Webcomics Reviews and Interviews

WCRI #45: Interview with David Gallaher of High Moon

2009-03-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Kaylee Frye : “So...trap?”
Captain Malcolm Reynolds: “Trap.”
Kaylee Frye: “We going in?”
Captain Malcolm Reynolds:” “When we're a few hours out.”
Wing: “Yeah....but remember the part where it's a trap?”
Captain Malcolm Reynolds: “If that's the case, Inara's already got me. She wouldn't set us up willin'. Might be we have a shot of seeing his turning his wheels. We go in.”
Kaylee Frye: “But how can you be sure Inara don't just want to see you? Sometimes people have feelings. I'm referring here to people.”
Captain Malcolm Reynolds: “You all were watching I take it?”
Kaylee Frye: “Yeah.”
Captain Malcolm Reynolds: “Did you see us fight?”
Kaylee Frye: “No.”
Captain Malcolm Reynolds: “Trap.”
- Serenity

David Gallaher of High Moon coming off Webcomics Weekend.

Two great things that go great together....

Webcomics Weekend is one of those weird ideas that seems to happen every so often, and then the people involved try to figure out why they didn't do it earlier. In this case, it was a wild get-together that was loosely organized. Of special note is that this was definitely a geekfest; participants were using Twitter to find each other and organize pubcrawls. Think about that for a second: People using an internet-based method in order to get together. You can bet that by the next get-together there's going to be an iPod app just for people getting together at Webcomics Weekend and looking for the nearest watering hole.

David Gallaher was a great interview subject. It was interesting talking about Zuda with him because he's a great font of knowledge. He was also interesting to talk to because of his background in comics in general; you've got to keep in mind that most people that do webcomics haven't really done much else. A veteran like Gallaher is relative rare, and so it's actually sort of fun to pick his brain on a number of subjects. What was really fun was exploring the contract a bit; Gallaher possesses a great mind for detail, and it really shows itself when discussing the Oh So Dreaded Zuda Contract. In later conversations we discussed the difference between “creator-owned” vs. “creator-inspired” (ultimately it was pretty much a semantics argument, but anything that gives some kind of glimmer of how they do things at Zuda is worth it).

In short, it was a fun conversation, and probably one of the best conversations to listen to if you're interested in submitting to Zuda.

Music provided by the Mevio's Music Alley:
Ticklish Parts – Si tu la connaissait
Aidan Doyle – Funk2Paddy
Carne Cruda – Banana
Stars for Starvation – Do You Understand?

WCRI #44: Reviews of Punch an' Pie, Sequential Art, and Amazing Superpowers

2009-03-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

WCRI #44: Guest Reviewer: Christopher Baggett. Reviews of Punch an' Pie, Sequential Art , and Amazing Superpowers.

Music provided by the Mevio Music Alley):
Damh – The Pipes of Pan
Edie – Ca y Est
The Williams Brother Band – Johnny the Squirrel
Alistair Cristl – Unmarked Grave

WCRI #43: Interview with Matt Stout of Big Sandy Gilmore and WC High

2009-03-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Matt Stout of Big Sandy Gilmore and WC High

“Hey, Will; are you gellin'?” - Man, Smart Bomb Radio, “Dr. Shoe's Gel Inserts”

I seriously need to find more jerks in the world of webcomics. Guess I seriously need to get Scott Kurtz on the show...Matt was a great guy; he's in the seminary, and hopes to use his comic eventually as part of an outreach program. At the same time, he almost sounds if he is debating it because he's having way too much fun drawing.

It's sort of nice talking to a Christian about comicking. The ironic thing about the PC atmosphere that's been created is that people are willing to talk about anything that doesn't really matter to them. It's easy to talk about the weather, but it's not really fun to listen to that kind of conversation; I want to discuss religion, politics and Star Trek vs. Star Wars. However, too many people are scared to talk about those subjects because, well, they hit too close to home. However, part of a good interview is exploring the close-to-home subjects; the audience is listening in to hear about the boring stuff, after all. They want to know about the subject, why they do what they do, and how they do what they do.

Oh, and the idea behind WC High is classic: A webcomic where everyone gets together and uses each other's characters. Sort of nice; you can get a feel for how your character is perceived, and take a shot at other's characters at the same time. It will definitely be interesting to see how that experiment goes in the future.

Music provided by the Mevio Music Alley:
Smart Bomb Radio – Dr. Shoe's Gel Inserts
Smart Bomb Radio – Messages from the Bridge
Great Big Sea – Berry Pickin' Time
100 Damned Guns – Skies are Never Gray
Juneteenth – Bad Dreams
Bobby Chitwood – Don't Bring out The Bubba in Me

WCRI #42: Interview with John Zito & Anthony Trovarello of Black Cherry Bombshells

2009-03-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

John Zito & Anthony Trovarello of Black Cherry Bombshells

“Sarah, what does your daddy do?” - Teacher, Smart Bomb Radio, “Cthulhu is My Copilot”

Admittedly, I seem to do more than my fair share of Zuda comic interviews; however, this was my first interview with a Zuda winner. Because of that, I tended more towards the technical than the comic; don't get me wrong, the comic is duly represented, but I felt it was more important to answer some questions I felt that the paperwork didn't quite answer, and, well, an interview should be about what's more important to the show than to person in question. This isn't to say that an interviewee shouldn't be allowed to push their strip or whatever, but that it should be done within the context of the show he's interviewing on.

Putting it another way: WCRI is about webcomics, not individual people. The goal of the podcast is to ultimately about raising the craft of comicking, and how to help other people get there. In that regard, it's hard sometimes to ask questions that make everyone happy, especially when they don't like the format in and off itself; you'd be surprised how many webcomickers don't treat Zuda webcomics as real webcomics, mostly because of the backing of DC Comics.

That said, BCB is definitely proof that there is an audience for everything. Initially, I was turned off by the art style; I'm just not a fan of that particular style (sort of an animated JTHM). Even the story itself almost turned me off (I'm just not into the nihilism as much as others are). Then again, I have recently become a fan of Superjail, so go figure. However, there is a definite attractive nihilism to the strip, and that's kind of fun to read every so often. If you like your comic of the viciously bloody sort, then this is definitely the comic for you.

That said, the guys themselves were really fun; I'd really like to see them at a convention sometime, and I'll bet the Zuda PR team is incredibly happy to have them. Not only are they pretty knowledgeable, but they're also fun to talk to. If you see them at a con, it's not that hard to get them going; I swear, if I could wire some of my guests up to turbines, we'd have the energy crisis licked in no time, and would be giving certain people money to shut up. Definitely one of my more fun interviews.

Music provided by the Mevio Music Alley:
Smart Bomb Radio – Cthulhu is My Copilot
Raunchtones – 44
The Pistol Whipper Snappers – Rip My Heart Out
The Adventure – Jambo
Bourland – Jesus Turned the Water into Wine

WCRI #41: Interview with Carter Fort of Crooked Gremlins

2009-03-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

Crooked Gremlins -
Carter Fort

“I'm not a sellout, man!” - Smart Bomb Radio, “Podcast Sellout”

It's very rare that the rating of WCRI is pushed; in all honesty, I'm more likely to push that boundary than my guest. However....It's difficult to discuss Crooked Gremlims without discussing portions of the male anatomy. This was probably one of the most fun interviews, just because I had someone who had written about one of the most hideous creations ever created (let's just that the entire creature was blurred out), and the creator was having problems talking about it.

The fun part of this interview was learning that Carter was sort of uncomfortable with talking about his comic because of what his family was saying about his comic. Not saying he was ashamed of the strip; trust me, that's hardly the case. They are in apparent full support of what he's doing, and he's loving what he and his friend are doing too much to give it up for something like family. It was more that it's always hard to discuss some topics with your mom or dad, and it was interesting to see that, despite how he comes off in his comic's blog, he's just a big lug at heart.

Music provided by the Mevio Music Alley:
Smart Bomb Radio – Podcast Sellout
Bobby Chitwood – Beer Toast
Bloingo – Hi Spy
Wang Dang Doodle – Boomers Boogie
Great Big Sea - Jolly Roving Tar

WCRI #5: Webcomicking II: Considerations of hosting, type of site, and the writer/artist collaboration mojo.

2008-12-04T21:00:00.000-08:00

“I'm a leaf on the wind, watch me soar.” - Wash, “Serenity”

It needs to be emphasized that I'm not saying that either the writer or the illustrator holds the superior position; I'm really sick and tired of writers of varying experience actually thinking that I would mean any kind of disrespect to illustrators, just because I don't like calling them “artists”. This isn't meant as disrespect; call it an artistic version of the short man's complex.

When you're a writer, especially a freelancer, you find really quick that everyone takes your skills for granted. You really want an education on that, go to GetAFreelancer.com and look at how much people are willing to pay a native English speaker, with 5+ years of experience writing, and extreme proficiency; the going rate is a whole $1 per 500 words. Putting that into perspective, if I don't do any rewrites or editing and it's a topic I know intimately, I can type about 1000 words in an hour; at $1 per 500 words, that means that I'm making $2 an hour (realistically, I can type 750 words an hour).

Now, look at it from another perspective: Hollywood screenwriter. You want to see how media-savvy someone is? You know they know jack about movies when they say that the writer didn't really do anyhing. A standard production schedule runs about 45 to 90 days; the script usually takes three to four times that. The only person who spends more time on any given movie is the producer (you can argue that independent directors spend more time than either, but that's because they probably had a hand in the producing and writing). In all honesty, I really don't understand why you would blame the writer; movies rarely film as written, unless the director and producer are in total agreement, and the director did most of the writing. Between actors improvising, changes on the set to make some talent happy, and technical issues, there's almost always drastic changes to the script.

Between the two, there's almost no real respect for writers; after all, anyone can write, right? When it comes to writing, there's a lot more involved, even when it comes to decent writing. I can't really describe how to write; each writer has their own style, ranging from how often, how they get into mode, and even what time they write. However, there is a lot of research, organization, and editing; even though it seems like I write off the top of my head, I usually edit every phrase at least three times (once when I think about, once as I type it in, and again as I'm writing later passages). I'm also capable of assimilating a large amount of data and simplifying it; when most people see walls of data, I lick my chops.

The basic point here is that the writer's contribution to the comic is generally discounted; this has a lot to do with how quickly I can write a script compared to how long it takes the illustrator. If I push it, I can write a 30-page script in a weekend; it takes even a quick illustrator two weeks to draw all of that. And it doesn't help that writers are just now beginning to be taken seriously in the comic industry; it used to be all about the four-color art, and the writer wasn't really involved until after the illustrator had taken a whack at it (the “Marvel Style” was basically the industry default until the last two decades or so, where the writer and illustrator would discuss the story, the illustrator would then draw it, and the writer would bring it together with dialogue afterwards). The non-hyphenated writer (as opposed to writer/illustrator) is just now being taken seriously; as comics get more complex, the writer is coming to the fore in a big way.

I guess this all comes down to one thing: I have a problem calling the illustrator the artist because I don't see illustrators as the sole art responsible for creating a successful comic; I consider my skills as a writer just as valid an art form, and I'd like to get some respect for that. But...that'll be the day.

[Jerk Clarification: Don't assume that just because I'm asking for more respect as a writer doesn't mean that I don't respect the illustrator. Those who know me know that I have a lot of respect for illustrators, especially given my lack of ability in the area. I'm just asking that you bear in mind that writers don't suck is all.]

Music provided by the Mevio Music Alley :
Little Thom – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Polymorphines – Call of the Sparrow
Dave Potts – In My Backyard
King Apparatus - Michael and Anne
Volume Brothers - Sonny, You're The Reason Mom & I Are Getting Divorced

WCRI #4: Reviews of Juathuur Gatecrash, Edge the Devilhunter, and Goodbye Chains

2008-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

“Unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers has been approved.” - Dispatcher, “Blue Brothers”

Juathuur: GateCrash 4.5
I'm a long-time fan of Juathuur, I've made no secret of my love for this strip, or that Katie Sweet was the former artist of Sex Percussions. When you realize that she was drawing ten strips per week for the original Juathuur, Sex Percussions, and something else, it's hard not to respect not only her talent but her perseverance. It's interesting to see what she's done with GateCrash, and I wish her many more years of success.

Goodbye Chains 3
This is an interesting story of the Old West. It's nice to see a story that's not about the Heroic Wesst, but of an anarchist and a gambler, and their misadventures. It's not as fast-paced as most webcomics, and there is more to it than you would first suspect. It's definitely an interesting comic, especially when compared to other comics. I sort of like that there aren't that many female characters; as a history geek, it's sort of nice to see the reality that there weren't that many women actually depicted in a western story, rather than having all of those women shoe-horned in for parity.

Edge the Devilhunter 4
This is not something you want your children to read. It's a comic that has earned its mature rating. However, once you get past that, the comic is definitely worth it. There are very detailed characters, incredibly dense plotting, and a lot of really fun moments. Definitely recommended, especially if you can get past the rampant drugs, sex, and, even rock & roll. Not recommended if you have an issue with comics that are in your face, tend to the raunchy side, or have super-heroic characters without matching morals. Definitely not recommended if you think that under-age characters are saints or just really misunderstood; there isn't any major effort to make them sinners, and that's probably even more shocking. Straight up: You're 16, you have all of this power, and you're expected to be a boy scout? How boring is that?

Music provided by the Mevio Music Alley:
Andy Buscemi - Santa Story 06
Al Stravinsky – Life is an Open Road
Dust Rhinos- Wild Mountain Thyme
3kisses- Nut Job
Candy Butchers - Give Me a Second Chance For Christmas

WCRI #3: Webcomicking I: Introduction To Writing

2008-11-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

“If we're going to have any kind of fun together, you guys are going to have to loosen up.” - Lisa, “Weird Science”

Contrary to what a lot of wannabes think, a webcomic doesnn't begin with the art or even the script; it begins with an idea. If you don't have an idea, you won't have a webcomic, at least, one that will last very long. More importantly, you need to have an idea that you love and that you feel strongly about; if you don't, then don't even bother. You need to be able to imbue your comic with some sort of life; if you're just doing it to be doing it, it's just not going to work out.

And don't assume that you need to make a long-form comic; a simple gag script works, and can be just as enjoyable. If anything a gag comic is actually harder to do; humor is hard enough to do, but having to come up with a different joke each time you sit down can be even harder. So don't think that you need to do some sort of long, drawn-out angsty silliness. Just come up with something you like, and go for it!

Obligatory Tuba Player rant: I really hate it when people look for artists for their comic, and not illustrators. If I'm looking for an artist, why shouldn't a tuba player do just as well; musicians are also artists, right? I know it's an industry standard to refer to the illustrators as “artists”, but it feels demeaning to me as a writer; after all, is not my talent, education, and experience as an artist just as valid? Why is it that writers are told that they need to learn to draw, yet illustrators are never told that they need to learn to write? It may be weird to say, but it's really easy for writers to feel sympathy for the women's movement; after all, we're doing our share of the work, but if we don't do it aggressively, we get ignored.

Do not get me wrong here: I'm not saying that illustrators aren't important. Sure, I can write a script faster than you can draw the book, but I'm doing just as much training, I'm continually learning more and practicing my craft, and, whereas your art may attract people, it's going to be my writing that keeps them. I'm definitely not saying that illustrators aren't worthy respect; however, why is that you are and I'm not?

Music provided by the Mevio Music Alley:
Codie Prevost- Christmas in The Country
A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol – I'd Rather Be Naughty
Marc Gunn - Irish Scottish Folk Songs – Lusty Young Sith
22 – Huggy Bear
4 and 20 Blackbirds - Song of Sixpence

WCRI #2 – Reviews: Nahast: Lands of Strife, Demon Slayers, and Shortpacked

2008-11-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I just can't take it. - Ricky Fitts. American Beauty

Shortpacked 4.5
Although I've followed Shortpacked for some time (great comic, especially for the Batman and life-in-a-store jokes), I can definitely recommend it as one of the series that can be fun to read. Shortpacked is one of those gag comics that really tends to do a lot of weird things, and do them well. Very few comics have gay characters and have fun with it; the characters seem to be either be one-note characters, or the most angsty of the lot. They aren't human; they are usually the most weakest link of the series. That's not the case here. Better yet, no target is immune; Dave is more than willing to mine his own nostalgia for targets, and that's incredible (Ultracar, I'm looking at you!). For what's ostensibly a blog about action figures, it's a great strip.

Demon Hunters 3.5
Demon Hunters is definitely an odd duck; in an era when so many comics have heroic demonic characters that are the main characters, it's definitely nice to a comic where the deomonic characters are the enemy and kept on a leash to be used as weapons against the others of their kind. After Hellboy and Angel, it's nice to see why demons are held in so much disregard by humanity; I loved the two, don't get me wrong, but the whole “perceptions are wrong” theme gets annoying after a while. Seriously; I've seen so many people re-writing stories that I'm expecting to see Conan as a hairdresser who was seriously misunderstood and kept finding himself in the wrong time (okay, so I can see the Jack Black movie of that!).

Nahast: Lands of Strife 4.5
Nahast needs to noted; it's an essentially all-female cast, and trying to establish a group of women warriors in an area where women are considered second-class citizens. An old cliché, sure, but what's interesting is that, unlike other ensemble comics, each character is truly unique and can be differentiated just based on their dialogue alone, and that's an impressive feat; it's not something you see enough of, and I'd love to see more of it. The character designs are cool, their reactions are realistic, and it's an honestly fun webcomic.

Music provided by the Mevio Music Alley:
Marc Gunn - Irish Scottish Folk Songs - She said her name was Saffron (Firefly Song)
Battery Life - Typical Thinking Man's Blues
The Mighty Pikeys - All You By My Side - Hoist 'Em Up High
Horror Pops - Thelma and Louise

WCRI #1 - Stephanie O'Donnel of the Original Nutty Funsters

2008-11-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

“We have 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it.” - Jake Elwood, “Blues Brothers”

The first show. Stephanie was great person; although her comic is one of the younger comics, I think she has definitely has the possibility of being one of the webcomic community's spokespeople; she has been on several panels, and definitely has a lot to say. Interestingly, she is not someone who you call her characters “furries”. (In case you're curious, she considers her characters “anthropomorphic”; the main difference between the two seems to be the intent of the comic.)

Also of note, this is the first time where I bring up the Women in Refrigerators idea; it was started by Gail Simone in 1994 in response to an unfortunate and relatively silly yet horrific comic book murder. It's horrific because it was a woman cut up like bait and shoved into the refrigerator. It was silly because it had already been done to an earlier incarnation of the character (both women were significant others of Earth's then-current Green Lantern (John Stewart and Kyle Rainer)). I think that it's something worth looking into; I know that bad things happen to guys, but at the same time they tend to get back on their feet, and the effects reverse themselves relatively soon compared to women. I appreciate why it happens (you need something bad to happen to someone major, but you can't take out the main character, who happens to usually be male).

In a lot of ways, I'm not really sure how to take the concept. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate people that seek out victimhood; people that look for that angle on something that makes it look like they were attacked. The classic example is the black person who goes to Macy's to get a pair of socks, a salesman comes over to ask if she would like something else, and she points out that she was accosted by security because she was black; the salesman was simply doing his job, and yet it's made out to be some racist incident. In all honesty, if you look down the list, a lot of it has happened to male super-heroes; depowerings, deaths, and attacks. You begin to wonder what would happen if the same happened to male characters; as more homosexual characters begin to populate the comics, could you claim homophobia if the victims happened to be gay or lesbian characters?

And yet...There does seem to be a high incidence of rape on the list, which always seems to be crime that targets women. There have been times when male characters have had to submit to the carnal appetites of men and women, and it was hardly titillating; the incident was definitely a form of humiliation. There is even one reasonably famous case of a boy getting raped (see the Rebirth of Miracleboy). However, even allowing for the rapes that create heroines (something that seems to be popular among heroines created by feminists), rape does seem to be high on the list, even the psuedo-rapes of such characters as Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl aka Oracle); there seems to be no better way for a villain to demonstrate just how evil he is than by raping someone near-and-dear to the hero.

I'm in a weird place on this: I think that there needs to be less rape, yet at the same time I think that it can be done well; it is, from a writer's perspective, a great way to attack a hero that thinks he's unassailable. I think that there needs to be some counter-balance here; more males need to be sexually assaulted. I know it's a weird concept, but I think that writers should be unafraid to use any tool in the box if it tells a great story; more importantly, I feel that women shouldn't be the only ones attacked for the sake of the story. Jimmy Olsen needs to be attacked just as much as Lois....

Original Nutty Funsters
Facebook Link
Music provided by the Mevio's Music Alley
And You Shall Know Them By the Trail of Dead – Richter Scale Madness
And You Shall Know Them By the Trail of Dead – Mistakes and Regrets