Archive - Nov 17, 2003

Publishers' Weekly Heap Praise on a Web-born Comic


Small Stories Online creator and serializer.net contributor Derek Kirk Kim's Same Difference and Other Stories was recently chosen by Publisher's Weekly as one of the best books of 2003, in their Comics category.

Here's a full list of the Comic laureates:

The Sandman: Endless Nights, Neil Gaiman (DC/Vertigo)
Palomar, Gilbert Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
Same Difference and Other Stories, Derek Kirk Kim (Alternative Comics)
Nightmare Alley, Spain Rodriguez (Fantagraphics)
The Fixer, by Joe Sacco (Drawn & Quarterly)
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon)
Blankets, by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf)

"Small Difference" and the other wonderful short stories found in Kirk Kim's compilation book first appeared exclusively on the web on his Small Stories site.

You can find the full Publisher's Weekly awards feature here.


NOTE: Thanks to Fetus-X's Eric Millikin for the story lead!

Coming Very Soon: Attitude 2: Another Collection of Opinionated Cartoonists


The Ted Rall edited Attitude anthology of opinionated cartoonists is back with a second installment. Attitude 2: The New Subversive Social Commentary Cartoonists is apparently at the printers and will be relased in February 2004.

Included in Attitude 2 are webcomic-friendly cartoonists such as: Shannon Wheeler, Devid Rees, Stephen Notley, and Kevin Moore.

Short Interview with David Rees of Get Your War On


The Wave interviews David Rees about his political webcomic, Get Your War On. Interesting facts to note: GYWO has been translated into French, Rees will now be creating comic strips for Rolling Stone magazine and The Wave put the wrong URL for GYWO in its story. (It's actually http://www.mnftiu.cc)

Erm, another intro


You know, I'd really like to have an impressive or clever intro here, but it's just not working out. So here:

I'm Alec, from Atlanta, and I'm sort of the technical guy for a web comic, the link to which ought to be in my sig (but this is my first post, so who knows). My brother Adam is the artist, but he's too much of an eccentric recluse to come out and chill with the peeps, so I'm trying my best to draw attention to his work in the least tacky way possible. Let me know how I'm doing.

Being the technical guy, I've accumulated a good bit of technical knowledge (HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, various other acronyms), so I'll try to be helpful on that front. And all other fronts, too, of course. And the backs and the sides, if I have time.

I'll stop now.

Combustible Orange Gears Up For Debut on Movie Poop Shoot


Combustible Orange by Eric Vinyard and Frank Gibson is entering its final month before its characters enter the online comic mainstream with their impending debut on MoviePoopShoot.com.

The new strip entitled Action Datsun will focus upon one half of the Combustible Orange duo, Jack Datsun, and will be made available exclusively on the Movie Poop Shoot website beginning in mid-December.

Action Datsun will run on a weekly basis and will be a more storyline based strip that will continue to follow the current "comic page" format that has defined Combustible Orange. The newly redesigned Combustible Orange website will also remain intact, with new comics to be released weekly until the creators get given a dumptruck of money to go write it for Marvel, DC or (sigh) Image. Combustible Orange is also looking forward to a print publication debut in the New Year.

Darby Conley of Get Fuzzy Online Chat Transcript


Darby Conley of the comic "Get Fuzzy" and recently the target of Pittsburgh hate mail and death threats, talked about that, and other things in this online chat.

Comic-Fire! Round One: Pierce Versus Millikin


Political comics have an impact that goes beyond the fiery editorial or the emotionally-charged photograph. The triple threat of humor, visuals, and commentary come together to create work that makes a powerful impression on its reader.

Given the strength of the medium, why don't more webcomics tackle the political cartoon? Most webcomics have their political moments, usually when the comics creator is irritated or inspired by a particular issue and uses his characters as mouthpieces. But few invest in sustained plotlines involved in and characters motivated by politics ala Doonsebury or Boondocks.

In the next several weeks, we'll be looking at a few issues - some near and dear to the hearts of comics-creators everywhere - through the webcomic lens. We invite you, the readers, to vote on which comic persuades you to its point of view. Or, maybe, which makes you laugh harder. Your choice. Enjoy.

Why Do Online Comics: Comics vs. Genre vs. Comics



Is "comics" a genre
in and of itself? Some seem
to think this is so.

An Interview With The Slug's JR Conlin by Melanie Rada


What more can really be said about JR Conlin's The All New Adventures of The Slug?

Well, judging from this remarkable in-depth interview, perhaps it's best to just let JR Conlin tell you himself. His answers are deep, insightful, and will leave you a changed, changed reader.

Read on, and be forever enlightened...