It should be no surprise that I find stuff that I want to post on my blog but not always do I have a theme or topic into which it fits. In which case I usually do one of these posts into which I cram all this stuff.
OLD BUSINESS
In one of my posts from last week I already reported the news about Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber´s comic UNDERGROUND that got an unexpected raise in sales when Steve Lieber entered an internet forum that had scanned and downloaded the entire comic.
Most of you probably have already read all about it but I just wanted to add two new links. The first one is for the radio station on3 on which the topic was discussed how to make money with comics via the internet ( from bootleg to bestseller - giving away comics helps to sell ) in which David Boller from ZAMPANO comics participated :
Being a curious guy I had to check out the UNDERGROUND comic ( via the preview for the first issue from the first blog ) and what can I say - I ordered it via amazon. I know that there is also another shop where you can order it but the shipping alone would cost as much as the graphic novel. The downside is that I won´t get it before Christmas so you´ll have to wait till then for my verdict.
If you want to check it out for yourself, here´s a link where you can download the comic for free and also donate some money. I could have added the links to the old post but I wanted to draw more attention to them.
OLD BUSINESS - NEW BUSINESS
Okay, the next stuff is old and new because - it´s something I wanted to post for quite some time. After this year´s trip to Erlangen I started kind of a diary but like always other stuff came up and I didn´t continue it. I always wanted to make one of the installments about the new webcomics which are also featured in PANIK ELEKTRO 7 - SEELENSTRIPS.
The concept of the PANIK ELEKTRO series is that there is always one topic ( like " Science Fiction " , " Super Heroes " or such ) and dozens of artists contribute short comics. In issue 7 it was autobiographical, slice - of - life webcomics. I even had the good fortune to meet some of the featured creators at the booth of SCHWARZER TURM. Now PANIK ELEKTRO 7 deserves a post of it´s own but since I don´t know when I´ll come around to it I want to post the links to the two webcomics for which I already have the material needed. Today I was on a site with a lot of webcomics so it´s no big deal to post them.
The first one is BLATTONISCH by Leaf Van Genova which is mostly in black and white.
I guess the title is a play of words since the word platonic was written like the german word for leaf which is the name of the artist. The strips are sometimes funny, sometimes strange and according to her the most traffic comes from the strips about Harry Potter.
I wanted to buy a print version but either there was none available or I forgot to do it.
The second one is GESTERN NOCH by Asya. I also met her in Erlangen and I bought some minicomics from her. The only bad thing is that I would like to have a small pocketbook with the strips as a giveaway for Christmas. That would be cool as a print - on - demand option where you could select your favorite strips and then have it printed as a nice small booklet.
Like the first this is also slice - of - life and you should definitely check it out. Sorry, both of them are in german.
NEW BUSINESS
As I said I was on a website with lots of webcomics today and I wanted to post a few more links. This is a purely random selection and just the ones that piqued my curiosity or the ones I had already heard about. Usually I don´t read much webcomis ( who has time for it all ? ) but I think these deserve some attention :
MEMENTO MORI is a webcomic that takes place during the Roman Empire and it´s done entirely with action figures. Now this could be a stiff comic but thanks to the masterful way in which shadow and light is used the photos almost seem to come to life.
There is a german version and an english version available.
SANDRA AND WOO by Powree and Oliver Knörzer is another webcomic that is available in a german version and an english version. It tells the adventures of Sandra and Woo, a stray racoon that she adopts. The strips run the gamut from funny to absurd to thought provoking and serious. I especially like the clean line and the dynamic storytelling.
DAS BUCH DER SCHATTEN is another german webcomic. Our protagonist Jason Scott has the assignment to bring the fabled " book of shadows " ( for my taste the translation " book of the shadow " sounds too much like an anthology title for a certain pulp character ) to the museum of London which is the beginning of an old fashioned adventure story - told on about 200 pages by now - that will lead him all across Europe in the year 1899.
Secret Services, mysterious congregations, shady adventurers, arms dealers and the Vatican are all trying to get their hands on the book that seems to be some kind of " Necronomicon ". By horseback, by carriage, by zeppelin, by train or via submarine in short.....by any means of transportation that was available at that time. The trick is to oppose brigands, bandits, assasins and traitors, to outwit your adversaries and to stay alive. Aside from that I don´t want to spoil too much of the story.
The special attraction of the comic - besides it´s innovative coloring - is that real people from that time appear as well as fictional ones like the ever present Inspektor Lestrade.
There is also no shortage of clairvoyants, magicians, chinese bad guys, beautiful femme fatales and esoterics what may sound a bit strange ( the part about magicians and other occult practicers ) but at that time everything seemed possible to the general populace so it´s not out of place in the story.
What I really liked is the coloring of the story that was painted on wood with acrylic colours ( !!! ). The story starts in Syldvania ( Transylvania ? ) in entirely blue tinted colors that envoke a really cold and creepy mood.
While the story progresses other colors are added depending of the surroundings but in the parts that take place in other towns like London the primary color is once again blue.
One thing that was a bit distracting is that even if most of the word balloons are placed outside of the panels the pictures can be a bit small at times.
Aside from that I urge you to give it a chance. There are three chapters available so far and the first one has already been translated to english.
For more information about Christoph Roos or updates on The book of shadow you can go to Christoph´s website or his blog.
A really weird webcomic is GESCHICHTEN AUS DER VERBOTENEN STADT ( Stories from the forbidden city ). This comic has not been translated but that doesn´t really matter since it´s told without words.
The reader is challenged to impart his own meaning into the story and figure out what is happening.
Aside from the weird premiss of the comic one of the things that attracted me to it was that the main character is a skeleton with an detachable brainpan.
A website that´s only funny for my german readers is LAST KISS by John Lustig that combines comic panels from vintage romance comics with punchlines from Today.
As usual I´m open to any kind of link exchanges so if anyone wants to be fetured in my blog roll please contact me.
SHOW BUSINESS
If you are now tired from all these webcomics here are two videos. The first one is from Papiertourist in which he does a comic special in which he presents the comics GARULFO, CODEX ANGELIQUE, DIE MECHANISCHE WELT, DIE REISE MIT BILL and DIE VIER VON DER BAKER STREET. It´s not as lavishly produced as A COMICBOOK ORANGE but the animations are done very well. And the best part is that at the end of the video you can click some links for individual reviews. Who needs television ?
And to close things for Today here´s the trailer for the new french film based on the classic BD LUCKY LUKE ( courtesy of Terry Hooper from ComicBitsOnline - make sure to check out his website ) .
I haven´t seen the german movie adaption with Til Schweiger but this one looks promising. And you can´t go wrong with a main actor named Dujardin.
So that´s all for Today and next time more about british comic. Or some old german comics. I never DID get around to write that post about the ZACK comics of my youth.
New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN :
I´m a humanoid - based repair and maintenance unit left behind by unknowable alien gods to make sure that the earth is still here and in good shape when they get back.
Just like you are.
