The Webcomic Dumping Ground
This morning Paul Southworth this tweet about today’s Ugly Hill:
Today’s comic is what happens when I don’t feel like I have an outlet for any other ideas. Wish I could do it more often.
That got me thinking: What if there were a website where cartoonists could put up such strips? Think about it - a daily webcomic with different comics every day by different people, for those occasions where they come up with an idea that doesn’t fit into their own comic. Somewhere to put ideas that might work for one or two strips, but probably couldn’t be sustained over a long period of time.
Say Krishna comes up with a funny idea for a strip about zombie proof-readers. One quick joke, one quick strip, but it doesn’t quite fit in with PC Weenies or Uncubed. Or say Jim wants to take a break from Outsider and do one or two quick little three-panel strips about a Leprechaun Pimp. They could draw a strip and send it on to this site, and then it gets put up in a few days as that day’s comic. One day you’re seeing Jim’s Leprechaun pimp-slapping someone, the next you’ve got Krisha’s zombies lamenting the number of spelling errors in their latest document. A different comic about something different every single day, forever.
I’m seriously considering setting this up. GhostHamster.com is going woefully unused at the moment with no sign that Eric and Jeremy are interested in actually getting around to launching it, so maybe I’d stick it there. Or maybe I’d set it up as something new. But it’d be interesting to see what people think about it. I’ve already had some positive feedback on Twitter.
Any thoughts?
June 9th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I would read that website. I might even contribute occasionally. But mostly read.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I’m in. Sounds like fun.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I would read it. I would also consider contributing. But given the nature of side projects, you would have to have a large # of contributors to keep a daily thingie going as well as a good backlog of comics for those thin times. It’s a good idea and worth pursuing, but finding dedicated contributors is key.
Just my cynical bits.
DAvid
June 9th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Isn’t this what people already use their blogs for?
June 9th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Maybe, but this is more a unified website. A collaborative community effort. There’s not much webcomic community-ing going on these days, save for stuff on Twitter.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
There’s tons of webcomic groups/communities/projects/things, it’s hard to find a webcomic that isn’t already part of some hive mind.
And Twitter sucks.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Yes, but “hive minds” do not a community make.
And there’s nothing wrong with Twitter. I’ve found it to be rather useful.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Well neither does steering people away from their bread and butter. It’s what happens with every other “community”.
And Twitter has gone the way every other social thing has: too social.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
How is this “steering people away from their bread and butter”? I’m not saying, “Everyone has to contribute regularly!” - it’s just an idea for webcomic artists who have an idea for a joke that they can’t use in the context of the comic they’ve created and want another outlet for it. Yes, they have blogs for this sort of thing but it’s nice to collate this sort of stuff together. Again, it builds a stronger sense of community.
You have a talent for finding things to complain about
June 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Because that’s what I keep seeing happening with most webcomic communities, so pardon my cynicism.
Also, your comments seem frozen in time.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Hmm, you’re right - they are frozen in time. What’s going on there?
Edit: Fixed.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I like the idea in principle, but the “daily webcomic” bit won’t work. The very nature of these ideas is that they’re sporadic and unpredictable. Better to have an “updates whenever” schedule for a project like this.
Maybe if it got an absolute flood of ideas so that you could do one a day and still have a significant buffer, yes, but that’s it really.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I don’t see what’s stopping anyone posting the same comic to something like this and their personal blogs.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I’m in. I think this is a great idea and would love to see where it goes.
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