1. Brilliant entry!
Written by djnichols485, on 23-02-2005 13:57
Brings back some similar warm memories. Thanks! 
 
I think it was one of your postings to websnark that brought me to JIH in the first place - I suppose I picture Mr. Burns as somewhere in between First Mate and a "Jim Hawkinsesque" cabin boy.

2. Written by admin, on 23-02-2005 15:08
In my rush to tell a story, I'm not sure I wrote much in the way of review. Websnark.com is simply the best webcomics commentary on the internet, well-written and well-reasoned.  
 
There is a slight learning curve for Eric's quirky comic lingo that serves to draw the reader in deeper. I think he's got a glossary to help you sort out terms like "first and ten." 
 
The comments are always worth a gander and from the ones who pop their heads up from time to time I'm thinking a goodly percentage of webcomic creators are lurking about the place. 
 
In contrast to my policy to review anything submitted, there's something wonderful about Eric's policy to only snark what he deems worthy of those tasty little biscuits. 
 
If there's a problem, it's that there are no comics, but Eric's about to fix that. He's working on a buffer for his own strip as I write and it's sure to be a worthwhile read. 
 
There. That should serve as a bit more of a proper review. Go now, and read. 
 
-Bob Stevenson

3. Written by Guest, on 24-02-2005 20:33
OOOH. There be two snarkers now! Wednesday White has joined the fray. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. 
 
-Bob Stevenson

4. Written by Guest, on 25-02-2005 00:31
Weds isn't a regular rotation snarker. But if she ever feels like snarking, she has the keys. It's still pretty much my show. 
 
--Eric

5. Written by Guest, on 25-02-2005 21:45
I've got no problem with Weds. I love her attitude and writing style. It just, CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGE. 
 
Oh and one more note on the ancient computer game front. My wife asked me yesterday if I knew where the word bedlam came from and I did because in the early eighties there was an excellent text adventure called Bedlam. You woke up in a cell eveytime they caught you and got to wander around an insane asylum talking to the inmates. I loved dealing with Napolean. -Never did find a way out though. Has anyone else played it? -solve it? 
 
-Bob Stevenson

6. Written by Guest, on 27-02-2005 01:51
I'm not web-smart enough to get Websnark. 
 
I also wish I could get past the Art and enjoy Queen of Wands, just like everybody else.  
What's wrong with me?

7. Written by Guest, on 27-02-2005 02:34
For the most part, I'm of the opinion that there is a gulf between good comic art and good comic writing. The two have met on ocassion, but not often enough. 
 
I too have had trouble getting past the art on Queen of Wands and several other strips on the Websnark trawl, but I have more trouble with the art on Penny Arcade and PVP 'cause there's little backing the art up and the art's, er, suspect. Both seem to rely, heavily on templates. Sure they're pretty templates, but they rely on so few it seems criminal. So with ten predictable poses and the lack of much that approaches good story-telling, there's little reason to come back. It's actually one of the reasons I do HB in pencil. There's nowhere for the art to hide and I like that. The increased contrast means you even get to see any lines I've erased. I wish there were more creators willing to enter into collaborations. My own with Shaenon Garrity on More Fun has been uneven. I don't feel like my art lived up to her scripts during the early weeks and lately, I've found myself wanting to spend more time working on my own projects. I think writer Harvey Pekar seems to have found a good solution. Use a dozen different artists. On the web, T. Campbell's done some of the same with Fans, but the web could use more in the way of collaboration. 
 
As for getting Websnark, there are days I get it and love it and days I say "Huh?" and move on. Its strength is that it's there and consistently well-written be it over or under my head.  
 
Hmm. I need to get back to drawing the next episode of More Fun, but I think I'll procrastinate a bit more and take a quick dive into the Queen of Wands archive. Maybe this time, it'll grow on me.

8. Written by Guest, on 27-02-2005 02:57
(Twenty minutes later) I made it through the 2002 stuff. The art is indeed an issue with Queen of Wands. I think I'd rather see templates. The cell shading in 2003 does a little something to hide the problems but it's still not all that interesting to look at. The blurry backgrounds don't help much either.  
 
The writing, well, that's it's strength. It seemes solid from about week three. Though there's less story in the early months than I hoped for, it still beats out lots of the gag-a-day variety. 
 
-Bob Stevenson

9. Written by Guest, on 27-02-2005 18:01
Sure. I go and harp on PvP template art, dismissing its story completely and a few hours later Eric, the Websnark guy, goes and explains about how there is indeed a great bit of beautiful subtlety in the story. Worse, he did it twice in the span of a couple of hours. I'm still no fan of the heavy use of templates but I guess the story is why PVP's still on my RSS reader. 
 
Well met. 
 
The Websnark posts: 
[Websnark PvP post Number One] 
[Websnark PvP post Number 2] 
 
And there you have it. Proof positive of why reading websnark is probably better for you than reading this here little strip and blog thingie. 
 
-Bob Stevenson

10. Written by Guest, on 27-02-2005 20:49
To be fair, both PvP articles remind me far too much of the over-analysis from my Film School days. "The negative scratches reflect the childhood scars. It's really deep, I tell you." Luis Recoder, where ever you are, may you choke on all that money you've made. Both PVP comics are deeper outside of context. That's like cheating. My 6th grade story about a dog coming back from the grave is deeper if you relate it to the loss of my pet in real life. If you just have to read the story, you'd just say that it sucks. 
That said: 
I actually like PVP and I, being tech-stupid, I find templates shiny and pleasing like my precious. But to each their own. So many people I respect and enjoy reading speak of Queen of Wands in holy tones...they see the story and I get hit with the art. Btw, I too spent an hour or so reading the first 50-100 comics in QoW and found it pretty cute by the end. (I will take the time to read the rest one day.) 
 
It's interesting who finds a story and who can't get past Art that doesn't click. I think there's something wrong with both people. If the Art is great but trite in subject, or the story is good but the Art stings, then there's a problem. Who's problem? I've no idea. 
I typically blame myself, it's less offensive that way. 
 
As for Websnark's writing voice. I took a deeper look and found some of it inciteful and interesting, but you're right...some days the guy just speaks in tongues. But he's not writing that article for me and I know that. I'm not the webcomic gourmet who gets it, and there's no crime in that. I take it as my loss. 
 
:runs away from PVP, Websnark, QoW fans as well as that one Luis Recoder fan: 
-Jared

1 - and away we go 2 - episode the second 3 - on greener pastures 4 - on politics and comic strips 5 - on debates, morality and action 6 - of quarter bins and finer things 7 - of webs and cob 8 - of critics and comics 9 - of franks and beans 10 - in which god and splendor meet but briefly 11 - for turning and pay 12 - on reviewing and ribbing 13 - in flames 14 - of fires and walls 15 - for the love of snarks 16 - of mice and men 17 - of freaks and geeks 18 - at bay with ebay 19 - on polity 20 - of sands, castles and the tides 21 - of the ten thousand habit 22 - on getting with the program 23 - on the feminine mystique 24 - on commotion 25 - of ink or math 26 - for dollars and sense 27 - of months and the weak 28 - in which a date inspires an orgy 29 - for fun and prophet 30 - in which strips are stripped 31 - in which robots super-size 32 - in which a rock is used to roll 33 - not keen on keen 34 - in which a picture is worth about ten words 35 - for five hundred years 36 - for the love of linux 37 - of sound effects 38 - for crises on infinite childhoods 39 - on desperation 40 - on the danger of hiding under blankets 41 - on eating Christmas fishes 42 - for the clashing 43 - of web-shooters 44 - on ends and beginnings and the paying for them one way or the other 45 - on opus number two 46 - yaw rehto eht gnidaer no 47 - in which we learn cheese bleeds 48 - in which the ghost is almost gave up 49 - on tarts, and I'm not talkin' the cookie variety 50 - on consumerism and getting me some 51 - on drunken revelry 52 - on rolling in it 53 - on the import of Manga 54 - for the love of Manga 55 - on class 56 - for the rank and phile 57 - on gagging to death 58 - on pecks and glats 59 - of testing the testy 60 - from the basement 61 - for the love of insanity 62 - on slashdotting 63 - of slash-dote 64 - to catch a geek 65 - for the hatred of muffit 66 - for Picasso rolling over You are here -- [67 - on a meeting of words and pictures] 68 - on sticking to stick figures 69 - on ghost goggles 70 - on breaking out of the Citadel 71 - of grey matter 72 - for the want of Backpack Man 73 - on the color blue 74 - on the prospect of PETA welcoming rabbit season 75 - on some pretty funny tripe 76 - on the several benefits of head injuries 77 - on testing vehement populism 78 - on Harry Potter's safety school 79 - of talking webcomics 80 - on roasting Stan the Man and we're not talking Hembeck here 81 - on grates 82 - on beating a dead cat 83 - on courting the mad hipsters 84 - on the wearing down 85 - of red sparrows and green clovers 86 - in which it is not about girls 87 - on kneeling before nielsen 88 - on calling out the space pirates 89 - on furries 90 - on good looking filth 91 - on existential angst 92 - of comic-lag 93 - on greener past-ers 94 - in which anything can happen 95 - in which slackware is not for slackers 96 - in a house-full 97 - in the very long shadow of shadow-hawk 98 - on watching the watchmen watch 99 - on searching for the special sauce recipe 100 - of ten squared 101 - on angst 102 - in search of closure 103 - for the hi-a-tus killed the web-comic star 104 - on looking a gift in the Coke machine 105 - of weenies 106 - on mambo, not the dance 107 - in which five bucks gets you quite a bit 108 - in which two might be a crowd 109 - in which are discovered - words funnier than 1000 panels 110 - in which the eyes really are bigger than the stomach 111 - in which everyone's a critic 112 - in which HB finds entertainment 113 - of republican virtues 114 - for Fin Fang Foom Fans 115 - on gardens full of bugs 116 - for sending in the clowns 117 - on counting ship 118 - for some kingdom of ends 119 - in which season one ends one strip too late 120 - Year two wants to start 121 - Guaranteed unemployment 122 - Existence is Futile 123 - The Art of Peace 124 - On His Soapbox 125 - Shocking 126 - phony 127 - myphone 128 - liberal arts 129 - fine, how are you 130 - august arrives 131 - Capped 132 - Moore on health 133 - Comics 2.0 134 - A Fool and His Yuan 135 - How Wonderful 136 - back? 137 138 139 140 141