Web Comic of the Week
Thinking up the preamble to these pieces is often much harder than the piece itself. How do I get a lead into the main feature, as it were, that doesn't seem overly contrived? I've been racking my brains for the last ten minutes when suddenly it came to me. I knew of this artist's work from before Juniper Crescent started appearing on the web, then she seemed to have disappeared from the face of the Earth. In the middle of last year I discovered World Famous Comics and the strip that I'm featuring today. I posted a favourable comment on the forum about the strip and the next thing I know Justin, the owner of WFC is offering to host Juniper Crescent each week. A prime example of good karma if ever there was one.

This week's choice for Web Comic of the Week is Ramblers by Danielle Corsetto.



"This is the story of four college kids and their adventures at a small West Virginia school."

As I said above, I first got to know Danielle's work through an earlier strip, Hazelnuts, which was just getting into its stride when it went into a hiatus it doesn't seem to have come out of. Though I'm informed that there's going to be a print volume of Hazelnuts later in the year. There appears to be a definite link between that strip and Ramblers in that both of them have a semi-autobigraphical slant to their approach. This works very well for Danielle as she resists the trap of in-jokes and obscure reference.

Although Ramblers is well written and is often hilarious, it's the drawing style that's the real strong point for me. The art has a strength of line that gives the strip a strong design sense and a dynamic feel at the same time. In the snippet below, for instance, I love the way that the end of the scarf just looks as though it's twitching in response to the overall movement of the character.



Line weight is also used very well to convey depth within a panel. A classic technique, but not always handled as well as it should be. For me, Danielle's work is crying out for a larger canvas where she can use the greater freedoms to explore her own developing ideas and skills to the utmost. There are some of the strips that don't work as well as others; not through lack of effort, but for the fact that her ideas are a little large for the confinement of the format she's chosen. It's almost like the words and pictures are fighting one another in places and it's only the sense of design that carries it through, making the two work together even within that confined space.

The very best thing about Ramblers, though, is that it's still in the early stages of development (36 strips so far). It will be an exciting time as we all watch this talented woman flex her creative muscles - I'm sure the best is yet to come.

Article scanned in
The article from the Hull Daily Mail has been scanned in and pieced together (though you can see the seams).

I've updated the first posted page with a better image of the whole thing.

There is a second page with two large graphics files if you want to read the article itself.

In perspective
After the insanity that was the reaction to Janet Jackson's publicity stunt, we have, at last, the voice of reason. Thanks to Neil Gaiman for that one.

Around the Blogs...
Marc Smith of Microsoft in his Etech keynote on social spaces online:
"if you're 1 in a million, then there are 768 of you on the internet"
Blackbeltjones via Linkmachinego

You can count me among the ranks of "men who have no idea what to do with babies when confronted with them."
Unproductivity

There is a masseuse that works out of the the gymn. I think when I reach my first 20 lbs. loss, I'm going to book a massage as a reward. At $5.00, it's a steal!
Pears in my pockets...

I've been 29 for a week now, so I'm nearly over it.
I'm Going to America

A year and a half ago, Wil and I participated in the Avon 3 day breast cancer walk. We didn't know anyone with breast cancer. We just wanted to help raise money for research and be part of the walk-a thon. It was by far the most incredible experience of our lives. Between the two of us, we raised over $17,000.
WIL WHEATON DOT NET

Ok, some people have wondered what my take on some super-heroes would be so I give you a look at a quick drawing of Spider-man that I did. He's also available in my very first eBay auction!
Tripping Through Starfields

Ready for tomorrow?
Here's a reminder of the trauma Valentines Day can mean for some people:



This strip was created 2 years ago. :)

It's a local paper for local people...
The article was in the magazine today and was extremely well done, getting over everything I wanted to say in a clear manner. You can have a look at a couple of photos I took of the cover and the piece here. I shall try to scan it in over the weekend, though it's much to large to fit into the scanner.


And to thank them for giving me such a boost to my ego, please take a look at the website for the Hull Daily Mail.

What's the latest on the diet...?
I weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 14st 7lb. That's a loss of 9lbs so far. Cool or what? :)

Big Business
The story of Comcast attempting to buy Disney is a little scary. It always bothers me when these big companies get even bigger. It must mean less choice for the consumer in the long run.

Nucomix 15 is out



Not only does this new issue of Nucomix boast a colour cover, superb print quality and lots of top quality art and writing, it has two pages of Juniper Crescent strips and The Sapphire Claw in colour on the back. Excellent value at 1.95 UK pounds or 2.99 US dollars. Get it while it's hot!

Juniper Crescent
A bit late posting today's Juniper Crescent strip - sorry.

More search strangeness:
don t feed the polar bears comic strip
juniper tree in bloom
what is the average life span for a man of jordan?
referrers
comic author
animal comic strip uk
lung cancer cartoon strips
free online emoticon
smiley drawings
car drawings

Secret of their success
I've been trying to puzzle out for a while why so-called "reality" shows like "I'm a Celebrity..." are so popular and during a discussion at work I finally figured it out. It's because there is no excitement in TV drama any more! Why? Because all the plots are known in advance by anyone who cares to open a magazine or newspaper or watch morning TV.

New links
I've put up a few more links to other blogs, so be sure to check them all out. In particular, Tripping Through Starfields, the blog of EricJ - the artist on Rex Mundi and Brother Matthew.