It’s that time again, folks. Time to give some less fortunate children the holiday they’ll never forget. Child’s Play is one of the coolest charities I’ve ever had the joy of participating in, not to mention the only real ongoing one spurred from Webcomics. I highly suggest you get involved, even if it’s just spreading the word.
And a happy holiday greeting of your choice, to anyone who reads this.
Webcomics. For me and everyone else involved in this community, this activity, this art form and brand new medium and every other grandiose adjective we can possibly apply to it… The word has gravity. We capitalize it. We emphasize it. We live in this utopian intenet culture called Webcomics and it’s filled with every one od us, convinced tht it is the ultimate. It cannot be beaten, it is the brace new world for sequential art.
I often wonder if it’s being taken too seriously. And this is coming from the guiy who does more than one podcast about Webcomics.
I’ve been labeled as the Quintessential Webcomic Enthusiast. I would gladly consider myself this. Hell, I love Webcomics so much there’s nary a thing involving them I don’t do. Except make them, it would seem.
I look forward and I see the future of Webcomics. This Age of Webcomic history that will come in 15 years or so. Wehere Webcomics are a household name, a common item, and perhaps even overtaking and supplanting the newspaper strips. We’ll have movies and TV shows and your children will be waering Webcomics pajamas on their way to bed.
I wonder who, amongst us, we could see participating and achieveing that. I assure you, it won’t be one of us. It’ll be someone brand new, someone from the outside coming in, taking with them their fame and notoriety that came from their previous career(s). They will go to Webcomics, and the public will go with. He or she is the one that will bring Webcomics to Grandma and Grandpa.
It won’t be one of us.
It might not be any of us at home.
In the common dwelling, where they boot up their arm computers and read their webcomics over coffe. The average person may not be reading Penny Arcade or PVP. They’ve got a narrow topic in gaming, they have taken and gilled that niche. It’s foreseeable that they cannot grow outside of that niche. It ill be the new webcomics, which will be accessable and readible ny grandma and frampa, It will be gamiliar and it will be traditional in srtlw.
It will be familiar.
Er eill not see the success that will come to the mOm and Pop comic. We’re inmdy, we’re alternative. we appeal to the minority. The majority need will be filled, for good or for ill. And that’s where Webcomics will be a thing.
And that bums me out, frankly. I’f really like tosee the blank label guys or PA get that success.
But it won’t be the same. Do you understand what I’m sauing?
I hope you do, because I don’t.
This is NaDruWriNi in action, folks. I have no ide what’s going on, and I seem to have lost most of my luvidity.
Er str nvp,ovd/ Er str yjr ,rfoi,/ Yjod ,rfoi, oid mpy do,[p;lu yjr gpt,s; r;r,rmyd pg yj sty smf etoyomh smf vp,[pdoyopm pg Ernvp,ovd/ Yjr fotrgvy trsfrt=vtrsypt vomminivsyopm. yjr fr;obrtu ,ryjpf/ Yjod od ejsy ,slrd id Ernvpo,vd. gs,,oy/
I… wasn’t looking at the keyboard just then. As far as I can surmise, that’s nigh indecipherable. Basically, what I said what truly makes Webcomics the medium that it is, is less the comics themselves, but the delivery method and the direct creator-reader communication. Where we see as infinite, it still has its limits. And somehow, we need to identify these limits and detsroy them.
Are the limits our topic choice? Is it our deliberate off-the-beaten path content desicions what’s keeping us from becoming that household object? Is it our nerdcore nature? is it the profanity we use, and the harshness that comes with being edgier humor?
Are our very creative desicions keeping us from becoming that household name? Is it by simply being ourselves?
I do wonder.
There’s a less utopian vision I have. More hellish. I also wonder if this is all just temporary. If one day, the bubble will burst and everything comes crashing down. I do worry about that. I’d like there to still be a Webcomic “Industy” by the time I’m ready to make my move. Oh yes, I’m biding my time. That must be it.
I’m on this topic because a friend, a mentor, gave me the idea to talk about how I see the future of Webcomics. The truth of the matter is I can only speculate wildly, because I don’t fucking know. I’m not a future predictor, I’m not a planner. I’m an improvisor. So I’m not worried about where we’re going, or where we’re headed, because I know i’ll be along for the ride. Cuz I’m Phil Fucking Kahn.
Mother fuckers.
Fucking Webcomics.
I look back at my archives of this blog and I see someone I was once. That’s what we all do when we reflect. That’s what’s to be expected during reflection. About a year and a half ago, when I started this, I admit I was jumping aboard the Webcomics Critic Bandwagon (before it was really a bandwagon to speak of, in my mind). It was a field that was not densely populated. To put it bluntly, not many people were doing it.
So I often wonder why I did.
I love Webcomics. The raw accessibility is what draws me to them more than anything else. Second, of course, to loving the medium itself. If you know me personally (and even if you don’t you could probably gather this from my general attitude), you know that I hunger for success. Validation. Any sort of tangible proof that I’m an intelligent or creative person. A lot, if not most of us, also want that. It’s a pretty basic human need. Seems to be often more at the forefront of my mental wish list than other things, and I just want to be honest about it. Webcomics helps me feel like a big shot, even though I’m so not there yet.
Conventions have fueled this greatly. At this point, I’ve been to fewer Cons as an attendee than as a participant of some kind, whether it be as a panelist, a member of the press (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) or pushing my wares in the artist alley. That’s 7 out of 10 total. Not many cons altogether, but I’ve only been seriously doing this for a year anyway. And I don’t intend on stopping, for what it’s worth. When I’m at these cons, I’m making new friends. New contacts. Both professionals and casuals. More people than I, regretfully, have the mind to remember. There’s just so goddamned many of them.
I’ve managed to “con” my way into these things, usually, by convincing them I’m some sort of Webcomics Expert. I’ve done a shitload of Webcomics 101 and other type panels, moreso than my background of experience truly warrants. I regard it scathingly because I have to continuously remind myself (not just in Webcomics, but in all the walks of life I partake) that I haven’t done that Goddamned much. Even less successes. Fortunately, I’m often able to use my failures to help others in the “Do What I Say, Not What I’ve Done” model of advice. Generally speaking, it’s been good. I’ve received no complaints.
I’m better at talking about comics than I am at making them. That, as any critic who yearns to be an artist can sympathize with, is a painful thing to embrace. Because, dammit, we want to make things and entertain people.
This past summer of cons has thrown my dissatisfaction of my station into my face repeatedly. Wizard World Philly, ConnectiCon, Otakon… people ask me the question that is to be asked, as I am a man who surrounds himself with Webcomic professionals every chance he gets:
“So, what Webcomic do you do?”
Generally, I explain like this:
“I’m kind of a rare case, where I’m at conventions moreso for my knowledge than my craft. But to put it simply, I do everything in Webcomics that doesn’t actually involve making a Webcomic. I used to make a Webcomic called The Hoojie Crew, but these days I do a criticism blog, a podcast, I run a collective, I’m on the committee for the Webcartoonist Choice Awards, I’m involved with Clickwheel as an animatic editor, I run a Wiki dedicated to compiling and creating Webcomics-themed cocktails…”
That’s usually the point where I trail off and wrap it up when the person I’m talking to stares at me blankly, as if to say, “So, you’re not a real Webcomic artist, are you?” And that’s uncomfortable. I do a fucking lot, more than I usually have time for. But to the average viewer, none of that fucking matters. Because I don’t actually make a Webcomic. Why don’t I make a Webcomic?
Well, I used to. You may have known that, you may have not. I don’t bring it up often, specifically, because as most “artists” do, I’m thoroughly embarrassed and ashamed of my previous efforts. An artist’s their own toughest critic. Even tougher, you might imagine, if they were also a practicing fucking critic at the same time.
It was called The Hoojie Crew, and it was about (shock!) the random fictional adventures of me and my dorm-mates with the more than occasional reference or discussion of a video game. I could rarely stick to my own update schedule. I made practically every mistake you could make when starting out. I even made one of the characters into a catgirl for Christ’s sake.
Although, I do look upon it fondly, as well. It was fun while it lasted. I learned a ton just by doing and failing and re-trying and failing again. It was the work I cut my teeth on. Experimented on occasionally, fucked around with, and learned with. I jumped right into Webcomics expecting fame and notoriety, not knowing a damned thing about Webcomics. Heck, at that point I don’t think I was even fully aware of the existence of more than a dozen Webcomics. I didn’t know what PVP was. I didn’t know what Webcomics were. And this was in 2003. By then, things were really starting to take shape. And I was jumping in expecting immediate rewards (on then-KeenSpace, no less).
But the fact remains that while I was doing it, I was enjoying it. While I was working on it, I was learning a lot. So I’m glad for it, and I am lovingly and respectfully putting it to rest for multiple reasons, including ones that don’t really need discussing right now.
And I miss it. The act of making Webcomics, that is.
I’m pretty tired of going to cons without something wholly tangible to show off. I’m tired of speaking to all my Webcomics partners and friends about traffic and business and method without having anything to really go on than outdated experiences and speculation. I’m tired of being the guy that does everything in Webcomics without actually making a Webcomic. That missing element needs to be re-inserted. And after a year of being totally burnt-out on drawing comics, and the enjoyment thereof. I miss making comics very, very much. And I feel ready. Ready to get back into the habit.
What I’m trying to say is, rather than shutting up, I’m putting up.
I’m going to start making comics again, the way I want to make them, in the most professional manner I’m capable of. I’m doing them with my lovely girlfriend Sarah. I’m going to do my best. I’m going to make something I’ll be proud to show off, and use to practice and get better at the craft, so that when I want to make something truly big and artistic, I’ll be ready.
So. Premiering September 1st, PUPPIES!! will be born. You will find that at www.puppies-comic.com and I do hope you will enjoy it. I will be updating it on Fridays, and Sarah will be updating it on Mondays. I’m going to have some fun, Goddammit.
I’ve had a great run here. I feel satisfied with what I’ve done so far on I’m Just Saying. And that’s a good feeling. I’m putting this blog aside for now, and putting that energy into Digital Strips. Though, I’ll still be using this space for announcements and things. The archives have had the riffraff and othersuch unimportant entries cleared out. What remains is all the substance I’ve put in here over that year or so, whether good or bad. I also added a list in the sidebar of some posts that I consider to be classics (also, whether good or bad). You never know, though. Something might just move me to write some new stuff here. I guess that depends on Webcomics, et al.
There’s a few people I’d like to thank for their parts of the duration of this thing. Thanks to Eric Burns, Wednesday White and the Snarkoleptics, for giving me the idea to do this thing in the first place. Thanks to AleX Kujawa, for encouraging me and sticking by me with Biscuit Press as the best webmaster I could ask for (through all the good and the bad). Thanks to Zampzon and Daku for bringing me on to Digital Strips. Thanks to Rob Balder for the massive help in launching I’m Just Drinking, and all the general sort of comradery and mentoring he’s given me. Thanks to Annie, LucasTDS, Abby L, and all the other frequent-commenters that indulged me in discourse (including that motherfucker, Will G). Thanks to T Campbell for getting me involved in my first paying job as a video editor with Clickwheel, AND the WCCAs. Thanks to Xaviar Xerexes for all the times he’s quoted me, or otherwise pointed people here for Important Webcomics Stuff. Thanks to anybody I forgot to mention, because this list turned out to be a bit more than “a few” as I was typing it.
And, of course, thanks to all of you people that have simply read along. I obviously wouldn’t have been doing it if it weren’t for you.
Hasta
-Phil!
I know I’m already running my own donation drive, but this one is a friend of mine’s, and a much bigger deal. She writes…
“Guys, you know I wouldn’t ask for money if it weren’t important, and it is. It’s not for me, though lord knows I could use some. But even if you donate one dollar, that’s one dollar this cause didn’t have before. I’ve been getting ULTRA involved in this program called RAINN (http://www.rainn.org/).
I’ve signed up for volunteer training, and after I complete it, I’ll be able to assist rape victims over the phone, over the net, and even
in person at HOSPITALS. I’ve also signed up for their Speaker’s
Bureau, and I’ll be getting the chance to speak at schools about
sexual assault, and tell people my story (hopefully offering hope to
people who have been through horrible experiences).
But it’s not enough. I also want to get involved in their events.
Particularly one called RAINN Day 2006. Did you know that 1 in 6
American women experience an attempted or completed rape in her
lifetime? This year, RAINN Day will take place on Thursday, September
28. You can sign up at
http://www.rainn.org/news/get-carded-2006.index.html and RAINN will
send you updates and event ideas very soon. RAINN Day is a great way
to raise awareness on campus for the fight against sexual assault.
Did you know that people in college have the highest risk for sexual
assault? That’s why I want to create an ad on FACEBOOK! I thought,
what better way to reach college students and get them to raise
awareness on their campuses than taking out a FACEBOOK AD?
The problem is, there’s a minimum dollar amount, and that amount is
$50. I can’t afford that. But if you tell your friends, and if they
tell their friends, and everyone donates a dollar or two, I’ll have
enough in no time! $50 is the minimum, but the more money that gets
raised, the more schools I’ll be able to advertise to, and the more
students we can reach. Feel free to copy and paste this anywhere.
Thank you so much for your time.
- Danielle LaBove
dani@rollingdamage.com”
Thanks a lot, House. Way to represent.
All right, guys. There’s gonna be another vote soon in the Senate on Net Neutrality. If you didn’t call your Representatives, you better call your Senators this time. This affects each and every goddamned one of us. Y’know, of course, unless you want Verizon or Comcast to tell you which webcomics you can or cannot read.
Let’s Save the Internet, already.
So Batwoman is a lipstick lesbian now. And CNN is making a big deal out of it.
I can see the motivation they allegedly have in creating this character for the sake of diversity. Sure, let’s have some gay Super Heroes™. There are gay people out there; it makes sense that there would be gay heroes. It would also make sense that there would be some overweight, ugly, and otherwise unsavory looking heroes (besides the monsters, because the even though the monsters are hideous in the story they look perfectly badass to us readers). But let’s maintain the idea of diversity within good-looking and physically well-endowed people here for a moment.
With the advent of the new Batwoman being a Gotham City high class socialite, and making her a “lipstick lesbian,” they’re not really promoting and displaying diversity. It wouldn’t be upon them to make a hero who just, I dunno, happens to be gay. They’re making a character for the character to be gay. Putting the purpose forward. If you think about it, it ain’t all that different from when characters like Black Vulcan and Luke Cage the Power Man were conceived. They wanted to make black characters, so they made characters whose purpose in existence, really, was being black. Kinda like this Batwoman scenario.
Picture this: What if they kept it a secret until the book came out. We see Batwoman out and about fighting crime and kicking ass and stuff. Then she comes home after a hard night’s work to go on a date with her girlfriend.
Y’know… revealing the detail as an aspect of her character at a good story moment, rather than reveal the fact waaaaay before the fact to stir up a benign shitstorm to get everyone to talk about it. Because it would probably have gotten the same amount of press, and they’d look less like assholes. Also, aren’t surprises just… better?
And along with Batwoman in their push for diversity, we’ve got a new Atom who’s Asian, and a new Blue Beetle who’s black. Because, as Maddox said, “True diversity comes from people who look different.”
Onezumi is truly a wise individual. I’m most impressed by this recent essay of hers. Go read.
Why isn’t anyone talking about savetheinternet.com?
Freedom of speech and open e-market are being directly threatened by the senate and the house right now. The Network Neutrality Act ensures that there is no corporate regulation to internet access in the manner that they mean to install. There is a bill being voted on that will dissolve the act, allowing the communication corporations to buy up the control of access and install a Tier System. This Tier System will affect which websites a user is able to access with reasonable speed. For example, you could go to MySpace.com with ease. But to access anything else that doesn’t fork over the money to get into the top tiers, they will delay your ability to view them.
By that same process, you would have to considerably wait to look at your own webpage. Or practically any other webcomic or website you enjoy that can’t afford to sign up for the tier system. Makers will have to spend money to make their strip, publish their strip, and allow people to view their strip with any convenience.
Folks, this shit is fucked up. And they’re trying to slip it right past us. I urge you to visit savetheinternet.com and do everything you can to help. Get the word out. Tell everyone you know. Call and/or write your congressmen. This threatens not only for our little corner of the web, but for free speech as well.
There is nothing more important in webcomics than this. No book being compiled, no landmark being reached, no collaboration, no interview, no podcast, no webcomic more important than this right now. If they pass the bill and Network Neutrality is destroyed, what we have here right now will change forever for the worse.
It’s a hot issue right now. A touchy issue. And often, a misinterpreted issue. What we have going on is a gigantic clash of cultures manifesting into violent protest.
One of the perspectives I’m sick of hearing is “They’re just cartoons. You don’t see people bombing embassies because someone draws Jesus.”
There’s a lot wrong with that outlook. Because as the person already knows, the two religions of Christianity and Islam are quite different. I’m not about to make myself out to be some sort of expert on Islam. In fact, when it came to that unit in Intellectual Heritage class, I don’t remember a damned thing. But one thing that the holders of the perspective above don’t understand is that in Islam tradition and practice, the depiction of their prophet Muhammad is a sin. Not poor taste, not “frowned upon.” A sin.
In Christianity, the depiction of Christ, God, and other heavenly figures is not a sin. The wide majority of faithful Christian believers have a portrait of Christ in their household somewhere. There are paintings that are considered great works of art beyond being religious (like the Last Supper and the Sistine Chapel). The Christian culture and tradition has encouraged the creation of such works and others as not just good a thing, but a good tool to spread the love of their lord and savior.
But in Islamic tradition, it is a sin. And Freedom of the Press or not, we oughtta respect that. We don’t need to be uber PC and hyper sensitive to their religion, but we oughtta respect it. The same way we expect them to respect any religion we might practice.
That’s the major thing the Danish Editor did not do. He knew full and goddamned well that these cartoons would be a major offense in their society, which is plenty volatile as it stands. He had them reprint those cartoons and hid behind the good ol’ Freedom of the Press clause.
That’s a common misunderstanding with Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech. They mean you are free to say and print what you choose. They do not, however, protect you from any consequences that might arise from the recipients. Sure, your government will keep their fingers out (for the most part anyway), but the other 99% of your readers are not the government. So you will have to deal with them if you piss them off. That’s life. What the fuck did the Danish Editor expect?
But don’t get me wrong. I’m not condoning the riots. Not in anyway. Violence is never the answer. And in protest, violence is not even an option. There are fundamental flaws in the Middle-Eastern societies and cultures (mostly the extremists) that see violence and murder as a perfectly acceptable method. That’s fucked in the head. And yes, totally: Way to disprove your enemies’ allegations that you are a recklessly violent people by participating in reckless violence. That’ll teach ‘em.
So fuck no, I’m not condoning their actions. And I ain’t making excuses on their behalf. But we, as intelligent people owe it to ourselves to at least make sure we understand what they’re thinking, and not chalk it off as “Just Cartoons.” This simply reaffirms that the medium that we use is a powerful one. And with great power comes great responsibility, dammit.
Ok, so I haven’t written anything. Reason #1, nothing to say. Reason #2, I’m still fucking sickened by certain displays on other blogs.
But now I have something to say.
Please welcome to the world, Beatrix Cayce Garza.
I see animated series. Starring Elliot, Baby Gabe, and Beatrix…
Webcomics Rugrats.
It’ll be awesome.