I've been following the growing discussion on lit crit and webcomics over at Websnark because, well, I'm still a lit crit geek. Duh. Anyway, Ursula Vernon (of Digger and gearworld fame) has some of my favorite entries. On the lit crit / fan fic connection:

For people with a literary background, who can speak with authority about literary devices and actually know who Balzac was, this sort of criticism can be FUN. Frustrating, tough, sure, granted, geeky, hell yeah, but it's basically an English major equivalent of arguing about where access panels on the Enterprise were located. It is an expression of passion for the form, in the idiom that these people enjoy. It's all about The Love, or at least an analysis of why The Love failed in this particular case.

Better still, Ursula gets the Best Metaphor award in the secondary discussion that's developed there re: the place of authorial intent:

The only way to make your interpretation stick is to stand next to the canvas and grab each viewer by the lapels and scream "THIS IS WHAT I MEAN!" Even that's only got a fifty-fifty shot. Merely posting an explanation won't do it. Once you do art, it goes out into the wide world, a tender, trembling doe-eyed image, stepping on delicate little Bambi-like hooves through the grasses of sweet innocence, and then the viewers jump on it and mug it. You find your painting in [a] pool of vomit in a back alley a few hours later, with two black eyes, torn clothes, reeking of booze, and the only thing still IN its wallet is your artist's statement.

Much, much more at the link. Part of the reason I haven't jumped in is because I don't think I have it in me to read all of it, but even skimming, it's some good stuff. If you're so inclined, take a look.

Tags: art, criticism, recommendations, webcomics

I just found out via Websnark that Ursula Vernon's Digger is temporarily free in its entirety over at Graphic Smash.

Do me a favor. I promise not to sit here subjecting you to my heavily selling the comic if you'll start here and try the first six pages. Seriously, if you aren't hooked by then, no hard feelings. If you are, well, then I told you so. Nyah.

Tags: recommendations, webcomics

For comics, anyway.

I think everyone's probably already linking to David Carter's Free Comic Book Month project, but in case you haven't heard: David wants to give you free stuff. All month long, even.

What I haven't seen as much reference to, though, is an older entry I happened upon on the blog of Lucas and Odessa and Sparkneedle's Spike, as GAM goes free for a day:

May 7th is Free Comic Book Day, and GAM will be celebrating by opening up the archives for free viewing for a full 24 hours. So all of you out there that can't afford subscriptions, or just claim you can't afford subscriptions, or want a preview before you plunk down any money for a subscription, or read it weekly, but missed a few pages and got lost, or just plain think I somehow don't deserve to be paid for the work I do, mark your calendars!

Apparently, the extent to which archives are free depends on the individual contributor (much like the FCBD offerings of each publisher are up to that publisher, I should think), but Spike asserts, "if I get my way, Sparkneedle and Lucas & Odessa will both be free IN THEIR ENTIRETY."

Who can scoff at free comics? Bring 'em on, say I.

Tags: hype, webcomics

Have I mentioned how "on" Adrian Ramos' Count Your Sheep has been lately? It was iffy for a little while, as suddenly Katie and company were doing meta-riffs on the fact that they lived in a comic strip. But lately, it's all good. From age-appropriate British punk to single panel gender role jokes, I'm loving it. Take a peek, maybe bookmark it, even.

Tags: recommendations, webcomics

Okay, Mr. Burns may not find it worth a biscuit, but I say Adrian Ramos deserves a whole basket for today's Count Your Sheep. This is the follow up to Monday's strip, where Katie gets herself a cause bracelet. Ramos manages to mix social satire with a fun kid-logic moment all at the same time. Strips like these are why he's on my sidebar links. Check it out.

Tags: recommendations, webcomics

Amy Kim Ganter returns from her other projects with an update page for Reman Mythology and more good news that I'd missed:

I've already announced this on a couple forums including this one, and in an interview for Flight (which you can read here), but my new job is a short series of books for Tokyopop that I'm writing and drawing called "Sorcerers & Secretaries"....For those that have read it, it's basically the rest of the story of the couple in "The Hopeless Romantic And The Hapless Girl" from Rising Stars of Manga vol. 4. It's still a romantic comedy, and it still takes place in NYC~ I've been having lots of fun writing and drawing it so far, and I think it's helped me improve a lot! I feel very lucky to finally be able to draw comics for a living, I want to make these books as good as I possibly can so I can keep doing it! There's no release date yet because it's still so close to the beginning of production, but when I know I'll announce it!

The news is accompanied by a lovely cast shot, as well. Check it out and keep your eyes peeled for the books.

Tags: hype, manga, webcomics

You know, I'm going to miss Homeschool Joe when the current Li'l Mell and Sergio storyline wraps up. Nearly boiled alive, running for his life in the dark, the cute socially impaired boy still manages to spout useless trivia. Gotta love a kid who sticks to his strengths.

Tags: recommendations, webcomics

The story's still slow to get going, but in the meantime, Stephen Crowley's Magellan amuses me with equal opportunity exploitation. Sure, we've got a tease shot of the female lead, about which I'd normally balk, but we also just got a shot of boy bum in the first panel, so I call fair play.

Tags: anecdotes, webcomics

Now, while I'm still enjoying Stephen Crowley's Magellan, I will admit to being a bit frustrated by some of the storytelling technique. Let me clarify that, since with comics, "storytelling" takes on several meanings. The visual storytelling is fine. I have little difficulty following what's happening visually. Indeed, I'm rather grooving on what I keep thinking of as the Archieness of the art (forgive me, but my visual art vocabulary is far from what it should be).

So, then, when I say storytelling here, I'm talking about the writing, in specific the scene patterns in the continuing initial storyline. Or, rather, what seems to me the distraction of unrelated scenes taking us out of the flow of Kaycee's initial insertion at the Magellan Academy.

To be fair, I'll concede the cut aways to faculty members help establish some of the coming conflict: we know a bit sooner than Kaycee that she's not going to find herself universally accepted at her new school. But, really, however important Go!Anna and Wombat Man may eventually prove to the story, I find the back and forth between them and the school scenes rather useless at this point. Get Kaycee to school. Introduce her to whatever conflicts she's going to face, and bring in these secondary players when they're actually going to lead into the story.

I'm sure fans of slow burning subplots would probably argue my position, and were this later in the series, I might be more willing to concede the point. However, we currently know very little about the character who seems to be our protagonist, and I can't help but feel like my initial interest is being ... diffused, I suppose, by setting up a secondary protagonist and conflict when the first one is still so nebulous.

That said, Crowley announces that today's strip marks the departure of Anna and Wom for some time. Hopefully that means the primary story's about to resume focus and ramp up. The above critique aside, I still enjoy the premise, and am looking forward to seeing where things go.

Tags: reviews, webcomics

Meant to mention this before and totally forgot: This week, the folks at Girlamatic are celebrating Halloween by drawing each other's strips. It's a fun little switch-up that also works for some internal cross-promotion. Check it out if you're so inclined.

Tags: hype, webcomics