Webcomic News Roundup: Google Gets A Talking-To, Zero Punctuation Rages

It’s a light one this week, as many of us on this side of the pond are enjoying a day off and trying to stay as far away from a computer as possible.

Attentive Twitter-stalkers already know that Diesel Sweeties‘ Rich Stevens and Octopus Pie‘s Meredith Gran spent some time in San Francisco last month as guest speakers at Google HQ, but now the video of their speech has been posted on YouTube for everyone to enjoy — not just the lucky cogs in the Great Google Machine.

The video is posted below, and once you get past the somewhat timid introduction, it’s a really enjoyable presentation that features some great behind-the-scenes elements of both webcomics.

On a semi-related note, Gary Tyrrell of Fleen is still waiting for any questions about Rich Stevens’ decision to opt out of his Diesel Sweeties print syndication deal.

And on a completely unrelated note, I’ve always enjoyed Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw’s animated reviews of videogames — so much so, in fact, that I watch reviews of games for consoles I don’t own. While his "Zero Punctuation" column often targets individual games or game franchises, he recently turned his focus on gamer-oriented webcomics. Much like my own attempts to last more than 30 seconds in Halo 3, gamer webcomics didn’t have a chance.

 Oh, and in case you’re wondering why Wall-E and Short Circuit‘s Johnny-5 look so much alike, prepare yourself for a sad, sad story.

Finally, make sure you didn’t miss my interview with Warren Ellis about his webcomic, FreakAngels. It was a good one!