Remember those Katsucon panels I mentioned? Here’s one of them. See me look like I know what I’m talking about early in the morning on a weekend!
Katuscon 15: How To Make Webcomics: From Sketch to Posting and All Points in Between. from kaiki on Vimeo.
You know what? I went to Katsucon a few weeks ago and haven’t posted a thing about it! For that, I apologize.
First off, welcome! Welcome to all of you new people who came across me and my stuff during Katsu, and decided to check out the site. Read comics. Go make funny read good*.
*Line ©Marty Fn Day
As for the con, many many thanks must go out. Thanks most of all to Onezumi and Harknell who put things together for webcomic artists. You are amazing. Thanks very much to everyone else, especially the friends I always rely on at cons (Nick, Marty, Dern, Brian, Garth, Brian, James, Nelly, Jamie, Jami, Rob, Chris, Barb, and the other 5 I’m sure I’m missing because I’m typing this so fast).
I was on some awesome panels with my friends as well as the Halfpixel guys (hi Brad, Kris, and Dave) and will post a link to that shortly. I also got to participate as the commentator for Super Art Fight, which is always a blast. I ate the most horriblest amazingtastic sandwich ever. Details here. Fan writeup here (mentions the sandwich).
Oh, speaking of seeing me in person, someone found me! I was spotted meeting up with all the other local Webcomic peeeps. The guy did a writeup about it, and I’ll leave the wording to him.
The reception was positive; Ross appeared quite thrilled to meet a reader in real life. We talked a bit about webcomics and got a photo, but then I had to leave as it was time to pick up my wife.
It’s true. I was totally thrilled to meet a reader in real life. As more conventions come up (and they will be posted on the site) I look forward to meeting more of you! Be warned: WEBCARTOONISTS MAY BE MORE HANDSOME THAN THEY APPEAR. Link to the writeup.
As this little shindig comes up on our 1-year anniversary, so does the first- ever public appearance of the comic. A little convention called Connecticon (in Hartford, CT) was kind enough to put up with my bullshit and give me table space (picture seen left, courtesy Marty “Blast-o-Rama” Day. This year, they’re doing that all again! I’m going to be a GUEST at this year’s Connecticon, and you should come! If this tickles your fancy in the slightest, Connecticon is July 31-August 2, and if you register now the weekend pass is $35! This offer ends March 14th. On March 15th, the weekend price goes up to $45. So if you are planning to go, now is a good time to register!
Oh btw, I put together an “Appearances” page for the site. Check it out.
I’m going to SXSW starting tomorrow! Yay! You totally don’t care! I do, though. If you’re going to be there, I’d love to meet up! Find me via this blog or Twitter.
Well, the next weekend, I’m going to be at Webcomics Weekend along with everyone else in the known universe. The entire freaking dog-gamn internet is going to be there. Looks like I’m sharing a room with half the webcomics that have ever linked to me. It’ll be like some kinda webcomic odd couple times 10. I’ll be posting more about Webcomics Weekend as we get closer, but if you’re going to be there, post here and let me know.
Finally, Connecticon! As I mentioned on the Appearances page, I’ll be there. Heads up all, if you want to go and want to save some money, you should sign up now. The 14th is the LAST Day to register for a Connecticon 2009 weekend pass at the price of $35! On the 15th the price will increase to $45! Link.
What does all this traveling mean to you, the viewer? Updates might get sketchy. If it starts to look like things are going that way, I’ll post about it on the site. You know what would make sure that doesn’t happen? Guest comics! I’m hereby asking y’all to send me guest comics as soon as you can. Think I make this look easy? Give it a shot! Send it to me and I’ll see about posting them on the site. Systemcomic at gmail dot com.
Consider this the first of 3 Webcomics Weekend posts. This one is dedicated to all the people I went to Webcomics Weekend to hang out with. People that, if you haven’t guessed, I am actually friends with.
Brian Wilson, who put together a two-room suite full of webcomics people. His last comic was bad (and he felt bad) but his new one, Geist Panik, is totally worth your time. He may have been drunk for about 80% of the weekend. You can tell because that’s when he starts in with the nipple twisting. DON’T ASK HOW I KNOW.
Kev and Blondie of Caf-Fiends are the greatest power couple of webcomics I know. Screw the rest of you webcomic couples, these guys always go above and beyond for me. Their comic, about coffee, weird crap, and Cthulu (which I don’t count as weird crap anymore) is lots of fun and getting better all the time.
Dern of Dernwerks (I’m linking to Hello With Cheese because I like it best) was my travel companion for most of the way back. His new comic, HWC, along with artist Bryan Prindiville, is totally worth your time.
Of course, I have to give it up to Bree and Ami. They were drinking whiskey DURING the “Clever T-Shirt” panel. Genius.
NEXT TIME: (later today or tomorrow) will be all about the people I got a chance to meet in person (I may have been on a panel with some awesome comics people). THEN: The Aftermath (more examples as Rosscott in the Wild).
Do you have any pictures with me in them from Webcomics Weekend? Send them or link to systemcomic@gmail.com (or just post in the comments here)! The best one gets a prize! A real, actual, physical prize!
Consider this the second post about Webcomics Weekend. This one is devoted to all those out there I finally got a chance to meet after months of talking online.
First up, I gotta give it up for Rick “Mind Pollution” Marshall. Rick has been a Systemic since around election day, when I wrote into his blog about how my webcomic’s characters would vote. We’ve been internet homeboys ever since (awww). We tried to meet up back at NYCC, but didn’t make it happen until NEWW. It was great to meet the man behind the mask (and by mask I mean Twitter icon) and share a drink and such. Awesome guy. He’s really the man of the hour because he’s also a writer for MTV’s Splash Page and wrote up a huge article about the weekend, linking just about every comic in the known universe (including yours truly). That was not an easy thing for him to post I’m sure, so make sure you get it some traffic.
Gary “Fleen” Tyrell gets a shout out, even though we met briefly back at NYCC. This man is such a fan of webcomics it isn’t even funny. I got a chance to draw in his “facial hair” sketchbook.
Lee Cherolis, who does some amazing artwork (and is currently working on a robot comic) I managed to run into later in the con. He interviewed me, we’ll see when it makes it online.
Let’s also hear it for Alina of Weregeek, Joel from Hijinks Ensue, and Rob and his lady-friend from Art Geek Zoo, Chris Yates, Braden and Vin from Kittyhawk and Tina from The Paul Reveres. Oh, and let me shout it out to Meredith Gran for being the face of Webomics Weekend. Nice one, Mer.
Of course, this was already a week ago and I’m probably forgetting more than my fair share of people. NEXT TIME: a funny story about how I’m a huge webcomic whore.
Have you ever heard of a blog called The Comics Closet? Well, you should. They write about interesting comics stuff and, on occasion, interview people. Who, you ask? Apparently me.
Still less than a year old The System is a glorious little webcomic that is gaining a lot of attention. A gag-based strip told entirely in the form of simple icons (like the little man on the bathroom door or the crosswalk sign), it may, as it grows, prove to be one of the titans of minimalist webcomics. My contact with Rosscott, Inc. was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.
So if you want to read about how this comic started, why it started, some of my favorite comics, what exactly “CONTRA JUICE” is, and a little bit more about the comic and me, check out the article.
There is a new blog starting up called The Webcomic Critique. The guy has a pretty interesting scoring system based on artwork, storyline, funniness, and content. Here he is talking about System 177:
Is it bad that I imagined a southern accent when I read the last line? I did. The System does an amazing job of keeping a semi-storyline while keeping all of its pages fresh. What this comic lacks in overall amazing color graphics it makes up for in funny jokes. This one is a perfect example of that relationship, where the joke is really funny but the same images are used for almost all the panels. And – really – repair shops always find something extra to tack onto your bill. Jerks.
So far, I’m in the lead beating out Hitmen for Destiny, Thinkin Lincoln, and Cyanide and Happiness. Woo! Link.
Last week I was able to sit down and record a podcast interview with Villainy, INC. It was a great time. It’ll be airing this Friday night, but meanwhile it’s a pretty good time. Check out the site here and I’ll let you know when the episode I’m on goes up.
Btw, do you do a podcast? If you want me to be on it and kibbitz for an hour or so, just email me (systemcomic at gmail dot com).
I was just interviewed on Villainy, Inc. It’s a great podcast, and somehow they thought it was a good idea to spend an hour interviewing me. So if you want to hear about my love affairs (with fonts), why I started The System, my solution to war, or hear me do my “old timey radio” voice, you should listen in. Oh, and I think I talk about grappling hook machine gun flame throwers. It’s an hour, and the interview is the whole time after a brief intro. You can check out their site here or go straight to the podcast in iTunes.
