In the age of webcomics, to have a book that is going to be published all ready, but is uploaded like a webcomic is pretty neat. Basically, for some reason I was Googling Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, the graphic novel, which I'm currently reading the ARC of. The first result was this: Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, the website. Basically, until the book is published, a page will be updated weekly. It is kinda, sorta, similar to Erstwhile and Red String and some other webcomics I read with an overarching plot, but updated weekly. Erstwhile was all ready published in the beginning (and generally, I get the impression the stories are done when they start uploading them) and Red String is an online manga that the author is working on all along.
The only downside to this is that the free version will probably disappear eventually (as what happened to Friends With Boys), which is a shame. I like my webcomics and until I can get my hands on the book, rereading it online will have to do (and I don't get many of those because I do not have extra cash for books).
Debate anyone? Thoughts? Either way, if you want to preview it, there it is.
Showing posts with label Webcomic_fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Webcomic_fun. Show all posts
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Web Comics and Libraries
Here's something that's starting to bug me: Libraries and Web Comics. Basically, the titles that are in libraries are limited and I would kind of like to know why. Lately, it seems there are a lot of great web comics are coming out in book format, but are libraries picking them up? Not really. The epic exception seems to be Unshelved, which while great and is library humored, is NOT really what I'm talking about here. Unshelved will be the example to explain web comics. Basically, a comic done by an artist with or without a writer and syndicated on the Internet. Simple.
The latest web comic to make waves in library land is/was the epic Axe Cop (which, my library copy got no where fast because the binding split). Every review I saw was like "THIS IS AWESOME." Don't get me wrong, I know it is awesome (even though I haven't read the first volume but I've seen a few strips). It is entertaining and fun, but of ALL the web comics in the last few years, this is what catches everyone's eye? What about Dr. McNinja (which I need to read but hear about a LOT from The Philosopher Musician)? What about Machine of Death which is a hybrid of sorts and includes a collaboration of web comic artists, authors, and The People (not to mention is coming out with a sequel and had a blast fighting it out with Glenn Beck not too long ago)? Many artists are coming out with books and loyal fans are picking these up. But what about poor readers who can't run out and buy every book, no matter how much they want to support the artist? What about exposing readers to comics they haven't seen? What disservice are we providing when all we have are the "classics*"?
I'll tell you. Simply you are missing the 20-somethings, the 30-somethings, and maybe their kids. I don't read as many web comics as I used to but I am partial to Questionable Content (which mind you, brought you the She Blinded Me With Library Science gear), XKCD, Red String, and a few I really can't mention on my blog (epically awesome, epically NSFW). I have respect for many, many more web comics because I've read bits here and there and despite not reading them after a period of time, they are still good or have improved. Plus, The Philosopher Musician has his list of web comics he follows (and is known to go on "archive binges" here and there) and many of my friends love different web comics yet we share a love of many of the same titles.
So, what's our excuse? Tight budgets? They're indie published? We don't have the reviews to justify them in the collection? We don't want those 20 somethings in the library? Real comics are books? That's all available on the Internet; why would they want the book? Tell me why you don't have them. I really want to know.
In the mean time, tell me what collections you want me to review. I'm starting with what I have easy access to (QC vol 1, Red String vol. 1, Axe Cop vol. 1, and Wondermark), but want to find more. Got stuff your teens are talking about? Let me know. Web Comic Wednesdays will start up soon where I'll talk about web comics where either The Philosopher Musician or me will talk about a web comic turned book, or the web comic itself.
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"Classics" include such hits as Penny Arcade, MegaTokyo, Wondermark, Gunnerkrig Court, and...Unshelved
The latest web comic to make waves in library land is/was the epic Axe Cop (which, my library copy got no where fast because the binding split). Every review I saw was like "THIS IS AWESOME." Don't get me wrong, I know it is awesome (even though I haven't read the first volume but I've seen a few strips). It is entertaining and fun, but of ALL the web comics in the last few years, this is what catches everyone's eye? What about Dr. McNinja (which I need to read but hear about a LOT from The Philosopher Musician)? What about Machine of Death which is a hybrid of sorts and includes a collaboration of web comic artists, authors, and The People (not to mention is coming out with a sequel and had a blast fighting it out with Glenn Beck not too long ago)? Many artists are coming out with books and loyal fans are picking these up. But what about poor readers who can't run out and buy every book, no matter how much they want to support the artist? What about exposing readers to comics they haven't seen? What disservice are we providing when all we have are the "classics*"?
I'll tell you. Simply you are missing the 20-somethings, the 30-somethings, and maybe their kids. I don't read as many web comics as I used to but I am partial to Questionable Content (which mind you, brought you the She Blinded Me With Library Science gear), XKCD, Red String, and a few I really can't mention on my blog (epically awesome, epically NSFW). I have respect for many, many more web comics because I've read bits here and there and despite not reading them after a period of time, they are still good or have improved. Plus, The Philosopher Musician has his list of web comics he follows (and is known to go on "archive binges" here and there) and many of my friends love different web comics yet we share a love of many of the same titles.
So, what's our excuse? Tight budgets? They're indie published? We don't have the reviews to justify them in the collection? We don't want those 20 somethings in the library? Real comics are books? That's all available on the Internet; why would they want the book? Tell me why you don't have them. I really want to know.
In the mean time, tell me what collections you want me to review. I'm starting with what I have easy access to (QC vol 1, Red String vol. 1, Axe Cop vol. 1, and Wondermark), but want to find more. Got stuff your teens are talking about? Let me know. Web Comic Wednesdays will start up soon where I'll talk about web comics where either The Philosopher Musician or me will talk about a web comic turned book, or the web comic itself.
------------------------------------------------------------
"Classics" include such hits as Penny Arcade, MegaTokyo, Wondermark, Gunnerkrig Court, and...Unshelved
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Machine of Death: a book (or [oh, see in the post])
(Or what to do when customers asks if you bought the book yet or they donate a copy...or five).
It all started last week (maybe before then, but last week it was on my radar) on Twitter when David Malki ! (of Wondermark fame who gave away books to LIBRARIES a while back) and Ryan North challenged the Twitter-verse and web comic fans alike to make their upcoming compilation book the number 1 seller on Amazon for at least one day, which was yesterday. Well, you can see here, here, and here (not sure that link will hold) that it happened, and it has gone into today. Impressive. Many, many kudos to the fact it is an Indie Book and it topped.
Well, today, the story just got a little more interesting. According to David Malki !'s Twitter here and continued here, Glenn Beck (of this book fame [I do not endorse this book, I just know that you may only know who he is by his book*]) called the book "an example of our 'culture of death.'" The Twitter-verse is just RUNNING with this and challenging the fans to buy MORE copies or convince more people to buy copies.
So, as a librarian do I purchase this book for my collection or not?
Non-librarians, here is the dilemma: there are no professional reviews backing this up (that I've seen) and it hasn't reached the NYTimes Best Seller list. These are two factors in most libraries when determining whether or not to purchase a book. While it is a talked about book, I find that the audience for this book will be small. The concept is different, but sight unseen, this is one of the few books I honestly can't say I'd pick up for my Library Collection. I'd be likely to pick it up if I knew that there was a huge Glenn Beck fan base in the area (Banned Book, anyone?), but a quick search of the county I work in** shows me this is not necessarily the case. A search of Worldcat also shows me that no one has purchased Machine of Death yet, and judging by what it is, libraries won't even start getting it until a month from now (if they do).
So, non-librarians, you now know why it might not be in your libraries and librarians, you are prepared if you should decide to purchase this book (due to all the suggestions) or know why you might suddenly end up with 1-5 copies of the book (guys, if you do donate, PLEASE don't donate more than 1, also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check with your librarians about their donation policy before donating).
I'm willing to review Machine of Death for this here blog, but I just want to warn you, I'm in a state of upheaval considering I'm hoping to move next week and am starting a new adventure shortly thereafter. If you want me to review before the end of next week, please annoy me (comment below or e-mail me at ReadsRantsRaves [at] gmail [dot] com or @me on Twitter.com/readsrantsraves) and I will get a copy one way or another.
For an added bonus, I challenge everyone to get this thing on the NYTimes Best Sellers list because then EVERYONE will be talking about it. :)
------
*In fact, I'd like to go to DC this weekend for the Daily Show/Colbert Report March.
**Not for much longer. It's bittersweet.
It all started last week (maybe before then, but last week it was on my radar) on Twitter when David Malki ! (of Wondermark fame who gave away books to LIBRARIES a while back) and Ryan North challenged the Twitter-verse and web comic fans alike to make their upcoming compilation book the number 1 seller on Amazon for at least one day, which was yesterday. Well, you can see here, here, and here (not sure that link will hold) that it happened, and it has gone into today. Impressive. Many, many kudos to the fact it is an Indie Book and it topped.
Well, today, the story just got a little more interesting. According to David Malki !'s Twitter here and continued here, Glenn Beck (of this book fame [I do not endorse this book, I just know that you may only know who he is by his book*]) called the book "an example of our 'culture of death.'" The Twitter-verse is just RUNNING with this and challenging the fans to buy MORE copies or convince more people to buy copies.
So, as a librarian do I purchase this book for my collection or not?
Non-librarians, here is the dilemma: there are no professional reviews backing this up (that I've seen) and it hasn't reached the NYTimes Best Seller list. These are two factors in most libraries when determining whether or not to purchase a book. While it is a talked about book, I find that the audience for this book will be small. The concept is different, but sight unseen, this is one of the few books I honestly can't say I'd pick up for my Library Collection. I'd be likely to pick it up if I knew that there was a huge Glenn Beck fan base in the area (Banned Book, anyone?), but a quick search of the county I work in** shows me this is not necessarily the case. A search of Worldcat also shows me that no one has purchased Machine of Death yet, and judging by what it is, libraries won't even start getting it until a month from now (if they do).
So, non-librarians, you now know why it might not be in your libraries and librarians, you are prepared if you should decide to purchase this book (due to all the suggestions) or know why you might suddenly end up with 1-5 copies of the book (guys, if you do donate, PLEASE don't donate more than 1, also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check with your librarians about their donation policy before donating).
I'm willing to review Machine of Death for this here blog, but I just want to warn you, I'm in a state of upheaval considering I'm hoping to move next week and am starting a new adventure shortly thereafter. If you want me to review before the end of next week, please annoy me (comment below or e-mail me at ReadsRantsRaves [at] gmail [dot] com or @me on Twitter.com/readsrantsraves) and I will get a copy one way or another.
For an added bonus, I challenge everyone to get this thing on the NYTimes Best Sellers list because then EVERYONE will be talking about it. :)
------
*In fact, I'd like to go to DC this weekend for the Daily Show/Colbert Report March.
**Not for much longer. It's bittersweet.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
So Farmville is a country!
This is probably old news by now, but I just couldn't help linking to this.
XKCD has made a map of the Internet as countries (at least that's how I see it). Either way, it is a nifty representation of web sites from Facebook to blogging and how "popular" one site is from another. It is pretty wicked cool. Although, book blogs don't rank anywhere...
In other news, I'm going to do some blog cleanup one of these days and move the blog to a better (more logical) address (I have it! I'm squatting!). I've got a small vacation (translation: lots of time at grandmom's house) coming up and hope that I can put some "blog" stuff on the agenda. My time has been eaten up by little things such as my job (yay school visits) and school work. Here's hoping I get a better handle by the end of next weekend!
In other news, I'm going to do some blog cleanup one of these days and move the blog to a better (more logical) address (I have it! I'm squatting!). I've got a small vacation (translation: lots of time at grandmom's house) coming up and hope that I can put some "blog" stuff on the agenda. My time has been eaten up by little things such as my job (yay school visits) and school work. Here's hoping I get a better handle by the end of next weekend!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
May the 4th Be With You: Linky Linky
May is the ULTIMATE month for Geeks it seems. First, we comic geeks have Free Comic Book Day (pics of my goodies soon to come. Probably Thursday) and today is May the 4th Be With You Day (for Star Wars Nerds/Geeks which includes one of my best guy friends). And there just seems to be a lot of good articles, although, some may be from last week a.k.a. April.
I'm predicting a trend toward graphic novels soon. I was at a workshop on Thursday where I brought this up in a discussion about words and how teens and the younger set use text messaging more and more than older communication forms (Pew Research Center). There just seems to be more graphic novels than ever since I started reading them at the tender age of 14 or 16 (really longer than that, but I became serious then). First, the bookstores had one shelf section, now there's 3-5 sections and it is overwhelming and growing. With text messaging, I think that graphic novels will be the next book craze simply because less text, more images. There's also a different reading skill involved, although it is the same (it's very hard to explain). I'm also noticing a trend in the kidlit blogosphere that every once in a while a graphic novel pops up where I'm pretty sure there wasn't any before (but I've only been in this for 6 months to a year).
This is interesting. The trends of high school students from those at School Library Journal. The real reason I link to it though, is look at the center blurb. Graphic novels and the appeal is explained well. Although, the zombies in the top blurb are interesting...
Publishers Weekly had a great article, which I think every librarian should see. Here's a Google Cached version (please tell me if it doesn't work). The article talks about a librarian and an ALA rep who spoke at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo about censorship, library policies to include dealing with graphic novels, and more. The article also covers the recent issue over the 11 yr old and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Black Dossier challenge from a library staff worker, Tin Tin In The Congo, and Blankets. Overall, I thought this was a very informative article and includes what librarians need to think about when supporting graphic novels (and please do!).
Lastly, CNN's Geek Out! Blog has made the rounds on my Twitter feed because of the Shirt Discussion. Basically, this article talks about how Geeks really enjoy fun shirts such as the shirt featured on the blog. These shirts connect us Geeks in various ways. Let me explain. First, I own that shirt and in fact, I own many other "Geek Shirts" to show my geek cred. I've mainly aquired bookish shirts such as Bibliophabian (gift), She Blinded Me With Library Science Tote (gift), Science Is a Verb Now (gift) and more from Unshelved's Store Threadless (not mentioned in the article, but should be because I have two Batman shirts from there). Just to throw it out there I want White Text On a Black Shirt. It showed up in Questionable Content (NSFW) and it was just brilliant. Many of his t-shirts come from his comics, i.e. She Blinded Me With Library Science.
The She Blinded Me With Library Science Story to illustrate the above article.
In the comic, the character who is technically Marten's Boss at the All Girls School College Library is a lesbian and first appeared in the series with a text shirt saying "She Blinded Me With Library Science." At the time, this became a heavily requested shirt to be made and when it was, everyone was excited!
In 2008, I went to the state library conference and on the first day, someone was wearing this shirt. I told my mom excitedly I knew about that shirt and I admired her for wearing that t-shirt! Unfortunately, I didn't introduce myself to her and she could have been a good friend. She actually wore pretty awesome clothes and was in many of the workshops I was in. This Christmas, my best guy friend got me the bag and the Science is a Verb Shirt (and Bibliophabian a few Christmases ago). Basically, I recognized a fellow Geek and QC reader. These shirts do more than make a statement for Geeks, it connects us. If you still don't get it, think about your library themed shirts. Same thing.
May the 4th Be With You Today!
I'm predicting a trend toward graphic novels soon. I was at a workshop on Thursday where I brought this up in a discussion about words and how teens and the younger set use text messaging more and more than older communication forms (Pew Research Center). There just seems to be more graphic novels than ever since I started reading them at the tender age of 14 or 16 (really longer than that, but I became serious then). First, the bookstores had one shelf section, now there's 3-5 sections and it is overwhelming and growing. With text messaging, I think that graphic novels will be the next book craze simply because less text, more images. There's also a different reading skill involved, although it is the same (it's very hard to explain). I'm also noticing a trend in the kidlit blogosphere that every once in a while a graphic novel pops up where I'm pretty sure there wasn't any before (but I've only been in this for 6 months to a year).
This is interesting. The trends of high school students from those at School Library Journal. The real reason I link to it though, is look at the center blurb. Graphic novels and the appeal is explained well. Although, the zombies in the top blurb are interesting...
Publishers Weekly had a great article, which I think every librarian should see. Here's a Google Cached version (please tell me if it doesn't work). The article talks about a librarian and an ALA rep who spoke at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo about censorship, library policies to include dealing with graphic novels, and more. The article also covers the recent issue over the 11 yr old and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Black Dossier challenge from a library staff worker, Tin Tin In The Congo, and Blankets. Overall, I thought this was a very informative article and includes what librarians need to think about when supporting graphic novels (and please do!).
Lastly, CNN's Geek Out! Blog has made the rounds on my Twitter feed because of the Shirt Discussion. Basically, this article talks about how Geeks really enjoy fun shirts such as the shirt featured on the blog. These shirts connect us Geeks in various ways. Let me explain. First, I own that shirt and in fact, I own many other "Geek Shirts" to show my geek cred. I've mainly aquired bookish shirts such as Bibliophabian (gift), She Blinded Me With Library Science Tote (gift), Science Is a Verb Now (gift) and more from Unshelved's Store Threadless (not mentioned in the article, but should be because I have two Batman shirts from there). Just to throw it out there I want White Text On a Black Shirt. It showed up in Questionable Content (NSFW) and it was just brilliant. Many of his t-shirts come from his comics, i.e. She Blinded Me With Library Science.
The She Blinded Me With Library Science Story to illustrate the above article.
In the comic, the character who is technically Marten's Boss at the All Girls School College Library is a lesbian and first appeared in the series with a text shirt saying "She Blinded Me With Library Science." At the time, this became a heavily requested shirt to be made and when it was, everyone was excited!
In 2008, I went to the state library conference and on the first day, someone was wearing this shirt. I told my mom excitedly I knew about that shirt and I admired her for wearing that t-shirt! Unfortunately, I didn't introduce myself to her and she could have been a good friend. She actually wore pretty awesome clothes and was in many of the workshops I was in. This Christmas, my best guy friend got me the bag and the Science is a Verb Shirt (and Bibliophabian a few Christmases ago). Basically, I recognized a fellow Geek and QC reader. These shirts do more than make a statement for Geeks, it connects us. If you still don't get it, think about your library themed shirts. Same thing.
May the 4th Be With You Today!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Enjoy This Comic
This just gets me chuckling every time I see it (but I love anything poking fun at Twilight/Stephanie Meyer). The Philosopher Musician pointed this out to me. I have to remember to add XKCD to my growing list of web comic feeds in Bloglines. I do love web comics.
Troll Slayer
(Comic from: http://xkcd.com/591/)
Troll Slayer
(Comic from: http://xkcd.com/591/)
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