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So, basically, it's a Mac.

True, but so did Sinfest and PVP. I am surprised that there are no more mentions of PVP, Dork Tower and Nodwick, which all combine paper and online publishing.

Linkage

You might as well point to an example of the Mootrix.

some scheme by music

"Well, we were getting all these, well, I don't know what they were. These weird screens with scary messages, and those were just the complaint emails. Then we got an Xserve, and it all changed."

[Apple logo]

"I'm AC, and I just fired my IT guy."


*honk*

I thought that the first Matrix movie did two things well...1) had great, fantastical action sequences, and 2) messed with Neo's head and thus our heads.

it sounds like they decided to drop the latter and concentrate on the former. too bad, but maybe they are just doing what they are good at.

I found

Scott Kurtz's review very interesting.

Scott Kurtz, who does the online comic Player vs. Player, apparently has the same thought and is able to reconcile it.

I'm more worried about angry pandas myself....

http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=2003 0411

Here, the proof.

PVP comic strip from yesterday

I also believe [the X-box] to be a superior console in both hardware and the availible games.

That's because everybody knows that PCs are the better platform for games. Although the X-Box is more like a Mac.

Ever heard of a licensing agreement?

I am probably your intellectual superior.

Ah, right. Look in the mirror, monkey, that ain't no philosopher there.

Suppose you are at a friend's house and want to show him a Bloom County?

Ah yes, this happens to me all the time. Suddenly the Bloom County Spirit takes me over, and I must show my friend that strip right now. Lucky for me, this supernatural event also enables me to redraw the strip perfectly from memory.

If it's not funny enough to share with friends, then why do you want to read it at all?

I shared it with my friends at the time, thanks. I can loan a book to a friend too, instead of asking them to pay $10 themselves or violate the likely license agreement. If you've read anything Breathed has said about the topic, and have any respect for him and his opinion, you know it's not going to be as free as you claim to share strips.

As for kitchen/restroom reading....it's a damn shame someone so intellectually superior can't understand the idea of an "example" wherein you list one or two items that fit a general class (in this case, the class of all places that aren't in front of a CRT tube; I spose you probably don't spend enough time elsewhere to really understand that idea though).

Next time don't assume that because I point out that there are lots of places I would want access to this that aren't in front of a tube, and therefore I don't consider the idea to be a bargain, that I'm claiming that everyone who does want it on their tube is an idiot--I meant just you were being an idiot, because you talk as if by stating one thing I'm denying all other things.

Click here

i understand why anime is more expensive: niche market, licensing and republishing (dubbing and subbing) costs, blah blah blah. i'm not really complaining about that so much as the ways publishers try to yank money directly from my rectum. evangelion is a very good example of that:

1. release individual dvds at $25-$30 apiece
   
2. release boxed set
   
3. release super-tiger-dragon edition of the boxed set
   
4. profit
   

i know this problem isn't exclusive to anime, but it seems a lot more common. the sad thing is that fan loyalty is to shows rather than publishing houses, so a "good" publisher won't necessarily make more money from fan loyalty. since voting with dollars doesn't work well, is there a better way for fans to reward and punish?

I think this is the appropriate sentiment here.

Kidding. I lust after the sexy HD goodness too. Even if only to play Soldier of Fortune 2 like never before.

• Dec. 17th's PvP

  and

  Dec. 27th's Angst Tech

Cool.

I'll wait for the Super-Tiger-Dragon Edition...

• PVP Considered the best by many (and me)
  
• Kevin and Kell Very inoffensive, but quaintly interesting.
  
• The Adventures of Mayberry Melonpool A take on Trek. Goes way back.
  
• Nodwick A D&D henchman's life.
  
• Dork Tower Dorks like you and me. Good, but strips get rare these days.

Is there a reason that most online comics are in Black and White? Is it a cost issue? A resource issue?

I hope that a site like this will bring better quailty to the acutal art of on-line comics.

Scott? Is that you?

It brings to mind the July 8th cartoon from PvP Online.

Even funnier, though, is what I found when I hit google with "uber gulp".

Eeeek.

PVP, July 18, 2001

• Dilbert
• User Friendly
• Sinfest
• Penny Arcade
• MegaTokyo
• Real Life
• PvP

Secondly, I thought I could add to the list of worthwhile webcomics to read:
Penny Arcade (above)
Res Life
Mac Hall
Angst Technology
Zeek V2.0
I'll avoid the urge to shamelessly promote my own new comic :)

Ok, does Megatokyo have that large of a following here @ /. ??

Because amongst other webcomics:
Goats Is currently at Comicon putting out a second book.
Achewood is finishing up the polishing touches on a book.
Cat and Girl has a book going out.
As do a whole slew of others. Why don't they get mentioned??

and I claim my five pounds

In the words of Francis, from PvP: "Gaaayyyyyyy..."

...of a fairy hat dwarf, anyway?

Anyway, it would be well worth reading if he slew the dragon, took its treasure, then later uttered the line, "Though I badly needed to hire a wizard to change me back, I spent my reward on ale and whores."

As a form of serialization, web comics do okay if they are done well. Witness Megatokyo, Penny Arcade, PvP, and I guess to some extend Mac Hall, although I've only been reading the last for a few months.

The business model for these comics is interesting. The comic itself has no value; with so much competition in free entertainment there is no way they could make people pay for it. But they can sell merchandise and they can solicit fan endorsement. Kurtz sells comic books that are along the lines of the webcomic but not quite. Mac Hall and Megatokyo sell merchandise ala Cafe Press. Penny Arcade...well...I'm not exactly sure what they do, but it has something to do with wallpapers and Paypal.

And let's not forget ads.

What I would like to see, as a consumer, is a lot of these comics brought together under one web publication. In Japan, manga is distributed in a big monthly magazine containing works by many authors. The magazine sells, the ads sell, and the publication passes some of that along to the artists (I would hope). If something like this appeared online, say like Keenspot but more organized, more selective, and with much much much higher bandwidth, I would definitely pay for it, ads and all, simply for the convenience of a daily/weekly/monthly strip on a high availability server.

I did not know they had forums...
See that right there is an instant community builder. If you have any kind of traffic some people are bound to stick around. I've seen it around Song fighters, comic fiends, and since auctions can be a rush I could see people sticking around and chatting it up.

And yes, my last couple of auctions were stores having auctions on line (or estate auctions). It's funny, the music shop down the road sells some of their stuff cheaper on e-bay... more reason for me to not leave my house!

User Friendly totally sucks. "Ye Gods!" you say? How could I say such a foolish thing? The only redeeming thing about UF is the Sunday comic. The basic storyline is played and over. The art is inconsistent and bad. If you want to see how a good online comic is drawn, look at PVP.

Plus, PVP is actually funny, and people talk like real people. UF goes out of their way to keep bad language out of their comic, but Illiad doesn't seem to know how to actually write this way. I'm sorry, but having more than one person in the office saying "Ye Gods!" is not realistic.

BTW everquest is not a game, in a game there is a winner and a loser, the only winner in EQ is the people who get your money.

Umm, blatantly ripping off someone else's work and pretending it's your own is insightful?

BTW everquest is not a game, in a game there is a winner and a loser, the only winner in EQ is the people who get your money.

BTW everquest is not a game, in a game there is a winner and a loser, the only winner in EQ is the people who get your money.

However, despite the fact that your opinion surfaced in a major web comic, the view is not at all true. Game theory defines a game as a set of rules specifying:

1. Players
   
2. Alternative choices/actions players choose from
   
3. Order of play
   
4. Outcomes and payoffs
   

You can find a lot more about Game Theory, including information various types of games from Zero Sum to Nonconstant sum games and the like here.

=Brian

http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=2001 1109

(click on the Next button to see the story unfold)

-G

A bunch of people mentioned this fakester. I caught his show when channel hopping one night. "Christ on a bike!", I exclaimed, "This is the kind of bollocks people were routinely debunking as fraud a hundred or so years ago!"

Scott Kurtz of PVP did a brilliant pisstake of this guy at the start of April.

Like a lot of art forms it is only a relative few who sucessfully make large amounts of money from their chosen art form, the art form itself does not nesessarily guarrantee success even with a good business model. Giving the music industry as an example, a relative few number of musicians make it "big" or even make enough money to support themselves when compared with the large number of people who are musically talented or aspire to do such things. I myself run a web comic, Stars and Steel, which most likely will never even pay for itself, but I always hold out hope, and as stated in another post, is an enjoyable past time anyway. The relative few who do make a living from online comics, such as PVP and Penny-Arcade serve as a goal and reminder of what possibly could be achieved, and given the right business model we may even see the bar lowered, with the more successful comics becoming even more so, with the lower end of the spectrum ,insofar as webcomics are concerned, beginning to be able to pay their bills.

-M@

(Warning: This will look like a plug for a bunch of webcomics. It probably is, but I have a valid point. Mod me into oblivion of you wish.)

The big players in the print industry seem to be the only guys getting real attention when it comes to producing "comics" on the web.

What about the Keenspot or the Keenspace groups? They have a valid revenue model, even if they aren't making a ton of money(making money is a secondary concern to them). Heck, they're doing the opposite of the big boys: Moving from the 'net to print media. (Check for Roomies! and Superosity in your local comic store)

Another group is , which hosts, among other comics, Algernons Dilemma.

There are the big ones you've probably heard of, PvP and Sluggy Freelance who are actually making a living on their webcomic.

Heck, /. has Mega Tokyo banners!

Personally, I'd rather these, and others, than the majority of the junk the syndicates, et al, try to push onto the web. Nevermind X-Men, give me it's Walky!

Disclaimer: I run a webcomic, so this story pushed my buttons :)

J. T. MacLeod
-------------
UBERGEEK the Comic. Umlauts be danged.
http://ubergeekthecomic.com
It's neato!
-------------

Quoth Piro from MegaTokyo:

With our hosting change, our hosting expenses have also gone up dramatically. We don't really know where it will settle out at, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. Before people start asking, we will NOT be asking for donations or having a paypal donation button - MT will survive like any other good property, based on it's ability to sell a reasonable amount of merchandise. If you would like to support MT, please visit our store and buy some swag :)

Also note Scott Kurtz from PVP, who is selling original sketches for $300-$400 a pop on ebay.

I think that most webcomic writers do what they do for the fun they have drawing/writing comics. I don't think its much of a business thing. Take PVP. Scott gets profit from writing actual comic books (although, I'm sure, he probably gets some good money from the site also).
And then there's Sluggy Freelance (a GREAT comic if you people havne't read it yet) where he puts collections together and sells them as books.

I don't think there is much profit in the webcomic business....

With apologies to Sluggy Freelance

Sluggy, like most web comics, if you jump into it at a late date, makes no sense...you have to go to the beginning.
Even then, well, it grows on you. And who does not like "Bun-bun"...a switchblade toting mini-lop...heh.

Link whoring biatch that I can be: PVP, GPF, Sherman's Lagoon a long time favorite of mine, Dilbert of course, and one that was pointed out to me recently: Non-Sequitur and, of course, Userfriendly.

What is the common thread amongst all those sites I'd recommend? Intelligence, humor, referrences to other events (this usually escapes some of the younger crowd/moderators/slashdroids, no offense) and some funny characters, situations and all.

If you look at the comics on the links /. gave, well...I random sampled and was not impressed.

That's my opinion,

Cheers,

Moose.

Scott Kurtz of PvP fame write a nice rant followed by his own parody of this infamous work. I find it interesting considering Kurtz mentions his Christian beliefs on occasion (while still supporting gaming, including the dice-and-paper variety... or at least he did at the time - his roleplay link is no longer advertised). Its a nice counterpoint to Chick and the individuals he links to.

Errrm, LART, rather. (LARP == Live Action Role Playing. LART == Luser Attitude Readjustment Tool). Been reading Player vs. Player too much lately, I guess.

I hated Phantom Menance - not just because it was a kid's movie, but because it forced me to realize, as a 28 year old, that the first three weren't amazing films in my mind because they were amazing films, but because I saw them when I was in grade school.

Reminds me of this series of PVP strips.

I can't imagine what I'd do without online comics! I think the 'net is indespensible for any artist who doesn't want to compromise ideas for mass media. Yes, I love Dilbert just as much as the rest, but it's rarely that I get a real laugh out of it anymore. Most of the paper comics (and I'm thinking newspaper, mostly because I'm too cheap to buy comic books/manga/graphic novels) just don't have the same ability to adapt and don't have the "edge" that online comics do.

Sit down and read PVP. It is likely one of the funniest comics (paper or e-) available today. And, conveniently, it's also one that has bridged the gap, releasing a comic book as well as the online content. However it wouldn't have happened without the 'net. Back in the day when "For better or for worse" came out with a gay character, (it's the best example I can think of), a LOT of newspapers dropped it. Now compare that to something like PVP or Penny Arcade. If it were up to the syndicates, these would have never happened. We need online comics to support creativity, and not have to pander to the masses.

And if you're looking for edge (WARNING: this is extreme edge), there;s always Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles. It's as close to "edge" as you can get, but in a depraved, violent way. NOT recommended for kids.

A little Aeron Chair humor for everyone... it goes on for about of week of comics...

....to brighten everyone's day.

Fun point raised in PvP several comics back... You can retun the opened version for an unopened one... And then return the unopened one for a refund. Unless they're paying attention to those things at that particular store.


~Anguirel (lit. Living Star-Iron)
"Veni; Vidi; Vi C++"