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Just need a breather for a while; updates will resume in January.
To hold you until then, here are a few webcomic spotlight prospects that just missed out for one reason or another*:
*These six all carry a strong manga influence, and we wanted to keep the twenty we chose to be more diverse. Also, though no editorials were given for individual comics, we like all the ones that got posted (including those above).
"Almost Naked Animals" by Noah Z. Jones
Not quite a comic, "Almost Naked Animals" is a series of drawings of individual characters. Taking a cue from a well-known cartoon gag, the animals presented are shown in underwear and with only a few strands of fur here and there (even when the animal normally has no fur, such as an octopus). Each character's 'likes' and 'dislikes' are listed; for instance, Bison enjoys atomic bombs and motorcycle ramps, but hates complicated knots. An animated series for Canada's YTV is currently in development.
"The College Life" by Natalie Nourigat
Tally and Hannah are roommates spending their freshman year drinking and generally raising a ruckus in room 406. Currently, there are only sixteen strips, covering the duo's first year in college. Installments concerning the characters' sophomore are forthcoming.
When typing a search into Google, a drop-down box will appear and follow what you're typing with suggestions based on other searches that users have made or phrases which appear with frequency. Typing "pinstripe" will give such examples as "pinstripe tape", "pinstripe alley", "pinstripe suit", "pinstripe baseball pants", and even "pinstripe bible". Of course, because Google is used by every last person with an internet connection (give or take), including children, common curse words do not appear in any suggestions.
Koi Koi Eleven researchers* have come across a strange abnormality in this modus operandi; in addition to profanities, the word "manga" in all its forms is also absent. Entering "yotsuba" or "yotsubato", the name of a very popular Japanese comic, will give such results as "yotsuba online", "yotsuba read", "yotsubato raw", and "yotsubato scanlation", which all hint at manga in different forms. Even "yotsuba anime" is present, even though there are no plans for producing an animated version of the series. Neither "yotsuba manga" nor "yotsubato manga" ever appear.
The creator of the Yotsubato! franchise is Kiyohiko Azuma, whose other wildly popular work is Azumanga Daioh. As you can see, the word "manga" is built right into the name. Because of this, the word "azumanga" never appears in any Google suggestions. The same goes for "manganese", an element of the periodic table.
Google reserves the right to censor out any words it wishes, but why "manga"? What is the logic behind this? And what other words are secretly verboten by Google Suggest? An explanation from Google would be welcome in this matter.
*read: "Vic"
In 1987, Peggy Hettrick was found murdered in a field in Fort Collins, Colorado. For the next decade, the Fort Collins Police Department doggedly followed and harassed Tim Masters, convinced he was the killer because of some drawings he did in his high school notebooks. Masters was just fifteen at the time of the murder. In their ongoing quest to connect Masters to the crime in any way possible, the police left copies of his mother's obituary in conspicuous places in order to torment him psychologically. Eventually, Masters was cleared by DNA evidence (after spending nine years in prison), and it is now believed that the killer was a convicted sex offender who lived just 300 feet from the crime scene.
This case has always struck a chord with me, as it should for anyone who drew cartoons in their notebooks for school on a regular basis. Of course, my drawings were nowhere near as violent as Masters' were, but it's still disturbing that something as flimsy as this can send an innocent man to prison and ruin his life simply because the Keystone Kops were more focused on catching anyone rather than catching the murderer.
Now, guess which police department is in charge of the investigation into this whole Falcon Heene "Balloon Boy" lunacy? Yeah. Of course.
EDIT: As of the 18th of October, Larimer county Sheriff Jim Alderden is expected to recommend charges including, but not limited to, making a false report to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant. Additionally, he claims to "have evidence at this point to indicate that it was a publicity stunt...", just two days after Fort Collins police held a press briefing announcing that the incident was not planned in advance.
"The Freckled Finger" by Pat Keegan
Pat Keegan's "The Freckled Finger" (alternately capitalized as "THe FReCKLeD FINGeR") is a webcomic which is absolutely "not safe for work". The color strip updates about once a week. There aren't any recurring characters, but celebrities, politicians, and well-known cartoon characters show up regularly. There's much more that can be said about it, but its subject matter is remarkably difficult to describe without coming off as editorializing. Again: "not safe for work".
"Pierre the Baking Cat" by Tommy Elfving
Pierre's dream of becoming the best baker in his town of Blup Village is facing some new obstacles, foremost of these being his rivals at Café de Laté. "Pierre the Baking Cat", which began as a manuscript for a children's book, is a black-and-white comic shaded with digital screentones and reads from right to left. The series began posting early in 2009, and a new installment appears each weekend.
