/co/ - Comics & Cartoons

>>998223

>no hooktube

Lazy bastard.

>>998226

yes and no

>>998223

Huh, good for him. I have a soft spot for those 80s and 90s indie books like the original Cyberfrog that were simultaneously gritty and wacky, and want to see more of this. That said, $25 is a bit to steep for me, especially for a single 48 page issue. Glad he's finding success back in the indies, though.

Hey it's your boy Zach *coughs*

Doesn't the guy who does lady death have a campaign like this every six months?

>>998324

Well I guess It just werks™

I think we're still in the stage of people buying these books to make a point, rather than because they think they'll be any good (not familiar with Cyberfrog, but if it was liked back in the day, it might be the first to get further sales on merit). Alt-Hero looks like shit, Patriotika looks beautiful but makes the typical silver age cheese not that there's anything wrong with it read like War and Peace, and apparently Zack isn't much cop as a writer. If they really want to cut into the big two, they need to keep readers coming back after the first book.

>>998327

I would say there's probably more people buying it because they're fans of Van Sciver, than there are people buying it to "make a point." I mean, he's been a big name at DC for what? Over a decade? It's not like with Alt Hero where the guy just wanted to make a slapdash comic, take the money and run. This just looks to be a dude that got tired of drawing other people's creations, dealing with all the corporate bullshit of mainstream comics, and wanted to go back to something he left hanging 20 years ago.

I knew of Sciver from comics but I think most recent fans are for his professional shitposting of Star Wars on his channel. I think he puts out a little too much videos a day and at such great lengths that normal people wouldn't be able to follow all of it. He doesn't produce the most informed Star Wars video but he is funny with his left field humor. I don't support crowdfunding though since that's more of a gamble than anything. It's more of a test on a person's money management skills and a lot of people don't got that. A proven track record can alleviate those woes but it isn't always a guarantee. I don't think he'd fail to deliver but I don't like the whole crowdfunding business because of the unwavering sense of trust you have to put into it.

>>998417

>I am of the opinion that comics need to be in grocery stores to survive

I know where you're coming from, and agree with you in spirit, but I think we're past the point where that's a viable option. The most important part of selling at the grocery store is having a low enough price point to entice people to make an impulse purchase at the checkout. The average comic is nowhere near that price, and the mainstream publishers are set in their ways and not going to want to restructure everything and make the sacrifices needed to make that happen. This is where some scrappy upstart company could make comics that are a good value, slide in and try and cater to that market. Make a deal to get their books in high traffic areas like 7/11 or stores like Gamestop and Hot Topic where people with disposable income are willing to drop money on stupid shit. At the end of the day though, that's an uphill battle because the newstand is dying. More and more magazines are going out of business and making cuts to stay afloat. Western Shonen Jump made the decision to make the transition to digital only for the magazine, and that's a bit of a canary in the coalmine for selling comics on the magazine rack. That was all reprints, so they didn't have to pay artists or writers. Plus it was mostly printed on black and white newsprint, so the production cost probably wasn't as high as the average comic book (although that's admittedly an assumption).

>>998443

>>998445

>>998452

>>998474

How about you guys make a new topic where you can duke it out over youtubers instead of detouring this one wildly offtopic?

>>998483

>For comics to survive, comics need to move to the tankobon format. They need to sell comics as books instead of floppies

The problem with that being that manga isn't originally published in the tankobon format in Japan. They're serialized just like American comics, just in big, thick magazines with other series instead of floppies, and then collected later on. Now the advantage of that being with a bunch of different series collected in one weekly or monthly magazine, it's much easier and cost effective to try out different series. To have a comic skip the monthly step and go straight to the book, requires either the creators to not get paid until the entire book is complete (which the creators wouldn't be keen on), or for the publisher to give them an advance (which the publishers probably wouldn't be keen on). Now there have been exceptions. Most notably, Scott Pilgrim and Empowered were successfully published in that format.

>>998512

>Crowd funding is such a shit standard

I think it has it's place. If a web comic wants to collect its older strips into a book, then crowd funding it a good tool. It lets the creator know how big the demand is, and the backers know exactly what they're going to get. I'll agree with you that I don't like backing books sight unseen where you're never sure what the finished product will be. There's too much room for broken promises and backers to sway the direction of the book. Mighty Number 9 should be a cautionary tale for everyone donating to any crowd funding.

>>998483

There are other issues with imitating the manga format. You can't reduce comic art to that size and still have everything be legible without forcing artists to change up their styles. Can't sell them at too low a price because then they won't bring in enough to recoup costs. They can't afford to give writers and artists a bump in their page rates or advances, which is a big deal because nobody wants commit to a long term project if they're not being paid accordingly.

Really, the issue for comic publishers is how do they sell more comics without hemorrhaging money. It's why the whole "comics need to go back on the newsstand" ideal is fucking stupid; The Big Two were losing money on the stands long before digital was even a thing, which is why they were all over the direct market when it popped up.

>>998554

Lets see if he can keep this momentum going.

>>998555

Knowing how the momentum of indiegogos works he'll end up being at peak 200k for most of the month but as the campaign ends. and/or another one of those Mark Waid types goes full retard against the project like what happened with Jawbreakers, it'll hit 500k easy.

So… was Cyberfrog good ?

>>998559

Hard to say since I can't find a scan of the blasted thing.

>>998575

Itll probably be out sooner or later.

>>998225

Why rob one of the good guys of views? Just as a 'fuck youtube' thing?

>>998638

>Why rob one of the good guys of views? Just as a 'fuck youtube' thing?

1) Views shouldn't be encouraged, since we've had a field day from 2014 with a lot of e celeb shilling. However…

2) There are just some /co/mmies on here that get autisticly reddity over each and every youtube embed because they're fuck tards, who can't say anything more than a single sentience or contribute anything of value so they just wine about embeds is all.

>>998559

I remember reading some of it way back when and liking it. I was also 10, so take that as you will. My older brother used to buy it. He was positive it was going to be the next Ninja Turtles, and get a cartoon, movie, and toy line. I'll see if he still has them and scan them if he does.

>>998625

>Jesus Christ you pussies it's twenty-five fucking dollars. It's not like you're investing in the fucking stock market or something.

It's $25 plus $10 shipping for a 48 page book. I like Ethan's work and I'm glad this is succeeding with flying colors, but for me it's hard to justify that much on this.

Anyone wanna bet that Bleeding Cool write an article saying that Cyberfrog ; Bloodhoney is filled with Alt-Right propaganda?

>>998737

Didnt they already?

>>998737

>Anyone wanna bet that Bleeding Cool write an article saying that Cyberfrog ; Bloodhoney is filled with Alt-Right propaganda?

I doubt Bleeding Cool will run an outright smear, seeing as Rich Johnston defended Ethan Van Sciver from accusations of being a nazi back in August of last year.

https://archive.fo/Kuj2B

However, that said, he does find Sciver to be a massive asshole, which is a completely fair assessment of the man.