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Peter Conrad

Comix Talk for Friday, July 09, 2010

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on July 9, 2010 - 08:53

C'mon weekend!  Okay this first story struck me as a great project.  Jennifer Ouellette writes about a collective effort to create a webcomic telling the amazing story of 20-something Dutch primary school teacher, Hanny van Arkel, who discovered a strange blue/green smudge on an image of what was otherwise a standard spiral galaxy now referred to as "Hanny's Voorwerp."  The full comic will be released at Dragon-Con in Atlanta, Georgia, this fall.

MILESTONES: Wow, it's the FIFTH anniversary of Gordon McAlpin's Multiplex.  Congrats!  If you're not reading this smart comic about the crew working at a local multiplex definitely check it out.  A wonderful combination of character-driven and movie culture comedy.

iWEBCOMICS: Lauren Davis notes the release of a new version of the controversial webcomic app from Dale Zak. Noted without comment from me today as this is a topic that requires more time than I have this morning.

THE MORE YOU KNOW: Yesterday we noted Paul Bryant Johnson gave a class at a summer webcomics camp.  Today he posted online his presentation on "Finding the Balance Between Words, Pictures and Time in Making Comics."

WE WILL... WE WILL... HYPE YOU!

FROM THE MAILBAG:

  • Peter Conrad writes "I took down attemptednotknown.com last year because of some hackers who used the site for nefarious purposes. I've relaunched it with way more content, and I'm uploading stuff every week now!"  Peter is another long-time webcomic creator who I'll always remember for creating Zeenster - an app to read comics on the Palm OS.
  • Tommie Kelly writes "I did the webcomics Road Crew and From Rags To Rockstars.  I have a new webcomic... There are about 70 strips online at the time of emailing and it updates five times a week. Mon to Fri...  It's called Something Wonderful and it deals with religion, beliefs, new age, spirituality and Mac owners among other things."
  • Stephanie O'Donnell writes "I'm Stephanie O'Donnell, artist for the webcomic Perfect Agent.  It is written by Greg Carter (creator of Abandon and Love Is In The Blood). It started last year and we're now 2 full stories in."

CONVENTION 'VENTION WHAT'S YOUR INTENTION?

  • Hey it's San Diego Comicon time again -- FLEEN is all over getting you your guide to webcomic booths so be sure to check in there before you go!
  • Also in new webcomic convention on the block news, Intervention added award winning Sci-Fi author (and soon to be Webcomic author) Ben Bova to its inaugural lineup. Bova, Rob Balder, and Bill Holbrook will be debuting their new online webcomic collaboration at Intervention called Duel in the Somme.

What about Comics on PDA ?

Submitted by Anonymous on July 1, 2004 - 03:04

Hi there !

Does anyone has ever heard about Comics reading on PDA (Pocket PC or Palm)?

The reading shall be processed strip after strip. Boxes shall be automatically detected and ordered.

PDA screens have greatly improved their resolution. Text and drawings should be easily readable.

What are your opinions about this topic ?

Cheers,
Manu

Cool Tools for the Webcomic Jet Set

June 27, 2004 - 22:00 | Xaviar Xerexes

Creators make webcomics. Cool tools make the webcomic community go round. Here's to the geeks, the code monkeys, and the computer science students who come up with ingenious hacks to help creators automate publishing and fans find a webcomic's latest update.

I - Finders, Keepers!

Peter Conrad and the Zeenster

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on June 5, 2004 - 23:40

Peter S. Conrad is a webtoonist and a geek. He created the Zeenster a small app for Palm pilots that supports reading comics on the Palm pilot.

He also has a link to add comics to your handheld through the Avant Go format.

I hope to talk to him for a feature I'm currently working on.

What T Campbell is Reading

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on November 27, 2003 - 07:02

T Campbell is editor of Graphic Smash, writer of Fans, Rip & Teri and more than a couple of Comixpedia articles, and a slave to trends. What's he reading?

"In webcomics, I'm currently working my way through the Modern Tales lineup in alphabetical order. Most of them I read all the way through, though a few of them just don't interest me at all. Just got through No Stereotypes. I also regularly read a few standbys: Sluggy Freelance, PVP, CRFH, GPF, It's Walky, Clan of the Cats, Gaming Guardians. And of course, everything on Graphic Smash.

"In printed comics, I'm sticking with Strangers in Paradise for a little while longer at least, now that Terry's finally getting around to some of the stories I wanted him to write three years ago. Mark Waid just 0wn0rs Fantastic Four. The fanboy in me craves it, along with JLA/Avengers and a lot of Brian Michael Bendis' work.

"Textwise, I just got through Chris Sherman's The Invisible Web and a book of Harlan Ellison short stories, and I'm reading a whole lotta blogs, 'cause all the cool people are writing them these days. Only half kidding: they have a perspective that I miss from my college years.

"What's next? I want to finish off Preacher (yes, I know the series wrapped years ago) and pick up Cory Doctorow's new collection... I've read a couple of his short stories and he's an author to watch. Webcomics-wise, I'll keep working my way down the alphabet with Modern Tales, then start on one of the other collectives... probably Keenspot or Girlamatic.

"Yeah, I'm serious, I really do read all this stuff. Scary, huh?"

Free Comic Reader Zeenster Puts Small Press on Palm OS

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on November 26, 2003 - 00:39

Peter Conrad, alternative comic artist and creator of the popular "Stymied" comic strip, released an application called Zeenster for the Palm OS that allows users to read comics on handhelds. Unlike other handheld comics readers, all Zeenster content is free and bumable. A non-proprietary file format encourages individuals to create their own Zeenster content using tools available over the Internet.

Stymied by Peter Conrad, reviewed by Damonk

April 27, 2003 - 22:06 | Frank "Damonk" Cormier

Question: what do you get when you cross Piraro and Larson roots with the stumpiness of Mr. Men, the Aragones organic stretchiness (and deceptive art adeptness!), the work humour topics of Adams, Kolchalka's naked brain exhibitionistic streak, and an ability to still sing out complete originality despite all this influence?

...

Stymied yet? Well, so is Peter Conrad.

Webcomic Awareness Day Coming May 5th

Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on April 24, 2003 - 09:38

Jim Alexander writes:

A last reminder about WCA2003...

May 5th and our third annual WCA is less than two weeks away.

We currently have more than 60 web cartoonists signed on to do a special contribution strip for that day, as well as about a dozen others who are tenatively considering a WCA2003 strip (circumstances permitting).

Howard Tayler has mentioned that "The Pulse" is supposed to cover the event. Mark Mekkes has mentioned that he's going to plug the event during a local radio interview in Florida next week.

The current list of participants spans a full range of online comics. We have several members from Keenspot, Keenspace, Modern Tales, The Nice, and a lot of independents who aren't affiliated with any particular group (or groups). There are a few dozen return participants from previous years (many 3-time participants) as well as a lot of newcomers (our most newcomers ever).

For those of you who've said you'd like to participate, but haven't yet sent me the URL for your WCA2003 page, please do so as soon as possible.

Life, or a Reasonably Hand-Drawn Facsimile: Journal Comics Explored (Part 2)

April 20, 2003 - 14:30 | Frank "Damonk" Cormier

Les McClaine proudly proclaims himself an incurable egotist. James Kochalka says he's trying to delve into the mysteries of being human. Drew Weing draws them because he couldn't keep track of his life otherwise – he has a pretty horrible memory. Whether you accept these answers, or ask any of the growing host of other journal comic artists out there why they draw their journal comics, you'll find that, just like so many other things in life, or life itself, there is no easy cookie-cutter answer.