November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 2:
Monthly Archives: November 2005
Joey Manley’s new column
Joey Manley’s new column on webcomics looks like it will be interesting to follow:
“there are more creator-owned webcomics generating full-time incomes for their creators than there are independent comic books doing the same.”
The November Jam Begins… balloons and manga
I’m gonna be posting the Minneapolis cell’s November jam over the next couple of weeks, a page at a time again… the themes this time are “Big Eyed Action Manga” and “What the hell is this balloon doing floating over my head?” Here is the cover and the first page:
Why Dreamhost.com is a good option for webhosting for cartoonists
A number of you have asked me what I recommend for a web host. For a long time I was using yahoo webhosting, which worked fairly well but was quite overpriced, and had some other annoying aspects that I won’t go into. I recently switched my sites over to Dreamhost.com, which I definitely highly recommend for your webhosting needs.
First and foremost I recommend it because they pay generously for new customers sent their way, which will hopefully pay for our hosting expenses.* However, beyond the dirty, filthy lucre, they are offering a pretty amazing deal, they have by far the best deals on webhosting I’ve ever seen. I would strongly recommend them without the monetary incentive (that said, I would recommend them even more strongly if they offered me money and chocolate and a flat screen television with surround sound and a porkpie hat).
If you have the cash to pay 2 years in advance you can get hosting for $7.95 a month, which is extremely cheap… prices vary depending on what you want, but the $7.95 account (or $9.95 a month without the 2 year prepayment) will give the average cartoonist much more than they need for webhosting (note there is a $49.95 setup fee on all accounts).
The basic account includes 4800 MB of storage space, which increases weekly by 40 MB. It includes a very user friendly web panel that greatly helps for managing your website. You can ftp to your sites in your browser. You can install all sorts of components into your site very easily (with the click of a button, basically), like a blog or a phpbb discussion board similar to the one on this site. You can have up to 600 email accounts at your domain, and you can set up webmail. You can set up email lists and email discussion lists. You can host as many different domains as you want with no additional cost (other than the cost of registering the domain, which you can do there for $9.95 a year… the initial account comes with one free domain). They have extensive support information. They have all kinds of other stuff that you can read about in detail on their site.
Most importantly for cartoonists, they have no problem with smut! Here is their policy:
Can I have an adult website or dreambook?
Of course!
DreamHost does not restrict the content of sites hosted on our servers, except if that content is illegal in the United States. Illegal content includes:
blatant copyright infringement
libel
child pornography
Other than this, go crazy!
This is not the case with most hosts… like Yahoo, for example, which could have shut down the Conspiracy site at any time based on some jam comic with a wee willy hangus johnson dangling in it, had they ever took notice of one.
I would guess most of you would be very happy with this service… I defnitely am. Anyhow, if you are looking for hosting, and want to benefit this site in the process use this link.
If you are looking for hosting and don’t want to benefit us, just go directly to dreamhost.com.
*Full disclosure: How generously will they pay us, you may wonder? Either a one time payment of $97 (plus $5 for each person the person I send their way sends their way), or 10% of each of the payments a person I send their way makes to them, and 5% of the payments the people they send to them send in.
You can easily do this as well if you use them when you inevitably end up recommending people to them.
Disclaimer: I just started using Dreamhost in July, so my opinion could change. Finding negative posts in google by putting the words “Dreamhost” and “sucks” in the search field isn’t hard (which is true of most companies, I’m sure)… However, I think you are highly unlikely to find more bang for your buck out there, and for a cartoonist on a low budget- which is to say: as a cartoonist- this seems like a pretty ideal solution.
We just switched hosts
We just moved this site over to a new host… this message is to test whether posting to the blog is currently working.
Hm… I just checked and it does work… but only at cartoonistconspiracy.com, not at www.cartoonistconspiracy.com. The DNS transfer must be going still… hopefully this will iron itself out over the next day or so. In the meantime, avoid typing that www… and if a page is working improperly look at the address in your browser to see if there is a www there… removing it should fix your problem.
hobo # 575: Ammonia Cocktail Jones
I wrote Flickr to see what the deal was with the delay in having pics be public (see this post for more info), and apparently, they don’t approve accounts for public viewing until you have a certain number of things posted for them to review… I think it is four or five. Anyhow, I have enough now, my account has been approved for public viewing, and I drew four more hoboes to celebrate.
PARTICIPATE IN THE WEINER ROAST!
As part of the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B show, we are featuring the work of Roadkill Bill artist Ken Avidor. We are also doing a mini-comic “roast” of Ken and his work… the Weiner Roast. For those of you who don’t already know, KEN AVIDOR, transit-obsessed, sensitive, tree-hugging environmentalist, political agitator and bicycle enthusiast is also KEN WEINER, former Screw art editor, party machine, devil may care ne’er-do-well and alcohol enthusiast.
For Ken’s perspective on his duel nature, see this cartoon.
Both Kens plan on making an appearance at the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B show.
To participate in the mini-comic, send your submissions to us at:
Weiner Roast
c/o Big Time Attic
1618 Central Ave NE Suite 216
Minneapolis MN 55413
or email them (as minimum of 300dpi B&W jpgs) to:
cartoonistconspiracy@mn.rr.com
The deadline for participation is January first.
It is not necessary to participate in the Sushi show to participate in the Weiner Roast. Ken encourages us to be brutal with these, although I’m not sure which Ken.
LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME B CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME B CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
While we don’t have an official date yet, Lutefisk Sushi Volume B will be happening, with the opening at Creative Electric Studios some time early next year. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the previous event/compilation, you can see more about it here.
We need submissions!
The focus of the show will again be around a big ol’ fancy hand-serigraphed box of mini-comics with a cover by Roadkill Bill artist Ken Avidor. It will be limited to 150 copies… every participant will receive one.
To participate:
1) You must live in Minnesota or be Doug McNamara or Jesse McManus. It has something to do with the Mc, apparently. Persons named Andy Singer will also be accepted.
2) You must provide us with 160 copies of your comic. Not 161, not 159, not 2,364. 160. Your mini-comic can be no larger than 5.5″ x 8.5″, or it won’t fit. It can be any format and length. Last year we even had a scroll hand-silkscreened in invisible ink.
3) You may also include other comics you wish to have sold at the gallery. Make sure your name is in the comic somewhere and put a price on the cover. Comics that have no price on the cover or somewhere obvious will not be sold.
4) You must matte, frame, or otherwise make presentable and hangable any originals you intend to have displayed. Kevin still has papercuts from last year. It is not required that you display originals, but it is encouraged. Put your name and the price of the piece on the back (remember the gallery takes a cut when pricing).
5) You must submit everything by no later than January 1, 2006.
6) You must include the form with your submission.
7) You must show up on opening night to pick up your Bento Box, or you must make other arrangements before then if you plan on getting one.
8) You must pick up your remaining original artwork, unsold comics and money (if any) at the end of the show. Any money not picked up by the artists will be kept by the gallery to buy beer… and any artwork or comics left behind will be peed on by feral, unneutered, violent cats in heat.
9) While it is not required, your assistance would be greatly appreciated collating the Bento Boxes at the collating party. Hopefully we’ll only have to collate them once this time.
We intend to include ALL submissions that meet ALL the criteria in the box. Entries not meeting ALL of the above criteria will most likely NOT be included in the box, and we will make our best attempts to be cold-hearted bastards about this. No previous comic book making experience is necessary to participate. While we plan on having all entries meeting the criteria included in the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B Bento Box, if we get a whole hog slaughter of entries, we may have to cut it off somewhere- we’ll let you know if the limit is getting close on the conspiracy website. We had 35 participants last year, and the box was packed to overflowing. We will use a bigger box this year.
In addition to the boxes, there will also be a lot of original artwork from the participating cartoonists on the walls. Using the artwork from the comic you submit to the Bento Box is preferred, although it is not required. ALL artwork should be priced for sale… let’s make the gallery some money, they have a mortgage to pay. Submitting multiple items for display is fine. Due to limited space, we may not get all artists in the box represented on the walls, but we’ll give it a shot.
In addition to the main show, there will also be a “sideshow” similar to the King Mini exhibit last year. This year we are featuring Ken Avidor (creator of Roadkill Bill). As part of this we also plan to produce a mini-comic featuring Ken’s work and works submitted by participants that are inspired by, satirizing or commenting on Ken’s work or Ken. Think of it as a comic “roast.” This comic will be included in the boxes. Everyone is encouraged to contribute a page to this comic, although it is not required.
Profits from the originals and comics will be split with the artists and gallery last year it was 60 (artists), 40 (gallery)- it hasn’t been negotiated yet but it will most likely be in that neighborhood this year as well. Profits from the Bento Boxes will also be split with the gallery, and our part will go into covering supplies and other miscellaneous expenses, including the collating/decorating/hanging Afghani party pizza… remaining funds will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in the form of paid memberships for participants- we hope to get memberships for all participants, but in the event we don’t make enough money to do this we’ll draw the appropriate number of names at random.
Lutefisk Sushi Volume B is being sponsored and organized by The International Cartoonist Conspiracy (www.cartoonistconspiracy.com), Creative Electric Studios (www.creativeelectricstudios.com) and Big Time Attic (www.bigtimeattic.com).
Homeless hoboes
Many more hoboes have been posted to the 700hoboes gallery on Flickr… Sean Tenhoff did a really nice one… unfortunately, both his and mine are still homeless waiting for flickr to approve our ability to post to the general public, so you can see them when typing in the 700hoboes tag. Seeing as I posted it well over a week ago, this seems to be a very slow process… if you think you will be interested in doing this sort of thing in the future, I again encourage you to create an account now.
24 Hour Comic Anthology Out
The Big Time Attic blog points out that the new 24 Hour Comics anthology is out in stores… it features three cartoonists from the Minneapolis Big Brain Comics/Conspiracy 24 Hour Event from earlier this year. They are also three of the best 24 hour comics you’re likely to ever read… by Quillan Roe, Kevin Cannon, and Zander Cannon.
