Comments on: Annotated 50-19

By: Drunk Kaz

Drunk Kaz — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 03:22:36 +0000

I LOVED Mare Internum, and I’ve been following The Meek whenever it updates.

I’m always open to a new comic, if I see a reply!

By: Zak McKracken

Zak McKracken — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 21:07:11 +0000

I wanted to write the same thing as you, regarding the fact that once you’ve “made it” it’s easy to talk about art over money.
… and yet there is a point to it: Lots of things become worse if the person making them is in it more for the money (or the success/fame…whatever) than for just doing it. That’s because everyone is better doing whatever they enjoy and value than doing whatever they believe others will pay money for. So doing it for the art *can* actually help become more successful. It can of course also mean the opposite, especially if your own, uncompromised taste is actually not shard by a lot people, but you figure out how to change your output so that it gains appeal (or becomes easier to produce in larger quantities, or …). Although that simultaneously means you’re no longer following your own instincts about what’s good and what isn’t, so it also creates some risk, since you might have to guess at other peoples’ taste now — which would make me at least incredibly nervous since I usually have a relatively good idea about what I like and don’t like, but a really bad sense on how something is going to be received by others.

So if I were to try and make a living making art, I’d pour a huge amount of care into making something that conforms to my own taste. If it were well-received, I’d keep doing that. If not, I’d conclude that not enough people share my taste, and look for other work. I might also become depressive at that point … so I’m totally fine that I don’t have to live from art. It must be messy.

By: Pylgrim

Pylgrim — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 11:58:54 +0000

She’s got a finished webcomic called Mare Internum and another in Hiatus called The Meek.

I have dozens of other webcomic recommendations if you want them lol

By: Kaz Martell

Kaz Martell — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 04:38:44 +0000

Is this a webcomic you wouldn’t mind sharing? I can understand if they are private about their work of course. But I do always like finding new good webcomics!

By: Pylgrim

Pylgrim — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 22:01:26 +0000

Yep, I really do get what Watterson is getting at here and he’s truly not as critical as he sounds in this excerpt. For example, he acknowledges that Pogo’s Walt Kelly employs assistants and Pogo is one of his favorite strips and major influences. It’s not that collaborative comicking (or “by committee” as it’s often said in derision) can’t produce good results but rather, it’s Watterson’s own philosophy and artistic statement.

There’s a webcomic artist who I respect enough not to name, but she has taken that philosophy to the extreme and believes that all collaborative art efforts are worthless by definition. Her own input has greatly slowed down with time so I wonder if she’s now starting to see the value and potential in having people help you carry some of the load.