Squirrel Tao » Web Comics

March Issue of Sequential Tart

Jennifer Elrod — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:16:17 +0000

The March issue of Sequential Tart is now online at http://www.sequentialtart.com/. It is an issue that started to blow me away as soon as I saw the new content while helping to proof some articles a couple of days ago. I absolutely love the new series about metanarratives in comics, Messing with Metanarratives, by Suzette Chan. I was also tickled to see that Pam Bliss’s Hopelessly Lost But Making Good Time series delves into shapeshifters this month, since one of my main characters in The Myth of Merula is going to be a very strong specimen of the shapeshifter archetype, among other things. It was thrilling to me to be able to interview Gwen Rachel Stanley for this issue, especially since I’ve written briefly about her work a couple of times in this blog. I find her style fresh, unique and exciting. These are just a few of the highlights that hit me first, but there is so much more content to explore!

EDITORIAL
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=466

Back when I was a wee fangirl, if somebody had told me I’d have a somewhat prominent sandbox to stand on, I probably could have come up with oodles of stuff to say, or so I like to think.

~ Katherine Keller

FEATURES
http://www.sequentialtart.com/section.php?id=1&issue=2007-03-01

Interviews

Gwen Rachel Stanley — A Need to Piece Things Together. By Jennifer Franklin Elrod.
Dario Carrasco, Jr. — Classic Heroes. By Lee Atchison.
Mike Bullock — Invisible Children. By Lee Atchison.
Fabian Nicieza — Megalomaniacs and Supermen. By Lee Atchison.
Rich Burlew — Order of the Interview. By Cecily Israel.
Phil Hester — Supernatural Talent. By Mary Borsellino.
Jason Yungbluth — Targeting Deviant Misanthropes. By Lee Atchison.

Articles

Hopelessly Lost, But Making Good Time #71. By Pam Bliss.
It’s Convention Season. By Lisa Lopacinski.
Messing with Metanarratives — Part 1: It’s All About the Stories. By Suzette Chan.
Secret Origin of a Fangirl — It Was a Relationship that Blossomed on the Web. By Jennifer Franklin Elrod.
The Changing Face of Supergirl — A Look at the Evolution of the Girl of Steel. By Mary Borsellino.
What Happens In San Diego … — Should Happen In Las Vegas. By Katherine Keller.

Con Reports

Phoenix-Cactus Comic Convention. By Lisa Fary.

COLUMNS
http://www.sequentialtart.com/section.php?id=2&issue=2007-03-01

Bookshelf Source Material. By Marissa Sammy.
Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award Nominations. By Lisa Lopacinski.
Girls Who Are Boys, Who Like Boys To Be Girls — Gender-Bending Comics. By Mia MacHatton.
Nodwick #36. By Rebecca Buchanan.
One First 13Q — CJ Hurtt and Shawn Richter. By Katherine Keller.
The Golden Age of Comics History — Andrew Farago. By Shaenon Garrity.

CULTURE VULTURES
http://www.sequentialtart.com/section.php?id=3&issue=2007-03-01

Interviews

An Interview with Supernatural’s Missy Bender — Super Women: Alexia Fast. By Mary Borsellino.
An Interview with Supernatural’s Kat — Super Women: Brooke Nevin. By Mary Borsellino.
An Interview with Supernatural’s Sherri — Super Women: Georgia Craig. By Mary Borsellino.
An(other) Interview with Supernatural’s Executive Story Editor — Super Women: Sera Gamble. By Mary Borsellino.
Jonathan Coulton — The Man Who Gave Light Rock a Stern Talking To. By Lee Atchison.
An Interview with Time Chasers Director David Giancola — Time Lord. By Leigh Dragoon.

Articles

Crossing the Bridge to Terabithia. By Leigh Dragoon.
Growing Up with Nickelodeon — 1981-1991. By Wolfen Moondaughter.
Wizardwatching — Exploring the Dresden Files. By Wolfen Moondaughter.

REPORT CARD
http://www.sequentialtart.com/reports.php?issue=2007-03-01

Book / Periodical (2 reviews)
Comic (3 reviews)
DVD / Video (11 reviews)
Graphic Novel (2 reviews)
Manga (12 reviews)
Movie (1 review)
Television (1 review)
Web Comic (1 review)

All this and more is waiting for you at Sequential Tart. Visit us at http://www.sequentialtart.com/

Browse all the entries under Comics, Web Comics.

Review of A Girl and Her Fed

Jennifer Elrod — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:22:29 +0000

This review originally appeared in the Sequential Tart Webzine on December 1, 2006.

Publisher
Brooke Spangler
http://agirlandherfed.com

Credits
Creators: Brooke Spangler

Grade: 7
A Girl and Her Fed follows the daily life of a young, single, female, liberal journalism intern who is under the surveillance of the fed. Her fed knows that she is not a terrorist, but ever since she has written an article defending civil liberties, he has just been doing his job by following orders to open her mail and watch her. This sounds like a deadly serious subject, but the topic is rendered hilarious by its treatment by Brooke Spangler. For example, her fed has had an annoying Pocket President, an AI version of George W. Bush, installed in his brain without his consent. His Pocket President does battle with the ghost/hallucination of Benjamin Franklin, to whom our heroine has been talking ever since an LSD trip. I laughed out loud intermittently as I followed the progress of the story.

Spangler does both the writing and the drawing for this comic. She herself says that she likes writing a lot more, and that she knows it shows. She’s right about that, but the writing is so funny that the comic is enjoyable to read in spite of the crudeness of the drawings. I’ve never read a political comic quite like this. I usually don’t find political cartoons or comics hilarious. Sometimes they get a smirk out of me. They rarely make me laugh out loud. Spangler manages to avoid being didactic, in spite of the intelligence and relevance she often allows to creep into her characters’ dialogue. She even humanizes the fed. This comic is a satire of what a liberal’s paranoia might look like, while also being a satire of the reasons for the paranoia that some feel in our era. It’s also an example of the freshness that can issue forth from somebody’s imagination on the web.

Browse all the entries under Reviews, Web Comics.

Webcomics Don’t All Suck

Jennifer Elrod — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 23:36:11 +0000

“Webcomics suck,” is a lament often read, even issuing forth from former webcomic fans and champions. I hope to convince the reader with this list that lots of good webcomics exist. It’s far from exhaustive – just a sampling. Enjoy.

Alternative History

Roswell, Texas

Drama

Educational

Electric Spirit

Experimental

After Days of Passion

Historical

Horror/Gothic/Surreal

Humor

Love Stories

Destined Love, 1969

Lyrical

Science Fiction

Slice of Life

Browse all the entries under Web Comics.

Bunk Magazine, a Hypermedia Humor E-Zine, Launches

Jennifer Elrod — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:14:13 +0000

Mark Marino has just launched a hypermedia humor e-zine called Bunk Magazine. It looks like it has potential and is worth exploring. I haven’t yet thoroughly checked out the first issue, but I’ve found a few things that made me giggle and smirk, as well as a few things that didn’t. (You’ll have that.) One of the things that did get a giggle from me was the “Y2K Bug Issue”, found under Features. This link brought up a mock circa-1900 newspaper dated January 1, 1900. In this newspaper, you can read about such things as what our future shall bring. Number four on the list is this:

The entire world will be covered by a vast network of wires which will be referred to as the “World Wide Web.” This web will have been woven by gigantical prehistorical arachnids, who will become our leaders after emerging from caverns beneath the earth, where they will have been hiding for 3 millions years.

I think I just like humor that involves wild flights of imagination.

Another thing I like is the Celebrity Playlists, imaginary lists of the favorite songs of various famous people. Thomas Jefferson’s playlist is my favorite, especially “Brown Sugar”:

Thomas Jefferson (Orr)
Preamble Pre-party Mix:

Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours- Stevie Wonder
Brown Sugar– Rolling Stones
Born on the Fourth of July Theme- John Williams
Gasolina– Daddy Yankee
American Woman- The Guess Who
The Star-Spangled Banner- written by Francis Scott Key, as performed by Christina Aguilera
American Pie- Don McLean
Big Poppa- The Notorious B.I.G.
American Woman- Lenny Kravitz
It’s All About the Benjamins- Puff Daddy
Baby Got Back- Sir Mix-a-Lot

Bunk is still a little bit raw at this stage, but it will be a site to watch as it develops further and attracts more talent. It’s refreshing to see a hypermedia zine that has a fun spirit about it for a change. Maybe it will help to show more people that hypermedia entertainment that is created by people who are seriously trying to realize the new media potential of the web does not have to be ponderously, pretentiously, relentlessly self-conscious about its own supposed avant garde status.

Browse all the entries under Humor, Hypermedia Storytelling, Web Comics.

Bob the Angry Flower

Jennifer Elrod — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 18:52:28 +0000

Bob the Angry Flower is a funny and original web comic strip about a not-very-nice flower named Bob. Bob is into a little bit of everything. He tries to push Xaxor pills to an old man. Xaxor supposedly gives back missing zest and zing, as well as curing incontinence. The side effect of of excruciating bone pain almost never happens. Bob is also paranoid about security, complaining that his tactical high energy lasers and other high-tech security measures can’t protect him from magic, the literary assault or emotional vulnerabilities. Bob doesn’t just stop at being crazy; he also rises to the occasion of becoming political satire at times, as in the strip, Hiding Behind Women and Children, Eh? Interesting annotations provide commentary on the strips. Apparently, originally, Bob was going to be the kind of character who would stand on the street and scream at people for no reason. Through the annotations, you can follow Stephen Notley’s thoughts behind the development of the comic.

Created by Stephen Notley, Bob the Angry Flower and his sidekicks Stumpy and Freddie the Flying Fetus have gathered enough of a following on the web to fill a Yahoo Bob the Angry Flower group with 734 members. There are also several Bob the Angry Flower books available to buy directly from the angryflower.com website. The books are carried in just a few stores, such as Comic Relief in Berkeley, California.

Browse all the entries under Humor, Web Comics.