Blog - April 2008

Some time ago I started a few pages on Squidoo. To me, Squidoo is like a commercial Wikipedia. Individuals control the content of their page(s), on any subject of their expertise, and any revenue generated is shared by the author and Squidoo. (Squidoo offers quite a few revenue options.)

I decided to start a few pages related to small press comics, reasoning that Squidoo's large site would generate more traffic and higher search engine results than MF.com could. I figured I'd try it for about six months and see what happened. The pages are collections of links to small press comics Creators, Reviews, and online Shops.

I updated the pages regularly during the initial six months and then stopped. During this time the page traffic was: Creators-306 visits, Reviews-338 visits, and Shops-58 visits. The revenue was $7 (which is below the payout threshold). Clickthoughs to MF.com average 2 or 3 per month for all of the pages combined. Today, MF.com ranks much higher than the Squidoo pages in Google search results. The same searches made using Yahoo are split about 50/50.

In the end, I don't see a compelling reason to continue linking to the Squidoo pages, so I've consolidated the indexes and created a new Links page hosted with the rest of the MF.com site. Please check it out, I think you'll like it. It is literally jam-packed with useful links and I'll continue to add to them in the weeks ahead.

Many artists have several websites. Rather than try to track them all, I've concentrated on their main site, or the one with the most recent activity. (Besides, their main site usually has links to their other, spin-off sites.)

If you know of any sites that should be listed, please send them my way—thanks!

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April 19, 2008 Blog Entry
Small, Pressing News Items

Thoreau at Walden
Longtime maestro of King-Cat, John Porcellino has just completed a new graphic novel (aka thick comic book) about Henry David Thoreau's time at Walden Pond in Massachusetts contemplating man and nature. Published by CCS/Hyperion Books, the hardcover version retails for $16.99 and will be available on April 22. A softcover edition will follow a little further down the road.

Classic Tales
BJ Harrison produces the podcast The Classic Tales, featuring audio books by authors like Joseph Conrad and PG Wodehouse; with more to come. You can listen online or download the MP3 files from his website or via iTunes.

El Vocho
Over the last several months indie favorite Steve Lafler has experimented with a number of different webcomics—Diva Funnies, Cute as a Button, and Dog Boy Daily. Since the work is live on the web, it's given us readers a behind-the-scenes look into a bit of his creative process as he finds the right material for an extended run. He reports this week, he's just completed writing the script for a new graphic novel called El Vocho. He plans to post the story online as he draws the pages. When it's finished, he'll publish the book in print. (El Vocho, by the way, is slang for VW bug.)

Mini Comics Book Club
Charlito and Mr. Phil are hard at work on a new podcast that spun right off the rack recently. The Mini Comics Book Club is a new bi-monthly show dedicated entirely to mini comics. The first episode has been delayed due the additional production work required. It's now tentatively scheduled for release at the end of April. The show features Alec Longstreth and a discussion about the newave comix era with yours truly.

Quibletsware
Edmund Conti and Jim Siergey launched a new collection of Quibletsware this week. Based on their critically acclaimed book of wordplay Quiblets, the collection serves up mugs, magnets, and coasters with delectable Quiblets favorites like "Bedroominating" and "Hat Trick". Shop.

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April 12, 2008 Blog Entry
12:00 News or Midnight Fiction?

Idiots and Angels Premier
Indie animator extraordinaire Bill Plympton, premiers his latest feature Idiots and Angels at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 23-May 4 in New York City. The dark and surreal film features music by Nicole Renaud, Corey Jackson, Tom Waits, Pink Martini, and Moby. Check out the website for video, stills, etc. Plympton's cartoons are entirely hand drawn.

Bizarro Trading Cards
2008 Reuben Award Nominee and Bizarro cartoonist Dan Piararo has announced a new series of 110 Bizarro Trading Cards featuring comics and some unpublished artwork. Sold in individual packs of 7 cards ($3.25), boxes of 24 packs ($72), or cases of 6 or 12 boxes, the cards will be available after April 20th. You can place a pre-order here.

Crime Sites
Powell's Books hosted a program with regional crime fiction writers this week . I had a chance to meet Bill Cameron, author of Lost Dog and Greg Rucka, author of A Gentleman's Game and many other works. The program was sponsored by Friends of Mystery. During the presentation one of the authors, Alan Gold, highlighted a website called CrimeSpace, a social networking site for readers and writers of crime fiction that's hosted on the ning platform.

Mini Comics Book Club
My new best friend Rick (Poopsheet Foundation) Bradford, worked some magic on my other new best friend Charlito (Indie Spinner Rack), for an interview with your humble MF.com host about the early days of mini comics and newave comix. It's scheduled to run as part of a special mini comics podcast available on the Spinner website on April 12.

Main Enterprises
Besides wrapping up production work on The Michael Roden Benefit Portfolio featured on MF.com these past few weeks, the world's most prolific small press publisher, Jim Main has at least 7 other titles in the works: Comic Fan #3, *PPFSZT!#28, Gnome #5, Strange Space Stories #1, Dark Corridor #2, Ack! #1, and Satyr #8. We'll highlight their availability as soon as they're out!

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April 5, 2008 Blog Entry
Small, Pressing News Items

Main Enterprises Issues 4 New Books
Small press comics and magazine publisher, Jim Main released 4 new books this week under his Main Enterprises banner.

The fourth issue of Zine of Bronze, for fans of Doc Savage, includes articles by Julián Puga V., Jay Ryan, and Dennis Kininger; a short story by Arthur Sippo MD, MPH; and more.

Phantascape #2 features original comic stories of gothic horror and sword and sorcery. It includes comics by Sam Gafford and Greg Woronchak; and Greg McVey; and more.

Boot Hill #1 is a new western title with macabre overtones. All three comic stories in the debut issue were penned by Sam Gafford with art by Dave Farley, Jack Bertram, and John Lambert.

Cavaliers #1 is a new fantasy title featuring a 26-page comic adventure by Noor Hafizah.

I'll be reviewing all of them in the weeks ahead. For more details on their contents and ordering information, visit the Main Enterprises website.

Supplement Update
Dan Fogel wrote recently with an update on his long-awaited Fogel's Underground Comix Price Guide Supplement #1. His most recent plans are to call for orders in the May Diamond Previews and to begin shipping orders in July. He also plans to premier the Supplement at the San Diego Intl. Comic Con at the Carnal Comics' booth. The Supplement will be available through Last Gasp, Bud Plant, and other dealers. Its suggested retail price will be $14.95. For more information and contact information visit the Hippy Comix website.