ZUDA EIGHTEEN

Today we kick off with another fatal colon malfunction and I’d hate to see it become a signifier of a bad comic but let’s look at the evidence. Kharon: Scourge of Atlantis by Jim Shelley and Pierre Villeneuve was a fairly straight forward adventure strip and the inclusion of sword fighting skeletons at the very end never fail to bring to mind the (by now ancient itself) Ray Harryhausen animated scene from Jason and the Argonauts. Everybody loves that bit – don’t they? That’s the point at which this should have started for, unless you are trying to appeal to children, you should never begin the beguine!?! That unfortunate structure always seems to mean that the whole thing comes over a bit flat. More Pierre Villeneuve art to be found here.

Similarly Planet X by Trey Causey and Chaz Truog with Blake Wilkie and Jim Shelley also fell a little flat in the competition. There’s not much wrong with either of these efforts in the separate elements, but I can’t help but feel both these strips could have done with a ‘director’ – someone to take an overview and tweak the direction of the strips in a more general way. They both lack impact. But at least Kharon had linear direction. Planet X seems to wobble about not knowing where it might stumble to next. Entertaining for each moment, but as a whole instantly forgettable. More Chaz Truog here.

Now we come to the man. Steve Steiner! He needs no introduction to Zuda regulars and today I’ll cover all four of his strips, but first the early ones he created on his own and that means we start with Everyone Laughs at the Crocodile Man. This falls very certainly into my most hated category since it is a fairly ordinary and traditional ‘webcomic’ -that thing that harks back to newspaper strips (yet seemingly without the editorial common sense). I saw it. I didn’t like it much. Apart from the fact that it IS by Steve Steiner it holds little interest. There is one thing. The title reminds me of Absurdity At Its Best! I can’t think of two more suicidal titles, but Steve’s is worse by a hair. Everyone? EVERYONE?

Now that I’ve got that out of my system we come to Colonel MacTagart Steve Steiner’s second entry. Now Zuda kindly provides a method of finding the best comic in any given month. You simply scroll to the bottom and read the one in tenth place. Guaranteed. OK, only kidding but at least in this case something closer to the truth. The cartoon figures against the painted backdrops are nothing new, but still it’s an unusual style to see on Zuda and Steve nails it. The comedy unfortunately is a gentle one-joke thing that is too stretched out to be effective. It reads better outside the hot hell of a competition.

Middle-Aged Monster Steve’s third strip solves the problems above by coming out of the gate with yet another treatment. Steve’s trademark style remains – but another technique? This guy is unafraid to change things up and try something new – he’s fast too, which makes him a force to be reckoned with. One of the best comedy strips on Zuda this struggled despite having most of the old guard behind it – which was at least a good indication that Zuda wasn’t to become an ‘old boys’ network. We’ll come back to Steve in a moment. More Steve here and here.

But first one the most laid back creators on Zuda and his strip Untrue Tales. Sam Little likes to present a persona not unlike the rough and tumble characters that feature in his tales of untruth. He doesn’t care too much what you think, which allows him a certain confidence in presenting whatever he feels like with no pressure to conform or please. That first untrue tale was a classic. The second for the invitational was positively destructive. So if you are a fan of Sam’s work, like me, you’re probably in for a wild ride of unpredictable ups and downs. Sam’s style in the production of the work seems also to mirror this, from hasty scribble to loving detail to lazy repetition to careful collage – it’s all over the place, but somehow just works. More untruths here and here.

Teachers by Gabe Ostley has a similar couldn’t care less attitude towards the work. Honestly it’s sometimes hard to decide what is attitude and what is plain inability! Yet, either way, it has an attraction and an exuberance which with luck and the wind behind you carries you along. that is after all the function of a comic and frankly I’d prefer a lot less worthy drawing and shading and a lot more meaningful mark-making. Teachers displays a level of risk and my only criticism is that perhaps Gabe could take it even further. I see a tentativeness that holds it from going completely overboard. Much more teachers here and here.

But. Here’s where it all comes together. The Hammer by Sam Little, Gabe Ostley, Rob Berry and Steve Steiner. Recently finished the first season on Zuda and, while we wait to find out if there’s to be more, time to reflect on what impact it might have had. The update schedule was certainly entertaining though it might have effected the viewing figures somewhat. The story was linear thankfully, but the most important aspect of this was the overall ‘direction’ and ‘concept’. This is the kind of sixty screen story you explain in a sentence if need be or off the back of a napkin to an uninterested editor. It is an easy sell – and that’s what a lot of people are missing. Don’t get me wrong – this has subtlety – but it’s the blend of subtlty and obviousness that works here. Great comics often happen in the mix. More Hammer here.

And speaking of the mix finally we have Postcard by almost everyone – including a few hopeless talentless wannabees, but enough about Ron, Kwanza, Nika and Dave! There is a missed opportunity here, but I can’t give all my good ideas away

IN THE TUB … WITH SAM LITTLE

Here we are again and to tell the truth this is a bit of a squeeze.  I’ll have to ask Sam Little if he’s not from Norway originally and if the name Little is not some kinda joke! Anyhoos, Sam Little it is. He of Zuda daily The Hammer, his ex-Zuda entry and very own Untrue Tales and probably a load of other stuff he’s not telling us about. Welcome to my tub Sam.

Postively chuffed to be here, old boy! Why, I… Jeez Laweez, guv. Do you actually ever change the water in this thing? I detect the distinct reek of Ostley. The pink bubbles are a nice touch though.

Read the rest of sam’s interview after the break … but for those of a nervous disposition I haven’t actually edited out any of Sam’s somewhat colourful language so you have been warned.

IN THE TUB … WITH GABE OSTLEY

Time for another long soak made interesting by casual conversation. My guest in the tub this week is long time Zuda contributor and now pencil man behind Zuda winner The Hammer Gabe Ostley. I’ll be interviewing all the talents behind The Hammer over the coming weeks and it should make for interesting stuff although I’d hate to allude to anything like ‘The Fantastic Four’ as that might just lead to embarrassment!

Welcome to my humble bathtub Gabe. First of all do tell the readers about the globe trotting you get up to. It says here you’re based in Hong Kong, you are married, a teacher? Set me straight on all that. It sounds a sight more interesting than making webcomics!

Woah, thanks for letting me into the tub! I work at a school in Hong Kong as an artist-in-residence, which means I get to work with kids from age 2 all the way up to 18. Talk about interesting, you haven’t seen interesting until you’ve given acrylic paints to a room full of four-year-olds. Yowza!

Now aside from The Hammer which we’ll come back to, long-time Zuda fans will remember your series Teachers which although it lost first time around was invited back for a second go in the invitational. Tell us all about that process, what it meant to you and where we can find more Teachers.

I was lucky to find out about Zuda right at the beginning. I remember I was searching for some comics to buy online (really hard to find good comics in Hong Kong by the way) and went to the DC website to look at some previews. Then I came across the thing that Jim Lee wrote about Zuda and went to check it out. So when the competitions started I was really chomping at the bit to see what kind of stuff they were looking for. I had this idea of kind of merging GHOSTBUSTERS with the teachers I worked with. Mr Baker is almost exactly from life – though the teacher I based him on kept telling me: make him MORE extreme! MORE! Anyways, I was really trying to make something that looked different. Something really raw, and I was really excited to get that acceptance letter. Up till then I had been drawing comics a lot, but nothing was really happening with them. So just getting into the contest was HUGE for me. And then, while I was on the honeymoon with my wife, Teachers was in the invitational. It was a great time.

Gary Epting started up Amalgamated Artists and that’s where I really got to know Rob and Sam and Steve better. It’s also where I had Teachers updating for a few months. Since The Hammer hit I’ve kind of put it on hiatus, but I’m anxious to get back to it. It’s always been a graphic novel in my head, and it’s almost there…

Was Teachers your first attempt at an online comic or is there other stuff we don’t know about? What do webcomics mean to you? A hobby – or a profession?

Yeah, that really was my first attempt at one. I had done stuff for my college newspaper, and a couple underground ones in NYC, but I had never thought seriously about webcomics until ZUDA came along. It’s definitely a profession for me. I’m serious as a heart attack about making comics.

Tell us about your connection to comics in general. Are you a fanboy? Do you have a collection? You’ve gotta be into Manga surely?

The Dark Knight Returns is a religious book to me. And Batman is responsible for starting this comic obsession since I was in the 7th grade. It’s never stopped. I’m a fanboy. Mostly, I follow things that certain artists do. I’m always attracted to things that look really unique so my collection is all over the place. Manga is something I’ve only recently gotten into. In Hong Kong there’s of course a ton of it, but only a few are translated into English. I’m thinking about starting DragonBall when I visit home this summer.

You were the sole creative talent behind Teachers. How does it feel being part of a team now?

I’ve learned a lot through this collaboration. I really love it. Sam is doing some wicked stuff with this crime fiction and it’s a genre I’ve always loved. With something like Teachers, there’s been times where it really feels like work, and that’s mostly because of the writing. And it’s hard sometimes to be fully committed to drawing a page when you’re not sure about the writing. But I’ve never had that problem with Sam’s scripts. There’s been times reading The Hammer script when I’ve actually had to stand up and pump my fist. It is that damn good. It took me awhile to get into the thick brushy lines Rob uses, but now there’s this excitement to see where he takes it. He’s really turning it up and adding that noir-ness it needed. And all of us have been floored by the Steiner. When he started showing us some of the things he was doing with textures and lighting … man you gotta see it!

The Hammer is running, what every day now, on Zuda? So with that schedule I think we can assume it’s finished or very nearly. What has that been like, working to what must be a very different set of deadlines?

That’s another thing about working on a team. I think I’ve had the most fun drawing this than any other comic project I’ve worked on. Each page felt like play time because Sam had done all the hard thinking, and I knew Rob and Steve would amp it up and fix any fumbles I made so really all I had to do was play. Deadlines were never an issue.

Got any advice for wannabe Zuda entrants? Either on their content or the way they might conduct themselves. The heat of competition seems to effect people in different ways. You’ve been there three times now. What have you learnt?

I think the biggest thing I learned is that once you are in, you gots to work! With Teachers I thought marketing was telling my family and friends to vote for it. Nah son. That’s just the beginning. On The Hammer each of us was all over the place, writing messages to total strangers in the dark alleyways of myspace, making postcards, buttons, bookmarks, going everywhere we could to drum up support EVERY DAY. It was a fierce campaign, and you really gotta be prepared to do that if you want to win.

What’s your personal Zuda favourite so far? The one that makes you think “Heck I wish I’d done that!”

I love the Zuda. There’s a lot of great comics to love. But looking back… I still love Alex Vidal’s The Passenger. It’s just damn fun and a cool premise. That’s another one he’s said could be a graphic novel someday, and I’d love to read it when it is.

Ah, there can never be too much love for The Passenger! When The Hammer finishes, what next? Any new collaborations or projects on the horizon? A return to Zuda maybe with a new entry or will you be angling for more murderous giant pink bunny rampages?

Team Hammer has already been talking about more seasons of Pink Bunny Vengeance. Super cool stuff. So I’d definitely be down for more of that if we get the chance. And there are a few Top Secret Projects floating around that I hope I’ll be able to tell you about soon!

You better! And lastly how does bathing in America differ from bathing in China? This is after all a bathing blog and my readers will want to know!

There’s no SPACE for a tub in Hong Kong man! Every apartment I’ve stayed at here has had a bathroom the size of my kitchen sink in Minnesota. It’s tough man. Can I just stay here? Where’s Mr. Bubble??

I think you’re sitting on him. I just didn’t want you to misconstrue me pointing in that direction! Thanks Gabe. Hong Kong is a long way to come for a bath.

Join me again dear reader for another soaking … In The Tub!  Who’s next? Maybe another member of Team Hammer, maybe someone else? Who knows what horrors lie beneath the soapy ring? (Hmm, that didn’t quite come out like I meant it)

THE HAMMER RISES

ZUDA FEBRUARY PART II

Have you all recovered from that ending? The grand finale to the February competition – possibly the most exciting ending so far on Zuda? I’d like to believe it wasn’t manufactured (he-he) but when the abacus breaks what’s a huge corporation to do?

Anyhows – in fourth place was Splitting Atoms by Siddharth Kotian which kinda reminds me of this month’s front runner Children of  Bighand, sorry Armageddon in that it is very well drawn in the traditional American comic book style that we are oh so familiar with and in the same way fails to really produce a strong emotional reaction. Technically both very well done, but somehow lacking a little heart, a little personality all their own. When the competition is light these tend to do very well, but when the competition is a bit stiffer then they can fall away as this did. There’s really nothing not to like about these entries and this style but in the end what you should be hoping for is an emotional connection, because they are the connections that will last. It’s nice when you can draw big robots very well, but no-one is going to remember your name for that.

A healthy option for the yoof of today (what do the young call themselves nowadays? — I don’t get out much! ) was Ninjas from Ibiza: Clubbin’ to Death by Francesco Biagini. Definitely a vision of artistic loveliness not dissimilar to the glorious Sheldon of Vella. Like Supertron this is exquisitely beautiful and at the same time completely useless as narrative. Not really experimental, more wildly indulgent, but none the worse for that. I don’t have much time for hedonism — too busy whipping myself with a knotty cord — but I can appreciate the skill (when no-one’s looking). It is what it is and fails likewise because of that emotional disconnect. Readers are simple creatures. Tell us a story. Any story, really we’re not fussy. But no story is really no good at all.

In a very close second place this February gone was Azz’s Inferno by Thane Benson. Thane put up a terrific manly fight against several nameless bullies who nipped at his heels for most of the competition. I always thought this would do well as all that devilish stuff hits the demographic sweet spot. Can’t stand it myself, but I did admire many aspects of this particular effort. The graphical approach to the art, the panels to screen ratio, the compression, the nippy cute dialogue, all spoke to me of a winner. I’m still surprised it didn’t win to be honest. The only negative might have been the colouring as I would’ve liked the graphics roughed up a bit more. Those smooth photoshop grads can get a bit wearing after a time.

Well now. The winners were Sam Little, Gabe Ostley, Rob Berry and Steve Steiner with The Hammer the unlikely tail (sp!) of a pink bunny with tool fetish! It’s no secret that I like all of these guys (‘cept one – you guys do know when I’m joking, right?) and I like to think they would be friends if they like lived closer and bought me things, and this conflict of interests did make me wonder at times at my eventual choice. Obviously I wouldn’t have voted for it if I thought it was shit (it wasn’t) and obviously I voted for it because I thought it should win (it did), but I am a questioning soul and I can’t help but wonder … who would I have voted for if I hadn’t known these guys. I like to think I’d have voted the same way, but I know the human psyche is a complex thing Norman. Will I ever know? So why did I think it should win? In a word – potential. I know these guys can come up with the goods. I don’t think The Hammer is the finished article by a long chalk, but these talents well used could actually push at the envelope. Something tells me they’re just too nice to try – too grateful for the win – that having broken into the sweet shop they’ll settle for eating all the sweets and then find themselves too fat to escape. Maybe. A man can hope for better things can’t he? Consider yourselves poked guys.

Pick of the screens has to be the iconic eighth from The Hammer. If ever there was a comic that won on one screen it was this. If it wasn’t this then it must’ve been High Moon. If you don’t know what I mean, you’d better find out if you want to win this competition. I can’t remember the last time my hopes rested on a giant fluffy pink bunny!

BIG ISSUES – MORE CHEATING

Now to the big issue of cheating. That’s cheating folks, not bending the rules a little. That’s multiple votes for yourself. And here’s where I stand. Getting your Granny to vote for you IS voting for yourself. Unless she regularly surfs the net looking for new comics to read in her own time then you sticking a computer in front of her and telling which keys to press – well that’s voting for yourself. You knew that already though. Jiminy Cricket might have already whispered that in your ear perhaps. Not Gordon Ramsey though.

The whole point of the marketing is to bring in new readers, or white stars as they’ve become known none too affectionately by the Zuda regulars (or the old peculiars as I like to think of us). The idea being that if the white star sticks around they might actually find an avatar for themselves and become regulars – like me! However there’s nothing that panics the Zuda crowd more than a sudden influx of white stars. People suddenly get suspicious, if not downright xenophobic. Along with the white stars comes the natural suspicion of – where the devil are they coming from? Are they real? Did they get here under their own steam? Were they press-ganged? Or are they just the creative team creating new accounts in order to vote for themselves.

I generally think that most white star invasions have been genuine. There have been one or two instances where I’ve thought that the patterns of speech used were eerily similar to one another, but that’s about it. There have been other instances of determined efforts to coral votes from a large captive audience as I mentioned yesterday.

On the other hand (and because I have two) the sign-up and log-in is fairly tedious and off-putting. People, especially work colleagues are not always likely to do what you tell them. Most people I know would vote for anyone else in order for ME not to win! Not knowing the effect you’re having as a competitior will either drive you to desperation increasing your efforts day by day or it’ll make you throw in the towel. I guess Zuda is gambling on the former. Personally I was hoping that the numbers of users would give a clue as to when the tipping point of credibility was reached, I thought about 80,000, but if most of those people are press-ganged non-returners we may be in for a longer gestation period than we thought. Or at least I thought. What are we now, 37500? I can’t help but wonder the percentage of users vs one-time voters. Anyone hazard a guess?

Of course we don’t know the number of voters or the number of votes cast. So we can’t even work out how many votes it would take for a cheater to seriously alter the results. The cheaters and the interested parties are left to guess – which I guess sums up the security arrangements! Other than noting (which I doubt) or barring (which I doubly doubt) the IP addresses of those involved what do we expect Zuda to do? I know some people don’t like my American Idol analogies but they hardly block phone votes from the contestants and their friends and families on that show. Internet votes and phone votes are slightly different beasts, but why should they be treated as such?

We’ve been told before and we’re expected to take it on trust (!) that Zuda has ways and means to sort out issues of illegal or suspicious voting trends. The standard answer to why those techniques will not be made available to the general public has been trotted out. Don’t worry folks your money is safe in our bank. Because we say so. As youthful readers already know trusting that kind of authority is not the kind of thing to be doing. The votes are secret. The system for calculating the winners is a secret. The systems for detecting cheats is a secret. In fact anything within the control of the Zuda powers-that-be is a secret. Why do you imagine those secrets exists. For your protection? Oh excuse me – nurse, my stitches!!! Anyways, so what I’m saying is why should Zuda block any votes at all? Why not let the winner be the person who can physically generate the most false votes? I’m sure you’ll tell me. I’m only asking to check if you are paying attention!

Now Zuda is a sensitive beast not long out in the world so I’m forced to repeat that I’m generally in favour of Zuda as a mover and shaker in the world of webcomics. It’s suffering from being a corporate player at party reserved for anarchists and it’s almost bound to appear a little like a stuffed shirt, but there are ways around this. I would have done things differently, but then I’m a genius. A poor genius at that! Enough! Whaddya think? Let me know.

I’m deliberately trying to pose and provoke questions here. I’ve still some of my own answers to reveal so “stay tuned” as no-one says anymore.

RABBITS THAT HAVE GONE BEFORE

Ten big rabbits for your delight. I’m not saying anything about this month’s Zuda competition but here are ten rabbits for your delight. You like the rabbits yes? You vote for the rabbits yes? The voting booth appears at the end of this post. All the images below have been borrowed from the Grand Comicbook Database a resource well worth using and supporting.

Bunny with a bow-tie, Billy Bunny is a simple guy – nothing special. Even the worms are getting the better of him. I sympathise with this sap already. You’re supposed to eat carrots, not apples!

Now that’s what I call transport. Something tells me the aerodynamics are arse-backwards, but still it runs on carrot juice and if it breaks down you can always eat it. Transport solution and nutritional meal in one. They knew a thing or two back then.

This cover would render the Green Lantern powerless. I’m not at all sure about a bright yellow rabbit as that’s not the kind of colour you go when eating too many carrots. Let’s not mention the symbolism of the carrot through the letter O in the title. I suppose the artist thought he had to shove it somewhere.

Happy Rabbit gets about, but it’s not a hollowed out giant carrot so he loses points for that. Still, at least he’s happy and he has a Derby hat which to me suggests he’s something of a rascal. No not a gargoyle, a rascal.

The Speedy Rabbit family suffer from hollowed out heads. The young speedy in green won’t muffle the sound of gunfire with those tiny digits. I think lugholes should be as small as possible for safety reasons. And aren’t stereotypical Native Americans supposed to have bows and arrows? I guess the white man’s been trading again!

Specially written and drawn for little folks – so no swearing, sex or violence then like all the others, but why then do I get an unpleasant feeling about this cover. I’m still trying to figure out what it is.

This is one soppy cow-rabbit, cow-bit, rabbit-boy, whatever. I think he might have a chance with Marietta Casey whoever the hell she is. I hope it’s not his mother or anything. Do you think he goes to the same barber as his horse?

Atomic Rabbit’s series never really took off like others of his kind. Might it perhaps have been the fact that every kid in the fifties knew ATOMIC meant BAD! Stand this rabbit next to Hoppy the Marvel Bunny and I think we’ll come to the same conclusion. This is where Black Adam started!

OK so ATOMIC isn’t so bad if you look like a friendly bunny at least. What’s worrying here are the inclusion of Pumpkin People and Corn Creatures. This is a golden age comic, not some weird shit from the sixties counter culture! I’m not sure.

Super Rabbit! Look how do I know this is even a rabbit? Where’s his teeth. This character could be a vole with long ears for all I know. Ah well, I guess some rabbits just don’t like you drawing attention to their teeth. He must be the sensitive type.

Anyhows – go vote for a real mean rabbit, a man’s rabbit, a real rabbit’s rabbit, a rabbit with a carrot … I mean a hammer. The Hammer!

WEBCOMIC BAZAAR

I’ve received a couple of requests for plugs from webcomics out there in the wider world. Kiddy-friendly strip Gene’s Journal by Trevor Roth and David Reddick is one of those simple yet hard to fathom what they were thinking type strips. Is it so simple an idea that’s it’s pure genius or is it so convoluted that it’s stupid with a capital ‘S’. I don’t know – you tell me, but being fairly kiddy-unfriendly myself I can only perhaps appreciate the slickness of the site design. Although the humour is just too undemanding for my tastes, the design is clean and attractive and I really love that Gene ‘beams down’ to view his own comic strip. That goes down in this Captain’s log as being cool at least.

More in line with my limited sensibilities is Road Crew by Tommie Kelly which has some pretty solid cartooning going on. It’s especially good when it’s  in colour with a very subtle palette that gives it a unique mood and counter-points the comedy elements really well. I’m not drawn in by the subject but the characters are well defined and sufficiently interesting for me to give a second look. It’s got a manageable archive and it looks set to continue for a while so I’ll most likely come back to this one later to see how it develops. Go take a look see and let me know what you think. I think he’s onto something.

Recommendation isn’t quite the word I’m looking for next but Omega Experiment by ER Mixon, TA Harmonson and RH Stewart is, well, an experiment of some sort. It’s easy to dismiss (well it would be if I didn’t have to create a WOWIO account to view it) as mindless violence, but there is a big but. It’s very graphic in more ways than one and it actually kinda grew on me after a while. The early pages are unreadable and the following pages rely almost entirely on gigantic sound effects SKREEEEE! CRASH! BOOM! ARRGH! but y’know there is something there – even if it is only a love of graphic storytelling. Well, loving what you’re doing is a pretty good start. But this is my advice to the creator. Get it off Wowio and stick it almost anywhere else so people can see it easily and for free. Redraw the first few pages and crucially … keep it going. Draw readers in and let them comment on it. You never know where it might lead.

Not a request or an obligation. More a pleasant confluence. I’ll be petting the big pink bunny this month:

STUFF AND NONSENSE

Firstly this! What does it mean? You’ll have to wait, but not long.

Secondly. Good advice never changes. Listen-up ladies, this is for you … I think. Another gem, this time from one of those shameless true life romance comics that dominated the fifties along with crime and horror. Although reading some of them I’m more shocked by the content of these true life romances than I am by the horror and the crime! I’ll find one in particular I have in mind and show you later. Meantime take heed of the following:

That’s right. ‘Cause your a real lame-brain now, right? Now you’re asking “where can I find more gems of wisdom like this one?” I’ll tell ya sister, if yer’d only quit gabbing. Right here. I’ll pepper these throughout the following month. Collect the set why don’cha? Here’s part two already:

That’s the first thing I think of when I spy a dame – yeah, her ‘carriage’ – woot woot!

And don’t worry I’m not about to turn this site into a freak show of crappy adverts but hey I’ve gotta start somewhere and I’ve been neglecting the design side of the blog. The picture links to the site that discusses the image in more depth – or not. It is rather an old pic, so I’ll do my best to come up with more up-to-date stuff in future! Despite the obvious, I’m not sure if I’m more disturbed by the suspicion that the model has been photoshopped to look pregnant! Either way I’m left asking myself “is this for real?”

Luckily perhaps I can't think of a caption!