I’ve got lots of stuff on my mind.

First up, we received our ISSN numbers from the Library of Congress today. That means we can make barcodes and get our comics back into brick & mortar comic shops. I’m quite happy about this.

Benita and I have been working really hard at reclaiming our house. We’ve always been clutter bugs, but in the wake of fixing up rooms and moving stuff around the situation got worse. Now, the den and the laundry room are both painted, and we have to order new floors. Then, everything can go back into place. If a cluttered environment is a reflection of a cluttered mind, then Benita and I are out to change our minds. You can see more about this at Basically Benita.

Bill Nicholls, Editor of Sketch Magazine, has a new website called Comics Mentor. He’s been quite prolific so far in writing inspirational blog posts for artists and life, and his words have spurred even an old cynic like me to try harder. Check it out.

I’ve spent the last two days writing the next scene in “Johnny Saturn,” and I’m still not done. I think it’s safe to say I’m not the fastest writer in town. Still, this part of the script covers ten pages, aka twenty episodes, so it’s a pretty sizable chunk of writing. After I’m done with it, it goes to Benita for editing.

As I understand it, Warren Ellis’ “Nextwave: Agents of Hate” is coming out in an ultimate edition. Clearly, I’m thrilled with this news. Ellis has long been among my top favorite writers,* up there with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Grant Morrison. It should also be noted that I am waiting for the fourth and final volume of “Planetary” to come out.

Scott.

*If you don’t know, the first twelve issues of the “Authority” had a huge impact on me.

Comics 2 Games – Free Comic Book Day 2009 Commercial from Chas! Pangburn on Vimeo.
Hi, Folks!

Saturday, on Free Comic Book Day, Benita and I made an appearance at Comics 2 Games in Florence, Kentucky.  We had an outstanding time!  We got to catch up with old friends Bob Hickey (Comics 2 Games, Blueline Pro, Sketch Magazine, etc.), Chuck Moore (Comic Related), Bill Nichols (Sketch Magazine), and John Wilson (Comic Related, Sketch Magazine).  These fine folk share a boundless enthusiasm for comics, and I’ve come to think of them as true friends.

In terms of fellow creators, we got to meet Lora Innes (the Dreamer), Eric Adams (Lackluster World), and we got to catch up with old friends Brant Fowler and Scott Simmons of Wannabez.

The turnout was outstanding, and we had a steady influx of comic enthusiasts of all ages throughout the day.  Sometimes, the excited chatter got loud enough that I had to raise my voice just to be heard above the din!  This is just my first visit to the area, but if this is any indication then Florence must have an amazing comic community!

The store itself, Comics 2 Games, just recently opened, and it is the coolest comic store I’ve ever seen.  Airy and bright, this was the antithesis of the grungy hole in the wall comic shops that are so common.  There are dedicated sections of the store for statues, art supplies, video games, art books, and a large “gallery” where we were set up among the other comic creators.  This did not feel like a Free Comic Book Day so much as a day at a comic convention!

Thanks, Bob Hickey, for inviting us!

Scott

1) I’ve got a new article in this month’s Sketch Magazine, and this time it’s in full color! It’s a revisit to one of my favorite Photoshop topics, building your personal color palettes.

In a way, I’m always amused that so many of my tutorials center around Photoshop, because I came to digital art and coloring late in the game.  Once I dug in, though, it became a passion, and I’ve walked almost every odd corner, nook, and byway in Photoshop at this point.

2) One of the ideas floating around the webcomic world lately is that of premium content, or extra stuff for the fans who pay for it. I don’t like this idea. To me, it’s a backdoor return to the old webcomic subscription model, which pretty much died away. I believe in the open source model, so any premium content I devise, such as “Inside the Book,” is free and available to everyone.

3) That having been said, we have a new features here on Johnny Saturn that we will be beginning quite soon, as soon as we figure out all the details and do all the scanning. It’s pretty cool, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.

4) My old illustration website at www.scottstoryillustrator.com has been underperforming in the new “soft” economy, so I’ll soon be replacing it with something new, more innovative, and a little more cutting edge. Beware the coming of the Graphimancer!

5) Thanks to all the fans who took my new promo graphics and spread them around the web!  Do remember to link them to http://johnnysaturn.com.  Thanks so much!

Have a great weekend!

Scott

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.

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!

Good friend John Wilson has made “Johnny Saturn” today’s Sketchmag Spotlight over at the Sketch Magazine site.  We are, of course, quite honored.  Plus, he mentions Benita’s spinning wheel, which is a long-standing presence when we do comic shows.

You may have noticed that there is no Johnny Saturn store up.  I’ve had technical difficulties, to be honest.  I’ve tried to install Zen Cart three times, all failing, and the third time it took down the whole site for a while, forcing me to do a restore.  I can’t go back to eShop, because it did a real job on our database.  So, a store is coming, and it will be sooner than later, but I’m just not sure when exactly.

Over at Webcomics.com, I put Johnny Saturn up for a critique by my webcartoonist peers.  The advice and observations I’ve received have been invaluable.  I mention this because, if you think I’m above criticism, you are incorrect.  I will never be too good to stop working on improving the strip.  I consider myself to be a journeyman, and my masterwork is still out there, in the future.

Speaking of “Sketch Magazine,” I would like to make sure that at least all the readers of this blog know about it.  Having been published for well over thirty issues, and featuring interviews with many of the comic industries top stars, Sketch Magazine has offered valuable advice for learning cartoonist for some years now.  It has covered every aspect of the comic creation process in some detail, and it has adapted to the times by recognizing and offering instruction to the world on the rise of webcomics.  I have been very proud to be a semi-regular contributor to this fine publication, and I would strongly urge all learning cartoonists to buy or subscribe to it.  It’s available in virtually all comic shops, and online.

Scott.

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.

I’ve got another busy day coloring Johnny Saturn lined up, plus work for one of my favorite customers, so today’s blog will be short.  In fact, I’m going to resort to the “lists of stuff” approach!  Lazy, lazy, lazy!

What webcomics do I follow most of all?  The list, presented in no particular order:

• Girl Genius
• SideChics
• PvP
• Evil Inc.
• Sheldon
• Frazz
• 9 Chickweed Lane
• Dilbert

What podcasts do I follow?

• Webcomics Weekly
• The Webcomic Beacon
• Comic Related
• Sequential Artists’ Pub
• Art & Story
• Plus, a rotating list of others

What websites do I visit a lot?

• Digital Webbing
• Art Unleashed
• Comixtalk
• Myspace

What magazines do I read?

• Sketch Magazine
• Draw
• Imagine FX
• Watercolor (2 Magazine, I forget the exact titles)

Well, there you go!  Useless information about me!  Out of curiosity, do any of you read, watch, or listen to same material I do?  Do you see something omitted from my lists that I should really check into? 

Scott.

Yesterday, Benita and I went to Columbus, Ohio for the Mid-Ohio Convention; this is about a three-and-a-half hour drive each way, but the trek was worth it many times over. We got to catch up with many old friends, and meet lots of new friends. (I know that sounds really clichéd, but the truth of the matter is that many of these people have become full-fledged friends, and others are well on their way to becoming fast friends. The comic community is small and pretty tight, and we spend a lot of time together in person and on-line.)

Benita and I appeared at the Comic Related booth from noon till just after 3:00 PM. Chuck Moore, owner of Comic Related and pod caster extraordinaire, invited us to use half the table he had there. Chuck is about the nicest guy you could imagine, and he’s a real brother-in-arms in the war to bring indie comics, and comics in general, to the forefront. I strongly suggest you visit his site, Comic Related. Benita and I also had the opportunity to appear again on his pod cast, which has not been posted yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as it is.

Benita and I also had the opportunity to catch up with Bob Hickey. You’ve probably heard me speak about Bob in my blog many times; as well as being our friend, he is a creative overachiever and the person behind Blueline Pro, Sketch Magazine, Art Unleashed, and many other ventures. He’s also a comic creator and publisher himself, and the force behind next year’s Pop Culture Con, a new convention that I’ll write more about as the situation develops. Bob and I were able to talk a little business, and I think it’s safe to say that we’ve got some excellent plans in the works. I’ll talk about those more as things develop. At very least, expect to see a lot more of my words coming up in Sketch Magazine.

I also had the pleasure of catching up with writer Steve Horton. Steve is an impressive guy, because he has a way of making things happen. He is widely published in the magazine, comic, and mainstream art book world. I picked up his new book, Webcomics 2.0, and I’m really looking forward to reading it; I thumbed through it last night, and it looks packed with webcomicky goodness. I met Steve when we were both on Graphic Smash; Later, he became the editor of Komikwerks, and he lured us over there. Then, eventually, we both ended up back at Graphic Smash.

There were other people of note that I got to meet or catch up: Brant Fowler of Wannabez, and a former editor of mind at Rogue Wolf Comics; Dara Naraghi, webcartoonist and writer at IDW, also a fellow Komikwerks cartoonist; Paul Storrie, a widely published writer with a great last name; Mike Indovina, convention regular and cartoonist on Satyr; John Wilson, writer at Comic Related and colorist-in-training; and Kenn Minter, webcartoonist on “I’m Not From Here”; and Mike Easton, who contributed a pinup to the Johnny Saturn Pinup Gallery.

I know there are names I’ve probably forgotten to mention, but the whole day has become a blur to me!  Sorry!

On an un-related note, here is a caraciture of me done by good friend and fellow, Indiana-based artist Paul McCall–I absolutely love this!  It all relates back to an earlier blog posting of mine where I jokingly referred to myself as looking like “Captain America with a pencil.” 

This week, I’m doing an overview setting up a WordPress webcomic.  I’m going to do my best not to overlap too much with Bob Hickey’s excellent WordPress tutorial from Sketch no. 34, but of course there will be some overlap. 

1)      Get a host that is database compatible, and set up the database that will run your webcomic.  I use a Yahoo Small Business website, but that’s not an endorsement for them. I expect I’ll be looking for a new host within the year.

2)      Download and install WordPress.

3)      Download and install Comicpress.

4)      Download and install Comicpress Manager.

5)      If you have problems, go to this forum.  This is where Tyler Martin, who created Comicpress, and John Coswell, who built Comicpress Manager, often answers questions.  Even if Tyler and John are too busy, there are often knowledgeable people who point you in the right direction.

6)      There are also excellent forums at the WordPress site.

Before you start digging into your Comicpress code and modifying your site, there are some plugins that you might need.  In my case, I use the following:

1)      Ad-Minister (download here): I use this for rotating ads at the top of my blog.  I use this space outside my Project Wonderful ad boxes.

2)      Add to any: Share/Save/Bookmark Button (download here): Offers a wide list of social bookmarking links.

3)      Akismet: This plugin, which helps identify and quarantine spam, comes with WordPress, and it requires that you get a WordPress API key. 

4)      All In One SEO Pack (download here): This “Search Engine Optimizes” your blog.

5)      Comicpress Manager (download here): This makes loading comics, setting up archives, and thumb nailing quite easy.

6)      Eshop for WordPress (download here): My choice of shopping cart program.

7)      Google XML Sitemaps (download here): Notifies Google every time you update your site.

8 )      Lightbox2 (download here): I use this to set up galleries, such as my Fan Art gallery, and it displays pics at full size without distorting your blog setup.

9)      PrestoGifto (download here): Integrates your Café Press store into your blog.

10)  ReCAPTCHA (download here): Fights spam by requiring a random security word picture with each comment.

11)  WP Super cache (download here): Speeds up your blog by turning slow loading PHP into HTML on the client side.

Installing plugins is usually as simple as using an FTP program to upload the unzipped plugin to your site, depositing the new plugin’s folder in your wp-contents/plugins folder.  (I use CuteFTP as my FTP application of choice, but there are many available.)  Once you’ve signed into your WordPress site, go to Plugins, then hit “activate” after each new plugin.

Well, that’s enough for this week, I would imagine.  Next week, I’ll start getting into details of getting your site up to speed, such as how to install Project Wonderful ads, changing background colors, and modifying your blog header.

Scott.