T Campbell's Blog
Writer of Penny and Aggie, Fans (also called Faans), Rip & Teri, Search Engine Funnies and A History of Webcomics. Experienced webcomics editor, currently seeking full-time work and working on strange and interesting new things...Monday, February 06, 2006
The Webcomics Blog To Beat In '06?
Boy, Fleen has sure shown me. Less than a month after I took it to task for inaccuracies in its coverage of OhNoRobot and Clickwheel, Gary Tyrrell and Jeff Lowrey seem to have taken this as a challenge and greatly improved.
I do feel like I owe Fleen's founder Jonathan Rosenberg a bit, considering he caught me in not one but three embarassing gaffes in the last few weeks (one involving Lowrey, the other two inaccuracies in the History manuscript, a manuscript I've shared with him and a few select others). But this isn't about debt, and unless he's more involved than is my understanding, it's not really Rosenberg I'm praising.
The fact is that with Nathaniel Payne distracted with family matters, Eric and (by extension) Wednesday distracted with a new job, and Phil distracted by school, the Fleensters are in a pole position to own the webcomics blogging scene in '06, and I'm beginning to think they've got the ability.
Of course, it's not a competition, riiiight? :-) :-) :-) :-) OMG J/K LOL
All I know is, it made my bookmark list last Saturday... just before Lowrey's latest comments on Clickwheel. And this time, Fleen really proved the value of its concept. Fleen, in case you forgot, is the blog that's NOT written by cartoonists or aspiring cartoonists. It's written by readers. And the reader's perspective that Jeff brings to the process is exactly what Clickwheel needs in order to grow.
Of course I like my public praise effusive and my critical assessments private, but we don't always get to choose such things. It heartens me to know that the issues Jeff raises are things that we've raised among ourselves at Clickwheel, and are preparing to address.
In some cases... address them quite soon.
Like, within 48 hours soon.
Watch this space.
I do feel like I owe Fleen's founder Jonathan Rosenberg a bit, considering he caught me in not one but three embarassing gaffes in the last few weeks (one involving Lowrey, the other two inaccuracies in the History manuscript, a manuscript I've shared with him and a few select others). But this isn't about debt, and unless he's more involved than is my understanding, it's not really Rosenberg I'm praising.
The fact is that with Nathaniel Payne distracted with family matters, Eric and (by extension) Wednesday distracted with a new job, and Phil distracted by school, the Fleensters are in a pole position to own the webcomics blogging scene in '06, and I'm beginning to think they've got the ability.
Of course, it's not a competition, riiiight? :-) :-) :-) :-) OMG J/K LOL
All I know is, it made my bookmark list last Saturday... just before Lowrey's latest comments on Clickwheel. And this time, Fleen really proved the value of its concept. Fleen, in case you forgot, is the blog that's NOT written by cartoonists or aspiring cartoonists. It's written by readers. And the reader's perspective that Jeff brings to the process is exactly what Clickwheel needs in order to grow.
Of course I like my public praise effusive and my critical assessments private, but we don't always get to choose such things. It heartens me to know that the issues Jeff raises are things that we've raised among ourselves at Clickwheel, and are preparing to address.
In some cases... address them quite soon.
Like, within 48 hours soon.
Watch this space.
Comments:
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Well, a) it's not like we're a webcomics blog in any event, no matter what people might infer;
b) I'm a bit more concerned with trying to find a job and a place to live in Ontario (Ottawa for preference) so as not to starve while working towards the elusive American permanent residency, actually. There's only so much I can do in a job that isn't mine. :)
c) Not to mention the short-term distraction of a site overhaul, of course but that'll pass.
b) I'm a bit more concerned with trying to find a job and a place to live in Ontario (Ottawa for preference) so as not to starve while working towards the elusive American permanent residency, actually. There's only so much I can do in a job that isn't mine. :)
c) Not to mention the short-term distraction of a site overhaul, of course but that'll pass.
Um... yeah.
For the record? I haven't commented on Clickwheel because I don't have an iPod of the correct capacity to use it.
Also for the record? I think Fleen is largely right, based on what I've heard. Absent a automatic means of adding webcomics to the iPod in question, it's going to end up more trouble than most people will take.
Also for the record? Weds isn't distracted by my job. ;)
For the record? I haven't commented on Clickwheel because I don't have an iPod of the correct capacity to use it.
Also for the record? I think Fleen is largely right, based on what I've heard. Absent a automatic means of adding webcomics to the iPod in question, it's going to end up more trouble than most people will take.
Also for the record? Weds isn't distracted by my job. ;)
Fleen's comments tie pretty directly into what we're working on. It's scary, really.
Wasn't aware of the Ottawa job hunt, but I was well aware that your mission statement was never "blog about webcomics." This kind of classification isn't always up to the author.
From here, it seems like you're taking baby steps toward moving on, finding new roles. Today's posts are nice, but before them was a postless four-day weekend. And I know all too well that Eric has one of the most demanding jobs in webcomics.
(It seems like a given to me that if you are in a professional and romantic partnership with someone and that someone's career and life change, then you have to spend a certain amount of time dealing with the changes. I don't really see how that could NOT be, but I suppose I could be mistaken.)
I dunno. You can prove me wrong. It has been known to happen. Hell, Fleen's very existence means I have to throw the premise of Chapter 7 of the History right out the window.
Wasn't aware of the Ottawa job hunt, but I was well aware that your mission statement was never "blog about webcomics." This kind of classification isn't always up to the author.
From here, it seems like you're taking baby steps toward moving on, finding new roles. Today's posts are nice, but before them was a postless four-day weekend. And I know all too well that Eric has one of the most demanding jobs in webcomics.
(It seems like a given to me that if you are in a professional and romantic partnership with someone and that someone's career and life change, then you have to spend a certain amount of time dealing with the changes. I don't really see how that could NOT be, but I suppose I could be mistaken.)
I dunno. You can prove me wrong. It has been known to happen. Hell, Fleen's very existence means I have to throw the premise of Chapter 7 of the History right out the window.
I still don't see what's so hot about Fleen. I mean, the vast majority of their posts are small four-paragraph (or so) commentaries that seem almost like placeholders ("I have to post something today or I can't be in Fleen").
But then again, I'm the competition, and do a different style of writing at that, so I might be blinded to the benefits of that style of critiquing.
Rob H.
But then again, I'm the competition, and do a different style of writing at that, so I might be blinded to the benefits of that style of critiquing.
Rob H.
I agree that I'm absolutely and unavoidably "distracted with family members" at the moment. However, I'm far from OUT of the webcomics commentary scene in 2006. =D
Though in all honesty, Fleen became more popular in its first day than the Evil Network has been in the past year. =P
But I'm glad for that, because I've really enjoyed their fresh and honest opinions.
Though in all honesty, Fleen became more popular in its first day than the Evil Network has been in the past year. =P
But I'm glad for that, because I've really enjoyed their fresh and honest opinions.
It isn't a competition.
I, however, am competition. I'm the other view, a voice of dissention, of opposition to the worldview of Fleen. I am a former cartoonist who became a critic and feels that I have added insight because I see things from both sides of the equation: I see the comics from a fan's point of view and yet know of the struggles and effort that goes into building a comic.
Fleen feels that critical discourse should come from outside the community, and they have valid points. The WCCA has a flaw in that nominations are handled from within the community of webcartoonists, meaning that an otherwise good comic that is written by someone who pissed off all his contemporaries could (theoretically) not get nominated. And Insiders do sometimes lose the meta-view because they're within the forest surrounded by trees, instead of outside looking in.
But if you're outside the forest looking in, you sometimes miss the beauty that comes from being inside the forest and seeing each tree for itself. There is a valid perspective that comes from a cartoonist (or former cartoonist), and it's something that Fleen lacks due to its charter.
It works for them. It doesn't work for me.
Thus I'm competition on a philosophical level.
Rob H.
I, however, am competition. I'm the other view, a voice of dissention, of opposition to the worldview of Fleen. I am a former cartoonist who became a critic and feels that I have added insight because I see things from both sides of the equation: I see the comics from a fan's point of view and yet know of the struggles and effort that goes into building a comic.
Fleen feels that critical discourse should come from outside the community, and they have valid points. The WCCA has a flaw in that nominations are handled from within the community of webcartoonists, meaning that an otherwise good comic that is written by someone who pissed off all his contemporaries could (theoretically) not get nominated. And Insiders do sometimes lose the meta-view because they're within the forest surrounded by trees, instead of outside looking in.
But if you're outside the forest looking in, you sometimes miss the beauty that comes from being inside the forest and seeing each tree for itself. There is a valid perspective that comes from a cartoonist (or former cartoonist), and it's something that Fleen lacks due to its charter.
It works for them. It doesn't work for me.
Thus I'm competition on a philosophical level.
Rob H.
I know this is an old post, but I just found it.
Fleen, to be a professional journalist, requires something that brings credibility to your commentary. It is my opinion, this is what you lack. Reading your blogrolls, and talking about the same subjects as they are, isn't critical analysis of comics on your part.
Fleen, to be a professional journalist, requires something that brings credibility to your commentary. It is my opinion, this is what you lack. Reading your blogrolls, and talking about the same subjects as they are, isn't critical analysis of comics on your part.
"Something" like what?
Quotations? Research? Annotations?Journalism degree? Can you be a bit more specific?
Quotations? Research? Annotations?Journalism degree? Can you be a bit more specific?
I'm also a little confused as to whether this means me, Fleen or Tangent, or all bloggers collectively. It's not clear.
You should always check your facts, but sometimes you're gonna get it wrong, regardless.
You should always check your facts, but sometimes you're gonna get it wrong, regardless.
"...It's not clear"
I'm not trying to open up new arguments here, or paint all bloggers with general statements, so I'll just let my comment go unexplained.
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I'm not trying to open up new arguments here, or paint all bloggers with general statements, so I'll just let my comment go unexplained.
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