Blog post for 11/7/2008 4:56:45 PM
Spotlight on: Johnny Saturn by Scott and Benita Story

This spotlight is on Johnny Saturn a graphic novel webcomic by Scott & Benita Story. It’s a superhero comic but let’s not get fooled by thinking it’s your run of the mill Saturday morning superhero cartoon or Marvel/DC comic that pretends to be edgy.

Johnny Saturn IS edgy. It has complicated and well thought out plots. Citizens and supers alike have enough thought put into each and every one of them that you imagine this was written as a book and put into graphic novel form.

I can only compare Johnny Saturn with Batman from DC… if Batman actually wasn’t a pansy who never got hurt. Ever notice how Batman never *really* get’s hurt… in ALL those fights he’s had his body isn’t torn up with scar’s and traces of fighting, if there ever was a fight and he got hurt, two panels later he’s fine and dandy.    Johnny isn’t and it shows that he’s worked hard to protect the innocent.

My song pick for Johnny Saturn will probably surprise Scott Story himself who suggested alot of older 70′s style songs.   This song by Oingo Boingo really struck me with it’s fast  individualistic energy and determination.   .. “Who Do You Want to Be” by Oingo Boingo.

To read this with all the pretty pictures and music included, please go to this link

Item: On the left sidebar, please note that there is now a Comic Archive list of links. Each link will take you to the beginning of one of the eight books/chapters in Johnny Saturn. Phil Hofer of Frumph dot net suggested this.

Item: I’m almost caught back up to the point the site was at before the server move. All MP3’s now have onboard players, all broken links and pictures are repaired (I think—crosses fingers), and the store is up and functional.

Item: I had a phone conversation with Bob Hickey of Blueline Pro today, and I’m pretty sure that Benita and I will be appearing at his store Comics2Games in Kentucky for Free Comic Book Day. In related news, I just sent off my fourth article to Blueline Pro’s Sketch Magazine, so I’m well on my way to becoming a regular contributor. I’ll be honest, I’m really proud to be associated with this fine publication, because it fills a valuable niche in guiding apprentice and journeyman cartoonists in developing their skills. In other words, Sketch Magazine is an excellent teaching tool. (I really am a fan–I have a complete run of this magazine, from issue 1 forward.)

Item: Today, I was distracted by outside issues, and I didn’t feel quite like myself. The result is that I had a false start on the next page. This rarely happens to me, but it did today. I couldn’t wrap my head around an effective storytelling approach, and the page suffered for it. I don’t do half measures, so I’ll begin the page again tomorrow. The reason I mention this is because off days aren’t just limited to beginners. I’m a journeyman, and I have off days. Even cartooning masters can suffer from this, so don’t put yourself down or give up if you have a tough day!

Item: As far as podcasts go, I interacted on TGT last Sunday by way of their chat room, and on Art & Story Live on Monday by Skype. In the latter case, I wasn’t on the whole show because my connection wasn’t that great.

Lots of changes going on here! Phil Hofer has worked tirelessly (He stayed up all night!) to get the site working again after its database corrupted. It ends up that a plugin was at the root of the problem, so now it’s gone.

This also explains why I haven’t been blogging—I couldn’t. The blogging part of the site was the first part that broke, leading to the discovery of the other problems. It’s like getting a sore foot, and finding out that your spine is out of alignment. (OK, terrible analogy, but you get the basic idea). The posting function is fixed now (Thanks, Phil!).

eShop, the source of our problems, is out of the picture, the plugin that powered our store. I’ll have a new store up and running by Monday, one with more options. For now, if you feel you need a copy of “Johnny Saturn: Sins of the Father“, you need to go to Amazon.com for it.

If I can draw your attention to the new navigation buttons under the comic, and the pull-down menus in the top nav bar, these are some of Phil’s additions to the site, and they are damn tasty!

I’d also like to mention the Johnny Saturn will be taking part in the “Frumph.NET’s Great Holiday Hunt,” which you can read more about here.

I’ll probably post more this afternoon!

Scott

As 2008 winds down, and Benita and I make big plans for Johnny Saturn in 2009, I think it’s worthwhile to review our year.  In many regards, this year was huge for us.  In other regards, it was a “rebuilding” year.

The biggest event of our year was the publication of our graphic novel, “Johnny Saturn: Synns of the Father.”  It was very heady for us as the book’s listing came up on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and numerous other websites.  Later on, we also published “Johnny Saturn” no. 6, and the “Johnny Saturn Pinup Gallery.”  This latter was particularly satisfying, because artists from all over the planet contributed pinups.

Next up for us was building of the current johnnysaturn.com site.  Prior to this, Johnny Saturn was distributed among Graphic Smash, Webcomicsnation, Comic Genesis, and Drunk Duck, while the blog was located on Myspace.  We had pretty much maxed out the scattershot approach, and now it was time to consolidate.  In June, we discontinued or downgraded all those other sites and established a WordPress-based, Comicpress run site to be our hub.  This was a titanic undertaking, one that involved reformatting all the old strips, learning new skills, and eventually even changing web hosts.

The third biggest coup for the year, and arguable more important than the first, was placing twice in the Webcomic Readers Choice Awards, winning first place for Antagonist of the Year (Dr. Synn), and third place for protagonist of the year (Johnny Saturn).  Many benefits issued from this honor, including the friendship of Phil Hofer, aka Frumph, of the Frumph Webcomic List.

After that, the comic collective Palace in the Sky asked us to join, and we happily did so.  This collective is primarily made up of high quality fantasy comics, but Johnny Saturn, while not a traditional swords & horses fantasy, came to fit in quite well in their lineup.  Palace in the Sky continues to be one of our big referrers, and we are proud to be associated with them.

Also of note, 2008 saw Benita and I interviewed on a Podcast for the first time, and our friendship with Chuck Moore of Comic Related.  I had one article in Sketch Magazine this year, and have submitted two more.  Benita and I joined the Indy Webcomics Group, a local collective of cartoonists who have garnered national attention.

All in all, this was a year to remember!

I’d like to draw your attention to one of Frumph’s project, the Women of Webcomics. Our own Persephone is featured prominently there, and we couldn’t be prouder! Be sure to click on the picture to see it full-sized!

Hello, Folks!

Johnny Saturn has entered Phil “Frumph” Hofer’s Webcomic War, were all the webcomics in it compete against each other for best and most promotion.  It’s a pretty cool idea, because everyone wins!  Sure, there are prizes for the winner, but anyone who promotes their webcomic has gained from the experience.  Phil Hofer is an interesting person, because he’s trying to raise the water table for all webcomics, not just one.  He gets that, in a certain way, we all sink or swim together.

Our good friend John Wilson has conducted a new interview with Benita and me, called “Not Quite 20 Questions.”  John has really come to impress me with his love for the medium of comics (he’s associated with both Comic Related and Sketch Magazine), and his questions are very insightful.  Click on the graphic above to read the interview.

Have a Great Day!  Scott.

Today’s blog is part production blog, and part “What’s going on with Scott and Benita” blog.

Item: We sold out of our first print run of “Johnny Saturn: Synns of the Father,” and we just got a new shipment of books in.  To celebrate this, we are going to include a free sketch card with each purchase of the book within the next thirty days.  The card will include an original piece of art by me, done in whatever medium catches my attention, and whatever Spire City character I’ve got an itch to draw.  It’ll be random, and one-of-a-kind!

Item: “Johnny Saturn” has just joined the Web Comic Planet Collective, or WCPC!  This is not a traditional collective, or exclusive from our memberships in the fabulous Palace In the Sky (I love this group!) or Graphic Smash.  Instead, WCPC is more of an alliance of webcartoonists joined in the common goal of promoting our comics, a think-tank of outside-the-box thinking to take our comics to the next level!  This group was founded by personal friend and webcomic activist Phil Hofer, aka Frumph.

Item: I’m putting together a formal Stumbleupon group, a pooling of webcartoonists who will Stumble each others’ work on update days.  If we can gather a good number of these online cartoonists, then our Stumbleupon influence will greatly increase and all members will benefit.  If you are a webcartoonist and possibly interested in joining such an effort, please email me for details.  If you are comic reader, please be invited to Stumble all the new episodes and blogs as they come up on Johnny Saturn, using the Stumbleupon icon that comes with each new post.

Item: I’m happy to announce the arrival of the Graphimancer, my new website devoted to my illustration and fantasy artwork.  If you are interested in hiring me as a colorist or inker, please contact me.  I’m also available for cover work, and digital painting.

Thanks! Scott

Phil mentioned our Alliance Stumble Group last night on the TGT podcast.  I’m happy he did, but also very sad that I missed the episode, because Phil Foglio was their guest and I am a huge Girl Genius fan.  I didn’t miss it because I forgot—instead, we had a lightning storm going on, and we felt it prudent to unplug our computers.  Replacing slagged computers, and tons of original files, is not in our budget, I’m afraid.

We added a new webcomic list, Family Webcomics, to our little collection of such lists, as seen near the upper part of the right column on this site.

Benita and I have lately had to tighten our belts, and that means we had to cut off most Johnny Saturn advertising.  I’m delighted to report, however, that the loss of traffic has been minimal, and it shows us that, if anything, our core audience has grown considerably.  I guess what I’m saying is, you, the fans and readers, have really come through for us!  You make Benita and I feel like real winners!  Thank you!

On an entirely unrelated note, I watched “James Bond: Casino Royale” last night.  This was a terrific James Bond movie, a sort of cross between James Bond and the style of the “Bourne Identity” movies.  Gone were the cheesiness, cheap comedy, fancy gadgets, and ridiculous one-liners and quips.  Judi Dench rocked as M, and Daniel Craig made a great debut as the ice-hearted, all business, and somewhat taciturn James Bond.

Yet, one thing bothered me.  There is an excellent scene where James Bond leaps onto a moving jet fuel truck from above.  He barely catches hold, but then succeeds in climbing to the walkway on top the truck.  Then, he swings down, into the cab, and fights viciously with the terrorist-for-hire villain.

Where have we heard this series of events before?  Hmmn.  Thinking, thinking.  Oh, wait, that would be in “Johnny Saturn No. 2,” wouldn’t it?

Well, I doubt there’s a connection, and many elements of this scenario also date from “Raiders of Ark” and its masterful truck chase scene.  Still, watching this scene in James Bond was a little like watching one of our own scenes played out in big budget splendor.

Scott.

Sorry you haven’t heard more from me lately, but I’ve been pretty darn busy keeping up with the sequential art aspect of Johnny Saturn.  No complaints, though—this is what I love to do!

Last night, with the ample assistance of Phil “Frumph” Hofer, we installed Comicpress 2.8 on this site.  There are a lot of cool options on the backside of this theme, and that’s cool for me, but what does it mean for you, the reader?

My favorite new feature is click-thru navigation: when you are done reading a page, click on it and the next page pops up.  Couldn’t be more simple or convenient!

The comic can now be accessed by the old archive page, as well as the new Comic Issue List.  It’s never been easier to work your way through the archives.  You can also page through the issue list by the “Issue” Buttons in the main navigation, and there’s a cool “Random Comic” button you can hit for fun.  These are a lot of options for getting around!

What’s next for this site?  An expanded storefront, for one.  We have lots of new product to offer, but we’ve outgrown our current store.  I’d also like to update our three “About” pages, those on the characters, Spire City, and its creators.  All three are in sad need of refreshing.  I think it’s still too early to set up a Spire City wiki, not because we don’t have plenty enough characters and locations and events to fill it out, but because I don’t think I can fit the task of setting it up and administering it to my list of things to do.  Maybe someday, though!

Thanks! Scott

New Appearance: I just added the Cincinnati Comic Expo  on September 18, 2010, to my appearance list, as you can see in the right-hand column. I’m getting more active with comic shows than I’ve been in years!

Website: As some of you know, I had a website breakdown on Sunday. With the excellent advice of Phil Hofer, I have gotten the site back to about 95% functionality.  I’ve got some more augmentations to work into the design, and those will be happening over the next week.  Thanks, Phil!

Digital Comics: There’s been a short hiccup in my plans to get “Johnny Saturn” onto Graphic.ly, but we’re back on track.  We still sell digital comics through a number of other venues (Wowio, Drivethru Comics, Panelfly), and quite soon I’ll be selling them off this site as well!  Sadly, one of our vendors, Comicsxp, appears to have gone on hiatus–here’s hoping they are back online soon!

Store: I’ve been working on the “Johnny Saturn” store, and we are replacing its cart system, and adding a bunch of new products.  When the new store is up, some of the items will resume their full prices, so if you are interested please buy these comics now when the price is still down.

Comic Collectives: The Webcomic Collective is no more, sadly.  I’m sorry to see it go, because it included a great many friends and people I respected. We’ve been through this before, such as when Graphic Smash went it’s own way.  We are still members of the Indy Webcomic Group, and Palace In The Sky. I’d like to ad a few more such collectives to my list, but there is little movement on that front.  If anyone knows of good collectives who are accepting new members, please contact me.