’re a creator with a collection coming out? Throw a copy in an envelope to the press and/or Alyson Hannigan. Can’t hurt.

Jeffrey Rowland bitched the other day that “nobody noticed” his “six year” anniversary.

Jeff Rowland is not married.

Jeff Rowland ran When I Grow Up for three years.

Then he ran Wigu for three years. Then he did something else for three weeks or so. Then he returned again to Wigu, and then he switched completely to Overcompensating. (I’ll believe a long form version of Wigu when I see it, Mr. Rowland. And even then, only when there are several episodes!)

Six years?

Pheh.

He’s only been in the business for two years.

So the theory is that people go through stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Dunno if you buy it or not, but I got to thinking about it today because of what’s been going on over at Something Positive for the last couple of days. It started, of course, when Faye died in her sleep and the reality of it hit Fred. It’s hard to tell how much time goes by between panels 6 and 12, but it doesn’t look like much. And Randy Milholland has always portrayed Fred as ultimately a realist (sarcastic, slightly evil, explosive, and grouchy, but ultimately a realist), so it’s not surprising that he seems to skip at least denial and anger.

Today, he’s seemingly even further into acceptance. Mind you, I’m not a clinical shrink of any sort, but while his very soul seems to be slump-shouldered, he honestly seems happy for what he had and fully mindful of what he lost. Of course, he’s not really one given to bargaining, is he?

Naturally, the initial shock of his loss may be masking a long-term journey to dealing with Faye’s demise. We haven’t really seen this done at length in webcomics before, but it has been handled (from a different perspective) on the newspaper comic page. Over in Doonesbury, BD lost a leg in Iraq and also skipped a stage, but has spent much of the past two years wildly careening back and forth in a state of emotional imbalance. Hopefully, Milholland’s ear for his characters will match Trudeau’s, and we’ll see a journey that’s portrayed intelligently, sensitively, and with humor.

We completely ignored his four year anniversary.

And now we’re not even linking to his site!