Lots of webcomics on hi**us

[Scientivore]

Melancholic musing.

I'm moving a bunch of bookmarks into one of my "Hi**us" folders (self-censoring one of the dirtiest words for fans of serialized media). Abstract Gender, Achala, Alpha Luna, Arkaina, Beyond Reality, Blue Skunk, Chronicles of Avernyght, copper, Curious Adventures of Aldus Maycombe, Dasien, Elf Only Inn, Fallen Angels Used Books, Gone With the Blastwave, Gravity, Hazard Pay, Hector!, I Wish, Kurenai Mashin, Legendary, leveL, m-theory -- and that's just some of the ones through 'M' since I'm not done yet.

It always makes me sad when I do this, since some of them will eventually go to the "Ended" folder without actually getting finished, like what happened to Aikida for example; and it's incredibly rare for a bookmark to come back out of the "Ended" folder like Apophenia 357 just did (and anyway, for me, that one's mostly just a way of tracking Ghastly's progress toward getting back to Polly).

And yet, as a megafan of the medium, I must accept it as the price of my fandom: instead of costing money or having their content controlled by ad-selling suits, webcomics have a nonzero chance of seemingly randomly ending at any given point, with a nonzero chance of it actually becoming permanent. I long ago accepted this intermittent ritual of painful separation as inseparable from the joy that all these incredibly unique, creative stories give me.

Doesn't mean that I have to like it though.

(ETA, this isn't aimed at EE in any way. It was just a random, late-night thought, and I've been posting more here lately, so it ended up here.)

[EmergencyExit]

I personally wouldn't list Beyond Reality in the Hiatus folder, he just updates very, very sporadically and it's listed as so on top of the site. If you look back hes managed at least one update a month and he is currently almost done with one, should be up tomorrow. We've also been keeping people informed over the reasons over his webpage.

Moving on, I have noticed a recent increase in disappearing comics in my reading list lately. However it is something that happens frequently. I usually have no trouble with comics who take breaks off. What I hate is when the comic owner doesn't even try to tell their readers why the updates stopped or any news of progress or any declaration of hiatus. Sharing a Universe, Angst is a Four Lettered Word and M-Theory were some comics I was reading but some haven't updated with any news or comics since July. I'd expect SAU to come back at least just cause it's been around the longest. It seems the toughest part is getting a webcomic to last more than a year, then it tends to have a better chance of sticking around.

If a comic is good enough I'll wait through sporadic updating like the comic Oriyan. And I can deal if a artist decides to stop for various reasons as long as they inform us.

I have a "hiatused" comic myself, but it was the secondary comic and I had good reasons to putting it on hold and also made alarge announcement on the site. Basically for me it was a bad idea to make a second webcomic at the time. But I have full intentions of doing it again, as well as finishing EE.

And personally I could never be without working on a comic project. School, work, family drama none of it keeps me from working. It's always a bit hard for me to relate to the people who can't manage a occasional page.

[MegaRose]

RPG World...

Anyways I use Google Reader so if something doesn't update I just don't see it, so I don't feel the sting as much as I used to.

[EmergencyExit]

RPG World...

I remember I almost bought the first volume of that in a bookstore once, having heard of the webcomic. Glad I didn't now since I learned it was one of those that just stopped. When you get to something like Keenspot or higher, and even having published works of your comic I think you should have dedicated yourself at that point. Newbies starting out is one thing, I mean I failed EE the first time too in 2002, didn't restart it until 2003. Getting into it for the first time really is the toughest part. But once you've gone far enough to make money..I dunno I just think they should know better by then.

[MegaRose]

Especially since it was so close to the end, like the END end.

[Cope]

Especially since it was so close to the end, like the END end.

Apparently, it wasn't as close to the end as it seemed.

[EmergencyExit]

I know Avalon was insanely close to the end, the last page is just a summary of what was to happen. I still can't forgive him for that, he was so close!

[Scientivore]

Anyways I use Google Reader so if something doesn't update I just don't see it, so I don't feel the sting as much as I used to.

I still have Piperka subscriptions to all the ones that I named, so I'll know as soon as they come back with an update. The moving of the bookmarks was mostly a symbolic ritual.

[MegaRose]

And if anyone remembers Bonus Stage...it was originally meant to go 100 episodes but wound up being wrapped up at 80some, it had a conclusion but not really a spectacular one. And then Matt Wilson got commissioned to do the rest, but the guy didn't pay up for personal reasons, aaaaugh.

[Scientivore]

No, didn't read that one. Of abandoned webcomics, I remember Sokora Refugees as having one of the worst-timed halts of any, apparently right in the middle. It's in the strange position of still having books on Amazon while its website is long gone.

Anyway, Beyond Reality is already back in one of the "Active" folders, and now I know to not expect more than monthly from that one. Yay for updates!

[EmergencyExit]

What? That is so unfair, they were published by freaking Tokyopop, you don't get to just halt when you're published by Tokyopop. Man, I'd love to get in with them. When I redo UF my goal is to get it published offline as well as on, and I fantasize about getting picked up by them via their yearly contest or whatnot. Man, some people just lack that dedicated I tell you.

*grumble grumble*

[Scientivore]

I didn't realize what a big deal it was to get in with Tokyopop. I can say that Sokora Refugees was a pretty cool story with vigorous art and memorable characters. Their goodbye was cryptic and brief -- pretty much all that it said was that they weren't going to explain it -- and then poof, gone.

...huh. From the Wikipedia entry: "...started on 2004-12-31. ...on hiatus since November 10, 2006. ... In its March 21, 2005 issue, Publishers Weekly identified the writer of Sokora Refugees as Kurt Hassler, who was the Borders and Waldenbooks buyer for graphic novels; "Segamu" is presumably Hassler's pseudonym. Hassler left this position in November 2006. ... On November 02, 2004, Tokyopop announced plans to publish Sokora Refugees before the comic was actually a webcomic."