Since 2007, Zuda had been home to a number of fantastic webcomic titles. It showcased some of the best and brightest comic artists and authors that could be gathered with the right combination of incentives. (ie., DC’s Big Boy clout, a growing social network of comic enthusiasts, and a flash-based viewing platform that, while it wasn’t perfect, still worked as a great ready-made outlet for aspiring webcomickers)

In Maps & Legends, illustrated by Niki Smith and written by Michael Jasper, was one of the more popular Zuda titles of the past year. The winner of the November 2009 Zuda competition, In Maps & Legends tells the story of Kaitlin Grayson, a freelance artist who finds herself obsessed with creating an intricate map of a place she’s never been.

When a bizarre stranger who claims to be from another world seeks to enlist Kait’s help as a true “world artist”, she finds herself on the cusp of an epic, interplanetary adventure.

An adventure that Niki and Michael recently announced they would continue, despite the demise of Zuda as an open webcomic distribution platform.

“I’d had a bad feeling about the state of things at Zuda after they stopped doing the competitions a few months earlier,” says Michael, “which I really missed, because I got to read the pitches for ten really cool comics and then vote and comment on them. With all of the changes happening with the upper management at DC, I could squint and sorta make out the writing on the wall.”

DC officially shut down Zuda on July 1st, just weeks after Michael and Niki had established a weekly update schedule for In Maps & Legends. The reason officially given was that Zuda was to be folded into DC Comics’ “Digital Publishing Initiative” – the goal being greater editorial and digital convergence.

Zuda did not ask Michael and Niki to continue under their banner when they switched to Comixology, so all rights for their comic reverted back to them.

“I definitely wanted to continue the story,” says Michael, “and I’d already scripted the next three issues, up to page 60. After a bunch of emails back and forth, Niki and I decided to publish the comic ourselves, and distribute it everywhere we could.”

No kidding. In Maps & Legends will be available for download on a huge variety of platforms, including Comixology, Robot Comics, Graphic.ly, Kindle, and more.

According to Niki: “If the countless potential readers out there prefer to use a specific device or read a certain format, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain from making ourselves available to them!”

This new approach to digitally publishing In Maps & Legends means a drastic overhaul to the methods which Niki and Michael had previously presented their comic to the public. With Zuda, their update style was the typical webcomic standard of one page at a time. Now, they aim to release a new issue every six weeks or so, starting with issue one being available today, September 1st.

In addition to keeping a website regularly updated as an information hub for the comic, Michael says that they will be making the first 8 pages available for free download wherever possible.

“Those were the 8 pages that won the Zuda competition for us in November,” says Michael, “So I figure we can’t go wrong with giving them away for free!”

Some existing readers might harbor concerns about this new, pay-per-issue distribution format for In Maps & Legends.

To those sceptics, Niki has this to say:

“In Maps & Legends has always been written as 20-page chapters, and I think the story’s pacing suffered being released so slowly. So while readers may not be getting 60 free pages (as they would have had Zuda stayed as it was), now they’ll be getting 10 solid 20+ page issues, and a complete storyline. There’s no more chance of being left with a cliffhanger 60 pages in.”

I’m sure many fans will be excited to see Michael and Niki’s comic continue, regardless of what form it takes. The two have already come a long way from their initial thoughts on a collaboration just over a year ago.

“We started working on the comic pretty much on a whim,” says Michael. “I was following Niki on Twitter, and one day last summer she said she was looking to team up with someone on a pitch for Zuda. So I threw 4-5 ideas at her, including the idea for In Maps & Legends, which started out life as a novel that ground to a halt by page 100.  Niki liked that idea best, started doing character sketches, and when I saw her first drawings of Kait, our protagonist, I knew we had a winner.”

From there, they set about applying their respective talents to make a webcomic that would stand out as a top Zuda contender. Michael had never worked on a comic before, which came with its own learning curve, and they to this day have still never met face to face.

“I think we get along pretty well for never having met!” says Michael, “We’ve collaborated via email almost exclusively, with the occasional instant-message chat here and there. I think it’s a really great give-and-take — neither of us pull punches when it comes to perfecting the story, and I think that comes through in the finished product.  I try to give my amateurish tips on the art, but really it’s just nitpicks and continuity stuff — Niki’s art rocks. And she’s taught me at least two Scott McCloud books’ worth of comic-book knowledge.”

Presently, the duo are aiming to finish a ten issue story arc by late 2011.

“We’d love to have a trade paperback publisher lined up by then,” says Michael, and I foresee many more stories springing from this set of characters and their situations, so I don’t see us stopping after issue 10.”

Neither Michael or Niki are particularly apprehensive about the switch to a multitude of digital platforms, although Niki admits to considering some slight revamps to her style.

“I think my page layouts may gradually change,” she says, “As I see how these first few issues work on panel-by-panel phone views. Diagonal or very thin vertical panels may break the flow.”

As for their thoughts on Zuda, both Niki and Michael look at their time on the DC-owned webcomic venture fondly:

“Zuda gave us an incredible boost,” says Michael. “I’ve made a lot of friends online through the Zuda community, and I’ve gotten to read some amazing comics and get to know their creators and editors. As grueling as the November contest was — even though we led the whole month, we felt like we were gonna lose our lead at any moment! — it made us  network and do lots of marketing to get the word out.  I’m glad for the experience, and it shot us much farther down the road than just a website and a great comic could’ve done.  I was sad to see Zuda end, but I’m quite excited by the prospects for the future and our comic.”

“I’m with Michael,” says Niki, “the Zuda community was a great head start of sorts. I know it’s very hard to get a long, somewhat epic, story-based fantasy comic launched and try to build an audience… especially when you’re on a page-a-week schedule. Zuda gave us a built-in community of readers that we owe a lot to. I hope some of them stick around and check out the issue releases.”

To find out more about where you can find issues of In Maps & Legends, check out the newly launched website.

You can also visit Niki Smith and Michael Jasper on their respective personal web pages, or follow Niki and Mike on Twitter.

-Written by Kevin de Vlaming

So with out further a due, I would like to announce the opening of the Premier Comic Submission Contest, hosted by your friends at Fabler Comics!

Yes that’s right we are giving away, to grand prize winners, prizes for 3 finalists! The 3rd place prize is a Sony PS3 Bundle! The 2nd place prize is a Wacom Intuos4 XL! Last but definitely not least, the 1st place Grand Prize is a Wacom Cinque 21UX!

Sponsored and supported by Fabler Comics, Zensoft Studios, and Artfox, you have the chance to Win these prizes! Oh and there’s more. If you team up with two more of your talented friends, they can also win the prizes if your comic is selected as a prize winner! How do you enter? It’s simple!

1. If your not already signed up with an account on The Fabler, go http://thefabler.com/signup! Then come back for the rest of the details.
2. Create an original work comic of at least 24 pages + the Cover. If you want to submit more, be our guest!
3. Submit your comic (up to 3 submission!!!) in web format on thefabler.com between June 15th, 2010, and September 15th, 2010.
4. Tell EVERYONE of your comic! Get them to vote and rate your comic! Tell your friends, family, friendly competition, professors, neighbors, 2nd cousins twice removed, etc! The more people you tell the better chance you have at winning one of these great prizes!

Oh yes and there’s more. All 3 finalist prize winners will have their comics immortalized on thefabler.com in a special web trophy case as winners of the Premier Comic Submission Contest. For more information and official rules of the contest head over to the contest page!

So get your win on and submit your comic now! May the best storytellers win!

The competition was fierce! Thanks to our friends at Mob4Hire, and Lift Interactive. We were nervous. Well, I was anyway, but The Fabler took home the gold, or crystal, or glass, or…Whatever it’s made of (hopefully diamond!) we are so thankful for the appreciation!

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS goes out to all the other Media Fresh winners of this years awards.

We want to thank Digital Alberta for supporting the first annual Media Fresh Awards. I also want to thank Rene Smid, the Executive Director of Digital Alberta, for planning, and putting on the awards. She did a bang up job of leading the charge and gathering all the resources necessary to put on a great gala!

Also on the list is Sarah Blue, for anchoring a video interview we did prior to the awards ceremony. Oh, and Sarah if you’re reading this, thanks for not wearing your heals during the interview. Though I would have been happy just to stand a chair over the green x on the floor.

I wanted to personally thank all those who have been involved with the project.

First of all I want to thank my friend Mike Tighe and the team at Medium Rare. Without their help in kicking off the website, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

I also want to thank our lead developer, Devlin Dunsmore, flash developer, Kevin Caddell, and weekly reporter Kevin De Vlaming. Thanks to my business partner, Michael Magee. Also to my family and cousin Jack. Your support and guidance has helped us get this far.

Last but not least the BIGGEST THANKS goes out to you, our fans, artists, writers, creators, readers, comic fans, and LARP’ers.

Those of you that missed the party we thought this little shot expresses our excitement, gratitude, and hope that this is the first of many accomplishments for The Fabler.

Once again we thank everyone for a great year and value your recognition and support. Remember, We really do love Comics as much as LARP’ers love Tinfoil, if not way more in fact.

The three main venues this year was Another Dimension, Phoenix Comics, and Comic Kazi. Though we’d love to include all cities and venues, we’re just not as cool and capable as our freely featured superheroes. Maybe next year we will be lucky enough to have mastered our cloning skills. Calgary this year will have to do.

In Calgary, the hustle and bustle took place on Macleod Trail, where the local creator community, and fans, hosted by Comic Kazi banded together to create the vibrant atmosphere that brings the kids out in all of us. Thanks to Calgary’s own Gerald Garcia, who’s been running and coordinating the event at Comic Kazi since the early days. Gerald, was doing sketches to help raise proceeds for the Eugene Ouchi Memorial Scholarship at ACAD. Our hearts go out to Eugene’s family friends.

Kris Chisholm was there as well this year, sketching and enjoying the atmosphere. As he continues to draw, we can only see that this superstar to be, will soon be drawing our next favorite reads!

Fiona Staples, giving sketches away for free this year. Since the cancellation of Wildstorm’s, North 40, by Aaron Williams, after issue #6, she’s now hopped up on a new project, published by IDW called, Mystery Society, by Steve Niles. Sitting next to her was local artist Neil, who was happy that the community in Calgary has been growing quite successfully!

A few local indies there this year included Michael McAdam, and Mike Rieger, of Two Gargoyles Graphics. Since starting Diaperman in 1998, the twosome have successfully maintained their ability to self publish great stories, through community exposure.

A new feature to the stage this year was Ashley Delehay, the lead starlet in Zombie Attack! From Outer Space. She was there creating awareness and to promote, how to build a movie for under $60k! Following in Robert Rodriguez’s footsteps, the crew are well on their way with another Sasquatch movie in the works as well.

DC’s Marcus To, a Torontonian was there shaking hands and kissing babies, as he was a guest to the event this year providing the crowds with free sketches.

The Wildgunmen crew was also there promoting their new print editions of, The Wildgunmen, the geek culture magazine.

Last but not least, the coolest cat this year was Diamian Wilcox, of Dorkboy Comics! This local self published veteran has been producing web comics for the past 13 years. He was kind enough to hand out free sketches and, give our onsite comic fan, Cory Nelson, a comic of his very own!

The Sundry Seven also made a brief appearance. If you had a chance to snag one of the last remaining copies, we hope you enjoy the upcoming tale of our misfit superheroes in all their glory.

Remember, we really do love comics!

This year was quite the success for The Fabler! We had managed to go through more than 1300 copies of our Calgary Comic Expo exclusive preview of The Sundry Seven. So now that the word is out be sure to check back to the site for more updates and the official launch!

This year Zensoft Studios was kind enough to sponsor some Sony Playstation 3 prize packs for our comic expo draw. We want to thank all those that stopped by our little abode to meet Jay Korim, the artist of The Sundry Seven, grab their free issue and speak with the creators of thefabler.com and all of its happenings.

So without further ado we present the following winners to the our prize draw.

I find it interesting as a recent headline in Edge Game Industry News stated that a recent survey claimed approximately 3% of all PS3’s in circulation have been won in competitions! Be proud that our three lucky winners made it into the headlines!

Sony PS3 Prizepack
120 GB Sony Playstation 3
Little Big Planet PS3 Game
Our Winners Are:
Kyle MacDonald
James LePage
Kenny Tsang

Sony PSN Prizepack
$50 PSN Network Card
Our Winners Are:
Brent Pope
Tim Dorscher
Hansen Wong

PS3 Batman Prizepack
Batman: Arkham Asylum, PS3 Game
Our Winners Are:
Marko Bozinouski
Branden Joyce

Congratulations to all of our lucky winners!!!

See you all at next years Expo!

Yesterday a tad ahead of schedule we migrated our little corner of the interwebs from our old servers to our new servers. There are now so many of you who have become our fans we simply needed more power. This should be a more permanent home for us now and we hope to continue providing you with quality content for you, our loyal readership.

Also we now have a new RSS Feed URL. We are now being syndicated via Feedburner. Please feel free to update your feed URL’s to the following: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheFabler.

What’s next for the blog? Well we are also working hard on some new weekly content which will be announced soon. So keep your hats on, don’t get your panties in a knot, and remember, there is much, much, more in store for you from The Fabler Team!

PS. If you have suggestions or would like to see neat and interesting things that we are not yet providing, your more than welcome to tell us about it on our feedback form! We love mail and want to hear from you!

~Bruno @ The Fabler

Which doesn’t mean we’re a newsblog. If anything, we’re an expositoryblog – or a selectively focused varietyblog. Maybe a comic-centric infoblog.

But what’s in a name anyway? Definitions only detract from the potential of any form of medium. For all intents and purposes, The Fabler Blog is The Fabler Blog. Nothing more and nothing less.

Although, for the record, we’re not a newsblog.

Right-O, with that established, a few things:
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1.) I would be remiss if I didn’t mention first and foremost the latest aesthetic overhaul to TheFabler.com. That’s right folks,  our home in this here little corner of the internet is evolving.

Click on over to observe the beauty – nay, the majesty – of The Fabler’s latest iteration. I’ll understand if it takes you a few minutes of breathless wonder before you return to peruse the rest of this comparatively humble post.
We even have some sneak peeks into the future of The Fabler posted on our brand-spanking-new About page. Also worthy of mention is the addition of Groups to the site, which you can learn more on at that same link above.

2.) Free Comic Book Day is right around the corner, and coming up fast! Of course, the figurative ‘corner’ here is actually a measure of roughly two months time, but still – I’m sure May 1st will be here before any of us knows it.

In fact, the day (which I personally believe Canadians should petition for to become a nationally recognized holiday) is so fast approaching, the official Free Comic Book Day website now has previews up for this year’s slate of comics.

The lineup is decently impressive. Marvel has an Iron Man/Thor comic written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by John Romita jr. on there, while DC and Top Cow are each using the opportunity to launch major imprint events. DC has War of the Supermen # 0 up, while Top Cow is releasing Artifacts: First Look.

One of the highlights looks to be Dynamite’s Green Hornet # 1, featuring Kevin Smith’s debut take on the legendary character. Another would be the Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock double feature (the second title I’m oddly excited for), and another still is Fractured Fables – a kid-friendly collection of fairy tales turned upside down by a wildly talented collection of artists/authors. Alex Grecian, Doug TenNapel, and Camilla d’Errico are among the names associated with that last project.

Victoria Day is a fairly cumbersome Canadian holiday that could use the axe. A holiday celebrating the birth day of the current British monarch? The Canada Act was so twenty-eight years ago, people.

Free comics is a much more culturally relevant subject of celebration for modern Canadians.

3.) Back in January I made a post about the lawsuits currently brewing between Marvel and the heirs of Jack Kirby. Somewhere amidst the senseless gibbering I made reference to the ongoing legal woes between Jerry Siegel (original co-creator of Superman) and Warner Bros./DC.

In the latest piece of news regarding the Siegel/Warner Bros. litigation, it seems that WB has chosen to replace its existing outside counsel with Daniel Petrocelli.

Petrocelli made his name originally representing the father of victim Ronald Goldman in the infamous O.J. Simpson murder case. He’s also represented Disney in a licensing battle over the rights of Winnie the Pooh.

If there were a witty correlation I could find between the three cases, you would be reading it right now. Sadly, not the case.

What this means for the trial is that Warner Bros. is essentially baring its teeth and bringing out the big guns. Marc Toberoff, who is representing the Siegel estate in this matter as well as the Kirby family in the aforementioned case, is going to have his hands full in the coming months.

4.) If you’ve scoped around The Fabler Blog before, (and chances are if you’ve read to the end of this post you probably have) you’ve probably heard me gush adoringly about Scott McCloud at some point or another.  My fascination with the works and ideas of Mr. McCloud is so great, it probably even rivals the level of contempt I feel for Boise, Idaho.

Well, that may just be hyperbole.

In any case, Graphic NYC posted on Monday what just might be the definitive profile of Scott McCloud.

Christopher Irving, who wrote the article, is meticulously thorough in detailing the career and ideas of the Understanding Comics’ author. McCloud himself gives ample insight throughout into the background processes behind everything from Zot! to his upcoming 2012 graphic novel, tentatively titled The Sculptor.

Seth Kushner also provides some nifty photos of Scott looking all professorly in front of a blackboard covered in diagrams and doodles.

Why should you read this profile? Because Scott McCloud is one of the most influential minds in comics today, and has vested more time in deconstructing and explaining the nuances of the medium than possibly anyone else alive.

Also because you’ve already wasted at least five minutes of your life reading  this comparatively shallow post, and you will be roughly twenty times more enriched for spending another ten minutes learning about Scott McCloud.
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That’s all for this Wednesday. We have another double-feature of interviews in the works for the next couple of weeks, so check back soon for that double-dip of artist insight.

I now find myself oddly craving Dunk-a-roos.

This is Kevin@thefabler, signing out.

-Written by Kevin de Vlaming

It’s been a few months since we launched TheFabler v1.5 and admittedly so, we’re never going to get it right the first time every time. That’s where you come in!

First I would like to thank all those who have helped us with your feedback, submissions, and participation. Your opinions, thoughts and ideas are firepower to our cause! To summarize some of what we’ve heard so far…

– I registered for the site but have not received my activation email.
– Comics can be created by more than one person.
– The Flash Viewer is slow and doesn’t always work properly.
– I don’t understand what TheFabler.com is when I first visit the site.
– Updating comic submissions is clunky.
– I’d like to submit more than just 10 pages of a comic.

We’ve heard you and are continuing to listen to you. Between now until the end of December, we are working on fixing some of the above mentioned based on your feedback as well as committed to completing our 2009 roadmap goals. So over the course of the coming weeks, expect updates to the site with some radical changes! With your help we can continue to improve on the existing features of the site as well as add new features that will benefit you.

2009 Roadmap:
We had quite a bit planned this year for The Fabler, and we’re coming near the end of this years plan. Our goal was to create the core features of the site that would help establish an online community where comics can continue to thrive in their traditional form and in emerging digital mediums. To quickly establish who our “community” is, it’s you! You the comic creators (writers, artists, small press, etc.), you the fans (readers, collectors, reviewers, etc.), and you the retailers (grassroots stores, franchises, etc.). These major components include:

1. A Free social platform that comic creators can showcase their work to the rest of the world in an easy to use environment.
2. Simplified, cost effective self-publishing solution (print on demand & digital direct to market distribution) for creators with traditional format comic products.
3. Retailer Network where creator owned properties can have an opportunity for shelf space, and retailers can manage these products from a single source.

2010 Roadmap:
1. TheFabler.com will launch our very own weekly regularly updated comic.
Q. What does this mean?
A. Founders of Thefabler.com have come up with our own stories to tell and we’d like to share them with you. We’ve been working hard on a story that we think everyone can enjoy which will consist of 2 pages updated each week.

2. More Blog content!
Q. What does this mean?
A. New columns, more interviews, reviews, how to’s and more!

3. Fabler Publishing Inc. will open it’s doors with a submission program.
Q. What does this mean?
A. It’s apparent that we love comics. The building of a sophisticated custom social website to support them should be evidence enough. We also value the resulting creativity in this powerful visual storytelling medium. We are prepared to explore this creativity with you in support of creator controlled properties. We want to hear about your ideas. Submission program details and guidelines will be announced in early 2010.

4. TheFabler.com will launch a global localization and distribution campaign.
Q. What does this mean?
A. To put it bluntly, North America isn’t the only landmass with comic creativity on the planet. We’ve had interest and requests from creators, retailers and fans alike in other countries to support their cause as well. In 2010 we will start localization efforts to enable Thefabler.com to be multi-country friendly!

The roadmaps that we’ve outlined is a 40,000ft view of what’s in store. We’ll be making more detailed announcements each month on what’s in store for TheFabler! In summary, we’re dedicated to creating an online environment where comics, and the imaginations they can inspire can continue to thrive. Oh, and don’t forget, We really do love comics as much as ______________________________________________.

Well folks, Halloween is just around the corner.

Frenzy-eyed scavenger children are preparing to scour the streets in search of sugared sustenance to fill their insatiable hunger.  But seriously, with bite-sized festive Coffee Crisps up for grabs, who can blame them?

Horror-genre comics are enjoying a month in the limelight, with titles new and old generating substantial buzz across the comic book internet. (A couple of titles worthy of mention here would be Calgarian Todd McFarlane’s project with Robert Kirkman, ‘Haunt‘, and the recently announced Stephen King/Scott Snyder title, ‘American Vampire‘.)

Comic blogs and news sites are getting in the spooky spirit of All Hallows as well, with distinctly Halloweenish-themed posts popping up over the interweb.

For instance, Sequential Tart posted their list of Comics That Go Bump in The Night, and Robot 6 has shared a top six list of Vampires They’d Like to Share a Drink With, another of Six Great Paranormal Investigators, and a list of creeptacular webcomics.

IGN has been working on a list of comics they’d like to see made into horror movies, over on 13 Days of Fright: Horror Comics-to-Film.

With October 31st just a few days away, it’s only appropriate for the Fabler to get in on the action.

While vampires are the undisputed trend-leaders this Halloween, and zombies are receiving their usual star treatment, another devilish horror sect is, sadly, falling by the wayside.

Witches just don’t get the coverage they used to. When I think witches, I think witch-hunt – and it just so happens that witch hunts aren’t an uncommon phenomenon in comics.

In fact, an example of a recent witch hunt was reported by WTVQ just last week. If you hadn’t heard about it, two librarians were fired for refusing to allow a young girl to read a particular graphic novel, on grounds of the book containing pornographic content.

So, without further ado, the Fabler Blog presents Five Famous Comic Book Real Life Witch Hunts, beginning with the recent kafuffle surrounding two librarians in Nicholasville.

1) Librarians Fired for Deeming Alan Moore Graphic Novel not Gentlemanly Enough.

The details: As I mentioned, last month two librarians were fired from the Jessamine County Public Library for not allowing a girl to check out Alan Moore’s book, “the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (vol.1).

The girl was allegedly eleven, and the two librarians in question, Beth Bovaire and Sharon Cook, decided the book’s content was too ‘pornographic’. They were fired due to strict library policies which state the responsibility to deem what books are suitable for what age group lies with the parents, not with the library.

The response: Contrasting opinions on the incident came pouring in from around the net, both on WTVQ’s actual page for the article and on a multitude of comic-related blogs. People seem to generally be in agreement that the book probably isn’t suitable for an 11 year old, but divided as to whether the librarians were in the right.

Much ado? This is a more subtle form of witch hunt than comics have faced in the past. Yes, the comic does contain a degree of sexual content – such as several panels in which an invisible man ravishes a woman in a boarding school. The big issue here is that the graphic novel was targeted because of the visual depiction of sex, when countless other non-pictorial books with far worse subject matter could be checked out indiscriminately.

To suggest that graphic novels should be an exception to a policy implemented across all other forms of literature is to play to a misconceptions that they don’t have the balancing literary value which other books possess to offset the sexual content.  The funny thing here is that if it was a comic by anyone other than Moore, I’m guessing we wouldn’t have seen nearly as big a deal made.

2) From Seduction of the Innocent to the Iron Fist of the Comics Code Authority.

The details: THE most-cited example of a comic book witch hunt revolves around a Dr. Fredric Wertham and his book, Seduction of the Innocent.

In 1953, behavioural psychologist Wertham asserted that comics were corrupting the minds of America’s youth. He saw comics solely as children’s novelty items, and ones which were increasingly filled with offensive depictions of sex, violence, and general indecency. Horror and crime genre comics were on the rise thanks to an increase in adult interest in comics, and EC Comics (which notably published Tales from the Crypt, alongside other titles) was at the forefront of the industry.

Wertham published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, in which he drew links between comics and juvenile delinquency; between ‘funny pages’ and the steady decline of society.

The response: Wertham’s assertions were heard loud and clear by the general public, who were already nervous to a degree about the relatively new medium which many didn’t fully understand.

The outcry against the comic industry led directly to some severe changes – most notably of which was the establishing of the Comics Code Authority in 1954 by a U.S. Congressional Committee.  For a long while after, the CCA had tremendous influence in the comic book world: many distributors would only carry comics with the CCA’s hard-won stamp.  This led to DC adopting a much lighter approach to its character properties, and eventually drove EC Comics out of business entirely.

Much ado? Fredric Wertham’s name still haunts the comic book industry decades after his passing. The impact his diatribes had on the industry is both immeasurable and enduring.

In addition to forcing countless creative minds to either limit their idea output or cease production entirely, Wertham proposed some downright offensive ideas that live on in popular culture for years. He argued that Batman and Robin’s relationship had distinct homosexual connotations, which  encouraged a breakdown of family values in society. He similarly asserted that Wonder Woman’s strong, independent personality identified her as a lesbian, and that comic artists frequently hid depictions of genitalia in their pictures.

3) The Trials of Omaha.

The details: Omaha the Cat Dancer is an alternative comic book that was illustrated by Reed Waller and written by his significant other, Kate Worley. It stars as its titular character an anthropomorphical  cat who works as an exotic dancer, and is notable for its lewd depictions of sexual acts between characters.

It’s exactly for that that fact that Omaha, which would go on to become a well-loved and near legendary indie comic, has been met with such discrimination throughout its publication.

One example of this occurred in 1988, when Diamond Comics refused to carry the title on grounds of its obscene content. Many retailers didn’t carry the title in the first place for the same reason, completely overlooking the pro feminist subtext and well woven plots about meaningful, realistic depictions of relationships.

Omaha again found infamy in 1989, when Canadian police raided a Toronto comic shop and confiscated Omaha (among other titles) on grounds of it being ‘bestiality’. This wasn’t the first time Omaha had been the target of a police raid on a comic shop.

The response: Fan outcry and backlash from First Amendment advocates led Diamond Comics to back down from its ban of the title. Curiously, while North American authorities continued to decry Omaha up until its extended publishing hiatus in 1992, New Zealand  authorities famously ruled that the title be given a ‘G’ rating, since behind its sexual content there were substantial plots and ongoing emotional relationships.

Much ado? The controversies around Omaha the Cat Dancer presented a new spin on an old theme – unfamiliar concepts in comics being targeted because of their visual content by authorities unwilling to look at the value of the message or story in a given title. The fact that North American authorities were so judgemental of Omaha while other nationalities had no problem with it just goes once again to show some of the lingering impacts left on the comic industry here from Dr. Wertham’s personal crusade.

4) Mike Diana – Convicted for Comics

The details: This is an interesting case that dates back to March of 1994, when indie comic zine distributor Mike Diana became the first artist ever to be convicted on charges of obscenity in the States. He had been creating and distributing a zine called ‘Boiled Angel,’ which featured graphic depictions of various subjects generally considered offensive; rape, extreme violence, scat, aggressively anti-religious sentiments, et cetera.

His limited run material somehow found its way to the office of a Florida State’s Attorney, who deemed his material not only obscene, but also capable of inspiring and being appealing to serial killers. He was convicted on three counts of obscenity; for publishing, for distributing, and for advertising his material.

The response: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a not-for-profit group designed to protect the First Amendment rights of comic creators, rushed in to assist Diana with court fees and preparing/financing a defense. Despite a costly battle that was waged in Mike’s defense, he was sentenced to three years of probation with community service, and a $3000.00 fine. He was also required to undergo (and pay for himself) psychiatric evaluation.

In 1997, the CBLDF tried to have Diana’s case appealed, but their efforts were denied.

Much ado? Censorship in any artistic medium is worth taking note of, and in this case it hits especially close to home as the creator in question was arrested for charges relating to comic books. Allegedly, the prosecution used comparisons to Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” and Picasso’s “Guernica” to discredit the literary and artistic value of Diana’s work.

Seriously ridiculous. The judge said that Diana should be using non-offensive vehicles to convey his messages about some of the raw, horrible problems that plague society.

As Mike has said himself, “child rape & abuse has been around way before I was born, I just get ideas from real life”.

Now there’s a positive note to go out on! But really, folks… while the comic book world has ample examples to draw from when we’re talking about comic book witch hunts, it obviously isn’t all gloom and doom. There are plenty of examples out there of comics increasingly receiving more and more attention as a valid literary/artistic medium. Why, even just recently 14 libraries in New Jersey were given a $3000 grant to expand their graphic novel collection. So keep your chins up, kiddies! And most of all, have a spooktacularly rad Halloween this weekend. The Fabler wishes it so.

“Social Media” is an overhyped, misunderstood, and often loaded term that has become THE generic buzzword of the past five years. The overarching term could be used to describe MySpace, Twitter, Blogging, Facebook, Bebo, and countless other digital technologies built around the idea of online two-or-more-way communication.

It is an abstract concept; a poorly defined, multi-faceted idea that many have yet to fully grasp, and even fewer have been able to master.

All the same, as it turns out, the comic community has been among those industries to embrace social media the most wholeheartedly.

Which is why I’m going to use this post to write about how useful social media can be for writers and artists looking to build a career, or even just a grassroots following, in comics (and in doing so, redundantly add my voice to the hype).

A social-media-focused post was inevitable, really. Not only does the phrase keep popping up in any sort of dialogue regarding the current state of the industry, (see Michael Cho on how comic artists are ‘internet hoes’) but it’s the most logical subject to segue into from my last Random Bits post on Community in Comics.

Since we’re dealing with an abstract concept here, let’s break it down to the basics. Assuming you have some grasp on what social media entails, (or you could get an idea what it’s about here, here and here) the aspects of social media we’re concerned with here are pretty well threefold:

Channels that allow individuals to showcase and obtain feedback on their work.

Tools that enhance your online presence by familiarizing the public with who you are.

-and-

Sites or services which provide an opportunity to network with  peers in the industry

Obviously these three aspects of social media often overlap, but for the purpose of this post, we’ll distinguish them for their separate functions.

Who’s using social media?

Everyone. Okay, maybe not everyone, but an impressively large number of the creative minds in comics today have some form of online manifestation capable of interacting with the general public.

For example, a partial list of some of the bigger industry names who tweet would include:

Neil Gaiman, Joe Quesada, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, Mark Waid, Dave McKean, Robert Kirkman, Darick Robertson, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Steve Niles, and Marv Wolfman.

To bring it home, there are also plenty of Canadian comic book all-stars dwelling in the twitosphere, such as:

Fiona Staples, Steve Rolston, Karl Kerschl, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Michael Cho, Lar deSouza, Jeff Lemire, Ramon Perez, and Kathryn Immonen.

There are even more Canadian comic book personalities that may not have twitter, but keep an active blog or some other form of web-presence. The Joe Shuster Awards blog keeps a pretty nifty list of links to many such sites right here.

MySpace is something of a dying venue for comic book workers, and Facebook Fan pages – now a staple for many indie musicians – has yet to catch on within the comic book industry. The industry does, however, have some alternate social media channels which at least a few artists have learned to use effectively. But I’ll get to that in the next section -

How are they making the most out of social media?

If you browse through any of the Twitter feeds from the names listed above, you’ll find a pretty similar, fairly simple formula. Take equal parts of industry-related updates, (ie., new art up at xyz.bit.ly!) quirky personal news, (just made the best chawanmushi! Yum!) dialogue with peers, (@joeQuesada had enough Disney/Marvel mashup musical suggestions for the next decade yet?) and response to fan feedback (@kushyloafer thanks for the kind words, next time I promise the ogre’s shoes will be earth-shatteringly huge!).

The point is to build yourself as a real person while networking, build a loyal fanbase who feel like they have an open connection with you, and give people a real-time channel to find out what’s new with whatever you’re working on.  Plus developing a fanbase you can interact with is a two-way street; not only do they get to feel like you’re more than just an unreachable name on a comic they like, but you also get to be privy to some (hopefully) helpful feedback about your work.

Blogs kept by artists and writers work a little differently. Everyone has their own approach to blog content  – Michael Cho keeps a sketchblog showcasing his recent illustration, while Jeff Lemire exclusively publishes news regarding recent releases, and Kate Beaton alternates between providing general life updates and giving between-the-panels insights into her webcomics.

As long as you write about something connected in some way to whatever you’re trying to promote, your blog is accomplishing its goal: connecting the web-browsing masses with your work, and bridging together whatever multiple projects or social media outlets you have through a sort of ‘hub’.

Then you have the multimedia side of social media outlets. Sites like illoz, illustrationmundo.com, and even Flickr have been effectively utilized by comic artists looking to showcase and get feedback on their work.  The Fabler would fall into this category as a site that seeks to assist creators in showcasing their sequentially presented comic art.

Looking for Group artist Lar deSouza notably uses Ustream as a way to communicate with his fans while providing a window  into his creative process.

All of this might seem redundant to you if you’re already among the growing ranks of the web-2.0-savvy online comic community. If so, that’s great, you’ve probably already benefited in one way or another from  keeping a presence on the inter-webs. Alternately, you might be among those who find that even uttering the phrase ’social media’ leaves a bad taste in your mouth, or you could simply be a little intimidated by the directions that self-promotion within the industry is taking.

If the latter is the case, what you need to know is -

Why you should (or shouldn’t) hop on the bandwagon

I think I’ve given a half-decent overview as to most of the benefits social media affords to creators (and aspiring creators) in the comic industry. Those three points I mentioned before tie-in here nicely:

By building an online presence, you make it easier for your work to be ‘discovered’ and you make yourself significantly more ‘reachable’ by anyone interested in talking to you about it.

By showcasing your work online, you allow yourself to grow creatively from the feedback you receive while also having a handy way to display items from your portfolio to anyone even remotely curious about what you do.

By networking through means like commenting on blogs, posting @replies on Twitter, and engaging in dialogues on sites like Ustream, you expand your contacts within the industry and thus increase your likelihood of success within the medium.

All this is straightforward stuff, and comes with a lot of bonus benefits. Following other comic fans/creators in the industry on Twitter can be handy in giving you a good idea what’s going on in the industry, as can hopping around some of the more regularly updated creator blogs out there. Checking out the posted illustrations of other comic artists can often trigger a spark of inspiration for your own material.

I admit that I don’t really have a counter-argument to this. You really should hop on the bandwagon, if you haven’t already. If you’re still a little intimidated, just remember – it doesn’t have to be as big as a revolution in the comic industry, at its essence social media is just another toolkit to help build your name as an artist, a writer, or whatever else you’re aiming for.