Merely a harmless pun for he was never ill. There are numerous bloggers who use their blogs to draw our attention to interesting developments out there in web-comic-land and I’m grateful to more than one – I love keeping up with who’s doing what, where, when and often to whom. I try to get in and out of some of these blogs pretty damn quick. Big and small some people still don’t know how to conduct themselves in public. Art Patient is different. There are no hidden agendas, no axes needing a grind and your host there, one Delos Woodruff, manages to pick the choicest cuts without fear or favour. How he manages to keep his head above the regular cat-fights and manure shovelling that goes on from the top to the bottom of the terribly small world of webcomics I’ll never know. But manage it he does and it makes Art Patient the place to go for interesting developments and discussion. He’s not one to point out unneccessary fluff keeping his eye keenly on the little of substance that’s out there. I rarely find him wasting my time at any rate.
Delos recently resigned from the thankless task of moderating Comic Fencing, a multi-reviewer site, and that is now on what is hopefully a temporary hiatus. The only thing about that is that Comic Fencing needed a really solid guy to run it properly fielding numerous conflicting, diverse and strong personalities – including my own at one point. Without his common sense and fair approach I can’t see Comic Fencing ever coming back. Not the same as it was anyhow. It leaves a gap for sure but despite Comic Fencing going the way of the west Delos still reviews webcomics at Art Patient and his love for the medium is infectious. Although he always tends to err on the favourable ‘good cop’ side of his targets, he never-the-less manages some insightful criticism. And when he criticises you better take note – this is one moderate guy, so if he says something is going wrong, boy is it going wrong.
Not only that but he’s still working away in the back room trying to relaunch his own webcomic Frog Pond and he keeps himself busy with all manner of web projects – so watch this space. Well, not this space, that space obviously. As well as this space. Both if you can.
BLOGFLASH: Bloggers are a funny bunch. Comic and webcomic bloggers even funnier. Always a crisis. Usually a crisis of confidence. Me included. Here’s a reminder of a few blogs that I follow nervously expecting a breakdown at any moment.
Occasional Superheroine has had a crisis recently. I don’t tend to look for people to agree with me, so I find a strong opposing voice can be a very attractive thing. Be a shame to lose such a distinctive and strong voice from the scene. Valerie’s Goodbye to Comics was a fascinating (if a little scary) piece of writing I found challenging and absorbing. I recommend it for those of you with strong stomachs and even stronger minds.
The Floating Lightbulb has taken on the badge of sheriff and is determined to clean up this wild west town that is webcomics no matter what the consequences. There’s no doubt it needs cleaning up in my opinion but personally I’m staying out of it. I suffer from a medical condition my doctor describes as “cowardice, plain and simple”. Ben has comics too, here and here, but perhaps his most interesting contribution for my regular readers is the Psychedelic Treehouse resource. Bookmark it now as you’ll certainly need it later.
Elsewhere The Webcomic Overlook is thinking about criticism or maybe just ‘reviewing’ as we wouldn’t want to upset any real journalists would we. Not a crisis, but a bit of not unwelcome navel gazing perhaps. And it seems even Zudafollower is not immune either, in fact he might well be addicted! Confidence people, confidence!
ZUDAFLASH: The runners and riders are up. Place your bets. Good odds available early. Wait a week and all bets might be off. Dare you put your name to a winner now? Not your vote maybe – but the winner. Rarely the same thing in my case.
PLUS: Take another look to your right as I’ve juggled a few of those links, losing some losers and gaining some winners. That’s comic sites and design done, now to move through the other sections! I’ve also combined the pages above to a better purpose. And there’s even a new addition to the hall of fame.
February 3, 2009 at 10:29 pm |
A series of sharp observations here, Mike.
If I were a religious man, I’d pick you, Delos, and Kleefeld as the trinity of well-articulated webcomic bloggers. I’m not … so you guys just get the label ‘the sharpest tacks in the box’
February 3, 2009 at 10:45 pm
People who know me well consider me sharp, but unfortunately it’s not usually a compliment. Delos and Sean are more well-rounded and considered than me. I’m only practising.
February 4, 2009 at 3:35 am |
I was hoping to identify my motive before the sheriff metaphor was made. Oh, well.
I could probably write 4-5 pieces a week on how corrupt, dishonest and juvenile many webcomics players are.
You see, corruption is bad for business. Anyone attempting a webcomics career now, when the field is absolutely exploding with bad behavior, is going to have it rough.
I don’t have time to hold the threat of public humiliation (backed by facts) over people’s heads. I think what I’m doing is giving a tour of the foul underbelly, so anyone who already feels queasy will know there’s a reason, and that they are not alone.
Interacting on a civilized, adult level, we may escape, and fence off the rest. Sound harsh? Jealous? Perhaps even a bit intolerant? Keep watching my blog.
On another matter, I like Delos’ blog too, and I notice more and more people reading it. The thing about my friends, including him, who try to see the positive in most people, is that some people make that increasingly challenging. I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but soon I will be publishing stories that describe and verify behavior that eliminates any chance of me wanting to be around certain people. They’re just too crooked. At some point people like Delos and El Santo may have to come to grips with this and decide as what point they are willing to report on Person X without mentioning what that person is doing that is destructive to webcomics. This can’t be a happy prospect for them or other blogging peers, and it upsets me that it may be imposed on them.
Of perhaps not. Predictions are risky, and those are smart guys.
R Stevens is the one to watch, the canary in the coal mine. I’m sure he’s taken shortcuts, but he values what he has created too much to throw it away. Yet most of the people around him, with a giddiness associated with stock market bubbles, are sacrificing craftsmanship for ego. I think when he makes the calculation that things are out of control, and hurting more than helping, his moves will be a milestone. Unfortunately, he’s in deep, and he’d have to be feeling mighty bold.
February 4, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I await your revelations with interest. I’ve not been around the web long enough to be sure of everything I’m looking at and I don’t have any credentials as an investigative reporter. I’m seeing a lot of things that make me go “Sheesh”, but I’m not looking to make enemies for no good reason and without proof – and most things are just blatant hypocrisy rather than criminal activity. I’m not sure how useful calling people out is. I already suffer from a slight paranoia so I’m not cut out for the slanging matches that I see going on. I’m also sensitive about my lack of educashun and some people are more than capable of giving me a hiding when it comes to semantics. I have an idea to lead by example and ignore the bad, but I understand that I might just get crushed anyway!
February 4, 2009 at 8:05 pm |
I understand. I often feel the same way.
I brought this on myself. In my desire to understand as much as possible about doing comics online, I found a lot of corruption and deception. At first it was just certain episodes and certain people, but lately it has come together into a sharper picture, and it’s a pervasive, cultural, status quo.
The problem is, corruption and business can’t coexist very well. I could be a webcomicker who makes a comic and runs a store and doesn’t interact with the people in the scene, but what about all the other people (especially ones without my business experience) who are being set up for a big fall? Should I sit on what I know?
For me, it’s become the straw that broke the camel’s back. I see the extent to which a huge percentage of people are deeply involved in deception and cheating, and the “scene” has become useless to me. It’s also a threat: if this is my trade, and they are setting the reputation, they are dragging me down by association. I want there to be a written reference that offers the curious a clear explanation of why Honest Webcomics and Webcomics-As-Usual are not the same.
February 4, 2009 at 8:35 pm
At the moment I’m just a blogger and I don’t have my own comics. Perhaps when I do my experience will change. When I do have comics I’ll certainly want to be a part of a ’scene’ that is honest and supportive. As much as I like genuine support I don’t wish to be patronised either. While I like to be honest I don’t want to totally embarrass myself either. I realise that we all have egos that need supporting. I don’t give anyone a breakdown of what my views are on this blog because it’s embarrassingly small, but by the same token I can confirm that I’ve not got a huge readership. That’s as honest as I think I need to be. I once thought that to get by and become successful I should fake it in the way you describe on your own blog. But I can’t do that, unless I make a gag out of it. Ultimately I guess I rely on my meagre understanding of Karma. I feel sorry for anyone who puffs themselves up to lord it over less experienced people. Those who revel in cliques will ultimately find themselves outsiders – the only difference is that I think there is a natural process for that whereas you feel the need to expose them. I don’t disagree with your intent or even your choice of methods, however I stand by the phrase or saying wherever it comes from “if you sit by the riverbank long enough the bodies of your enemies will come floating past”.
February 4, 2009 at 9:16 pm |
Could be a long wait if you don’t have enemies!
That’s an interesting point of view. But in the secular world, at what point do you criticize behavior of individuals that seems wrong?
We have no problem with criticizing politicians, usually. But for smaller fish, it seems to be incriminating factors – mitigating factors x public status. A book is higher status than a blog. Mongering celebrityhood is higher than taking the JK Rowling approach. Meanwhile, being criticized on a blog is less than being criticized in the New York Times.
You quickly see it’s complex, and opinions will differ. For me, the tipping point often comes when the behavior of the criticized person is doing things that harm a group, and I have standing because I am a member of that group.
There is also the question of what is allowing things to evolve and what requires intervention. At the dramatic end, we don’t allow a maniac to come though our door with an axe; we call police. There was an episode a while back where a comics artist was enraged about a review that was quite mild and not vicious or false. He began a crusade, which I reported, that included all sorts of mischief, like rooting into our personal account info on home computers. I politely asked some of his collective mates if they might try to sooth him, and such cowardice I never saw. Despite coddling, KC Green was highly insulted that he should be approached and very shrill. Other people in the group cut off communication or participated in attacks. Clearly, they were afraid of this Sean Conchieri fellow, but it was amazing to see adults so thoroughly cowed that they would let their own collective be dragged into the gutter by his tantrum. I’ve since received pleas to delete my coverage of the account; something about it possibly interfering with finding a teaching job.
If that’s the kind who get hired as teachers, they can use all the data they can get.
But I think I have a grip on Conchieri’s issues. The whining and cowardice, the palpable fear, of the other Bombshelter Collective members is still not clear to me. I do notice that Green’s comic has been removed from the masthead.
This is all a small episode, but what was remarkable is that it was a great story to cover, with lots of serious issues, and no other blog picked it up. I have learned that a lot drank it in, and that Conchieri not considered credible, but it was a good example of whether natural evolution is realistic. There’s a hyperventilating letter on my blog today from someone I’ve probably never even mentioned, as I don’t follow his work. You can barely tell sometimes, regardless of what you do, whether a sudden eruption will arise. Less perceptive people tend to stroll past and tut-tut at what they call “drama.” One gets the sense they could walk past a rape with a similar reaction.
This is why I prefer comics to blogging. On a few occasions when I have considered resting the blog, people have urged me to continue, and I succumbed. I doubt it will stop under pressure. What’s to be learned? Only the future will tell.
February 5, 2009 at 2:48 am |
Now that I have a free moment, I wanted to chime in and say thanks for the very kind words (from everyone.)
The writeups on the other blogs are very interesting and spot-on. I liked the choice of phraseology about nervous expectations and there’s more to say about comic corruption. Some may try to make Ben the bad sheriff guy but underhanded things always get exposed somehow. It can’t be avoided.
February 6, 2009 at 1:09 am
I always thought Ben was a GOOD sheriff, but I find the battle he is fighting depressing on so many levels. And perhaps I don’t like being cast as one of the townsfolk against his Gary Cooper. I don’t like being cast at all. It’s all making me think. It might take me a while to come to any conclusion. Don’t hold your breath!
February 6, 2009 at 5:58 am |
You’re puzzled? What about me?
I think I just want to make sure it’s as rotten as I suspect before I do something rash, like pull out, and to leave a historical record for anyone who comes along who might want to know an alternate point of view.
I could write about it forever, I just don’t want my comics associated with anyone from Dumbrella, HalfPixel or Bomb Shelter, plus various individuals.
It’s embarrassing. If you’ve ever read my comics, you’ve noticed I produce at a higher standard, and I only want readers who are reading because they appreciate the strip.
There’s also not enough good webcomics, and a lot that are really just playing around by young people, trying something out. Where there are good webcomics, the people doing them are not people I want to be near, with a few exceptions. We’d rather kill our comics than see them dragged down by losers.
February 6, 2009 at 6:31 pm |
[...] in the air, because I’ve had that urge to rewrite my about page too. MPD57 also mentions some very nice things about ArtPatient and he reveals that he follows some comic blogs “nervously.” Below, in [...]