As I was trolling through webcomic-land, I saw something today that made me happy. Something that, in my opinion, nullifies the negativity of webcomic drama. Scott Kurtz, in his blog, implored his readers to check out Joe and Monkey - to buy the book, even.
This is something I don't see much of anymore. It used to be that you'd see the bigger webcomics post more frequently about other webcomics, lending a hand, raising them up. I learned about many of my favorite webcomics because of those blogs. Now it seems that the top tier comics have less time to do this with increased focus on business and the world outside of webcomics. I don't blame them, but still, I can hope.
More than any other form of marketing, webcomics depends on "trickle down traffic". These top tier comics are a gateway to the world of webcomics for the gamer, techie, and anime fans. PVP, Penny-Arcade, and MegaTokyo were the first webcomics I read regularly; they were recommended to me by non-artist coworkers. The regular folks who should be reading webcomics. And these comics opened up this huge world of webcomics for me with their recommendations.
I guess I'm just writing this to implore the top tier guys to allocate more time to positive recommendations. I would imagine there's a fear of not being impartial. I say, who cares. Be a little biased. Link up your buddy's comic. It still greases the flow of traffic.
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Comments
Here here!
I agree. Most comics I read were either from links from other webcomics or found in the news posts of some. I got into Weebl & Bob first, Weebl & Bob mentioned Little Gamers, through Little Gamers I found Bunny and from there I now have tons of bookmarks all of webcomics, I'm obsessed with the culture almost.
But without those top tier links, without as you say linking to your buddy's comic, nobody would probably ever learn of the url and therefore something might be finished before its even had a chance to start. Come on big guys, find a webcomic a week and post about it! Give the little ones a chance!
It's kind of funny that you
It's kind of funny that you talk about this, because I recall first being introduced to PvP through Penny Arcade!
I've found Kurtz nothing but helpful when it comes to promoting other comics. He helped me out with a link not long ago after I ran into him at a signing he was ad.
Of course, I must admit I am as jealous as sin that Zach got him to link to his book. Because, man... I could use a plug like that for my book right now!
(http://www.theaterhopper.com/store/book/default.php)
Zach's a really good guy and that Joe and Monkey book is solid-gold. I couldn't be happier that he's getting attention from the big-guns. That's a big name to have in your corner!
Theater Hopper -::- Comics about movies every Monday, Wednesday and Friday -::- http://www.theaterhopper.com
Theater Hopper -::- Comics about movies every Monday, Wednesday and Friday -::- http://www.theaterhopper.com
Kudos to Scott for making
Kudos to Scott for making the plug. Random acts of link promotion is a good thing(TM). It helps people get exposed to new comics, and that can only be beneficial for the webcomics medium as a whole.
Krishna M. Sadasivam Cartoonist, "The PC Weenies" http://www.pcweenies.net
That acutally makes me think
That acutally makes me think of the comments from Kurtz's previous blog where he talked about his critics and that he's aware of his reputation.
A real easy way to earn karma points is to spread the linky-love. I mean, you wouldn't want to become disengenuous by linking to every comic that crossed your path, but it would go a long way to mending fences in the community the next time he pissed off furries, or whatever.
Like I said before, I've found him nothing more than agreeable when it comes to promoting others. So maybe a little more of that could keep the critics off his back. It's pretty much hard to argue that kind of generosity.
Theater Hopper -::- Comics about movies every Monday, Wednesday and Friday -::- http://www.theaterhopper.com
Theater Hopper -::- Comics about movies every Monday, Wednesday and Friday -::- http://www.theaterhopper.com
That sure worked on me. I
That sure worked on me. I mean, I'm still upset that Scott said a couple of the things he did about me, but when I get invitations to join "the Scott Kurtz Hate Club," I think of the ways he's helped people out and I say "naw, man, I can't do it."
It's not impossible to argue the generosity-- I know people who ascribe an ulterior motive to the kindest gestures of those they've deemed "evil." But public acts of kindness do kind of wear 'em down after a while.
It still happens. The "guest
It still happens. The "guest strip" tradition is alive and well and that's the best way to promote someone else's work-- by putting a sample of it before your audience.
So this is really funny.
So this is really funny. Kind of a damned if I do and damned if I don't kind of thing.
Because recently, I've taken criticism...you know what? Scratch that. Not criticism, I've taken HATE. Pure bitterness and hate across blog posts, podcasts and even cartoon strips for helping out people who are my friends and have cartoons.
I never get a flowery Comixpedia post patting me on the back when I help out Jason or Kris with a new project or book. But I do for Joe and Monkey? One guy drew a cartoon of The petprofessional suckling my teet. That's the kind of shit I get for helping people out.
So that's probably why most "top tier" webcomic guys don't do this very often. Sometimes it feels like it could hurt a friend more than help a friend.
It's a compliment Scott
Scott,
This post was complimentary. I realize you get a lot of comments and obviously some of those are negative - I've read some of those. But this - this was an attaboy for you doing some nice for a webcomic creator that many of us like and want to see succeed. It doesn't imply that otherwise you're an asshole or an angel, it's just about this one thing.
And if Fab hadn't written it I would have mentioned it. If any webcomic creator with big audience numbers had done something so spur of the moment and unselfish I'd probably mention it. It was a nice thing to do.
And hey if you want to write a post here about Jason or Kris I'd bet one of the editors would front page it.
____
Xaviar Xerexes
I am a Modern Major Generality.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I probably should have spent more time editing this. And I didn't expect this to become a front page article on Comixpedia - must be a slow day. This was not in anyway a criticism of Scott. I meant it as a "Thanks." I was just thinking about how cool it was to see this, and then started thinking about some of the other comics that don't do this as much anymore like they used to.
It didn't occur to me to point out every good deed. This one in particular stuck out to me, because I had the pleasure of meeting Zack at the Mid-Ohio Con. He had a table across from mine and had to endure 2 days of my incessant yelps of "Free Comics!" We ended up chatting a bit, and I bought up his first trade collection. I was really happy to see that he recently went with Lulu.com and has done well with them - he wasn't happy with his previous arrangement. In fact at the end of the convention he seemed a bit disheartenend from a slow convention.
Seeing his site and book linked up on PVP sent good vibes. And I just wanted to point out that the contrast easily outwieghs the negativity of drama. Drama has no life or substance. But the traffic Scott bring to Zach's site could be life changing. And that rocks.
As I think on it, there are several cases where all of the "top tier" comics redirect traffic. So I was wrong. I had only been thinking of some exceptions to that recently.
Feel free to delete this article if it's inaccurate or offensive. It wasn't meant to be anything more than a casual post. I recognize that my own hypocrisy has confused the matter for some. I recently had fun role-playing an intollerable asshole webcomic critic who wallowed in his own drama. But hind sight has allowed me to appreciate what really makes this community work.
Fabricari - Sexy Robots and Violent Cyberpunk Comics
Steve "Fabricari" Harrison
I appreciate that Scott
I appreciate that Scott might feel beleaguered - I've been there myself both online here with CP and in the real world. It can affect what you read into things.
This post wasn't anything but a mention of a nice thing Scott did for someone he just met at a convention. It's good story.
Scott or any other webcomic with numbers - they don't owe anyone anything and any grief they get for not plugging someone is just whining. But that doesn't mean one can't appreciate them taking some time to plug something - when I was making a webcomic and got a mention by Penny Arcade - that was fuckin' cool man. It was just fucking nice.
____
Xaviar Xerexes
I am a Modern Major Generality.
I can understand why more
I can understand why more top comics don't do many links with the ridiculous way that people react when it isn't their webcomic being mentioned. That's not to say that this wasn't a kind gesture but I wouldn't want to be his inbox this week.
__________
Please Rewind - Pop culture humor in bite-sized chunks!
www.pleaserewind.com
Haunted Pixel Studios
www.hauntedpixelstudios.com
Oh shit. I wasn't trying to
Oh shit. I wasn't trying to imply that this was a negative post. It's just funny because I help out friends with their webcomics all the time and I see a lot of shit about it sometimes.
But no...I thought the piece was nice. I'm not upset about it. I was just observing how sometimes it feels like you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
In a podcast I came across dedicated to bashing me, one of the participants was going off on how my link to blank label comics wasn't FLASH enabled. And how that meant I was a big shot too important to TRULY participate in helping out blank label.
That's what I was referring to. How similar actions can be percieved differently and how my motivations are questioned in one instance and not the other. I was truly expecting to be shit on for linking to Joe and Monkey. Or that Zach would get shit on. So I was very surpirsed to see this post about it.
But yeah. You would be surprised to see what lengths people will to do spur me into linking them. If kissing my ass doesn't work, they go with attacking me in the hopes I'll post a "why I oughta" link to them. I've seen vicious attacks from people, and then I go into my email and I can find a request for a link from that very same person.
Sorry guys. I liked the blog entry. It was nice. It made me feel good to read it.
Well Scott...
You know how it is for us passionate people: Even when we mean the best, it comes out the worst.
_____
The William G - Romantic Drama, Post-Apocalyptic Monsters, and More Comic Experimentation
You found a whole podcast
You found a whole podcast dedicated to bashing you? Well, I guess you did have it coming. I mean, not linking to Blank Label with a flash enabled link?! GAWD!
__________
Please Rewind - Pop culture humor in bite-sized chunks!
www.pleaserewind.com
Haunted Pixel Studios
www.hauntedpixelstudios.com
Scott is one of the nicest
Scott is one of the nicest guys to talk to and a funny mother fucker to boot. I was happy to see him link JOe and monkey, it's one of my favorite webcomics that I think should be EVERY where.
DJ Coffman
yirmumah.net
About that teet sucking thing....
So you saw that strip, Scott? This is awkward, since the artist is part of my comic collective. (He does respect you, though, honest.) The vast majority of webcomic complainers have a degree of jealousy when someone gets linked - a "Why not me?" complex. That's the only reason I could think of to explain something like that ranting podcast.
Hell, I don't care if I get crap for it; I would love for one of the big comics to link to mine - any webcomic would. The fact that they don't doesn't give them any right to go off on someone who doesn't deserve it. Hell, we all know that Scott Kurtz speaks his mind and will defend his friends. That's admirable, and I say screw those who have a problem with being decent to your fellow man. Screw, 'em, Scott. In the long run, just who the hell are they anyway other than some self-proclaimed bigshots. Keep doing your thing, Scott. Give the plugs that you want to, because most of us would love that plug regardless of the shit we'd take. I've been reading PvP and been in your forums long enough to know you're a damn decent guy, and for every asshole looking for a fight, (and the publicity they think they'll get for said fight) there's ten supporters and fans that have your back.
Don't hesitate to procrastinate.
See my stuff at http://www.cuteninjagirls.com
Don't hesitate to procrastinate.
Wow, this is awkward
Actually, to be honest, we just got carried away. I admit, things got out of hand on that podcast. We shouldn't have done it, and I could have at least tried to edit it out, but I didn't. In any case, we don't hate you, Kris, or Jason.
So, I apologize publicly for what I said in the podcast on my end. I can't and won't apologize for what anyone else said, or drew, because those are their own thoughts and they're entitled to them.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of my actions. I just don't like to insult people when they can't speak up and defend themselves immediately. That's cowardly, and I can't abide by that. So, that's why I'm making this apology publicly, for myself more than anyone else. I'm making sure that I'm a big enough man to admit when I'm wrong. Again, I apologize, it wasn't right and I'll be doing my best to make sure this doesn't happen again to anyone.
Just for the record.
I thought we were all past this.