The Good, The Bad, and This Kid: Web Comics

Hello everybody, welcome to issue number three of GBK. Not too long ago SBC ran an interview with comic super scribe Brian Michael Bendis entitled, “The Blockbuster Interview.” Unfortunately that is no longer the case; I have managed, through means that I cannot disclose, to interview one of web comics most sought after artist - Johnny Rodriguez. I know everyone here knows who he is, but it’s company policy to introduce interviewees. Johnny is the artist on a web comic called http://geocities.com/dailydilly/dailydilly.html”>Daily Dilly, which is about a group of friends trying to live life, and the trouble that pursues. So, without any further ado, let’s get into the interview:

Josh: So, what made you want to get into Web Comics?

Johnny: The strip?

Josh: Yes, what made you decide you wanted to draw for Daily Dilly?

Johnny: Well Bob, the writer I am working with right now portrays some of our semi-real life happenings into a fictional world and helps deal with a lot of our psychotic issues in a comedic way. Plus I like drawing characters who’s characteristic features are influenced by many real life individuals.

Josh: So, is Daily Dilly based on your real life, are you saying that the writer is a hack and can't create a fictional world?

Johnny: Daily Dilly is not based on actual real life events, but are based on the ideas, principles, and curses that we encounter in our own lives. Only to be used in a fictional world and represented in a comedic way. Didn’t I say that already, ass.

Josh: Is that so. Why is it called Daily Dilly if it's published once a week?

Johnny: Not enough happens in our lives to make it a daily thing, plus we don’t have that kind of time; just sounds nice as in what people go through on a daily basis.

Josh: What exactly does the title mean though, what is this “Dilly” that happens “Daily?”

Johnny: Dilly, comes from the slang phrase "what the dilly yo" as in what’s going on, what’s the happenings?

Josh: Interesting. Are you happy with the direction that your comic is heading? Do you feel that the internet is a good place for your comic?

Johnny: Without the internet, I cant really see any other way a simple strip produced by two people can be put out for public exposure.

Josh: With the recent web comic PVP going into "real" publication, do you see your comic ever going into print?

Johnny: Hey if it happens great, but for now we’re just working on it being seen by as many people who can enjoy it until that time comes.

Josh: One last question, I know you're a busy man. Is it true that you are often called the Enrique Iglesias of Web Comics?

Johnny: I’ve heard something to that effect. It’s hard to be this sexy.

Josh: I imagine so. Well, thank you for your time Mr. Rodriguez.

At this time Johnny’s cell phone rang and he walked away.

As I’m sure you can tell that was merely a lead-in to today’s topic, Web Comics. Johnny and I are the idiots behind Daily Dilly which is the reason I wanted to write this column. I’m of the opinion that web cartoonist (or web strip writers in my case) are masochists, why else would we continue to do such a fruitless art? There is little to no reward involved in doing web comics. There is only one reasonable explanation why we do web comics, to entertain people at work. From my experience, and from what I’ve seen, most people read online comics while working, or lack thereof. That must be why so many web comics are geared toward the working stiff (I should’ve stuck with that). I know in my case though, I wanted to do a web comic just to tell goofy stories about characters loosely based on myself and my friends.

A lot of people go on and on about how Web Comics are the future of comics, and pretty soon we all will be getting our comics via the internet. I certainly hope this is not the case. I view web comics as a place for people, regardless of talent level, to tell stories they want to tell. Think about it, anyone can do a web comic, all you need is the internet, and a scanner (a computer helps too). Plus, it’s much cheaper then normal self-publishing. By doing online comics you can forgo all the hassles of distributors and printers, all you have to do is find a cheap web host (or a free web host) and hit the message boards. That’s pretty much it, then it’s just hoping word of mouth picks up and that the hits roll in like girls at a Justin Timberlake show.

Now, with all that drivel said, I can move on to my original purpose for today’s topic. This may come as a surprise after reading the previous paragraphs, but I hate, no I loathe these tricky little critters known as web comics. Let me rephrase that, I loathe making them, I enjoy reading them, there are some wonderfully talented people out there (don’t be afraid, go look), but I hate dealing with computers. This is weird, I know, for a young male to hate the computer, but I do. I become retarded when attempting to use such programs as Illustrator. So why you ask, did I sign on to create an online comic? I was looking around at some online comics when it hit me, I love comics, I love to write, hell I am trying to be a comic book writer, so why not test the waters. So I called up J-Ro and bam a few months later, Daily Dilly goes digital. Now I know you’re probably thinking, “it’s hard for you to make this piece of garbage?,” so let me explain. It’s not the writing, and from what Johnny tells me it’s not the art that makes it so difficult, it’s the lettering and trying to post on the web site. These two things alone take me on average two hours. TWO HOURS! It’s insane, but true. As to not seem very bitter, over the course of working on the strip I have gotten, in my opinion, pretty good at the lettering and have come to enjoy it, but it is not something I really look forward to.

Also, here is a list of great Web Comics everyone should know about. Since I said great the list is very small, these are the ones that inspired me to want to get into Web Comics:

http://www.stripteasecomic.com/

http://www.dandyandcompany.com/

http://www.voicesinmyhand.com/

I said it was a very short list. There are thousands of other ones out there, but these three are my personal favorites.

So, another column down. Please feel free to tell me what you thought of this little rant, you can drop me an e-mail by clicking on my name which is located at the top of the column, or you can stop by the Soapbox forum. The message board would be a great place for all the web cartoonists to post their site. Anyway, hope to see everyone again in two weeks.

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