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Chopping Block

Comix Talk for Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on November 9, 2010 - 08:54

Gary has your New England Webcomic Weekend 2 wrapup.  Also Faith Erin Hicks is posting on the web a comic called The Adventures of Superhero Girl she's been doing for her local free weekly alt-paper (h/t Journalista)  That's like a holiday present early!

HYPE: Do you think you would laugh at a single panel comic about a serial killer? Lee Adam Herold's Chopping Block returns with new comics to show you that in the hands of a talented creator, you'll laugh, dabnagit. The webcomic ran pretty consistently from 2000-2004 with some more limited runs of new comics since than.  It really is amazing how Herold can put the most disturbing and creepy scenarios into the comic and still grab you for that laugh.

iWEBCOMICS: Hanvon Technology, a Chinese company, is debuting this week a color e-reader that uses e-ink.  Up until now e-ink has only supported black and white display. E-ink has key advantages over LCD (the current method for displaying color) including less battery power consumption and that it is readable in direct sunlight. Sounds promising -- I hope we get to see some examples of how this device handles comics soon.

CRAFT: Dustin Harbin explains how to use the Ames Lettering Guide.

INTERVIEW: Mike Rhode interviews Jamie Noguichi -- creator of Yellow Peril and artist on Book 1 of Erfworld.

REVIEW: El Santo reviews Newton's Law.

MILESTONE: Peter Tarkulich's webcomic Bardsworth turned five years old this past Sunday (November 7th). Bardsworth is a fantasy story about Mike Cosley, a high school nobody who finds a doorway to another world -- in his closet of all places.  In this world exists Bardsworth University, a college where magic is taught. Mike enrolls and finds himself amidst elves, fairies, a demon who loves to bake, and a host of usual (and unusual) teenage problems. With about 600 strips in the archives, now is a good time to check it out!

MAILBAG: Troops of Doom features photos of action figures acting in comics. Kraig Furtado's webcomic has almost 300 installments in the archives so give it a look!

DRAFT List of 100 Greatest Webcomics: Comedy and Drama

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on January 22, 2009 - 13:50

Last year I posted a couple times (Previous posts on this "research" project were here and here) about a possible article on "ComixTALK's 100 Greatest Webcomics" which would be something like the American Film Institute's list of the greatest movies of the last 100 years.

A recurring comment to the previous two posts was what is the criteria for this.  I'm always a little hesitant to give too much guidance when part of the point of asking this kind of thing out loud is to listen to the resulting discussion of what everyone else thinks the criteria should be.  For the AFI list judges picked films based on criteria such as Critical Recognition, Major Award Winner, Popularity Over Time, Historical Significance, and Cultural Impact.

That sounds about right to me.  We've got a round decade plus a year or two of webcomics to look at it.  Critical reception (both from peers and critics), and popularity are both relevant to thinking about the impact of a webcomic.  WCCA awards are somewhat indicative of what peers were impressed with in a given year and more recently awards like the Eisners and Ignatzs have recoginized webcomics.  Historical significance and cultural impact are a little harder to pin down but various "firsts" in webcomics are important and comics like Penny Arcade have had a much wider impact on popular culture than most comics do these days (put aside the legacy superheros of comics -- what other "new" comic, let alone webcomic, in the last decade has had a wide cultural impact?)

Another thing AFI did that might be useful here to help sort through the vast numbers of webcomics one could talk about is to also think about categories or genres of work.  Just as a simple matter of numbers if a webcomic isn't one of the best of a larger type of story -- or frankly, so startlingly unique it's hard to categorize -- then it's hard to imagine it's one of the 100 Greatest...

So to move things along I'm listing another "draft" of titles submitted by the crowds but this time I've tried to break them up into drama and comedy so as to help avoid complete apples to oranges comparisons.  In doing that I've realized (1) it's hard in many cases to decide; and (2) there are probably more comedic than drama on the list so far.  I think it would make sense to whittle down the two lists to 75 each so as the final list is no more than 3/4 of one type or the other.  Of course we could further do genre type lists but for now this was enough work on my part.

So -- your assignment (if you choose to play):

  1. Name the comic you're talking about (you're also welcome to nominate ones not on the list -- I KNOW there are many I haven't even thought about yet -- it takes time to review all of the corners of the web)
  2. Tell me where on one the two lists (comedy and drama) it should be (you could give a range of slots if you're not sure). (If you think I've got a drama on the comedy list or vice-versa let me know!  I'm not "done" - this is fairly dashed off still at this point)
  3. Tell me why!  Referencing awards, critics, historical achievements, strengths and weaknesses of the works are all really helpful!

November 14th DRAFT version of 100 Greatest Webcomics List

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on November 13, 2008 - 20:02

This is an update to a previous post here, thanks for the cumulative suggestions on that thread.  JUST so we're clear - this is open-sourced to everyone research for a possible article to appear next month at ComixTalk.  I don't endorse the list or the order at all; at this point I've tried to include all of the suggestions I've gotten and I also went through all of the comics ComixTalk has ever reviewed and pulled quite a few titles.

We're at the point where it'll be most helpful if you tell me comics you think should go on the list, where (what number approximately) and which comic should get bumped.  If you just want to change the order you can do that to but there'll be another post before the month's through asking for help with that.  

Recent Chopping Block

Catching Up With Lee Adam Herold

October 7, 2007 - 18:28 | Xaviar Xerexes

There's an incredible wealth of articles in the ComixTalk archives: features and columns on craft, theory and business, insightful reviews and interviews with some of the most interesting folks in webcomics. We'll be taking a regular look back at past issues and catching up with creators we've previously covered.

Updates On Entries in the Ill-Fated Webcomic Directory Project?

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on July 24, 2007 - 13:31

I built a "library" of webcomics and creators back in the fall of 2005 which I put into beta before realizing it was too much editorial work to deal with and the same information could be better provided through the community edited webcomic wiki - COMIXPEDIA.

Nevertheless looking back on the assortment of names collected (some from me, some sent in from you) I wonder if anyone has any significant updates on these creators 18 months later. Maybe we should interview some of them?

Biggie Panda: Old Skool Webcomics

January 28, 2007 - 22:03 | Xaviar Xerexes

One way to think of the history of webcomics is as the big bang of comics. At the beginning there were far fewer webcomic creators and they were (virtually) clustered together much more tightly (hence all the wistful talk of "webcomic community") and then, if the inflationary webcomicology theory is correct, those early webcomic exploded into the universe of comics online we have today.

Everyone Should Read This Interview With Mike Lacroix

January 7, 2007 - 23:08 | Xaviar Xerexes

Mike Lacroix is a cartoonist, blogger and finely-tuned athlete. He's currently working on his third webcomic, the appropriately titled Foxy Lollop. His previous efforts include the long-running Gluemeat (since 2001) and the underground classic, Aren't We Real. Lacroix and myself were both founding members of the pioneering, but short-lived webcomics collective ALTBRAND.

Monthly Themes for 2007?

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on December 11, 2006 - 10:22

Many Comixpedia monthly issues have themes where the magazine articles focus on a particular subject. Tell us your ideas for what to cover next year. Some past themes we could return to include: journal comics; webcomics in print; women in webcomics; and webcomics theory.

Lee Adam Herold

 

Creator of Chopping Block.Â