News: November 2000

         

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2000
    I should have mentioned this sooner, but Corey Marie Kitley, the one behind Common Grounds, just returned from an unfortunate(?) hiatus and is still feeling under the weather. I wanted to wish her well, and would encourage anyone here who enjoys her work to do the same.
    43rd place and rising...

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2000
    Well, after one day on the Planet Cartoonist Top 100 list, Avalon has taken over... 98th place! As I said, there are a lot of big comics on this well-established list, so to even break the 100 mark in a day is amazing. I still stand by my claim that Avalon's readers are the best an artist could hope to have. Thanks, everyone!

Monday, Nov. 27, 2000
    According to last week's poll, 74% of readers aren't Canadian, and so they have no interest whatsoever in today's federal election. Too bad, they're missing out on some good griping. :-) 8.7% of readers predict the election results will be in within a few hours of the polls closing. 6.5% are already griping, saying the election's pretty much been decided already. 4.7% are angry that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost to the montreal Allouettes, but are happy now that the B.C. Lions won the Grey Cup. :-) 3.3% of people think we've got another Florida on our hands, with the final results coming weeks after the election. And finally, 2.8% don't expect final results to be until tomorrow.
    How about a useful poll for a change? ;-) Vote now!
    And if you aren't sick of voting yet, Avalon has joined the Planet Cartoonist Top 100 list. Again, this is one where the placement in the list depends on how many people click on the graphic thingy on the left. So click now, and click often!

Sunday, Nov. 26, 2000
    Thanks to Chris Battey (also known as Darth Paradox) for this awesome Guest Artist Sunday strip!

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2000
    Well, the Real-Time Improvisational Webcomic was interesting, to say the least. :-) One of the things we discovered was the 10-user limit on the groupboard, so when my Internet connection spontaneously died, I was locked out of the event! A huge thank you to TheKodiak (I do hope that's the right name) who apparently "sacrificed" himself to allow me access. Big thanks too to Jinx von Pseudonym, who agreed to try this out with me (and for being the main inspirational force behind that groupboard). And of course, thanks to all those who showed up (and tried to but were unfortunately blocked out), for making it such a fun event. It's pretty much been determined already that another such event will take place in the future, and that it will last for more than an hour. :-) And we'll see what ramifications there are to permitting more people...

Friday, Nov. 24, 2000
    The final Link of the Day is none other than the inimitable Zebra Girl! By Joseph England, this is truly the mother of all webcomics. Any description I give you couldn't possibly express the true brilliance of this strip, so I urge you to start reading the archive from the beginning. It's so worth it.
    And I want to remind everyone that the Real-Time Improvisational Webcomic is taking place tonight, at 9:00 pm Eastern. And it's goin' down at the Common Grounds Group Whiteboard. Join Jinx and myself as we make a mockery of Java whiteboard applets. ;-)

Thursday, Nov. 23, 2000
    Eversummer Eve, a modern-day fantasy tale by D.S. Jones, is today's Link of the Day! This is an online comic book/manga, which features a new page every Sunday. The artwork in this comic is unbelievable. So much so, that it feels guilty to admit that it has some awesome characters, too. :-)
    Now this should prove interesting... anyone who frequents Common Grounds' group whiteboard must know how Jinx von Pseudonym and myself act like we pretty much own the thing. :-) So we've embarked on a particularly ambitious project... an Interactive Whiteboard Improvisational Comic. Jinx and I will proceed to draw a completely improvisational comic strip in real-time. I am trying my darnedest to make this sound interesting, dammit. ;-) The event will take place on Friday at 9:00 pm Eastern Time, at the groupboard. And everyone's invited to bear witness to this doomed spectacle. :-)
    And just to let you know, Friday's comic will be up to 2 hours late. It's legitimate, I swear! You'd delay your comic strip to attend a hockey game. ;-)

Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2000
    The Link of the Day for Wednesday is Ice Cream For Breakfast, by Aimee Smith. This one is a beautifully-rendered weekly comic about some college roommates. And you know how college roommates are. :-) There's some great character relationships already, and you coffee drinkers will probably enjoy most of the characters' sensible values.

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2000
    Today's Link o' th'Day is Parthenos by Michael Hough, a strip inspired by ancient Greek mythology. This one's fairly new, but you can already tell there'll be some epic storytelling going on.

Monday, Nov. 20, 2000
    Since I've been introduced to a whack of new webcomics recently, I've decided to pass them on to you, one per day... sort of a Link of the Day type of deal. Anyways, the Link of the Day for today is Road Waffles! Yes, it's back, and it's starting right from where it left off (with respect to storyline and top-notch comedic quality). So make sure to put it back in your daily schedule.
    According to last week's poll, 62% of you think Deirdre is sweet and innocent. 21% are less trustworthy, thinking she spells trouble. 13% think she's just a freeloader, and 5% don't even know who she is. Well, with any luck we'll learn more about her in the near future. And those who don't know who she is will finally clue in. ;-) Now vote in this week's delightfully topical poll!

Sunday, Nov. 19, 2000
    Big thanks to Nicholas Yu for this week's Guest Artist Sunday! Nick draws The Bad Boys of Computer Science, which, if you haven't seen yet, you should really check yourself for a pulse. ;-)
    And huge thanks to eveyone who clicked on the Funny Papers Top 100 link... 'cause Avalon vaulted up to 1st place overall, a mere four days after joining the list!! The power of Avalon's fans, if placed in the wrong hands, would truly be a terrible thing to behold. ;-)

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2000
    Okay, Vol. II has a name now... Those Who Fail History Are Doomed To Repeat It. You can see it in the storyline dropdown thingy under the strip. No big deal, really. You could probably enjoy the comic without knowing that. :-)
    And it's also official that Avalon fans are the best... in just one day, Avalon has gone from joining the Funny Papers Top 100 at the bottom of the list, to fourth place overall. And yesterday, it moved up into third! Now, if we keep voting shamelessly and without mercy, we can even oust that juggernaut Sinfest. ;-)

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000
    I apologize in advance for my lame attempt at Australian slang. :-)

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2000

Monday, Nov. 13, 2000
    If you were wondering about the poppy in the Avalon logo over the weekend, it was because of Remembrance Day here in Canada on the 11th. It's a day of honouring Canada's veterans, and of reflecting on past wars. I was at the ceremony in downtown Ottawa on Saturday, and took photos of the event.
    This was cool... Phoebe had a cameo appearance in Snail Dust on Friday! And if you haven't figured it out yet, Road Waffles is back from the dead! Go check them both out. Now!
    And finally, we have poll results! The "which girl would you rather date" poll received a record number of votes... over 1500, probably more than there'll be in Ottawa's municipal elections today. ;-) Ceilidh was the most sought-after female, with 40.6%. Phoebe was the next most desired, with 32.6%. In a distant third came Alison with 7.3%, then Mrs. Page with 3.7%, and Helène with 3.5%. 3.2% of voters are holding out for some other character, possibly Deirdre. :-) And the remaining 8.7% claim to have voted last week on the guys, and have no interest in the females. I guess they don't know what they're missing out on. ;-) And with that bit of mysogeny out of the way, start voting on this week's poll!

Sunday, Nov. 12, 2000
    Woohoo... another Guest Artist Sunday submission by Dan Jaaren! Make sure to check out his comic at Clan Bob.

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000
    Today marks Avalon's 1-year anniversary! One year ago today, this webcomic first saw the light of day (and things have certainly improved since then...). I've created a topic in the Avalon Forum (which is free to register for, by the way) where you can discuss the strip thus far... talk about your likes, dislikes, memorable moments, or even things you'd like to see in the future. Click here to get in on that action.
    And if you're new here (thanks to the Keenspot newsbox), welcome! I hope you'll poke around long enough to see if Avalon's the comic for you. I encourage everyone to start from the beginning, since this is one honkin' long three-year story, and it's more fun to get in on the ground level. But if you're pressed for time, you can start from the beginning of this school year (a total of 43 strips), or even just the start of this storyline (8 strips). And make sure to check out the Cast page, which will serve as a good reference while trying to get over some questionable artwork in the early months. :-)
    And here's a big announcement that everyone can enjoy... the creation of a new, improved Art page! 48 new pieces of artwork, by myself and some infinitely talented fans, have been added to the old Fan Art page. Some of these works have to be seen to be believed. So check it out now!

Monday, Nov. 6, 2000
    Okay, the "which guy would you rather date" poll is over... looks like Joe's the lucky guy, taking 13.7% of the 750-odd votes. Iain came in a distant second, with 6.4%. Then came Ryan with 4.2%, Alan with 2.1%, and that poor lonely office staff guy with 1.9%. Only 0.7% of people wanted someone other than those five... but a whopping 71% of people are waiting to rate the girls. Well, go nuts. ;-)

Sunday, Nov. 5, 2000
    There's Friday's comic. Monday's will be up tomorrow, like always. So I'm back on schedule now. Nyah nyah! ;-)

Saturday, Nov. 4, 2000
    Well, sorry to do this to you guys... Friday's comic will be delayed until Sunday now (which works, since I have nothing for Guest Artist Sunday hint hint. ;-) ). In the meantime, what you see up above is my latest comic for the Charlatan (Carleton U's student newspaper). You won't get it, so don't stress yourself over it or anything. ;-)

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2000
    Attack of the Killer Midterms, Part 2... the stress has built up once again, preventing me from having today's comic ready. It'll be up tomorrow (and again, we might end up with Friday's comic appearing on Saturday). But after this midterm, it's clear sailing until finals in December. *ugh*