Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Japan must be a very odd country. Found through
Warren Ellis, apparently Yoshinori Watanabe has stepped down as kumicho, or chairman, of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's biggest yakuza syndicate. Which, in itself, probably isn't that weird. What threw me about this was that the very public way he was able to announce it. In the
article they talk about hundreds of Yakuza gang bosses gathering at Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters as police and media looked on. Do they have a sign up saying 'International Crime Headquarters' or something? To top that, there's speculation that he's stepping down because a recent Supreme Court ruling made it possible for him to be held liable in any civil cases been brought against the Yamaguchi-gumi. You can sue the Yakuza? I wonder do they have a website?
Read more here.
Over at
BoingBoing, a Flickr user has drew attention to
two very similar photos distributed by two different photo wire services.
One shows a young black man wading through floods, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, having looted a shop for groceries. The
second shows two white residents wading through floods, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, having found bread and soda from a local grocery store. The black man loots while the white 'residents' find. That's handy to know.
Found through
Drawn,
The Original Illustrated Catalogue Of Acme Products - the only place to turn if you want to make an abortive attempt at catching a roadrunner or carrier pigeon.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
A small while back Frank posted up a list of his
ten favourite funny BifSniff cartoons. It was an interesting list with more than a
couple of surprises for me. Anyway, someone else has added their two cents worth and again there's a couple of
interesting choices there. So if anyone else has way too much time on their hands, maybe they'd
drop in and offer their opinion. I won't go so far as to say it gives him a giddy thrill, but you really should see the way Frank's eyes light up when he gets a comment.
Friday, August 26, 2005
1984 was the year George Orwell had pegged as a weird, totalitarion nightmare. It didn't happen. What did happen, though, was the birth of Cork City F.C. and weren't we glad about it last night.
Cork City 0 Djurgarden 0 - Cork City through to the
first round proper of the UEFA Cup on the away goal rule - through to face Slavia Prague. But it's not just that we're through, it's the manner in which we did it. Rico said beforehand that we'd play our own game, we wouldn't be going out to defend and, by Christ, he was true to his word. We took the game to them. Kearney was a wonder to watch, if you could see him through the swarm of Djurgarden players that descended on him everytime he touched the ball. Now I want Don Given to tell me how sitting on the bench for an English Championship side is better preparation for International football than playing in Europe. I would link to the Cork City site but it appears there still out celebrating.
As will be a regular thing now, Frank has put up a
wee piece about the new
funny cartoon. It includes an actual IM conversation we had while he was drawing it up. Which, in turn, prompted him to put up a
second IM conversation we had while doing
The Price Is Right. I think it's to demonstrate how unreasonable I am and how deserving of your pity Frank is.
Oh yes and we've
gone to battle.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Been kind of a busy week for me, by my usual standards anyway. A couple of little jobs and this that and the other thing to sort out. Then JC's old doll was out of town for a couple of days and so he had us all out with him; so he didn't get lonely. Watched Liverpool's abysmal performance on Tuesday. Rested up yesterday and just found out
Brian has managed to secure tickets for the
Cork City - Djurgarden game. Which is handy.
Noticed the other day that
PCWeenies now has a
subscription fan club. For just $12 per annum you'll bonus art, previews of toons in progress, discount merchandise, exclusive sketches and other stuff. It'll be interesting to see how it works out for him. I'm guessing it could be nice way for him to cover his hosting and advertising bills, at least.
Found out we're listed at a new webcomic search engine,
HotWebComics. At the moment it seems to be just getting up and running but they do seem to be putting in the effort. They also have a 'Is my webcomic hot or not' type of thing with
WebcomicsOnTap.
Buzzcomix seems to be back in full swing, so we might be renewing our interest there. Until we do though, bookmark this
link and vote for us everyday. This is no longer a request, it's an order. Do it.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Ever get the feeling you've been conned. Not long ago, Frank said to me that I should set up this musings section and write about this or that, all in the name of promoting the cartoons. I grumbled but reluctantly agreed. Now, Frank, in his eternal wisdom, is pushing me to promote the musings section more. It's all getting a little confusing but Frank feels we could get a lot more traffic through this. Why? Because, according to Frank, the musings have a distinctive voice and people will respond to that. What he seems to be missing is that the distinctiveness is probably down to my complete disinterest in doing it.
Speaking of Frank, he's moaning about
his own in-grained sexist programming or something like that. I have no such qualms and freely admit that it never once occurred to me that the
publisher should be a woman.
What Frank seems to have forgotten to worry about is his obvious underlying homophobia. Which is probably the neatest lead through I've ever come up with because, found through
BoingBoing, D.C. Comics are demanding a Chelsea art dealer
cease and desist from exhibiting Mark Chamberlain's "gay batman" watercolours. Artnet also got a warning for hosting
examples of the works. Who is it that advises these corporations on these issues? Because, besides the fact that they haven't really got a leg to stand on(surely this falls into the realms of parody), they just highlighted something that a lot of people, like me, wouldn't never have known about otherwise. Though, the real reason I'm mentioning
this is the thoroughly reasoned and coherent response by Larry. Eloquent stuff.
In the light of recent
tragic events,
Abe probably got off quite lightly.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Predictably enough, that New York Times article sparked alot of discussion around the webcomic community. Eric over at
Websnark threw his
two cents worth(we get to same that now since the introduction of the euro) in, Tom Spurgeon
had his say and
everyone else waded in over at
Comixpedia. But, by far and away, the most incisive piece on the whole affair was
Ping Teo's aside at
Webcomic Finds. She hit the nail on the head while everyone else was hitting their thumbs. That's not to say that everyone else was wrong, just that she cut straight to the heart of the matter.
As a side-note to that whole affair,
Blank Label pulled off a
pretty clever little trick when they registered the name
comicwindows.com - after it had been mentioned in the NYTimes article. No one knows what site the article was supposed to be referring to but fair fucks to the lads for picking up on the mistake.
Frank's after doing some more work on the site, which you might have noticed. If you didn't and you're curious as to what it is:
read this.
Frank also pointed me in the direction of
this site earlier. Primarily it was because they have some recordings of Hunter S. Thompson doing a Q & A at the University of Colorado Auditorium in 1977. Haven't listened to them yet but they could be interesting. Other than that, though, I also found a link to
skafunkrastapunk(amongst others); where I found some interesting(?!) links.
Finally, found through
boingboing,
NYC2123 is a serialised sci-fi novel intended for reading on the Sony PSP. Released under a Creative Commons license, it seems like an interesting experiment. Not my sort of thing but it's the ideal genre for that particular medium, surely.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Oh, how quickly the mainstream media catch on. The New York Times has an article on webcomics -
Comics Escape A Paper Box, and Electric Questions Pop Out(free registration may be required).
As always, the article starts out talking about
Scott McCloud and his books:
Understanding Comics and
Reinventing Comics. Unfortunately, from there the writer seems to judge the success of webcomics entirely on the basis of the ideas discussed in those tomes. Particular emphasis is paid to the problems with webcomics i.e. how to generate revenue and the fact that it's a lot easier on the eye to read from the printed page. No mention is given to the benefits - the fact that most of the comics mentioned would probably never have seen the light of day, had they not started on the web. There's also no mention of
Penny Arcade,
PVP,
Achewood,
Questionable Content or any other number of hugely successful, revenue generating online comics. In the end this isn't an article on webcomics, it's a an article on Scott McClouds perception of webcomics (as judged on criteria set by Gary Groth) masquerading as an article on webcomics.
Frank has a few words to say on the subject of
marketing our funny cartoons. Specifically, he discovered that our spike in traffic is directly related to
The Fear Factor Couple running our mini-toon feed. Slightly worrying is the fact that they expect their traffic to hit 10,000 today, which could be a problem for us if they keep it up. Though, if we get any residual traffic or kudos, then I think we'll manage some how.
A few people seem to like the latest
funny cartoon; I'm quite fond of the wee fella myself but I'm beginning to wonder how we're going to follow it up.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Cork City 1 Shelbourne 0 - there's not much else to be said. The usually unsung
Hoggy struck his first goal in nearly two years, rifling home a
Joey Gamble pass. There was a big crowd and the atmosphere was the best there's been in a while, for domestic football anyway.
Shels may not be our biggest challengers this season but there's still a special feeling about beating them and, especially, that
Judas Cahill.
The site got a bit of a jump in traffic yesterday acoording to our stats. However, I can't for the life of me work out where it came from. Traffic was over double our previous highest but I can't make out anything unusual in the stats. It seems unlikely that there's some sort of lag in the stats but it is possible that some blog carrying our mini-toons has had a spike in traffic. Unfortunately I don't watch them that closely so it's possible that I wouldn't spot it.
The Fear Factor couple have produced the most traffic on that front but even they don't look unusually high. Still, I could be mistaken.
Everyone should have a look at this Japanese cinema ad in either
wmv(windows media) or
3gp(quicktime) and then guess what it's for. You'll find the answer
here.
This would appear to be a clip of a
female Police Officer shooting someone by accident. What could I possibly say?
Monday, August 15, 2005
At first I thought it was some sort of hoax but it seems genuine enough -
Christopher Walken for United States President 2008. If you ask me, I think it goes without saying that
this man should be the most powerful in the world. And that should be his campaign tune too.
As an extra incentive to get your
subscription for
Zoinks in early,
Bill has announced that anyone who gets their order in before September 30th will get an extra two months added to their sixth month subscription. As Bill is eager to point out, Zoinks will not be available in shops. Online and direct from him is the only way you can get a copy.
So go on and subscribe.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Ok, first off, as was just pointed out to me moments ago, the
Penny Arcade cel I mentioned in the last post sold out in two hours - not days as I said.
Right we've got a bit of a new addition to the site. Frank has decided to post some notes on what he calls the
creative process behind each of our funny cartoons -
from now on that is. For those of you who are interested, then it's well worth checking out and feel free to leave your comments or ask questions. Also, though I didn't realise until just now, he's posted up his
top ten funny cartoons. So maybe you'd like to compare and offer an opinion. If we ever go to print it's probably going to be your feedback that decides what goes in.
Found another one through Drawn - it's the
new blog by former Spumco artist
Katie Nice. It's a sketchblog and gives a handy insight into developing character sketches and stuff. Much like Frank's
new thing but she's prettier. She's also a very good artist and I wouldn't dare judge her on her looks over that or even try to imply that her looks should cloud our judgement of her work or whatever other climbdowns are neccesary so that particular little flippant remark doesn't cause too much offense. Except for the one that suggests she isn't much prettier than Frank.
Daku over at
Digital Strips has done a little rundown of
the good, the bad and the ugly of comics in the print world. Of particular interest to us though is the one about the
Boondocks stirring up
controversy by using Jesus Christ's name in a cartoon mocking Oprah Winfrey.
Ahem!
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Another
great illustrator's site chanced upon through
Drawn.
Some very nice stuff all round but
this Don Quixotic stuff is, for want of a better term,
fecking sumptuous.
Just been reading about the recent
Penny Arcade Limited Edition CTS Cel over at
Digital Strips. 750 prints sold at $80 a pop, 500 of them sold in the space of two days at Think Geek. Now, I don't know what sort of profit margin they were looking at but 40 grand in two days is, by no means, a bad days work in anyones eyes. For those of who, having lived in a cave without internet access, aren't in the know
Penny Arcade is, at it's core at least, a
webcomic.
In less interesting news, through some obscure Texas law two people were able to get
married via their blogs. You can read his vows
here and hers
here.
Worth looking at just for the look on the guys face.
Tonight
Cork City are going into
UEFA cup action against Sweden's
Djurgarden. With only
Georgio missing through suspension,
Jumpers for Goalposts (as my brother has named him) has a
full squad to pick from. It's a huge game for us but we have every chance of pulling it off.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
So just after my last post, I went snooping around some sites and soon realised there was something I meant to really post about. I've actually been meaning to do it for a while now but keep forgetting it - I do that sometimes. The thing is, and I do realise I've mentioned this before,
Zoinks Magazine. Run by Bill Charbonneau over at
Voices In My Hand, it's a print comic aimed at promoting webcomics. It's a fantastic chance for cartoonists, like us, to get into print. But I've said all this before, haven't I? Yes, ok I have but I'm revisiting it because of a message posted at VIMH. There Bill is talking about his aspirations for the mag and his desire to be able to pay contributors, like us, who are currently offering their services in exchange for free copies.
"Of course, to do that, we need readers. Lots of readers. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 or more would pay webcomic artists, pay writers, pay for pre-press and of course the printing with possibly enough left over to buy a few ads on webcomic related sites."
1,000, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1000! Now he may call that lots of readers but it's not really - it's miniscule. It is so few when you consider how many people are out there reading webcomics every day. It's rediculous that he's still posting these little promo posts when he should be far too busy processing your orders. Here is the ideal opportunity to bolster and support webcomics as a whole and you don't have to buy it just out of duty -
it will actually be a good read! Hopefully, it will eventually find it's way into shops and newsagents - where it can open other peoples eyes to the world of webcomics. People talk about how everyone looks down on webcomics and how not enough credit is given. Well, this is one of those times where we get to redress the balance. (and i apparently get to sound really melodramatic)
I'm actually kind of surprised that Bill hasn't had more support from some of the
bigger players in the
field here. Hopefully, someone with the clout of
Websnark will pick up on it before it runs out of steam.
It may not be the most hugely original or groundbreaking idea to come out of the world of webcomics but it is a nice one and it is worth supporting.
Our wonderful funny cartoons will also be featured in the next edition of The Shiznit, a free mini-comic produced by
Clamnuts. More on that later.
Just as I promised Frank I'd spend more time on the musings, he goes on holiday and I completely neglect it. So, before he gets back, I'm going to fit in a quick post and pretend like I'm really into it.
Found these sites through
Drawn and was sufficently impressed to want to link them.
The Boy Fitz Hammond and
Ashley Wood - both worth a perusal.
Is it wrong to actually agree with
T-Rex on this? Well, yes, probably but it would explain
alot.
Finally, I don't know why
this exists but it is not for the faint hearted or easily offended and it is not safe for work!
Friday, August 05, 2005
So, as promised,
Brian and Martin are
back. The more observant of you will have noticed
certain characters reoccuring in these
crazy,
mixed-up,
funny cartoons of ours. Some of you might even be wondering why (most of you probably couldn't care less). Well, like a lot of things, it's a bit of this and a bit of that. Mostly it's my brain getting lazy and not wanting to have to think up a new name every week. However, a part of it is just that it makes sense. If you have a certain kind of joke, that kind of matches something you did earlier, why not resurrect the character(s)? Maybe people will start getting attached to certain characters, who knows (or cares)? And yes, like
Emmet and Reuben, Brian and Martin really exist - in fact, these cartoons are actually pretty true to life. They're almost like a strange hybrid of documentary and funny cartoons, docutoons even. Honestly.
Can't remember where but I came across
this yesterday. I've come across it before and might even have mentioned but I can't remember - that happens to me sometimes.
Clever as they
are, and they are
clever (not to mention funny), you have to wonder would we really be bothered if they weren't crudely drawing chickens on post-it notes. Still, I'm not going to take it away from him and I'm pretty sure I'll end up using
this line someday.
Tom Spurgeon has an article on
The Pulse regarding King Feature's recent changes on their online subscription site. Personally I didn't much see the sense in the last model, financially speaking anyway.
Todd Allen has placed the entirity of his new book,
Online Comics Vs. Printed Comics: A Study in E-Commerce and the Comparative Economics of Content, online. Obviously, I haven't read it all yet but I might, or at least I might get Frank to and then tell me about it.
Finally, even though I know no one reads this, I'm going to try experiment with buzzcomix again -
so vote for us once a day. I want to see how much traffic it generates and see if it's worth pursuing. Why do I bother?
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Sean Howard, a pioneer of
pixel art, has decided to call time on his website
squidie.net. Apparently, the internet was out to get him. A notorious run in with
Penny Arcade, over their forum members using his art for avatars, is seemingly going to be his biggest legacy - even though both
A Modest Destiny and
The Starship Destiny were both quite popular. However, my sympathy for him is pretty thin on the ground. If what he says in his farewell post is true, then some very shitty things happened to him. However, if I understand it right, he tried to shut down Penny Arcade for letting their forum members use his art as avatars. Now, if we were talking about
hotlinking here, I'd fully understand. I often don't understand the hardline stance people take on it but I'm only too aware of the problems that can arise from it. But what we seem to be talking about here is copyright violation and with that, I no longer care what happens to Sean Howard. If, and I do stress the if here, I understand the situation correctly, then Mr. Howard lobbed it out and took a slash all over a bunch of his own fans - all over a copyright violation that was doing little more than paying tribute to him. I've said it before and it seems I'll have to say it again, it's the viral nature of the internet that has been the basis for the growth of webcomics; live with it or get out but please stop complaining just because it takes a direction you can't quite control. I won't even bother going into the fact that we're talking about pixel art here, it's just too obvious.
Howard's parting words as highlighted by
Digital Strips: "And so, my dear patchwork monster of rage and low self esteem - my petty, pretty internet - I bid thee adieu; you have bested me at last. You must feel so very proud." Personally, I think he might want to look a little closer to home on that.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Now it's got nothing to do with funny cartoons but it did make me laugh, out loud. Monsanto, that amazingly altruistic company whose sole aim (according to their ads at least) seems to be ending world hunger, have
filed a patent claim for pigs. Read the article, I couldn't possibly do it justice.
Helsinki looks like an interesting place.
Buzzcomix is back up. Let's hope it stays up this time. You can vote for us
here.
Finally, how come no one seems to comment anymore?
