Whoo - long time no update!

[alicebentley]

School
School has been, um, challenging. I budget what I think will be plenty of time for a task, be it writing a paper or absorbing some of the massive amounts of reading, and find that 1) I have no practice or skill at writing and I'm really not that good at it and 2) it is not sufficient to just read the material. Yes, it all makes sense while I'm reading, but when I've finished I don't retain enough particular details to be able to reference points and call out pages. So now I'm reading with highlighter, pencil and Post Its in hand, and I'm getting the job done, but it's taking waaaay longer than I planned for.

House
Between school, commuting to Seattle to work at Studio Foglio, various trips and most recently helping someone move - the house is a wreck. This week is less scheduled than the past month has been, so I expect to be able to make some real progress on that front. But one thing becomes more clear with every shift of stacks: we have far too many books and comics. No, really! And they aren't even ones I want to read again!

Time to take action, and since I can't bear to just landfill or freecycle them I'm starting up a little mini-bookstore to sell them off. I'm getting a Dealer Table at RustyCon and (I hope) Norwescon. I'm going to compile a catalog and take mail orders. And I'm going to start posting lists here on my LJ. You have been warned.

Webcomics
Sheldon is running a poll for Best Caption. This is part of a contest he's running where he solicited entries from the readership, and now we're into the finals. Way worth scrolling down below today's comic (also good).

Every comic I read on comicgenesis has been refusing to completely load for weeks, yet there's not even a mention of it at my usual hangouts (Fleen, Websnark, ...). I can't really say I need new webcomics to read (there's a lot already) but I think I may need more hangouts. Any suggestions?

LiveJournal
LJ is going to be doing one of their rare (about once a year) offerings of permanent accounts on Thursday [Edit] 12/04 [was 11/20 but they changed it]. For $175.00 you don't have to fuss about renewal dates ever again, and you get about a million userpics (well, a lot anyway). Sure, I was making the bet that LJ will still be around in six years, and that I'd still be using it, but it doesn't seem to be that big a gamble. And I do get a lot of use out of the thing, even when I don't post myself that often.

The Future
More frequent updates promised! At least for this week, before the schedule crowds up again....

Comments

[looniewolf.livejournal.com]

http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/ - The Phoenix Requiem is an absolutely superbly drawn horror comic (with old-style horror rather than chainsaw massacres) that has a leisurely pace (okay, it's downright glacial at times) but still quite good.

http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/index2.php - Gunnerkrigg Court is an absolutely superb urban fantasy with an interesting worldview and setting. The early artwork is perhaps rough, but it improves significantly over time.

http://www.heartshapedskull.com/ - Heart Shaped Skull is a fascinating and surreal comic. It starts in the middle of an ongoing story, but the recap section does a good job of filling in the holes, and the first couple of chapters are available for free along with the current "book."

http://planetkaren.girl-wonder.org/ - I've talked about Planet Karen before on Tangents, but I can't stress enough how good this comic is. Unfortunately, Karen has fallen into that trap of increased artistic complexity that has cut into production time, but she's currently working on finding a way to remain challenged while productive at the same time. And the glimpses into her life are most enjoyable and uplifting, even when she talks about dark moments in her life.

http://www.themuseacademy.com/ - Muse Academy is another contemporary fantasy that is delightful to read, and is the story of a human girl who is accepted into an academy for immortal muses. I'd say more but I'd have to write a full-length review to even start getting into it. ^^;;

http://ourtimeineden.smackjeeves.com/ - Our Time in Eden is a darker tale of two people who grew up together and then fell away from each other when the girl's parents moved (against her wishes). The story is told through flashbacks into their past, and is depressing in places but still well-told.

http://www.garanos.com/ - Garanos is a fascinating mixture of fantasy and horror, with a tight and well-written storyline and artwork that starts decent and gets quite good the further it goes. Its pace also is fairly slow in places, but this is because it's written as a graphic novel more than a traditional webcomic. (Sort of like Girl Genius there!)

http://www.giantitp.com/Comics.html - Order of the Stick is always worth reading, with a fun mixture of storyline and humor strips. And not many comics can get away with being a well-drawn stick-figure comic!

http://xkcd.com/ - Speaking of stick-figure comics... xkcd is one of those strips that just seems to grow on you. Of course, I'm into the sciences and math and all that, so maybe that's part of the reason why I like it. But the cartoonist even did a parody of the Discovery Channel commercial (and ended up having people sing his lyrics and set up an AMV of the various strips... or acting out the various parts in one case). ^^

http://sodiumeyes.com/ - Sodium Eyes is a manga that marginally is about computer games and gaming chicks. It's slowly starting to build a story and the like but... I'm just tossing it out there as something new for you. Not everything can be grandslams, after all! ^^;;

http://mqc-comic.blogspot.com/ - Mary Quite Contrary is a semi-autobiographical comic about the cartoonist's "tween" years, her homeschooling, and more. The big problem is that it's using blog software so it's read from the bottom-up. But it's a fun comic and a refreshing glimpse into childhood.

http://www.urbanfey.net/index.htm - Urban Fey is an urban fantasy with a rather unique premise: faeries taking on "urban duties" and existing in a city environment, and attempts by several Fey to create a "Court" for the urban fey and stop a war between factions that was instigated by the Traditional Fey.

http://www.footloosecomic.com/ - Footloose is one of my favorites. It's another contemporary fantasy, taking place in a dojo set in the realm of Faerie, where our heroine learns the martial art of Kung Shoe. Hey, with a martial art centered on shoes as weapons, it HAS to be fun! And it is. ^^

And last but not least...
http://www.drunkduck.com/Life_and_Death/ - Life and Death is a combination of silly puns set to comics, humor strips, and even some rather interesting storylines about Steve Zrael, the Grim Reaper, and his buddy Bobby (who is the embodiment of Life).

Rob H.

[alicebentley]

Well, you missed the part about "can't really say I need new webcomics to read" but there are two on your list that I am not already reading, so I'll go check those out.

What I was asking for was a convivial hang-out spot where people talk about webcomics. Like Fleen is usually good for this, but it's more of a personal journal and less of a conversation, so I feel uncomfortable posting about something negative like the problems at comicgenesis. And yet I'd really like to hear more about what's going on with them.

[looniewolf.livejournal.com]

Heh. I'd noticed that after I'd written up the list and posted it. ^^;;

There are occasional discussions over at the Planet Karen forum, but nothing regular. Let's see... *ponders* Did you try the ComixTalk website (used to be Comixpedia)? Their forums usually have creators chatting about inane things, you might be able to find something more intelligent going or stumble across one of the gems in their forums. - http://comixtalk.com/

http://psychedelictreehouse.freeforums.org/this-forum-f16.html - It looks like this one is in its infancy, but is struggling to attract people for discussion of webcomic topics.

http://www.tomgeeks.com/phpBB/index.php - The Tomgeeks forums may also have some good discussions about webcomic issues. (Addendum note: there are several links in the Tomgeeks site that will probably be of use in finding hang-out places for comic discussion.)

hmm. I really need to look into the newest forum software and restore the P2P forums. Yeah, there were spammer problems... but it still had some rather interesting discussions going on in there.

Hope this helps!

Rob H.

[isherempress.livejournal.com]

You're alive! Yay! Not surprised that class is hard, it was hell for me too. Eventually it becomes a grind and a race to the end, where you hope to still have some affinity or spark of interest in the topic before exhaustion robs you of all care. Take advantage of every remedial writing course they offer, ditto for library research -- don't fool yourself into thinking that you know how to do good effective research. It's okay to ask for help. It's not okay to give up w/o asking! Call me. I'm always available for you.