T Campbell's Blog

I've been sort of peripherally aware of this for a while now, but thanks to J. for bringing it back to my attention. It begins with schadenfreude over some woman who is actually more naive than I have ever been about intellectual property, and that takes some doing-- and then moves into a discussion of much thornier issues for which there are no easy answers. It's a good read if you're concerned about the fuzzy border between imagination and theft.

Spent a good part of yesterday in Reading with the wondrous Wednesday White. Time well spent! She showed me a Blackwell's comic shop in the city where I made three great purchases: Johnny Jihad, Sentinel Volume 1, and James Kochalka's The Cute Manifesto, the best book of comics theory I've seen in four years. And we spent a lot of the rest of the time discussing significant others, Reading events, shaved heads and soda. Webcomics may have come up.

Eric Burns, you can't quit NOW! Gisele and I are two weeks away from the ULTIMATE Websnark reference!

This is the problem with writing things in advance!

Eric, don't you realize it's all about meeeeee?

Guess who finally got off his duff and posted two new Clickwheel eps of Penny and Aggie.

Two new bits of news about Clickwheel lately. The first is for cartoonists looking to convert their work into movies. Helpful tip: this is going to become more important soon due to a new factor on Clickwheel's landscape that begins with an "i." (Right, like that narrows it down a lot.)

The second one is for those readers who want to get more comics in one folder with just two clicks. We inch closer and closer to TOTAL INSTANT GRATIFICATION, where you're satisfied without even KNOWING it.

It may be time to start taking Marvel's online offerings more seriously.

Said I'd believe it when I saw it. Well, I'm starting to see it. They still really need to work on that "reader" interface, and it's not like they're addictive yet, but if they improve as much in the next four months as they did in the last four... potential is there.

This post gave me some important insight about One Five and my past work in general. I enjoy exploring a lot of characters who do unlikable things and questionable things, and I think at times I may have asked a bit too much compassion for them from my readers. Establishing your leads as likable at the beginning... simple tip, but a lot of people miss it. Good one, Jenny.

Staying out of Reading today after all. Work to catch up on.

The Meanwhilepod.com domain works better than ever now.

Comixpedia got me worked up into a lather over the attempt to censor Jeffrey Rowland's strip about
Dov Charney. Jeffrey pointed out to me that it had already been resolved peacefully, at least in his reality, which, of course, supercedes actual reality.

But this kind of made me think. Comixpedia.org says that "webcomics censorship is virtually nonexistent," and compared to the draconian policies of newspapers and the heyday of the Comics Code, that's true. But by an objective standard, you don't have to look too hard to find examples of the practice.

Lore Sjoberg recently raised concerns about the close relationship between webcomics and T-shirt manufacturers, and I could easily believe that Charney saying to himself, "Hey, I pay Rowland's SALARY. Let's get a little RESPECT, eh?"

Wherever speech has power, those in power will attempt to control it. Webcomics are still a new and largely unspoiled wilderness, their medium does give them certain home-team advantages, but censors are going to start hacking away at the rainforest if we let them. The CBLDF-- or someone-- is going to call for your support on issues like this, soon enough. When they do... help us protect our environment, eh?

Taking time to get back from my Kent trip-- Alan, his wife Kate and son James are utterly charming, and Kent is a nice, sleepy little countryside, very different from Oxford's compressed fortress of castles and bookstores. And Alan's family has a formidable library themselves. Meditating more on One Five, catching up with Zelazny and trying out Paolini, among others. I'll be back to work later this evening, then off again to Reading tomorrow.

Finished the P&A script "Second Looks" for May and June. Working now on a handful of new projects, including some work to commission for Clickwheel (massive outlining stage) and a handful of long-overdue roundtables. I'm also off to Kent this afternoon to meet up with Alan Dicey, longtime reader and Fans restoration specialist.

But what I really want to talk about this morning is the Islam project.

My favorite title for it at the moment is One Five, representing the 1.5 billion people in Islam, the "Oneness" at the heart of Allah, and "five" people whose vastly varying journeys may represent some of the consistency and variety of this religion.

I approach this project with no small amount of trepidation. I am doing my best to educate myself, reading the Koran/Quran and several books about the subject-- I recomment No god but God by Rezo Aslan for the insights and for Aslan's strong storytelling ability. Nevertheless, I feel my ignorance is only two or three degrees less abysmal than that of the average American, and that's pretty bad. (Do not get me started on the Bush Administration.)

A history of webcomics is gonna be controversial. A group of stories of Islam is likely to be more so.

(Especially considering the Islam tradition against the figural arts-- a tradition not observed by all sects but still quite important.)

Work permitting, I'm going to be spending some time at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies next week, bouncing off ideas and maybe making a new friend or two.

The project has no artist yet. Someone close to me says that the artist really should be a Muslim. I agree. I just submitted this ad to Digital Webbing:

MUSLIM CARTOONIST sought for graphic novel showing five different experiences with Islam. Ability to draw many small, simple images as well as larger ones a definite plus... I am interested in a true collaboration: I expect the script to change as a result of our conversations. Work will be published online and then in print; 60% of all revenues are yours.

Mostly I'm nervous because I know how I work-- speed is just a part of my makeup at this point, and I absolutely have to slow down long enough to ponder what needs pondering in this subject. To a lapsed Episcopalian like me, it represents an entirely different way of life where prayer is an everyday thing, a (usually) more intellectual sort of faith where the right and left brains are more closely aligned, and most fascinating to me, a religion whose future is being decided today. "The Islamic Reformation is already here," writes Aslan. "We are all living in it."

I would love for someone like Aslan to be writing a graphic novel like this. I would love to simply breathe and have such a graphic novel EXIST, even if I didn't get any credit for its conception. But-- as I end up saying about most of the projects I do-- I don't think anyone else is going to produce what I feel we need. What the community has produced so far is sometimes close, but no cigar.

I'm also working on an essay, "Toward Muslim Cartooning," which I'll release on-site later. It concerns not only my own efforts but the work of others like Joe Sacco, Marjane Satrapi, Mohammed Haque and Khalil Bendib.

Your thoughts? What else do I need to read? How can I best prepare to create this work?

This successful game developer might read your comic-- EVEN IF IT'S NOT ABOUT GAMES!

Your existence... validated!

Yesterday was a "lost day" in many ways-- matters Clickwheelian took me to London for most of it, and I kind of let my hair down for the rest. So let's make this big announcement NOW.

Gisele Lagace and I have joined the ranks of webcomics-to-print with The Best of Enemies: A Penny and Aggie Collection. To celebrate its launch, we're starting an official FANSTUFF CONTEST.

(Thanks to Maritza Campos and Cory Doctorow for some inspiration. Note that we're not following either of their rules exactly-- read on.)

Virtually anything that's based on Penny and Aggie qualifies: games, icons, fanart, Photoshoppery, fanficiton, novelization, poems, filks, essays, mp3s, audio performance, video performance, animation, sculpture, cosplay, clubs, conventions, humor, MiSTing, origami... surprise us. The piece we like the best will get a free copy of the book and a signed original sketch, and anybody else who submits work by the rules will show up on our fanstuff page.

We reserve the right to make an exception if somebody does something really inappropriate-- like, oh, creating an ad-free mirror of the site or using their fanart to assist in their stalking. But I don't think you guys will do anything like that. We have smart readers. (Even if you do get Sara and Karen mixed up. ;-)

Note that you can also use the cover images from the Alias comics series, the OhNoRobot listings and just about anything else that relates to Penny and Aggie. Deadline is May 20, just in time for finals.

Use our creativity as a springboard to express your own. I think we'll all be proud of the results!

Besides Peggy and Annie-- er, Penny and Aggie and Dromiceiomimus, what webcomics characters' names do you have the hardest time remembering?

It's just a "survey" kind of morning, I guess.

It takes about two minutes, helps us serve our audience better and validates our overall existence. So spare jus' a li'l time (estimated at 113 seconds) and take the Clickwheel Users Survey.

"Unless you're broke! Then it would be about as easy no matter what!"

To US residents: have a less-unhappy-than-usual tax-filing day.

My favorite "Easter" link.

I'll be spending a fair chunk of the day relaxing and enjoying Oxford's Easter with William Simons, then coming back just in time to (finally) start podcasting again with Dave's ALL-NEW, ALL-BETTER laptop. And then I get to spend the evening putting the finishing touches on something so exciting, I get heart palpitations just alluding to it.

Also at work on the latest Penny & Aggie storyline, "Second Looks," a set of comics roundtables, and researching the Islam book. Interesting days.

With Tim Demeter's Reckless Life. Comixpedia has the scoop.

I go forth and try to learn more about Islam.

There's an idea for a graphic novel that I want to pursue.

Wish me luck.

Eric Millikin has a write-up on the latest version of a story that seems to come around every few years: Is There COMICS PORN In Your LIBRARY? Short version: Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics displayed the full range of material available in manga, including stuff that would get an NC-17 rating over here, and horrified some teenage boy and then horrified his mom, so... BANNED IN THE USA, baby.

Update: More and more accurate information about the case here.

One detail of note: this library does have a section for more "adult" material, but the exact meaning of "adult" was a little diluted by the fact that Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts were in there too. I think the critical consensus is that those are family books. Having grown up with a younger brother and younger cousins, I'm a little sympathetic to parents who would like a bit of help navigating the choppy waters of modern entertainment. It's harder than most non-parents think. That "adult" section should be better maintained. But punishing the Manga book for an incompetently maintained section just says "scapegoat" to me. That, and "laziness."

I stopped short of reproducing actual porn in History, but there is a section on sex comics and a few uses of the F-word. Balancing appropriateness and honesty is difficult in any comics survey... I didn't want to compromise the book's teaching function by repelling readers. But if you take the censor-friendly route all the time, you may end up with cases of ignorance like the one of my own youth. I didn't learn about the existence of sex comics until college, when I finally got around to reading Watchmen.

(Watch some close-minded governor somewhere read this post and conclude that Watchmen is a sex comic that needs to be banned. Just watch.)

(Hey, you! Gov! Stop! I WASN'T SERIOUS!)

Found a pretty easy route from my house to the only comic shop in Oxford yesterday, and I picked up the latest True Story, Swear to God.

Tom Beland inspires me. Like me, he fell for a woman who lived many miles away, and had to endure months of separation before he could be with her. His relationship had its share of problems, but he and Lily have overcome them together, and he's put those experiences into a transcendent piece of work, whose inviting cartoon faces belie its depth. (His comic strip deals with many experiences in his life, but the comic book is all Tom-and-Lily.)

At the crucial moment where my love and I were parting for the first time and thinking about pursuing what we had despite the months apart, I thought of my own bad experiences with long separations... and then I thought of Tom's, and made the leap. I don't regret it.

Seeing his work in that Oxford store was like meeting up with an old friend.

Thanks, Tom.

Fleen is looking for writers. If your interests include writing about comics but not actually making them yourself, then it's probably worth your time to submit. Submission guidelines, "salary description" (helps if you like beer and live in NYC) and a tentative deadline of this weekend, all here.

Congratulations to Zach Miller for winning the 2006 Lulu Blooker Prize for Comics. His Joe and Monkey is just plain funny in the un-self-conscious kind of way that reminds me why I read more webcomics than print comics.

Miraculous. Civilized discussions about the Eisner-ojingogo controversy at Eric Millikin's LiveJournal and Comixpedia. Dare I hope that the pernicious flames of Webcomics Drama are sputtering out at last?

They should, because really, there are few instances of real evil in comics. Most people who are in this field are doing it out of love, and though anyone can be corrupted, it's not like being a little egotistical about your pictures makes you Slobodan Milosevic. Few people in comics are really worthy of hate.

Sexual assaulters in comics, however, are worthy of hate. Taki Soma has come forth with a story of assault that I find all too credible. And despicable.

Thankfully, the Friends of Lulu have resolved to do something about it. They're raising money for a whole new kind of comics "legal defense fund," one focused on sexual assault. You can e-mail Ronee Garcia directly if you want to make a donation right now.

Taki Soma's case could get ugly-- especially if the nameless, alleged assailant is who I think it is. (Garcia drops a few hints.) And I also find it all too believable that Soma hesitated four months to come forward because she was afraid it would kill her career.

I hope the opposite happens, not because of a rush of cheap publicity, but because revealing painful experiences is one of the best tools we have in creating great art. The experience already seems to have influenced the first two pages of her latest work-- and they are two powerful pages indeed.

Finally, if the above fills you with nostalgia for the good old days of meaningless squabbling, you may enjoy David Willis' presentation of M Sipher's Internet Argument-Losing Bingo, or this strip, which contains, as far as I'm concerned, the greatest flame of all time. I tend to believe that nobody wins a flamewar. But if you believe otherwise, then Tycho has just won every single flamewar on the Web, retroactively. (Charles G, you're gonna LOVE this.)

My artists and I haven't played around with the form of comics in almost two years, so this short Penny and Aggie story will be a nice return. It's influenced a little bit by Cory Doctorow's keen perceptions about how digital technology is changing the people we are, and as the first page suggests, it's a sharp focus on one of our more mysterious characters. Check out how Gis handles that center panel...

I made an error in yesterday's post which is corrected now, and Jackie Estrada has given me a few more facts. If you had nothing better to do than to read my blog on Saturday afternoon, you may want to re-read.

I guess I'm the only one who's upset about this Eisner Digital Comic nomination for ojingogo. I didn't want to have to do this, but I guess I have no choice. I can't let this pass.

Now-- I don't want to flame Matthew Forsythe, here. Just because I'm not quite sure why ojingogo has struck such a chord with awards committees doesn't mean I think it is a bad strip or that Matthew is undeserving. The man's doing work with Flight, he's got other online work that I like better, he's one of the authors of one of the better cartoonist blogs on the Web. He's paid some dues.

But here's the thing.

ojingogo was nominated for the Digital Comic Eisner last year. Dave Belmore and I had some fun with it last year at around this time. And since then? I've read it again-- and it's two pages longer.

TWO PAGES??

Further research uncovers the fact that page 11 was added in January 2005, but it would have been renumbered as page 13, because ojingogo also added two "prequel pages," one in 2005, one in 2006. This means that the 18-page ojingogo added SEVEN pages last year.

SEVEN PAGES??

ALL THE WORK that has come out in webcomics in 2005, and the best they can manage is one new comic and three comics that got nominated LAST year (PVP in another category), and one of them only added SEVEN PAGES???

Maybe, MAYBE, if those seven pages represented a minicomic of haiku-like brilliance in and of themselves, but they're not a beginning, and they're not an ending. They're just... more middle. Seven more pages of middle. Less than a page a MONTH.

The fault is certainly not Forsythe's. I think some of it can be laid at the feet of webcartoonists, who probably didn't send in their material as readily as they did last year. But some of it has to go to the committee. You're supposed to CHECK THESE THINGS OUT, guys. Especially when YOU NOMINATED THEM LAST YEAR.

I asked Jackie Estrada to shed some light on this. Update: Heard from her since publishing this post. Basically, she and the others are looking into it. Let's look at the record...

Back when they were floating the Digital Comics category in 2004, the requirement specifically stated "the majority of the work must be published in 2004." Now, the problem with that rule is that it disqualified long-running webcomics series, which are kind of the backbone of the field. But there should be some MINIMAL amount of work done during the "award year" to qualify a comic for an award. And I think it should be higher than seven pages of an 18-page work.

Kazu Kibushi's Copper may be in trouble here, too-- my memory isn't as crystal clear for that one, but I'm pretty sure he did not more than ten strips last year. We might let Kazu slide because his strips are elaborate, posterrific productions, far more involved than a newspaper daily.

But ojingogo's seven pages are scarcely more elaborate than what you'd expect from seven pages of an indie comic book. Forsythe's seven pages crowded out your 365 strips. And that just isn't RIGHT.

Side note: ojingogo's nomination ALSO appears to be in violation of the rules for this set of Eisners, relayed at The Engine. Money quote: "Web comics must have a unique domain name or be part of a larger comics community to be considered." Personally, I think that's a silly rule, but there it is: ojingogo does not have a unique domain name. Ojingogo.com points to Forsythe's entire blog with all his work, not just one piece. Nor is it a part of a larger comics "community." I'm assuming the word "community" refers to domains that serve up numerous comics, like Wirepop or Graphic Smash-- because otherwise the rule is either too broad or too narrow to mean much of anything.

(Update: Both years' Eisner rules say something about only allowing "long-form" work, but since 2004 and 2005 nominees Copper, Athena Voltaire and PvP are all series, I assume a broad definition of the term "long-form.")

Either Forsythe has EXTREMELY compromising photos of the Eisner judges in his possession, or someone on staff really, REALLY felt Forsythe was robbed last year-- or, more likely, the worlds of comic-book-buying Eisner judges and down-in-the-trenches webcartoonists are still so far apart that these kinds of details get lost in the shuffle. I recognize webcartoonist John Gallagher on the judging panel; he's been quite straight-up with me before and I don't think he'd be involved in anything shady. Nor does he strike me as the sort who's biased toward ojingogo-style work... his own certainly falls into more traditional zones. I think he just made a mistake and others didn't know to correct him.

But still. STILL. LESS THAN TEN FRIKKIN' PAGES.

That is NOT FAIR.

The man who created Stylish Vittles (and drew a Fans short once upon a time) is back with a new series, and Nothing Better leaves most other college strips so far in the dust, you can't even tell the strips from the specks.

I love this stuff. So wild seeing Gisele's expressions in this new context.

Also, my favorite word for reviewers to use now is "slashy."

Once again a Graphic Smasher has been nominated for an Eisner, this time Ursula Vernon for "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition." Details here.

Earlier that same link, you'll find the nominees for Best Digital Comic:

Copper, by Kazu http://www.boltcity.com/copper
Jellaby, by Kean Soo, http://www.secretfriendsociety.com/archive.php?cat=2
ojingogo, by matt forsythe http://www.comingupforair.net/comics/ojingogo.html
PVP, by Scott Kurtz, http://www.pvponline.com/

Despite my differences with Scott, I believe him to be a hardworking and very funny cartoonist and I'm pleased to see him get this nod. Copper and Jellaby are excellent pieces from what my book playfully calls the "Pantspressionist School." ojingogo, I have to admit, I don't get, and I didn't get it when it was nominated last year either. Update: And apparently it's only updated online twice since then, and it's being adapted from printed work?? Something seems "off" here. I'm investigating. Thanks to Alexander Danner for the tip.

Whoever gets the Digital Comic Award, I hope the recognition allows them to move on to even better things. And whoever gets the Talent award, I hope it's Ursula.

Because I've known her for three years and believe me, she's the reason the phrase "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition" was INVENTED.

Updates: Comixpedia points out that Flight 2 and 24 Hour Comics Day are also in for best anthology; Tim Tylor makes up a list of Ursula Vernon links.

I'm sure you've noticed this blog changing color. I'm going with something new this time around...

I'd love to know who did this little number.

I can't tell you why I'm proud yet, just as I can't tell you who she is.

But I'm proud of my love.

Very proud.

I was going to hold off on this until tomorrow when everyone's at work, but what the hey. Two Ryan North items:

One, his creativity just keeps breaking barriers. Hot on the heels of his work on OhNoRobot, he's developed RSSPECT-- automatic and free RSS feeds for everyone.

Another project that Ryan's hosting-- created by a friend of his-- got mistaken for terrorism the other day, which is a terrible thing to happen to Ryan and his friend. Make sure you drop them a line, because people who create things this wonderful can really use your support. I know of very few people as selfless as Ryan, and any friend of his is a friend of mine.

And on that note, extra props to OhNoRobot site designer David Hellman for the site design on RSSPECT, which really captures the wacky, inventive sensibility that makes Ryan tick. Dare I hope these guys collaborate on an actual regular comics series? I dare.

Oxford is biking into town every day. Oxford is rain that comes and goes at a moment's notice. Oxford is never knowing how cold April is going to be. Oxford is bookstores as far as the eye can see. Oxford is old castles where it looks like Rapunzel once lived, next to pricey cafes which charge as many pounds for food as American restaurants charge dollars. (Pounds are worth nearly twice as much as dollars.) Oxford is locking your bike wherever you go, even if you're just popping in for a minute, because a minute is all it takes for an enterprising bike thief to walk by-- and by the same token, Oxford is a place where it's better to have a SECONDHAND bike than a brand-new one. Yet despite concern about petty crime, Oxford is a very friendly and very cozy and very safe-feeling place. I haven't missed having a car at all... and I used to practically live out of my car in D.C. Oxford is a writing style, apparently... "Oxonian"... and "Oxonian" is the demanding kind of adjective that I'd expect from this place: no "Oxfordian" or "Oxfordic" or "Oxfordalicious" here! That would be the EASY way out.

Oxford is dogs on leashes. Oxford is lots of people in casual clothes. Oxford is bridges and cobblestones. Oxford is the sense that living in Oxford makes you know more than the rest of the world, but also makes you too polite to ever bring that up.

It's an odd place... . but I'm starting to enjoy it here.

If only you were with me, sweetheart.

Watched Hammer & Tongue yesterday and it was the first time I felt like I was really in Oxford. I've been spending so much time with William and Mary (snicker) and Mike in the process of Building Big Things for Clickwheel, and so much of my remaining time in front of my laptop, that I haven't had much of a chance to drink in my surroundings.

The poets I saw lived up to their billing, for the most part. The most powerful performance by far came from the world poetry slam champion, Kat Francois. (Article describing another contest she won here.) She encapsulated her life into an hourlong performance of considerable intensity.

Next most enjoyable, and often laugh-out-loud funny, were Peter Hunter and David Johnson (seen here clinging to the brink of sanity), who threaded their poems together into a comedy routine about everything from the universe to roadkill to broken computers to genetics and sexuality.

Also saw Rob Gee, a talented fellow who couldn't quite manage to make his eldercare experiences funny, at least not to me, but at least made them INTERESTING, and Steve Larkin, the "Canadian International" slam champion (not quite sure how that works) whose many inventive poems and keen insights did manage to make me excuse his rather pessimistic view of human nature.

Only about thirty people were watching with me, but we got the same kind of thrill that they must have got when they saw Elvis performing little diner gigs in his early days. These guys are going places.

There have been lots of little reasons to be proud of Penny and Aggie lately.

The enterprising FrodoFreak has created a set of Penny and Aggie icons.

That "I like weights" quote is really making the rounds. I hope this Livejournalist gets a clean bill of health and back into the gym soon.

Recently we got to surprise most of our readers with the secret identities of one of our "villains" and his "sidekick."

The Evil Network gave us props.

And most importantly to ME, William Simons' daughters just love the series so far.

I contributed to a quick Comixpedia roundup of April Fool's celebrations.

Known as The Unauthorized Anthology of Webcomics, it consists entirely of 500 pages of 72-dpi printouts of webcomics selected at random, stapled together at Kinko's and sold for $99.95, all 100% without the original artists' permission! If any publicity is good publicity, then this book's publicity should embody such goodness that the Bible Itself (version 3.0) will hyperlink to it, and Plato will come back from the dead to say, "Oh, my bad, THAT is the ultimate form of goodness. One might even call it... world-re-known."

Millions upon millions of imagined readers can't be wrong! Because they don't EXIST!

(April Fool's.)

Kim DiGenarro has put pics from the fondly remembered Ubercon 7 live. Below, you'll see a couple involving me shooting at Rob Balder and shooting the breeze with Lee Cherolis. It was as much fun as you can imagine from these. (Thanks to Phil for the heads up.)