Monthly Archives: April 2010
While I’m still breaking hiatus, vote the Webby Awards!
So while I’m back temporarily, I should probably tell you that at least three webcomics are up for AOL.com’s Webby Awards. If you’re a fan of any of these comics, register and vote. Voting ends at the end of the day, tomorrow.
In the “Connections” category under “Personal Blog/Website”:
Under “Entertainment” in the “NetArt” section:
So go vote and prove that webcomics can win the somewhat mainstream yet still fairly obscure awards too!
Metapost: temporary break from hiatus
From the wrestling-themed webcomic Botched Spot. Thought it would be appropriate, what with this site’s ties to webcomics, wrestlers, and vampire people.
Still chillin’ on hiatus, but I’ll be back soon. I think I’ll start off with a full review of Bayou: it grabbed my attention while I was looking through the nominees, and I think it deserves nothing less.
Right now, I am temporarily derailed by the same thing that makes Websnark so sporadic: video games. Yes, I knew Xbox would be my downfall the day I bought it. And right now, I cannot be riveted away from the nigh fantastic space opera that is Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Don’t worry, I’m not turning this site into a half-webcomics, half-Bioware-game review site.
Yet.
Metapost: Springtime for Webcomic Overlook
Little Gamers
It’s springtime! Flowers are blooming, leaves are sprouting on the trees, and the warm spring breeze fills the air. Unless you’re in Seattle, where it’s gotten cold and rainy and where everyone misses the nice balmy 60 degree F weather of February.
Springtime also means spring break, and when your wife is a teacher, that is a very big deal. So we’re going on a short vacation to recharge and relax. The Webcomic Overlook will also be going on a month-long hiatus as a result.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I plan on taking a look the 2010 Eisner nominees for Best Digital Comic. And then it’s off to the races. Here’s a list of the next few webcomics I plan to check out, some of which were recommended by readers like you:
Marilith
In addition, here’s some other webcomic review sites you might want to check out as well:
- Coyote Trax’s Webcomic Critique – There’s speaking your mind, and then there’s Webcomic Critique. Coyote Trax has no problem speaking his mind; unfortunately, that’s the sort of thing that gets you in a lot of hot water. A middling review of Axe Cop attracted all sorts of negative attention, eventhough, in my opinion, Mr. Trax actually have some very legitimate points. (On the other hand, I understand that artist and creator Ethan Nicolle was rather appreciative of the review.) While half the time I don’t agree with him, Coyote Trax does back up his opinions and sheds a whole new aspect on the webcomics he reviews.
- Luprand’s Webcomic Musings – Luprand is far more genial. Proof: he really doesn’t have a rating system, rather aiming for nebulous conclusions like “Two hockey pucks” and “10 mg of Adderall per day.” His reviews also tend to focus on the artwork.
Here’s to critics, the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems!
The 2010 Eisner Nominations have arrived!
Comics Beat reports that the 2010 Eisner Nominations have been released. Here are your candidates for Best Digital Comic:
- Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, www.abominable.cc (reviewed here)
- Bayou, by Jeremy Love, http://zudacomics.com/bayou
- The Guns of Shadow Valley, by David Wachter and James Andrew Clark, www.gunsofshadowvalley.com
- Power Out, by Nathan Schreiber, www.act-i-vate.com/67.comic
- Sin Titulo, by Cameron Stewart, www.sintitulocomic.com (reviewed here)
Based on the strength of the two nominees I’m familiar with (plus the positive word-of-mouth I’ve heard about Bayou), I’d say that this is a fairly strong list this time around. Last year, I wrote a two-part overview of the 2009 Eisner nominees. I plan on doing the same thing next month. So watch this space for my take on the nominees, plus my predictions on the winners.
Also representing webcomics: Josh Neufeld’s A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge (reviewed here) — which began its life as a webcomic and went on to garner critical acclaim from Wired, Rolling Stone, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, among others — gets a nomination for “Best Graphic Album – Reprint.”
EDIT: Lauren Davis also has her own take on the Eisner nominees up at her site. Her blog, Storming the Tower, has always been great webcomics-related reading, so check it out when you can. She’s much happier about the 2010 nominees than the 2009 version (like I am). She does wonder, though, whether a long relationship in print comics impacts chances of winning.
From Fleen: “webcomic” a candidate for the dictionary
Gary Tyrrell at Fleen reports that Merriam-Webster is considering whether or not the term “webcomic” should be added to the dictionary. (“Definition: a comic published primarily on the Internet.” I mean, duh.) This is an incredible development of webcomic creators everywhere, and a crushing defeat for those who hate the term with a passion.
That’s right! In your face, mpd57!
Hilariously, by the way, here’s the example of usage the Merriam-Webster guys used:
Example:
Great new idea for a webcomic: a couple of tech-savvy hipsters living in NYC. I’m gonna be rolling in t-shirt sales money! — Niko Anesti on Twitter, Apr. 4, 2010
Godspeed, you lovely T-shirt salespeople you!
The Webcomic Overlook #117: Moon Town
When not blogging about webcomics, I am often found hanging around comments sections discussing the finer points of Star Trek: The Next Generation*. That’s right people: I am a super cool and suave dude. In between tried and true discussions — such as whether Wesley Crusher or Deanna Troi were lamer, or if that Reading Rainbow behind-the-scenes look at TNG was the best episode or the best episode EVER — someone brought up a highly relevant question: how come on a starship of over 400 people, we never see the enlisted men?
Star Trek likes to pretend that their squeaky clean utopia of the future has no blue collar joes. But who cleans the Jeffries tubes? Who mops the floors? Don’t say robots, because in the future of TNG it turns out Data is an unreplicatable piece of work.
While the sci-fi working class more or less gets ignored in the Star Trek universe, they do tend to get their due in webcomics. I reviewed Jump Leads a year-and-a-half-ago, about two somewhat low level grunts on an inter-dimensional immigration office.
Today, we visit another set of blue collar working stiffs in Steve Ogden’s Moon Town, a comic that follows the adventures of an unfortunate security officer and a team of world-weary miners.
The iPad arriveth
For some, last weekend was Easter weekend, which meant a day of reflection at church, hiding Easter eggs for the kids, and/or gorging on marshmallow peeps. For others, it was the day of the iPad.
Comics Beat reports that somewhere between 600K to 700K iPads were sold this weekend to hungry early adopters. What does this mean in terms of digital comics you ask? Well, it looks like some folks, like New York Times‘ Dave Itzkoff, are salivating over the digital library.
On Friday, Marvel Comics, the publishing home of heroes like Spider-Man and the X-Men, said it was introducing a free application for the iPad that will give readers access to a digital library of more than 500 comics from its 70-year history. The software program, Marvel Comics App, developed by the digital comics distributor comiXology, offers free access to the first issues of titles like New Avengers and The Invincible Iron Man. Other recent and vintage issues can be downloaded for $1.99 each. Marvel says it sees the app as being complementary to the experience of buying and reading physical comics, not supplanting it.
More on the Marvel app here.
Also, on the Zuda side of things, Zuda mentions that “webcomics”, as a term, has been trending quite nicely since 2007.
It seems that since October 2007, webcomics have gained greater presence in the minds of Web-surfing comic readers and appear to be on the rise for 2010.
Of course, we at Zuda knew that already. We might even like to think we helped webcomics a little bit on the above 2007-2008 bump with titles like BAYOU, HIGH MOON and THE NIGHT OWLS.
Maybe so, Zuda… but you know what also started on 2007? That’s right: the Webcomic Overlook. *air guitar* (h/t Artpatient.)
The T-shirt poll
Are webcomic creators the same thing as T-shirt salesmen? The debate rages on, but The Webcomic Overlook would like to as you: have you ever bought a webcomic T-shirt?
Previous polls can be found here.
