Archive for April, 2004
How to get a job if you’re a freelancer
From Buddy Scalera’s column:
“Years ago, Jimmy Palmiotti told me that there is an imaginary triangle that determines if a freelancer will get work. On the three points of this triangle there is: �Good,� �Fast,� and �Likeable.�
He explained that if you have any two of those, you�ll probably get work. If you have all three, you�ll always be employed. “
Graphic teen angst
San Fransisco Bay Guardian senior editor Lynn Rapoport looks at looks at teen angst in comic books, reviewing such books as Black Hole, DEMO, Potential, Blankets, and Zero Girl.
“I DON’T THINK I understood the emotional kick in the teeth a good comic could provide until I started looking at the bedroom walls of a Berkeley High School student named Ariel Schrag. It was 2000, and Slave Labor Graphics had just published her comic book Potential, a 224-page, painfully detailed account � graphic in multiple senses � of her junior year at school.”
24-hour PvP
Starting today, Scott Kurtz is posting the first of his 24 PvP strips that he did during 24 Hour Comic Day. Drop on by his site and check them out.
Marvel and Licensing
Nice little article over at NinthArt.com wherein “…Paul O’Brien takes another look at Marvel’s ‘core business’. Licensing may be a sensible way to make money, but why is Marvel tapping the back-catalogue and not developing anything new?”
Snippets:
“But the figures speak for themselves. In 2003, Marvel brought in $139.4m in operating income through licensing, compared to only $25.4m from publishing. When licensing brings in that much cash, no wonder it becomes the core business.”
“In fact, when you stop to think about it, Marvel haven’t really created a character who’s developed into a major licensing stream since 1974, when the Punisher and Wolverine both debuted. More than a third of their ongoing titles feature characters created in the 1960s. After you take out the X-Men and Spider-Man spinoffs, and the revamps of sixties characters, only RUNAWAYS and PULSE star completely new characters created in the last decade.”
RFID in guns
Another futuristic-sounding use for those tiny little RFID chips, besides tracking groceries and products in stores:
“Verichip announced the development of a gun safety system based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. A new computer chip promises to keep police guns from firing if they fall into the wrong hands. The tiny chip would be implanted in a police officer’s hand and would match up with a scanning device inside a handgun. If the officer and gun match, a digital signal unlocks the trigger so it can be fired. But if a child or criminal would get hold of the gun, it would be useless.”
Andy’s 24-Hour Comic
What’s up, Andy? You post it on your own site but not here? Shoot.
http://www.wideopenwest.com/~bullistic/24/
Anyway, reading it filled me with strong emotion; namely, “jealousy.” I wish I wrote this.
Jesus Action Figure
Those on the religious right or born again may not want to watch this commerical for a Jesus Action Figure. Thanks to Scott McCloud’s blog for the link.
An Open Letter to a Crackhead
(Another link courtesy of Boing Boing) Read this hilarious open letter to a crackhead who broke off the tops of the author’s motorcycle spark plugs in order to use the porcelain tubes to smoke crack! A snippet:
“But the point is, Crackhead, that you have done me wrong. Now, I get that you love crack. That is totally understandable. I’ve heard it is really fun, at first, and quite addictive. What I don’t understand is,
YOU ARE A CRACKHEAD. WHY DON’T YOU OWN A CRACKPIPE?
I am an engineer. Do you ever see me shaking down bums in the Loin for a calculator and sliderule? No, you don’t. Because engineering is the main thing I do, I went and bought myself a calculator. The main thing you do is crack. How do you get by without a crackpipe? The other crackheads must clown on you non-stop.”
Cafe Latte art
Australian coffee shop owner draws 30-second portraits in cafe latte cups. (Link courtesy of Boing Boing)
“When you pour the milk in and the cream hits, it’s just like a blank canvas on which to paint,” the 36-year old said.
Geek Hierarchy
From the weblog of Neil Gaiman, here’s the geek hierarchy. As members of a reviled subculture, geeks have a very complex caste system to determine who gets to look down on whom.
http://www.brunching.com/images/geekchartbig.gif
I’d change some of the categories. I don’t know that I’d put sci-fi fans so high up, and I’d probably include indie comix creators on there, probably near the top. Furries are definitely in the right place, though.
24-Hour Comics Day
Shout out to all the Panel members participating in 24-hour Comics Day today! I was on the fence about joining the festivitites, but in the end I decided to opt out for three reasons: 1) I’m not an artist and couldn’t quite come up with a good alternative way to “draw” a comic (thought about photo collages, etc.), 2) after a week of rain the weather is gorgeous today and it would be hard to spend it cooped up inside, and 3) haven’t had a chance to spend much time with my girlfriend recently so the thought of a whole weekend shot was hard to swallow.
Best of luck to all you guys, though! I’ll drop by during the day to see how things are going.
All hail Panel.