Waiting For Bob
The Players’ Choice
Submitted by bobweiner on November 10, 2009 - 00:00
The question you’ve probably been waiting for Bob to ask…
-Krishna
Hodgepodge of Webcomic Links
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on March 28, 2009 - 14:45
Here's some interesting stuff from the many Firefox tabs still open on my screen this weekend:
BUSINESS
Comics Worth Reading reports that the first edition of the long-running British anthology 2000 AD is now downloadable for free at Drivethrucomics.com
JUSTIFY MY HYPE
Tiny Kittens has this crazy collage-like style that reminds me of the art in classic Golden kids books. Some or all of its creators had a hand in the now-defunct webcomic Combustible Orange.
I "heart" Tapes looks interesting - I think I saw a link to it from Anders Loves Maria.
MILESTONES
Kris Straub hits 1000 episodes of Starslip. Congrats!
Dave Kellet, with the help of his readers, tries to nail down when Sheldon first went online.
LEFT A NICE CORPSE - UPDATED
A new "feature-ette" I'll repeat whenever I'm out of other ideas: webcomics that died too young. For now most of the ones I'm thinking about were really good comics that for whatever reason the creators abandoned before they found their audience (and most likely before webcomics as a whole began to really take off). The first one is an old favorite of mine titled Waiting For Bob which went on hiatus in 2002, seemingly to return but simply hasn't. No explanation of why the series completely stopped and yet someone seems to have taken care to keep the site up and running. I'm sure I'm missing something (and I suppose I really should do some "reporting" here.) on the why but I'm more interested in the "what if" -- I think Waiting For Bob by Doug Shepard (current website? Talked with the real Doug via twitter and that website isn't him. My apologies Doug!) and Katrin Salyers, which probably had a decent audience for its time, was a bit ahead of its time in that I think today much more of its likely fanbase is online and comfortable with reading webcomics. It had three interesting characters, was not overly reliant on "tech" references and definitely had some drama mixed with the jokes. I really think it would do well today.
Webcomic Obituaries #1
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on March 8, 2005 - 01:21
Webcomic Finds is usually about finding new webcomics, but today Ping Teo notes the recent "ends" of a few webcomics.
I'm still trying to figure out when Waiting For Bob will come back from its hiatus.
What I Was Reading in July 2001
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 6, 2004 - 00:16
Sorry to inflict this on the world but I feared this blog wasn't fulfilling the required "Self-Indulgent" Content requirement for blogs. I was Archive.org'ing my old site and pulled my daily webcomic reading list from roughly mid-year 2001. Here's the list with some comments on where some of them are today:
Absurd Notions: Creator Kevin Pease has moved the strip to http://www.absurdnotions.org/ and reduced the update schedule for this once daily strip but Absurd Notions is still one of the wittier comic strips on the web about young guys and gals of a computer/geek bent. The current story concerns a role-playing game the characters are conducting - it has been going on all year. Pease has also released a dead tree collection of AN: An Awful Lot of Absurd Notions.
Acid Reflux: This one appears to be dead (the old URL seems to have been grabbed by one of those lame squatter companies) although there is a Live Journal community about it. I never really got into this one but it was fairly popular.
Algernons Dilemma: Jim Alexander has been posting this daily strip since late 1999. I am under the impression that he has stopped making the comic but still posting this year because he had worked almost a year ahead. I couldn't find any status update on the website though so I'm not sure if that's still the case. I also think Alexander removed a large part of the archives - folks need to buy a CD-Rom from him to get those. I have read bits and pieces of AD in the past but I could never get past Alexander's unique take on the female anatomy to become a fan. A lot of old-school webtoonists are fans of his work though.
Alice!: is still one of the few GOOD PG comic strips on the web. A shame that McKay-Fleming isn't in your local newspaper.
Angst Technology: Barry was hot than stopped and now he's back again. I'm not as much into AT and the other strips on Inktank as I was pre-hiatus but it's probably more to do with the much more crowded field of webcomics than any drop in quality on Barry's part. There's just only so much time in the day!
A.P.E. Force: Nicely drawn - possibly gone from the web now. Couldn't find it this morning anyhow.
Aren't We Real: Case Yorke's webcomic before Gluemeat and I believe the archives are somewhere on gluemeat.com. Still my favorite Yorke project.
Arrogance in Simplicity: A funny comic, not always as funny as the creator thought it was but still a good read in its day. Definitely over according to the creator. Early pioneer in the "crap art but still a decent read" category.
Avalon: One of the original soap-opera-ish high school webcomics, Avalon is no more and Josh is now on to another comic.
BB of CS: Another comic that is done. Had to update the URL because the old was grabbed a URL squatter. Bad Boys of Computer Science was a pretty vulgar but sometimes painfully honest comic about college undergrad computer science students. It ran roughly from 2000-2002.
Bobbins: Bobbins is no more but Scary Go Round whirls on.
Bob N' Ed: Decent art, great parody riffs on Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Files, etc,but a horribly inconsistent update schedule probably has kept this comic from being more popular. Apparently he's actively working on it this summer.
BoxJam's Doodle: Original Blue Dude back after a brief hiatus this year.
Bruno the Bandit: Old School webtoonist still making the adventures of Bruno and filling in for Pete on Saturdays at Sluggy Freelance.
Burnt Dog Radio: Um this one would be mine. No comment....
Chopping Block: Herold updates less frequently now but still one of the rock stars of webcomicdom.
Common Grounds: Corey Marie Kitley's last webcomic before Life's So Rad. She's still on Keenspot pluggin' away at being emo.
Cool Cat Studio: Gone but Giselle is working with T Campbell on a new comic somewhere in the Modern Tales family of sites.
Cyantia Chronicles: Syke makes a lot of comics some of them hosted on Keenspot now.
Deathworld: I've completely lost track of Rudy's comic but he is as old-school webcomic as they come. He probably also holds the record for most active participation in the Fright Night Project.
Diabolica: Burke's first comic before Grimbles. Diabolica was good but Grimbles is better. Sometimes he out-Gorey's Gorey.
Diesel Sweeties: Pixel Power Activate! Form of a robot-elephant! Form of an Ice cube!
Dr. Lobster: I hope they keep the archives for this one up - in its own way it was quite good.
Down to Earth: Keenspot, indendent, quit and now back again I belive. Still kicking.
Dregs: This one was kind of bad. Doesn't look like it's still updating. I'm not sure I actually read this now that I'm looking at the site.
Elf Life: Some day Carson will complete enough of his tale to make this a coherent epic in comic format. Until than it's sort of the Similarron (I probably spelled that wrong) of the webcomics world. I just hope it doesn't take Carson's son to edit and publish it in a final format.
Exploitation Now: Done and onto Errant Story. Poe is growing as an artist.
Frankenstudent: Gone.
Fat Jesus: Horribly Inconsistent. Went from Keenspace to Keenspot because clearly Leffel is talented. Just a shame that not much work has actually been published. Owlie (his other comic) is still one of my sentimental favorites.
Funny Farm: I lost track of this one. Hard to catch up with everything I guess. Reportedly going to "end" but Smith seems to be a bit cagey about what that means.
GPF: Still kicking although more serious now than before.
Ghostz: Read the archives. Funniest copyright violatin' comic from the old school days around.
Goats: Rosenberg can actually draw now. It's always been funny though.
Greystone Inn: Why Guigar is not syndicated more broadly is beyond me. A fine work in the comic strip tradition.
Hang & Catch Fire: Terrance Marks does a gamer comic. Not sure if it exists anywhere online anymore.
Hobnob Inn: Now hosted on the Reuben (Awards for Comic Strips) website - this was a kind of wannabe Bloom County when basically everyone was a wannabe Bloom County. Haven't read it in a long time so I have no idea what it's like now.
Hotendotey: Right now the website says "PLEASE BEAR WITH US AS WE ARE PLANNING FUTURE ATROCITIES. THANKS." That sums up Hotendotey alright...
Hosers: Hosers got to do a cross-over with GPF. Less frequent updating lately although much better art than in the old school days.
Hound's Home: Brillant satire, erratic updating schedule.
Help Desk: Still making fun of Microsoft.
In2it: Scott Kurtz's buddy is no longer making webcomics I guess.
It's Walky!: Premarital Hanky Panky.
JoBeth!: Lost in space, alas...
Joe Average: It all went downhill after he got a girlfriend... :)
Just Another Vice: Back in a hazy cloud of dust..
Just Cheese: Just gone I guess.
Kevin& Kell: Furry goodness. (I can't believe I just said that...)
Ko Fight Club: Eclectic goodness.
Krazy Larry: It's alive I tell you. ALIVE!!!!
Lemont Brown: Used to be on Toonville. Not anymore I guess. Probably somewhere out there on the Internet but too tired to Google.
Limpidity: I don't remember this one.
Living In Greytown: Phil is Dead.
LWIBH: Still gross.
Lost & Found Investigations: Dog Detective as opposed to Basil Flint who is also a dawg detective.
Merlin's Crew: A 2001 comic that survived Keenspace's many meltdowns since. Not sure if it was any good or not.
Mr. Chuck Show: Jon Myers just quit one day in 2003 never to return. Or will he?!??!!
Nerdz: I've met Screwball McGoo sir and you're no Screwball McGoo!
No Outlet: I liked this one - too bad I can't find the archives anymore.
Nowhere Man: An angry comic that seems to have stopped in 2003.
Pentasmal: Now is the time for men to wear hats! Pentasmal is now locked away behind Keenspot's premium wall.
Randym Thoughts: I think this was done by Howard Shclock Tayler's brother but I can no longer find the archives.
Renegades: Not only does the url I had no longer work I can't remember even one thing about this webcomic.
Soup: Surprisingly this comic is still plugging along.
SporkMan: Four prongs of justice!
Together We Fall: Another one that seems to have slipped off the web and I can't recall anything about it.
Tonja Steele: still updating.
Too Fat to be a RockStar: Well the domain still points at Keenspace but it appears the site may have been wiped in one of Keenspace's mighty might meltdowns.
Tsuduku...: Although Ken's comic appears to have URL-hopped a bit I found it out there. Has to be experienced to understand..
Ubigod's Hurricane: It's Ubi's world and you're just living in it.
Unlike Minerva: Unlike active.
Unnatural, but true: Gone like the schwin.
Waiting for Bob: At one point this comic was popular, well thought of and doing cross-overs with all of the future "biggies" of webcomicdom. But it's been inactive since 2002 and I guess never to return. It's too bad - some of the most well written characters...
When I Grow Up: This was Jeff "WIGU" Rowland's first webcomic. I guess he lost the domain name though - I think he has the archives on his site for WIGU, his new webcomic.
A Notion Not So Absurd?
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on June 9, 2003 - 11:21
Absurd Notions, the long-running webcomic by Kevin Pease, appears to have returned to active publication, sans fixed update schedule.
Now in the Webcomic, having established a significant track record of regular publication, but suspended with a promise of resuming publication category, the leading contender is probably Waiting for Bob.
Classic Webcomic Cross-overs
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on March 26, 2003 - 11:22
It doesn't seem to happen like it used to but back in the day all the hep kids were dropping science in each others' backyard:
1999
Sluggy Freelance and User Friendly: AJ drops in on Riff; and Torg gets a job with Columbia Internet.
User Friendly and Superosity: Dust Puppy visits Superosity-land.
Bobbins and Waiting For Bob: The Bobbins crew met up with Waiting for Bob's Bernie and Sean.
Bobbins and Goats: Jon from Goats meets Holly from Bobbins. Small sparks gain a little altitude. Later Jon and Philip actually make it to England.
2000
When I Grow Up and Waiting For Bob: Zoe investigates Sean.
Bobbins and Superosity: Holly and Shelley visit Boardy and Bobby goes to England. Somewhere along the way Professor Ash shows up.
2001
When I Grow Up and Diesel Sweeties: Roger finds true robot love! (not entirely sure where in the DS archives its half is)
I'm sure there's lots more I'm forgetting - feel free to post more classic crossovers below. Thanks!
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