Webcomics at Comic ConA report by AJ Reardon |
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When Sheryl generously offered to provide rooms for Collector Times staff who wanted to attend Comic Con this year, Chris and I jumped at the chance. We'd already been thinking of making the trip, as we hadn't been since 2002 and felt like we were really missing out. The added benefit of free lodging and the chance to meet a lot of fellow CT writers was enough to make our decision for us. Because I honestly haven't picked up a comic book in a year or more (my last few trips to the comic shop have been for Blade of the Immortal TPBs, and I've found nothing on the shelves during those trips that screamed "buy me!") my main interest in attending Comic Con was seeing a lot of the webcomics artists and authors whose work I read on a daily basis. Of course, as the resident gaming columnist, I also was interested in the state of gaming at the convention, which I cover in this month's Playing God column. Before I get down to talking about webcomics and such, I'd like to do a little general report on Comic Con. Back when I attended in 2002, things were pretty poorly organized. No one knew where we were supposed to go to get our press badges, and then the security officers didn't like my staff, and I had to take it to the coat check, and no one knew where the coat check was. This year, security wad friendly and competent, press check-in was easy to find, and weapons were a-okay. Whether you needed a bullwhip to complete your Indiana Jones costume, a katana because you're a ninja, or an unloaded airsoft pistol because you had an empty holster, they were cool with it. Another complaint that I had in 2002 was the inclusion of decidedly non-comic-related booths, like a cell phone company. This year there was still a lot of non-comic stuff, but it was all geek-related. No cell phones in sight! Over all, I felt that the convention was pretty well laid-out and organized this year, and although I got turned around a bit, there were enough signs that it was usually pretty easy to find our way around. My only organizational complaint would be that the descriptions of a few of the panels we attended were misleading, but I'm not sure if the blame lies with CCI or the people who set up the individual panels. So, on with the webcomics! When Chris and I hit the showroom on Thursday, we each had a mental list of the people we wanted to see. It was a list with very little overlap - despite the fact that we do have several shared comics, only two of those were represented at the convention this year. My first stop was at the Sheldon booth. I found Dave Kellett to have the same friendly, upbeat attitude that he displays in his comic and blog. He did a great sketch for me, and I bought a couple of buttons for my ever-growing collection.
You can read Sheldon, a funny, geeky, all-ages appropriate comic at: Next stop was the booth with Something Positive, Punch an' Pie, Two Lumps, Strip Tease and Devil's Panties. I read two of the five comics that were sharing that space, and I also read Aeire's Queen of Wands, which ended a few years ago but features some of the same characters as Punch an' Pie and Something Positive. I was happy to not only get sketches from Randy Milholland and Aeire (of Something Positive and Punch an' Pie/Queen of Wands, respectively), but pick up a print of one of my favorite Queen of Wands strips. Things were quiet enough at that point that I also got to talk to Aeire while she did my sketch. I wanted to get a sketch from Chris Daily (Of Punch an' Pie and Strip Tease), but he was working on Friday's comic and I didn't want to interrupt him. Sadly, he wasn't at the booth any of the other times I went by. I was pleasantly surprised that no matter how cranky Randy comes across on-line, and how wonderfully sarcastic his comic is, he's still very friendly and almost cheerful with fans. Aeire was pretty much just how I expected her to be, and I was pretty happy to find out that she also grew up on ElfQuest comic books.
You can read Something Positive and Randy's other assorted projects at:
You can read Punch an' Pie at: Both comics are great "dramedies" with a sharp sense of humor, and enough language and mature content that I recommend them for teen and up audiences. For some reason, those two booths were away from the main web comics section, where everyone else we wanted to see was. I think they were in some sort of extension of the Small Press or Indie area, but I know there was at least one other web comic (Unshelved) there. The web comics area was where we struck gold, first coming across the Girl Genius booth. Not only did I pick up an awesome winged trilobite pin to decorate my camera bag, but I got a sketch from Phil Foglio himself. Then I committed an awful faux pas: whilst he was sketching, his wife Kaja complimented me on my necklace and I switched over to jewelry mode, happily nattering on about steampunk jewelry and where to buy it and how awesome it is, completely ignoring him and barely thanking him for the sketch. So Mr. Foglio, if for some reason you're reading my column, I'd like to humbly apologize! I love your work, I love the sketch, and I kept trying to get a chance to apologize in person, but you were usually out of your booth. You can read Girl Genius, a gaslamp fantasy comic that keeps the innuendo subtle enough to be most-ages appropriate at: http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php While I was still blissfully unaware of what a social clod I can be when I get distracted by shiny things, we continued on our quest for web comics awesomeness. Chris dropped in to talk to Howard Taylor of Schlock Mercenary, who was sharing a booth with Greg Dean of Real Life and maybe someone else. At the next aisle over, after passing the jam-packed Penny Arcade booth, we found the other spot I was looking for: Dayfree Press, home of Questionable Content and xkcd, as well as White Ninja, Dr. McNinja, and Wundermark. I don't read those last three comics, and Randall Munroe wasn't there, but I did get to stand in a very long line to get a t-shirt and sketch from Jeph Jacques of QC. Meanwhile, Chris was having a good time talking with the other three guys, even though he also doesn't read their comics. We were able to return to the booth much later on Thursday, wait in yet another line, and meet Randall Munroe and get sketches and a t-shirt. He helpfully pointed out to us that the artist of Copper, another comic that Chris reads, was one of the contributors to the Flight collections across the way, so we eventually picked that up, too. You can read Questionable Content, a late-teens to adult dramedy with lots of music and indie culture jokes at: http://www.questionablecontent.net/ You can read xkcd, the nerdiest comic I read, full of math and science and programming and romance and a little adult content at: http://www.xkcd.com/ All of the other comics that I've mentioned, but don't read, can easily be found either by Googling them, or visiting the "Links" section of their boothmates. I saw a lot of other webcomics represented, most of which I either knew by reputation, or had read in the past. I don't think I really saw any that I'd never heard of, which probably means that only the most successful webcomics artists can afford to visit Comic Con. It also speaks well for the amount of advertising, word of mouth, and community spirit there is in webcomics, as many of the ones I saw but don't read were ones that I recognized from shout-outs on other comics. On Friday, we attended the Introduction to Webcomics panel. Moderated by Phil Foglio (Girl Genius), it featured Brad Guigar (Evil Inc, Phables, Courting Disaster), Scott Kurtz (PVP, Ding!), Dave Kellett (Sheldon), and Kris Straub (Starslip Crisis). Although I haven't read Kurtz or Straub's work, and I dropped Guigar's comics because I found they weren't quite as funny as I wanted them to be, I have to say that all five members of this panel did a great job. They were funny, well-spoken, clearly knowledgeable about their field, and had a great comradery with each other that made the experience fun as well as informative. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of good-natured ribbing, and a lot of genuine admiration for each other's work and success. They opened the panel by saying that they were having an Introduction to Webcomics panel because despite the ever-growing number of webcomics, and the rabid following that some of them have, a lot of people in the comics industry don't quite get it. Apparently, some syndicated cartoonists believe that because the syndicate posts their comic on-line, they're also a web cartoonists. Meanwhile, many comic book artists are put off by the idea of essentially posting their work for free on-line. Obviously, I don't need an introduction to webcomics. I've been reading them for years, and they were my main focus at Comic Con this year. It was pretty clear that most of the rest of the audience was also already in the know, too, as there was a lot of cheering whenever whatever comic they read was mentioned. Luckily, the content of the panel was more about why the five assembled artists did what they do, rather than what a web comic is. So even though I know a lot about the various comics out there, I still learned a lot about the process and the thoughts behind it. If there's one thing that I took away from the panel, it's that webcomics creators really love the freedom that publishing on the web gives them. The freedom to create whatever kind of content they want, whether it's about a boy and his talking duck, busty heroines riding dirigibles, or gaming humor. The freedom to interact with their fans and build a community around their comic. The freedom to choose the marketing strategy and merchandise that fits their vision the best. Comics that syndicates or publishers won't touch can find their niche on the web and flourish, sometimes even becoming more popular than their print brethren (if the lines for comics like Penny Arcade were any indication!). Because all of the participants on the panel, with the exception of Foglio, wrote the How to Make Webcomics book and do the related podcast, there was also a lot of good information on how to make your own webcomic. Although I'll never make one myself (I can't draw, and only Randall Munroe can make stick figures look good), I was glad to see them stressing the points that I find important, such as sticking to your update schedule and staying true to the tone of your comic. If I can, I'd like to take a minute to complain about the state of webcomics-related events at the convention. Flipping through the guide, I found very few panels. In addition to the one I attended, there was another one on making webcomics (featuring pretty much the same guys), the Penny Arcade Panel, and the Blatant Keenspot 2008 panel, which featured some comics that I not only don't read, but don't like. Given the fact that there are 18,000 webcomics (according to the numbers mentioned at the panel), and there were several dozen (possibly as many as 50, when you consider how many were sharing booths) at the convention, it would have been nice to have a more general webcomic panel. I would have liked to see a Dayfree Press or Blank Label Comics panel, where the artists of those comics could have talked about their comics and maybe dropped hints of what was to come (like the big publishers do). Or how about a Webcomics Trend panel, where there could have been a discussion about the merits of various art styles (manga, computer graphics, stick figures) and themes (zombies, gaming humor, parodies) and whether they have any staying power. (Note: a post-con flipthrough showed that there was one webcomics panel on Thursday, a Dumbrella panel, and although the description says how popular they are, I've only ever heard of one of their comics, so who knows?) Over all, I did have a great time at Comic Con 2008, and I'd like to try to return next year. Maybe there will be more webcomics panels then, more exciting things for me to cover. In the meantime, if you've either never read webcomics, or you're looking to increase the selection that you read, you can either visit the links in this column, or http://www.fleen.com/ a webcomics blog which was recommended in the panel and which has a very extensive collection of links along the righthand side.
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E-mail AJ at: ErtheFae@aol.com Visit AJ at: www.erthefae.com
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