- Joined
- Feb 19, 2020
I was wondering when the cheap "last day on IGG!" bullshit before extending another 30 days would backfire on someone. Does anyone fall for that any more? It's tacky.
#Comicsgate - The Culture Wars Hit The Funny Books!
- Thread starter Done
- Start date
Mister Dongs
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2020
While an uneventful month as far as drama goes, August was the biggest month in Comicsgate 2021 to date, topping out at a round $800K ($862K including Billy Tucci). Frog's personal enterprise has wound down somewhat from the big toy push during June, but said drop off was shored up by the Cyberfrog: Bloodhoney Box campaign. The overall lowering of Frog proceeds however was more than offset by the growth in non-Frog proceeds with Jon Malin, Aaron Lopresti, Art Thibert, Mandy Summers/Peter Gilmore, Graham Nolan, Mark Poulton and Narwhal all having newly launched or still active campaigns, not including the 120 other active Comicsgate campaigns that showed activity in August as part of the "long tail".
A few months ago I said Comicsgate was winding down financially - I didn't exactly count on it quintupling in activity in under 4 months. Mea culpa I suppose.
Top Earners for August:
A few months ago I said Comicsgate was winding down financially - I didn't exactly count on it quintupling in activity in under 4 months. Mea culpa I suppose.
Top Earners for August:
Name | Creator | Funds over Aug. |
GODLIKE- THE ROMULUS SAGA | Jon Malin | $188,385.00 |
Ethan Van Sciver's CYBERFROG: BLOODHONEY BOX! | Ethan Van Sciver | $136,550.00 |
1st Wave CYBERFROG Action Figures! | Ethan Van Sciver | $120,000.00 |
AARON LOPRESTI'S: WRAITH OF GOD GRAPHIC NOVEL | Aaron Lopresti | $64,550.00 |
SHI: OMNIBUS EDITION VOL. 1 INDIEGOGO EXCLUSIVE! | Deborah Tucci | $62,300.00 |
BLACK & WHITE VOL 2 -- MAN VS MACHINE | Art Thibert | $38,720.00 |
JACK THE RIPPER: VAMPIRE HUNTER | Mandy Summers | $33,325.00 |
USAssassin Book III: Graveyard Shift | Mark Poulton | $19,595.00 |
Earthbound Part 2 | Per Berg | $13,080.00 |
Graham Nolan's: ALIEN ALAMO | Graham Nolan | $12,150.00 |
The BLUE BOMBSHELL | Clint Hilinski | $10,450.00 |
Riot Press Productions Goes to Mega Con 2021! | Patrick Thomas Parnell | $9,840.00 |
Andy Smith's 1stMAN 2: Learning Curve! | Andy Smith | $8,350.00 |
SHADOW SENTRY Book 2: Belly of the Beast | Eric Ninaltowski | $7,900.00 |
DEATH DEATH DEATH | John J Ball | $7,700.00 |
KNIFE-HAND: BLINDSPOT Graphic Novel | Richard Meyer | $6,750.00 |
Ethan Van Sciver's REIGNBOW THE BRUTE | Ethan Van Sciver | $6,500.00 |
ULTRA STAR | Patrick Thomas Parnell | $4,931.83 |
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A nameless trool
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2020
Occam's razor tells us an up and rising youtuber was close to the rally, had the bright idea to do a clickbaity video and it blew up in his face.
Like his "Dark Roast" one did.
Probably.
- Joined
- May 6, 2019
Occam’s Razor: Zach was in Charlottesville to buy a stupid comic that only a comic nerd like him would go out of his way to get (except it was IN his way because it was on his itinerary on his visit to his father’s).
Barely anyone listened to the “Dark Roast” much less took it seriously. It was very tame by any standard (much less KF standards ffs)
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A nameless trool
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2020
I never said that. He probably was passing through, made a video to trend and it got him in trouble.
As for the Dark Roast, it is probably the only dark roast that ever got me to sleep, but it also has huge cultural significance in the comicbook industry since it is where Heather A was first identified as a cumdumpster.
- Joined
- May 6, 2019
I was watching all his videos at that time, I don’t recall one specifically at Charlottesville (I remember ones right after). The Dark Roast was comical for how tame it was and how ridiculously serious it was taken by SJWs.
A nameless trool
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2020
Oh, there was one, where it was a video about a Black Panther comic he got in Charlotsville. He used to do those gimmicky videos, like the time he was searching all over New York for an issue of Savage Dragon (the one with Trump on the cover)
- Joined
- May 6, 2019
But the notion he was at all connected to the Unite the Right Rally or any of that balloon juice is retarded.
KillEmAll1989
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2021
Al Ewing just completely threw his artist for Immortal Hulk under the bus over this:
Mister Dongs
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2020
How many more times can Joe Bennett get away with this? He's already got X-Men and Hulk to name the jew, will low Brazilian page rates succeed where Comicsgate failed and be what finally breaks cancel culture's hold over mainstream comics?
Meanwhile, in the lucrative world of indie comics, Action Lab Comics is getting railed against on twitter after one of its creators complained about being ghosted by the publisher after not being paid.
Regarding Action Lab Comics
On Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla, I have drawn (pencils/inks) a total of 264 interior pages, 15 covers (and colored 7 pages + 1 cover)
Over the span of its entire publication, I have been paid $4972.73 for the aforementioned art.
If you want to average that out, this means I made an average of $17.82/page (lumping in the covers but not including the color work.)
How did this happen, you may ask? Well, for the first 3 volumes, we were working on a royalties-only basis. (NEVER doing this again.) So for the first 3 freaking books, I made only $1372.73
For the fourth book, after voicing our unhappiness, we were able to finally get page rates (with less of the royalty percentage as a trade-off.) My page rate was $50/interior page, $75/cover. So I made $3600 on the last volume.
I should also mention that all of these payments were hugely delayed and communication from our editors was a rarity. For volume 4, I thought I could get paid after completing my work, but I was told that I had to wait until the book came out so Action could recoup its cost.
Long story short, for Volume 4, I had to wait until January of 2020 to get fully paid for work I'd completed by August 2018.
Way back in July of 2015, I DID see a lawyer (a good one, recommended by the Helioscope guys) to see if there was a way to get out of our contract and get the rights back. Unfortunately, due to the way the contract is worded, a legal battle might be necessary to escape.
We decided as a team that a legal battle would be too costly. Timeline-wise, I should mention that by this point, I'd already completed more than HALF of volume 3.
Why did I keep going for so long despite the pay and conditions being so poor? Honestly, probably meeting the readers at comic cons. The readers were so amazing and supportive and always told me how much they loved what we were making. I love it too.
I have nothing but love and respect for my co-creators John and Dex. I always felt super privileged to draw the incredible stories John was writing, and Dex always made my pencils/inks shine and pop.
Another bright spot along this crazy path was our tabletop RPG for Ravendesk Games. They treated us right, paid us well, and clearly were as into the work as we are.
So what's next for Herald? I am not sure to be honest. We have asked if we could get the rights to our work back (sent in July with no response yet), but as I understand it, EVEN IF they agree to give us the rights back, we will have to buy back all remaining stock.
We were sent the numbers of remaining stock and if my calculations are correct, it would cost us $28,371.77 not including Diamond fees or shipping. (My guesstimated grand total is $35,000)
This is not something we're currently prepared to pay for (need I tell you comic creators are not rich), and that's even IF they will let us go. If they don't want to let us go, we'd have to have a legal battle PLUS paying for all these copies.
For the first several years working on Herald, I was working a retail day job to get by and then staying up all night to get pages for Herald drawn. Being so poorly paid for your hard work really does affect a person's self-esteem.
Before I got married in 2016, I wanted to really TRY to make it as a full-time freelancer so I quit my job at Sears with no real leads. Just a vague plan of "I'm going to update my portfolio, reach out to Helioscope and apply for every dang thing I might be qualified for."
OTHER than Action Lab, I am really lucky & grateful for all the cool things I've gotten to work on. Backgrounds on multiple series for Ron Randall and Steve Lieber, a mobile game for Glu Mobile, graphic t-shirt designs for University Tees, the Brisk lemonade label to name a few.
Even during the later days of Herald, I had the mindset that the payment from my other work could help supplement my passion project, Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla.
I absolutely love comic books and will always make them no matter what. You can't take that away from me, Action Lab.
Probably goes without saying but #FreeCrashAndTroy #FreeHerald Free every series that's ever been published by Action Lab. Also hi, @ComicBookYeti - let me know if you want any further details.
Shameless plug (sorta): comixology.com/Herald-Lovecra…
The first three volumes are included with a Comixology Unlimited subscription (and if you really like it you can buy vol. 4 for $5.) I'm still proud of it and want you to read it!
In my head, I always envisioned us creators as Tesla (our comic being like Tesla's inventions) and Action Lab as Mackleroy (Thomas Edison's shady lawyer.)
This apparently is not an isolated incident, as another SJW comic creator apparently killed himself after going too woke and too broke for him to bear courtesy of Action Lab comics.
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Joe Bennett comes out ahead on this one. Ewing's certainly doesn't have room to complain about propaganda in comics.
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
What I wouldn't give to have those gimmicky videos over these boring ass twitter hot takes from a guy who constantly claims he quit twitter.
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2015
i miss the videos where he would review comics in his car. So simple, yet effective.
Rodeo Roadrunner
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2020
My favorite series of Zach videos was when he parked in some creepy backroad, reviewed some spiderman comic, then dumped it under a rusted out van on the backroad. I distinctly remember him going back to that spot like 3 times to check on his spiderman comic to see how it was decomposing. Can't find those videos now, but man is it sad to see how many views he used to get and how much more entertaining he was back then compared to now.
A nameless trool
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2020
This is the bad thing with going digital. And also losing all interest in comics.
What made Zack was how bad America was and all those SJWs claiming "it is really good, you just hate hispanic lesbians that never before existed in a comicbook and definetely not in Love and Rockets in the 80s because all the comics were made after 2010".
Or how far up her ass the woman who made Mockingbird was (that book was legit but litteraly for nobody) or whatever Ms Marvel was doing back then or how inane yet another reboot of Captain Marvel was, or Squirel Girl being Squirel Girl etc.
Sometimes he would get stupid over something and make a dumb take but even that was interesting or actually comment on good business.
Then he would just maim the offending issue in a fan way (I remember flushing one issue down the toilet and having another stuck behind his radiator)
Basically he was Linkara but 80% less autistic.
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2020
Big Trouble In Little CG Town
You could be forgiven for not noticing the meteoric rise (at least by Comicsgate standards) of crowdfunded comic book review channel F Off Well Read, also known as Well Read Reviews, over the past several months. The channel being featured several times in the thread as a consistent source of Comicsgate comic book reviews in the CG News Update posts coupled with it's quasi The Oz Show off-shoot drama show format, of which it's most notable episodes and write ups include the return of Doug TenNapel, the alleged misquoting of Shane Davis and the closure by Micah Curtis on the deterioration of his friendship with Liam Gray.
The show was a refreshing change of pace from most CG review channels, often offering uncandid opinions on Comicsgate books which included calling Richard C Meyer's Pandemic "a piece of shit" and Kyle Ritter's Starblades "in need of some help." The reviews themselves would feature several panelists and guests who offered their thoughts on books in an often hour long livestream, as opposed to a ten minute video filmed on a camera phone, in which the books were discussed in excessive detail.
It comes as a surprise that as the show hit it's peak in popularity with a Jon Malin Godlike interview and later an interview with both Dan Fraga and FROG, that Mister Dongs reported on the shows apparent implosion behind the scenes in a post here.
With the show's end left ambiguous, it wouldn't be for several days until the possible reasons where reported on by Comicsgate journalists VikkiVerse and DA Talks on their weekly show D & V Investigations.
TDG: WELL READ LIED; #ETHANRALPH WILL BE TRIED
August 29th 2021
August 29th 2021
The first half of the weekly CG news show covered a variety of topics including the return of Ethan Ralph's revenge porn charges, infighting between Warcampaign elevated members and Bean from PA's cozying up to Ro Kabir before the topic is discussed at the [26:25] mark of the stream with former review cohost Smug Pug joining the stream.
As the stream progresses the former cohost explained that there were creative differences between he and Well Read User 1 over the direction the show was taking, related to creator appearances and the changing of the show's format. When asked to elaborate further, Smug Pug explained that there was two sets of rules for creator appearances depending on whether or not they were Comicsgate, stating:
"I'd heard a critique, I think it was a valid critique, although I didn't agree with it at the time. It appeared that the show was having certain creators on after their books were being reviewed and then other creators not. So for example having Jon Malin on without reviewing a book of his and you know having Dan Fraga on after reviewing Ethan's book. At the time I disagreed with that (the critique), I thought the theme of the sci-fi comic with Malin's Godlike worked well and since Dan Fraga was so heavily referenced in Warts and All it made sense to have him on afterwards to talk about it."
The former cohost would go on to say that after reaching out to Irene, the creator of Fiendish, to join them for an interview after reviewing her book, that the idea was "vetoed" by Well Read User and he wanted to schedule her for a creator interview after reviewing Michael Bancroft's The Lucent. During this disagreement between the host and cohost, the critique quoted above was brought up and that it was perceived that "it's okay to have some creators on after we review their books, but not others, so almost like some creators are protected." Smug Pug further explains that during the disagreement he told Well Read User he would have to leave the show in four months time, due to attending trade school and that he (Well Read User) would have to find a replacement cohost. According to Smug Pug a conversation occurred between Well Read User and Moonshine (the other permanent cohost) about finding a replacement cohost, but the latter decided he would leave the show when Smug Pug did at the end of this year.
In response to this conversation between Well Read User and Moonshine it's alleged that "Well Read instead decided to end the show now... maybe he was upset... because he kicked us both out of the group DM, left his discord server and then just told us the show was over now... so it all seemed really quick, really fast." The impression given by Smug Pug is that this issue was eventually resolved and both Moonshine and he would have continued the show until the year's end, however Well Read User ended the show.
It's at this point you might be asking yourselves why any of this is being talked about publicly at all? The answer coming forthwith that according to Smug Pug he was privately approached by two nameless individuals who told him that Well Read was lying about the circumstances of him leaving the show in private DMs:
"Apparently I left the show because I wanted more anti-CG creators on there and I wanted to spotlight more anti-CG books... Then in JDA's discord server I noticed Prime, who's one of Testefy's little ballwashers, having a go at Vikki about how Smug Pug and Vikki tried to co-opt Well Read's review show to make it an anti-CG channel."
Smug Pug then goes on to highlight a recent stream by TESTEFY-HD as further evidence in which TESTEFY-HD presses Well Read User on the show's cancellation by asking: "what did they want to spotlight more? Say the words because I will say what you told me... Say the words because I will say what you told me... anti-CG creators." Lending credibly to Smug Pug's claims that Well Read User was indeed lying about the circumstances of the show's end in private DMs. This exchange would be featured in a clip of events on VikkiVerse's channel which includes a confrontation between Smug Pug and Well Read User on a now privated Lord Finatra livestream in which Smug Pug accuses Well Read User of being a "lying cocksucker."
The final third of the show [46:58] involved yet more drama with Well Read User, this time with NasserRabadi13 cohost Stupendous / Soy Rage and the circumstances surrounding his cancellation as a guest reviewer on the F Off Well Read review of Alazmat Films book Street Champion Road Warrior Drake. The show would feature another clip (currently not uploaded to VikkiVerse's channel) in which Stupendous' and Well Read User's DMs were leaked regarding their dispute and the questionable decision of having three of Alazmat's friends review his book, implying the integrity of the review was in question.
Well Read User telling Stupendous he is receiving "heat" over his appearance on the review.
Stupendous accusing Well Read User of being a liar.
Darkgift Comics informing Stupendous he will no longer be on the review.
The entire exchange of DMs shown on the show will be spoilered below.
While not appearing on the D & V show himself, Stupendous did however give his side of events on a NasserRabadi13 stream several days prior to the D & V Investigations stream.
AFTERLIFE WITH SOY RAGE #116 WELL READ LIES! EDWIN GOES CRAZY! #MALINMILITIA
August 26th 2021
August 26th 2021
The stream begins after a series of intros at [4:06] with the aforementioned Stupendous / Soy Rage opening the stream. The topic of Stupendous and Well Read User's dispute isn't raised until the [18:17] mark in which Soy Rage explains that Stupendous was originally going to be a guest reviewer on the Roadwarrior Drake review stream hosted by Well Read User until he received a message stating "that he (Well Read User) was getting a lot of people giving him heat for having him (Stupendous) on the show." Soy Rage goes on to ask if it "sounds like a whisper network?" to keep him off the channel and review show.
Soy Rage would then go into the backstory which was explained above on the D & V Investigations stream, while sharing his DMs with Well Read User which were also featured above. At the [26:02] mark FROG makes an unexpected appearance on the stream and asks "what's going on with Well Read?" As Soy Rage explains, a clearly uninterested FROG states "so I get a message from Well Read that said my name is about to be dragged through all the mud that you know that all Comicsgaters get dragged through... He's like I hope I deal with it as well as you did." FROG then goes on to state that he asked Well Read User what he meant, but didn't hear back from him and now noticed Nasser and Soy Rage streaming about it. After a quick explanation from Soy Rage FROG asserts that "this is gay... I thought this was going to be something... who cares? Who gives a shit?" Before urging the conversation towards Edwin Boyette and his flagging campaign against Nasser.
With allegations that question the integrity of the review show and the "protecting of certain creators", our next featured video might shed some light on the recent accusations.
Well Read Reviews (LIVE) - Street Champion Roadwarrior Drake "Duck Lives!"
August 26th 2021
August 26th 2021
Later that evening F Off Well Read would assemble a panel of guest reviewers to review former Warcampaign member and Etsy Boy Alazmat Film's Street Champion Roadwarrior Drake, a book that was heavily mocked in this thread last year. Well Read User would address the leaving of his two cohosts at the [4:27] mark stating:
"Yes, if you've heard any rumors the show is going to be taken in a different direction after today tonight it will be on hiatus for a week, I think I announced that before and things are going to be getting slightly retooled and there will be some changes when everything comes back. I hope everyone is happy in where they are right now and will be happy with the new changes and anything that's happening in the background, I don't endorse making public. I have no intention of being dramatic, I'm not interested in being a drama queen about any changes or any reconfigurations that occur. I don't support releasing any personal information or conversations about those changes, I would never do that myself. As far as I'm concerned all parties involved are doing well and extremely upstanding people and there's no reason to go beyond anything considering those factors. So I hope everyone keeps that in mind moving forward, that there's no reason to make things unpleasant."
A rather long winded, stuttering, contradictory explanation given the two write ups of the streams above. I'm unsure if this matter was addressed again during the over five hour long stream, because I didn't watch it all. There was however the allegations of shielding certain creators which could be best described with the scores each guest gave the book at the [1:13:39] mark.
- Former Warcampaign member, Etsy Boy and friend of Alazmat, Wiggle states "it's the best ever" after previously admitting he only read the first twelve pages of the over one hundred page graphic novel.
- Former Warcampaign member, Etsy Boy and friend of Alazmat, CiderHype gives it an 8/10.
- Friend of Alazmat, Darkgift Comics gives the book at 7/10.
- The odd man out Twitless with no prior relationship to Alazmat gives the book "one duck out of ten."
Conclusion
Since the departure of Warcampaign from Comicsgate, the indie crowdfunding movement has been relatively stable with almost no drama among the top creators and therefore has become rather boring to observe. The smaller Comicsgate personalities have appeared to not realize this fact, for if you step into the streets of the CG slums you can still find the drunken sperg fights, personality conflicts and unadulterated autism that made the movement so interesting in the first place. Was Well Read User lying about his cohosts in private DMs? Has the review show been co-opted to accommodate the feelings of creators over the substance of the books? Or as FROG asked does anyone actually care about "this gay shit?"
These questions are of course rhetorical and don't require answers, but while Comicsgate is stagnant of worthy things to write about, the implosion of Well Read User's review show is just about as good as it gets these days.
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- Joined
- May 21, 2020
I love Bolsonoro. Based. Gonna ask Joe Bennett if he'll do a cover for me.
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2016
I'm looking forward to twelve videos about the increase in Media Mail rates that happened on August 29. Can't wait, such excitement. Maybe we'll get another series about postage machines?
USPS Media Mail Rate Increase on August 29, 2021
Media Mail Rates for August 29th, 2021
| Weight does not exceed | August 2021 USPS Medial Mail rate |
| 1 lb. | $3.19 |
| 2 lbs. | $3.82 |
| 3 lbs. | $4.45 |
| 4 lbs. | $5.08 |
| 5 lbs. | $5.71 |
| 6 lbs. | $6.34 |
| 7 lbs. | $6.97 |
| 8 lbs. | $7.60 |
| 9 lbs. | $8.23 |
| 10 lbs.* | $8.86 |
| Weight does not exceed (5 lb. increments) | August 2021 USPS Media Mail rate (cont’d.) |
| 15 lb. | $12.01 |
| 20 lbs. | $15.16 |
| 25 lbs. | $18.31 |
| 30 lbs. | $21.46 |
| 35 lbs. | $24.61 |
| 40 lbs. | $27.76 |
| 45 lbs. | $30.91 |
| 50 lbs. | $34.06 |
| 55 lbs. | $37.21 |
| 60 lbs. | $40.36 |
| 65 lbs. | $43.51 |
| 70 lbs. | $46.66 |
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
Guess I shouldn't expect my Expendables: Go To Hell in the next two weeks after all?