Hey, folks. If any of you have stumbled upon this blog after seeing it in my bio in the Conjecture book, welcome! That being said, I'm afraid it's not really in use anymore; the best place to look me up is over on Vox Unpopuli.

Sorry for the confusion; I was lazy and didn't fill out my bio because I was under the impression they would just write in something like "Patrick is a scruffy-looking nerfherder." Instead they did some research and put together some actual information on me, for which I am, in hindsight, quite grateful.

Guilded Age

Oh hey, y'all. Been a while since I busted out my comics blog, but there is a thing that has been preying on my mind. Specifically, Guilded Age.

Now, GA has been something of an enigma all along, because it has seemed at times like different chapters were advancing out of order. Which is to say, each chapter was advancing in order, but we would get pages from different chapters. Which was odd, but I was okay with it, because it seemed like an interesting narrative device.

Then, recently, it was announced that the artist was departing the project. I cringed greatly, because this has been the death of some good comics in the past, especially game-oriented comics (Cheshire Grin is an excellent example). On the other hand, how many artists has Least I Could Do been through? So it's not inherently bad.

The thing is, and this is kind of surprising in its way, the story has changed hugely since the new artist took over. I say "kind of surprising" because you'd think the story would be the most consistent part. But anyway.

First of all, it would seem that all of the characters have died. All except the jerk who wandered off early and seemed to only exist as the comical reason the good guys didn't get the fabled weapon of prophecy for their quest. And now said jerk is the focus of the story that's taking place in the fantasy world. This is never good.

Except--and this is key--the other storyline currently progressing seems to be revealing that the fantasy world is an MMO, and the characters we've been hanging out with all along are actually the characters of people playing the MMO in some sort of full-immersion living-in-a-tank fashion.

And man, I just don't know. On the one hand, this explains some of the anachronistic insanity that's been pouring out of some of the characters' mouths. On the other hand, I always took that as comic relief. But basically what it comes down to is this: Is Chapter Nine really where you want to introduce a massive conceptual change? I mean, this changes everything, no? Eight chapters in, I don't know how comfortable I am with that.

Now, I'm not saying "it doesn't work." I'm fascinated by any device that actually works better after killing off 90% of the established heroes. And I respect that it is one ballsy sort of move. But man, I just don't know.

PSA: RSS

This is a public service announcement: Check your RSS feeds!

I've assembled the complete list from my RSS feeds and del.icio.us bookmarks, and it's well over 100. Granted some of those are old comics that are long gone, but it turns out that quite a few stopped updating without my noticing, and some others are updating just fine except I'm not seeing them in the reader.

The latter category includes the usual suspects, Devil's Panties, Bad Gods, and PartiallyClips, and in all cases I'm just going to give up on RSS for them. But I also found Slackerz and What the Duck, and some surprises as well. For instance, I didn't realize Alien Loves Predator was regularly updating again, nor did I know that theWAREHOUSE had moved. (I'm especially confused on that last one; how did I miss that?)

Meanwhile, I found to my dismay that Brinkerhoff is just flat out gone, domain and all, no archives to bed found. Daisy Owl, Brightly Wound, goodbye, foom, My Life in a Cube, The Flowfield Unity, and WE THE ROBOTS haven't updated in periods ranging from weeks to months. Planet Karen and Bear and Kitten are both more than a year since last post, although neither of those is a surprise. And when the hell did Tasty Flesh go on hiatus?

So, yes. Check your RSS feeds. Sometimes it's bad news, a la Daisy Owl, but sometimes you'll have months worth of theWAREHOUSE to catch up on, and that's never a bad thing.

Also, if anyone has information on any of the no-longer-updating comics I've noted, please let me know.

Mr. Rosenberg

Once upon a time, Goats (by Jon Rosenberg) was an innocent gag-a-day strip about some drunks and a few weird talking animals. I'm one of those people who really misses those days. Goats was always counted among my favorite strips, and it never failed to amuse me. (Well, okay, I hated the Twix Shazam storylines, but I think everyone did.) It fired up clear back in '97, and while I don't claim to have read it from the get-go, I came in pretty early, and I was an avid reader until The Great Change.

In April of '05, Mr. Rosenberg decided he was tired of "the same old bar gags," which is hardly unreasonable. What he did was take the same cast of characters he already had, albeit with some pretty dramatic changes to some of them, and launch a multiverse-spanning adventure about the nature of reality etc etc. I tried very hard to keep reading until ... I'd say June of '06, since that's when I pompously declared on my LiveJournal, "Mr. Rosenberg ... it's your strip, you do what you want with it. But I think you made a mistake."

Despite addressing him by name, it never occurred to me that he would see it, let alone respond, so it kind of blew me away when he commented, "Hey, that's cool. I knew the changes weren't going to be to everyone's liking, and I knew we would lose some long-time folks. Thanks for giving me the chance that you did." I can't link because that journal is long since gone; I'm quoting from my personal email so you'll just have to take my word for it. The point is, it was a very classy response and a damn sight more polite than I would have been in his place.

On a side note, he also told me I might like Team Force Alpha, which was due to launch shortly thereafter. To the best of my knowledge TFA never happened, although the teaser website remains intact.

So I parted ways with the strip for a few years--during which I'm pretty sure I re-read the original seven year run at least twice, sighing longingly the whole time--but eventually I got over it, and was able to pick it back up starting at the beginning of the Infinite Typewriters storyline. (I think technically the new continuity started before that, but that's where you can really tell the difference.) By treating it as a new comic, I found myself enjoying it, and kept up via RSS until a few months ago.

In May, Mr. Rosenberg announced that business was no longer booming, and he cited the transition of the comic as the primary factor. (Well, plus the current economy, which certainly played a part.) Now before anybody goes off half-cocked, I am very much not saying "I told you so" here. Not only did I eventually begin reading and enjoying the new comic, but the final Webcomics Corner told people to go, read the strip, buy merchandise, read more, and then buy more. I hope that's a sufficient show of support to display my sincerity here.

That being said, I do think there are some important lessons here. Webcomics are still very, very new, and we're still sorting out what can and can't be done. To me, it seems like the transition itself was the problem. My analysis is not much different from Mr. Rosenberg's, but I like to talk, so let's spell it out.

I think there is room in the world for a transition of this nature for the cast of a comic, but not for the comic itself. In other words, I think the key issue here is that the comic continued on, presenting itself to the casual observer as one extremely long narrative. It is not. Wandering over there right now, you'd think you'd need to read all 13 years of backstory, which is about as absurd as trying to start from scratch on Sluggy Freelance (and don't even get me started on that bit of sisyphean madness). However, the first seven years or so serve the modern narrative only to establish the characters, and most of that gets thrown out anyway. A cast page would be both more efficient and more accurate.

Basically, I feel like the majority of the problems here would be alleviated by separating the two comics. Because really, they are two comics. If this were something about to happen, I'd say that Old Goats should stay where it is, and New Goats should launch at a new domain. Make a big announcement about the change, build up enthusiasm for the new comic, and create a divide so that we're not evaluating the horrible things happening to our beloved characters in quite the same way.

In fact, there's no reason this can't be done now, to make what's left of the current story a little easier to get in to--move Old Goats to another domain, or even just a subsection of the current site, and most critically, separate the archives. Also, make the "new readers start here" link go to a cast page or something similar. Then, for the remaining two years Mr. Rosenberg projected, new readers will be significantly less intimidated. Plus, people who stumble across (or are linked to) Old Goats can enjoy them as a separate thing, and when they get to the end and find out it's all over, New Goats is not some alteration from the thing they loved, but rather a new project by the same creator, which has a much different feeling.

This would also function very well in combination with Mr. Rosenberg's new project, Scenes from A Multiverse, which seems to be vaguely related conceptually. If New Goats were more accessible, people might well get in to either from the other.

At any rate, I feel like I've gotten way off target by now, so let me wrap up by addressing Mr. Rosenberg, on the theory that he still follows referral links.

Mr. Rosenberg, contrary to what I said all those years ago, I do not think you made a mistake. You took a risk, and while it didn't pay off the way you'd hoped, I still think it was worth taking. And while it's easy to look back and come up with ideas after the fact, I certainly didn't have any useful suggestions back when I was whining about it. So on behalf of the webcomics community (not that I have any authority whatsoever so speak on behalf of the webcomics community but what the hell), thanks. Because as the industry moves forward, it's going to learn from this sort of thing, and that's pretty crucial.

Although I realize being thanked for serving as an example is probably not what you're after. Sorry about that.

In conclusion, everyone who is not Jon Rosenberg, please go forth immediately and read Scenes from A Multiverse. Not only is it funny and well drawn as one would expect, it's based around a new model of audience interactivity. You should check it out.

triumphant return

So I've been sojourning in the realm of print media for a while, publishing a weekly column called Webcomics Corner in SUNY Potsdam's school paper The Racquette, but I've decided it's time to move on. It's problematic finding new comics during the school year, since I don't have any time to read them, and I'm pondering other columns since, as a student, it's in my best interest to explore blah blah you don't care. Long story short, and as for what this means to you, I'll almost certainly continue to have things to say about comics--in fact, I've got several I've just added to my reading list over the past week that I want to tell you all about--so I'll once again be posting here. I'm sure you're as excited about this as I am¡

At any rate, just for the sake of posterity, here is a list of the columns that were published:

• 5/14/10 - Penny Arcade, Goats
• 5/7/10 - Adult-oriented: Too Much Information, Oglaf
• 4/30/10 - channelATE
• 4/23/10 - Bug
• 4/16/10 - Chris Baldwin: Bruno, Little Dee, Spacetrawler
• 3/26/10 - Correction, Art Captions, Ubersoft
• 3/19/10 - Surviving the World
• 2/26/10 - Tree Lobsters
• 2/19/10 - Bad Gods/Brunching Shuttlecocks
• 2/12/10 - Infrequent Updates: Dresden Codak, Copper, Don't Forget to Validate Your Parking
• 2/5/10 - A Girl and Her Fed
• 12/4/09 - Stick Figures: xkcd, Abstruse Goose, The Doghouse Diaries
• 11/20/09 - Achewood
• 11/13/09 - Newspaper Format: Brinkerhoff, Sinfest, Little Dee
• 10/30/09 - Order of the Stick
• 10/23/09 - Character Driven: PvP, Something Positive, Questionable Content
• 10/2/09 - Ask Dr. Eldritch
• 9/25/09 - DM of the Rings, Darths & Droids
• 9/18/09 - The Adventures of Dr. McNinja
• 9/11/09 - Digger
• 5/8/09 - Irregular Webcomic!
• 5/1/09 - Unshelved
• 4/24/09 - Basic Instructions

Complete O&M

Dana Simpson just released The Complete Ozy and Millie in a two book set! This is fantastic news for those of us who adored the series, which is to say "all sane human beings". My only dilemma is this - do I get the paperback, which satisfies my much-worn sense of frugality, or the hardcover, which satisfies my fanboy jubilation? (Not that it's much of a dilemma, the answer is obvious.)

Webcomics Corner 5/8/09

Webcomics Corner is a column that publishes weekly in The Racquette, SUNY Potsdam's school paper. Unfortunately it does not go live on their website, so I am archiving it here.

Well, folks, it's the last Webcomics Corner of the semester. We've had so little time together, but I know I've enjoyed it, and I'll be back in the fall with more suggestions for you. Since we're going to be apart for a while, I thought maybe you'd like something to read over the summer. So this week, we're going to talk about "Irregular Webcomic!" by Dr. David Morgan-Mar.

"Irregular Webcomic!" is considered part of a much smaller subset of webcomics known as a "photo comic". The name is very much self-explanatory. Dr. Morgan-Mar cannot draw, but decided not to let that stop him, and as a result the strip is painstakingly created with Legos, miniatures and a camera.

There are over 15 separate story lines in the comic, most of them based off parodies of such franchises as Indiana Jones, James Bond, Harry Potter, Star Wars and so forth. Many of the settings are technically the in-character aspect of role-playing games, leaving the door wide open for the occasional meta-humor featuring the omnipotent Game Master character, played by Dr. Morgan-Mar himself. Crossovers are frequent - as the website points out, there are 120 possible combinations, 51 of which have been done so far.

Dr. Morgan-Mar himself is an intriguing figure, with a physics-related Ph.D. from the University of Sydney. (I say "physics-related" because the actual explanation is so far over my head I can barely make it out with a telescope.) He has taught physics and astronomy at a college level, developed several programming languages just as a joke, written multiple books, and is adamant that "Irregular Webomic!" is just for fun.

This last is especially noteworthy. The list of webcomics that has run over 2,000 strips is short. The list of those that ran those strips daily, without missing an update for over ten years, borders on the non-existent. To the best of my knowledge, the number of strips on that list who have not in any way attempted to monetize their site is one: "Irregular Webcomic!" Don't mistake me as implying any sort of shame in trying to make money from your comic, because that's how most comic artists eat. It's part of the business. So it's intriguing, to say the least, that Dr. Morgan-Mar is so set on keeping his hobby just a hobby.

I don't have room to say all the good things I want to, and there's more than enough in the archives to keep you busy all summer anyway. Don't be afraid to start from the beginning. You can find it all at http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/

Oh, and be sure to enjoy the hobbit puns.

Webcomics Corner 5/1/09

Webcomics Corner is a column that publishes weekly in The Racquette, SUNY Potsdam's school paper. Unfortunately it does not go live on their website, so I am archiving it here.

Welcome back to Webcomics Corner, folks - this week we're going to talk about a fairly popular strip called "Unshelved". Best known as being a comic by librarians and about librarians, the strip takes place in the public library of a small town known as Mallville, and features a small cast of regular and easily recognizable characters.

Though the archives go back to February 2002, and the story since that time is more-or-less coherent, the content of the strip tends to be light enough that one can jump in at any time. Readers who like a little background on their characters can check out the Unshelved Primer, which will fill you in on Mallville's goings-on over the past seven years; or the truly obsessive readers can dive right in.

"Unshelved" is known not just for being a great strip, but also for the community outreach to which the authors seem quite devoted. Even the name of the strip was selected by a reader vote after the original ("Overdue") had to be changed over a copyright issue. For the past several years they have also run a contest known as 'Pimp My Bookcart', prompting libraries throughout the country to trick out their existing book carts in a variety of interesting ways - the winning entries are, of course, viewable on the website.

Another popular feature of the strip is the Sunday Book Club entries. Each week a new book is reviewed in an excellent full-color format, often provided by guest artists, featuring their own cast of characters. The "Unshelved" authors welcome submissions from authors in need of publicity, including small print and self-published books, giving much-needed exposure to other members of the webcomics community.

It is also worth noting that the print compilations are high quality, and make excellent gifts for the librarians in your life - though as I discovered with my girlfriend's mother last Christmas, most of them already read the strip.

Check it out at http://www.unshelved.com/

Webcomics Corner 4/24/09

Webcomics Corner is a column that publishes weekly in The Racquette, SUNY Potsdam's school paper. Unfortunately it does not go live on their website, so I am archiving it here for the moment.

Welcome to what will hopefully be a regular column reviewing webcomics for your reading pleasure. I can't promise I'll always have good comics to talk about, but in general I'll try to stick to recommendations.

As any fan of the medium knows, a vast number of webcomics are story- and character-driven, requiring that you read large quantities of backstory, or at least Cliff Notes. I'm going to try to ease us in to this with a strip that doesn't have that problem: "Basic Instructions," by Scott Meyer. As the name implies, this strip provides instructions on how to perform basic actions, in a cynical style not unlike the "Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbooks" that were all the rage a few years ago.

Topics published so far range from 'How to Share a Horrifying Experience' to 'How to Call a Relative' to 'How to Avenge Your Brother's Death', and Mr. Meyer never fails to bring the funny. Each of the four panels is usually a joke in and of itself, so the overall punch line feels like icing on the cake.

The strip updates frequently, usually Sunday and Wednesday, with occasional bonus content, and provides an RSS feed for true connoisseurs of web content. If you're bored - or trying very hard to put off writing a paper - the archives go back to July 2006, and I can tell you from experience that plowing straight through them is just as fun as reading a few at a time.

As an aside, it is worth noting that the strip's logo, possibly one of the funniest I've encountered yet, was recently used for a flight suit patch by the Alaskan Command (ALCOM) and Joint Task Force - Alaska (JTF-AK). I think it safe to say that very few comics can claim such distinction.

Check out the logo, and the strips, at http://basicinstructions.net/

what an ass

Awww, poor Wiley Miller. Still sad that you're running out of newspapers while those little snot webcomic artists are making a decent living from keeping their merchandising money?

PS: Your content is also free ... stupid.