T Campbell's Blog

There are a lot of things I've been doing that I need to be doing better. One of them is Graphic Smash.

I've gradually disengaged from the "hands-on" editorial approach that set me apart in the early days from other anthology site editors. It seems to me now that week-to-week feedback isn't the most productive use of time-- some people acted on the typo corrections and such, but most did not.

I've resolved to send out critical evaluations every few months, but lately my advice has only carried so much weight because I didn't have much ability, practically speaking, to approve strips for a new lineup or remove strips from the database.

Graphic Smash was founded with a simple mission: to collect the best action comics online. For a long time, I have not been able to pursue that agenda. Now I am.

There are still obstacles. The recoding of the Modern Tales sites is drastically behind schedule. So are payouts and the restructuring of finances, in keeping with the move to a more ad-supported model. By and large these things fall into Joey Manley's purview, but he's given me the ability to do my part.

In the next three months, I will be "liberating" many Graphic Smash series, removing some and adding others. A few features will remain subscription-access only, but that's largely the cartoonists' decision. I am tired of losing my ability to celebrate what this medium has to offer because the action webtoonists I admire the most don't want to go "behind the wall."

Strips will also not have to be exclusive to be featured on Graphic Smash. My first invitations are going out to three strips who sure as hell won't give up their home URLs if they know what's good for them.

All the cartoonists have to do is have their work appear on a page that gives them some additional advertising or subscription revenue. Given the ease with which readers can move from one site to another, established online cartoonists can consider the Smash a promotional venue for their own presences. Beginners can consider it their primary venue.

As a cartoonist, you gain more exposure and an implicit recommendation.

That's really all there is to it.

For Modern Tales' first few years, the subscription model was, in the minds of many, "what Modern Tales was all about," and to a degree what its sister sites were "all about." Now that the model is changing, I see a chance for Graphic Smash to be all about something else. What I wanted it to be about all along.

QUALITY.

Today, the TITLE tag on Graphic Smash says "Action Webcomics." When I'm done, I want it to say "THE BEST Action Webcomics." I want it to be a showcase for action comics that can hold their heads up high and REPRESENT.

"Best" is subjective, of course... and readers will vote on that with their eyeballs. But I now have the tools to give this my best shot. I'll be altering the lineup piecemeal over the next several months: my goal is to complete the transformation by July 19. The first new features will go into place later this week.

Keep your eyes peeled. :-)