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R. Sikoryak is the talented cartoonist behind a bevy of conceptual comics that use the strictures of a particular style — say Charlie Brown and Peanuts, or Little Lulu — to retell classics of literature — say, Kafka’s Metamorphosis or Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. (Some of these were collected in Masterpiece Comics from D&Q a […]

Anniversary by Sophie Goldstein :

And yet more Study Group Comics, A Weekend at the Atwood by Patrick Dean, or as it’s subtitiled, “Ghost Con.”

More of Study Group’s Halloween Haunting comics, this one is about a nightmare experienced by the artist that he never forgot.

Study Group Comics has its annual Halloween special up now...FREE comics to read online by some of todays;' best cartoonists. Up first: A spooky tale about a car breakdown in a terrifying town called...Portland! Don't Look Back by Rich Tomasso -- enjoy!

With This One Summer, Jillian Tamaki established herself as one of the best artists working in comics. With Super Mutant Magic Academy she revealed that as an all around cartoonist she was a master of the form. So what’s next for her? Well for now, a new series of short comics at Hazlitt, the online […]

Just in time for the spookiest season, here’s We Choose Our Friends Alone” : a short horror comics about a little girl who goes somewhere she shouldn’t written by Chris Jones and drawn by Elaine M Will. you can read it in two parts part one  part two  Will is the author of Look Straight […]

by Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson David Lloyd is known for his innovative creativity drawing V for Vendetta along with writer Alan Moore. David’s use of the Guy Fawkes mask for the main character has become a political archetype that has gone far beyond the comic. In person David is a lovely man who is passionate about his art. It’s […]

A little while back, Brian Hibbs wrote a piece involving the place of Kickstarters in the comics world that still seems to be making the rounds online.  It comes at it from the retailer angle, and as somebody who’s run a few Kickstarters, I have a few different thoughts about how crowdfunding fits into the […]

At home in the warmer months, recovering from neck surgery, cartoonist Lauren Weinstein gifts us with Flower Voyeur, a slice of the circle of life comic that ‘s very appropriate as we heda for the dog days of August. Weinstein’s Carriers, about learning she and her husband might pass cystic fibrosis on to their child, […]

Marcus Muller is a comic creator and freelance artist who has worked with DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Locust Moon Press. He’s also has worked as a concept artist for the video game industry. His latest venture is King of the Unknown, an exciting and interesting webcomic that features a fat Elvis. Currently Marcus is in the process of putting together the first graphic novel for King of the Unknown, which should be out in 2016. Marcus wears many hats on this project and works as its writer, illustrator, colorer and letterer.

The webcomic is on hiatus as Muller works on the graphic novel, getting it ready for print.  The graphic novel will be around 120 pages and Marcus still has plans to keep the webcomic going, telling shorter King of the Unknown stories. Marcus loves digital comics, but he grew up on print versions and is excited to see his series in hard copy for the first time. Marcus has been hitting all the comic cons and promoting his work. He took time from his busy schedule to talk to Comics Beat and let us know what is up.

Seth Ferranti: What is King of the Unknown about?

Marcus Muller: The short of it is that after a supernatural mishap that transforms him, fat Elvis fakes his death to become the premiere paranormal investigator for a secret government agency.  Tonally, I’ve heard people describe it as a cross between the X-Files and the Venture Bros, which I guess is a pretty fair assessment of it.  I try to have a good balance between, horror, comedy, the paranormal, and action in the comic.  I’ve always had a fascination with the paranormal and occult, so I use this comic as a vehicle to combine a lot of my interests (music, the supernatural, geeky stuff, bad conspiracy theories, etc.).  If I’m going to spend this much time on something, then I want it to be something I would be interested in reading myself, so I basically put everything into it that would make it my dream comic to work on.

Ferranti: What role did you play in King of the Unknown‘s creation?

Muller: On King of the Unknown, other than having my buddy Andrew Carl edit the comic, and my brother help out coloring a few of the early pages, it’s all me on the comic.  I am the creator, writer, illustrator, colorist, and letterer on it.  It’s not the fastest way to do things, but it is the most affordable for me, and I have this OCD about having to do all of that stuff haha

The actual creation of the comic dates back to 2007 when my friends Amado Rodriguez and Bud Burgy were putting together an anthology focusing on mid-western creators called Muscles & Fights and asked me to contribute a story for it.  So it was in Muscles & Fights volume 2 that King of the Unknown made its debut when King fought a Skunkape in a trailer park down south. From those humble beginnings he would then appear in the third volume of Muscles & Fights before I started the webcomic in 2011.

It was those short stories in M&F though that were the genesis for the full comic, as before I even finished the first M&F comic, I had quickly developed a whole back-story and world for the King and his adventures with the unknown.  It’s at the point where I now have the whole series planned out from beginning to end in my notebooks here.

Ferranti: How long have you been working in comics and on what projects have you worked on?

Muller: Professionally (meaning getting a paycheck for it), I’ve been working in comics since around 2006-2007.  I think it was around that time that I got some work from DC Comics Creative Services Department penciling a few comics. Since then I’ve had work published by Dark Horse Comics and Locust Moon Press on such books as Once Upon a Time Machine, and the recent Eisner nominated Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream.  I’ve also done some concept artwork for video games at High Voltage Studios.

Doing freelance art for a living I pick up a lot of odd jobs, so I’m kind of all over the place taking whatever I can get to make a buck off my art.  It ain’t easy and sleep becomes my enemy, while coffee and music become my best friends that get me through a work day.  I would love to one day make a living off of just my creator owned work, as that’s what my heart is into doing and where I feel like I have the most to offer.

Ferranti: When is the King of the Unknown graphic novel coming out?

Muller: The plan is for the first 120 page OGN to be out in 2016 with the next follow-up graphic novel the year after that.  I grew up on print comics, so that’s my preferred format for the comic, but I still plan on doing something with the website, which I’ll probably use to tell short KotU stories.  The website was doing fairly well until it went on hiatus, so I’d like to bring that back on a regular basis in some form.

Ferranti: What comic cons have you been to recently? How do you promote your work there and how do you like the con scene?

Muller: Admittedly, self promotion and conventions aren’t my strong suit since I’d rather be chained to a table working on art with music blaring, but I tabled at C2E2 this past April where I pushed a lot of King of the Unknown merchandise, and there was a strong response to the material.  Besides KotU prints, I had a preview comic for King of the Unknown there, and of the 40 copies I brought with, I sold out of nearly all of them, and ending up going home with only about 5 copies left after the convention.  I was told by a lot of people that prints sell really well at the convention, but that wasn’t the case for me, as everyone wanted that comic.  That’s something that I was happy to see, as you’re always hearing stories that no one goes to comic conventions anymore to actually get comics.

Also, if people reacted like that to just the short preview comic, then I can’t wait to get the full graphic novel out there and see what the response is, and get KotU out there on a larger scale.  I’m really excited about this comic, and can’t wait to get it out there in all of its full weirdness for people to see!

Ferranti: What is next for you?

Muller: Right now I’m finishing up a few side projects before I dive full tilt into the King of the Unknown OGN.  The KotU graphic novel is going to be my main project for a while, and we’ll see how that goes.  I’ll be expanding my convention presence to promote that as well, so if you find me at a convention you’ll be able to see a preview of the book there, as well as pick up some limited edition King of the Unknown merchandise.  For some non-KotU related things coming up that you can check out my work on in the immediate future, I have a Street Fighter piece in the Udon Capcom Fighting Tribute book that debuts at the San Diego Comic Con, and I’ll be doing the cover on the next Scary School book.  Like I mentioned, I’m kind of all over the place with my work, so check in and follow me on your favorite social media to see the latest project I’m working on.

Connect with Marcus Muller on social media and check out King of the Unknown!

www.kingoftheunknown.com

www.facebook.com/KingoftheUnknown

https://twitter.com/King_of_Unknown

http://m2comics.tumblr.com/

https://instagram.com/m2comics/

www.facebook.com/m2cartoonist

Here’s a comic that sums up all the money stuff we’ve been talking about for the last few weeks. The unnamed cartoonist in Alex Fellows’ ICE CREAM has just purchased a fancy refrigerator he can’t really afford. I think most of us will empathize with the financial soul searching, credit card juggling and marital discord that follows.

I could pull any number of panels in this comic but here’s just one.

Ouch.

I wasn’t familiar with Fellows work, but he won a Xeric in 2002 for Blank Slate and a Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent in 2011 for his comic, Spain and Morocco. You can see more of his work here. I’ll definitely be following Ice Cream!

Today, digital publisher Panel Syndicate released the second and final volume of writer Brian K. Vaughn’s (Saga, Y: The Last Man) and artist Marcos Martin’s (The Amazing Spider-Man, Batgirl: Year One) webcomic, The Private Eye.  Collecting issues 6-10 of the series, The Private Eye continues to follow the story of Patrick Immelman, a private investigator working in 2076 after every luddite’s worst fear is realized and The Cloud is compromised, leaving many identities exposed, the internet in shambles, and people incredibly guarded over their personal information.

The series has been released on a pay-what-you-want basis from issue to issue, meaning that you could read the series for free or donate several billion dollars per issue if you felt like Vaughn and Martin deserved personal islands.  Panel Syndicate was founded by Martin in 2013 and when the first issue of The Private Eye was released in March of that year, the company received a great deal of critical acclaim for providing high pedigree content to the public on an egalitarian pricing scale.  At the time, pay-what-you-want was a relatively new idea in mainstream media, but since then studies have shown that PWYW can cause the average price paid for a product to drop or can even shame consumers out of purchasing a product altogether.

ding.

Given The Private Eye‘s unique standing in the comics industry, it would be interesting to see what the sales data looks like for the series.  Vaughn and Martin are currently working on a new project for Panel Syndicate, so even if they aren’t making a profit off of this book, it’s great to see that they believe in the concept and community enough to continue to support their progressive ideals.  Perhaps they deserve those islands after all.

BREAKING CAT NEWS about, well, BREAKING CAT NEWS! @UniversalUclick and @gocomics are publishing a BCN book in 2016!!! pic.twitter.com/QSclyit7LF

— Georgia Dunn (@pseudooctopus) May 15, 2015

We’ve been big fans of Georgia Dunn’s Breaking Cat News for quite a while, laughing with the boys’ in depth reporting on stupid human tricks, and shedding a tear over Elvis’s holiday adventure. You may have gotten tired of cat humor, but frmaing it in terms of cable news tropes gives everything a fresh spin. The strip has been running on GoComics for a while, and now Universal has done the smart thing and ordered a print collection. Cats+comics = the 21st century.

Dunn has been on maternity leave for the last few weeks, an event sure to inspire many more investigations. You can listen to an interview with Dunn here at Publishers Weekly’s More To Come podcast

Welcome to MATT CHATS, a weekly interview series in which I, Matt O’Keefe, talk with people of interest in the comic book industry. Whether they’re writers, artists, letterers, editors, retailers, etc. if they have something to say, I want to hear it and share it with you. Here’s a special conversation I had recently with webcomics maven Scott Kurtz.

Scott Kurtz is one of the original webcomic pioneers, having created PvP (Player vs. Player) nearly seventeen years ago and making a living writing and drawing it for almost as long. He eventually launched a spinoff of PvP named Table Titans about friends playing a role playing game that’s taken on a life and legacy of its own. I spoke with Kurtz about the huge-and-still-growing webcomic series, the role the owners of Dungeons and Dragons have in the comic, building an online empire and more.

What were your initial hopes for Table Titans creatively, professionally and personally?

My hope with Table Titans was to create a comic book that captured the spirit and joy of tabletop roleplaying. I’ve personally wanted to make a fantasy comic for many years, and after a reader survey revealed many of our fans were into tabletop gaming, it seemed a perfect topic. We’ve been telling stories for years at our kitchen table that nobody but our gaming group is aware of. What an amazing opportunity to tell them to a wider audience and simultaneously encourage them to tell their own stories collaboratively with friends.

How do those hopes compare to where you are now?

All of our hopes with Table Titans have been fulfilled and exceeded. The comic is doing gangbusters. In only two years it has the same traffic as PvP on days we post new strips. That’s more than we could have ever hoped for. And every email, and fan interaction at cons involves someone telling us how they started playing D&D because of the strip or one of our podcasts about gaming.

You brought Steve Hamaker on to color Table Titans, but choose to leave the pages black & white when he’s unavailable. What brought about that choice?

Steve is always available. It’s just that sometimes I’m late getting pages in to him where it works inside his schedule. So on those days, we run in black and white and then once Steve gets the time to color them we pop them up. It’s my problem. Steve is a monster.

How did the collaboration with Wizards of the Coast on Table Titans come about?

We had an existing relationship with Wizards from our D&D podcasts and live shows we do with Penny Arcade. So we talk all the time. And we ran the idea of Table Titans past them at the early stages of outlining the comic. They loved the idea and we talked to them about the possibility of working in a marketing partnership with them on it. They promote the comic, the comic promotes D&D. Win-win, right?

Do you have to jump through many hoops to use their characters and concepts?

Not really. We’re not an official Licensee. It’s a marketing partnership. So they’re very hands off. There are a lot of things I can put in the comic that, while are a part of D&D, aren’t owned by Wizards. Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, Goblins, Clerics, Fighters, etc. I just don’t get in trouble when I drop in something they do own like the drow or a beholder or displacer beast.

How involved is Wizards of the Coast in the storylines in Table Titans?

Not terribly. We talk all the time about what they have coming up as far as their campaign settings and if it interests us from a story level, we get to incorporate it into the comic. Season one of the comic centered around their campaign to reintroduce the idea of D&D as a collaborative storytelling exercise. We focused on that theme quite a bit. And season two lined up with their “sundering” campaign (sort of). So we see what they’re doing and if it ignites an idea we run with it. But these are our stories. They’re very hands off.

What are the big benefits of getting to use the Dungeons & Dragons content in Table Titans?

The biggest benefit is that we’re associated with Wizards of the Coast and they promote the strip on their social media sites. We’ve also worked with them collaboratively on a couple of non-comic projects. We’ve jointly made a beholder dice bag and a vinyl figure of our main character Val standing triumphant over a beholder. Those projects are a lot of fun. Plus I grew up playing D&D and so it’s the game I want reflected in the comic. I could have just made up a fake game they were playing, but how great is it that they get to play D&D. Just like we all do?

Are there ever times you wish you were using creator-owned characters and setting instead?

All of Table Titans is creator owned. We own everything we create. Sure if we drop in a displacer beast or a drow (as we have done in the two years we’ve produced the strip), Wizards owns those characters. But it’s worth creating an antagonist from the pages of the offical Monster Manual for our characters to go up against. And in the end, we own Table Titans. We’re also currently working on our own campaign setting which we’ll be featuring in the strip in upcoming seasons. We wanted to show the natural progression players take. Season 1 was D&D encounter groups (what you do when you’re learning). Season 2 is a purchased campaign setting. Season 3 and beyond will show the Titans playing their own home-brew setting. And in the real world, we’ll be building that setting ourselves.

How business minded would you say a lot of your creative decisions are?

It’s impossible not to be business minded about all the decisions you make. But at Toonhound Studios, we make what we love and find a way to monetize it afterwards. We try not to put the cart before the horse. I’ve also been lucky to have found a business partner in Cory Casoni (formerly the marketing director at Oni Press, currently the Director of Business Development & Brand Management at Toonhound Studios LLC). Cory came on board about 3 years ago and we’ve been building Toonhound Studios into an American Mangaka. That’s why we work with so many talented people on all of our projects like Dylan Meconis, Brian Hurtt, Tavis Maiden and Steve Hamaker. We’re trying to build the independent publisher of the future here. And having a ball doing it.

Are you setting out to build a webcomics empire, or is it happening organically?

It’s happening organically. And it’s nothing that I had any interest in until I hired Cory. His first couple of years were spent undoing all the mistakes I made on my own over the first 15 years of my career. HA HA!. Then once all the old business was settled we sat down and said “What’s next?” Honestly, I handn’t thought much past “I want to be a cartoonist.” So that’s been a difficult but exciting and challenging question to try to answer. We are always trying to remain fluid and lean and ready to adapt. Things change so fast in this industry. We always want to be creating new content and trying things that challenge us and scare us a little bit. So yes we have plans. But to say we’re trying to build an “empire” is a little far reaching I think.

You eventually stepped away from The Trenches, and helped bring in and guide the new artists on the series. Would you ever do that with Table Titans one day?

We’re already doing it. Brian Hurtt will be taking over drawing duties on Table Titans for the next season. He’ll be writing and drawing a story with a side group called the Dungeon Dogs. Meanwhile I’ll be busy drawing the next Table Titans adventure and we’ll move the comic from posting 2 days a week to 4. Tavis Maiden (tenkoking.com) is also working on a new project with me that takes place in the Table Titans universe that’s so crazy and hilarious It’s hard not to talk about it. And I’m writing PvP now with Dylan Meconis, so everything at Toonhound is a group effort. Working collaboratively is my next step as a cartoonist and it’s making all of our work better across the board. Hands down.

How do you see Table Titans (and PvP) evolving as time goes on?

Who knows. I’m equally nervous and excited about it. I just turned 44 and PvP is turning 17 in May. I don’t see myself ever stopping either strip. I love making them so much. I still love writing and drawing PvP after over a decade and a half. I want to join my heroes Stan Sakai, and Sergio Aragones in celebrating 20 and 30 years of making the comic. Same goes for Table Titans. I can definitely see myself creating new comics and characters and working with others to carry on PvP and Table Titans with my guidance while I work on other things. Another hero of mine is Jim Davis and he built an amarican Mangaka at PAWS. A lot of people give him shit about that or look down on him for it. But they respect and honor Miyazaki for working the same way. Makes no sense to me, but it’s all cultrual. I know the benefits of collaboration and I intend to do more of it as my career continues.

You can find Scott on Twitter and his simply excellent podcast Surviving Creativity. Check out Table Titans if you know what’s good for you.

Issue #4 of Tüki Save The Humans, Jeff Smith’s saga of early humans and their migration, has been postponed from May to December due to a recurrence of an arm injury that creator Jeff Smith has been battling for a while.

“The past 12 months have been really busy,” says Smith, “and last month, after doing two issues of TUKI back to back, I noticed my arm was getting numb. I’ve had trouble with carpel tunnel syndrome before, and while I haven’t crossed the line, it’s not something I want to mess with.”

“I also have a secret project I’m working on that is adding to the workload,” he continued, “so I’ve decided the best thing to do was to slow down, move the book to where it will be best for TUKI. Sincere apologies to all of my readers, and I thank you for your patience. We plan to add a few surprises to the issue and hopefully the wait will be worthwhile!”

Tüki launched as a webcomic, with print issues following, and the third “season” wrapper a while ago.

While this is disappointing news, any “secret project” from Smith is exciting.

The USA Network held its “upfronts” at which pilots are announced, and the big news was Smackdown is coming HOME to the USA Network as the WWE rolls out a more millennial friendly and aspirational “For the Hero in All of Us” program. But also, a show based on an unannounced upcoming Vertigo series is in development:

AMPED
When a neurotic family man buys an online “smart pill” to increase his focus and jolt him out of his slump, he gets much more than he bargained for.  To his surprise, the pill gives him incredible strength and power.  The project examines both the mighty highs and humiliating lows of being a real-life super hero.  AMPED is based on the characters created for an upcoming comic book by Eric Kripke (“Supernatural,” “Revolution”) for DC Entertainment’s Vertigo imprint.  Kripke will serve as executive producer/writer of AMPED, from Kripke Enterprises in association with Warner Horizon Television.

Lots of other shows announced, including the return of Tough Enough (probably not with my beloved Al Snow) and a show starring Sawyer from Lost and Lori from Walking Dead for the ultimate crossover.

Also promoted at the press event were “Colony,” a futuristic drama starring Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies as the head of a family of resisters in alien-occupied Los Angeles; and “Complications,” starring Jason O’Mara as a doctor drawn into a deadly gangland saga when he saves a kid from a random shooting.

Peter Lazarus, USA’s ad sales chief, said they’re now focused “educating the marketplace about WWE’s positive attributes.” Those include the fact that it is mostly DVR proof through its live weekly airings and continuing storylines, and the fact that it draws a healthy amount of family viewing. The push to polish up the WWE reflects the wide-ranging new deal that NBCU and the wrestling giant struck last year, one that gives NBCU more control over advertising sales for the programs.

A LOT of the shows in development have futuristic-y SF-y elements, or in other words “USA Network fare.” Why they even need to try this when Fox had to take Almost Human off the air is beyond me.

–Yr grumpy old TV fan

Here’s a history comic on Newyorker.com by Julia Wertz about when pinball was illegal in New York City

In other Wertz news, she’s working on Impossible People, a second memoir about her alcoholism that she started after The Infinite Wait and then abandoned. To fund it’ she’s running her own crowdfudning effort, which you can support at the above link. Why her own thing?

While many cartoonists have had success with Patreon (a monthly donation site) or with Kickstarter for specific projects, I decided I would rather create my own page for two reasons. 1) Both those sites are built on a rewards model for donation amounts. While that sometimes works great, my time is very limited and I think it would be more beneficial for readers, and myself, if I use all my time to generate new material for everyone to read, rather than spending time making extra nonessentials for an exclusive group of people. I’d much rather be making less money while producing substantial work, than making more money and creating extraneous things. A) I am uncomfortable with the transparency sites like Patron and Kickstarter that make public financial amounts and goals. It is really no one’s business how much or how little anyone is making, and I have no set financial goal, as I’m just grateful for anything.

I’m a big fan of Wertz’s work—it’s funny, perceptive and brave. Her reasons for going with her own platform make a lot of sense for some creators—fulfilling elaborate Kickstarter pledges are a lot of work, and Patreon, while not as complex, has its own time-consuming maintenance. I hope a bunch of people will support her in her work.

Scholastic’s editions of Jeff Smith’s BONE were what originally put Steve Hamaker on the map, and he’s only improved since his introduction to the comics scene. After coloring over a dozen BONE graphic novels, Hamaker went on to color Jeff Smith’s follow-up RASL, Strangers in Paradise-related projects for Terry Moore and Scott Kurtz’s webcomic Table Titans. Recently he’s been producing his own webcomic named PLOX that shows off his illustrative chops as well as his honed coloring skills. I spoke to Steve about his background, workload and growth as a creator and storyteller.

Let’s start with the origin story. What brought you into comics?

I was working for a small toy design company that worked on license action figures.  We did toys for lots of properties, like Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, Speed Racer, and BONE.  I was the designer on BONE, so that’s where I met Jeff Smith.  He hired me away from that job, basically the day I was being downsized, so it worked out perfectly.

Was coloring comics always the goal?

Actually no.  I’ve always wanted to make my own comics.  The toy design thing was a stepping stone, but I really did enjoy that as a creative career.  Jeff inspired me and then taught me how to not only make comics, but how to self publish and promote them.

Line art by Jeff Smith.

You only work with a select few artists. Jeff Smith, Scott Kurtz, Terry Moore… How do you decide who to collaborate with?

Well, Jeff happened to be my boss, so that was an easy choice [laughs]. Coloring BONE was a huge undertaking for us both. It taught me every technique I use, and made me fall in love with the whole process. Terry Moore is a good friend of Jeff’s, so that was also very natural to work with him. I have been a fan of Scott Kurtz’s since he started PVP, so I stalked him early on, and once the coloring of BONE got more and more attention he took notice. We became friends along the way too, so that adds another layer to it. Coloring BONE was really the flood gates opening for people taking notice of me. I have a lot more choices to be selective, and that makes a difference in how I approach the work.

With those artists and with PLOX you’re aiming a little outside the typical Wednesday Warrior demographic. Do you have any desire to color a “mainstream” comic?

I would be interested, sure. It would have to be meaningful subject matter to me, so hopefully the right book will come along. Technically, I have done some work for DC with Jeff’s Shazam story, and Marvel was very nice when I colored a Thor story for Terry Moore. Ironically, the bigger publishers pay better, usually give cover credit, and even pay royalties in some cases. That’s not why I would do it, though. It’s just good to see them treating colorists in an increasing positive way.

An example of a reward for Patreon subscribers.

You mentioned marketing earlier. What kind of efforts do you make to market PLOX?

Right now it’s mostly social media, cross promotion with other online comics folks and general word-of-mouth. Terry Moore is running PLOX ads for me while I color his new SiP Kids mini series. Scott is obviously a great help with his PVP audience. He runs banners for my comic and I get to attend shows with him like GenCon and PAX.  The audience building has been one of the most incredible experiences in making this comic. Seeing the reader numbers increase, but more importantly knowing that so many of them are genuinely invested in the comic.

I’d say your Patreon campaign is another form of marketing.

Yes! I haven’t given Patreon quite the love and attention it deserves, but it’s a great tool for reaching your audience. It’s tough because I have to spend so much time coloring or creating PLOX that I can’t devote the time to making the Patreon really engaging. It’s a Catch-22 of sorts. I hope to change that in the future.

It must also be hard to use something ongoing like Patreon that it is to promote something one-off like Kickstarter.

Yes. I haven’t done a Kickstarter yet for PLOX, but I plan to. I want to make sure the Kickstarter for the collected book is really well organized and rewarding for the donors, and especially that they won’t have to wait two years to get their stuff! I will most likely tackle that when I am really close to being done with the first PLOX story.

When will that be?

Hopefully later this year. I keep writing new scenes that push the ending back.

Now a question I’m sure you’ve been asked many times: what does “PLOX
mean?

I chose PLOX for the title from the idea of how our language has been affected and truncated on the internet.  The word ‘please’ change to ‘pls’, then to ‘plz’, then gamers would type so fast that it became ‘plx’. Then people started speaking over the internet with Teamspeak and Ventrilo, and they would phonetically say “plox”.

It also looked cool as a logo.

How is “please” central to the story?

The word isn’t important really. It was the idea of how the internet can affect things like language, and in the case of my story, relationships.

Since the story is centered around a World of Warcraft-like game it would be easy to include a lot of fantasy visuals, but there aren’t many in PLOX. Was that intentional?

Starting out, I definitely envisioned that I would do in game cut-aways, like we do in Table Titans. After writing the first 3 or 4 chapters, I realized that the game isn’t the central ‘thing’ about the story, and it didn’t seem appropriate anymore.

The dream sequences were key for showing the in game avatars, however. That was a big breakthrough for me in writing this.

It’s really important to me that people can read PLOX and not have to know everything about Warcraft. The story is semi-autobiographical, so I felt like I had to include the game because it was tied up with my emotional state and daily life during that time.

It’s a story about three people. That’s hopefully compelling enough [laughs].  I’m half-kidding. I love that it has the gamer slant to it, and it affords a lot of opportunity for comedy, but I don’t want it to be a barrier of entry for my readers.

Chad would be a dick to his Bingo group down at the church. The game could be anything.

What do you like about the square page layout?

It looks good on the computer [laughs]. Honestly, I wanted the comic to take up more space.  I could have gone rectangular sideways, I realize.

The format was kind of mystical for me actually.

It kind of cracked my brain for writing and layout… in a good way! I was struggling with writing a comic page in the conventional format, and the square page just liked me more. I can see pages and scenes before I draw them much more easily.

So you find the four or less panels a page more freeing than restricting?

Exactly.

I think a lot of people who come from more of a writing background would feel the opposite.

I wouldn’t doubt that. I’m not complaining, but It’s a very daunting task to write, draw and color a long form comic. It was a crucial thing for me to overcome in order to move ahead.

Oh, totally. I was just kind of musing on the differences. I feel like in the creative process artists (whether they be illustrators, writers, etc.) do best when they limit the number of things they take chances with. Like how you should only have one or two variables in a science experiment.

I think it’s different for everyone, to some extent, but I agree that limits can (not do) make better art.  You can agonize over every aspect of the writing or drawing, but in the end, you need to stop and share it with the world. That’s why God created editors and deadlines.

Where are you kind of taking risks with PLOX?

I don’t have as many fears as I did when I started.  The risks were numerous. Can I write, draw, and color the whole story by myself, will people like my art… or my writing for that matter!

The character of Kim being gay was also scary for me.  I’m not gay, so I had this huge weight over my head that was telling me to abandon it.

The more I wrote and thought about each character the less scared I was. It sounds cheesy, I know, but they really started to tell me what they needed.

I think of a setting or a story from my own life, and the characters just kind of embed themselves into it like they were always there.

I know I’m not a really great writer, but I try to be honest with the story in every way.

I disagree with that last part, but well said! Last question: what’s inspiring you? Whether it be comics, stories, life, whatever.

Well, thank you. I’m proud of the writing, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t have an inflated ego that I am doing something new or groundbreaking.

The last few years since I got married and my son was born, my real life has been the most influential. I have art and music that I enjoy, but my friends and family are the ones that really push me forward.

You can check learn more about Steve at his website, follow him on Twitter, support his Patreon campaign and read PLOX at plox-comic.com.

We’ve covered Oyster War here quite a bit, Ben Towle’s historical fantasy webcomic about 19th century Chesapeake bay oystermen engaged in a territory war with some magical assistance— it’s part Scalped, part Sailor Twain. Towle alluded to a print publisher a while and ago and Oni just made it official: the print, color version is coming in September for SPX! Towle is a three time Eisner nominee for books like his Amelia Earhart bio, and this is a fun, frolic of a book.

In the coastal town of Blood’s Haven, the economy runs on oysters. Oyster farming is one of the most lucrative professions, but also the most dangerous. Not just from the unforgiving ocean and its watery depths—there are also oyster pirates to worry about! Commander Davidson Bulloch and his motley crew are tasked with capturing these ne’er-do-wells—but they don’t know that Treacher Fink, the pirates’ leader, possesses a magical artifact that can call forth a legendary spirit with the power to control the sea and everything in it!

“I started work on Oyster War five years ago with a very specific vision,” says creator Ben Towle. “I’d done several historical fiction books previously and now I wanted to jump squarely into the realm of the fantastic. Oyster War is a nautical adventure story set in a not-quite-real late 19th century US that’s full of pirates, brawlers, sea serpents, and shape-shifters. It’s far and away my favorite work to-date. I couldn’t be happier with the way Oni’s bringing the Oyster War print collection to life. Presentation was always in the back of my mind as I worked on the story. From the get-go I conceived of Oyster War as a big, hardcover, European album-sized book with high-end production values—and that’s exactly what’s going to wind up in readers’ hands!”

33 hours, $4000 — you people need to do this.

Songgu Kwon is a former Xeric grant winner for Blanche the Baby Killer. He currently works in the animation business doing things like character designs for Metalocalypse. I daresay, he draws like a melon farmer. Gorgeous stuff.

He also has a long running webcomic called Elf that takes on RPG tropes in a weird and wacky way.

Imaging Knights of the Dinner Table drawn by Cliff Chiang. Sort of.

Anyway he has a kickstarter for acollected edition that needs only $4000 dollars in 33 hours. A little about it.

Elf is a fantasy web comic that I started in 2012 as a fun project that I could develop little by little, uploading just one page a week.  

It began as a series of short vignettes centered around an archetypical Tolkienesque elf character and her talking wombat sidekick, Clarence.  A rather strange fellow named Pieter would soon join them.

Clarence is no ordinary wombat.  He’s really of a subspecies I like to call… the Greater Wombat!

The initial strips were conceived with very little planning.  I wanted to poke fun at and pay homage to the high fantasy genre as represented in countless books, films, video games, and my own experiences playing table top RPGs in the days of my youth.

In a nutshell, Elf is a story about a warrior called Blackfeather, who just wants to hang out with her pals, help others, and have adventures.  This simple goal comes with many obstacles as deadly perils as well as the elf’s own past crash into her path.

Let’s do this people!

By Matt O’Keefe

Jen Sorenson illustrates a troubling story from a friend that has a little bit of pay back at the end.

But not nearly enough.

§ High Moon, the werewolf/cowboy comic by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis is back. After running on DC’s Zuda webcomic site (remember that?) and seeing a print edition, four new pages will be posted every Monday, in a mobile responsive interface, and available on Tapastic and Comixology as well. Nerdist has a preview , and artist Ellis, who’s also drawing the Better Call Saul comics for AMC, did a Reddit ama yesterday. The story involves bounty hunter and Pinkerton agent Matthew Macgregor investigating the spooky goings on in a Texas town seeing hard times while trying to hide his own supernatural secret. This is a good looking comic!

§ Broken Frontier examines Six UK Small Press Creators to Watch in 2015, namely Rozi Hathaway, Jess Milton, Danny Noble, Emma Raby, Alice Urbino and Adam Vian. I didn’t know any of these creators but now we know who to watch for!

§ Multiversity’s Small Press Spotlight month has wrapped.

§ The comic-Con experience is coming to every corner of this nation of ours. The second Camden Comic Con takes place March 7 at the Camden Rutgers campus:

Camden Comic Con, an annual convention that celebrates the art and culture of comic books, returns to Rutgers University-Camden for a second time on Saturday, Mar. 7.    This year’s event will feature nearly 100 vendors and a host of special guest comic creators, artists and writers, such as Dave Bullock, Bryan Glass, Shawn Martinborough and Mark McKenna.   Get ready to geek out on a full day of workshops and forums. There will be demos and workshops on comic art, lettering and character design, as well as special effects make-up.

….and there’s even a Fargo-Moorhead Comic Con for North Dakotan fans:

Graphic novel fans won’t have to wait months to get their fantasy fix as the Fargo-Moorhead Comic Con delivers this weekend. Illustration fans can check out vendors selling books, games, videos and more, like a costume contest for kids and adults. The fun runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., then again from 7 p.m. to midnight on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday at Baymont Inn & Suites, 3333 13th Ave. S., Fargo.

§ Various tish and tosh over the superhero tedium evinced at the Oscars. While everyone was turning up their noses at the way superhero films have taken over Hollywood, even as NINE of the 20 acting nominees have played roles in superhero films. James Gunn, who has taken his place as the nerd auteur, was first to spring to the defense.

Whatever the case, the truth is, popular fare in any medium has always been snubbed by the self-appointed elite. I’ve already won more awards than I ever expected for Guardians. What bothers me slightly is that many people assume because you make big films that you put less love, care, and thought into them then people do who make independent films or who make what are considered more serious Hollywood films. I’ve made B-movies, independent films, children’s movies, horror films, and gigantic spectacles. I find there are plenty of people everywhere making movies for a buck or to feed their own vanity. And then there are people who do what they do because they love story-telling, they love cinema, and they want to add back to the world some of the same magic they’ve taken from the works of others. In all honesty, I do no find a strikingly different percentage of those with integrity and those without working within any of these fields of film.

It was destined to be an awards season heavy on superhero hate when Birdman became the front runner. After all, this movie starring some people who were bankable enough to get the film made because of their work in superhero movies was all about the idea that the bad side of Hollywood – the blockbuster side – was killing art. Or something. I’m not really sure what the movie was trying to say about that stuff, except that it’s bad. Superheroes are bad, and Birdman proves it by making one of its best scenes an action battle and another a flying sequence.

To be honest, SM2 WAS a highpoint, and since then the Marvel Studios formula which dominates the genre has evolved into a fairly generic stylistic mold, even while allowing for some genre departures like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Winter Soldier. Entertainment is entertainment, but Kumas has a point that I’ve often made here as well: Spider-Man 2 was about a young man trying to keep his girl, while superheroics kept intruding, while every current MCU movie is about saving the world/universe. It’s kind of refreshing to switch now and then to the Fox/Mark Millar formula that involves more personal angst.

At any rate, I think most of this anxiety stems from the 20-30 superhero movies coming at us from now until 2020. That is plenty of time for the spandex set to overstay their welcome.

§ In such a milieu, it is refreshing to leave them wanting more, and that’s just what happened with Agent Cater. After an 8-episode run that gained a very fervent following—and blew Agents of Shield out of the water for quality—the show’s future is uncertain. an who’d like to see more are urged to follow the instructions in this post. Myself, I’d rather see another quality 8 episodes mini season than water it down with universe saving.

According to a news blast they just sent out, Hiveworks, a digital comics portal, had 12,000,000 users in January—last year it had a total of 65,000,000, so it’s on track for a lot of growth. But what kind of growth? According to their about page, “Hiveworks is a creator owned publisher and studio that helps webcomic and online media creators turn their creative endeavors into sustainable businesses. We serve as mentors and as a home for many comics.”

Basically it’s a portal where you can browse and buy digital editions of various webcomics. In January they started offering digital editions of the popular Atomic Robo comic (above), which helped out.

“Things have gone pretty great the last few years,” said CEO Joseph Stillwell in a statement, “While the online comic sector has proven rough for others I believe [the online comic sector] is moving into a much healthier position than it was when we started. Having such quality and diverse content allows us to help readers find more comics to read and enjoy. By marketing any one comic within the network we’re ultimately helping those new readers find other comics. Ultimately, we wind up with happier fans and happier creators.”

Titles credited for helping with the rise in pageviews include Blindsprings, Stand Still. Stay Silent, Parallax. amd additions Atomic Robo (http://www.atomic-robo.com/), SMBC, Der-Shing.