Yesterday's Blogvictims Defend Themselves
D.J. Coffman responds to my earlier question by giving an IP address of his own, different from the one cited. I'm sure one of his fans can verify that sooner or later? He also speculates the edits were the work of his one-time collaborator Bob McDeavitt.
Needless to say, not knowing who vandalized the Graphic Smash entry doesn't make me any happier. But it was a couple years ago; I'll let it go. In a day or two.
Matthew Toner of Zeros 2 Heroes did his best to address my earlier impressions. I hesitate to inflict my speaking voice on all of you any more, but I thought you might be interested in our exact conversation (mp3).
My takeaways? I was interested in the opportunity "Comic Creation Nation" might represent for beginning writers. Z2H will use its federal funds to commission artists for some user-selected pitches. ...Yes, they retain trademark. ...No, they are not paying writers at present. But when I was just getting started, I would have worked under those terms to get something professional drawn from one of my full-length scripts, some centerpiece for a portfolio I could take to paying clients. (I didn't ask if Comic Creation Nation would give the writers any say in choosing the artists who worked with them, though, which could be an important qualifier. I mean, Rob Liefeld is technically a "professional...")
So I think that is a modest value-add for beginners. A freelancing opportunity for artists, too, although Toner's admission that different nationalities get paid different rates may come back to haunt him.
Beyond that, Z2H seems scattered. As Toner explains it, the central idea is helping people start from the bottom and fly into the sky: "zeroes to heroes," get it? But Z2H is also doing that ReBoot thing where users vote on five professional pitches, and offering some hands-off hosting packages, which Toner says are for more seasoned webcomickers. He also says "We may have a few false starts," which says to me, "We're not committed to any one project so much as to the general idea of helping out creators... somehow."
I've been guilty of similarly cloudy thinking, so I feel a stab of sympathy. I never assumed Toner was rubbing his hands together in fiendish glee at the prospect of bilking cartoonists. I don't think there are too many Helena Dionysuses in the comics field. But if a company has only a vague sense of its goals, it often finds itself on the path of least resistance, a path paved with good intentions. I hope Z2H can blaze a better trail.
Needless to say, not knowing who vandalized the Graphic Smash entry doesn't make me any happier. But it was a couple years ago; I'll let it go. In a day or two.
Matthew Toner of Zeros 2 Heroes did his best to address my earlier impressions. I hesitate to inflict my speaking voice on all of you any more, but I thought you might be interested in our exact conversation (mp3).
My takeaways? I was interested in the opportunity "Comic Creation Nation" might represent for beginning writers. Z2H will use its federal funds to commission artists for some user-selected pitches. ...Yes, they retain trademark. ...No, they are not paying writers at present. But when I was just getting started, I would have worked under those terms to get something professional drawn from one of my full-length scripts, some centerpiece for a portfolio I could take to paying clients. (I didn't ask if Comic Creation Nation would give the writers any say in choosing the artists who worked with them, though, which could be an important qualifier. I mean, Rob Liefeld is technically a "professional...")
So I think that is a modest value-add for beginners. A freelancing opportunity for artists, too, although Toner's admission that different nationalities get paid different rates may come back to haunt him.
Beyond that, Z2H seems scattered. As Toner explains it, the central idea is helping people start from the bottom and fly into the sky: "zeroes to heroes," get it? But Z2H is also doing that ReBoot thing where users vote on five professional pitches, and offering some hands-off hosting packages, which Toner says are for more seasoned webcomickers. He also says "We may have a few false starts," which says to me, "We're not committed to any one project so much as to the general idea of helping out creators... somehow."
I've been guilty of similarly cloudy thinking, so I feel a stab of sympathy. I never assumed Toner was rubbing his hands together in fiendish glee at the prospect of bilking cartoonists. I don't think there are too many Helena Dionysuses in the comics field. But if a company has only a vague sense of its goals, it often finds itself on the path of least resistance, a path paved with good intentions. I hope Z2H can blaze a better trail.
Labels: Webcomics
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