"I Don't Do Sketches From Memory"

So yesterday was a day for the comics. First, I had a comic featured over at Stripper's Corner (which sounds dirtier than it actually is). Then I had a comic featured in the Oklahoma Daily, and someone actually sent me an email in regards to said comic (and the email contained words of praise, no less!). Also, the girl I submit comics to at the paper sent me an email about some College Cartoonist Award thing I'm going to try for. So there was a lot of comical love goin' down for the ol' Chuck yesterday.

And now I have another comic in the newspaper again today. I actually rule that paper now, they just don't realize it yet. I keep wondering if the other "cartoonists" (having seen their work, I use that term loosely) are going to just quit. I wish they would; it would mean I didn't have to share my space with hacks.

That's all sounding a lot more conceited than I originally planned, but the fact of the matter is, the rest of the people who do comics here just...aren't really that good. Either their art is crappy (one guy in particular has a style that's way too jagged and has too many corners, while another has characters who always look like this even when they haven't beaten their heads against a filing cabinet) or the comic's just aren't funny, or they're so specific to a certain time, place, and group, that only about five people are even going to chuckle at the damn thing. Then again, I've been trying to draw comics since I was in high school, and I also have existing characters with clearly-defined personalities to work with already. I'm just sort of advantaged in the comiking, I guess.

Anyway, these are all just small steps in my plan to take over the world with humor. The next step is to convince people to pay me to draw funny pictures. Once that's going, then all will be well. Or something.

~chaos cricket

Song of the Moment: The Wallflowers, "Into the Mystic"

"The White Paint Plastic Saints"

I had a bizarre dream last night, and now you have to sit through me talking about it.

In the dream, I was a famous cartoonist. There was some big thing on the internet, a sort of exposition rather like the World's Fairs of old, and I was one of fifteen people involved in it as a representative of comics. I was, well, famous.

I woke up smiling from that dream...the fact that I was quickly frowning soon after has nothing to do with the dream and everything to do with the realization that I had to get out of bed immediately or risk being late to work.

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be famous, or at least moderately well known. Doesn't really matter for what--comics, music, writing, being the first documented example of spontaneous combustion due to sexual frustration and the friction inherent therein--the reason behind the fame (or infamy, as it may be) is of little consequence. I just like the idea that someday, I could open up my email inbox and see an email from a random person. The email will read something like: "Hey, saw your comic/mp3/short story, really liked it. Keep up the good work." It doesn't have to be glowing praise. It doesn't have to exalt my name to the Heavens. I just want recognition from someone I don't know. It's not that my friends or family telling me they like the comic isn't good enough for me, it's just that in a way, they're almost obligated to like my comic (it's like telling your girlfriend you like her cooking, even if she can't cook). This isn't to say they are obligated, just that they're more inclined to sugarcoat things (well, most of my friends are, anyway) and less likely to give you an honest, unbiased opinion. Complete strangers, who don't know me and thus are not at all worried about hurting my feelings, can often give a much more honest and critical (in the objective sense of the word, not the "this sucks" sense of it) examination. I think.

I was actually discussing with Adam the other day ways in which we could get a larger readership over at Dim Bulb. There are several ways--doing guest art for more established comics, paying for advertising (cost prohibitive for both of us, he because he has a fiancee, me because I'm a grad student, which is like being engaged in terms of time spent with it and the amount of money and effort I sink into it), doing link exchanges with other comics (such as we did with The Jaded), getting picked up by Keenspot, Keenspace's big brother, or begging for links from bigger comics. None of them is particularly effective, and we're not likely to increase our demographic by simply cranking out strip after strip and waiting for our audience to find us. So how do we do it? Will we? Or will Dim Bulb remain a small labor of love until one or both of us finally loses interest? Hard to say. I'd like to say that I'll keep drawing the comics whether anyone reads them or not, that I'm not in this to become famous or to even make any money off the comic (something which I've always doubted the serious possibility of anyway). But if push came to shove, and something had to give, would the comic be it? I really hope not. Crooked Halo is an outlet for me, a sort of cathartic release which allows me to blow off steam over the crap that's bothering me (usually dealing with stupid people or with grad school stuff), and I feel I really need that release. The comic is a forum for me to air my grievances with the world in general and with myself specifically, a place where I can examine humanity by examining my own issues and hang ups. I like to think that Crooked Halo and Dim Bulb will be around for a long time, that we'll build up a cult following and a strong core readership and eventually become well-known.

Regardless, I don't plan on quitting any time soon, which probably annoys at least a couple of people. And that's fine by me--one of the other goals of the comic is to annoy, pester, and otherwise antagonize folks.

~chaos cricket

Song of the Moment: David Bowie, "Fame"

"Call Me Up In Dreamland"

Huzzah for research, y'know? It's virtually all I've done today--research for my Master's Thesis, or research for my 19th Century Europe paper. It seems like that's all historians do sometimes is dig through archives and look for that one single, solitary source that will make or break their work, that will clench their position in the pantheon of great historians whose names are mentioned with awe, admiration, and great respect. You will never find the name Stephen Ambrose among those names, I can guarantee it.

Ambrose was the devil, plain and simple, because he pretended to be a historian when he was really just a plagiarist. But damn, he was a popular one. Really, I could have dealt with his crap if it weren't for the fact that the uneducated masses usually saw him as the representative of the historical profession. Most historians just saw him as an ass.

I wouldn't mind being as popular as he was, though. Granted, I think there's probably very little chance of that. Too limited an interest group for early modern British cultural and religious history. Ah well. That's why I do the comics and writing and songs. I want to be famous, or at least moderately well-known, to the point where someone might send me a random email or something saying, "hey, I saw your comic/short story/mp3, and thought it was great!" That's really my goal, I think.

On a slightly related note, go check out The Jaded, a very nifty webcomic by a wonderful young lady named Ping. It's a very well-done comic art and story-wise, and she's also one of the nicest random people I've ever met. She's actually helping us out with the archives at the Dim Bulb site, and not because she expects anything in return...at least, she hasn't asked for anything in return...

Oh, and this is the fourth time I've written out this damn post. If it doesn't work this time, to hell with it.

~chaos cricket

Song of the Moment: Van Morrison, "Wonderful Remark"