Digital Strips : Show 2 [12MB]
Apple Geeks by Mohammad Haque (a.k.a Hawk) and Ananth Panagariya Mac Hall by Matt Boyd and Ian McConville Boy on a Stick and Slither by Steven L. Cloud Casual Gamers by Chris Shill
If you’re listening to the show on your computer I recommend you look at the strips as we discuss them. Think of it as a walking tour of this week’s web comics picks.
In our second show I’ve changed the tech a bit in our recording process. You should be able to hear Daku a lot better now and the file size is more manageable for download.
Please let us know what you think! Post a comment on the blog or shoot us an email and let us know what you want to hear and how you think we are doing. This should be an interactive show, so give us your feedback. Enjoy!
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There was one comment I missed making during the podcast which I just have to mention here. As much as I dislike BOASAS it is one of the few strips which have gone from the web to the paper and I have to give it kuddos for that. Here is an excerpt from the info page:
BOASAS appears every Thursday in the Access Atlanta section of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. BOASAS has also appeared in Muddle, H2S04, Esquire, TMCM and While You Were Sleeping.
Interesting podcast as usual, although not as good as the first one.
Just want to say there\’s one thing you seem to have missed out on researching, that is that Apple Geeks is actually heavily influenced (and probably inspired by in the first place) by Mac Hall. Mac Hall also actually predates AG a good 3 years or so, so chances are AG is what I\’d call a Mac Hall derivative that\’s managed to find its own identity later on.
That\’s my observation anyway.
And regarding the popularity of the gaming comic, that\’s most probably because they have the most ready audience built-in into the internet already.
I mean my personal experience: I first got into webcomics around 1999, back when I was a fan of the Blizzard\’s Diablo. PvP (at that time not the phenomenon it is now) did a Diablo referenced joke, got linked by a fansite (diabloii.net) and there you have it.
As time goes by and the internet becomes more mainstream, it\’s most likely we\’ll see a lot of changes, variation and expansion in subject matter. In fact I think we\’re already seeing it now, you just need to know where to look.
Also, if you have a 5-year headstart in webcomicking when competition was scare, the chances of you being very popular now is so much higher which might be the case for comics like PvP, Mac Hall and Penny Arcade.
scare = scarce. My bad.
Thanks for your comments. I can see your point about the prevelance of gaming comics.
An interesting observation about the connection between Mac Hall and Apple Geeks, but I really think they do deserve to be looked at for their own individual merits. Regardless of their past connections they\’ve certainly each developed their own style.
I\’ll have to disagree with you on one point, though, I think the second show was an improvement. I think I was rambling a little too much in the first show.
Well, I never said anything about not judging it on its own merit, and I did mention AG did find its own identity in the end. I was simply pointing out the connection though, since in the podcast one could get the wrong impression.
As for the evaluation of the podcasts… really, it all depends on who\’s listening, doesn\’t it 😉
Well, I never said anything about not judging it on its own merit, and I did mention AG did find its own identity in the end. I was simply pointing out the connection though, since in the podcast one could get the wrong impression.
As for the evaluation of the podcasts… really, it all depends on who\’s listening, doesn\’t it 😉
True, very true.
You can\’t imagine my surprise when a friend sent me the link to Digital Strips and discovered my modest little webcomic was reviewed in the 2nd show! \”Flabbergasted\” could be one way of describing my state of mind!
So, of course, I had to have a listen!
I must say, Zampzon and Daku, you have a very coherent and accurate way of describing webcomics, stressing both good and bad (if applicable) without dumbing it all down to a \”two thumbs up\” format.
Most importantly, you made me discover some webcomics I didn\’t previously know, like The Fray, Mac Hall, Apple Geeks and Boy on a Stick and Slither, which, I suspect, is the main goal of Digital Strips in the first place.
I\’ve never been a manga fan, and while Apple Geeks does have a slight westernized feel to it, no matter what it\’s style is, the art is simply jawdropping. Both the inking and coloring is simply superb. Hawk really has something he can be proud of, here. Let\’s also mention that Mr. Panagariya\’s writing did steal a few chuckles from me.
Speaking of astounding art, Mac Hall simply can\’t be ignored. \”Master of Photoshop\” is no lie, what Ian McConville manages to produce is amazing! While it\’s true that, at times, the absence of contour lines can make things look weaker in a very few little places, that slight drawback is entirely overcomed by the general look and feel, which starts to look more like impressionnist paintings than a traditionnal comic.
As for Boy on a Stick and Slither… I too will have to admit I don\’t really get the humor. On the other hand, while the art is simple, minimalistic and almost childish looking, \”BoaSaS\” does something to stand out among the ocean of webcomics who try to thrive on \”naive\” looking art; conceptually, almost every strip turns out to have great style and panache thanks to its design and layout. If you look at a strip as a whole, and not every \”panel\” individually, there\’s a greater purpose to the design that works quite effectively, as you noted, us
First to Ping@Phalanx you are 100% right about Applegeeks being a MacHall derivative and it completely slipped my mind to mention it. For those going to the AG site you\’ll find quite a few references to them worshipping Ian. As long as we are mentioning influences I can not forget AG\’s recent work with CAD. This is most obvious in the creation of the Mac Bot and several others PC based bots.
You have a great strip Flouzemaker and I was surprised by how fresh it was compared to most webcomics I have come across. Thanks for the comment and we would love for you to mention any strips from eyeskream that you like so that we can review them later. I can not tell you how much time goes into searching for non-standard yet good strips.