Web Comics rendezvous London - UKwebComixThing2005

[Jaster!]

Goodness! Such fun, and only an ocean away.

[Komiyan]

Woo! OK, finally uprooted myself and went home, so here's what I got...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y83/komiyan/
Photos and sketchies within! Particularly good:
Legal notice! For the table we hijacked :S
Look, I got one of Gianna!
Nice group one.
All of the sketches are awesome, and I'd lead you through them, but you really can tell whose is whose... I had a bloody great day, worth getting up at 3am for, even. And I have a Beaver and Steve badge, so my life is now complete

[Mr.Bob]

Haha! I hadn't seen some of those!

[LAGtheNoggin]

And the Giganto Gallery devours yet more. Mwuhahaha. Thank-you Komi!

[Mr.Bob]

This Giganto Gallery means to assimilate us all!

[Phalanx]

My full report (link)

And sketches:




My 24 minute comic page, shared with Bridgeen Gullespie
Darn that Bob! He tricked me! I actually check my sketchbook to make suer he didn't draw moustaches over it!

The fantastic Keenspace Sampler

Protrait sketches of the gang:




And more sketchies!

[Bekka]

So who was that guy who said Keenspace needs more good artists?

It was mr.madsen from little-gamers, but apparantly, the guy was just a tad nervous so his attempt at humor might have come over as way too serious.

I listened to the panel where he said that, and I really didn't get the impression that he meant to be insulting in any way - before anyone decides to go on a rampage of revenge and destruction

The panel had been asked a rather difficult question, i.e. how do you separate good comics and bad comics, which wasn't easy to answer immediately. Saying that Keenspace needs more good comics may not mean much more than saying that the phone directory needs more beautiful people, but it's not an insult and it doesn't mean that he said that all 'Space comics are bad.

Let's face it, even if there are dozens of excellent comics on 'Space, for each one of them there are twenty sprite comics made by 12 year old Jimmy about pokemon or whatever other crap kids like. It's a free service and there's no quality control. If you go by average quality of the 'Space comics and weigh in all the crap produced by little Jimmys the world round, that's going to drag it down. If you have in your hands the sampler book however, for example, and check the quality of the stuff in it, well - it's really good, very much at the same level of most stuff I've seen at the exhibition and in many cases better. Keenspace though carries a stigma of poor quality associated to it, a bit like, say, Skoda, AOL, Geocities websites, etc. - again, because the average quality (weighing in the Jimmys) is bad. But most of you are way above that average quality, so why do you care?

Just consider that your host, and whatever negative connotation is associated with it, matters only, if at all, within the webcomicking world. Your readers don't give a flying fuck, they don't even know about it, you're not going to meet people who like your comic but won't read it because it's hosted by xyz instead of abc. The webcomic community may love you, hate you, ignore you, respect you, despise you, etc. etc. etc., and 99% of your readers WON'T CARE (unless you rant about it on your website, I guess). That doesn't mean that you shouldn't do your best to get along with fellow artists and be a decent person, but just because it's what you should be doing in any walk of life, not because you need to have some exalted standing among other webcomickers if you want to have a successful comic. People just click on a link that a friend sent them at work or at school, and don't give a shit whether it's keenspace or poshartistsareus.com

[Phalanx]

I listened to the panel where he said that, and I really didn't get the impression that he meant to be insulting in any way - before anyone decides to go on a rampage of revenge and destruction

I was sitting next to Gianna, I think she will tell you I actually was quite indignant at that time and sputtered: "That was so uncalled for!"

In hindsight I don't think it was deliberately malicious. More of a "Everyone jokes about how bad Keenspace comics are so I must too" groupthink joke. It one of those jokes that someone hears and echoes without thinking about it, especially when they don't really read much of Keenspace comics more than what they have about a few years ago.

I mean I heard someone on the Comixpedia boards do the same thing before, and when I asked them (civilly) what he meant by that, he apologised and replied he didn't really know why he said that, it was just one of those things people joke about without thinking what it really means.

But anyway, like I said to Beyonder in the chat, everyone is entitled to an opinion. It wasn't very nice to single Keenspace out for something every unrestricted host is guilty of, but you can't change perceptions by going on the rampage.

The best we can do is lead by example. Raise the ante for quality, and make sure the good comics on Space are prominent as possible. Most people's impression of Keenspace are the half-assed half-finished comics, usually left behind from several years ago. The only thing we can do is try to change that.

So start updating your links pages already

[Phalanx]

I just found a hilarious description of us at the UK comics thing:

Keenspacers! My god, they were like vikings invading. One minute there were none, the next they were everywhere. Didn't talk to them as much as I'd like (and this is a recurring theme ) because a) they have no idea who I am, b) I didn't really know who they were either, and c) I was too shit scared. They probably had weapons.

And he's right! We were armed by the sheer power of craziness!

[ShineDog]

who said that?

[ShineDog]

I also feel that I must clear something. At the Panel I said something that might have sounded like Keenspace/spot was all bad comics, something that was not my intention. I was only humoring the fact that 90% of the stuff sucks, and you can get hosted there even if you draw poop on a stick and call it jesus.

from little gamers dude

[CaptainClaude]

I just found a hilarious description of us at the UK comics thing:

Keenspacers! My god, they were like vikings invading. One minute there were none, the next they were everywhere. Didn't talk to them as much as I'd like (and this is a recurring theme ) because a) they have no idea who I am, b) I didn't really know who they were either, and c) I was too shit scared. They probably had weapons.

And he's right! We were armed by the sheer power of craziness!

That was our good old buddy Chikin of Great Vagueness was it not?

He said other very nice things

Claude didn't stop drawing, ever, and also managed to sell some of MY books as well! The man is a dynamo!

[Mr.Bob]

And daaaai-yum! Were those Keenspacers sexy! Especially that Mr.Bob. I'd do him!

[McDuffies]

Did Bob get any action?

And where's Mooman?

[ShineDog]

bob wouldnt let me lick him.

He is a jobby.

[Mooman]

And where's Mooman?

At home.

He is a jobby.

Shinedog is awesome.

[Mr.Bob]

Bad Mooman.

[TheLoserHero]

What's a jobby?

[McDuffies]

Let's face it, even if there are dozens of excellent comics on 'Space, for each one of them there are twenty sprite comics made by 12 year old Jimmy about pokemon or whatever other crap kids like. It's a free service and there's no quality control. If you go by average quality of the 'Space comics and weigh in all the crap produced by little Jimmys the world round, that's going to drag it down. If you have in your hands the sampler book however, for example, and check the quality of the stuff in it, well - it's really good, very much at the same level of most stuff I've seen at the exhibition and in many cases better. Keenspace though carries a stigma of poor quality associated to it, a bit like, say, Skoda, AOL, Geocities websites, etc. - again, because the average quality (weighing in the Jimmys) is bad. But most of you are way above that average quality, so why do you care?

But frankly, 12 year old Jimmy needs a place to post his comics too, right? Cause you never know if he's gonna grow up to be the next comic genius.
Keenspace doesn't need more good comics (it has at least three or four guide pages of good comics which is more than others have), it's webcomic community that needs to be more open-minded and less generalizing.

[Odd1]

Crap, I can't believe I didn't get to go to the UK webcomix thing. If I had planned ahead I might have, the pictures Lag took look awsome. Not only because he's so handsome. My best friend flew to London that day, and what does he do? He goes to a soccer match..

Eh, different people, different interests.