This week, I talk to Chris VonGompel, the man behind, in front of, beside, and otherwise fully responsible for the webcomic Hockey Zombie.
Before we dive right in to what promises (and delivers, but not pizza) to be one of my more interesting interviews, I’m going to take a moment to re-extend an invitation to any and all webcomic creators who’d like to be interviewed. I want to talk to YOU.
And now, here’s Chris.
Editor’s note: As noted on this page previously, Sheldon creator Dave Kellett has renounced the world of syndication and gone out on his own. Kellett’s a smart guy with an extensive background in the history of comics and syndication, and we’ve spoken to him previously on this topic at length, so we thought it would make sense to talk to him again and follow up on his big shift.
Kellett: Pretty darn good, so far.
I’ve been amazed to see the positive response to the new site. The first few weeks have resulted in millions of pageviews, book sales have been great, unexpected opportunities have opened up, and the outpouring of genuine kindness from other cartoonists and from readers has been really energizing. It’s made me incredibly excited about my cartooning, about the future of the strip, and about my next steps in life.
This week, I’m speaking with Spike, the creative dynamo behind Templar, Arizona and a couple of other real gems of comics. It’s a fascinating discourse into puppies, ink wells, and a few easy tips on how to be the cover of a Tom Waits album…
Hi, this week we’ve got a very special Thanksgiving themed Interview, with the fine folks who bring us ButternutSquash.
For Part 2 of my ongoing interview series, I caught up with Danielle Corsetto. Danielle writes, draws and publishes the webcomic Girls With Slingshots, previously reviewed, and is the creator currently behind The New Adventures of Bat Boy for the Weekly World News.
A quick note about my interview series before we get into the intimate details of Danielle’s story. I am aiming to do one interview a week, publishing on Tuesday. Next week, look for a very special Thanksgiving edition.
Editor’s note: It’s been a little less than three years since Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins announced Child’s Play over at Penny Arcade. What seemed like a nice little ad-hoc plan quickly grew out of all proportion, resulting in an estimated $175,000 of toys and more than $27,000 cash being raised in less than six weeks.
Two years ago, they did it again, raising over $310,000; last year, $590,000. Add ‘em up, and you’re looking at nearly $1.2 million. There have been black-tie charity dinners and auctions; large corporations sponsor the effort; one hospital grew to five, and the list has since gone international. Behind all that good is the work of a lot of volunteers, and the coordinating efforts of Kristin Lindsay, who was kind enough to take the time to talk with me, despite having recently produced a small human being using only time and basic household items.
Kristin Lindsay: I was lucky enough to miss the class where our counsellor showed off the Big Book of Grown-Up Jobs. I’m up in Vancouver, Canada, essentially a stay-at-home mom, married to a game programmer, and we’re part of the new trend of X-Treme Geek Families. Penny Arcade has always loomed large for us, and when the opportunity to serve as a volunteer for one of the early Necrowombicon fan conventions (the precursor to PAX), I jumped at the chance.
I became close friends with the Necrowombicon organizer, and was able to take a more active role as a volunteer the next year. When Penny Arcade founded PAX back in 2004, they asked me if I’d like to pitch in with that, and I was honoured to accept. I now serve at PAX every year, and am better known to much of the PA community as ‘Princess RedDot’, the Enforcer Wrangler and registration manager for the annual convention.
Working in that capacity segued into my ‘office job’ as the Child’s Play coordinator. Between PAX and Child’s Play, I work pretty much year round for Gabe and Tycho’s Dark Empire! I’d also like to point out that I’m currently the only female employee at Penny Arcade, which I mention as a shout out to all the girl gamers out there. :)
Hey, Kids! It’s interview time again!
D.J Coffman’s been in the news a lot recently, both for good stuff and bad, and he’s always been a willing victim friend of Fleen’s. So when I decided to get back into this crazy little world, at least on a limited basis doing interviews, he’s the first creator I thought to contact.
Yeah.
That’s right.
I’m back. Doing interviews.
Want me to interview you? Just write in and ask.
Meanwhile, here’s what’s up with D.J.
Between travelling all over the northeastern tier of the continent and getting yelled at by Customs (man, that takes me back), and laptop troubles, it’s pretty impressive to note that Winterview #1 has been posted.
“Winterviews”, for those of you just joining in, are a series of video interviews being conducted by Winter McCloud and edited by her sister Sky, as they meet people on the year-long book-promotion death march jaunt known as the Making Comics 50 State Tour. Less than three weeks in, working in hotel rooms at the back seat of a minivan, producing a series of videocasts with subjects like Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman? Did I mention that Winter and Sky are 11 and 13, respectively? Or that Sky is presenting at places like MIT about the tour?
To my jaded eye, Scott can be even prouder of his daughters than of Making Comics. And if anybody knows Customs agents on the Niagara crossing, find the guy that yelled at Scott and let him know that he’s a jerk.
Next up for Clan McCloud: Chapter 5½ hits soon, and talks in Princeton, Barcelona (not open to the public), SPX, and DC. Fleen invites reports from the field from any who are able to attend these goings-on.
Editor’s note: R Stevens, creative madman behind Diesel Sweeties, is heading to the newspapers! There have been lots of questions in various places around the web about what this means for Stevens, for DS, and for webcomics in general. As part of Fleen’s continuing series on syndication vis-a-vis webcomics, we present the following interview with Stevens; it’s a bit lengthy, but the guy is just too quotable to edit to any measurable degree.
Stevens: It’s all Ted Rall. I knew him casually from being in one of the Attitude books he edited. He sent me an email saying I should contact him about a really important project, so I wrote him back and the penny dropped on my HEAD like a punch bowl full of hammers. I never thought I’d be suitable for something like this, so I never submitted on my own. Had I not been contacted by someone I already knew and trusted, I would have assumed the whole thing was a joke and not even replied.
Fleen: What’s the duration of your contract? What are your short- and medium-term goals for the strip?
Stevens: This is a five year mission, just like the original Enterprise. It ends and hopefully renews in 2012, just as the Mayan Calendar ends along with the universe itself.
Scott McCloud did an interview with Wired.com in which he asserted that webcomics are the great wild card in the art form today. Seeing as he’s written books, and is seen as a “leading scholar,” you might trust what he has to say at face value. My understanding from the interview is this: Because there are no editorial limits, and with themes and genres multiplying to fit every niche audiance, as well as the techniques that can manipulate space, there are “mutations” which are changing the art form in new and exciting ways.
Colin Reed Moon wrote a piece in opposition to the assertion that webcomics were a wildcard. His argument, to the best of my analytic reading abilities, is that webcomics are often no different than their print counterparts, that they regularly crossover into the traditional print medium, and their influence is felt in the popular culture, as with the making (his verb, not mine) of Snakes on a Plane. Thus, webcomics are not a wildcard, they are an artform and they are influential.
Both identify the trend of webcomics becoming print comics in anthologies and such. However, McCloud mentions it in terms of how webcomics are like their print counterparts, whereas Colin sees it as a sign of success. How should we take this trend of anthologies? Does it limit the freeform and free-for-all nature of the webcomic? And is the influence that Colin identifies evidence that webcomics have arrived? Or is it more evidence of the wildcard nature of the medium — that anything can and will happen?
If you've got webcomics-related news, insight, rumors, gossip, or shameless press releases, let us know.
