The Comics Experiment: July 2008

Thursday 31 July 2008

A4

Please note the comic will now be published at A4. Thanks.

Wednesday 30 July 2008

Tuesday 29 July 2008

The comic will be printed as an A4 booklet. Feel free to work up your art at a bigger size as I can shrink it down later. I originally thought A5 but decided that that wasn't going to supply artists with enough space to work up ideas. I hope this change of mind doesn't cause any problems. If you have already made something up for A5 we can always blow it up for the issue. Thanks.

Saturday 26 July 2008

The First.

So I went off to the Forest Cafe Zine Fair today on a whim, grabbed a table and waited to see what people made of the idea. I got a great response and met some really interesting people working in comics and small publishing. Well, I guess that was the launch of The Comics Experiment!

I've decided on the first theme for the experiment:

In the beginning...

I hope that sparks your creative glands sufficiently. I'm setting a deadline too:

Friday 22nd August

I hope that gives you time to get your collective arses together. Remember to email your finished work to the.comics.experiment@gmail.com as a PDF or JPEG preferably.

Friday 25 July 2008

Welcome to the Comics Experiment.

A while ago I was thinking about how it would be good if local comics artists, graphic novelists, amateur artists and just plain comics-curious folk had a means to showcase their work and see the work of others. I wanted to be driven to create something new each month, and to see what others around me were doing with the medium.

And so the Comics Experiment was conceived. Basically The Comics Experiment is a semi-regular comic-zine showcasing one-page comics by local artists, working to a new theme or idea each issue.

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The Comics Experiment is a very basic idea. Here's what you do:

Step 1. Find out the theme of the next issue of The Comics Experiment. This will be posted here at the start of each month.

Step 2. Draw a one page comic on this theme.

Step 3. Email your finished comic to the.comics.experiment@gmail.com by the submission date.

Step 4. I will compile a PDF of the finished The Comics Experiment containing the submissions and email it to everyone. It is then your job to print out 10 copies and distribute them around your area.

So it's like a pyramid scheme, only without the potential bankruptcy.

F.A.Qs

What is a comic?
There is endless debate on what a comic is, how they should be referred to etc. I've taken Scott McCloud's stance on this one: comics are the term I use collectively for comic strips, graphic novels, trade paper backs, single issues etc. The name comics shouldn't be confused with cartoons or with comedy, and just because you're working in 'comics' doesn't mean you can't deal with the deepest, darkest, most un-funny stuff. Anyway, I'm sure you've heard all this before, just wanted to clear the air.

For the purpose of this project I want to leave it up to you to define what constitutes comics as a medium. Feel free to push the boundaries and push your luck.

What technical things should I keep in mind?
Don't restrict yourself but it would be good to keep in mind the form that the comic will finally take. It is likely most people will be unable to afford to print out ten high resolution copies of the comic every time, so consider that the tinyest details may be lost. The zine will be printed in an A4 format, so again the reduction of size should be considered when you are drawing. That said, I will be putting every entry on the website so your work can be appreciated in all it's glory here.

Will every entry be published in the issue?
I think we're going to have to limit the size of the book, to keep it fairly cheap to print at the end of the day. If it comes to a point where there are more entries than space in the Zine, we'll have to make some tough decisions about which work gets in. For this I will form a Brain Trust of wise individuals who will help with these decisions. I think this is a bridge that won't be crossed for a wee while, but you never know.

What is my copyright situation?
By submitting your work to The Comics Experiment you are allowing us and anyone who downloads the PDF of the issue the right to reproduce your comic as part of The Comics Experiment for non-profit means. Due to this set-up it would be a breach of copyright to sell issues of The Comics Experiment without first clearing it with all artists involved. Feel free to write your copyright on to your works.

Any other questions? Email us at:the.comics.experiment@gmail.com

The Comics Experiment