Blank Label Comics
Comix Talk for Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on July 13, 2010 - 09:48
We haven't linked to the return of Mocktopus yet so be sure to check it out.
MILESTONES: Harvey Pekar passed away yesterday at age 70. I never met Pekar, but he was an important creator who wrote honest portrayals of life in his comics. Many pages of tribute and condolences around the web today.
CONVENTION: Intervention announced that artist and webcomic creator Molly Crabapple, the founder of the Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, will be there both on a panel as well as running a Dr. Sketchy’s event at the con (Currently scheduled to take place Friday Sept.10 from 7-10pm). Excellent!
COLLECTIVES
- It looks like the Blank Label Comics group has entered the phase of rock band stardom where one member of the original group plus newcomers = profit. Okay I tease a bit - if I'm reading the new website right David Willis is the only remaining original member but the newcomers are no slouches: Spike and Kel. I really haven't followed up on BLC for awhile so I guess I missed the rest of the original crew going their own ways.
- The SpiderForest Collective is accepting applications for new members until July 24th. SpiderForest was started in 2004 by Ran Jado and is home to over 30 comics. There are 3 requirements for members: update your comic, help vote in new members, and display the rotating SF banner above the fold on your site.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 A BLOGS
Saturday Interlude
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on January 5, 2008 - 11:57
A big thanks to Steve Troop for this month's cover art depicting a Blank Label Comics board meeting in session... :)
I'm also going to plug We The Robots which is a good read with a short archives - it's office humor but somewhat darker and more complicated then say... Dilbert. Over December, its creator Chris Harding posted a very funny cartoon not really based on the comic although the artwork is very similar. Anyhow if you missed it before you should click read more to see it
ComixTalk's People Of Webcomics List For 2007
And now... the fourth annual People Of Webcomics list! I'll be the first to admit that this list gets harder and harder to compile as the lines between "webcomics" and just plain "comics" blurs harder than a greasy windshield in the middle of a West Texas downpour. Plus as publishing comics on the web and other digital formats becomes more commonplace it gets harder and harder to find those "firsts" that take comics in new directions whether artistic, technical or businesss-oriented.
- Blank Label Comics
- Drunk Duck
- Dumbrella
- Zuda
- B. Shur
- Brad Guigar
- Chris Onstad
- Dave Roman
- Fred Gallagher
- Greg Carter
- Jeph Jacques
- Jerry Holkins
- Joey Manley
- Jon Rosenberg
- Josh Neufeld
- Kaja Foglio
- Kazu Kibuishi
- Kris Straub
- Mike Krahulik
- Nicholas Gurewitch
- Randall Munroe
- Rich Stevens
- Rob Balder
- Ryan Estrada
- Ryan North
- Ryan Sohmer
- Scott Kurtz
- Tyler Martin
- Achewood
- Goats
- Penny Arcade
- PvP
- xkcd
- People of Webcomics
Rolling Into Tuesday Morning Update
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on December 18, 2007 - 01:00
I'm back from India! Happy holidays to all of you (including all of you Pastafarians too!)
COMIXTALK
- Our End-of-the-Year roundtable featuring some of the best comics journalists and bloggers on the Internet is up on the site. It's a great wide-ranging discussion of good webcomics, interesting business developments and predictions for 2008.
- We've got an interiew with Matt Melvin of the uber-popular webcomic Cyanide and Happiness.
- We're still looking for questions for our upcoming community interview with the members of the Blank Label Comics collective. Post your questions in comments to this thread.
- Don't forget to check out our advertisers - current sponsors include the Learn to Draw the Human Figure anatomy course, Mary Janice Davidson's latest book Swimming Without a Net and The Webcomic Beacon podcast.
DEAD TREES AHOY!
- The New York Times has an article on how some webcomics are creating solid sales in print and includes mention of Diary of A Wimpy Kid and Shooting War. Brian Fries, the creator of Mom's Cancer offers his response to the article. Fies argues that Mom's Cancer (which is not named in the Times article) was one of the first webcomics to cross-over to print. He could be right (although once he got a print deal he took Mom's Cancer off the web so his approach was different than these other examples), anyone want to offer a counter-example?
AWARDS
- Instructions on submissions for nominations for the Eisners are here - the deadline is March 14, 2008. For webcomics there is a separate set of instructions:
Entries are also being accepted for the category of best webcomic. This category is open to any new, professionally produced long-form original comics work posted online in 2007. Webcomics must have a unique domain name or be part of a larger comics community to be considered. The work must be online-exclusive for a significant period prior to being collected in print form. The URL and any necessary access information should be emailed to jackiee@mindspring.com.
JUSTIFY MY HYPE
INTERVIEWS
- Pretty interesting interview with Colonel Sweeto himself, Nick Gurewitch.
- CBR has a zaftig interview with Tycho himself, Jerry Holkins.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BLOGS
- Gary notes that Brian Warmoth is leaving Wizard magazine. Warmoth did the Cursory Conversations series of interviews with webcomic creators and with his departure I wonder if anyone is still around at Wizard that is interested in webcomics.
- Lots of webcomics show up in Time's Graphic Novels of 2007 article. One shows up in USA Today's list.
- Broken Frontier takes a look at Phoenix Requiem, the new webcomic from Sarah Ellerton (creator of Inverloch).
- T Campbell argues for including PostSecret and I Can Haz Cheezburger? within "comics".
- Neil Cohn has an essay on the structure of manga.
The ComixTalk End of 2007 Roundtable
|
Our third annual virtual round table on the year in webcomics features comments from Gary Tyrrell, Dirk Deppey, Tom Spurgeon, Heidi MacDonald, Brigid Alverson, Derik A Badman, Reinder Dijkhuis, and JT Shea and Scott Gallatin.
- Act-I-Vate
- Blank Label Comics
- Transmission X
- Zuda
- Cameron Stewart
- Chris Onstad
- Christopher Hastings
- Dave Kelly
- Derik Badman
- Dorothy Gambrell
- Emily Horne
- Fred Gallagher
- Howard Tayler
- Jennie Breeden
- Jerry Holkins
- Joey Comeau
- John Allison
- Josh Neufeld
- Kaja Foglio
- Karl Kerschl
- Mike Krahulik
- Mike Maihack
- Nate Piekos
- Raina Telgemeier
- Randall Munroe
- Reinder Dijkhuis
- Rich Stevens
- Ryan Estrada
- Ryan North
- Scott McCloud
- Shaenon K. Garrity
- Svetlana Chmakova
- Tatsuya Ishida
- Tyler Page
- A Softer World
- Achewood
- Cat and Girl
- Penny Arcade
- Sinfest
- xkcd
- Features
Call For Questions For Blank Label Comics
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on December 17, 2007 - 07:36
Back in February of this year, we hosted the results of a ComixTalk community interview with the members of the indepedent creators collective, Blank Label Comics. Given that this is an end-of-the-year kind of issue for ComixTalk, I thought it would be great to do another interview with the members of BLC so we could book-end the year between them.
Moreover, although there has been a good deal of press on Halfpixel, the new collective formed by Scott Kurtz and former BLC members Brad Guigar, Dave Kellett and Kris Straub, there is still plenty to catch up on with the six current members of BLC: Howard Tayler, David Willis, Paul Southworth, Paul Taylor, Steve Troop and Greg Dean. Please post your questions here -- I'll collect them on December 21st and send them out for answers with an eye to publishing the full story here in January 2008.
Looking Back Through 2007
|
In years past (2004, 2005) we undertook the monumental chore of picking out the biggest headlines of the year. This year, I took another swing at it. So without further adu, here's the biggest webcomic headlines of 2007.
If I missed a story you think was key to this year, please post it in the comments to this article.
- Act-I-Vate
- Blank Label Comics
- Bomb Shelter
- Chemistry Set
- Dumbrella
- Half Pixel
- Platinum Studios
- Sugary Serials
- Zuda
- Alexander Danner
- Bill Barnes
- Brad Guigar
- Brad Hawkins
- Brian Fies
- Chris Crosby
- Corey Marie Parkhill
- Dave Kellett
- Dave Kelly
- David Malki!
- David Willis
- Gene Yang
- Gordon McAlpin
- James Duncan
- James Kochalka
- Jennifer Babcock
- Jerry Holkins
- Joe Dunn
- Joey Manley
- John Allison
- John The Gneech Robey
- Jon Morris
- Josh Lesnick
- Kris Straub
- Krishna Sadasivam
- Mark Mekkes
- Matt Shepherd
- Mike Krahulik
- Mike Russell
- Mitch Clem
- Nicholas Gurewitch
- Pete Abrams
- Rich Stevens
- Ryan Estrada
- Ryan Sohmer
- Scott Kurtz
- Scott McCloud
- Spike
- T Campbell
- Terrence Marks
- Thomas K. Dye
- Tom Brazelton
- Tyler Martin
- Zach Miller
- Achewood
- American Elf
- Penny Arcade
- PvP
- Sluggy Freelance
- xkcd
- Through The Looking Back Glass
Friday
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on November 2, 2007 - 10:17
NOVEMBER ISSUE OF COMIXTALK
- We'll have more stories up this weekend but for now more on the Blank Label Comics/Halfpixel roster shifts announced this week. In addition to our earlier interview with the new members of Halfpixel, we posted today an interview with Howard Tayler of Blank Label Comics. (Speaking of Blank Label Comics, Steve Troop has brought back his webcomic Melonpool with new updates)
CONTEST
- I've got another Karas the Revelation DVD to give away...
REVIEWS
- Playback reviews The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories, Nick Gurewitch's book collection of his webcomic The Perry Bible Fellowship. (h/t Journalista!)
JOURNALISM
- Journalista! writes "Wizard Online Editor Rick Marshall emailed them to announce that he had been relieved of his job. No reason was specified." The Comics Reporter hears that Mike Searle is rumored to be taking over for Marshall. Journalista! also caught that Wizard managed to trash the website for its magazine and as of this morning I see that it's still broken.
ADVERTS
- Joey Manley writes that as an experiment for the month of November, you can now buy via Project Wonderful the top banner spot for all of the major user-generated content sites on the new ComicSpace Network (TalkAboutComics.com, OnlineComics.net, the WebcomicsNation.com, and ComicSpace.com). It looks like Eric Milikin (Fetus X) had the spot this morning for about $45 per day (Project Wonderful works on a real time auction basis).
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BLOGS
- Comics Worth Reading raves over Sinfest.
- Journalista! found something I wrote interesting enough to lead off today's post with a quote from it.
Filling In The Blanks: A Short Interview with Howard Tayler
|
Earlier this week ComixTalk posted an interview with the new line-up of Halfpixel (Scott Kurtz, Kris Straub, Brad Guigar and Dave Kellett). Since as part of the creation of the new Halfpixel, Kris, Brad and Dave left the Blank Label Comics collective, I wanted to get a comment from someone on the Blank Label team. Howard Tayler, the creator of Schlock Mercenary, was kind enough to answer quickly some questions about this week's changes and the future of Blank Label Comics.
Half Pixel Times Four: An Interview with Kurtz, Straub, Kellett and Guigar
|
Today, Brad Guigar (Evil, Inc.), Dave Kellett (Sheldon) Scott Kurtz (PvP), and Kris Straub (Starslip Crisis) are announcing that they will be working together under the Half Pixel brand. Part and parcel of this announcement is that Guigar and Kellett are leaving Blank Label Comics, the webcomics collective that they both have been associated with in recent years.
I got a chance to interview the four of them at the end of October about this and other projects on the horizon for them. At their request I've delayed publishing this interview until the day of their announcement regarding the new Half Pixel. It's an interesting move for all four involved and hopefully the interview that follows conveys some of the excitement all of these guys seem to have for this new partnership.
