Stopover at Real Life: Webcomic Proposals must be coming in to fashion...

In case you missed this yesterday:

I think the first time I ever saw an online proposal was when Gabe of Penny Arcade did it.

And while technically Greg Dean didn't do it the same way (proposed first, asked question later) I'm beginning to wonder if a trend is beginning to develop.

Regardless, something to keep in mind for those of you who are dating webcomic artists, since it's something that's highly likely to happen if you're dating one and one of them proposes. ;)


Oh and I forgot. Congratulations to Greg and Liz are in order ;)

Stopover at Pirate Queen Marianne: Well... how can you NOT like a comic about a smart, spunky, space pirate queen?

This is a relatively new comic I'd just stumbled across. The credit for me actually actually getting around to reading the comic was the spiffy Keenspace newsbox art that caught my eye. There's just something deliciously charming about that stylised artwork:



Check out that mastery of positive/negative space! I'd caught a few glimpses of Stephen Henderson-Grady's (more realistic) artwork before, but this is the first time I've sampled Katie Henderson-Grady's writing. I must say it's promising: mostly light hearted, with some gung-ho action and the occasional (but not overdone) dramatic moment.

There's some slight problems with choppy transitions and unanswered plot holes that may confuse the reader a little in the beginning, but starting from the second chapter things start to smooth out and the art just keeps looking better and better. I'm not sure if they're making full use of infinite canvas just yet, but all in good time I guess.

An interesting aspect of the comic is that it deliberately shuffles the story so it's not told in order. This could either be refreshing to the reader, or it could just plain annoy the conventionals to heck. Either one or other, you might want to decide for yourself.

The navigation could be better handled though. A calendar or comic index would go a long way to help us poor readers who aren't just reading from the beginning to backtrack them pages ;)

It's hasn't started long, and hasn't gone very far... but definitely worth keeping an eye on, this one.

Hotspot #2: I thought Manga was a STYLE, not a Genre.

Just to prove that I'm really back, BAM! Two posts in one day. I can't remember when was the last time THAT happened.

My hotspot topic for today was triggered by a forum post (click on the title for the link). The thread topic was "Manga Versus Everyone Else". As you can guess, it certainly lead to a great deal of discussion... well you can read the topic for yourself. (Don't worry, almost everyone was pretty civil in the discussion.)

Anyway, post discussion, there's something about that discussion that's been really irking me , and I have a shrewd suspicion similar discussions are probably going on everywhere else, I might as well talk about it here.

Is it just me, or are comics being split into, or at least perceived as a few two narrow categories nowadays? You have the traditional comics, which is usually taken to mean the american (and european) super-hero/newspaper humour comics...

...and then you have 'the new japanese wave of comics'. Manga.

Much has been said about Manga. That it will rejuvenate the comics industry. That it will destroy it. I don't care for any of those discussions. I'm sure most of you are sick of all that by now.

What I'm curious is why Manga is being treated as a genre? Maybe it's just my ignorance speaking, but isn't it more of a style? A different style of art? Yes. A different style of storytelling? Yes. A different style of printing and distribution? Yes?

But a genre? Doesn't a genre relate to the type actual content and not just the presentation of the content? Isn't a manga about superheroes technically a super-hero comic?

Yet Manga is considered a genre. Look at the bookshelves in the stores. Oh hell... Let's look at a couple of case studies on the web.

To be fair, categorising all those comics must be a pain, but I can't help but wonder with categories like Gaming /Mature / Fantasy / Sci-Fi why is there one specifically for 'Manga'? Isn't it more relevant to dock the manga according to whether the story is 'fantasy' or 'sci-fi'?

I thought The Park and Barb Show's take on manga was quite interesting. The last part is particularly true, and I'm sure we all know of people who 'do' manga because they think it's going to be more popular or somehow 'better'. Or certain shows who ape the manga/anime look to make it more palatable to the 'modern day audiences' *cough*teentitans*cough*.

Personally I thought the reason good manga is good is not because it was manga, but because... you know... the story was good. Personally, all the mangas I've liked so far I've liked because the subject matter was different. The genres the stories are based on are varied and in most cases, new and refreshing to me. Not because they're drawn with big eyes and small mouths (In fact I'm not a big fan of the manga art style. I like certain mangas despite their art style, because the stories are good, not because they are drawn in a certain way).

Think about it. When I think of traditional american comics, the first thing that jumps to mind is spandex-covered superheroes and/or Tolkien-esque fantasy comics with a motley bunch of heroes on a quest. Next comes humour and slice-of-life comics like Garfield or Calvin and Hobbes or Dilbert and all that stuff.

But when I think manga, no single genre dominates the style. Giant mechas in space? Modern day witches and enchanted swords? Samurai and nuns with guns? There doesn't seem to be a limit to the possibilites of what genre you set your story in.

You know, maybe what we readers really want in comics is new stories in different genres, not new ways of drawing same old goddamn stories.

So let's stop treating manga as a genre already, people. It's not even comparing apples and oranges.

It's comparing the apples and the bloody crate the apples came in.

21st Leg: Elsie Hooper

Firstly, welcome to the New Year!

Secondly... enough waffling already! Let's get down to business and find some webcomics!



Comic: Elsie Hooper
By: Robert D. Krzykowski

Genre and Setting: Survival Horror, Modern Day, Apocalyptic

Art Style: Heavily-stylized realistic, Greyscale (heavy blacks), newspaper strip format

Is About: A young girl named Elsie Hooper, who has been taken by the shadowmen. Elder brother and guardian Ridley isn't about to let them get away with it, and wages a war in the deserted town of Campbell falls. Deserted, except for the hordes of shadowmen bent on stopping him.

Website: http://www.elsiehooper.com
Frequency: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays (Has been rather irregular lately)
Availability: Free

First Impressions and Presentation:
I think it was the front page banner that did it. You have these two omnious figures standing in a shaft of light. And one of them is carrying a chainsaw.

A chainsaw. If that doesn't set the mood for the comic, nothing does.

As should be expected (and probably appropriate) the website is dark and minimalistic. Nothing fancy, but I don't think anything more is needed, really.


The Concept:
It's the classic survival horror situation: You run through your hometown, which is devoid of people and is now overrun by a) Undead (zombies) b) Monsters c) Aliens. When push comes to shove, even a mild-mannered character is going to find some way to fight back. Ridley Hooper does.

The premise for Elsie Hooper follows the classic approach, and is none the worse for it. It's certainly a nice twist that you're never sure what "they" (the shadowmen) are, or what happened to all the people, except that they are all certainly gone. There's more underneath the surface that has only been hinted at, something apocalyptic, we we'll see soon enough where that goes


The Art:
While at first glance it looks deceptively simple, it's actually quite detailed. The style definitely suits the comic matter, and serves to enhance the 'horror' feel. Robert also make liberal use of splatter effects.

One thing's for certain, you can't possibly mistake Robert's style for anyone else's. The style of drawing the eyes take some getting used to, but it works.

I should also mention that there's some great experimentation done on the newspaper strip format.

All in all, I like the art, and I do the like the distinctiveness of the style.


The Writing:
It's obvious the author has a good grasp of storytelling techniques.

The action scenes are excellently done. Conveying action in a comic is very difficult (I should know) but the action scenes in Elsie Hooper are exceptionally well done.

Not only is the flow of action very easy to follow, but it manages to do something many action comics fail to do: have a lot of action yet not make it boring. It pulls the reader into the thick of the fray, and for a moment, you are there. You can feel the fear when the shadowmen surround the characters. You can sense the animal rage when the characters fight for their very survival. You feel the terror and despair of the characters when they hit setback after setback. And the constant knowledge that more of them are coming.

Another thing worthy mentioning is how subtle and efficient Roberts can be sometimes. Here for example, one of the characters tells of the events that happened to him before meeting up with the main characters, not only does he relate some events that are important to the story, but he also gives some nice backstory on Ridley's parents. (A good example: Ridley's father was a fireman killed in action, but the author manages to convey this to the audience without directly saying so).

I've gotta learn how to do that one.


Problems:
One thing that annoyed me the most after reading Elsie Hooper is that as enjoyable as the story is while you're reading it, once you're done you realise that despite the large archives, not much of real substance has really happened in the story. There's a lot of action. And more action. And it's good action... but at the end of each chapter the plot advancement has gravitated perhaps two inches from where it was at the beginning of the chapter.

Which is a pity. There's a very intriguing story in Elsie Hooper that's still waiting to break out, but has been supressed in favour of action. and while action is all very well, there is such a thing as 'too much of a good thing'.

This might not seem like a big 'problem' in your eyes, but in all honesty, if the pacing continues to be this slow, I'm beginning to doubt I will ever see the end of this story. In my experience, good comics that die before reaching their ending tend to be of this type; the slow pacing kills them eventually as the creator's attention tends to wander off. And if I think a comic will never finish, I'm not likely to continue reading it, because goddamnit I want to know the ending!.

I hope I'm wrong. I really do. But I wouldn't be surprised if I were right.


Overall:
Elsie Hooper has lots of fast-paced interesting action and a great concept. Normally I'd give it a glowing review, if not for the knowledge that the story pacing is problematic, and there's the great possibility that this comic might not ever finish. I had a great time reading it, but after finishing I found it frustrating.

Don't let the opinion of this blogger keep you from reading it, though...


The Next Leg:
Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to find a links page with webcomic links in it.

You know what this means: BACKTRACK!

I don't know why, but I chose Dinosaur Comics. Maybe it's because I remember it being mentioned about in websnark before, or maybe it's not something I'm likely to read otherwise...

Although that might be because I have a slight phobia of dinosaurs. Now I bet that's something about me that you didn't know.

Memorial: Will Eisner

The news should be breaking out all over the 'Net. A Legend has passed.

For some one like me who has relative ignorance of the comic book industry, I have to admit that I know very little of Will Eisner in comparison (actually the little I know probably comes from Barb-Lien Cooper's references to him in her writings), but I've always found that the things he said always seemed to make bloody good sense.

And such people are all too rare. I dare say he'll be missed.

Merry Christmas 2004! Happy New Year 2005!

Just a quick blurb to wish you guys the best forthe holiday season.

I'm sorry for the lack of Finds lately, firswt work, and then losing my computer kinda distracted me.

It should be fixed by New Year, so watch out for new Finds then.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

--Ping

Hotspot: The Insularity of the Webcomics Community

As I write this, I feel compelled to admit I'm in a somewhat furious state right now, and I'm breaking my self-imposed rule of not writing when in a state of anything other than moderate calmness.

But this is my blog of sorts, damnit. Once in a while, I'm going to pull an Eric Burns and write what I damn well like on it.

That important confession out of the way, I shall proceed to start my first Hotspot, which I think can be classed as 'Polemically Moot Sessions". I'm sure that must be gramatically incorrect, and neither is it important right now. And no, the acronyms are not a coincidence.

A few months ago, I shared an observation of mine about the webcomics community in general to another person who shall remain unnamed. (unless they don't mind going public, then by all means, go ahead) The exchange in question was brief and the circumstances that led to it were a direct result of this blog, but what is important that in that exchange, I made the observation that:

The Webcomics Community is Deeply Insular.

This should come as no surprise. With the vast reach of the Internet, it's only natural people would confine their interactions in a limited scope, and stay where they feel comfortable and established.

An example of what this insularity is the little grouping of webcomic communities we currently have. My personal breakdown of the webcomic groups, in no particular order, they are:

• The Keen Family
  
  
  • Keenspot
  • Keenspace
  
  
• The Modern Tales Family
  
  
  • Modern Tales
  • Graphic Smash
  • Girl-a-matic
  • Serializer
  • WebcomicsNation
  • Talkaboutcomics
  • Graphic Novel Review
  
  
• Drumbrella
• Drunk Duck
• PV Comics
• Wirepop
• Buzzcomix
• TWC


• The Independents

I'm sure I'm missing out a few collectives, but these are the ones that first came to my head at first thought.

"The Independents" are the webcomics that don't belong to collectives, and are usually self-hosted. Some of them have their own domains, and the big guns of webcomics (PvP, Penny Arcade, Megatokyo etc) form this loose association of non-associated comics. Dizzy yet?

Anyways, in the majority of cases (not all) the people who make these communities are deeply insular. That is, there's not much mixing. Most webcomickers (or webcomic fans) will stay in their respective circles for most of their webcomicking life.

The thing about this is that one person who may be well-known in one circle may be virtually unknown in another. For example, I don't expect everyone in Keenspace or Drunk Duck (No disrespect intended, and I said everyone, not anyone) to know who Barb Lien-Cooper, Steve Bryant, Joe Azabel, Derek Kirk Kim or Xavier Xerexes is. Heck, at one point I didn't even know WHAT Modern Tales or Graphic Smash was until one of the comics I read moved there. (And eventually, when T Campbell recruited me, but that's another story.)

Similarly, I don't expect anyone from the Comixpedia or Drunk Duck or PV comics to know who Mr. Bob from Keenspace is (Incidentally, Bob Oosterwijk has his own... erm... worshipful following now, and is one of the few people to has his own theme song). Nor I do not expect anyone who isn't in Keenspace to know why "customer" is a considered deadly insult.

Back to the topic, on realising the existence of this insularity and my own inclusion, I have tried my best to break out of it. In a typical month, I go through as many different sources of webcomic information as I probably can. Most of them are web-zines and news/creator blogs, The forefront of which is Eric Burn's excellent Websnark, Comixpedia and Sequential Tart. Other sources like Silver Bullet Comics and The Webcomics Examiner, Joey Manley's blog also deserve mentions, although those are more periodical things that I read every once in a while but not regularly.

I trawl various forums, and lurk in many more. I read people's posts, discussions. Sometimes I contribute to them.

I also started the Webcomic Finds blog in an attempt to break out of the reading cycle of the same few comics over and over, and try and explore more comics that I wouldn't read otherwise. I liked to think that unlike the sedantary others, I was a traveller, exploring new frontiers, going where few people have bother to explore. (Sorry for paraphrasing TSG. You'll forgive me, I'm sure)

And in all honesty, for all my attempts, I am still insular. I may know quite a bit about webcomics by doing what I do, but I will never know enough of it. And travel the web though I may, the comics I read will still be only webcomics. I will know little of print comics. I will know little of newspaper syndication, the manga-movment or the indie and mini-comics rebellion.

My 'travels' are still contained within a limited sphere, although the sphere changes shape and expands I'm still stuck on the goddamned same planet.

And thus I have no right to look down my nose at the 'sedantries', and pride myself that I'm more well-travelled, less squestered, more open-minded than they are. I'm not going to stop 'travelling', but I'm going to stop thinking I know more just because I do.

Why am I saying all this? Because I have to be responsible for my mistakes.

I'm learning the valuable lesson that it's easy to start a meme, and much harder to stop it later. On my forum trawls, I'm beginning to see my own words, mouthed by someone else, being thrown at other people, in the form of an insult.

The meme has spread. And this hurts me deeply. I can make observations. And with all my heart I believe those observations are accurate. My intention was to use this observation to improve things. Maybe integrate communities and spread awareness. I never intended it to be a form of derision.

People have a right to do what they want to do with their lives. And 'travellers' and 'outsider observers' have no right to feel superior just because opinions differ. In Alex Garland's novel The Beach the main character felt he was superior to the people who never travelled. But he was wrong in the end. And so was I.

So, the next time someone tells you you're insular prat who stays closeted in your own zone, even though if you're not, then you know who to blame for planting the idea there in someone else's head the first place. (Or maybe it's just arrogant of me to assume they wouldn't have thought of it on their own. Well, I'm at least responsible for speeding up the process and helping it spread.)

No doubt I'll regret this when I wake up in the morning.

Ah well, a little bit of spice won't do this blog too much harm. I'll just go get the fire extinguisher ready.