T Campbell's Blog

I’ve put off this section as long as humanly possible (perhaps... even longer? They must not discover Procrastinotron Mark 10 before we are ready to release it upon the world! Maybe tomorrow) for a variety of reasons—- I’ve been preoccupied by certain opportunities and changes in the lives of my friends. But also because I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to say this part. I expect it’ll be pretty close to my last word on a subject that’s bedeviled me for more than five years. I still publish work through Keenspot and Modern Tales, but I no longer take part in either company's decision-making process, nor that of Clickwheel or any other "pro collective," and after this I think I'll have said my piece.

In the last few sections, I suggested the pro webcomics collective was in serious trouble, being nibbled by rivals above and below, by (relatively) major corporate interests and (relatively) savvy “companies of one.” I haven’t changed my mind on this. The only questions that remain are “should it be saved?,” “can it be saved?,” “will it be saved?,” and “when you say ‘saved’ do you mean, like, in the religious sense, or do you actually have apocalyptic visions of a gigantic Modern Tales logo statue toppling and crashing into the burning South Dakota Keenspot Komplex?”

I do think there’s a soul dimension to the problem—- it’s essentially one of identity. Ferinstance, after six years of association, I think I should have a clearer sense of what a Keenspot comic is supposed to be. Keenspot’s esprit de corps does welcome a certain type of strip: its management has a sense of humor, cheer and joie de vivre distinct from the wry and dry stylings of other collectives. But when Keenspot absorbs strips that don’t really seem to fit this spirit, they stick out like sore middle fingers. It does this a lot, which is a natural outgrowth of its checked-and-balanced-among-the-four-founders admissions process.

SPOILER WARNING: THE NEXT GRAF CONTAINS MONDO-BIG SURPRISINGS

My ideal for a pro webcomics collective is pretty close to what I tried to do with Graphic Smash during my time there (SHOCK!!!). A collective is more than just a group of comics that happen to share a few links—- it has its own identity, an identity created by those who steer it. Graphic Smash had an editor with broad but definite tastes who wasn’t afraid to enforce them, and a diverse, high-quality lineup that nonetheless had an identity (Action! Adventure! Fun!).

Modern Tales’ new “fall lineups” show the particular worldviews of Demeter, Garrity, Jonte and, soon enough, Ellis. They’re off to a good start, on the whole—- certainly the Modern Tales empire has improved more dramatically in the last two months than in the previous two years. (Boy, I leave and the whole line re-invigorates. One would almost think I was a human pair of cement overshoes! ...Euh... ...It’s probably just a coincidence. Correlation does not imply causation!)

Whether it can sustain that improvement is another thing altogether. Modern Tales’ traditional issues have been production issues: when all the site’s development resources (i.e., Joey Manley’s spare time) were caught up in the rollout of Webcomics Nation, and later in the recoding of the main sites, the editors could do little to improve their lines. That’s meant considerable spans of time (more than a year in the former case, more than six months in the latter) where editors have been unable to remove or induct strips, and I know the long waits hurt morale and contributed to at least two resignations. If MT can avoid this problem in the future, then the responsibility goes back to the individual editors, who are off to a good start but who are just getting started.

I hope D-G-J-E do better than I did on the ethnocentrism front. I spent too much of my tenure looking for the magic formula, the Anti-Life Equation, the Love Potion Number Nine that would coax my favorite action-adventure strips into Graphic Smash’s waiting embrace. I didn’t just want to represent—- I really wouldn't rest until all of the best action-adventure comics on the Web on Graphic Smash. (“Best” in my own view, of course: see “editor with tastes,” above). You shouldn't make sweeping promises to yourself or anyone else if your goal is truly unattainable.

But, on the other hand, you've got to keep pushing to get better. Sometimes an unattainable goal can still be constantly approximated.

Webcomics have come as far as they’ve come partly because of a refusal to distinguish between “amateur” and “professional” efforts. Many popular webcartoonists who don’t make a living from their work take it as seriously as those who do, freshening their archives every week, dedicating themselves to improvements, and looking ahead to the day when they will be able to rise on their merits—- or at least look back on years of a life well-lived and a job well done.

There is no one making a living from editing webcomics collectives, but for the pro collective to endure it needs the same professional attitude.

To the Keenspot/MT/Clickwheel/Wirepop editors of today and tomorrow: congratulations. The Tokyopops, Seven Seas and Platinums of the world are impressed enough to imitate you, and the DCs, Marvels and Universals probably aren’t far behind. To them, the smell of mindshare is like pheremone-laced chocolate-covered coke, and they're going to stake a claim.

But they’re not you. They don’t have the individual perspective you can bring to the process. Their contract policies will not please everyone, ensuring that you’ll continue to have a talent pool. You have the ability to compete with them on a surprisingly level playing field, an opportunity that, if squandered, may not come again. Forget net neutrality issues for now-- more important is whether you can maintain the quality of your brand. Quality and the reputation of same are usually the most valuable assets for a smaller player, when larger players get into the game and bring their marketing budgets to bear. And building quality has the added advantage of being the right thing to do.

Kierkegaard was right. People define themselves. People define their works.

Define yours.