New look (coming VERY soon, if not here already)!
New focus on articles not connected to a specific podcast. A new affiliate podcast will be added shortly as well.
So be patient with us during the change over. We’ll be working on bugs, broken links, and tightening the layout.
EDIT: Let us know if anything is broke! Currently working on a few glitches. First Issue videos got un-embedded, so those are currently being fixed.
Ren Rieskamp and Kittyhawk join Ben Carver, Terence, and Fes Works for another edition of the newscast! Comic News & Discussion this week: Amazon releasing a comic guided-view creator tool for Kindle, another digital comic store shutting down, WordPress security concerns, and more!
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Cartoonists demand action to end gun violence
Most people have probably seen the video that did the rounds of Twitter, YouTube, and the rest of the internet (did it get on TV in the US?) that brought together 23 cartoonists from all over America to call for action against gun violence (Lalo Alcaraz, Bill Amend, Ruben Bolling, Jim Borgman, Steve Brodner, Roz Chast, Jeff Keane, Rick Kirkman, Peter Kuper, Mike Luckovich, David Mazzucchelli, Stephan Pastis, Mike Peters, Lincoln Pierce, Dan Piraro, Ted Rall, Dave Roman, Jerry Scott, Art Spiegelman, Raina Telgemeier, Tom Tomorrow, Garry Trudeau, and Mo Willems.). As reported at The Daily Cartoonist, the short (2:05) video.
Kindle releases a “Comic Creator” Tool
Basically a tool meant for creators to put together comics for distribution through their color Kindle tablets. This is meant for constructing the “Guided Panel View” experience that Comixology also employs.
We would like to hear back from people that have had experience with this. Good to mention this, and try a follow-up on a future episode.
Square Enix closing Digital Manga Sites
Square Enix has only been selling digital manga since 2010, but after a first quarter full of losses, is already shutting it down. The site has not yet been updated to announce the the shutdown, but it does have a post regarding maintenance for May 23. Reported by Robot 6 and Crunchy Roll.
Relevant ReDigi vs Capital Records court decision, from Reuters.
WordPress Security Concern
Likely will be ancient news by the time of this newscast, but perhaps there’s scope for a post-mortem on how people fared with regards the WordPress hacking attacks – who got infected, or how people avoided it. (Ars Technica) … Additional security concerns of WordPress.
2013 Eisner Award Nominees now posted
Best Digital Comics Category:
Ant Comic, by Michael DeForge
Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover
It Will All Hurt, by Farel Dalrymple
Our Bloodstained Roof, by Ryan Andrews
Oyster War, by Ben Towle
DC Women Kicking Ass (Tumblr) Celebrates Lois Lane’s 75th Anniversary
The popular Tumblr blog is focusing on interviewing a number of known creators and their work and memories of Lois Lane. This spawned out of the fact that DC was really just pushing Superman’s 75th, with not paying much attention to the woman that was there from the start, and had several of her own spin off comics.
Interviews include: Mindy Newell, Colleen Coover, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Bryan Q. Miller, Greg Rucka, and more!
Free Comic Book Day – May 4th
We could totally have a quick discussion about Free Comic Book Day. Pros, Cons, is it really worth it, etc. We can wrangle something, I’m sure. This is the last Webcomic Beacon Newscast episode before it recombines with the Webcomic Beacon proper. Also, the next Webcomic Beacon newscast episode will be recorded AFTER Free Comic Book Day, So we can come back with info on that afterwards, too.
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The Webcomic Beacon and Newscast podcasts recombine into ONE SHOW! With this 100th episode of the Newscast, we celebrate 300 episodes (though technically this would be episode 339, so this is a belated celebration!)!
Joining Fes Works to celebrate: former newscast crew members Marie Tary, Rosscott, Thom Revor, Alex Heberling, Jason Straswburg, and Eric Kimball! We see what they have been up to, and share some convention stories as well! Enjoy this extra long episode!
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Notes: The Hues, The Shifters (Redux), Murry and Lewy, Blade Bunny, Super Art Fight, The System, 910 CMX,
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TV’s Mr. Neil, Ben Carver, and Kittyhawk joins Fes Works and Mark Savary to talk about their comic crossover projects that spawned off of The Crossover Wars from 2007, namely The Crossoverlord and Crossoverkill!
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Notes:
Time Travel episode of The Webcomic Beacon,
Retrospective in question:
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TV’s Mr. Neil joins Ben Carver, Terence, and Fes Works for another edition of the newscast! We discuss Apple forcing a company in removing content, with vague parameters; New York to ban Cosplay?; and a follow-up on the jailed Palestinian Cartoonist.
[display_podcast]Apple forces removal of 1500 French comics from iBook app
Izneo, the digital distributor which handles the top ten comic book publishers in France, has been forced to slash nearly 40% (1500)n of the titles they stock through the Apple bookstore due to content “considered pornographic for Americans”. As reported by Bleeding Cool
New York to Ban Cosplay?
Brought up by Bleeding Cool as a potential issue for cosplaying at conventions; the legislation introduced was actually brought on by costumed street performers. As reported originally by the New York Daily Times, people are in costume as various copyrighted characters around New York, while there are no conventions, either performing or posing for photographs for tips. Some of the problems include assault and groping. Legislation would look at regulating cosplaying, including getting permission from the copyright owners. While a legitimate concern may be there, it could technically affect conventions and the target and paying audience to them.
Palestinian Cartoonist Sentenced
Pursuant to our mention of Muhammad Sabanah, the Palestinian cartoonist arrested by Israel in February, has finally been charged to 5 months jail time and a fine of $10,000 shekels (about $2750). for “contacting enemy entities”. It was noted in the article from FARS news service (linked to by the Daily Cartoonist) that Sabanah is famed for his political cartoons which focus on the Palestinian people and their problems in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Special Relationships
The recent update at PvPOnline (Friday 5th April) highlights some of the greatest things that the webcomics model/medium offers it’s readers – the story Kurtz tells in the blog post is that he received an email from a reader regarding an imaginary friend that their daughter had created, which was related to Skull the Troll (character from PvP) – The result, after a short communique between the adults, was a new strip introducing that character to the public, and to the canonical PvP universe.
I don’t know if there’s a lot of precedent for this in cartooning, but it seemed a sweet story, and something closely related to the thinner barrier that can exist between the webcomicker and their fans.
Free Comic Book Day – May 4th
We could totally have a quick discussion about Free Comic Book Day. Pros, Cons, is it really worth it, etc. We can wrangle something, I’m sure. This is the last Webcomic Beacon Newscast episode before it recombines with the Webcomic Beacon proper. Also, the next Webcomic Beacon newscast episode will be recorded AFTER Free Comic Book Day, So we can come back with info on that afterwards, too.
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Marcus A. joins Ben Carver and Fes Works for another edition of the newscast! We discuss the passing of Carmine Infantino and his contributions to the comic industry and history. Also a look at not-so-good advice for burgeoning webcomic creators, and more!
[display_podcast]Carmine Infantino Passed away
Reflecting on the career of this legendary comic book artist.
David Herbert’s advice for new creators
If you’re a burgeoning webcomic creator, you probably look towards your established idols for advice. Unfortunately, these guys aren’t always great at giving it – over at the Webcomic Overlook, David Herbert has listed a few of the bad things he’s heard people say, that you should avoid .
“Gender Through Comic Books” Online Course from Comixology?
Well, In association with Comixology, put up by the Ball State University. A multitude of required reading (that you can buy on Comixology), but the course if free.
With the Limited Time 35% off of course books, as of March 22, 2013, the cost of the reading material is almost $80. Includes titles like Superman, Captain Marvel (2012), Secret Six (2008), The Last Man, and a few more.
Small Press Xpo Gets Bigger. One Year Only?
Seen online and emailed by SPX. Because of, basically, a huge mishap with online registration, they got WAY more applications, with no way to stop it, than they anticipated. With the server going down due to the influx of applications, they had to send out an apology in advance, due to the number of people they would have to reject.
SPX is and always has been a curated expo, so when people get rejected, they get refunded. This year, due to everything mentioned, they took a moment to evaluate their situation. They found they could accommodate about 70 more exhibitors by renting out more space (within their existing location). This is them taking a chance on a larger show, and they say it won’t be a guarantee for next year. Everything will hinge on how well all exhibitors do this year. Will it work for the better, or will there be too many exhibitors in relation to visitors (i.e. less sales for all). (Small Press Xpo)
XKCD updates all week, every half hour with single GIF frame
From the updated known as “Time”; and each frame was collected and put into an animated GIF on Explained XKCD and other places.
Ryan Estrada to Release Several of his unused comic scripts as Creative Commons BY 3.0 License
He doesn’t have the time or drive for them, but maybe someone else can. He wants to see if others can bring his unused ideas to life. Originally seen on the Webcomic Creators Facebook page.
Seattle Museum of Flight to showcase Wonder Woman’s Invisible Plane:
Seattle Museum of Flight link and 360 Cockpit view. Found through DCWomenKickingAss (with another Picture).
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This episode is NSFW! … well, probably.
Zoë Robinson joins Fes Works to talk about curses and swearing from countries separated from a common ocean. Also thanks to Wendy Wood for doing a lot (all) of the prep work for this episode.
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Show Music:
Mumbuggerer by AirFerg
Found on MusicAlley.com
Show Notes:
Wendy’s List,
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