Fri Aug 1, 2008 — by Rick Marshall

Webcomic News Roundup: Comic-Con, Remembered

No more Comic-Con news after this, I assure you...

Comic-Con International might be over, but the 'Net was full of San Diego-related reports this week from webcomic creators. I'll do my best to round-up some of those reports before getting into some of the news with no connection whatsoever to Comic-Con.

By far the most buzz-heavy event of the week in webcomics circles was the night out that began as an innocent webcomic creators' meet-up but later evolved into a drunken cabaret with Star Trek actors Jonathan Frakes and Avery Brooks. As Rich Stevens of Diesel Sweeties put it: "Screw the Holodeck. My reality is way more fantastic."

Here's one of the videos from the event making the rounds -- if nothing else, it's proof that such a surreal moment actually occurred:

On that note (pun totally intended), Scott Kurtz of PvP has a great recap of the events that transpired to make such an event possible, while also providing some video of his own from the night. Goats creator Jon Rosenberg also has a nice assessment of why Star Trek, a great bartender and eagle poop made this year's Comic-Con International such a magical experience. Oh, and Brad Guigar of Evil Inc. joined the chorus with his own recap of "The Night" (as it is now being called).

My favorite suggestion related to the Star Trek night? "Frakerolling" your friends with that video. Awesome.

Beyond the insanity of the aforementioned Star Trek experience, Wes Molebash of You'll Have That has posted a nice journal of his Comic-Con experience that's worth checking out, as well as a photo gallery from the show.

In case you missed Thursday's panel featuring the Dumbrella webcomics crew and some of their friends (I was still in travel limbo at that point), you can watch the entire hour-long panel moderated by Stevens on YouTube. The video is broken down into seven parts, but there's a handy playlist for all the videos to keep everything organized. I highly recommend video #7, in which you get to see some sweet dance moves by the panelists and a live MC Frontalot performance. It's... an experience.

By the way, did you see the big Dr. McNinja sign at Comic-Con?

Okay, veering off the Comic-Con path, Joey Comeau of A Softer World (who I spoke with in June) recently conducted a pretty deep interview with Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics. I mention not only because it's a really interesting Q&A, but also because it makes my interview with Ryan North this week seem a bit, well... shallow. I hope you'll read it anyways, though.

Newsflash: Jim Davis has a pretty good sense of humor. 

Sean Tevis, the candidate for Kansas State Legislature who used an xkcd-style webcomic as part of his campaign, was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal, discussing the amazings success of his online fundraising efforts.

Sad news of the day: One of my favorite webcomics, Alien Loves Predator, is calling it quits. *sigh* (via fleen)

Finally, Xavier Xerexes is handing out invitations to the Buzzcomix beta. Consider yourself notified.

Want to go back in time? Check out my "Webcomic News Roundup" Archive!

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