I think one of the things I’ve learned of most use is the separation between the amateur and the professional boils down to two things: practice and craftsmanship. Practice, I can’t help you with that, other than give you opportunities to apply yourselves (see below). But here’s a little tip on craftsmanship:

Chris Sprouse’s interview in the recent volume of MODERN MASTERS mentions his meticulous use of the lightbox in roughing in pages and playing with composition. So, make yourself one.
——————————-

It is my pleasure to present the works of Jay Fosgitt, easily the most brilliant and natural cartoonist I’ve ever met. He’s got a book coming out in November, which means it’s in September’s PREVIEWS catalog (the order code for Dead Duck in PREVIEWS: sept090577). Order yourself a copy and get your retailer to get behind this book.

I can’t recommend this guys work enough. It hilarious as well as sharply drawn, but you don’t have to take my word for it, just read the embedded comics below from an archive of previously drawn comics. The Dead Duck Original Graphic Novel is rated “M” for mature and is not suitable for all audiences parental desecration is advised.

Find out more about Dead Duck at JAYFOSGITT.COM
——————————-

AND Don’t forget about December Deadline ‘09!

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending Chicago Comic Con. It was a very profitable show for me, not monetarily, but cognitively. I talked to some wonderful artists and attended some art panels to see what I could glean from the masters. Some interesting stuff came up, but the greatest benefit was having my portfolio ripped apart critically by two amazing artists in particular: Howard Chaykin and Mitch Mitch Breitweiser. I was honored to have them take the time to fill me in, in gore detail, about everything from the very basics of the mistakes I made in my pages. It was all constructive, though I’ll admit, sometimes hard to listen to. Still, I can imagine no better way to learn how to improve. A heart-felt thanks to both of you, Mr. Chaykin and Mr. Breitweiser.

Well, all the information I’d learned at the con got me thinking about how to properly distill it into something I can reference and pass on to others. Thus I have created the below: PRINCIPIA STRONG TOMICA. By diagramming all that I learned over the expertly drawn panels of three consecutive pages from Chris Sprouse’s and Alan Moore’s TOM STRONG #1.

Here is a text summary:
‘Who, What, Where, When, Why,’ must all be explained in the art. ‘How’ is the story itself.
Compositions are Three-fold with Background, MIDGROUND, and Foreground. (Newspaper strips often only have Back and Foregrounds)

Background:

‘where, when’
context of the action
shows the movement
shows essential textures for continuity

Midground:

‘who, what’
subjects and actors
action happens here

Foreground:

‘why, what’
what the subjects in the midground react to or ignore
frames the panel with black to create guide the eye

FIVE SHOTS OF COMICS:
Establishing Shots:

‘where, when’
man vs god, man vs nature, man vs society
extra background, extra midground, foreground
embellished background
draw the feet
frame heavily with black foreground

Wide Shots:

‘where, when, what’
man vs god, man vs nature, man vs society
background, midground, foreground
draw the feetvdraw background
frame well with foreground
important, physical action

Mid Shots:

‘who, what, why’
man vs nature, man vs man
background, midground, foreground
may need feet
action and acting against the foreground
all character equal players in midground
subjects vs environment
important, physical action

Close Shots:

‘who, what’
man vs man
background, midground
no feet, textures for
background
characters unequal
subtlety, facial a cting
relationships between subjects

Extreme Close Shots:

‘who’
man vs himself
midground
just face
often no background needed
externalize the internal
drama, irony, surprise

Agree, disagree? Questions, comments? Love poems, hate limericks? Want to paypal me wads of digital cash for my brilliance? Email: latino.kyle (at) gmail (dot) com.
-
Kyle Latino

B:DC June Challenge RESULTS!

It’s the moment we’ve all been anticipating for this whole armpit-hot month of June, the B:DC Challenge entries! But wait, before you get to excited, I have some bad news: I was the only person in the universe who participated in this month’s challenge. Yeah. Just me. It’s cool though, I still gave it my all. Click on the thumbies bellow and let me know what you think!

Okay, I must admit, I did source heavily from Alex Ross’s panels in KINGDOM COME and SUPERMAN: PEACE ON EARTH. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to go shoot my own reference photos. But nobody else had time enough to even do one, so I don’t feel too bad.

The characters are all public domain from Lev Gleson Co.’s run of CAPTAIN BATTLE. It was interesting to me that Captain Battle had a kid sidekick, Nathan, that wasn’t his son, whom later shows up for a spinoff series in his own title, CAPTAIN BATTLE JR. Cap was sporting the eye patch before Nick Fury really made it cool. That’s it for this week. Next week, we’ll have a new challenge!

Agree, disagree? Questions, comments? Love poems, hate lymerics? Want to congratulate me on a sweet new logo? Email: latino.kyle (at) gmail (dot) com.

-Kyle Latino

Well, let’s see here. I’ve been taking stock of the column, and I’ve come to the realization that we aren’t doing a lot of BRIANSTORMING here! I mean, it’s what this thing is CALLED, for goodness sakes. So, put on your Gallagher ponchos everyone, I’m going to start flinging out some weird stuff just to see it on the internet. And remember, there is no such thing as a bad idea in brainstorming, because if you only have one bad idea, you aren’t doing it right! HA!

BIDDING. Boom. There’s an idea. Any of you in internet land a contractor? See folks, in the construction world ( or military technology world, eep ) contractors bid on projects. The people who can do the best job for the least cash get the gig, or so the theory goes. This principal could apply to professional digital comics. Anyone of the major comic publishing companies could do this. All they need are: some character they aren’t using, and some serious legal work. We’ll use DC as an example (though such a big corporation could be a bad choice), because I see them as being the closest to being able to do something like this (with zudacomics.com). First they’d set up a comic community sight for discussion and networking among amateur talent (something like zeroes2heroes.com). Everyone gets a profile/portfolio page, and starts making nice and getting creative teams together. Then DC would post a job or twelve on the main page like BRIANIAC AND FRIENDS, AQUAMAN YEAR 100, or YOUNG ALL-STARS BACK TO SCHOOL EXTRAVAGANZA. Any property that just couldn’t get a spot on the newsstands, but could still draw an audience.

And then the amateurs just go crazy coming up with pitches and sample pages submitted by internet forms, each team claiming they can do it cheaper than the last. At the end of the day, the poor chumps that have to go through the submissions come up with a couple they like and run them past the higher-ups. A month later, the new creative team on AQUAMAN YEAR 100 is announced and starts cranking out X number of pages Y times a month. They sell the comics over iTunes or their own website for a buck-a-pop for desktops and mobile devices, then collect the successful ones in trade. Boom. Comics become cheap, disposable entertainment again without affecting the print market at all.

Now, I’m not a big-city lawyer, or a media empire big wig. I’m sure there are 17 obvious reasons why the couldn’t work as presented. But hey, it’s an idea, and ideas are currency in the age of information.

OH and don’t forget about the B:DC June Challenge ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT!

Agree, disagree? Questions, comments? Love poems, hate lymerics? Want to congratulate me on a sweet new logo? Email: latino.kyle (at) gmail (dot) com.

-Kyle Latino

RIGHT FOR WRITING! JUNE B:DC CHALLENGE

by: Kyle Latino

All right, race fans, this week is about writing, specifically writing full scripts. When I’m is making a comic by myself, it would be easier to just write as I go, keeping the general direction in mind. I have found that writing full scripts yields numerous benefits, though it does add more to the process of comic making. Now, I have no particular expertise in writing, or talent for it, and really I’m technically pretty bad at it; but I do it. I’m in the midst of some more hardcore writing now, so it’s on my mind. This isn’t going to give any tips or lessons on the mechanics of writing (for which I would check HERE), just some observations from an amateur’s perspective. Primarily, if you write scri pts, you will learn story problem solving skills you wouldn’t have picked up just by drawing or working from an outline. Say you write 6 issues worth from beginning to end. Now, before you commit any lines to paper, you know where characters need to end up in their dynamic journey and where they need to be in any given panel. Instead of sprinkling in character moments whenever it occurs to you, you can really take control and intentionally drive the story. Secondly, writing is SO much faster! Yes, it slows down my one-man-show, but writing is much faster than drawing. This is why writers can do multiple books artist only do one. Imagine just taking an hour and a half to write two pages a day and build onto an outline, you are creating so much more material than a page a day of drawing (if you can even draw that often). I’m not saying that writing WELL is EASIER than drawing; just that writing can produce more material in the long run. I’ve been trying to write way out ahead of myself, so I can have confidence that the ending with be worth it when I get there (when I’m an old man…). Lastly, and this is more a fringe benefit, writing teaches you respect for writers. It is a discipline, and one that takes more time than I’ve put into it to truly develop. You may not always agree with people who manage to get a writing gig on a comic or show you wish you could do, but that isn’t a valid critical response. Sit down and do what they do, and you may find yourself reaching for the same cliché’s and plot devices just because, folks, creativity is hard sometimes! Okay, I couldn’t resist giving one tip, here it is: Write with joy. You can have form, theme, dialogue, and whatever else in your script, but have not any joy; you limit your abilities to communicate the energy you have for your project through to the reader. Art ALWAYS has a loss in communication, no one will ever be able to experience your thoughts as purely as a first-person encounter. It is therefore the DUTY of an artist to put as much into the art as possible so that the audience can get the most out of the diminished signal. I’ve been sent sample scripts before, some were even about stuff I would ordinarily want to draw, but the writing was dry and joyless. I’m not working with those people now, nor will too many other people be likely to. Maybe I’ll do an article about contacting an artist next week… OH and don’t forget about the B:DC June Challenge Agree, disagree? Questions, comments? Love poems, hate lymerics? Want me to change the logo t o something with 99% more ME? Email: latino.kyle (at) gmail (dot) com. -Kyle Latino

THE RACE IS ON!
JUNE B:DC CHALLENGE

by: Kyle Latino

Well, first things first: sorry for the break in posts. There was some craziness and laziness (admittedly on my part), but now that things have settled it appears that I will be writing this spot solo for the foreseeable future. Lee has taken on other responsibilities in his life, and we all wish him the best, don’t we? So, yeah, stuck with just me. Ha!

Now, (full story here) June’s issue of the NEW YORKER has a rather interesting cover, it seems. Artist, Jorge Colombo, digi-painted that cover on a $4.99 app (Brushes) on his iPhone. The image is quite remarkable in many ways, not just in skill, but what it means for this digital age we are enjoying. Your average cover has a few thousand dollars worth of software behind it (photoshop, illustrator, etc.), yet this cover was done on a program that costs about as much as a big-beef borrito, cowboy cookie, and small coke at my local Roscoe’s Tacos. Even if you count the investment of the device, itself, you’re still only talking in the neighborhood of $200 – $300 (and sure a computer to sync it to, but you get my point).

As I am so inspired by this momentous event, I am starting a new convention of this feature. I’m calling it the B:DC CHALLENGE! Every month, it will be a new challenge concerning digital comic making (which I’m already worried about running out of). So, here is the low-down on this month’s challenge: DRAW A COMIC ON AN iPhone OR iPod Touch. You can use any drawing app you wish, but NO PHOTO COMICS! (Hey, that’s a good idea for July’s challenge.) You don’t have to letter on the iPhone, just draw/paint. Minimum of 8 panels, do more if you like. I’ll take stick figures, but I really urge you to stretch yourself. Try to make a comic that you would want read. Content is subject to censorship if chosen for display on this site. When you’re done, send me an email with the panels or links to latino.kyle AT gmail DOT com. Heck, any feedback on the feature, poems about the sadness over Lee’s departure, or hot scoops in field digital comics are more than welcome at the same address!

-Good luck, and good comics!

I had the wonderful opportunity to chat it up with iPhone/iPod developer Olivier Yiptong about his new app Comicstrips. It’s the best comic reader for the tech! Check out their site for the straight poop.

download original audio source

Let me start by saying that I was boycotting the new STAR TREK movie. The reasons are unimportant, because I have changed my mind. I read the STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN comic on my iPhone and was blown away by several aspects. The first thing that I noticed was the art and story are expert and engaging (pardon the Trekkie humor), but that’s evident with just a casual viewing.

What really blew me away was how sucked in I was to the comic itself. There were clearly many choice that were made in the adaptation of this comic to touch phones that took advantage of the devices: segmenting longer panels into multi-screen panels, cropping panels and letting the wordballoons outside the gutter allowing the art to breath, slight zoom in repeated panels to display all the captions from wordier panels.&n bsp; There was never a sense of claustrophobia with caption and balloons crushing the storytelling.

And lastly, I wouldn’t have bought a STAR TREK floppy comic– ever. I’ve always been selective of franchise entertainment branching out in other media. I won’t read STAR TREK books; I won’t watch any series beside the original, Next Gen, and DS9; and I won’t read the comics. Buying pages and pages of corpse-ish likenesses of compelling actors blundering through static media story-telling just doesn’t work for me. However, because I wasn’t buying a physical copy and the price of three issues at the iTunes Store was still cheaper than a single copy at my local Downtown Comics, I took the plunge. Gotta say, I’m really happy I did. See, the system works, digital comics got a person who wouldn’t buy the comic normally to give it a shot (not stealing business).

Without anymore jibba-jabba from me, some Q&A with, iVerse Media representative Michael Murphey.

So, tell us how iVerse became involved with the STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN project. Did IDW come to you, or what?

I think originally I made contact with IDW back when we first started putting iVerse together. One of the first titles I asked about was Star Trek, because I’m a life-long Trekkie. I just watched “Measure of a Man” before sitting down to do this interview. I love Star Trek, and hoped that we’d get a ch ance to bring IDW’s fantastic work on the franchise to mobile platforms. Luckily, it all worked out, and we were able to do it.

Was the comic adapted to the touch screen format in-house or by IDW?

iVerse did all the adaptations for the screen. I actually did the first 3 issues of Countdown myself. I handed the fourth issue off to another team member due to time constraints, but I wanted to do that one too. I love working on these books in any capacity…but thankfully we have a great team that works with iVerse on our adaptations, so I knew it would be in good hands.

You mentioned on your twitter that you are releasing STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN day and date with it’s print edition. Is that the first comic to do this on touch devices?

Star Trek: Countdown #3 was the first comic that I’m aware of to be released day and date on a mobile platform and in print.

Where do you perceive the purchase of iVerse copies coming from? Is it just from comic fans, curious iTunes Store shoppers? What is the target demographic, would you say?

I think people of all walks of life will purchase comics on mobile devices. In the case of Star Trek or Farscape from BOOM! you have the fans of those franchises that might not venture to the comic book store. I think we have a good chance of grabbing casual and new readers too by giving them a chance to try something new. Proof and Atomic Robo are two titles that sell incredibly well — and quite consistently — because that first issue is out there for people to try. Books like Dynamo 5 and The Red Star — all of our free books are there to grab new readers, and it’s working.

I would say that the true demographic for a digital comics reader is just anyone who owns one of the devices, and is looking for a good story. There’s something for everyone.

How about the iVerse agenda? Are you crusading to change minds and finally turn comics digital, do you see iVerse as a supplementary market with a little overlap, or do you see different and new opportunities for story-telling for the future? Where does STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN fit into that?

The iVerse Agenda is to find new readers. If you’re a hardcore old school comics fan and you want your paper comics in your hand every Wed that’s fine with us. We don’t want paper comics to ever go away – and I don’t think they will. I think a lot more single issues will find their way to digital distribution, and at some point in the future trades will be the norm, at least for smaller titles when it comes to print. We’re already starting to see that movement.

The next generation of reader is going to come from reading on screens. They’re not going to have a problem with getting comics this way, and that’s why the Digital Age of Comics starts now. Digital is a great supplemental income stream for creators right now, and at some point in the near future it will be a viable primary income source. It will provide new and unique storytelling opportunities that you can’t get on paper, and it makes world wide exposure easier than ever. So there is some amazing opportunity here, but the main thing we’re trying to do here is find those new readers.

There has been talk for the last several years about where that next generation of reader is going to come from – and I firmly believe this is it.

Can you tease us with any other titles down the pipe?

Hmm….well, we’ve got a lot more Trek coming down the pipe, we’ll be releasing the Bluewater “Female Forces” books on as many platforms as we can soon, more from all our publishing partners, and some comics created specifically for the iPhone by several creators that I think people are really going to dig. Plus, with the iPhone 3.0 update looming we’ve got some fun and interesting enhancements to the iVerse reading experience we think people are going to be really excited about….so there’s a lot coming up in 2009.

Any other comments or plugs? Questions you wished I would have asked?

Just that we’d love it if people stopped by http://www.iversecomics.com and said hello. We’ve got tons of great comics coming out for all kinds of mobile devices…and I can’t wait to be able to show you some of the stuff that I can show you yet. It’s going to be an exciting year.

Thank you very much for typing at us. The work you fellahs are doing is really good stuff.

–And of course we are open to your questions/comments/suggestions – you can email us at brainstormingcomics(at)gmail.com or contact us at http://www.brainstormingcomics.com

Video: Print Vs. Web Vs. A Bear, Panel

Lee attended the first ever New England Webcomics Weekend last week in Easthampton, Mass. This is the first of several webcomics panels Lee recorded that weekend. Please excuse our amateur camera work and lack of any decent sound quality, this is indeed the first video I have ever produced. And I just noticed I missed an ‘r’ in Gary’s last name. Oh, well, I’ll catch it next time.

In the video:
Gary Tyrrell
Jon Rosenberg
Steven Cloud
Chris Hastings

NEWW Panel: Print Vs. Web Vs. A Bear from Lee Cherolis on Vimeo.

For more info on the New England Webcomics Weekend go here.

And of course Kyle and I are open to your questions/comments/suggestions – you can email us at brainstormingcomics(at)gmail.com or contact us at http://www.brainstormingcomics.com

Brainstorming: Digital Comics Link Friday

Kyle’s Pick: White Ninja

Some comics use all the tools available to the modern comic creator, slap on some slick colors, agonize over every line and word and still can’t accomplish what Earle and Scott Bevan can do on a bad day with White Ninja. I’ve been following the comic for years now, the longest I’ve followed any comic on the internet, and I’ve never been disappointed. With an unassuming art style, and unconventional punchlines how could it disappoint?

&l t;a href=”http://www.whiteninjacomics.com/comics/crieswolf.shtml”>

They faithfully update with new comics four days a week, and with years of back-stock, you can never see enough. There is no continuity, sense of time or purpose. It just is. Nab them onto you hard drive and make a screensaver with them, you’ll never go a day without laughing again. And hey, if you don’t like it, it’s not because you don’t get it, it’s because you get it.

Lee’s Pick: Kukuburi

Of course, we’re not suggesting that slick colors, deft lines and a polished script are at all overdone. One of my favorites in this category is the webcomic Kukuburi, which is the work of Ramón Pérez of Butternut Squash fame. Kukuburi is a visual carnival, it basically defines the word fantasy. Ramón is a master of composition and produces a beautiful, whimsical world I just can’t get enough of. I’ve been a fan of Ramón’s work since the early days of the Squash and was hooked instantly when he posted the first 4 or 5 pages of Kuku in late ’07. Now on hiatus=2 0due to the need to have a roof and a paycheck, this weekly comic looks set to return in May according to the site’s blog. Which is awesome because I need my Kuku fix.

So while I await the return of Kukuburi I’m reading the comic adaptation of the videogame Resistance put out by Wildstorm and featuring, yes, artwork from Kukuburi creator Ramón Pérez. I’m also enjoying Ramón’s blog; She’s My Kind of Girl (very NSFW) which is a shameless celebration of the female form in quick pinups and illustrations from Ramón and his artist buddies. See more of Ramón’s work here.

Free Gold
by: Kyle Latino

The term “digital comics” has become almost synonymous with webcomics, or iPhones comics, or Kindle comics. It’s the banner under which the digital age revolutioneers rally and march to the future. Digital distribution of current monthly floppy copies is a primary concern as well. Any other application of digital comics, and one must be talking about illegal copies, right? Golden Age Comics has a thing or two to say about that.

“Welcome to Golden Age Comics. The #1 site for downloading FREE copyright free golden age comics. All files here available for download have carefully been research by our users and staff to make sure they are in the public domain. To start downloading free comic books now you will need to register an account on our forums and then verify it by visiting link in the email we send you.”

That’s what the disclaimer says right under the title bar. There are decades worth of comics that are yours by virtue of copyright laws. That’s right, copyright laws have finally worked out for us, virtual stacks of excellent comic magazine entertainment, just waiting for you to click on. At Golden Age Comics, it’s free comic day everyday. Check out the original appearances of the characters from Dynamite’s Project Superpowers or ABC’s Terra Obscura. Matt Fraction even brought back Amazing Man in Iron Fist. If you are overwhelmed by the choices, you can find a little help with your selections at Don Markstein’s Toonapedia or Jess Nevins’ Golden Age Heroes Directory. A few of my favorite characters I’ve found are Bozo the Iron Man, Amazing Man, and Doc Strange.

Have you wanted to write a story about a character that isn’t just fan fiction? Anything you write or draw with most of the characters on Golden Age Comics is just as legitimate as what Krueger and Ross are up to at Dynamite. These stories and characters are ripe for the picking, so fill up a basket and make us some pies. In fact, we’ll make a promise that if you start a webcomic site using some of these characters and properly credit the original creators as best you can, we’ll run a blurb on it right here. Send your links to brainstormingcomics@gmail.com.

A Monstrous App

Monday, Feb 23rd: Daniel M. Davis launched what appears to be the first comic-viewing iPhone app created specifically for webcomics. Daniel and his definitely human programmer buddy Ross Cooper share their apps with the world here. Daniel’s version of the app is completely FREE and allows you to receive instant updates and view the latest dozen strips of his comic Monster Commute on your iPhone. Another version of the app, Kapow v1.0, gives you access to an ever-growing library of comics via their RSS feeds. When we downloaded KAPOW v1.0, it was a little buggy. It locked up several times, and we had to restart the iPhone (the smaller Monster Commute app did not have the same problem). However, the potential for KAPOW as a method of exposure and ease of viewing is great. With promises of software updates and additions to the comic selection, we are looking excitedly at KAPOW’s future.

Daniel M. Davis, admittedly raised by yetis in the great Pacific Northwest (all that mist and that up there), has now been living and working in Phoenix, Arizona for a number of years, which is exactly 5 years, illustrating several projects through his company, Steam Crow. Monster Commute is Daniel’s second venture into webcomics and is inspired by the formidable highways of Phoenix on his commute to work. Daniel has just started Chapter Two of the comic and plans to move from gag-a-day format to a longer, story-driven form. This comic drips with style. Daniel’s retro vectors and practiced eye for design paint a deeply textured world of monsters perpetually stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on their way to work. And it’s hilarious.

On the subject of preparing his comic for the iPhone, Mr. Davis commented, “I wanted a free way to make my work more ‘discoverable’. I’m always looking for ways to turn my work onto new folks, and the iPhone seemed like a perfect fit. If you notice, my strip is almost perfectly built for a landscape iPhone. This wasn’t accidental, as I wanted my strip to really work well on screens of all sorts.” When asked how it felt seeing the app hit iTunes and his comic being downloaded, he decried “It’s nearly as great as riding a red sasquatch into battle against the centaur hordes. But it smells much, much nicer. I’m just thrilled that we aren’t stuck in a world where we have to make 19 versions of everything to fit the end device. One of the iPhone’s revolutions, I believe, is that it scales TO the CONTENT. That’s a +7 ability if I’ve ever seen one, and I hope that other devices follow.”

Download the app, and check out Monster Commute , you’ll be glad you did.

Daniel M. Davis will be exhibiting at: WonderCon, Emerald City Comicon, San Diego Comicon, and the Alternative Press Expo under the name “Steam Crow Press”. You can also buy Steam Crow’s books here.

Thanks for reading this installment of BRAINSTORMING: Digital Comics. You can email Kyle and myself at brainstormingcomics@gmail.com with questions or comments.

A New Experience

Comics XP is a new website that wants to be the premiere distribution hub for comics online. It’s clear from their site that not only will they work to bring as many comic titles as possible to the web but as many people as possible to read them. The site boasts a weekly Ezine, free to subscribers that will be filled with industry news and articles about the titles in their ever-growing library. What else do we know about Comics XP?

We know the site is a bit bare and their software isn’t in beta yet. We know this because instead of launching full bore with guns a blazin’, Comics XP has chosen to make the launching process public and transparent with their status updates accessible through their forum. It’s certainly an unconventional approach, especially in these fast-paced, strike while the iron is hot, times where if word of your “next big thing” gets out you run the risk that someone else with the know how and a faster crew can beat you to the punch.

So which punch is Comics XP throwing? The concept of eComics isn’t a new one; Marvel has been distributing its comics online for a fee since Nov 2007. Independent publishers have been releasing .PDF downloads for years. DC’s got Zuda and iVerse has comics on the iPhone and now the Google Android. It’s hard to know without more information and something better than a thumbnail image to figure out what Comics XP wants to do with their comic reader software.

Here’s what I hope Comics XP (or any of the other hopefuls on the digital comics frontier) will be able to give me :

· A universal file format or one that can be converted easily with their software or website (.cbr, .cbz, etc…)
· A catalog that includes my favorite titles from mainstream companies
· A submission policy just as open to independent and unknown publishers
· Unlimited re-downloads (incase my hard drive fails and I lose my downloads)
· A decent free preview system
· A free monkey with every eComic purchase

Except for the last one, Comics XP addresses a good part of my wish-list. They certainly look like a very promising distribution option, especially for creator-owned independent titles. We don’t expect to see anything from either Marvel or DC up on there catalog anytime soon, if ever. Both companies are too large to be submit themselves to splitting profits with a third party developer. However, if this proves a successful model, it wouldn’t be a surprising move for the both of them to develop similar services. Once more content is released on the site we’ll do a follow up and get a better picture of where Comics XP fits into the digital comics universe.

Here’s one last thing, a wishful fantasy; picture one website with the same selection as your local brick and mortar store, with never a title out of stock. Likely it wouldn’t have EVERY title. It would b e more like Hulu.com fused with an iTunes-like library browser but for comics with a decent amount of big names as well as small, new and old.

And all of it free.

That’s what I want. No matter how unrealistic it seems. Eventually, someone is going to get close enough.
Thanks for reading this installment of BRAINSTORMING: Digital Comics. You can email Kyle and myself at brainstormingcomics@gmail.com with questions or comments.

Adventure Serials As Web Comics

It’s no secret that the web comic world and the print comic world are vastly different, and there is nothing at all wrong with that. Though the visual language is the same, the optimal format and distribution is not. The same things that bring people to a comic store every week/month are not always going to be what causes someone to search for comics on the internet. With the immediacy of distribution on the web, it makes much more sense to go with strip formatting at a hirer frequency of publishing. Like most strips in the newspaper, the majority of web comics are gag strips, likely because it is easier and more effective to tell a joke in 4 to 8 panel intervals than it is to tell an on-going story. These factors, among others, have many believing that the adventure serial is a hopeless sell to the internet crowd.

(more…)

Mr. Sequential Presents: Motion Comics Comics?

Fanflow: Awesome at a Premium

Have you ever collected box tops or proofs of purchase? Have you ever known the thrill of deciphering a secret code that only your new club decoder ring will show you? No? Well get ready, because webcomics are about to bring it back for a new generation.

We’re talking about fan clubs.

Specifically we’re talking about Fanflow brought to you by the good people at assetbar.com. Assetbar is an innovative group of tech developers specializing in flexible and customizable web tools that help you manage your content and connect with your audience. In their words: “Fanflow helps artists afford to create new content that otherwise wouldn’t exist. If you have fans who crave more from you, then premium content Fanflows may be a great addition to your free work.”

This is especially attractive to webcomic creators who, almost by definition, are the exact people Fanflow was designed for.

Comic creators Chris Onstad and Scott Kurtz have signed on and are offering their readers additional content using the Fanflow service, with many more comic creators sure to follow. The main comic strip is still free but now with a small payment you can access premium content and “members only” features. Most of this content creators are already producing and releasing erratically through multiple, unconnected channels. With Fanflow, all the content is brought together and made accessible only to subscribers. Content offered can include: community moderated comment and message boards, streaming video while the artist works, members-only messages from the characters and authors, exclusive wallpapers downloads, podcasts, photos, in-progress previews, even music. But really, there’s no limit to what creators can give their Fanflow members.

Of course, premium content memberships already exist; Sluggy Freelance fans will be familiar with Pete Abram‘s Defenders of the Nifty community. And getting special downloads as incentives for donations is also pretty common. Fanflow updates the process and makes it easier for users no matter what size audience you start with. Of course, the quality of the club depends mostly on the comic creator’s diligence in continuously updating their members with more and more content. So if you’re just barely able to keep your comic’s update schedule as it is, Fanflow may not be for you. Still, it’s good to see new tools being released that work so easily with the webcomics model. Keep an eye on Assetbar.com for more.

Comics we’ve found using Fanflow:Achewood, Octopuspie, PVP, Starslip. ( By the time this posts we’re sure there will be more.)

Greetings, all; Troy here.  Please extend a warm welcome to Lee Cherolis and Kyle Latino; they’re comic creators from Indiana, and two of the many contributors at the Indy Webcomics Group.  This marks their initial installment, but expect to see the fellas popping up on a regular basis.  First, please allow them to introduce themselves . . .

Lee Cherolis is a Cartoonist and Graphic Designer living and working in Indianapolis, Indiana. He founded and maintains a local artist blog and promotional group, at http://www.indywebcomics.com. He’s had short stories published in comics anthologies as well as his comic strips appearing in local news-weekly magazines in Indianapolis. You can reach Lee at lcherolis@gmail.com.

Kyle Latino: Used bookseller by trade, sequential artist by vocation.  Aspires to become a professional penciler, though he is fully aware that it is far more likely to be struck by lightning.  First started reading comics right after the first X-Men movie, has only gotten snobbier since then.  Can be reached at latino.kyle@gmail.com.

And now, Brainstorming: Digital Comics . . .

iVerse, you verse.

In November of last year, iVerse Media released their first round of comics on the App store for the iPhone (whenever I say iPhone, we also mean iPod Touch). Since then, there has been a steady stream of new titles and releases. Readership of these comics, many available for free, soared over 100,000 in just two months. iPhone sales exploded this holiday season, and each customer, new and old, is scrambling to see what this little machine can do. The opportunity to pave a new market for digital comics has never been greater. Some have said that all it will take is an iTunes for comics before digital comics will take off, well now comics are on iTunes.

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