Are you ready for the weekend? I am. Let’s do some quick clean-up on the news and get outta here.

• They say LA is an unforgiving town, built around the entertainment industry, not kind to those who aren’t Botoxed, rich, and connected. So how to explain LA Weekly naming Jorge Cham to its annual list of the most interesting people in LA¹, a list which includes the likes of models, porn stars, fashion designers, athletes and actors? Oh, maybe because it also features the likes of George Takei and Bobak Ferdowsi, so there’s room in there for the geek-friendly. Cham’s journey from robots to cartoons to generalized high-ed boosting is a feel-good story, one which just might get him a table in the hot restaurants and clubs for a week or two.
• Speaking of LA, a quick fact on the upcoming Capture Creatures show at Gallery Nucleus; Frank Gibson has shared with us that if you’re lucky enough to snag one of the151 different paintings that Becky Dreistadt will have on display, it’ll set you back a thematically-appropriate US$151. For a five-by-seven (inches) original, that’s a damn bargain.
• If you have anything to do with writing about [web]comics, you should have an ironclad rule: When Dave Roman sends you announcement about a project he’s involved with, pay attention to that. In this case, Roman has teamed up with his Kids Comics Revolution podcasting partner (Jerzy Drozd, and not the one that makes bass guitars), his former partner in the heyday of the now-shuttered Nickelodeon magazine (Chris Duffy, and not the baseball player or the other baseball player)², and the Ann Arbor District Library to honor the best of all-ages comics for 2012:
  

  From now through June 23rd, 2013, kids vote online at http://www.kidscomicsrevolution.com or by filling out the paper ballot at the Toronto Comics Art Festival or the Kids Read Comics celebration. Voting will be filmed and posted online. Results will be announced June 23rd at a special ceremony during the Kids Read Comics celebration at the Ann Arbor District Library.

  Categories include four variations on Favorite Graphic Novel, two variations on Favorite Comic Book Series, Favorite Cartoonist/Author, and four categories not likely to make it to the Eisners: Cutest Character, Best Hair in Comics, Grossest Thing in Comics, and Special Award for Excellence in Drawing Delicious-Looking Food (I must admit I’m particularly interested in the results of those). Oh, yes, and there’s also Favorite Webcomic category, with nods given to:

  • Cucumber Quest by Gigi D.G.
  • Nemu*Nemu by Aurdra Furuichi and Scott Yoshinaga
  • Nedroid Picture Diary by Anthony Clark
  • Ellie on the Planet X by James Anderson
  • My Sister, the Freak by Dani Jones

  Strong slate, and similarly well thought out throughout the other categories. Well done, Messers Duffy, Drozd, Roman, and everybody at AADL, and here’s hoping that we see the Second Annual KCR! Awards become even bigger and more prestigious.

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¹ Which is not to say that we at Fleen think that Cham couldn’t succeed on LA’s traditional terms. Little nip here, a tuck there, he could headline a Bravo series about Real Engineers of Pasadena.

² While Chris Duffy doesn’t strike me as too uncommon a name, I would have been really surprised by the fact that there are two guys out there named Jerzy Drozd were it not for some other, equally-improbable repeats that I’m aware of.

One of these days I’ma have to add a category for Kickstarter around these parts, ’cause I sure talk about it a lot.

• If webcomics didn’t exist, something tells me that Phil Foglio, beloved uncle figure of independent comics, would have had to create them. He and creative collaborator/life partner/fellow mad scientist Kaja Foglio have been prominent converts from dead-tree publishing (after a decades-long career, mind you) to producing their flagship work, Girl Genius from the finest quality of pixels and collecting for print afterwards.

  This is not a new endeavour! Story development started twenty damn years ago, and at this point Girl Genius has existed as a web-then-print comic for going on twice as long as it was print-only. Eleven volumes totalling nearly 1500 pages are already in print, and by my reading of the story (every Mon-Wed-Fri, with binges every time a new volume comes out) we might be approaching the midpoint of the overall story¹.

  In all that time, Professor and Professoressa Foglio have entirely self-financed and published their work, but when Kickstarter exists and makes for such a handy pre-order and financing platform, they’d be silly not to take advantage of it. Actually, “silly” is probably pretty high up on any list of adjectives applied to P&P F, but when the choice is Use Kickstarter to avoid fronting some fifty grand to print a book and Nah, let’s be silly and pay the equivalent of a college education ourselves, again, I think silly is overrated.

  Thus Girl Genius Volume 12, nearly 200 pages of full-color comics, is getting the crowdfund treatment, with the additional benefit that exceeding the US$55,000 goal means older volumes can be revived from the out-of-print doldrums, and the Foglio children get to eat more than once a day for the rest of the year. Win-win! Since the campaign went live yesterday, it’s on the cusp of US$34,000 (or 61%) funded, with a relatively brief 17 days to go.

  That’s right, the Foglios allotted themselves less than three weeks to raise their funds, which I’m guessing may have the effect of damping the usual wild swings in successful Kickstarts. Most of them have a huge first two or three days, drop to a low, sustained funding rate, and pick up in the last week. With such a short turnaround, I think GGV12 may not have the time to see the dropoff, and may well have a more uniform intake rate.

  In any event, I think it may well perform closer to the 3 side of the Fleen Fudge Factor² as applied to Kicktraq predictions. If you’re still on the fence about pre-ordering, consider that back volumes run US$23 + shipping, whereas a softcover of GGV12 will be yours for US$30, and it’ll be between 25% and 50% larger than those older books. BARGAIN OF THE YEAR, people.

• I held off as late as I could before posting yesterday, and so missed by mere hours some details on the Capture Creatures books that I wanted to share with you. See, the book wasn’t so much delayed as it was waiting to be part of a package deal, as the Benign Kingdom founders are back in the art book game — only this time instead of a common book, they’re producing a themed set of books. From Becky & Frank, the aforementioned Capture Creatures collection. From Yuko Ota and Evan Dahm, the eagerly-awaited Exquisite Beast collection. And from KC Green, a second volume of his Midnight Surprise artblog.

  Each book is available individually in softcover or deluxe hardcover and in three-book combos³ and in a break from past B9K offerings, stretch goals aren’t being used to make the books better. The deluxe books are full-bore awesome and available right from the start without any wondering if goal would be exceeded enough to get the better paper, the embossing, or any of the other enhancements.

  I’m also interested to see how this campaign does compared to the first B9 collection (which featured the same creators) — what if, hypothetically, you were a huge KC Green fan but didn’t like the others? Would Green’s work comprising a quarter of the book’s content be enough to get your support? With the Midnight Monsters collection, that Green uberfan can back a Green-only book, but also contribute towards the making of the other two books. How this campaign goes may well help determine the production decisions of future B9 efforts.

• The third webcomics Kickstart to launch yesterday was Rob Balder’s latest Erfworld project, which serves the dual purpose of getting something to the strip’s fans this year (neither the illustrated nor the mostly-text storylines that are alternating at Erfworld presently is finished, making it difficult to put a collection together) while simultaneously providing a breaking-in period for a new Erfworld artist.

  David Hahn will be taking over for Xin Ye, and E is for Erfworld will give him time to get his style on-model. Balder did a soft launch of the fundraiser to past project backers and saw the totals exceed 200% of goal in less than a day; I think that Hahn’s going to be getting a lot of practice in pretty soon.

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¹ By the time it’s done, Girl Genius will probably be about about as long as the standard-bearer for impossibly-long indy comics, Cerebus the Aardvark, with 100% less batshit insanity on the part of the creators.

² Namely, look at the Kicktraq prediction afer two days of funding, and at the trend prediction; most projects will hit somewhere between 1/3 and 1/6 of the prediction, which in GGv12′s case means somewhere between 95% and 190% of goal. Since it’s a stone certainty that the Foglios will make goal, I’m going to predict GGv12 is closer to 190%, meaning the majority of stretch goals will be met, and the majority of back volumes get restocked.

³ I didn’t notice any two-book combos but come on — who’s going to want to exclude one of these three books?

There’s some really neat stuff for you today, kids. Let’s jump into it.

• More details on the Capture Creatures gallery show in June, which we teased two weeks back. First off, you may have noticed that said Creatures are appearing on the website at a furious pace, Becky Dreistadt having finished all 151 paintings some time ago; today’s installment is #121, meaning only 30 to go, meaning 17 creatures will still be unposted when the show/book pre-launch hits on 1 June:
  

  LA’s Gallery Nucleus will host the early book release and gallery show on June 1st at 7:00pm: all 151 creature paintings will be on display and available for purchase, along with a yet-to-be-announced resin ?gure, prints, and larger mystery pieces. Opening night features both Becky and Frank signing, as well as complementary drinks, snacks and secret musical guests; the show itself runs through June 23rd.

  That’s from a press release, so no link, but party details are at the Gallery Nucleus site. Unfortunately, the show was scheduled for a time when it was anticipated the book would be done but some delays hit and it’s not done. However, given the track record that Becky Dreistadt and Frank Gibson have on their books, not to mention the fact that it’s coming from the quality factory of Benign Kingdom¹, I’m not terribly concerned about anything other than the fact that I don’t already have the book in my hands right now.

  Also, Becky and Frank need to get one of their gallery shows to launch in New York already so I have a chance at purchasing paintings before they’re snapped up by other people; on the off chance that your favorite Creature isn’t snapped up by somebody else, chances are you can purchase it from Dreistadt’s artist page at Gallery Nucleus.

  In the meantime, Gibson was kind enough to share with Fleen readers an as-yet unseen Creature, Bechder, who may be spied at the top of the page. He’s all badgery, so I’m guessing he’s an Earth type, but with that smoke/steam coming from his mouth there might also be some Fire in his makeup. Am I doing this right? I never got into Pokémon so I’m new to all this lingo.

• Speaking of B9, it’s well known that lurking just behind the scenes is a tactical genius named George Rohac. As it happens, George² and I happened to be talking about ten days back under social circumstances; nothing formal, no notes taken, and we were having some excellent drinks, which is why I didn’t share with you the news he shared with me that night.

  However, Heidi Mac is all over the story today so you probably ought to know that George has left Oni Press (where he got a passel of webcomickers to do projects) for What Pumpkin Studios, aka Homestuck Intergalatic Headquarters. Just in case you were wondering how Andrew Hussie could conquer the internet even more than he already had, there’s your answer. Between WP and B9 and all the side advice that he hands out, George is practically synonymous with webcomic-related Kickstarts, with an estimated 30+ campaigns under his belt and (by my rough accounting) somewhere north of US$4.0 million in total funds raised.

• Two pieces of merch to point you towards, one real and one hypothetical. Firstly, let me point you towards the LympheDIVAs, which markets specialty clothing for survivors of breast cancer — a side effect of treatment can lead to swelling and chronic inflammation in the arms. There’s no treatment for lymphedema, but compression sleeves can help control the condition and help prevent it from progressing.

  Like a lot of medical clothing, compression sleeves tended to be uncomfortable and ugly, and there’s no reason to put up with that nonsense. Comfortable, fashionable sleeves and gauntlets are what LympheDIVAs set out to make, and the designs are visually stunning.

  They’ve just launched a new product family designs by mad pixelmancer R Stevens, with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network³ getting a portion of each sale of 8-Bit Owl, Pixel Hearts, Pixel Skulls, and Red Robot. It’s not easy to make a stretchy garment retain a blocky, pixel look when it can be pulled in various directions, but it appears that Stevens and LympheDIVAs have done so (not that I should have doubted — my Red Robot socks look great, even on my weirdly asymmetric feet). Here’s where I’d send you all to a store and tell you to buy, but I sincerely hope that you never need to.

  On the theoretical end of things, I think that Hurricane Erika simply must — must — make the smiley-face panties shown halfway down the latest entry⁴ at Oh Joy, Sex Toy [probably NSFW]. For those not willing to click the link, here’s a clip of the relevant panel [almost certainly SFW]. Just get the little Yay! speech balloon on the front and your sexytimes will get 37% sexier.

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¹ Unofficial motto: Makers of fine qualities since 2011.

² While the Fleen Manual of Style dictates that on second and subsequent references, individuals should be predominantly referred to by their family names, there are exceptions to every rule and George is one of them. It just doesn’t work to call him Rohac, or Mr Rohac, or even Éogeorge of the Riders of Rohac. He’s just George.

³ Pancreatic may be the most miserable, evil bastard in the cancer family, if I may be allowed a moment of unwarranted anthopomorphization. It has poor treatment options, fast progression, aggressive metastasizive tendencies, and it kills in amounts that even Red Robot #C-63 would find excessive. It’s not particularly linked to lymphedema, but if Stevens wants to take a chunk out of pancreatic cancer, I say more power to him; I hope he gives it a good curbstomping.

⁴ So to speak.

So I’ve been away for a bit, as mentioned last week. For those who were wondering, being married for twenty years and then getting to throw a party for your friends is sort of awesome. But I’m back now, and it seems not a moment too soon, as things are beginning to pile up around here.

• I’d planned on coming back to bloggening today, and even if I hadn’t I would have had to after seeing a blip in my twitterstream last night, the first in 18 months or so from Allie Brosh who is sublimely wonderful and had fallen entirely out of public view. It happens, and in her case, Ms Brosh has shared why it happened and done so in a way that’s honest and brave and makes me want to punch capital-D Depression right in the neck.

  I don’t know if her words+pictures today have helped more people with depression or without — being able to recognize when somebody you know is suffering and being able to help is not a skill that’s widely taught just yet, but damn if this comic isn’t a tremendous first stride. Read it, think about it, go be a shriveled piece of corn for somebody that needs it.

• Also dropping today is the latest Jim Zub project; while he was famously jerked around by DC Comics earlier this year, he was also classy as hell about the whole thing. I’m going to ascribe his newest news to that classy-as-hellness, because I’m not certain that anybody at DC has two functioning neurons to rub together, but they probably recognize kind behavior¹. In any event, Mr Zub is responsible for the writerly portion of a two-part Batman story in a digital-first anthology series, with Part One appearing on devices today and part two next Thursday, 16 May. My only quibble with Zub’s entirely understandable enthusiasm is when he says:
  

  My first published superhero story and first published DC Comics work, Legends of the Dark Knight #49, has been released on digital and mobile platforms and it’s only 99 cents!

  That’s because every time Zub shares his wisdom on making comics and making it in comics (start here, look to the sidebar that says “Tutorials” and don’t stop so long as there are still links to follow), he is himself a goddamn superhero to everybody that loves comics, and don’t you forget it, Zub.

Various new things were introduced while I was gone:

• Comic Chameleon, long awaited, has seen its official launch, meaning that you can download it to your iDevice now and start reading webcomics for free, and with the cooperation of their creators. Well done Bernie Hou and the entire Comic Chameleon team; once I get my Android version you’ll escalate all the way to “Attaboy” status.
• Dante Shepherd, this blog’s favorite Chemical Engineer², has launched a new undertaking and it’s not the second comic (provisionally dubbed PhD Unknown) that’s been hinted at for a few months now. That’s cool, we at Fleen would rather wait until it was done cooking to Shepherd (and art collaborator Joan Cooke)’s standards.

  No, what Shepherd announced was a new initiative to promote interest in and understanding of STEM topics by K-12 educators, who will presumably share their knowledge and enthusiasm with the various rugrats budding scholars who will form the technological basis of future generations. If you happen to know anybody that teaches K-12, do everybody a favor and point ‘em towards Science The World so we can start building a smarter tomorrow.

• Kickstarts have also been underway, with campaigns set for the second volume of The Bear (including a webcomicky presentation of Volume 1 at MyBear.net, as promised recently), the second volume of Dumbing of Age, the first volume of Lady Sabre and the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether, and the revival of the Penny Arcade Downloadable Content podcast.
• That last one has been getting a bunch of (to my mind, ill-informed) pushback, on the grounds that podcasts don’t cost anything and therefore it’s a big scam. Au contraire, mon frère, podcasts do cost something; they cost time, which if Mike Krahulik, Jerry Holkins, and others at Penny Arcade Industries take, they won’t be spending on other things that will generate money.

  Could Jerry and Mike do the podcast without impacting their lavish, Russian mafia-like lifestyles? Probably, but they aren’t just supporting themselves — their efforts are what make payroll for more than a dozen people, and with that kind of responsibility comes Robert Khoo’s responsibility to say, We have to find a way to make it pay. Me, I’m just interested to see if they set the all-time record for highest percentage funding in Kickstarter history, which as of this writing is at an astonishing 570,000% of goal. Okay, granted, that was a ten dollar goal, but let’s not lose sight of the distractingly-large number.

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¹ Much in the way that my dog will be your very best friend if you offer her a treat, but shies away from small children that haven’t learned how to pet gently.

² In keeping with tribal custom, all specific engineering disciplines are capitalized here at Fleen, in acknowledgment of the skills, knowledge, and hard work of those who practice our peculiar intersection of design, intuition, math, science, the right-hand rule³, and blowin’ shit up. Respect.

³ AKA, The engineering gang sign.

Vive L’alliance de la bande dessinée. Or more precisely, somebody please tell me where the very talented writers from Comics Alliance [link may not work much longer] end up, since their site (the only comics site I read regularly) got axed by parent company AOL. I really liked CA, I liked the writers, I liked their approach which appreciated comics in all its varied forms (not to mention the respect they gave to webcomics — do a search there for as long as the site is live on “Nedroid” say, or “Jess Fink”). They reveled in the most batshit insane¹ of comics, thought deeply about how comics tell their stories, poked fun at the comics they couldn’t stop reading and always somehow found happiness in a shared legacy of the world’s greatest heroes (and Aquaman).

The fact that those last three links lead to pieces written by the same guy should tell you something. I have no doubt that none of the CA staffers and stringers will have much trouble landing in their next writing gigs (and boy do I hope that they take the Eisner Award that they’re nominated for this year); in the meantime, if you haven’t already, maybe toss a thank you towards the staff of CA as they disperse (hopefully to coalesce together again — like Voltron, they are mightier together than in their constituent parts). And if it won’t get you fired, they’ve already received the ultimate accolade in a pop culture-saturated world: an angry tirade about their fate from a noted friend of comics [NSFW on account of naughty subtitles and oh yeah -- Hitler].

Nevertheless, there is always good news to be found, and little is more regarded as good news in these parts than a new project from Becky Dreistadt and Frank Gibson, this time a book launch party for the Capture Creatures collection. Those with long memories may recall that Capture Creatures launched at the beginning of 2012, with a goal of finishing the 151 painting series, a gallery show, and a book collection in the same year.

Along the way, other things intruded², and the completion of Capture Creatures pushed back to 2013. Good news: the painting are apparently done, since the gallery show will launch in LA on 1 June. And with the completion of the paintings comes the comprehensive book (including the creatures we haven’t seen on the site yet), details of which I am solemnly assured are nearly upon us. We at Fleen will bring you the details as soon as we can, and in the meantime, dibs on whichever creature might be based on the greyhound, if such a thing exists.

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¹ So to speak.

² Dreistadt did more than 300 (!) paintings last year, so I think we can cut her some slack.

It’s very nearly the weekend, so let’s keep this brief and then we can all go out and enjoy it. ‘Sides, half of webcomics is¹ either at or in transit to one show or another right about now so it’s kinda quiet.

• Quiet except for the promise of sexytimes, as Hurricane Erika has finally launched a new, ongoing, weekly webcomic: Oh Joy, Sex Toy [PNSFYWBWDIK²]. While the focus of OJST would seem to be on the exploration and review of sex toys, Moen makes it clear in the first installment (and on her twitterfeed) that if it makes happyparts happy, it’s fair game.

  As readers of this page have no doubt divined by this point, I think that Erika Moen does some of the best comic out there: fearless, honest, beautiful to look at, and they always teach me something³. I am more eager than ever for the forthcoming projects that she’s mentioned, including a graphic novel about a woman whose sketchbook comes to life, and a second that’s focused on sex education for teens (who in many cases don’t get honest information in school). She also has the rare ability to make truly terrifying things appear almost cute; not cuddly, mind you, but definitely cute.

• On the other side of the cute scale, the inimitable Gigi DG launched her Cucumber Quest Book One Kickstart just about a year ago, and it was a runaway success. Since then she’s been part of the absolutely gorgeous Benign Kingdom Spring 2013 collection, and today she launched the campaign for Cucumber Quest book 2. At current trends, she’ll hit goal around the twelve hour mark, and will go far, far beyond the US$12,000 she’s seeking. Ms DG’s work is wonderful in nearly every way, so if you like wonderful things by all means check it out.

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¹ Are? “Webcomics” is plural, but I’m using it to represent a singular community, and the “half of” is a single subunit. If only somebody knew singular/plural rules like your Ryans North know about the compound plural.

² Possibly Not Safe For Your Work But What Do I Know?

³ Ranging from what it’s like in her head (and goodness, has it really been more than three years since DAR wrapped) to the notion that Juggalos are more than just their clownish exteriors. I was pretty ingrained with my anti-juggalism, so kudos to Moen and her co-creator Jeff Parker for knocking some awareness into me.

What to do when your e-book publisher decides to drop comics of an adult nature, including your very popular anthology that is surely bringing in a considerable amount of money? Sale on the physical copy, naturally. Let’s let Smut Peddler editor Spike tell the story:

Hey folks FYI: Gumroad has temporarily dropped adult content. But Smut Peddler will be available on Comixology, starting in May!

I’ve been working with Comixology for a while to get my stuff on there, and it’s scheduled to go live in a couple of weeks. EXCITED.

SALE: Smut Peddler is ALL GUMMED UP! Until April 30th, physical copies of this fabulous anthology are 33% OFF!

That was where it stood 30 minutes ago (as of the time of writing this paragraph): unfortunate occurrence, making the best of it, resilience of the artist, etc. Then I noticed that Bleeding Cool was reporting on this situation, and their report (more precisely, a link from their report) made this situation seem a bit more … tawdry.

Not because of the porn (especially tastefully done porn, predominantly from the ladies), and not because Gumroad pulled Smut Peddler (taking credit cards means that they have to adhere to policies put forth by the card companies and payment processors, a situation that has tripped up more than one previous purveyor of porntastic provisions). See, the Bleeding Cool piece talked with a guy who had his gay-themed e-book pulled by Gumroad, and he asked why, if he’s being pulled, is Smut Peddler allowed to be on the service?

More precisely, he asked three times, by name, in all caps, via an open posting on Facebook.

All of which leads me to a dilemma. We at Fleen are not in favor of rewarding people who behave poorly with links or attention. Yet we also realize that you shouldn’t necessarily take my interpretation of this situation at face value, and you should have the opportunity to judge for yourself, which is less likely to happen if you have to go searching all over the hell’s half-acre that is the internet to find what I’m talking about.

So here’s what I’ve done: Ive screenshotted the posting that the person in question made to Facebook (seen above), and removed his name. This is for two reasons:

1. If I’m being unduly harsh, the creator in question doesn’t deserve to have his name unduly linked with critical rhetoric.
2. If, on the other hand, my gut feeling on this is correct and the creator in question is engaging in behavior somewhere between a hissy fit and sour grapes¹, he doesn’t deserve the publicity that even a critical assessment would bring him.

In any event: Smut Peddler’s on sale for 33% off until the end of the month.

Let’s talk about things that are more unambiguously positive, ‘kay?

• The Jeff Rowland’s Flickr account has a new video up showing some of the activity around the in-renovations future home of TopatoCo. At one point in the video (18 seconds, to be precise), Rowland approaches a road roller, leading to the possibility that joyrides may take place at some point in the future. There is no part of this that could possibly end unawesomely.
• There are several webcomics “review” sites that are little more than exercises in drive-by vandalism, delighting in the negative for the sheer nihilistic joy of it². So I am overjoyed to see a new webcomics review site pop up that is dedicated to the prospect of sharing what the author finds to be good rather than tearing down what’s subjectively bad.³ Ladies and gentlemen, may I commend to you Robynne Blume’s Webcomics Worth Wreading, which opens with a discussion of Reptilis Rex by William Tallman.
• Strip Search Elimination #5 spoilers ahoy. Hold up here if you haven’t seen it yet.

  All good? ‘Kay, let’s start off by saying that was the best visit to Artdome we’ve had yet, and I was sorry to think that either Amy or Maki would be going home because we really are past the point of obviously weak competitors; anybody in the house could win it at this point. Also they both interacted with each other and the Creators in a way that was more lively and unguarded than we’ve seen before. Also-also, Jerry drank a comic⁴, which is not a sentence I ever thought I would type.

  Now what I find to be the curious thing at this point is where the show goes from here. When I spoke to Robert Khoo and Erika Sadsad about the show before it debuted, Khoo said that while there will be no way to tell the entire story of what happened in the mansion, there was a natural narrative that emerged during filming.

  Up until now, I’d been expecting that narrative to be Amy’s, from her initial presentation as the one person playing the game part of the competition, to her meeting and befriending of Erika Moen, aka my fucking hero. Sadly, that story’s come to an end⁵, which got me to wondering what else might be the new narrative if it’s not Amy’s Journey. Possibilities include:

  • Dr Strangeabby or: How Mike Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Tangent
  • Monica’s Story, brought to you by Depends
  • Katie Will Kill All Who Challenge Her And Eat Whatever She Kills
  • Lexxy: Third Time’s The Charm!
  • Maki, Tavis, Beardlove by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • Erika Just Wins Everything Because We At Fleen Have Been Team Hurricane Since Day Minus 218

  Your best guesses as to where the heck the story goes from here in the comments, please.

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¹ If anybody knows a short, pithy expression that means If I can’t have something I’ll make sure others can’t either, I’ll be happy to use it. For now we’ll make do with “sour grapes”.

² No links, but if you want to know why such things still exist, my best guess is found in the extended digression on the nature of criticism by Anton Ego at the end of Ratatouille:

We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read.

³ Honestly, if it’s that bad, let it alone and it’ll go away on its own. Or just repeat to yourself Okay, I don’t like it but that doesn’t mean other people aren’t allowed to.

⁴ And he just … kept … drinking.

⁵ At least within the context of the show, but Ms T Falcone has skillfully parlayed her time on the show into more attention and eyeballs on her comic than she could reasonably expected to have had otherwise. A lot of people are going to be following her career closely from here on out.

But even here there must be some encouraging news, yes? Yes.

• Encouraging News The First: Lucy Knisley’s latest book, the absolutely stellar Relish, has made the New York Times graphic novel bestseller list, debuting at #8. For reference, that puts Knisley above Batman¹.
• Encouraging News The Second: Sometimes I’m shocked about what I look back and find that I haven’t written about on this page — particularly when I’m convinced that I did at some point. For example, PostScript, by brothers Graham and Neal Moogk-Soulis, which deals with what happens to fairy tales after the happily ever after part². Five years they’ve been at this, and I haven’t mentioned them until now? Bad hack webcomics pseudojournalist!

  Anyways, Los Bros Moogk-Soulis are celebrating with a site redesign and a fifth print collection, and debuting it next weekend at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. Oh, and comics; many, many fine comics. Should you see Neal and Graham on the wide prairie next weekend, give ‘em a big high-five and strongly consider picking up their books; there’s some good stuff in there.

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling better now. Let’s hope that all the crap that’s been foisted on us this week sees fit to stay there as we move forward together.

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¹ Also the still-there-after-56-weeks Smile by Raina Telgemeier, hanging in at #10. I’m not sure that book will ever fall off the list.

² Not that happily ever after is how fairy tales always end; my favorite is the Polish ending that I recently learned about, where the storyteller states … and I was there too, and we drank mead and wine.

Silly me, I didn’t get a screen shot of the parking page that greeted readers of Fleen earlier today as the renewal was making its ways around the world. While the fleen.com email service saw no interruptions, for a few hours I was assured that this page would make a perfect address for auto dealers, auto loans, and all your auto needs. Sadly, people that may have wanted to snag the domain weren’t greeted with the sensitive yet handsome dude, the beautiful yet computer-savvy lady, or the couple that for some reason you just want to slap. Sorry ’bout all that.

• Having dipped her foot¹ into the world of e-self-publishing, A Girl And Her Fed creator K Brooke “Otter” Spangler has been noting some distinct similarities between that world and the earlier, what the heck are we trying to accomplish? days of professional webcomicking, and she’s been kind enough to share her observations with you.

  Having also spanned the world of webcomics self-publishing, and actual-publisher publishing, Otter’s buddy (and Fleen Fave) Ursula Vernon² has her own take of the astonishing Webcomics/SelfPub parallels, and likewise holds forth with useful opinion. They are are pair of sharp ladies and to paraphrase Otter, BUY THEIR BOOKS.

• Oh my, yes, please: Jess Fink’s so very delayed, I thought I might never see it released, can it really be true? time-travel self-makeout epic, We Can Fix It, finally has a release date! Of course, we’ve heard this before (more than three years of hearing it before) but this time it’s certain because Fink has the actual books in her hot little hands, meaning she’ll have them for TCAF in a few weeks. For those of you not going to TCAF, you can exchange money for this book in a variety of places, including by pre-ordering from Top Shelf directly. Go do that now.
• Did somebody say most prestigious awards in comics? The Eisners nominations are out, the superheroes are relatively absent, and webcomickers and their natural allies are well represented. How well represented? Enough so that there’s simply too many names to track down all the web addresses and put the links in the text³. Let’s just take them from the top down, shall we?
  Best Single Issue or One-Shot
  The Mire, by Becky Cloonan (self-published)

  Best New Series
  Adventure Time, by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb (kaboom!)
  Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain)

  Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)
  Adventure Time, by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb (kaboom!)
  Amulet Book 5: Prince of the Elves, by Kazu Kibuishi (Scholastic)
  Cow Boy: A Boy and His Horse, by Nate Cosby and Chris Eliopoulos (Archaia)

  Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)
  Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens, by Meredith Gran (kaboom!)
  A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle, adapted by Hope Larson (FSG)

  Best Humor Publication
  Adventure Time, by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb (kaboom!)

  Best Digital Comic
  Ant Comic, by Michael DeForge
  Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover
  It Will All Hurt, by Farel Dalrymple
  Our Bloodstained Roof, by Ryan Andrews
  Oyster War, by Ben Towle

  Best Adaptation from Another Medium
  A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle, adapted by Hope Larson (FSG)

  Best Graphic Album —- Reprint
  Sailor Twain, or The Mermaid in the Hudson by Mark Siegel (First Second)

  Best Penciller/Inker
  Becky Cloonan, Conan the Barbarian (Dark Horse); The Mire (self-published)
  Colleen Coover, Bandette (Monkeybrain)

  Best Coloring
  Colleen Coover, Bandette (Monkeybrain)

  I’m particularly excited to note the presence of Bandette in the Digital Comic category, but also represented in other categories against print comics. And I would be remiss if I didn’t note that Comics Alliance, Robot Six, and The Comics Reporter have all been nominated as Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism, and they are the homes of such webcomics-friendly folks as Chris Sims, Brigid Alverson, and The Spurge. Best of luck to a very strong and deserving field, and let’s hope that we see such good nominations in future years.

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¹ Up to about the knees, actually.

² We at Fleen loves us some Digger.

³ On account of the fact I am a lazy, lazy man.

Nine years is a long time in webcomics, and it would not be a slight accompishment to turn out more than 400 (sometimes huge) photocomics with extensive costuming and props. But to turn out more than 400 (sometimes huge) photocomics with extensive costuming and props and 2222 wooden jigsaw puzzles? That’s the work of a creative madman, possibly with a frantic body posture and overly-excited facial expression.

So happy Baffler!versary to Chris Yates, Assistant Dragon Emily, Previous Assistant Dan, Captain Felix, Mensa the Menacer, Box-Head, the POOP sign, and all the other denizens of the Greater Boulder Puzzle Metropolis, and may your sanding fingers never shrivel up and fall off. PS: special 30% off Baffler! sale this week in celebration

• Apparently, MoCCA Fest 2013 isn’t over until the Society of Illustrators says it’s over, and sister, they ain’t said so yet. How else to explain the fact that talks and events associated with this year’s MoCCA are still going on? Case in point: 25 April (that would be ten days from now) at 6:30pm, Boulet (Fr ici, Eng here, and I don’t know how to say “here” in Korean) will teaming up with Gabrielle Bell to talk with the comics-loving public for a few hours, thanks in part to a cultural program organized by the French Embassy.

  An Evening with Bell and Boulet will be held at the Society of Illustrators, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and will run you between US$7 and US$15 depending on whether or not you’re a student, a member of the SoI, or a non-member; tickets and more information here.

• Science cartooning, heck yeah! Rosemary Mosco is one of those people that I can talk to forever about pterosaurs (and oh my goodness, it appears that Witton has a book coming in June, hooray) and bunches of other things as well, but man do I love talkin’ pterosaurs with her. She’s one of them actual scientist-type scientists (such as make we poor engineers look like unrigorous experimentalists), and as part of the Cambridge Science Festival in Cambridge, MA, she’ll be talking on the topic of science cartooning along with Jay Hosler and EJ Barnes.

  Science & Comics will take place at Cambridge’s Main library, from 2:00pm – 4:00pm on Saturday, 20 April, in the lecture hall. Like the vast majority of the CSF events (going on now until Sunday), it’s totally free.

• Two of my favorite creators have been stepped back for a while (and will be for the forseeable future) from their main creator-owned project due to external commitments. One of those (a graphic novel from Oni) has been running in place of their main work and the other was revealed late last week: the reason that I’m not seeing “>Yuko Ota and Ananth Panagariya’s twice-weekly autobio adventures is, in part, due to them producing an Adventure Time miniseries about PepBut and Cinnamon Bun as noir detectives. Let’s see, midsummer last year was when Meredith Gran’s Marceline and the Scream Queens mini launched to great acclaim, so I have high hopes for this year’s midsummer launch of Adventure Time Candy Capers. Mostly because PepBut rules.

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No footnotes? I … I can’t explain this.