Webcomics from Agent-X Comics

The Perfect Comic

The Perfect Comic published on 4 Comments on The Perfect Comic

This is the most perfect comic ever created!

It’s a shame we will never see it….
But that is OK, because there will never be a perfect comic.

Comic Art is like any other form of art, in as much as it is subjective to the viewer and their personal preferences.
There are so many artistic styles active within the comics world that a single style will never be the one that meet with the approval of all people who view it.

Some people prefer highly stylised images, whilst others want a more photo-realistic version given to them to indulge in.

But the one thing that I think CAN be a common thread throughout all comics, regardless of popularity, the style in which they are created or even the medium they appear – and that is that they should be created by artists who enjoy what they are doing.

Too often in the comics world, artists will clash over the smallest things (often just due to a mis-interpretation of what may have been implied) and full on melee will erupt between two parties. Very often, in these cases, sides are taken and many more artists pop-up, just to throw their hats into the ring and be seen to be part of it all.
Pros and cons of the medium in which a comic is presented, will be debated vigorously.
Egos will be inflated and former glories will be held high as proof that that party is the correct one in the current debate.
And names are always called.

When I see this occurring, I cringe.
I want to just say out loud “can’t you just do what you do and love what you do?”

Not everyone wants to be a pioneer.
Not every comic artist will make a living from their passion.
No one medium is the ultimate and best one to use.
No one knows it all – there is always more to experience.

@ryanstegman posted on twitter recently, a great piece of advice to the newer artists out there – “STAY POSITIVE. There is no conspiracy against you breaking in! Work hard and make your own luck.”

The fact that there is even a perception of a “conspiracy” that newer artists have no hope in breaking into comics and achieving what they want to, is too much for me.
All this fighting and bragging can actually dissuade some upcoming artists from trying, which may then deprive us of some fantastic comic art in the future!

Those who have “made it” in the comics world should be setting examples of how to behave as a professional, as well as portraying what a unified and sharing community the Comics world actually is.
Too often though, they spend their time baiting others just because they can, or defending their own techniques or methods.

I would love to see 2010 be the year that the comics community worldwide, takes a step back and lets little comments roll off their back. Raise thos tolerance levels and become the “bigger man”
Ignore that ridiculous post.
Refrain from commenting, especially when you know the shit-storm it may create.
Let that twitter comment wash away in the tweet stream.

Let’s just remember that we are not journalists or politicians.
Our work should speak for us. Not the other way around.

Overall, I feel that comics creation should stem from of a love for creating comics and drawing – nothing else.
We do what we personally feel is right for our art.
The rest is just gravy.

Self Contained Network

Self Contained Network published on 3 Comments on Self Contained Network

Sometimes renaming things can get out of hand.

It seems that too often, companies try to breathe new life into a product or brand by renaming it.
In all too many cases, however, those efforts fail to yield the desired results.

On the one side are people who think it’s a fantastic idea (usually this is called the ‘Marketing Department’).
They claim that the old name had problems, gave the wrong impression or was out of touch with modern consumers.

On the other side are people who think it’s a terrible idea. This group is normally known as CONSUMERS.
If they are used to the old name, it can be to abandon it. Regular users may lose faith in the product, or not even know it is the same thing and stop using it altogether.

Often, a renaming occurs when a product or service has recieved negative press coverage.
This may be a justified course of action in order to re-establish the brand.

Other times, when sales are flagging, a product name can be changed (or chosen) to take advantage of buzzwords and terms that the “modern consumers” are using.
There has been no bigger example of his than the recent “Isnack 2.0″ incident in Australia, by Kraft foods.
This was a spectacularly massive fail which proved that Marketing people are very often out of touch with the very people they claim to be able to interact with – the general public.

Here are some helpful tips for any marketers who may be reading this:
– putting an “i” or an “e” in front of a word does not make it modern or futuristic
– web 2.0 is nothing more then a buzz word
– not EVERYTHING has to have a Facebook fanpage
– do not add “TW” to the front of your product name to try to appeal to twitter users. (I have mentioned this before)
– social networks are about the INTERACTION, not the FOLLOWER numbers
– not every new campaign needs to be crowd-sourced. (Try doing something yourself & stop being so lazy, ffs)

If you like zombies, then you should check out this site – Rezatron is by Reza Rasoli.
Reza makes these fun zombie inspired illustrations.

So, take a few minutes and enjoy the undead goodness.

Slacktivism

Slacktivism published on 10 Comments on Slacktivism

Letting the internet make you appear like you care.

I learned a new word recently – “SLACTIVISM“. (ref)

Slacktivism (also written as slactivism) is a combination of the words Slacker and Activism. The word describes “feel-good” measures in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. The acts also tend to require little personal effort from the slacktivist and are mainly online activities.

There are examples of slacktivism all over the internet, and once you become aware of the term they tend to be frustratingly easy to spot.
I use the word ‘frustrating’ here, as in my experience, I find that the biggest slacktivists are also the ones that tend to tell you about it as many times as possible.
It is the “look at me and how much I am doing to help, aren’t I great?” scenario.

Those who participate in “slacktivist” campaigns, relish in an illusion of having a meaningful impact on the world without demanding anything more than joining a Facebook group or changing your Twitter avatar to show a colour or a badge.

Recent examples of this include:

– adding your bra colour to Facebook to highlight breast cancer.
– making your twitter avatar green to support Iran
– blacking out your avatar to support anti-internet censorship
Even “Earth Hour” protests against non-government action against climate change has elements of slacktivism.

It is unfair to label ALL online activity as Slactivism, or indeed, to dismiss Slacktivism as totally useless.
There are situations where online activity & awareness has assisted in producing results.

My issue with all this is when I see people jump on the latest bandwagon, promote their activity to all their followers, but then promptly return to playing Farmville, or asking the lazyweb for recommendations on products.

Also, many people participate without actually understanding the issues involved.
I am sure you can all find someone who updated their Facebook status to their bra colour without realising what it was actually for.
I even know some men that did it, as it was just the latest meme going and they wanted to appear that they were part of it all.

Online protest or awareness campaigns do have merit and can help cause the desired effect. Even so, it is important to decide if the online medium is the right audience for the issues.

An example of this is the current Anti-Internet censorship filter campaign going on in Australia.
The participants in this are very active & are giving it a good go, which I applaud them for. They are standing up for what they believe in.

However, there is the chance this campaign may fail and I am not the only one who thinks so.
The campaign is being conducted online, and uses mechanisms that promote Slacktivist activities, in a negative way.
For example, this article “Why the anti-filter campaign is failing” supports this view.
It also raises one point that I personally feel is relevant. The article suggests that this campaign needs to target “the mass of reasonably-minded, moderate, everyday Australian voters that are needed to effectively influence the process.”

This means that having the campaign conducted ONLINE via Facebook, twitter, etc, where it targets supporters already aware of the issues involved, is somewhat wasted (ie: “preaching to the converted”).
The funny thing is that the ‘Stop Internet Censorship’ website states, as part of their Critical components of a campaign methods, that they should

“Target the audience that matters [Don’t preach to the converted]”:   (found here)

As well, these same components state:

“Offline protests will not form part of any campaign run by Stop Internet Censorship”

I believe that to have any chance to succeed, the message needs to get offline and into print, radio or television to target the irregular internet users and influence their votes.
And I really WANT the campaign to succeed in every way possible.

But, at present, it comes across as just a big slacktivist group hug, after which everyone who did nothing more than black out their avatar and re-tweet some links & hashtags, will be the first to angrily tweet “We tried so hard! How could we have done any more?”

Well, the answer is easy and applies to any campaign. JUST DO MORE.
I would prefer to see those involved in any campaign, not matter what it is, actually trying to do something positive to compliment there online activities.

– Make a donation to the cause they want to support.
– Use all relevant types of media to support it.
– Write a letter to their relevant politician.
– Make a PERMANENT change to their daily activities or way of life, which helps the issue.
– Advise others of actual support mechanisms to help the cause.
– Take part in activites for the cause, which are online AND offline.

Now, do not misunderstand me here. I believe in the great and powerful beast that is the Internet, and I feel it should be harnessed and used where ever possible to change our lives for the better.

It is far too easy to sit back, click a link and think you have made a difference.
Next time you decide to support a cause, why not take a moment to think about what you are doing and determine if your activities will actually help?
Decide if you REALLY want to support the cause and effect change. Or is it all just for show?


Note: The point of this blog post is to make you think about how you involve yourself in change causing actions.
If you would like to add a rant in the comments below, then by all means, please go ahead.
What I would prefer, is that you get out there, do something of real value and prove me wrong.
Nothing would make me happier than to be proven incorrect, especially about the fight to stop internet censorship.
If you are an Australian, instead of a comment, why not go to http://www.stopinternetcensorship.org and find out ways to help support the cause.


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