Our first ever CONTEST!

Well, I think it's about time we involved the readers in what goes on around here, so we're holding a contest! This isn't just
any little contest though. It will forever affect the site, hopefully in a positive
way. What's this contest about, you say? Okay, here are the details.
Just two days ago I made a new logo for the site. I think it's okay,
but sort of bland and boring. I'm not good with Photoshop and all that high tech stuff. I want an exciting and funny logo that stands out and
makes the site look professional. That's where you guys come in.

To put it simply, I want you, the readers, to create a brand spanking
new logo! It can be any style, any theme, with just a catch or two. One, You must incorporate a chimp. That simple. One chimp, two chimps, three, four, however many you want, doing whatever you want, somewhere in the logo design. It also has to be 638px(width)by 237px(height),in jpeg format. You can have a chimp at a desk, chimps at a computer, heck, chimps doing Pilates, I don't care as long as it's original. And two, the name of the site is changing to "Webcomic Asylum". Like it? I hope so. Jacks Reviews is just getting tired, so it's time to upgrade. So make the logo with the new name. Easy enough?

Now, to what you are all probably wondering, "what will I win if selected?" Great question! First, if you have the winning design, and your webcomic hasn't been reviewed yet, I will review it right away and leave it up for 1 week before doing another review. If your comic has already been reviewed, then just disregard that. Second, you get 1 MONTH of free publicity! You see that picture of ole Johnny Chins to the right of the site? That's where a picture of your comic will be along with a little writeup and link to it. That's 1 WHOLE MONTH of it being right where everyone who comes to the site will see and hopefully check it out. Third, the winning design will become the official tshirt design for the site which I will have up for sale, and you will receive a free one in your respective size. How cool is that?

The contest will run from today, Sept. 12th until Oct. 12th. That's an entire month to make one measly logo! Entries should be emailed to uncaringmachine@aol.com and under subject just put something like "logo entry" or "logo design". When the winner is announced we'll also be putting up all entries for everyone's enjoyment. Any questions, just leave a comment or email. Now get to work people!

Interview time!!

Todays interview is with Life of the Kalahari writer/artist Emma Kane. Read on!

1. Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions. First off, what's the comic about and
why?
Life of the Kalahari is about the Blacktails, a messed up meerkat group in a odd world where anything can be, and anything being the impossible, and bizarre. The reason it is like this is because I started my comic for my own amusement, not always for the pleasure of others. I think it's a nice break from reality, to go into the depths of my mind of put my weirdest thoughts onto to these odd animals.

2. About how much time and effort do you put into the comic?
On average, one hour. It takes longer to write then to draw the strip.

3. Have you ever considered printing your comic into a book?
Occasionally, but I don't think I ever will. The internet, for now, is a lot easier and more flexable for working on.

4. Do you see yourself doing LOTK for the foreseeable future, and do you have any other projects in the works?
I'm not quite sure what you mean there, but if it means doing my strip long into the future, probably yes. I love writing comics, and with a heck of a lot of time to waste it could go on, at the least three more years. In other projects, on and off I've been considering to do a strip (this one will be hand-drawn) about an only child named Millie, and her cat, Chester. Not sure about that, though.

5. If you could do a crossover with any other webcomic, which would it be and why?
Hmm.....I don't know many webcomics, but it'd be Ozy and Millie. It's a great, very funny strip, and boy, does it get a lot of hits.

6. Who are your influences, comic or otherwise?
Newspaper comic influences would be Pearls Before Swine, The Far Side, and Calvin and Hobbes. They're some hilairous and daring comics. I also like Foxtrot, but I only started reading that after creating Life of the Kalahari and I'm not sure it had influenced me that much.

7. Do you have any other hobbies?
Writing, outside of Life of the Kalahari.

8. Please tell the readers why they should check out your comic.
Oh boy! Advertising! You should read Life of the Kalahari not for the art or for something created by a professinol, but instead it shows what bit about I think(Egad! Political Refrences!) and that comics don't always have to be about reality.

9. Any last words?
Not really. My mind's dry right now.

Thanks for the review, and thanks to the readers for eyeballing it!

Left Handed Toons...

Left Handed Toons is a collection of comics done by two right handed dudes named Justin and Drew(Last names. Who needs em?) Think little oddball musings on daily life, gone horribly wrong. The site updates regularly, no set days I suppose.

I have to say that I really enjoyed HALF of the art in this comic. That is to say half of the comics are done by Justin, and half are done by Drew. The Drew comics are drawn much much better than the others, and if he really is a right handed artist, I would love to see what he can do with his dominate drawing hand. I love the quirky style he has. Justin, on the other hand, draws stick figures. Yep. But, as plain and boring as that sounds, the coupling of the stick figures with the right joke works perfectly in some instances, so it kinda evens out in the end. Anyway, hit and miss with the art.

The writing was, again, hit or miss. Some I found funny and pretty clever, like "Nothing More" and "Stabby Stab", but then others, such as "Exercise" and "Not Good Enough" seemed like extreme filler. A lot of them are of the Seinfeld variety. You know, the "why is Ovaltine called Oval when it's round?" Type of comedy. Not really funny, but "hmph" inducing. But then a few of them had me wanting to show them to my friends, which is why the "imbed this cartoon" feature is an added plus. Good and bad but more good then bad. Ahem. Yeah.

In the end I would have to say that I liked this comic, I just wished there was less filler. Solid jokes and good art(maybe Drew could handle all art duties and Justin could write?)throughout would propel this to the top of the webcomic heap in time. Check out Left Handed Toons if you want a unique experiment in webcomics.

I give this comic...

Britney at the VMAs?????

In case you missed the illustrious return of the sultry diva Britney Spears at the VMAs Sunday night, here's the footage in all of it's hip-swaying jiggly robotic movement lip synching glory! And if you're wondering what it has to do with webcomics, well, it sure is comical ain't it? Click to view!
Britney at the VMAs!

First new Gothy comic in.....months?

I'm not sure any of you have ever read Gothy Mcgee, my webcomic which I recently changed to Difference Makers, but I've drawn up about ten new ones to go into my Gothy Collected paperback I'm working on, and decided to show you one now! Click on it, Enjoy it, and lemme know what you think!

Ten chimps better than twelve?

I need some feedback here. I'm thinking of switching to a ten chimp rating system because of all the confusion with twelve. Ten seems to be what people would rather be rated on, because having twelve points makes it harder to determine what's good, better, and best in some peoples minds. Let me know if I should stick to the way it is now, or if ten makes more sense. Thanks!

Chad the Fat Kid...

Here's a short review for up and comer Chad the Fat Kid. Created by Erik Hodson, the comic tells the chubby tale of Chad and his obese adventures in school and other aspects of his life. Updates come, as it says on the site, "every fat kid Friday".

The art was charming with it's well drawn characters and plentiful backgrounds always giving you a good sense of the surroundings. Chad for some reason doesn't have pupils, which I thought was a little creepy looking, but other than that he's a force to be sympathized with. Of course, he does seem to be a bit of a pervert. Anyway, good distinctive art.

The writing in Chad is good and represents the double chin in all of us. I myself was overweight in high school so I can understand some of Chad's sweaty dilemmas all too well. I especially liked the one where he and his friend Lyle pause Street Fighter 2 to see Chun Li's panties. NICE. Not that I ever did that...ahem...Funny jokes, real situations, at least some of them, and good characters.

Chad the Fat Kid(I love that title) is going places. If it can keep the momentum it has going so far without running out of jokes revolving around a cherubic protagonist, then it can only climb upward. With that said, it's very early in it's run, so we'll just have to check back in in a few months. Go ahead and grab a slice, no, make that four or five slices of pizza, a large Coke, and some ice cream, and make a pit stop at Chad the Fat Kid. It won't hurt you as much as that high cholesterol count...

I give this comic...