Mike's picks - Our Pioneer Forefathers

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These are the thrillseekers, corrupt and immoral. These are the trailblazers, who ventured out into the untamed wilderness of the Webtarnets with nothing more than the clothes on their back, a catchy URL, a hosting solution, some raw artistic talent and a dream: a dream to make comics on the web. Webcomics, they would call them. It was these brave souls who crossed the raging rivers, tamed the wild-wild wilderness and subjugated the indigenous peoples so that Johnny-Come-Latelys like ourselves could follow in their footsteps in complete comfort and safety, stake our claim on a nice parcel of rich, fertile virtual real estate and in no time at all, enjoy 99 cent hot dogs and Vegas-style casino gaming just minutes from our own front doors. For this, we owe them an eternal debt of gratitude; a debt so monumental that these poor links to the left can only begin to repay a small portion of the interest. I mean, forget about even getting into the capital at this point. But at least we're on a payment plan and making a good faith effort to repay - that oughtta keep them from repossessing the site... for now.

Mike's picks - Friends of the Comic

Out of Character Comics - Recently, I discovered that the fellow who sits next to me in my Shakespeare class has a fairly established webcomic of his own. Perhaps it is indicative of the uniquely pervasive nature of webcomics, or perhaps it is just a ridiculous coincidence. Regardless, we struck up a lively conversation on the vagaries of webcomicry and agreed to check out each other's comics - promising to provide links should we like what we see. Fans of tabletop gaming and sci-fi wackiness, this comic should be right up your alley. Get to clickin'.

Mike's picks or "What Mike Reads On His Wireless Laptop in the Bathroom"

FARK.com - I get way more of my daily news here than I probably should. In my defense, when you've got the attention span of a gnat like me, it's not possible to pass up News McNuggets like "Theaters just enjoyed the worst weekend since 1985. Hard to believe with Batman, Herbie and Bewitched all on the big screen at the same time" and "Scotland sets new world record for most simultaneous whiskey drinkers with 1,661. Kentucky shakes its collective fist, gets ready for next year's competition". Screw that noise about geopolitical turmoil, social unrest and corruption in the government, this is news I can use.

Boing Boing - True to the words of the venerable MC Frontalot, Hipsterism is a religion to which you gotta be devout. To maintain your status as alpha geek, you've absolutely got to stay on top of the latest memes and funny things floating around Webterspace so that the next time the office yukster sends you the Numa Numa kid video you can put on your best unimpressed smirk and shatter his tiny dreams of office stardom with an icy "Seen it." Unless, of course, you're the office yukster. Then you need to make sure you're the first to find everything, so you may avoid this ego-shattering eventuality. Either way, Boing Boing can help you. A blog on steroids, Boing Boing has its finger firmly pressed on the pulse of the latest news, points of interest, or ridiculous crap churning out of the Intertron, and a daily visit or two will keep you on top of it all. It truly is a directory of wonderful things.

Phil's picks - Recommended reading

THE REMAN MYTHOLOGY - Amy Kim Ganter - Amy has such a wonderful, clean art style; it's never cluttered, even when there's tons of people in a panel. Amy has created a whole new world, down to a creation mythology. There are so many who create these incredible worlds, then seemingly make everything up as they go along (*cough* George Lucas *cough*). Even architecture has a distinctive style, and is drawn well, to boot! Emotion is clearly conveyed by the characters, it's easy to tell what they are feeling even if all the word balloons were taken out.

The story sounds almost typical: A girl with an affinity for fantasy, Tabby, stumbles into another world and finds herself intertwined with events that could shape that world's present and future. We learn about the world not through plodding exposition, but through Tabby's eyes; as she learns about Rema through observation and conversation, so do we.

In short: Fantasy based comic that reminds me of early Elfquest. An incredibly realized world, likeable characters, and the feeling that events are culminating towards something big. Except with fewer elves. Oh, and less sex, too.

THE BFX PROJECT - Various artists - There are actually two comics hosted here. Both are insteresting reads, but I favor the story by Takeshi Miyazawa. I don't recall it actually having a name, unless I glossed over a title graphic somewhere. Regardless, it's a dystopic future type of story and revolves around a group of "couriers" who end up getting more than they bargained for after one last run. The art is terrific, utilizing a rough, pencilled look. Tak has a real mastery of anatomy. Everyone, whether they're slumped in a chair having a smoke, or being tossed across the room by an explosion looks like you would expect them to. Even when they're standing still, there's almost an expression of dynamism still present.

The story develops slowly, but the artwork is so wonderful, it's hard to notice any lulls in the actual story. Tak recently picked up some penciling work for Marvel, hopefully he gets more exposure.

In short: Tak's work reminds me of Otomo. Action occurs not for the sake of action, but to advance the story. And when it happens, it's done very well. Dialogue sequences don't feel forced either. The core group of characters is small, so we're allowed insight into personal development; the story doesn't disappoint here, either.

BOLT CITY - Kazu Kibuishi - Bolt City is home of the seemingly irrepresible Kazu Kibuishi. Kazu is the creator of Copper, a comic about a little boy, his (talking) dog, and their adventures through surreality. The art is simple, but it speaks; Kazu has a background in animation, and it shows. He also keeps the colors soft, a welcome respite from some the glaring colors you run into on the web. Kazu is also the creator of Daisy Kutter, a futuristic "Wild West" tale of a gunslinger who's settled down, but gets drawn into one more job. Finally, Kazu is also the founder of an anthology book called Flight. Published by Image, it contains one-shot stories by several artists...webcomic artists. It's wonderful that Kazu was able to get this project in print through a major publisher, there was a time when this book may never have seen the light of day.

In short: Copper reminds me of Bill Waterson's Sunday work. Copper and Fred may be in some ridiculous situation, but they respond to it as if it's expected behavior; then remark upon it poigniantly. The entirety of the third issue of Daisy Kutter is now online. Read it. Now.

PowerPuff Girls Doujinshi - Bleedman - If you're not familiar with doujinshi, it's basically a fan-made comic, usually involving already existing characters from stories, anime, manga, or other sources. First of all, stunning art. Not just a reinterpretation, but a reimagining of the PPG and the world they inhabit. Highly stylized art that is clearly influenced by anime, but doesn't just ape it. Each week's post is enormous (my default desktop size is 1280, and I still have to scroll across almost the entire length of my desktop), and in full color to boot. Is the size justifed? In a word, yes. There's so much detail that it would never be fully appreciated if it was taken down to even 1280.

The story is quite an interesting take, as well. Although the comic is called the "PowerPuff Girls" Doujinshi, it actually encompasses almost the entire roster of Cartoon Network's original characters (the interesting ones, anyway). There's spill over from Nickelodeon, as well. The story starts out with the PPG moving to a new city, and getting to know their new environment, but as they meet more and more inhabitants of their new city, the story escalates to include life, death, and demons.

In short: Dynamic art that never disappoints, and a fantastic application for well known characters. I'm actually not big on doujinshi, I would rather create all new characters, personally, but there is something to be said of those that do it well. This is one of them. I've also got to throw a shout out to Bleedman, because he's a kababayan...globally speaking of course.

Phil's picks - Other sites of interest

OverClocked ReMix - Various - Chances are you've played lots of video games. Of course, the graphics and gameplay strongly define the experience you had, but what about the music? Musical cues and soundtracks are one of those elements of videogaming that you may not notice while you're zooming through loop-the-loops grabbing rings or flash kicking M. Bison into submission, but it's one of those things that can strongly tie us to a game.

Submitted for your approval is OverClocked ReMix, a site that hosts unofficial game music arrangements. That is, it doesn't merely host game music as it exists in-game; there are many sites that do that. Several hundred artists have contributed to the site by offering reinterpretations of classic and new video game music by utilizing new instrument sets, rearranging the music to conform to a specific genre (e.g. techno, disco, rock), or by mixing several pieces together. I've spent many mornings getting through work by plopping in an MP3 compilation CD and letting it fill my mind while I plug away at some of my more menial tasks. The site is good for a few chuckles, too, as some of the artists let their creativity seep into naming their compositions. Tracks such as Uh-oh! The Beat Have Started to Move! and Somebody Set Up Us the Bombman got a smile out of me (bonus points if you know what games those are actually for).

In short: Thousands of music tracks from hundreds of games by hundreds of artists. A fresh look at some of your favorite BGM from games you plunked thousands of quarters into. You shall not want for video game related music if you visit these guys.

Contagious Graphics - Various When Mike and I decided to go to the San Diego Comic Convention in 2005, we knew we had to represent. But how? The idea of creating a freebie was tossed around, but there is strong competition on the freebie table...how would we make ours stand out? Flyers were deemed too cheesy, full color postcards too expensive. The answer dawned on us: stickers. Stickers possess a singular quality that draws people to them; people want to pick them up and stick them on things, much like bubble wrap cries out to be popped. Not to mention the fact that after they are applied, they continue to provide advertising exposure. After much research, we decided on a supplier, Contagious Graphics. They answered our sales queries promptly, and provided plenty of support. Their webpage provides so much information, it would be difficult to mess up. They have templates, sample graphics, truly informational FAQs with plenty of illustrations...it's clear they want their customers to be successful. We put our order in, and when the stickers arrived, they were fantastic. We laid out around 250 stickers on the freebie table at noon, and by the end of the day, they were all gone. We also used them in lieu of business cards. It worked out so well, we'll probably do it again at the next 'Con.

In short: A great product, from a great company staffed by great people. There are so many sticker options available, the possibilities are practically endless. Their prices are competitive, and thanks to some special handling arrangements, we actually got the stickers in San Diego from North Carolina in two days. They also do posters, T-Shirts, and other graphics. Check them out if you have any promo needs. Tell them The Idiot Testament sent ya.