Robobo - Now with more designs!

[FuryFox]

I think that's awesome. I'm really jealous; good luck on that. -and good job getting your stuff out there and seen, looks like it's paying off, and will probably get better. Be sure to figure out pricing and rates beforehand, or at least consider it. People will feel better paying more for an artist who has everything planned out then one who is wishy-washy but may ultimately come up with a lower rate.



**consider this a seperate unrelated post**


From an objective (and not a "I'm envious that someone else has a website and gets attention etc") perspective, I really think the strips are getting worse. The plot and content from the latest mini-story with the mouse (which I've read since you keep updating your avatar, and then I'm compelled to check) is absolutey bottom-of-the-barrel. I think the caveman and the mouse are your worst characters, and have little potential for 'humor' growth. The caveman (though inexplicable) can work as a on-the-side gag character, but that mouse/rat is just gut-churning.

I'm not sure who your audience is, but I suspect younger people might find it more amusing [than I do]. I don't mean that in a disparaging way, that could be your intended audience, and it's a fine audience. I'm just not getting it. If that's your intended goal though, it seems to conflict with your intentions to make the strip more risque. The Curious George cartoon in particular may seem inappropriate if most your readers are middle school/early high school or wrestling fans. If you start dropping the f-bomb, and a parent comes into to see what little Timmy is giggling about, they might block you right then and there. Just something to consider.

[Revoltor]

I thought you were going to post fan art

[rezo]

I'm not sure who your audience is, but I suspect younger people might find it more amusing [than I do]. I don't mean that in a disparaging way, that could be your intended audience, and it's a fine audience. I'm just not getting it. If that's your intended goal though, it seems to conflict with your intentions to make the strip more risque. The Curious George cartoon in particular may seem inappropriate if most your readers are middle school/early high school or wrestling fans. If you start dropping the f-bomb, and a parent comes into to see what little Timmy is giggling about, they might block you right then and there. Just something to consider.

The curious george strip is perfect if the intended audience is middle school/early high school kids.

What kind of strip are you going to make for the clothing company?

[Drewbacca]

I think that's awesome. I'm really jealous; good luck on that. -and good job getting your stuff out there and seen, looks like it's paying off, and will probably get better. Be sure to figure out pricing and rates beforehand, or at least consider it. People will feel better paying more for an artist who has everything planned out then one who is wishy-washy but may ultimately come up with a lower rate.

I have a check coming to me in the mail for a design job I did recently and may be commissioned to do some design work for Coke in the not-too-distant future as well so I'm experienced with dealing with contracts.

The comic they want has very little continuity to it, and is just joking in general, but they specifically told me they liked my work on Robobo (they mentioned the X-Men comic specifically ) and wanted me to shoot some ideas at them. I'm thinking about going more with an abstracty-surrealy white ninja style over the colourful one we have now. I may end up doodling them on post-it notes to hide my weak perspective.

But you honestly can't tell me that the X-Men comic and more recent comics aren't drawn better than the older ones from November. The art has improved if nothing else, which was my original selfish goal with the comic.

From an objective (and not a "I'm envious that someone else has a website and gets attention etc") perspective, I really think the strips are getting worse. The plot and content from the latest mini-story with the mouse (which I've read since you keep updating your avatar, and then I'm compelled to check) is absolutey bottom-of-the-barrel. I think the caveman and the mouse are your worst characters, and have little potential for 'humor' growth. The caveman (though inexplicable) can work as a on-the-side gag character, but that mouse/rat is just gut-churning.

I created Zug-Zugg originally so there would be a physical time link between each of the male character. Zug-Zugg is past, Jimmy is present, and Robobo is future. That was the general concept for them, we just haven't realized it in the comic so far, and we plan to eventually. Wally is Jonas' creation and this series is largely his brain child, but I like it and helped him flesh out his general ideas in to workable comics. I don't think comic #2 and #3 of It's Alive were strong on their own, but as far as series go I like it. I think it has a continuity to it. The character itself will have to be developed over the long haul, but Jimmy and Robobo are really the only characters right now we've been building our readers familiarity with (Grace has some, too).

Anyway, I don't know. The audience has recently gone up a little bit, and I've received a couple (5 or 6) of e-mails of praise about the series. I don't know if our audience has low expectations or bad taste or what, lol, but it's working out. I don't personally find the series strong in individual parts but as a whole it's introducing a character, which gives us some good options to use going forward.

I'm not sure who your audience is, but I suspect younger people might find it more amusing [than I do]. I don't mean that in a disparaging way, that could be your intended audience, and it's a fine audience. I'm just not getting it. If that's your intended goal though, it seems to conflict with your intentions to make the strip more risque. The Curious George cartoon in particular may seem inappropriate if most your readers are middle school/early high school or wrestling fans. If you start dropping the f-bomb, and a parent comes into to see what little Timmy is giggling about, they might block you right then and there. Just something to consider.

So far it seems late-teens and early 20's is our demographic. One of the e-mails I got about Wally was from a 22 year old girl so take that as you will. Too bad I can't reply to these fucking e-mails. Jonas fix my goddamn e-mail.

What kind of strip are you going to make for the clothing company?

Definitely more bizarre and less literal stuff. i want it to be very loose, like one time I'll do a watercolour or acrylic paint comic and the next I'll do a sketchy one on lined paper. But definitely more bizarre. I have a comic lined up in Robobo that's just every character just puking. Stuff like that which doesn't have much of a continuity to it.

Their site seems to be undergoing maintenance right now.

[jonas]

How is Wally gut-wrenching or whatever you said when he only has appeared in 4 comics? Give it a little time to flesh out the character. This isn't a cartoon, it's a 3-4 panel comic. (Also take into consideration that he has said 3 lines?)

I think sometimes people misinterpret the intention of a comic. This isn't a cartoon. It isn't supposed to leave you gasping for air in a 20 minute span. It's supposed to offer you a little chuckle or something similar.

I dunno maybe my acceptance for things is lower than yours. I find Penny Arcade, VGcats and CTRL ALT DEL to be humourous in some comics. Not all, which is I think the case in Robobo. Some people like some comics, some like others. I just think some people seem really hard up on humour. Lighten up a bit and see the intention behind the situation. Maybe then you might enjoy what we are trying to offer. I used to be very critical of things and then I stepped back and realized I was robbing myself of enjoying things properly. It's no fun being a critic because half the time your mind is set before you even look at it.

[FuryFox]

It's sort of like believing in God. Once you learn he doesn't exist, you just can't go back to the happy ignorance of having some old guy in the sky making sure everything works out for you.

As for the art improving, sure, I guess it looks better. I wish the images had a bit more hand-drawn feel to them, and less all the photoshop gloss. Something like PVP that just has really clean blacks is just as valid as full color, but clearly you're past that decision. I'm curious what your coloring process is like, and whether you ink your images or not. Whether the comic looks better or not isn't a huge issue though, as has been proven with things like qwantz and white ninja or whatever else.

As for Wally, he hasn't said much, but his voice is pretty clear, and I find him irritating. Also, he reminds me of the Chucky Cheese mouse, and with it all the commercialization of youth. I mean, come on, no one likes the Chucky Cheese mouse. If anything though, he makes me like the other characters more in comparison, so that's something.

The curious george strip is perfect if the intended audience is middle school/early high school kids.

I guess if you don't look into it too much, and reveal the unsettling gay man/monkey butt love (while George idly eats a banana no less, the most phallic of all fruits!).

randomly,
-is X-men 3 supposed to have a really bad script? Otherwise I don't get it.
-VGcats is funny if you know the reference, otherwise it's lost. When it's just random violence I'm never amused though, it's totally been done.
-CTRL ALT DEL is never funny, and looks obnoxious too.
-For the latest comic, it's a nice effect on the monitor, but they must have their brightness set to nuclear fusion or something : p

[Kaneda]

I think the target audience is more likely to be middle school-age boys. Anyone over 15 would probably think it's pretty corny. As far as "lowering standards" goes, fuck no. There's plenty of great stuff out there and I know shit when I see it, and try to avoid it when I do. Robobo so far is so packed with cliches, I feel like I'm on the bus sitting next to some asshole reciting Monty Python and telling me to "respect his authoritah". Try some new stuff, shit. And "Zug Zug" the Caveman ain't it.

I think my favorite part of the strip is the essays you two write at the end of each one, explaining the jokes and rambling about this week's theme, etc. Come on, guys. If someone doesn't get a reference, tough shit. Give your audience some credit.

[Drewbacca]

That never really happens though. Usually what I write has very little to do with the actual comic. Today's one about pedophiles using chatrooms is probably the only one I've really done in months.

I guess if you don't look into it too much, and reveal the unsettling gay man/monkey butt love (while George idly eats a banana no less, the most phallic of all fruits!).

I'm not above acts of juvenility.

randomly,
-is X-men 3 supposed to have a really bad script? Otherwise I don't get it.

Yes, exactly that.

[jonas]

I think my favorite part of the strip is the essays you two write at the end of each one, explaining the jokes and rambling about this week's theme, etc. Come on, guys. If someone doesn't get a reference, tough shit. Give your audience some credit.

That's just a news post. Every site has them. Especially web comics. Have you ever visited a small website called Penny Arcade? They tend to make tons of comics that rely on an explaination to understand, but then again who's Penny Arcade? I hear they sell grapefruits.


I didn't mean lower your expectations of our comic. I meant in general people on TNL are super harsh on everything. How many things are you missing enjoyment out of because you want to seem like some kind of super critical robot? I lost that part of me when I realized a couple years ago that even the worst things can be entertaining. Take like a bunch of B movies. Some people hate them with a passion but honestly, most of them are entertaining if you don't expect the wrong thing.

Same thing Robobo. If you are expecting some sort of gut busting hilarity in every panel well that's not exactly how 'most' comics work and again I wasn't trying to sound defensive when I said some people don't seem to understand but I get some people saying stupid things like 'I don't understand what is happening between your comics in the series'. (which has been told to me)

I guess in the end of things. You like it or you don't but as I've said a million times don't give me a hard time because some people actually find enjoyment out of it. I write comics that I find funny and while yea I might be better at live action or cartoon comedy (where things can move and react) I still think that people will enjoy Robobo. If that's not you then alrighty then but TNL is not the world.

I hope that came off a bit better than previous posts. I'm trying to be nicer.

[Drewbacca]

I'm not above acts of juvenility.

I made a pretty big typo above. I wrote "I'm not about acts of juvenility" beforehand when I meant to write ABOVE acts of juvenility. Pretty big difference.