Blog

December 29, 2006

Out of the Paintcan and Into the Wall

After many unsuccessful attempts to lure various people who review webcomics to take their shots at Out There, finally a guy I've never even heard of has published the first in-depth review of the strip here. It's a fairly glowing review (like I'd bother drawing attention to it if it wasn't) but what I like the most about it is that this guy discusses some of the things that make Out There fairly unique amongst webcomics (and, perhaps, comics in general). He's a bit wary of the direction the strip is going (read the review to find out why), but he admits to being hooked in enough to continue reading, at least until I screw things up beyond repair.

He erroneously refers Sherry to as "Sally" but we'll let him slide on that one. Clearly the boy has read the strip the way it wants to be read, and he gets it.

My favorite line: "Out There is also quiet." Yes, it certainly is. A lot of webcomics are the drunk girl at the party. This one sits in a corner nursing its beer, but if you sit down and talk to it, you'll find it has something to say.

I think it's also high time I mentioned this site which has resulted in a lot of traffic coming my way, as has Robert Zakheim's amusing webcomic Legendary.

Thank you one and all.

November 25, 2006

Makes Me Party

I was wondering when the first "Is John gay?" speculation would materialise, and it looks like it has. While this is not the first time one of my characters has appeared in someone else's webcomic, it's certainly the first time one or more of them have been so prominently featured.

I've been a big fan of Modern Love since before I started Out There (it's one of the few strips I promote on my Links page), and hopefully you can see why. It's an inspired piece of work: at times funny, at times sad, at times poignant, at times bitter, and at times incomprehensible; though to me the latter just reveals an uncompromisingly original artist being an artist (or, alternatively, me being an unsophisticated lunkhead unable to appreciate said artist's vision).

Anyway, I strenuously recommend checking it out, and if you can't find anything there to appreciate, I hereby ban you from reading my strip anymore.

Just kidding. Please keep reading my strip. Thank you.

November 16, 2006

Welcome To My Nightmare

If you're reading this as the result of clicking on my Newsbox, then you may be a New Reader. I like new readers. I like them even more when they become Regular Readers. Won't you consider being liked by Me?

If you are a new reader, you've come at a good time. Clicking that "First" button will take you to the first comic in the archives, and reading the entire set will only take you about two hours. If you have a better way to spend two hours, what are you doing sitting in front of a computer anyway?

If, on the other hand, you're not a new reader, you may be confused about something. You may be wondering why the Newsbox mentions new dialogue and old artwork when the "old" artwork isn't something you've seen before. Well, there's a story there. If it was an interesting story, I'd tell it in great detail. Since it's not, I'll just say that the Newsbox was originally scheduled for a later date but things happen, so it's appearing today. With artwork from a future strip, not an old one. Just think of it as a glimpse into the future and when the strip actually does appear, try to act surprised.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy your stay.

October 28, 2006

Welcome New Readers

Just wanted to say "hey" to all our new readers, and to throw out a few words of thanks where it's due. Specifically, it's due to Chris Crosby, Teri Crosby, and Dan Shive who were very helpful to me in the transition from Comic Genesis to Keenspot. I'm sure they had better things to do than hold my hand through the process, but these are selfless folks.

It's also due to a couple of Keenspot cartoonists who plugged Out There on their home pages: Remy Mokhtar of No Pink Ponies and Scott-O Kuehner of Crazy In Love. Thanks loads, guys; I probably wouldn't be here without your recommendations.

And while I'm in a thankin' mood, I should thank the good folks at Comic Genesis for giving the strip a home for the first four and a half months of its existence. I heartily encourage anyone who never checks out Comic Genesis to spend some time perusing the comics hosted there. There are some excellent ones; and if I were any kind of guy I'd have said, "I ain't joining Keenspot until some of these far-worthier comics have been invited to join." Unfortunately for those comics, I'm not any kind of guy. Kind of makes this whole thanking and praising thing ring a little hollow, but hey, at least I'm being honest.

Lastly, I'd like to thank those who read the strip when it was just a mere waif. It's still something of a waif, but it's starting to fatten up a bit. My goal is for it to be the kind of strip that needs to buy two seats on an airplane.

Hmmm, I appear to be reaching that "time to shut up" time. Thanks also to all those who I've forgotten, and don't forget I have a forum, because you have just as much of a right to post drivel on the Internet as I do.

August 15, 2006

Just in case you're not aware of it, we have a new forum. We were briefly hosted (well, co-hosted, actually--our Comic Genesis site never went away) by another webhost and that webhost provided us with a forum. That forum is now gone, along with all the posts. My apologies to anyone who posted in the old forum, and I'd like to extend an invitation for them and anyone else to check out the new forum. That button down there that says "Forum"?--that's what you want to click.

2007