I’m just saying…

I’ll have to simply face facts: There’s no better word for describing the act of extrapolating on a single comic spontaneously. So I’ve resigned to it, even if it isn’t my word. It’s officially entered the webcomics collective lexicon. So I’m going to embrace it; what follows here are, indeed, Snarks.

(From Two Lumps, by J. Grant & Mel Hynes)

Ok, this is just boggling to me as it stands. Because of all comics on this great big internet of ours, Two Lumps is probably one of the last strips I’d ever expect to do a video game parody story arch, much less one on Silent Hill. I mean seriously, that’d be like Count Your Sheep doing a Grand Theft Auto San Andreas story. It’s way out of place, but comically so.

So from where I’m sitting, I can’t wait to see how this one goes. And if it goes well, you’ll definitely hear from me about it again. Sorry, I’m probably the biggest Silent Hill fan that’s never actually played the game (I’m a backseat Silent Hill player).

(From Theater Hopper, by Tom Brazelton)

I like Theater Hopper. And every once in a while, a strip of Tom’s just nails it. And usually without him ever having seen the movie. Or me neither for that matter. So, I guess I don’t know whether or not the accurate nailing has taken place, but for damned sure it feels like nailage occurred.

I don’t know if I mentioned on this thing, but at the AFI Silver Theatre I just now previously worked at, we’ve been doing a Jim Jarmusch retrospective. I’ve seen about 4 movies of his so far (about, because I left midway through one of them and came back). Coffee and Cigarettes, Permanent Vacation, Stranger than Paradise, and Mystery Train. Still, it’s my resolve that I don’t craft a formal opinion and evaluation of a director until I’ve seen at least 5 works of his (where applicable). But so far, I’m really unimpressed. Really, really unimpressed.

At any rate, even though he’s citing Bill Murray specifically, Tom’s strip nails the Jarmusch narrative style 100%. Without even having to see the movie. I’m sure it’s a fine movie, but not a lot actually happens in his movies. And then people tout him as an arthouse genius. Needless to say, Jarmusch’s been a strong topic of debate in my former workplace, and that strip made my day pretty good.

On a personal note, the worst part is that if I want to impress my film professor in any way, I’ll have to make that sort of arthouse bullshit. Dammit.

Heyo. I’ve finally caught up on everything that concerns me on the internet, only to have to limit functions yet again due to moving into a new apartment. I just feel like a prick for being talked about a lot lately and not having anything to show for it.

So here’s my review of the latest goings-on in the webcomics world as far as I have seen and care to speak on. Ready go.

—

Ryan Estrada’s 175 Hour Comic is now for sale. I was pretty silent for the duration of the operation, mainly because I didn’t have anything to add to the discussion that hadn’t been said. My stance was mostly “Dude, you’re goddamned crazy… but here’s some titles you can use and go for it!” Now that it’s completed and available for sale, I’ll probably get it. Likely the PDF download over the print, depending on how my next paycheck shapes out. I think he used one of my titles in there, so I can’t wait to see it.

—

PAX is coming quite soon. My envy for all those in attendance knows no bounds.

—

Websnark got a major overhaul in redesign. It looks good, but I personally prefer the old design. However, this new model is much more functional.

As an aside, I think this month’s Feeding Snarky was quite insightful.

—

Oh yeah, Otakon. Yeah that sure was something. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures. If I did, y’all’d be first to see ‘em. But I suppose if you want my little report on what went down, you can check the LJ.

—

So I heard there was this article in some small town paper or something that’s got everyone riled up. Not meaning to stir up more drama but seriously guys? Whatever. And I mean that. We can do one of two things at this point. We can sit and bitch about how they “Don’t get us,” like all the other underground art scenes do… or we can look at it, see where they didn’t get us, and work to accommodate us.

The fact of the matter when it comes down to making money in webcomics is that a few of us have secured an audience that will buy our stuff. We have that group, but it certainly won’t last forever. So if we want to make, say… more money, we need to figure out how to get the general public to want our franchise-specific t-shirts and bound collections of our comics in print.

Scratch that. Before we do that, we need to figure out how to get Average Joe to want to take time out of his life to read comics on the internet. Meanwhile, I’ll just keep telling people what to do from the sidelines like an asshole, because damned if I know how to do it myself.

—

Found a few good new comics. One of them being Templar, Arizona. The art is just smashing, and I don’t think I’ve laughed for as extended a duration in a comic’s archives for a while. It’s just starting, though, so I can’t delve too much further in description until the plot develops a bit more.

Digital Strips: The Comic is off to a terrific start. I suggest you guys work on the dialogue a bit, but the jokes are otherwise very good. I especially enjoyed the “Caller” strip.

Comedity is… interesting. The art is very good, but it’s not that funny. I get this very strong vibe of him aping Applegeeks, but at least he’s aware of that fact. I’m reading it out of hope it will get better, because I really do enjoy the artwork. I would suggest hiring a writer though; the timing of the dialogue needs work, as does probably the writing of the dialogue itself. The problem is I’m not laughing. But I think I could be laughing if it was written better.

(Wow. I think that is far and beyond the most arrogant thing I’ve ever said in a criticism.)

—

Anyway, that’s that. If I have time before Saturday, I’ll give you something nice and meaty to read. I’ve got a lot of book reviews sitting on the stack here. If I don’t get a chance, my apologies in advance and I’ll see you next week.

All right, people. Due to the fact that I’ve let EVERYTHING I have to do pile up right before Otakon, I’ll have to cut myself off. That’s right, this is my official AFK until Monday morning.

I’ll be checking e-mail, and maybe LJ. That’s it. So if you need to reach me, call me. I hate to do it, but it’s what I gotta do if I want to get anything done.

So I’m sorry I won’t be able to write about anything until then, or even check my webcomics (Dammit, I’m gonna miss out on Narbonic bad). But you’ll at least have an Otakon Writeup to look forward to upon my return. Then, after a few days, I’ll have to move.

So yeah. Next couple of weeks are going to be quite sparse. My apologies in advance.

Yep. Ok. See you all on Monday. Wish me luck!

Now… that’s what I call an impromptu sabbatical. Most refreshing. But god damn, was Eric ever right about Writer’s Momentum.

Moving on, we have the matter to resolve about the Auctioned Essay for Save ConnectiCon. Namely, writing it. The Winner, Wade Clarke, has requested his article be written as a formal criticism and review of his webcomic, Ocular Trauma. So here it is.

I think it’s been made evident in my writings up until this point that my standards for non-sequitorial gag-a-day webcomics have been soundly solidified by Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (mournfully discontinued). Having said that, when I am introduced to new gag-a-day strip, I reflexively see a lot of SMBC elements in it (an example of SMBC style jokes).

However, my opinion of Ocular Trauma can be summed up in just a few words:

“Hit or Miss.”

Let me illustrate my point with a few choice examples. Out of the entire run of OT, there is a good deal of unfunny, a bunch of funny, and a few solid gems. And interestingly enough, my favorite jokes from the series are the simplest of all. The worst ones are ones that seem to rely on random screaming and cursing, or otherwise just plain tasteless jokes. And finally, this one just renders me awestruck.

The thing I find most intriguing about OT is that it’s from Australia, and we get to see some looks on how other countries might see us. It’s only fair, because we as Americans certainly do a lot of ragging on other countries (France). And I guess this might still just be payback for when The Simpsons went to Australia.

The art of the strip is very decent. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. I’d like to see it get its own hosting, as in not on LiveJournal.

I think what Wade needs to sit down and do is practice drawing, so he can have a visual look to his comic that is unique enough to stand out on its own, and to analyze his writing. I’ve said before that his comic is very hit or miss. It’s either really funny, or appallingly not. Obviously, we all know that humor is a very, very fragile thing.

Looking over the various strips he’s written it comes that the best ones are the simpler ones, the ones that make life observations, make use of clever puns, or effectively use sheer randomness.

Example for case 1, life observations, lies in the “Find X” strip I linked above. It’s funny because we’ve all thought that at one point or another, during our first introductions to geometry at a young age. Similar to this is a strip in his archives (can’t find it at the moment) featuring a children’s drawing of a girl in a lab with the scrawled caption “I want to be a molecular biologist.” Wade obviously knows how to make clever observations on life, so I’d like to see more of that.

Case 2, the clever puns, is beautifully illustrated in this strip. Personally, I’ve always hated the word “Metrosexual,” because it implies that fashion choice is inherently linked to sex. But thanks to Wade, we all now know what Metrosexual really means. I would enjoy seeing him tear apart more pop culture lingo with the use of wordplay.

Finally, we come to case 3, which is far and beyond the hardest to pull off of all. The nature of random is to not have anything to do with the previous topic in the slightest. So going off in a radical tangent can prove either hilarious or disastrous results. I think that where he’s stronger at lies in his absurdity over his absolute randomness, and by that I mean the situations that make no sense over the events that make no sense. Like his “Switched eyeballs while sleeping” strip over his “Axe in the back for using a leaf blower.”

To sum up, Ocular Trauma has a lot of potential for being very good. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good right now. But I think it can grow into something a lot cooler with a bit of work. At any rate, it’s a fun read. So I would recommend it to anyone who likes their daily dose of randomness.

(apologies for the brevity, Wade. I tried not to be so damned concise)

Forthcoming articles: Save ConnectiCon Auction Essay, Review of Rob Balder’s Partially Clips vol. 1, Review of PvP Issue #0, and Review of The Ultimate Melonpool. But special thanks go to Peter Venables for giving me something to update about while I’m busy working my day job.

Peter, or “P to the Vizzle,” as I like to call him sometimes, had a great idea not too long ago. The idea was to start a Peer Criticism community for Webcomic Artists. We all knocked around a few names for the thing, and the Incomprable Wednesday White gave us “The Swift Savage Disassembly of your Self-Esteem.” We liked it as a full title, but we’ve shortened it to Savage Disassembly, or as I like to call it, “SavDis.” Credit goes to Charles Schneeflock for that gem.

It literally just got created. The basic gist is that people will submit their work, collectively or on an installment basis, and the other members absorb it then give their constructive criticism. Simple, and to the point. Membership is on an approval basis, and Peter laid down the ground rules…

“1) You must participate critique of other’s work
2) You must provide work of your own for critique

Which is not to say you have to constantly submit work and likewise submit comments, but the desire is that people who are in the community are there to help and be helped. Thus, this is a community for artists to get together and help each other improve in their craft.”

I’m just happy to have a community based on the idea of maliciously eviscerating the life’s work of everyone else, rather than those other Webcomic LJ communities which seem to only be concerned with self-promotion (Not you, Snarkoleptics, you guys still rock the house).

I’m supposing the group is creators-only. Which will be nice. I know I wouldn’t want some asshole who makes mediocre (at best) webcomics dishing out criticism as if he’s some sort of damned guru of the art.

… Wait.

(From PvP, by Scott Kurtz)

Been busier this weekend than I anticipated. So I decided to do a little postlet until I can give you some meatier stuff on Monday. But for now, it’s late, I’ve got that great pre-sleep delerium going on, and I’m feeling very talkative (typative?).

Truth be told, I never found the Panda Attack gag all that damned funny. Yes, it was amusing, in the random violence sort of way. True, who doesn’t like Mac users mauled by animals that aren’t well known for habitual maulings. Indeed, if there ever was a decent running gag in a webcomic series, Panda Attack would be it.

The act of the Panda gnawing on Brent’s skull (his cranium, not his troll) is glorious to behold. Brent’s a jerk. A friendly, mostly benign jerk, but still a jerk. His dry wit cuts through the pride of any mortal man. And he’s a Mac elitist. Also, a notorious Humbug. So if there was ever a webcomic character of the non-evil variety that deserved to be the victim of Ling-Ling’s mastication, there would be no better than Brent.

The thing that never truly sat with me as far as the execution of a Panda Attack joke was the setups. I mean, as soon as someone utters the word “Panda” in any context, Brent will get mauled by a Panda. Even baby Pandas, it seems. Odder still, is the fact that the others are aware of this phenomenon. That apparently the Panda Attacks are so frequent they’ve been rendered mundane in perception (to all except Brent of course).

Panda Attacks are nearly integral to the universe of PvP. Their frequency, however, is what made them decreasingly less funny. After a while it seems that the Panda Attack is merely an attempt at filler, and the process of getting the Panda to Attack involves scrounging up a new way to use the word “Panda” in an acceptable context.

Perhaps Kurtz recognized that the Panda Attack gag has been growing stale. This is when as a creator he must either put a new and unique spin on the joke, or cease to use them entirely.

Turnabout is fair play it seems. Cut to an alternate universe, and alternate PvP (Panda vs. Panda, if you will). Now, in this universe, in a sort of extra-dimensional-karmic revenge, when a Panda says “Brent,” he is viciously mauled by Brent Sienna!

lol

34 Awesome Points™ for Scott Kurtz. For freshening things up.

This garners a mighty “Holy Shit” from the Phil department.

“Take that! My Gabe smashes your Tycho with his +1 Cardboard Tube!”
“So you think, but my Carrot Cake Soup is in play, giving my Tycho a +3 Circumstance bonus to defense. Now I’m gonna go ahead and use my Fruit Fucker to attack your Claw Shrimp.”
“But that’s just stupid. Fruit Fucker’s weaker than the Claw Shrimp.”
“Ah ha, but not unless I play Really Big Word on your Claw Shrimp, utterly decimating his attack and defense.”
“Not happening. I play It’s Just Nor For Me, which counters your Really Big Word. The Fruit Fucker is effectively pwned.”
“You Bastard.”

That’s how I could see the game being played. And it does sound fun. The fanboyish nature I hold dear to universe that is Penny Arcade (surely second to Annie’s) would make this game quite enjoyable. When asked about game details, Tycho had this to say:

“Right now, it’s basically radio silence about the game mechanically,
which I feel confident saying is really fun. Every card is some weird
in-joke from the entire archive, we came up with all the cards, and
Mike is doing all the art - and don’t forget, Hawk is hooking up the
colors.”

The art itself is looking quite good. Samples can be found at the link above, and at Applegeeks Central. The duo effort is striking, to say the least.

I’d be suprised if this CCG became any nationally-played-status card game like Yu-Gi-Oh! (blegh) or Magic: The Gathering. The reference material is entirely too specific, being Penny Arcade strips and in-jokes. I mean sure, it’d be nice if the brats of America were doing battle with The Merch and Div over some goddamned Blue-Eyed White Dragon (terrifying still, is the fact that I know it exists). That’s the curse of the webcomics world, is that the material involved is all too often too specific for the greater audience, but maddeningly popular to a very specific set of people. Which is why I would be very surprised to see this CCG on the shelves of joe-average American Comic Book store. This isn’t to say that creating a Penny Arcade CCG is folly, either.

The merits of Penny Arcade as a CCG are strong, financially. The fanbase is certainly large enough that they will sell well (if the Laser Cell sales say anything). I see the success of this CCG lying in small gaming communities who love the franchise and the card game, and get together regularly to play it together. I wonder if it might be a better game as a Non Collectible Card Game, a la Munchkin. But still, as a CCG I can’t help but wonder at what cards would be Commons, Uncommons, and Rares. And the elusive Ultra-Rare Holofoil Dr. Raven Darktalon Blood (which, as a game card, would most assuredly be broken).

My only worry for the success of the product is the fact that many (myself included) wouldn’t buy much of the game if they knew there wouldn’t be many in their neighborhood that play also. That’s the reason I didn’t get into Mage Knight, HeroClix, DBZ CCG (Give me a break, I was 15), D20 Modern, and other games that I wanted to play very badly, but had no one in the suburbs who shared my gaming obsessions. I’ve never lived in an area where the CCG scene was strong, so I don’t know from experience. I just know from where I’ve been. I’m moving to Philly this fall, so that may change if I can convince enough PA nerds to buy the game and play.

That’s just me rambling about my own shit, though. I’m sure it’ll do fine in the traditional PA business method. And if it does become a hit, there could be a great future. For the game itself, we could start seeing exclusive cards popping up in comic books, or inside game boxes. And what about Expansions? I’m hoping that the initial set of cards leaves room for expansion.

Possibly within other webcomics?

I could see a PVP expansion, allowing everyone to once settle disputes once and for all. Pitting Brent against Tycho would be a great battle indeed. Or, since the art of the game itself is a collaboration between Gabe and Hawk, why not an Applegeeks expansion? Hawk vs. Chuck, a fight to decide the greatest Mac Elitist of all.

What if this becomes an open source system that could easily be adaptable to all webcomics ever? Imagine the matchups! Jin Wicked vs. Jennie Breeden, Naoko Muragama vs. Monica Villarreal, Checkerboard Nightmare vs. Snarky, Choo Choo Bear vs. Snooch, Eric Von Frankenstein vs. Helen Narbon, D.J. Coffman vs. Everyone, etc!

A guy can dream, can’t he?

At any rate, I know I’ll be picking up an assload of boosters and starter decks when it’s finished. And bugging all my PA fan friends to play. And quite possibly the ones who’ve never heard of it. There’s no doubt in my mind that this game will be a lot of fun.

Tons and tons of fun. These things get more exciting each one I attend (which, unfortunately, won’t happen again for a while since I am to go back to Philadelphia for my schoolings). Under a cut, due to length and pictures.

(more…)

In case I don’t have anything to say today, before I head out for an afternoon at Ye Olde Comic Bookery (before heading over to the Washington Webtoonist Monthly Meetup), I figured I’d prepare a little something.

In the ever present interest of mine to have wide discussion of the webcomics world at large from all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds and all that good stuff, I like to inform my readers of the other critics in the game. So my two most recent discoveries are Comics Rock by Andrew Araki, and The Webcomicker by Gilead Pellaeon. I encourage you to consider them as sources of webcomic criticism in addition to myself, because I don’t want anyone feeding off my own opinion alone.

They’ve been added to the linklist of other critics at the right side of the page, along with all the others. So if you haven’t seen those others yet either, I say now’s as good a time as any.

And now, to the Comic Book Store, to pick up the new issue of Runaways. Best new book to come out of Marvel for a long time.

Hey gang, friendly reminder right here about this month’s Washington Webtoonist Meetup, if you haven’t seen it on Comixpedia already. Here’s the skinny, quoted from Chris Impink:

“Location: Ballston Common Mall
4238 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA
When: Tuesday, August 2, 8:00pm

Another first Tuesday is looming, and we’re trying out something accessible by the Metro on the Virginia side. Just head down to the food court at the bottom level and we’ll figure it out from there. The mall is a block east of the Ballston-MU station on the Orange Line.”

The cool news about this meetup in particular, is that Joey Manley has RSVP’d for the event. Which, needless to say, is pretty damned cool. Seeing as how he’s going to be traveling across the country (continent, even) to come out to see us. And that gets a hearty “Hell yeah!” out of this critic.

Hope to see you there!