Down at Fool's Gold Press Paul Sloboda did a review of God(tm). He says many nice things about it. And I say many nice things about his book. Lately he's been putting up comics online (partially because I told him to).

Also at Webcomics Overlook I'm reviewed along side all the other Eisner Nominees. This is a much more unbiased review. I'm not El Santo's favorite. But also he doesn't get that this story was a comedy and a tragedy all at the same time.

...either that or I can't make up my mind what genre to stick to when I write stuff.


At least he makes reasonable arguements.

Labels: awards, Eisner Awards, God(tm), my work, review, Speak No Evil

The ballots are out for the Eisners!

So, if you're a comic book professional or retailer, please check out Speak No Evil and consider it when you vote for Best Digital Comic for this year's Eisner.

Labels: awards, Eisner Awards, Speak No Evil

The thing with Speak No Evil was that it felt like a neglected child who I thought had potential. Sure, the first born got all the attention and I was concentrating a lot of time on the youngest, but I knew that my middle child was special.

I'm proud to say that Speak No Evil: Melancholy of A Space Mexican is the recipient of the Webcomic Beacon Standalone Simplex Beaky Award. I didn't even know I was nominated because I haven't had time to check out the Webcomic Beacon podcast for a while.



Yes, the Eisners Awards are much more established and much bigger and you actually get a physical award. But my problem with Eisner's Best Digital Comics Award is that there should be more than one, like Best Daily Digital Comic or Best Digital Comic Story, etc. etc. I get the feeling that the judges who picked the nominees aren't that familiar with the webcomic world.

I've found a few blogs about the Eisner Digital Comics Nominees, complaining about how they've never heard of them. They talk about how there are much more popular webcomics that deserve an Eisner nomination.

But the Beakys are much more down-to-earth. The judges LOVE webcomics and the podcast helps me keep up with what's out there on the net and how much my website needs to be re-designed.

I like how they think my comic is good, but they seem very uncomfortable explaining why it is good.

I must be doing something right.



Basically, this award means acceptance from the burgeoning and evolving webcomics community. A community that might eventually take over the traditional print comics/comic shop system.

...but it would've been nice if they contacted me.

Hopefully, this might be a good barometer to the Eisner winner.

Check out their podcast.

Labels: awards, comics, Eisner Awards, my work, podcast, Speak No Evil

Hello new guests. I am fully aware of how much my site's navigation sucks. Hopefully I can remedy this soon.

Anyway, a few things off my chest.

Oddly, when I was writing Speak No Evil: Melancholy of A Space Mexican I was approaching it as a comedy. I actually thought that it was a tragic comedy. Now that I have some distance from the creation process, the subtitle doesn't seem as appropriate anymore. Some friends had a theory that I viewed it as a comedy to deal with how depressing it was. I have a theory that comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin and when you feel like you're making something of quality, naming it a comedy or tragedy doesn't really matter.

Oh well, it seemed like a good idea to name it "Space Mexican" at the time and I respect the unemployed artist I knew from a year ago.

I just hope that the comic doesn't come off as patronizing. So far, one mexican has said it wasn't.

Other friends have asked, "I though Devil and the Monk would be nominated for an Eisner." As much as Devil and the Monk has been a staple of Stumbleupon hits to my site, I felt there were a lot of things wrong with it, technically. I would've submitted God(tm), but as of today, I still don't think it makes sense (I just need one more page, then it'll sort of make sense.)

I've noticed in the webcomics community, people are saying "I've never heard of these comics." Well, let me explain what's going on. The publisher, in this case digital comic creator, submits their comic to the Eisner people (or to be more precise, Jackie Estrada). The rules for Digital Comics favor long form comics. And the long form comic isn't as popular as the daily strip webcomic.

I think that there should be at least two, if not five categories for webcomics. One for daily strips. Although, traditionally, daily strips are the realm of the National Cartoonists Society. Comic books are the realm of the Comic Book industry. And there has been debate if a Comic Strip and a Comic book should even be considered as the same thing.

I personally don't think so. Its like having a five line poem and a 305 page novel up for a Pulitzer.

Anyway, the long-form format on the web isn't as developed or as popular as the daily strip. Mainly because people who do comic books could, 20 years ago, self-publish. And the people who did daily strips, 20 years ago, could only published through syndication or local newspapers, no independence. So, of course, the daily strip jumped on the net with much more fervor.

Anyway, I'm up against some really good talent. I think my only strengths are my story, the oddness and originality of it, and its depressing. Often times, people confuse depressing stories with good stories.

Though I'd never say my comic isn't good.

Labels: awards, blog, Eisner Awards, my work, Speak No Evil