Interview Time Again!

Hey everyone, sorry no reviews yet this week, been really busy with Halloween and all family issues, but I'm still alivn and kickin'. Here's a new interview with Justin of Left Handed Toons for you to persuse. Take it away Jack!

1. Thanks for taking the time to answer for the fans and future fans out there. So, first off, what was the inspiration to do a webcomic?

I was bored at my job one day and thought it would be fun to do a whole bunch of little quirky cartoons. I drew up a bunch and showed them to my friend Drew. From there, we decided to make Left-Handed Toons together.

2. What are your influences when doing your comic, and how do you come up with your ideas?

No particular influences really. It's pretty much whatever pops into my head throughout the day. I have a piece of paper at work so that whenever I think of a comic idea, no matter how random, I make sure to write it down.

3. What kinds of art supplies or materials do you use?

My girlfriend got me some great art paper and pens a while back and I've been using them ever since! The pens don't smear, which hugely important, since I'm drawing everything left-handed and all =)

4. Are you in this for all the internetty fame or cold hard cash?

Definitely doing it because I love it. I'm so happy to see all the people that like the little comics Drew and I put up for the site. It's a ton of fun.

5. Are all of the comics REALLY drawn using your left hand?

Yup, always use my left hand. It does take a while sometimes and straight lines don't always end up straight, but we call it Left-Handed Toons for a reason! It would be wrong of me to sneak out comics drawn righty, even though I have a feeling no one would notice a difference =)

6. Halloween. What oh what are you dressing up as?

If I had the time and urge to go out for Halloween, I would try to dress up as Mega Man. It would be cool to have a charging blaster arm, even if only for one night.

7. What sorts of advertising have you done for the site?
At first, Drew linked to Left-Handed Toons from his personal flash cartoon site spinnerdisc.com. Since then, we have been using Project Wonderful a lot and we love it. It makes it really easy for anyone with a website to get some traffic going to it.

8. Where do you see the comic two years from now?

Usually I try not to think that far ahead, but I know that Drew and I will be doing this site as long as we possibly can. We have a great reader base, so in two years, we can only hope to get even more great readers. It's all about having fun and we are just happy to see others enjoy the site as much as we enjoy making material for it.

9. If you could do a crossover with any webcomic, which would it be and why?

I always have enjoyed a good Penny Arcade read, so I think it would be a ton of fun to work with them on something. I also think it would be fun for us to team up with White Ninja and make some really off the wall funny stuff =)

10. Once again, we appreciate the time you gave us. One last thing: why should readers check out your comic?

Left-Handed Toons is a quirky webcomic that many people have come to enjoy (even parents!) So come on in and give it a read!

That's all folks!

My new comic: Two Heads Talking.

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you all know I just created a new comic blog site for Two Heads Talking. Go to the bottom of the site and click on the huge banner I made to be transported to relationship humor, in all it's glory or misery. I hope you enjoy it and tell your friends. Gothy is going to stay put here on the review site, where I want him, for now.

Todays Review: ThisComic...

THIScomic. Smayds Makes it. Lots of random killing, cursing, and sexual deviancy occurs. Updated daily. On to the review.

Artwork comes in many forms and styles. Stick figures do as well. I've seen tons of comics that use stick figures for purposes ranging from artistic license to I just can't draw for crap. I can't really tell which is used here, but the stick figure style works for this crazy little comic. The characters look like a jelly bean with stick arms and legs and a head. So technically they aren't stick figures, so let's call em jelly belly figures. Anyway, I don't think it would work so well if they were drawn in an anatomically correct real world style because it wouldn't be so funny to see real people getting impaled, chopped into little bite sized pieces, drilled in the head, anally raped, disemboweled, ran over, kicked in the nuts, shot over and over, stabbed...you get the drift. I hope. No backgrounds to speak of, with the exception of an occasional chair or dog or something, but those are usually used to extinguish a characters life in some way. It's colored, and simple, and sometimes fun to look at, but there is only so much jelly belly figure carnage a sane person can look at.

I did find a host of the comics to be funny, but this is a comic for a certain audience. That audience is people who don't mind brutal cartoon killing and evil sex, which is most of the webcomic readers out there. Kidding. I don't think a comic like this can go too far because it's MEANT to go that far, and attempt to be funny about it. Seeing a little cartoon dude flying through the air kicking a little girl is funny in this setting, because it's not real, see! This is basically a carnage fueled wet dream for sado masochists. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself here. It's hard to describe the feeling I get from THIScomic. I want to like it, but another part of me tells me it's wrong. Oh so wrong. But funny. Funny wrong? I dunno. The jokes are always about someone getting hurt, one of the two main characters or the daughter of one. It's funny, but after reading about half of them you start getting this uneasy feeling of "what is WRONG with this dude?". How much of this can one take? The comic seems pretty popular, so I guess a whole lot, and with the format of the comic, Smayds can crank this stuff out forever, it would seem. Simple, mindless self indulgence.

I'm going to have to say that THIScomic is good for the people that it is aimed at. Don't take it too seriously and you'll have fun with it, but it wears thin really fast. If you're looking for a quick funny violent fix, check it out. But I don't know if you'll be bookmarking a comic that has a jellybelly stick figure little girl bleeding from her vagina at school.

I give THIScomic...

(For mindless, violent, but tiresome, fun)

Webcomic Promotional Tools Part 3.

8. All of the "vote for my comic" sites.

All of these give you the opportunity to get more exposure by putting your comic onto their lists. Just register, input their button code onto your site, and hope people vote, or even do what many people do, give them some incentive to vote by offering up a new comic or sketch of some sort. Some people find this corny, but it works to some extent. If I really like a comic, I want more, and that's where this idea comes in. Here are all of the ones I know of: Webbed Comics; Top Web Comics; BuzzComix; The Webcomic List; and Online Comics. Try any and all of these to possibly increase your viewers.


Now, PAID advertising? Not much different than anything else, just the money part of it. Project Wonderful is the main source of advertising in the webcomic world. There other ways(Adsense comes to mind, but let's focus on PW. Personally I love it, because it's simple to use, with it's easy to navigate website and creation tools for making ads(you can create buttons, banners, squares, half banners, skyskrapers and Leaderboards). The best part is that you can have as many ads on your site as you want, it's up to you. I prefer to limit the amount of ads on my site though because the more you have, the less demand, and the prices drop. Less ads, more demand, more money. Basically it's like Ebay: A person comes to your site and sees you have an ad up for free. They "bid" on the space and put their ad up there. It's free until someone else comes and sees the space and it may say "your ad here for .02 a day!" Then they get the space. Then someone else comes by and bids more, and so on and so forth. The more people bid for the same space, the more the price goes up. Unless you have 10,000 or so views a day though, don't expect to quit your day job, because this isn't the best way to make a living. But if a few bucks a month helps with hosting costs or just as a way to pay for your monthly bag of Gummy Bears, then try it out. Plus you can bid on adspace on other sites, as many as you want, to get your ads for your comic out there. Try putting your ads on relevant sites, because you want people to click, right? Don't put an ad for your comic, "Bisexual Adventures in Moist N' Sweaty Land" on a site called "Christian Kid and Bible Dude". I seriously doubt that would help you get hits. I have fun with PW. I love winning the adspace, but don't get caught up in the moment and bid on more than you can chew, or in this case, pay for. I had that problem with Ebay once. Not pretty.

There are tons of ways to gain viewers and make your comic successful, but it all depends on your willingness to go that extra mile. You can go the other route and just make a great comic and let word of mouth spread slowly, but I like to try and get my comic out there with the methods I mentioned here. I haven't tried them all, but maybe you will. No matter what reason you're doing this for, the end result depends on you. Just remember to have fun with it, because we're all in it for at least one reason: we like webcomics!

New comic at bottom!

Hey, just letting you know that a new Two Heads Talking strip is at the bottom of the page, and from now on it THT will be updated on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while Gothy will be updated Mondays and Fridays. Enjoy, and please, let me know what you think!

NEW FEATURE: DRAW CHIMPY!

Greetings out there in Webcomic Land! Okay, that was corny. I just wanted to stop in and tell everyone about a new feature I'm adding to the site. It's a great way to get a little promotion, and I think it'll be fun to boot. The new chimp mascot for the site up there in the logo needs something to do other than sit in his asylum cell all day, so here's what I want you to do. I would like anyone and everyone to draw comics featuring Chimpy(that's his name)doing webcomicky things. Anything that has to do with webcomics. Yknow, Chimpy doing a short webcomic tutorial; Chimpy throwing his feces at a crappy webcomic; Chimpy just telling jokes about comics, anything. Call it "It's Chimpy!" and it can be in any format; a three panel comic, a full page comic, or even a one panel one. It can even be Chimpy fanart. Whomever draws and sends me one will get a link to his/her comic. If you don't have a comic you still get your name and comic up in lights! Fun to draw, and get a link. Simple, ain't it? I want to see peoples individual takes on Chimpy. Go wild! Email me with your comic to uncaringmachine@aol.com, subject "It's Chimpy!" Any size you want to send it, as long as it's Jpeg. I look forward to seeing them!

Todays Review: BetaPwned...

BetaPwned, a comic created by Tanya Higgins, involves relationship and all sorts of life issues at a pretty personal level, all wrapped in a nice warm tortilla of comedy. Analogies are not my strong point. I also have to mention it's not for kids, as the writing involves adult humor. Updates come in a single panel Mondays only version, and a full page Friday comic. Now to the review.

The art in Pwned has this flat primary color look to it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think some good shading would give a sense of realism, but that's probably not the look Tanya is going for. It's all very simple and skimps on the details, such as stress lines in the face, wrinkles in clothing, etc., but no one ever said those things are necessities in a comic. We have enough wrinkles in real life, don't we? Comics are a fictionalized take on reality anyway. When we need em, there are backgrounds and set pieces to establish when they are out at a bar or somewhere that the setting is relevant to what's going on in the scene. A couple of things that need some work: The blank stares of the characters made me want to reach for a bottle of Visine to moisten there poor eyes at times. A little more wide-eyed than I'm used to. Also the hands, oh God(or Gods, as she says)the hands. We take our ability to hold a can of Coke for granted people. Imagine the struggle for these poor people. In all seriousness, the hands could be a bit bigger with a little more palm. We all have things we need to work on, and at least she's trying, which I give the artist credit for.

I'm impressed by Tanya Higgins ability, or willingness, to let out all of her frustrations and struggles onto the written page. The comic reads like an illustrated
blog, and that's meant as a compliment. BetaPwned feels real because it is real. It's refreshing to see some reality and a humorous look into someones not so perfect life. It CAN be wordy though. A LOT wordy. Patience is a virtue a lot of people don't have, no matter how interesting the subject matter. At first the writing had this smart, informed, satirical style that made me am feeling stoopid. But after a while it toned down the holier than thou feel, as if she were trying to weed out the people that wouldn't get the comic. It now falls into a more comfortable position with a more balanced humor and smarts style. I do wonder just how many jokes one can get from an autistic child though. I felt a little uncomfy after the first few. I guess it's okay if not entirely played for jokes. Being informed is a good thing!

I liked BetaPwned for it's sharp writing and the reality of it. I haven't read many comics that are as personal as this one, and I doubt I will. Tanya Higgins lays it all out there for the world to see, and I applaud her for it. She's saying here I am world, take me, laugh WITH me, and let's see where this goes. This is one person who will be on that trip with her. Maybe you should too.

I give BetaPwned...

(For great personal writing and overall enjoyability factor)

Part 3 of Promotional Tools pushed back...

Hey everybody, just letting you know I've had a hectic past few days, so I haven't had a chance to review a new comic, but I did just put up a new Gothy at the bottom of the page, as well as a new comic I'm trying that just popped into my head yesterday at work. It's called TWO HEADS TALKING and it'll be pretty much what the title suggests, two heads talking about real life events with a humorous twist. I will alternate between Two Heads and Gothy every other day. I hope you enjoy it. I also have to push back the Promotional Tools for Webcomics Part 3 to Tuesday, with a new comic review coming Wednesday. Thanks for visiting, and look for more changes and new features coming soon!

Webcomic Promotional Tools, Part 2.

Here are some more quick and easy, and free, ways to promote.

1. Get your comic reviewed. If you feel you've got enough strips in the archive, and think it's ready, just go to any of the webcomic review sites and email or leave a comment requesting a review. Aarins Blog, Wednesday Webcomic Weview, 2 Cents In 60 Seconds, Comic Rankers(the only downside to Rankers is being REQUIRED to put their banner on your site if you want a review. I did it.), Ataraxia Theatre(two hamsters review, but it's currently on hiatus), CasualNotice, and The Webcomic Watchman, and of course yours truly, all take requests. Eventually they will all get to your comic, and the more sites you request a review from, the more chances that you will get one. Be patient with this though. Don't keep emailing and trying to persuade them to rush or they might discard your request all together. I'm partial to chocolate chip cookies though. :)

2. If you have a humor comic, try entering your funniest strip into Webcomic Battle. It has dropped off a bit in viewers since it's inception, but maybe you can help build it back to its former glory. I tried it and got a few hits. The process is basically a death match between two comics, and the one that gets more votes for being the funniest gets to come back the next day and "battle" it out with a different comic. This goes on and on until your comic loses. The more days you win, the more views you will end up getting. Make sure you put up a good one! Easy and fun to see if you win or not. I won. One day. Sniff.

3. Redditt. It's basically a forum for hot topics of the day. Register, put up an "article", basically a pitch for your comic in one line, and the more people who view it and give it an up arrow, the higher up the chart it goes, and the MORE chances for people to notice it and click. It helps if you can get people you know to click it to push it up, but that's if you want to use those sort of shameless tactics.

4. StumbleUpon. Here is the official description right from their home page: "Channel surf the internet with the StumbleUpon toolbar to find great sites, videos, photos and more based on your interests. StumbleUpon learns what you like and makes better recommendations." In short, the more sites you "like" and the more people "like" your site, the more chances for people to stumble onto your site and "like" it again, and so on and so forth. It's like a snowball effect. The more people use it, the more people find your site. A couple of problems here though. People who aren't looking for webcomics will stumble to your site too, and they will most likely go right to the next site. So they won't all be new fans. And it seems that the less you use the stumble toolbar and like new sites, your views from the program will drop. So you have to use it pretty much everyday to get good results. But it's still free and worth it to try out. So go like tons of sites! Oh, and enjoy it too, because there are lots of cool and weird sites that you would never even know about, but will find here.

5. Put a link to your comic in all of your emails. You've got friends, right? Wouldn't they like to see what you're up to? Chances are some people you email, friends or not, will be curious to click the link and see what your comic is about.

6. Word of mouth. WHAT!? Your comic is good? I have to tell others! The easiest and best way to get your comic noticed. It's just like any other "product". Remember Crystal Pepsi? New Coke? If it's bad or badly executed, no one will want it. Make a good comic people will want to come back to again and again, and the clicks will eventually come.

7. While not totally free, making magnets, stickers, flyers, etc. to post up or give away around your city or town, believe it or not, will work as well. I live in Savannah, Ga, and we have SCAD(The Savannah College of Art and Design) here. I'm going to go guerilla tactic style and drown that place in flyers and stickers soon. I also have a WebcomicAsylum magnet on the back of my car. It's not all internet, folks. I know some will think it's goofy or tacky, but if you believe in your comic or site, and really want to promote it, go all out! You've got nothing to lose, but everything to gain.

Part 3 up Monday!

Todays Review: The PC Weenies...

Krishna M. Sadasivam has a pretty impressive resume to work with. A B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He earned a M.F.A. in Animation from the Savannah College of Art & Design. He is now a full-time
instructor within the Media Arts and Animation department at the Art Institute of Tampa, and also spends a considerable amount of time as a freelance cartoonist / illustrator. Some of his prominent clients include Hinduism Today, What PC? Magazine (VNUnet), The BENT Magazine (Tau Beta Pi), EE Times, Microsoft, and CNET. This was taken out of his about page by the way. Wow. Now, say he had a webcomic. What would it be about? The PC Weenies is all about computers, computer repair, computer software, computer support, etc. It's about to get geeky in here! Updates come three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I love cell animation, and this is what I see when I look at PC Weenies. Pretty, colorful and fluid animation quality artwork which looks like a geek version of Ren and Stimpy. I never liked Ren and Stimpy, but it sure was neat to look at. I'm a fan of this style, which I'm starting to see more of as I review more and more webcomics as it isn't sketchy and sloppy, and has a very marketable sheen to it. Nice.

With the entire archive of jokes revolving around computers and computer applications, it did get a bit tiresome after a while. I ended up wanting some slapstick, maybe someone getting hit over the head with a catfish or something. It was well written for the most part, but I didn't find myself laughing at it. Maybe because it's geared almost entirely toward the egghead crowd? Here's an example: "Oh, you're in for a treat, Chauncey. Hampton's Photoshop Slow-Down tips will totally change your work flow!" Huh? I'm sure the audience it's aiming for gets it, and it's funny to them, but to snag a wider audience that wouldn't know a CSS from a zip file there needs to be something more. More personal or longer reaching strips about other topics could help.

I liked PC Weenies but could have liked it more. It has great artwork, a nice intricate site design, and nice smart writing, but was lacking in laughs for me. If Krishna likes where he's at and is content zeroing in on one particular crowd that needs it's fix of tech jokes, then he should keep doing what he's doing, because it's perfect for that group. I suppose his tag line says it all: "Tech toons for tech enthusiasts". I just think changing things up a bit and having a little less tech and more funny would help Weenies gain a whole new audience in it for the wacky and zany adventures and not just the pokes at the computer industry. It might just be too smart for it's own good.

I give The PC Weenies...

(For bright, colorful, flawless art and good, if not hysterical, writing)

Webcomic Promotional Tools, Part 1.

Some do webcomics for a hobby. As a way of expressing themselves. Myself, I see it as a form of therapy. Then there are those hoping for that elusive cashcow that will take them out of their mundane 9 to 5 jobs. It's like John McCain recently said, "Over 50,000 people in the United States now make their living off of Ebay". Why NOT webcomics? Either way, Or even if you want both, there is one thing that ties us all together. We want clicks. Views. Visits. Bookmarks. Fans. And as many of them as possible. I know there are those who SAY it doesn't matter to them, but that's a load of cow patties. Don't we all want to be recognized? Give me success!

I'm still relatively new to the webcomics promotion machine. While I did Gothy Mcgee for a few years(and now he's relegated to a strip two times a week at the bottom of this site. Oh how the mighty have fallen!), I never really tried to promote it to the masses in any serious form. The few things I did try were helpful in getting my views up from maybe 6 or 7 unique users a day to upwards of 50 or 60, which to me at the time was a success in itself. The Webcomic List was one of those attempts, of which I still use today. For 15 bucks you can have a 100x100 avatar on the top of the site, along with others, for one full month. The 15 dollars may sound a bit steep, especially for a lot of teenage webcomickers, but with an in your face avatar it'll probably be worth it for the views you'll get.

I tried a few other things on my quest for internet fame and fortune, such as jumping all over the TWCL and Comicgenesis forums(CG being the bigger of the two) and getting to know others in the webcomic game. Make sure your site address is in your signature too. That way anyone who reads your comments can click and see your site. This is also important. Make friends! People are always willing to lend a hand and, if they like your comic, may be interested in doing a banner swap with you. Heck, some will put your banner up simply because they like your comic, no swap needed. I got my banner up multiple times this way. Others can also help you by offering helpful advice on your comic and site in general. Is your site interesting or is it just a plain white background with the comic and some text? If it's the latter, who wants to see that? I would have more fun watching reruns of Walker, Texas Ranger. Give it some style, as well as extras like an about page, fan art, links to other sites of interest, maybe even a forum. You may not have a lot of readers now, but nothing wrong with being prepared and looking professional while you wait, is there? Take constructive criticism and run with it, and I don't mean with your tail between your legs. Show people you are willing to improve and roll with the proverbial punches.

Here's something fun you can try: guest strips and fan art. You like to draw? Can you use the practice? Are there comics you read and enjoy? Draw some fan art for em! It's simple to just draw a sketch of another comics characters and email it with your name and website address. Use your own style though. Don't just copy or trace a picture and recolor it and try and pass it off as yours. Artists like to see your take on their characters. I know I did! Most webcomics will post your fanart WITH a link. Fun, easy, free advertising. The same goes for sites asking for guest comics. Troll the forums and you'll usually see someone requesting guest comics because they're swamped with schoolwork, sick with salmonella, or visiting Aunt May up in Virginia for a week, and need material to cover them. You don't even really need to be a fan to do either of these, but it does help. And if you're going to do one you should at least know the personalities of the characters you're writing. You wouldn't want to have Frank(a vegan)eating a steak, would you?

Site Whore: Someone who aggressively and annoyingly promotes their site and will stop at nothing to do so, forum codes of conduct be damned.

That's my original definition. I've got to get that in the wiki...ahem. There is absolutely nothing wrong with site promotion, as long as you FOLLOW THE FORUM CODES OF CONDUCT. I have to admit that I recently went to a site and joined the forums and hastily put up a "Hi! Check out my site, WebcomicAsylum!" thread. Nothing wrong with that, right? Wrong. First of all I hadn't even introduced myself or replied in some other threads of common interest. Second, I posted in the wrong forum! Instead of posting in the comic or site promotion forum, which they had, I threw up a rushed and ill conceived thread in an artists corner one. Stupid. My thread was quickly locked and I got a good chewing out. ALWAYS read any codes of conduct or forum rules to see what should be posted where, and what you can and can't say. Being friendly and following rules will go a long way in this form of media.

Make sure to come back Thursday for Part 2!

Our 2nd EVER CONTEST!!

Yep, contest #2 is here. Ah yes, I remember the first one. Chimps were all aflutter, doing everything under the sun. Heck, see that logo up there? Krishna M. Sadasivam created that, and a job well done it was. He will soon be enjoying a Webcomic Asylum tshirt with his logo along with his webcomic banner permanently displayed on the site, and of the other prizes mentioned. And now it's another lucky readers turn to win fantastical prizes that would make a Wookie poop out an Ewok with excitement. What? Tell you more Okay okay, don't get your diapers in a bunch, here are the details.

We all know the webcomics medium is still in it's infancy, with only a select few able to live off of their works, DC bringing out Zuda, Stan Lee's Sunday Comics, and news and review sites popping up faster than pics of Britney Spears privates, thing looking pretty darn exciting or all of us. What am I getting at? I would like you to write an article on the webcomic "industry". More specifically, your take on where it's been, where it's at, and were you see it going in the future. Be creative, write it any way you want to, include details, specifics, blah blah.

Now, the person who writes the best article will win and have their article prominantly displayed on the site, and maybe on some others(I'll shop it around for maximum coverage). Of course, all entries will be linked to for everyones viewing pleasure. The winner will also have their comic(if you have one, I don't discriminate against those who don't have a webcomic)reviewed right away if it hasn't been so already, and you will receive a Webcomic Asylum tshirt. The major prize is...wait for it....a set of art supplies like the world has never seen! I'm talking pens, pencils, paper, rulers, erasers, whiteouts, markers, tsquares, asquares, bsquares, you name it, it'll be in there. Sound good? I thought it might.

From one paragraph to ten pages, it's not the length but the contesnt that will be judged by myself and a few others. I've also decided to cut down the time from one month to three weeks this time though. I got a little antsy last time. So Monday, Nov 4th is the deadline, with the winner being announced on the 5th. Email your entries to uncaringmachine@aol.com, subject matter "Article contest entry". What are you waiting for? Start your writing!

A word from our FIRST contest winner...

Hey all, man, that week of seven reviews almost killed me! But I came through with flying colors right? Heh. Well, our contest winner was gracious enough to send a few words about his triumphant victory. Here's what he had to say...

"It's truly an honor to have my art grace the main masthead of Webcomics Asylum. I'd like to thank Jack for giving me the opportunity to participate. I never win anything - but I guess I can't say that now. :) Anyway, keep up the good work - I've added your site to my RSS reader and look forward to being turned on to many more webcomics courtesy of the Webcomics Asylum... Keep on rockin'!

Stay 'tooned, :)"

-Krishna


This can be you in the next contest! What contest might that be? Come back later today for the lowdown!

Seven Reviews In Seven Days Review #7: Plus One Comics...

I like videogames. Not to say I'm obsessed with them though. That would be my brother. Collectively, my brothers and I have owned the Intellivision, The Atari 2600, The Sega Master System, The original Nintendo, The Sega Genesis, The Turbograffix 16, The Atari Jaguar, the 3DO, the Nintendo 64, The Gamecube, The Playstation, The Playstation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and all of the portables. But I'm not obsessed. I only recently started playing games again when my brother bought me an Xbox for Christmas a few years ago and then gave me his
Xbox 360. I'm currently hooked on Fight Night Round 3. My point is I don't know a whole lot about games at the moment. And their is a whole subculture that I'm not aware of. On to the review.

Plus One Comics, created by Lance Icarus, features characters such as Dizzy, Lo, Chip, Ayame, and I do believe Lance himself playing lots of videogames and using lots of gamespeak. The comic updates Mondays.

I have to be honest here and say the art is at the bottom rung of the ladder of comics I've reviewed thus far. Fairly generic black and white art attempting an anime look with no real discernible style of its own. And Backgrounds? We don't need no steenking backgrounds! The characters obviously live in an empty void. Maybe Lance should stick to the writing and feel around for an artist to help out. To be fair a
couple of comics did have some promise that show he could do better if he would only take his time and practice, but a LOT of work is needed to bring this up to even an average level.

Okay, this is where the beginning of the review comes into play. I've played my share of games, but the constant Halo techspeak and references to all of these newfangled games is lost on this old codger. Reading Plus One had me wishing for Star Trek technojargon, it was that bad. Quite a few times, with the mix of the art and writing, I had no idea what was going on in the panels. A better panel breakdown and a clearer idea of what's being talked about is in need here. Something else I found
annoying was the plague of webcomics, the "Sorry, played Halo too much and couldn't update this week" or "Schoolwork overwhelmed me" syndrome, used a few times where there should be comics. If you can't find the time to keep up a decent schedule, just don't put anything up at all. I don't need excuses.

Plus One Comics is clearly for hardcore gamers only. And I mean hardcore as in don't mind mediocre art and confusing writing. The good thing is that with it being in this stage, there is TONS of room for improvement, which I'm sure will happen eventually. Most comics start off a bit shaky and get better with time. I noticed that people leave a lot of positive comments on the tagboard, so Lance must be doing something right. I can't recommend it, but if you want to see for yourself, go for it. Halo fans looking for a fix probably aren't that picky.

I give Plus One Comics...

(for needing an extreme makeover, Halo Edition)

Seven Reviews In Seven Days Review #6: Cartridge Comics...

I love pop culture. Games, movies, tv, comic books, cartoons, it's all like crack to me. But does that make us nerds? Hm. A question for another time. Cartridge Comics, created by Chris Jeffery and Lex, aims to debase my love of pop culture by showing us the other side of the lives of the characters we've all known and loved for years. Updates come every Monday.

Cartoon, comic, game and movie characters all have their own unique looks and styles, and these guys do a great job of recreating them. Cartman looks like Cartman, the dinos from The Land Before Time look like the dinos from The Land Before Time, etc. The bright and cheery art is drawn in a Saturday morning sugar rush style, and yes, I know that doesn't make any sense, but it's the way I felt about it. Let's just say it's clean, fun comic art. that belongs on a cereal box. They do debase the characters sometimes for our comedic benefit(don't even ASK what happens to the Keebler elves), but it's usually hilariously displayed. Great work.

The writing is mostly funny and the different characters all have their own little storylines, from Emo-Spider to the recently developed Evan and Milton dudes, who seem to be taking the center of the comic now. Early on there were no recurring characters except for Jerry, an English stoner, but now there are some and I think they were needed. The jokes work perfectly in tandem with the art, and dare I say it, a lot of them are things that I think we've all thought of from time to time. Who hasn't thought that Harrison Ford is getting a bit long in the tooth to be playing Indiana Jones AGAIN? Yes, a lot of the gags are obvious and poop-humor in nature, but that doesn't mean they aren't funny.

I enjoyed Cartridge Comics, what with me being into pretty much all the things they pick on. You can tell Chris and Lex have had plenty of time in front of the tv watching what they love and it shows. Covering all their bases from The Transformers to The Ninja Turtles, from Star Wars to Star Trek, this comic is recommended for anyone who considers themselves a geek, nerd, gamer, trekker,or just someone who likes a good funny comic. I did see some resemblance to Penny Arcade and Ctrl+Alt+Del, but it's more of a superficial resemblance and stands on it's own two legs. Read it!

I give Cartridge Comics...

(for making me laugh, great art and coloring, and overall enjoyment factor)

AND THE WINNER IS..........

After 4 long, hard, can't wait to get to today weeks, AND as you can see above, we FINALLY have the winner of the Webcomic Asylum Logo Contest! It took a bit of deliberation(yes, I do have some help)but after a fight or two, some hugs, a bottle of Jack Daniels, and watching Chris Farley's "Black Sheep", we can proudly say that the winner is...Krishna M. Sadasivam of
"The PC Weenies"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's right Krishna, you delivered a kick ass logo that slapped us in the face, grabbed our collective booties and never let go! Witness the awesomeness of the new permanent logo for the site. See how it perfectly embodies everything we stand for. Crazed straightjacket wearing chimps locked up with laptops! Love it. Be on the lookout for your tshirt of YOUR design in the mail, as well as all the other prizes. What are those some may ask? Well, the extra SURprizes I mentioned are: These 3 books: "Instant Web Pages" by Peter Weverka; "Grimmy Come Home: Mothergoose and Grimm Compilation" by Mike Peters; and "Fantasy Cartooning" by Ben Caldwell! All of these will be helpull in filling your thirst for more webcomic creating knowledge. A lotta stuff, right? Also you get the rest, which is a review of your comic up Monday, a permanent banner of your comic on the site, and I'll throw in some stickers and magnets to top it all off. Once again, congratulations to Krishna and thanks to everyone who entered the contest, who appear with their submissions below. The next contest will be up Monday, and just wait till you see what it is!!!!!

LOGO ENTRIES!!!

Greg Fraser of Dreamleak sent this nifty logo:


Robert Cook of Mansion of E sent in this cool shapely one:


C.W. of C.W.Comics(of which I just yesterday reviewed How The Dinos Died) sent in two pretty cool logo designs:


Dave Buist of Taking The Bi-Pass sent in this little gem:


AND finally Ana Gomez of High and Low snuck this one in under the radar:


Again, thanks for all the entries. Enter the next contest for more chances to win!

Seven Reviews In Seven Days Review #5: Grumpy The Fat Hamster...

Todays comic is Srdjan Achimovich's(McDuffies on ComicGenesis) Grumpy The Fat Hamster, a light and calorie-free tale of a gas filled hamster with an uncontrollable eating habit. The site isn't specific about when it updates, nor is there anything on the site other than the comic.

The art seems to be almost done as an afterthought, a bad afterthought. But I think this was Srdjan's plan in the first place, to provide us with a sketchy comic to show us what not to do when creating a webcomic. This can be the studyguide for newcomers! It does have its own unique charm though. Grumpy is about as cute as an obese hamster can be. Basically they comic reminds me of those little doodles you would make in the corners of a book and flip the pages to animate them.

Every single Grumpy adventure is about him eating something he isn't supposed to, so the writing is on an even keel with the art. That is to say, rushed and lacking in plot or any real jokes. But again, see above as to why I think that is. I still found myself chuckling at Grumpy, just because of how simple it was and that made it funny to me.

Grumpy The Fat Hamster can go on forever, because there is no real story to it, just eating and burping. It was entertaining in it's own way, and I liked seeing what he would eat next. And before anyone comments that it was probably never meant to be reviewed seriously, I already know that. But I had fun reading it, so why not review it? It could actually become a good comic with better art, some color, and more unique things for Grumpy to eat. But for right now it's just an exercise in what NOT to do with a webcomic. Good for what it is.

I give Grumpy The Fat Hamster...

(for being fun in it's simplicity, but not enough to truly be a webcomic)