Webcomics in Print - Issue 1: Issue Harder

Greetings Internet and welcome back. I am now freed from the burden of online class, while my on ground classes continue, but the lack of a highly quickened pair of work intensive classes is appreciated, especially as I continue my job working in the grease soaked empire of the world.
Yet, money brings the ability to make purchases and so I raise up a collection of 4 printed books currently in my possession.
Also for sake of being awesome, I have included links to where you may purchase the books.

Perry Bible Fellowship: The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories by Nick Gruewitch
This book I literally stumbled upon about 4 years or so ago in the local comic shop and subsequently purchased. The print is high quality and the colors are bright. It even has a ribbon for saving your place which, while not necessary is still appreciated. I enjoyed using it to share favorite comics at a moments notice.
The bone I might have to pick with the book though is that there is not much extra included. There are 9 "bonus" comics, three or so of which were on the site and those are the only ones that are actually commented on. The main bonus seems having all of the comics printed out but even then, some strips are missing and it leaves an odd feeling of detachment. Then again, Gruewitch mostly stopped updating soon after and then released another larger collect including a lot more so, make of that what you will. B
Fun fact: This book is currently out of print so yeah, collectors item! Also Andrew Hussie is mentioned in the comments.

Shortpacked! & Roomies!: Brings Back The Eighties, Pulls the Drama Tag & How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Beer
To start off, I purchased Roomies! first through preorder and ended up waiting about 4 months to get the book. It is marked book 3/200 so suck it David Willis collectors because I am slightly more awesome than you. I also preordered the upcoming Shortpacked book (Shortpacked Is Totally Gay!) as well. I think I am month 3 or so of waiting for that.
Roomies! (How I Learned to . . .) itself is the collection of David Willis first year of his first comic published in the college paper. As such the art quality is a bit lacking as it is all black and white. The book does include additional bonus comics made for the series and also strips for a syndicated paper version which are better done. Willis also includes comments on a majority of strips that are occasionally funnier that the strips themselves along with commentary.
The downsides of the book lie in the fact that the art is dated with some comics looking chicken-scratch-esqe. While there is a benefit to the original art, he improved afterwards so reworking might have been nice as Jeph Jacques and Dave Shabet are doing reworks for their webcomic collections (though Jacques is waiting to finish the book before preorders). The other complaint is that the pages are glossy. With black and white print it feels weird since under strange lighting conditions it can make reading annoying. This may sound weird but I'd prefer cheaper normal stock paper, it worked for my Calvin and Hobbes collections.
Shortpacked! which started off black and white and then transferred into color meanwhile was dealt with a bit more tactfully with pages having been recolored. Willis still inserts commentary, bonus character intros and bonus comics though so you can feel like you are getting your money's worth.
The Shortpacked books also have shiny stock paper but the color makes it more reasonable, which sounds weird.
My question is though, why might I want to spend the money on the books. With PBF, the art is beautifully rendered and so you can't really survive without the art. Willis' work is well done but having a collection of it seems more like financial support, which is fine). Just an idle thought. B+
Fun fact: The first book is being released with a new better cover. Get on that. Just like how I got on your mom.

Gastrophobia: The 12 Trials of Gasrophobia by David McGuire
I enjoy Gastrophobia for some unexplainable reason, see my review of it. The book I love slightly less. McGuire took a risk to do 2 color printing (black and orange) and some chapters it works exceedingly well since the other comic was similarly done. On the chapter For Heifer in my Heart though, which is rendered in single color sepia style tones originally, the comic is almost unreadable in the book making the chapter a struggle to look at. Not to offend but it seems like there might have been a lack of planning somewhat. Additionally the book offers little extra for the reader, aside from an index (actual toted feature) and a new comic on the back panel. For the price ($12) it isn't bad but considering the other books inclusions it seems lazy. C
Fun fact: David McGuire is some kind of cyborg, most likely. Just saying.

MS Paint Adventures: Problem Sleuth Book One: Compensation, Adequate by Andrew Hussie
I have mad love for Problem Sleuth and MSPA in general. The book only amplifies the love by making it something I actually would love to bring along with me.
For those unfamiliar, Problem Sleuth (and MSPA) is a comic set up like the old text based adventure games. I have met at least 4 people though who could not figure out how to read it. The book is for them. I have several images I love from the comic that I'd love to have on hand (since my laptop is not really portable anymore). The book is for me.
Hussie crammed the book with commentary, a fancy introduction (with one misspelling), additional art and amazingly made a comic that features a lot of animated pages INTERESTING. I cannot see him doing this easily with Homestuck but then, I never though a MSPA book would work. The pages are easy to read and the product is classy. The pages are even glossy without being overly glossy like Roomies! (as the book is mostly black and white).
My complaint with the book though is that it slightly spoils or hints at things which may harm people unfamiliar with the series but I cannot say that most people unfamiliar would give it a shot unlike the Perry Bible Fellowship book which is a shame. A+
Fun fact: I got this in my package. This book has too many prices and values!

BONUS FEATURES:
On a note about preordering while still in production - have an estimate of when you are going to finish the comic or have it ready. I ordered the Dead Winter book without knowing a lot of the art is being redone and mistakingly ordered a copy as a birthday gift. That was about 3 months ago though it is partially my fault. I still look forward to the book.

Also if you strangely feel obligated to have a print copy of your book you would like me to review that you are willing to send for free, I would not be opposed to it.

If you are going to make a book though, put in comments, put in bonus features, put in additional art. They can always read your comic for free online so why publish it without doing that? Giving you money is/should not an adequate reason.

I have also looked through Gunnerkrigg Court Vol 1 and Hark! A Vagrant and used both as gifts. I don't have them on hand but if I recalled, GC lacked bonus features and Hark! had commentary.

Interview With El Santo

This week I went toe to toe with webcomic reviewer El Santo of The Webcomic Overlook. We met in the battleground that is known as that creepy chat box I have on the site. Things got tense and funny. Enjoy.

Koltreg: Greeting sir. How is it going?

El Santo: Sup

Koltreg: I just finished dinner.

El Santo: Awesome! I need to feed myself sometime soon. I am just drinking me some Coke.

Koltreg: I highly recommend it. I had store brand cream soda, a french dip sammich and some rice crackers.

El Santo: That is hardly a dinner. It is barely nourishment.

Koltreg: The rice crackers were carmel covered. That makes all the difference.

El Santo: Yum.

Koltreg: Well let us get this interview going.

El Santo: Sure! Let's do it like Brutus.

Koltreg: Quisling time has come today...er...what got you into webcomics?

El Santo: OK, to question 1 (I have no idea what a Quisling is by the way)...

Koltreg:A Quisling is a reference to some French war where the locals sides with the opposing side. Also they are crazy people who act like zombies. And I thought you were referencing the Hives. (wealth of knowledge!) Oh, it was apparently named after a Norweigan politician who helped the Nazis take over the country.

El Santo: I shall have to use "Quisling" in passing some time, then.

Koltreg: It is a fun word. Back to the interview though. What got you to start reviewing webcomics?

El Santo: My original response was missing. OK, here goes: I basically love reviewing. I used to to movie, anime, and video game reviews on another site called Guthwulf.com. When I decided to start my own blog, I reviewed a bunch of stuff, but my most popular posts were the webcomic ones.

Koltreg: What were some early ones you reviewed?

El Santo: Oh, the popular ones. Perry Bible Fellowship, Irregular Webcomic, a few of Bobby Crosby's efforts. I have a soft part in my heart for minor efforts, though, so when something like "Year One" comes my way --- a sort of Li'l Marvel's parody --- I'm on it like Donkey Kong.

Koltreg: Was there any point where you realized "Hey, I should just focus on webcomics," like after a certain review?

El Santo: I have to thank David Morgan-Mar. After I posted a pretty positive review of Irregular Comic, he posted a link on his site and I got, like, 1,000 page hits over night. To which I thought, "Man, people who read webcomics are pretty passionate!" That lead me on a long dark road. Pretty soon I broke the webcomic reviews out from my main blog, and then I bought a domain name, and then the rest is history. Truly, I am a glutton for attention.

Koltreg: There are worse and less reasonable things to be a glutton for though.

El Santo: Don't get me wrong, though... it's highly enjoyable.

Koltreg: Oh I know. I'd love that level of semi-notoriety. As you have gotten more notoriety, have you had many fringe benefits?

El Santo: Well, just as a disclosure, the blog isn't really all that notorious. I don't want readers to get the wrong impression here. At best it gets 1,000 to 1,500 page hits a day. It's a nice number, but hardly Comics Curmudgeon numbers. As for fringe benefits... I did have a reporter from MacLean's call me to do an interview regarding Kate Beaton. And I was all like, "I'm an authority on Kate Beaton? What the what?" So... getting my name in a Canadian news magazine ... pretty awesome.

Koltreg: Yeah. Lets talk recent news though.

El Santo: Okay

Koltreg: The Webcomics.com Policy change - are you going to subscribe?

El Santo:Me? No. No-ho-ho-ho-o. I mentioned on my blog that it seems to be more for webcomic professionals, which I am not. More of a blogger who comments on webcomic professionals, really. I can see how it can work out for people who go to conventions to promote their stuff, but I'm an irascible homebody, so I'm not likely to take advantage of their fine, fine benefits package.

Koltreg: What would happen if everything with the policy change goes south? Like, nobody subscribes or only 100 people do?

El Santo: You know, if the main purpose of the subscription was to pay for the site itself, 100 subscribers still translates into $3,000, which is not bad. They're definitely going to start small, but I think the idea is that they have to set a precedent somewhere or no one does. Failure is definitely a possibility --- a strong one, since everyone was getting used to a free blog --- but I think everyone involved is well aware of the risks. Few people make a profit in the first couple of years, I think.

Koltreg: Then again, 3000 is more than the average webcomic makes in a year. Though so is $30.

El Santo: It sure is. What webcomics.com needs to do now, though, is make it clear and communicate what they're trying to do ... and it's been an uphill struggle for Guigar and friends so far.

Koltreg: Do you think instead providing the blog for free and the other services for a fee might be more reasonable? Help more people learn to make money and to build the brand.

El Santo: That's actually not a bad idea. However, I can kind of see where Guigar is coming from, too. I think he or one of the other Halfpixel guys regularly do seminars at colleges on webcomics, and there, they're being reimbursed for their time and work. It's kind of disheartening to spend all your time putting your brainpower on, say, writing a tutorial and never seeing any compensation for it.

Koltreg: I see it more like farming though. You plant the seeds but the last thing you want to do is try to eat them just after planting them. If you foster though, you get a meal...eventually

El Santo: I did mention on my blog too that I thought it might be too early to do such a thing as what webcomics.com is doing. I don't know if the webcomic medium is mature enough. Like many have said, it's still the wild wild west.

Koltreg: With a giant robot spider?

El Santo: Noooooooooaaaaahhhhhhhh~!!!!!

Koltreg: Since you have reviewed other genres, what do you different about reviewing webcomics?

El Santo: I try to delve into more far flung anecdotes with webcomics. I think if I was really matter-of-fact in a webcomic review, it can get pretty dry, especially since people will most likely be very unfamiliar about the comic since they wouldn't have seen commercials, heard third-party anecdotes, yadda yadda yadda. So if I'm reviewing a comic about vampire women, maybe I'll tell a story about my views on the Twilight phenomenon and then bring that into my review. I find I do that more often with my webcomic reviews, which are now about 2000 words or so each ... and that's what makes it fun to write.

Koltreg: Anything about the fact that the story can change and that it is fluid? It kind of bothers me from time to time that "Hey, something I write now may not be true in a few months." Unlike movies or war. War never changes.

El Santo: Ha ha ha ha! Yes, that is very true with, say, Shortpacked!, which started out as a comedy about people in a toy store and ended up being about an LGBT community. I was like ... Ohhhhkay.

Koltreg: Who is transexual in Shortpacked? Is it Mike?

El Santo: Probably Supercar.

Koltreg: Great, now I have to reread everything with that in mind.

El Santo: It will blow you away.

Koltreg: *gay joke*

El Santo: Note to gay readers: I totes did not mean that.

Koltreg: 90% of what I write is hate speech against various groups but my multi racial transgendered bisexual editor cuts most of it. Thats why I only post two articles a week. That and college.

El Santo: ***gggaaassssssspppp**** I am shocked out of my monacle.

Koltreg: You have a monocle under your luchador mask?

El Santo: Monocle, dresses like a Mexican wrestler... maybe I'm really Dr. Mindbender Hmmm?

Koltreg: I have no idea who that is. I am a horrible/recovering nerd.

El Santo: Google him sometime. It's a bald GI Joe villain who has a handlebar stache, a monocle, and no shirt. Best villain EVER.

Koltreg: Oh, I know him. What is your favorite webcomic. As in, all the other webcomics online are going to be deleted by....Digital Porn Warriors and you can only save one. Which would it be?

El Santo: It would have to be ... Jack! The greatest furry webcomic about death and disembowelment and gratuitous nudity. What? It's actually really terrible? OK then... probably Gunnerkrigg Court, which is not Jack. Which is A GOOD THING.

Koltreg: I enjoy that as well. Besides it being a good comic I used the print book as a distraction for my sister so I could burn her Twilight books. Gunnerkrigg Court - Helping Everyone!

El Santo: Tell her it is beloved by Neil Gaiman. Girls love stuff by Neil Gaiman.

Koltreg: Gaiman she likes less. I am the Gaiman Man in my family. Where do you see your blog in 5 days?

El Santo: Five days... what, is that a Saturday? I'm probably going to be reading and reviewing the Dead Winter webcomic while my wife hits the gym. Her and her exercise, pfeh. Who needs that when you got bone crunching zombie action?

Koltreg: Reiley is a good guy who deserves more views for his comic. I also figured that 5 days is more reasonable to estimate than 5 months.

El Santo: I'm still on page 50, by the way. It ain't bad, but the bone crunching action hasn't really happened yet.

Koltreg: As we wind this down though, are there any questions you have for me?

El Santo: Yeah! It's always nice to run into a fellow blogger slash mortal rival. What sort of character or personality do think your own webcomic blog is? Like I imagine myself the Anthony Bourdain of blogs, and I think Eric Burns-White once said he was the Pauline Kael.

Koltreg: I see my blog as a submachine that gained sentience. It is deadly in the right hands but it just needs that hand to help it. Which is both crazy and yet...yeah that is just crazy.

El Santo: Yes. Crazy. You might want to lay off the Call of Duty for a day or two.

Koltreg: Actually I have no video games. I only have a Gamecube.

El Santo: That's no good. Now you'll have idea what webcomic guys talk about all the time. Video games is the common language.

Koltreg: I used to room with people who shared consoles. I am a recovering nerd as I say though, I put my money towards webcomics, music and food.

El Santo: So, given your meal earlier ... just music then?

Koltreg: Well sir, thank you for doing this interview. It has been... interesting.

El Santo: No prob, man. Thanks for asking me!

This Friday I should be running the review I expected to have up on vacation that came in late of Rice Boy by a controversial Internet figure.

See you then!

Webcomic Review Part VI

So, I didn't bring Albert Einstein back to lif....wait, he'd be where he was bur.....ummmm.
Koltreg would like to cordially apologize to Albert Einstein.

Also, I feel the need to apologize for my review of Right Click Studios. I was too lenient on it. I will confess though, this weeks comic is good, except that it crashed my Snapdrive account by sapping its bandwidth. Took that down as soon as possible.

On to the comics

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner
Did I already compare something to the closest thing we have to Farside? I don't think so. Well, this is it, except most newspapers wouldn't print it. SMBC is sublime, underrated by the masses and amazing. Sure the art could be better but it's the guys style and I can accept it. Complaints would be when he culls his archives. Its like ripping out pages of the original books of the Bible. Anyway, read it, read it, read it. A+

Scary Go Round by John Allison
Indie art, offbeat humor and the British people. The long stretching (almost 10 years or so?) comic epic of John Allison may very well be my favorite comic. Starting out as a mystery comic, the comic spiraled out of control (in the good way) into a vast collection of characters and adventures. You don't really need to read it all, it just helps. Seriously though, I spent an entire day reading this and it was so very worth it. It may not be your style though so that is my warning. A

Shortpacked! by David Willis
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned my loathing of YWCIBAYSFB (Your Web Comic Is Bad And You Should Feel Bad) and this is a comic that was unfairly attacked for adding character depth. I tried reading Roomies by David Willis and I got into 100 or so but it didn't stick for me. Shortpacked! is a mix of nerd humor, storylines and other things. I've enjoyed it and its not a challenging comic with overly confusing storyline but it does throw in curve balls with drama storyline but I respect it for that. It has references to Roomies and the other comics which might be my only complaint but once again I respect it. The Columbus-citizens comic gets a A.

Sinfest by Tatsuya Ishida
I've read through all of the archives of the comics that I had read except for this one. With many props to Mr. Ishida for his comic, I don't lose any story plot though. Essentially this is another print comic that is "too controversial" for the newspapers. Its a fun read but its nothing amazing. I just really like the style and I don't mind the daily updates. Plus, tits tits tits. Give it a shot, call me in the morning if you still have a B.

Sins (Venials) by Pip
You know that one relative and or friend that you really don't like to bring up in conversation for one reason or another. This is the comic version of that person for me. Sins (Venials) is a long reaching comic about the physical embodiments of the 7 Deadly Sins. The art is simplistic and in many ways, it directly contrasts the story. The story can be confusing if you don't pay attention and the newsposts aren't usually helpful. Plus this partially falls under the problem that El Goonish Shive does by being partially fetishy. The comic is worth a shot, the characters have depth and its off the beaten track in many ways. I guess its less of the person you don't like to talk about and more of that small town restaurant nobody knows about. I give it a B+.

Almost done with the old ones, maybe two more, then the comics I ditched and then....Shards of Alara. Hopefully.

Koltreg out.