Waffle

Xenozoo is an interesting, so far wordless webcomic about a space traveling animal collector. Neat style, though there's still several gaps to be bridged between the realism with which the alien bunnies are rendered, the gangling, cartoony shape of the human character and the cute, children's animation look of the same character in the header. One to watch.

My 2003 guest series for Fight Cast or Evade, People of the Sewer, has now been added to the archives at ROCR.net. Read it one page at a time or all sixteen installments as a giant vertical scroll. It's almost a year since Fight Cast or Evade ended, and it's time I brought this story home. It's another affectionate parody of the fantasy clichés underlying so many fantasy/RPG webcomics, so I've archived it under Unfantasy. It's different from the other comics in that section of the website though, because it's a rare foray into Furry comics for me, and because it has a lot of poop-based humour. And haikus, but mostly poop. It's a yin-yang kinda thing.

Drawing those animal characters was a lot of fun for me back in 2003. I'd like to do that again some time.

Oh, no, I ain't. I'm just not drawing much. Or writing much. I did manage to get these two CameoComics done though. They're a little easier to fit in than those elaborate full-colour ROCR pages.

The comic that first inspired me to seriously pursue web cartooning has been back and on a mostly regular schedule for a few months now, and looks like it's back to stay. It also got a new name: Alfheim, which now that I'm used to it, I like a lot better than I did the old one. Let's never speak of the old name again.

ComicSpace and WCN are Merging, and Getting Investment Capital.

I knew about the investment capital but I hadn't seen the merger coming in a million years. And yet it makes perfect sense. They really are complementary services run by complementary talents, to the point where I could use the word "synergy" with a straight face without feeling a complete wanker.

I'm very excited about this news. This doesn't usually happen when there's talk of mergers and investment capital, but it is happening now.

Wowio is supposedly a rather good way for webcartoonists to get their e-books out and even make a bit of money through the advertising Wowio embeds in the e-books, but when I try to sign up so I can try it out and see how it works, I get this. Boo hiss.

Ironically, their About us page says:

WOWIO opened on the World Wide Web in August 2006 endeavoring to dramatically expand access to important written works by eliminating the economic, geographic, and logistical barriers of readers while also ensuring that content owners are fairly compensated.

Looks like they've got a long way to go then. They also require authentication for downloaders of the free e-books and limit the number of downloads per day. On the whole, I prefer the system that Joey Manley's Modern Tales uses. How about rolling out this feature for Webcomicsnation, Joey?

I've got a guest comic up at CameoComic. For some reason, the regular artist on that comic, which has crossed over extensively with ROCR over the past six months, has been falling behind on her updates, so various webcartoonists are chipping in at the last minute to catch up.

The update is part of a long story and won't make a lot of sense on its own, but I thought some of you might want to take a look at it anyway.

I'm taking the rest of the month of August off from Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan. Three reasons:

1. While the quality of the last month's updates was all right, I was finding it harder and harder to make them even at the reduced schedule. I wasn't having as much fun with it and I was getting more than a bit fed up with the work. I need to recharge those batteries.
2. Statistics for the website show that it's getting hit hard by the summer doldrums. If I'm going to take a break, it might as well be now.
3. Most importantly, I can no longer afford to go on spending so much time on the comic. My hunt for paying work is finally picking up steam but I really need to work full-time on it until I'm employed and earning a wage. A good one, as I've been sliding into debt over the past few months. I'm working on it, but the compulsion to create comics has been a big distraction. Time out is necessary.

Of course, if, as is the plan, I'm employed by the end of the three-week period, it's quite possible that I'll need more time off as I settle into my new schedule, and in any case I will have less time to write and draw. So further reductions in the schedule are very likely.

Over the next three weeks, starting on Tuesday, August 7, I'll be running the White House in Orbit story "Marauders of Mars" from 2001, on a daily schedule, on this website. The Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan story "Feral" will continue to update on the Modern Tales mirror on a weekly schedule as planned, until I run out of material. If I end up staying away for longer than three weeks, I've got one or two plans lined up that will at least keep the ROCR flame burning through my leave of absense; one of these plans is already in operation and I've noticed that some people have spotted it.

If, on the other hand, my jobhunt fails, I'll probably have at least some new material ready at the end of the three-week period. I can't guarantee how much it'll be, but there'll be some.

On the day when Matt Trepal announced the end of his webcomic, Fight Cast or Evade, its website was down, so I'm taking note of it now instead of yesterday. I've enjoyed Matt's humour and storytelling a lot over his comic's seven-year run.

In recent months it had been updating sporadically, and I guess Matt is right to end it now instead of pushing through with it without having the motivation to really do so. Seven years is much longer than most webcomics survive anyway, so well done and thanks, Matt.

Adam, who is leaning over my shoulder as I speak, reminds me to mention that Timmerryn/Rahball's run on Dangerous and Fluffy started this weekend. Timm brought a lighter touch and atmosphere to the comic during its first run, fitting the farcical turn Adam's writing was taking at the time. Timm appears to have dropped out of comics, though, and hasn't even posted on this blog much, despite being a co-blogger since almost the beginning. Too bad as Timm's work on this and The Pantheon was always fun to read.

There's about three months' worth of reruns left - three months for Adam to find Artist No. 3. I'm not sure if he's put out a call, but it's likely he will.