Attention, Mark Palmer...

Of RUMF Adventures. I need to speak with you and have lost your contact info... e-mail me when you can!

To The Lovers, To Make Much of Time.

I'll keep this vague, in order to respect the privacy of those involved.

Earlier this month I found myself single again. It was not entirely unexpected. She and I had been long-distancing for most of our time together.

There were no flashpoints like a screaming argument or an affair. In fact, it's hard to pin down exactly when I became single. I had been almost sure before. But earlier this month is the first time I knew I was, beyond all doubt.

vacationship: A long-distance relationship in which the couple only gets together for idyllic vacation-like excursions, therefore avoiding the "real-life" issues of dating.

I don't regret the "vacationship," nor do I regret its end. It seemed we'd gone as far as we could go. We're still friends.

But I do regret all the vacation-like excursions we could have taken that we didn't take. Are you in love now? Make much of time, whether you worry if your love will last or not.

In the end, this too shall pass.

Narbonic: Dave In Slumberland

Narbonic ends today on a note of incredible classiness, as one should only expect from Shaenon K. Garrity by now. Take your time with the "art gallery," it's a fantastic idea, perfectly executed in both its narrative and artistic aspects. How I wish I'd thought of it!

Best and the Brightest/Fans Cameo

By almost pure chance, I happened upon this little sequence of cameos, which includes a very nice and completely in-character homage to Fans. Here's hoping the above link is sufficient reward for Doublemint's trouble.

Divalicious Interview

Newsarama has an interview with me and Amy Mebberson about Divalicious. I talk way too much in answer to simple questions, but go there for the rare look at Amy and the five-page preview.

Sam & Fuzzy (& Gisele & Me)

Gisele and I did a guest piece for Sam Logan's Sam and Fuzzy. If you like ninja, check it out.

Merry Christmas!

To one and all.

I'm going to take at least the next three days off from blogging, possibly as much as a week. See you all soon!

"Time Friends" by Kris and ME!

Kristofer Straub's Time Friends has become an intriguing experiment in user-generated comics. Here are my entries in this new genre!

"Dinner For Six"

"Dinner for Six" is, I think, the funniest Penny and Aggie story to date. One dinner. Six people. Three romances. A few misunderstandings. COMPLICATIONS. Permanent changes. Sixty-plus strips. Begins today!

How I Deal With My Corporate Overlords.

Xaviar Xerexes, a friend and erstwhile editor of mine, recently asked:

I didn't realize that it was a common practice for comics publishers to own comics journalists, but today's Journalista! also alerted me to the fact that Platinum Studios bought the comics news site Broken Frontiers [sic] earlier this month. (Similarly, Journalista! and TCJ are owned by publisher Fantagraphics.) I'm sincere in asking: how do such journalists deal with the obvious conflict of interest this presents? Is there a corporate separation that protects the ability of the journalists to cover the news without interference or does the journalist just not cover their owners?

The very same day saw the launch of Ambrosia Digicomics with its own news division, ironically named Independent Propaganda, so it's likely a good time for Xaviar to ask this question. And since I just got things underway in preparation to edit and write for BF's new webcomics section, it's a good time for me to address it. Here's my answer:

Carefully.

Life is full of conflicts of interest. I've interacted with many people in cartooning and I try to mute my personal feelings about them before deciding on their newsworthiness. On the other hand, if I knew none of them and nothing about the field, I might be an unbiased source but I wouldn't be a very good one!

If Platinum warrants coverage, I may have to put up a disclaimer because of the perceived conflict of interest, but I think covering Joey Manley represents a greater challenge. Platinum's a sponsor but Joey is a friend. He exerts the greater pull. Both are likely to do something worth mentioning in 2007.

It's just part of the job. I knew it was dangerous when I took it.

Penny and Aggie 12/20/06

When Shaenon Garrity introduced an adorable teenage character near the very end of her Narbonic's astonishing run, Penny and Aggie's course was clear. Cameo attack! Plus: DeCarlo's Betty, a Beatle and amorous 3D Venn diagrams!



And while we're praising Shaenon, her recent essay "Why I Hate Anthony" does what I've often merely attempted: it takes an utterly geeky obsession and makes it clear to everyone why said obsession is grounded in a worthy feeling, and why the norms should listen to the geeks on this.

Shaenon is a treasure. I hope the new outlets she finds in 2007 take a form that the rest of us can see.

Gary Tyrell's Webcartoonist Survey

'Tis the season for comics-related surveys, I guess. I'll be participating in Gary's effort, and since he's fretting over whether or not he'll get a statistically valid sample group then this would be a good time to notify him you'll be participating too. Assuming you're a webcartoonist. If you're a search engine spider, we're glad to see you, but you want the survey down the hall.

Meanwhile: Hollywoodland Kryptonite

Dave Belmore and I interviewed Nancy Schoenberger, one of the authors of Hollywood Kryptonite, a book about the life and death of George Reeves which bore, shall we say, a suspicious similarity to the later movie Hollywoodland. She also happens to be my old creative writing professor. I honestly loathe my delivery in this one even more than usual, but listen for Nancy!

I'm listening to that delivery now and rehearsing my old speech therapy lessons in preparation for my first Broken Frontier interview. It'll be with these guys, and hit the site early next year.

Comic Book Artists Study

Reproduced with permission. Note this is a study for artists, not writers. If you're interested in sharing your experiences with Kathleen, get in touch with her at the address below.

My name is Kathleen Jones and I am an undergraduate student at UC San
Diego. I am currently writing an honors thesis in Sociology about the
different success strategies used by artists in the comic book industry.
Over the next few months I will be conducting interviews with comic book
artists for my study. I am writing to ask you to participate in this
study.

If you are interested in participating, please e-mail me a reply with a
contact phone number. A typical interview should last about an hour. If
you are located in the Los Angeles or San Diego area, it might be possible
to schedule a face to face interview. If you live outside of those areas,
I will conduct the interview by telephone. The interviews will be
recorded for my records. The interviews are strictly confidential. No
names or other identifying information will be used. The final draft will
not be published, but I can submit a final copy to you if you would like
to read it.

If you know any other comic book artists who might be interested in
participating in this study, please send me their contact information
(e.g. first and last name, e-mail, website, work phone, etc.) and forward
this e-mail to them.

Thank you for your consideration,

Kathleen Jones
University of California San Diego
k5jones@ucsd.edu

ComicNe.ws.

"It's like Digg, but for comics!"

Good! I had a few minutes of free time I was using to sleep.

Kidding aside, it's remarkable how quickly these Web 2.0 ideas are finding purchase in comics. It gives me an idea... but that's another post.

Broken Frontier (Update)

Gotten a few good responses to the initial call for contributors, including one person whom I hope will be a columnist. But we could still use another columnist to round out the team.

But where, where, where will we find anyone who is opinionated about webcomics?

Where?

Penny & Aggie Christmas Card

(Well, there's no strip update right here, but I think you get the point...)

Spotlight on Project Wonderful

Nice, short write-up from ClickZ about Project Wonderful. Already mentioned by Comixpedia and Fleen, but what they haven't mentioned is that the ClickZ network is one of the most-respected names in online marketing. When I'm looking for search engine data, I consult them constantly. This could make the coverage more important than your standard "hey, ain't THIS weird!" puff piece.

Mobile Discontent

The tests I mentioned yesterday were successful.

Effective now, I'm a part-time professional blogger! I was involved in an initiative to bring comics to mobile phones for about four seconds this year (don't bother Googling it), time enough to develop a keen interest in the field, seasoned with a healthy skepticism for its hype.

Catch the rough, unofficial version of the resulting blog, Mobile Discontent, here. Coming soon to a corporate webpage near you! (Which, technically speaking, they all are.)

Testing An Industry Blog Today...

Not many cycles left for other things right now.

I have too many ideas sometimes.

Lifelock

At the instigation of a trusted friend who uses it, I signed up for Lifelock. It's a good choice for me, because, well, I'm an absentminded sunuvagun about some things and I need to systematize. If you're concerned about your identity, you might want to check it out.

A Fortuitous Statement.

"Over at Comixpedia, Joey Manley looks at a number of obscure online comics that he thinks should be getting more attention. Let us step lightly around the fact that Manley hosts all the strips in question — until some brave soul begins venturing out into the greater webcomics world and brings back reports, lists like this are your best bet for discovering interesting new work, whiff of self-interest or no..."

As mentioned below, we're looking for a few of those brave souls. Great minds think alike. Unless they're like Newton and Einstein. Or Sergey Brin and Bill Gates. I should stop now.

Randall Munroe's Map of the Internet.

Munroe seems to be one of the fastest-rising stars in webcomics, and he's gotten a boost today thanks to his map of the Internet, linked from Slashdot and Infoworld.

But his strip about blogging your true self is still my favorite. It's actually influenced the way I live my life.

Broken Frontier

I'll be senior editor for the 2007 webcomics section of the comics news site, Broken Frontier. They've asked me to help find writers who want to report, interview, review and/or write columns for the site. If you're interested, e me!

"Gunman, 3 others die in Chicago office tower"

That kind of tragedy always feels unreal unless it happens near someone you know.

An Investment Kind of Day.

Some days you may be in a whirlwind of activity, but don't get any one thing done so much as set up future accomplishments. Today has been such a day.

I've decided I don't have anything to say right now about the webcomics fascination of the week, PvP Animated, except that I wish all the principals well and I'll be watching with interest. Webcomics coverage is so quick to jump the gun-- I'd rather keep my initial impressions to myself and wait until there's more to cover than the mere idea of the series and its first 60 seconds. But yeah, I'll be subscribing.

My Hearing Disability.

It's slight, but I seem to have a much harder time with ambient noise than the average person. This makes it tough to follow the conversation in a crowded room, as I learned for the hundredth time at a creative-person mixer tonight.

What really annoys me about it isn't the conversations I miss, it's the way that I look so rude when people have been talking for several minutes and see my eyes and mind wandering. Sorry, world! The offense is not intended!

Someone Tried To Steal My Identity Today.

The enterprising thief had my ss# and my birthdate. The credit card issuer only smelled something was up when he gave my hometown as "Orlando, Florida." (HA I WISH.)

I've talked to the credit people at Experian, and they've taken steps to make sure this doesn't happen again, at least for seven years. Thing is, they'll only do this for people who've had their credit threatened, not for the merely paranoid.

If you're worried about this, maybe you should try to steal your own identity. Then bust yourself, but escape your own vigilante justice, and enlist Experian to protect yourself from your own rampant criminality.

ComicSpace.

ComicSpace.

MySpace for comics.

Brilliance.

Eisner Applications Now Open.

The Eisner Awards got pitifully few applicants for their webcomics award last year. Let's make this year different! Submission guidelines are here.

X For A Month.

Fleen makes note of what could be an interesting new meme: X For A Month.

Why not? A month is long enough, in this age of possibility, to live most dreams, yet short enough that you can escape back to your old life if you find it's not all you hoped. This idea could make a higher percentage of blogs more interesting reading-- which is to say, it could accomplish MIRACLES.

"Total Comics Marketplace"

A new term occurs to me.

total comics marketplace, n., abbrev. TCM. The market for all comics, including but not limited to the so-called "direct market," the newspaper syndication market, the online market, the bookstore market and other retail markets.

Think it'll stick?

Not Really That Important...

Penny and Aggie will be leaving Keenspot January 1 or thenabouts. Gisele and I remain friendly with the staff but feel we need to take more direct responsibility for its fortunes.

Boy. Remember a couple years ago, when this kind of thing was a big deal?

Haikupedia.

I had an idea, looked it up, and discovered that someone else had the same idea two weeks earlier. It happens! I'm amazed this hasn't gotten more attention already!

Penny & Aggie Roundup.

Penny & Aggie is making some changes that I'll soon announce, business-wise. So what's been going on in the last six months or so, story-wise?

I admit it! "Second Looks" was a mixed bag. The idea of using repeated images to talk about the indecisive hiccups and repetitions in our lives COULDA worked as a short piece, but it's not a strong enough theme to tie this mini-epic together. Too much depends on random chance, the artistic device is overused and there's a "mouthpiece character" scene which shouldn't have been necessary. But I do think we worked in a few great moments, especially when portraying Penny's troubled relationship with poor Duane:



We've been doing better since then. "Pod People" was a story I wanted to do since I began my stint with Clickwheel, where we spent a lot of time talking about the way that little white box is changing people's social lives. It was about time Aggie got a real best friend.



"Behind Closed Doors" is sort of "Second Looks" done RIGHT. It's got a visual motif (closed doors and what's behind them) too, and it's also a long piece with a lot of characters tied together by theme. But let's be real: most teenagers are obsessed with sex, so the theme flows a lot more naturally than "indecision" ever did, and it gets a lot closer to the characters' beating hearts. The flashback sequence actually surprised me.



Readers seemed to indulge us a little with "Tees and Cues." It takes a couple of playful swipes at the typical irony-addicted webcomics T-shirt, which seems so much cooler than I am that I imagine it'd pick up chicks by itself and send me home. But what really makes me smile is that many readers are finally coming to see Stan the way I see him.



I jumped at the chance to work with Randy Milholland again, and "Undertow" continues some of the themes we'd set up in "Omega Sisters." Not much more I can say without giving spoilers... let's just say I'm happy to get Randy's artistic sensibility on the scenes we have coming up. He and I and Gisele have spent the last few weeks in a perpetual deadline panic (unusual because I tend to work pretty far ahead), but I hold out hope the results will be worth it.



And right now, I'm putting the finishing touches on a few fillers and the 66-strip story "Dinner For Six." As ever, hope you enjoy.

TIME!

I think "TIME!" is my favorite sound effect now.

For Randy.

"I'm surrounded by people who care about me and keep me in their thoughts."

Yes, Randy. Yes, you are.

Time For A Fresh Start!

I've been threatening to do this for so long, actually doing it should blindside everybody. Here it is: T Campbell's Blog, 3.0. "Starting from zero."

No big promises or grand content schemes. Let's just say I'm gonna try to make this worth reading every weekday.

(The blog probably looks a bit "rough" as I type this. Will fix it up as the day rolls along.)