Friday, November 27, 2009

Webcomics - Nuts and Bolts: Advertising Post One

Let's get one thing straight right away... there is no magic bullet that's going to take you from 10 unique visitors per day to a 1000. I was at a Comic-Con forum where Gabe from Penny Arcade was asked what the best way to get internet traffic was. His response was something along to the lines of "Invent a time machine and start your webcomic in the late 90s." I've heard a number of responses from creators that are along these same lines.


The chances of you ever making your living off your webcomic are just about non-existent. It's not impossible but almost all creators out there today making a living off their comic have been doing it for 10-15 years. The point I'm trying to make is that there are a lot of great reasons to do a webcomic but don't let making money be your reason because you won't put out a good comic and certainly won't make any money.



I'm going to do an entire series on Advertising that should give you a fighting chance to get a few hundred visitors a day for a price that will fit into any budget. Next time I'll talk about creating effective banners that will draw traffic to your site.

Dio Rules / Throw up the horns.

I got some sad news while researching Ronnie James Dio (yes that is something I do.) He has stomach cancer. I can tell you first hand how terrible that is because it is what killed Father Robert Dewey 9 years ago. I loved my Dad a whole lot and he was a strong man. That said, I am hoping that the raw spirit of Rock that dwells within RJD is intense enough to banish his cancer with a single steel tinged banshee wail!




Rock on good sir knight of ultimate headbangery. Rock on.

In other news I am close to completing my pages for issue 59 of Marvel Adventures Spiderman and I'll post some of the in progress work and steps once I find out if that is legal.

In the mean time check out my Starwars Pencils done for fun.




I wrote a script for myself to do some samples and both revel in my fandom and challenge myself to do some storytelling.




I just crammed as much of my favorite star wars stuff in there as I could. I didn't do any lightsaber stuff but there is always next time.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The apology post

"Welcome back to the blog!" The writer said to himself. "Sorry I've been away..." he continued... "school's been so difficult, the house burnt down, my cat drowned in a bowl of tomato soup..." the audience's eyes glazed over as they scanned the page for something worth looking at.


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Long time No-blog

Yes... I/we have been away but much has happened since I last checked in. I have had the good fortune to continue on as an assistant at Periscope studio where I've developed real friendships and working relationships with fantastic creative minds; two of which I will talk about right now

I did a project with my buddy Jeff Parker:

An 8 page creator owned project in Issue 28 of... drum roll:

Myspace Darhorse Presents



It is called "Blighter" and we put together the whole thing in three weeks. I worked very hard and I had a great time. Please tell everyone about it and let me know what you think. It is free so you can't lose!

I am also doing a project with my friend Paul Tobin for Marvel: Marvel Adventures Spiderman issue 59. It is challenging and fun while also fulfilling a dram I've had since I was 6 to draw comic books as a job. More info on that as I progress. Here are a few thumbnails. Enioy







Paul gave me a ton of great material to work with: a fight with the Xmen in a creepy mansion, Bullseye, a decked out treehouse, a fight with gangsters, animals... it is all there.