If anyone’s wondering, there were a ton of thrown-out jokes for this comic, revolving around things like a boyfriend’s new hat or tiny puppies and swallowed DS cartridges. Perhaps we will revisit this idea in the future.
Lots of little bullet points for you all this week:
-I saw District 9 on Friday. I won’t go into too many of the plot details now, since it’s a new movie and I’m a big hater on even the smallest spoilers. I’ll just say that the movie was pretty enjoyable, probably the best I’ve seen all summer. The effects were great, and I found a lot of the background details about the aliens and their city to be clever and interesting. The main plot was a little heavy-handed, though perhaps not unrealistic, and the faux-documentary style, while great in points, also created the old Shakey McVomit Camera during a few action sequences, but otherwise I only have praise for the movie.
Also, not to rehash last week’s WE3 post, but WE3 has a lot of thematic similarities in common with District 9. I don’t know which is the better piece, and that might be a stupid thing to think about anyway, but I will say that if you liked District 9, you really should read WE3.
-Speaking of comics, my Ultimate Spider-man subscription from Marvel finally came in over the weekend. Of note to people who buy comics online: Though the direct-from-Marvel subscription is a good deal cheaper than cover price or other online stores, the book ships in a clear plastic baggy, with only a thin cardboard subscription form as backing. To compare, HeavyInk books ship in thick cardboard postal envelopes. I’m not sure if I care about that kind of thing, but I’m sure that there are people out there who do.
-I finally watched through my NOFX Backstage Passport DVD that I picked up at Warped Tour. For those into NOFX but not familiar with the DVD, it follows the band on a short world tour where they play a bunch of places that they’ve never been, and most bands usually skip. The experience was … bittersweet? Overall I liked the DVD. There were some neat and cheeky antics, some cool moments, and it was nice to see a more human side of basically my favorite band ever. But, some of the scenes seemed kind of staged, there is no concert footage more than a few seconds, and the story arc of the series seems to be more about making money and the struggles of going to these far-off places, rather than the music and what is was like to play in front of new crowds (although this is covered a bit). Mind you, I haven’t hit the extras DVD yet, but I have to say, unless you’re a huge NOFX fan, this DVD is likely of passable interest to you.
-My last bullet is really more of a philosophical question for you all. I know that some of our readers are really into Webcomics and have a bunch they like to visit. My question is: On average, how many comics on a specific site do you have to read through before you’re completely hooked? This of course assumes that comic is an equal to your other favorites in terms of quality. The reason I ask is because the Webcomics that I love and check religiously (Achewood, Penny-Arcade and Dr. McNinja) all have huge archives that I read through when I first discovered them.
Optional answer cheat-sheet:
A) Zero. All that matters to me is the comic is awesome. I would follow based off the strength of one comic.
B) Zero. I use RSS or other tools to follow comics automatically.
C) A number that is small.
D) A number that is medium.
E) A number that is large.
The reason I ask is because Dana and I are mulling ways to promote the comic. Obviously, some of those ways cost money, so we’d want to make sure that we have a good base of content before we start dumping cash. My thought was around 50 or 60 comics, but I’m curious to hear what you all think.
<3 Mike
A)
I pick A.
Really, I pick A)
Anyhow, good comic. I especially like the second panel, art-wise and humor-wise.
And now more people are shouting to watch District 9. I don’t know if I want to shut myself off from the world (overloaaaad) or just get off my lazy ass and go see it.
Some comics, like your own, I get hooked on from the first one I see. Others… well, some comics need time to develop, and so an archive is important. If you do more character-driven comics, then a lengthy archive would be more important (from a “drawing new people in” point of view), but given that most of the humour so far has been understandable without knowing the main characters, I would say that a huge backlog of comics isn’t necessary. 50 or 60 sounds like plenty, but I’m not in the business so I can’t really give you an informed opinion as to a specific number.
Oh, and I just saw Inglorious Basterds. While the experience was somewhat hampered by an eye-injury, the only way I could be more effusive in my praise was if they had cast someone other than Mike Myers for the seven lines he had. Man can’t keep a straight face to save his life. Anyway. If you liked Tarantino’s other films, you’ll love it. If you have a warped or dark sense of humour you’ll love it. The entire theatre was laughing at some points, which can only be counted as a good sign, I suspect.
Love the last one… but I am a fan boy so….
Usually C, but this comic had me at A. I found one strip via stumbleupon, and it was fantastic, so I read through and added it to my list to check obsessively.
For your question I feel it really depends. If you read something like Questionable Content in order to get acquainted you have to read through a really large amount of their archive. Something like XKCD all it took was http://xkcd.com/112/ and I was hooked.
I read one comic I found on Stumbleupon and knew I’d be bookmarking your site.
Another week, another bunch of comments from people who are far to kind.
@JBon: You’re being too nice, as per usual. Glad you like panel 2, I had written a bunch of alternates for it. They all had pretty much the same reaction from Avery, but one had a guy wearing a lame hat and another had a guy cutting his spaghetti. Don’t ask me why I find the latter so funny, because I’m not really sure.
Not to make you stay away from District 9, but I have to say, when I saw it, I wasn’t paying attention to where I sat, and ended up right in front of a 13-year old. He couldn’t really follow the movie, and was asking questions a little too often. So basically, I wanted to spin kick the whole family for bringing him.
Anyway, my point is mostly irrelevent, besides that I can relate to wanting to shut away from the world. But, District 9 is fun, and you should see it because there is soda and popcorn and maybe a trailer for Zombieland also.
I feel like answer A) is the fearless man’s choice, and while I’d like to be him, I don’t know if I have the stones just yet.
WR: You are full of wisdom. 50 or 60 seems to be the number getting thrown out by people “in the biz” as well, and by “in the biz” I mean other semi-struggling cartoonists on Webcomicing forums. Still, there is logic in your answer that I find agreeable, and while these pros may be semi-struggling, they are still way more experienced than myself or Dana.
Inglorious Basterds you say? And Mike Myers is in it? I think I have to see it just for the utter ridiculousness that promises. Also, I hope your eye is all better now. I’ve never hurt my eyes, but it seems like it would be a fairly horrible thing.
@John K: As am I brother, as am I …
@Emmy: Thanks for reading all our stuff and adding us to your list. A new reader is basically like a shot of meth for Dana and I.
@Vince: Thanks for bookmarking. Your point is wise, and makes me scracth my chin …
-Mike
It really only takes one comic to hook me. But It also only takes a few weeks of crappy comics for me to take it off my list of comics to check regularly. Until I wrote that out I never thought of myself as fickle.
Pretty much ‘A’, although it has to maintain some kind of quality or I lose interest pretty fast. I’m also a sucker for nice drawings, so I’ll often tune in to look even if I don’t like the writing all that much.
I like your strip a lot!
@ Taylor SB: Thanks for posting, and I don’t think of that as fickle at all. I mean, I’ve stopped reading comics I like a great deal just because their archive is too small, let alone how fast I bail on a comic that is having an off spell.
@ Sandy: Thanks for posting, and I hope we’re able to maintain the quality you seek.
-Mike
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
Sure thing Polprav, go nuts! If you could give the link here as to where we could see your post referencing us, that would be swell! E-mail to mail@leadpaintcomics.com works too!
-Mike