2009/10/17
And Another Thing...
I bought the new Hitchhiker's Guide book on Monday... For whatever reason I haven't finished it yet (ordinarily I would have read the whole thing that night), but I suppose maybe it's a good sign that when I picked it back up I noticed I had stopped at page 42? I don't think it's going to be my favorite Hitchhiker's Guide book (which is actually So Long And Thanks For All The Fish), but it's not bad so far.
In other news, there's a new voting bonus up today! It's a sprite strip in which Neap tries to get Linton to rescue Violet and the Plant.
And there's also a new PodWarp 1999 episode up now! (Or at least one you haven't heard before!) Mark Mekkes and I discuss holidays in science fiction (last December).
2009/05/06
V3 is 6!
In other news, there's a new voting bonus up today! It's a sprite strip in which Neap tries to get Linton to rescue Violet and the Plant.
And there's also a new PodWarp 1999 episode up now! (Or at least one you haven't heard before!) Mark Mekkes and I discuss holidays in science fiction (last December).
Labels: books, podcast, voting bonus
Six years ago, Floyd thought a plant might cheer the station up, and Ebb listened to him make that observation. Now Floyd's been rebuilt as a rumorbot, Ebb has been replaced with Neap, the original Plant is off in an alternate universe, and the station is apparently at the bottom of a swamp on a planet known as "The Celestial Orb With Soil On It" - and who knows what's going to happen next?
(Well, of course I do, but I'm not saying yet!)
I hope everyone's enjoying this year's guest week, with contributions (so far) from Aaron Lewis, Robert Cook, and Wendy Wood!
In other news, Ebb's Children actually updated today, and there's a new episode of PodWarp 1999 up!
2009/03/21
Strange coincidence, update, random news
(Well, of course I do, but I'm not saying yet!)
I hope everyone's enjoying this year's guest week, with contributions (so far) from Aaron Lewis, Robert Cook, and Wendy Wood!
In other news, Ebb's Children actually updated today, and there's a new episode of PodWarp 1999 up!
Labels: comics, milestone, podcast
In yesterday's strip (3/20), a rumormonger added two and two to get 4,376. I had considered several other numbers - like 22, for example - before deciding on a number that included the answer and the phone exchange of somewhere I used to live. Coincidentally, as pointed out by a reader, the asteroid 4376 Shigemori was discovered on 3/20/1987 - 22 years ago. Maybe I meant to do that?
In other site news, I've updated the links page, and added another page with links to fellow Palace in the Sky comics.
And in other non-Station V3 webcomic news:
Robert Cook's comic The Mansion of E recently hit the 2,000 strip mark. Congratulations, Robert!
While there haven't been any new episodes of PodWarp 1999 uploaded since January, it's not dead yet! There are more episodes on the way. If you have any suggestions for a future episode, you can post them on the PodWarp forum. Meanwhile, Mark Mekkes and I were among the people on the latest live episode of The Gigcast.
And speaking of PodWarp, fellow PodWarper Ben Paddon has put out a Jump Leads book! Fun stuff.
2008/12/09
A thing to see, A thing to hear
In other site news, I've updated the links page, and added another page with links to fellow Palace in the Sky comics.
And in other non-Station V3 webcomic news:
Robert Cook's comic The Mansion of E recently hit the 2,000 strip mark. Congratulations, Robert!
While there haven't been any new episodes of PodWarp 1999 uploaded since January, it's not dead yet! There are more episodes on the way. If you have any suggestions for a future episode, you can post them on the PodWarp forum. Meanwhile, Mark Mekkes and I were among the people on the latest live episode of The Gigcast.
And speaking of PodWarp, fellow PodWarper Ben Paddon has put out a Jump Leads book! Fun stuff.
Labels: comics, other things, podcast, site update
The thing to see: The rumormongers have made an appearance in a guest strip I drew that's up now at Webcomics Inc High School - doing what they do best!
The thing to hear: There's a new episode up at PodWarp 1999! We interview Chris Layfield and Pascalle Lepas, the creators of Zap!
2008/11/14
V3: 1999
The thing to hear: There's a new episode up at PodWarp 1999! We interview Chris Layfield and Pascalle Lepas, the creators of Zap!
Today's strip is the 1,999th strip in the archives! (So guess what number tomorrow's is?)
In other 1999-related news, Episode 27 of PodWarp 1999 went up last week (with guest David C. Simon of Crimson Dark)!
In unrelated news, I've made the RSS feed a little more visible (the feed itself hasn't changed, but now there's a permanent front page link for it), and added my Twitter feed to the front page.
2008/09/30
Revenge of the Podwarp
2008/09/16
Return of the Podwarp
2008/09/12
Breaking the Silence (September Edition)
In other 1999-related news, Episode 27 of PodWarp 1999 went up last week (with guest David C. Simon of Crimson Dark)!
In unrelated news, I've made the RSS feed a little more visible (the feed itself hasn't changed, but now there's a permanent front page link for it), and added my Twitter feed to the front page.
Labels: milestone, podcast, site feed, site stuff
I've been a little quiet here so far this month - mainly because most of the time I have to work on the comic has been spent on the actual comic! (Not all, I'll admit - but most!) But I'm still here. PodWarp 1999 has also been a little quiet, but we've got a couple new episodes that'll go up as soon as they're done being edited. In the meantime, you can listen to some other webcomic podcasts, such as the Sequential Artists' Pub (you can hear me contribute a bit to some episodes there), the Gigcast, the Webcomic Beacon, Webcomics Weekly, and Digital Strips. (And of course any others you find! But check back in with Podwarp 1999 soon.)
In other news, Ben Gordon mentioned in a recent post on The Floating Lightbulb that he wouldn't be surprised if Station V3 is a "break out" comic in the coming year, "as more people discover the great color choices, wild cartoony art and reliable humor." Sounds good to me! If you've got a website and want to link to Station V3 to help out with that, I've got a page with some banners and buttons you can use.
I'm always working on that sort of thing too, of course, and one way is by advertising on other sites through Project Wonderful. I've had some nice comments on some of the ads I've been using recently with sample comic bits in them. If you haven't seen the ads (or even if you have), I've got two versions of a comic I drew for them up as today's bonuses, here and here. And of course, voting for the comic is another way to help promote Station V3! While the effectiveness of voting lists has been the subject of some debate, I will say they do bring at least a few people here. So thank you to everyone who's been voting - and thanks for reading!
2008/08/15
And in other news...
In other news, Ben Gordon mentioned in a recent post on The Floating Lightbulb that he wouldn't be surprised if Station V3 is a "break out" comic in the coming year, "as more people discover the great color choices, wild cartoony art and reliable humor." Sounds good to me! If you've got a website and want to link to Station V3 to help out with that, I've got a page with some banners and buttons you can use.
I'm always working on that sort of thing too, of course, and one way is by advertising on other sites through Project Wonderful. I've had some nice comments on some of the ads I've been using recently with sample comic bits in them. If you haven't seen the ads (or even if you have), I've got two versions of a comic I drew for them up as today's bonuses, here and here. And of course, voting for the comic is another way to help promote Station V3! While the effectiveness of voting lists has been the subject of some debate, I will say they do bring at least a few people here. So thank you to everyone who's been voting - and thanks for reading!
Labels: comics, podcast, voting bonus
V3 reader Daniel Ellingson has created some interesting things with the Spore Creature Creator - including a very nice version of Julius the Rumormonger!
In addition to Julius, today's comic reveals that one of the other rumormongers is named Marco, and yesterday's revealed that one of them is named Kyle. (There's a little trivia question about Kyle on the forum!)
Silence in the Darkness on Q16 recently had its 500th strip go up! (Still dark - but not always silent.)
Two new episodes of PodWarp 1999 have gone up recently - a short Episode 22 with just me, Mark Mekkes, and guest Aaron Lewis, and a regular-length Episode 23 with the regular PodWarp crew!
And finally, I've updated the voting bonuses - there's a sprite strip up at TopWebcomics, and a bad translation of today's strip up at the all-new redesigned buzzComix. Thanks for voting!
2008/07/28
Rumormongers Are Go!
In addition to Julius, today's comic reveals that one of the other rumormongers is named Marco, and yesterday's revealed that one of them is named Kyle. (There's a little trivia question about Kyle on the forum!)
Silence in the Darkness on Q16 recently had its 500th strip go up! (Still dark - but not always silent.)
Two new episodes of PodWarp 1999 have gone up recently - a short Episode 22 with just me, Mark Mekkes, and guest Aaron Lewis, and a regular-length Episode 23 with the regular PodWarp crew!
And finally, I've updated the voting bonuses - there's a sprite strip up at TopWebcomics, and a bad translation of today's strip up at the all-new redesigned buzzComix. Thanks for voting!
Labels: milestone, other things, podcast, voting bonus
If you've joined Star Pirates (or you're going to) and now you're looking for a fleet to join, the Rumormongers fleet is the one for you! In addition to being the "official" Station V3 fleet, its abbreviation is "RUM" - and how much more appropriately pirate-y can you get?
For today's new voting bonus, there's a sprite strip in which one of the Rumormongers is considering joining the fleet while he waits for the next round of Rumormonger Idol to start!
And on a completely different note, the fifth episode of The Sequential Artists' Pub is up! I was there again for this one - lots of interesting topics covered, like a cartoonists' public persona, pen names, mirror sites, the use of RSS feeds (Station V3 has one) and blogs on comic sites (like this one you're reading right now).
2008/07/15
Warping another Pod
For today's new voting bonus, there's a sprite strip in which one of the Rumormongers is considering joining the fleet while he waits for the next round of Rumormonger Idol to start!
And on a completely different note, the fifth episode of The Sequential Artists' Pub is up! I was there again for this one - lots of interesting topics covered, like a cartoonists' public persona, pen names, mirror sites, the use of RSS feeds (Station V3 has one) and blogs on comic sites (like this one you're reading right now).
Labels: other things, podcast, voting bonus
Episode 20 of PodWarp 1999 is up - we have Steve Troop of Melonpool on as a guest, and we discuss his new project that's happening, CryptoZooey, and his new project that didn't quite happen (but look for it again next April 1), Zero Worship. And also time travel, alternate universes, and the PodWarp 1999 drinking game.
2008/07/12
Podcasts and Books and Things
Last night I attended another Sequential Artists' Pub podcast. This week's main topic was books - preparing things for print, where/how to have them printed, where/how to sell them, etc.
In case you're wondering, I save the full-size 300dpi scans of my strips before I resize them and save them for the web, and I used those files when I put the first book (Get Yours Today!) together. I took the print-on-demand route for publishing, with lulu.com, so it's printed (and sold) through them. I'll most likely put out the second book (which I'm currently working on) that way too.
And in unrelated news, today's voting bonuses are the rough drafts for yesterday's strip, today's strip, and tomorrow's, and a bad translation of today's strip. Enjoy!
2008/06/28
Further Adventures in Podcasting
In case you're wondering, I save the full-size 300dpi scans of my strips before I resize them and save them for the web, and I used those files when I put the first book (Get Yours Today!) together. I took the print-on-demand route for publishing, with lulu.com, so it's printed (and sold) through them. I'll most likely put out the second book (which I'm currently working on) that way too.
And in unrelated news, today's voting bonuses are the rough drafts for yesterday's strip, today's strip, and tomorrow's, and a bad translation of today's strip. Enjoy!
Labels: books, podcast, voting bonus
Last night I took part in Krishna Sadasivam's podcast, The Sequential Artists' Pub. Lots of interesting topics were discussed, such as tools and techniques, drawing tablets, site statistics, cartoonist resources, and wearing hats!
(My contribution is a bit limited, due to some connection problems. TalkShoe's "ShoePhone" didn't want to let me talk - it'd tell me I was connected, but it's also tell me I wasn't on the call. Eventually I wound up installing Gizmo, and finally managed to connect that way - so I don't say anything until about 40 minutes in, and later on my connection gets garbled. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time!)
2008/06/26
Welcome New Readers!
(My contribution is a bit limited, due to some connection problems. TalkShoe's "ShoePhone" didn't want to let me talk - it'd tell me I was connected, but it's also tell me I wasn't on the call. Eventually I wound up installing Gizmo, and finally managed to connect that way - so I don't say anything until about 40 minutes in, and later on my connection gets garbled. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time!)
Labels: other things, podcast
Since there seem to be a lot of people reading at the moment, I thought I'd take the opportunity to welcome any of you who happen to be new readers coming in from StumbleUpon, what appears to be the most successful ad campaign I've run on Project Wonderful, and of course anywhere else, too...
Welcome!
Make yourself at home, check out the three spinoffs, tell a friend about Station V3, say hello on the forum, get a copy of the book... Or (most importantly) just enjoy reading!
And for anyone who isn't a new reader (and has read this blog post this far anyway), thank YOU for reading, too!
In other news, the 'official' version of the latest episode of PodWarp 1999 ("Dial F for Frankenstein" - the call-in show episode) is up on the site now. I was using the same headset as on the past few episodes, but on a different computer, and that seems to have worked much better. (So now you get to hear what I actually sound like!)
Finally, in voting bonus news, I finally closed the Rumormonger Idol round 1 poll - the results are up as today's first bonus, and some parting words from the loser are up as the second one.
2008/06/22
Technical Difficulty Day
Welcome!
Make yourself at home, check out the three spinoffs, tell a friend about Station V3, say hello on the forum, get a copy of the book... Or (most importantly) just enjoy reading!
And for anyone who isn't a new reader (and has read this blog post this far anyway), thank YOU for reading, too!
In other news, the 'official' version of the latest episode of PodWarp 1999 ("Dial F for Frankenstein" - the call-in show episode) is up on the site now. I was using the same headset as on the past few episodes, but on a different computer, and that seems to have worked much better. (So now you get to hear what I actually sound like!)
Finally, in voting bonus news, I finally closed the Rumormonger Idol round 1 poll - the results are up as today's first bonus, and some parting words from the loser are up as the second one.
Labels: comics, other things, podcast, voting bonus
This morning, there was a power blink at home, and the computer reset itself.
At work, I got a call from a remote site that also had a power blink, and they were having problems with a printer because of it.
Later in the day, due to some server configuration work being done, stationv3.com was unavailable for a little while.
Tonight we had our first PodWarp 1999 call-in show - and Talkshoe froze up on us.
Then after that, a thunderstorm knocked me offline for about half an hour.
The site should update automatically at its usual time (about two hours from now), and you can see tomorrow's strip then. But if anything goes wrong with that, I think I'm going to have to blame Technical Difficulty Day!
2008/05/30
Following up on the PodWarps
At work, I got a call from a remote site that also had a power blink, and they were having problems with a printer because of it.
Later in the day, due to some server configuration work being done, stationv3.com was unavailable for a little while.
Tonight we had our first PodWarp 1999 call-in show - and Talkshoe froze up on us.
Then after that, a thunderstorm knocked me offline for about half an hour.
The site should update automatically at its usual time (about two hours from now), and you can see tomorrow's strip then. But if anything goes wrong with that, I think I'm going to have to blame Technical Difficulty Day!
Labels: other things, podcast, site status
Following the discussion of Station V3 in Episode 13 of PodWarp 1999, I'm planning on making some changes - some to the site, some to the comic. I'm not planning anything too drastic, but next time Emmit appears in the comic (whenever that turns out to be), he will most likely not have his hands in his pockets. That'll probably be after they get out of the time loop. (So yes, they will be getting out of it - but what then? Keep reading and see!)
Following up on Episode 12, where Dino Andrade was on as a guest, one of the SoulGeek webcomics he mentioned has launched - Legend of Bill by David Reddick. Only a few strips up at the moment, but it looks good so far!
And in other (unrelated) news, Contestant 5 and Contestant 6 finish up Round 1 of Rumormonger Idol for today's voting bonuses!
2008/05/08
Continuing on...
Following up on Episode 12, where Dino Andrade was on as a guest, one of the SoulGeek webcomics he mentioned has launched - Legend of Bill by David Reddick. Only a few strips up at the moment, but it looks good so far!
And in other (unrelated) news, Contestant 5 and Contestant 6 finish up Round 1 of Rumormonger Idol for today's voting bonuses!
Labels: comics, podcast, site update, voting bonus
Guest strip week continues! Yesterday's strip was from the Fuzznuts crew, and today's is from Andreas Gustafsson of Invincible Jeff. More to come tomorrow!
PodWarp 1999 also continues, with two episodes posted this week - Episode 11, which is the last one with Tauhid Bondia joining us as a regular (fortunately we got to the Good Ship Chronicles discussion before he left!), and Episode 12, where we're joined by voice actor (and founder of SoulGeek) Dino Andrade, and we discuss Ben Paddon's Jump Leads. (And in related news, there's now a PodWarp 1999 forum!)
And finally, the Rumormonger Idol story continues in today's new voting bonuses! At TopWebcomics, there's a bonus strip in which two rumormongers discuss the reason the show has been delayed, and at buzzComix, there's a sprite strip in which two other rumormongers (wearing hats) discuss a possible solution to the problem. Thanks for voting!
2008/05/03
I may operate keys!
PodWarp 1999 also continues, with two episodes posted this week - Episode 11, which is the last one with Tauhid Bondia joining us as a regular (fortunately we got to the Good Ship Chronicles discussion before he left!), and Episode 12, where we're joined by voice actor (and founder of SoulGeek) Dino Andrade, and we discuss Ben Paddon's Jump Leads. (And in related news, there's now a PodWarp 1999 forum!)
And finally, the Rumormonger Idol story continues in today's new voting bonuses! At TopWebcomics, there's a bonus strip in which two rumormongers discuss the reason the show has been delayed, and at buzzComix, there's a sprite strip in which two other rumormongers (wearing hats) discuss a possible solution to the problem. Thanks for voting!
Labels: guest art, podcast, voting bonus
On PodWarp 1999, we recently discussed drawing starfields (and we will again soon). My way of doing it is pretty basic - I leave the area blank when I draw, then when the strip is scanned, cleaned up (if necessary) and colored, I blur the image, then bucket fill the area the starfield needs to go with black. (The blur leaves an outline around anything I've drawn, so the lines don't just become part of the starfield.) Then I put in some white dots, sharpen the image up again (so it doesn't look blurry, but the outline will still be there), and reduce it to the final size for uploading. Probably not the best way of doing it, but I'm used to it, and I get the results I want!
Since the podcast, we've had a couple people point us to this tutorial on making a starfield with Photoshop, and I've given it a try. (I'm using The GIMP, but the same steps work there.) It's probably not something I'd use in the actual strip, but the results do look nice!
Today's first bonus, which I'm sure will come as no surprise, is a starfield picture (with the out-of-gas alien in it, too) - and the second, which has nothing to do with starfields, but does have something to do with the title of this blog post, is a bad translation of today's strip.
2008/05/01
Some site updating
Since the podcast, we've had a couple people point us to this tutorial on making a starfield with Photoshop, and I've given it a try. (I'm using The GIMP, but the same steps work there.) It's probably not something I'd use in the actual strip, but the results do look nice!
Today's first bonus, which I'm sure will come as no surprise, is a starfield picture (with the out-of-gas alien in it, too) - and the second, which has nothing to do with starfields, but does have something to do with the title of this blog post, is a bad translation of today's strip.
Labels: drawing, podcast, voting bonus
I've updated the bonus archive - apparently the last time I did that was in October, so there's a lot of stuff to see there, up to (and including) the current two voting bonuses. I think the next thing on the list to update will be the art page, since the last time I did that was early 2006. (And there'll be more stuff to add there soon, since there's another guest week coming up on Sunday for Station V3's fifth birthday!) Then there are some more changes to come after that, so stay tuned.
And in PodWarp 1999 news, Episode 10 is online - possibly the only sci-fi webcomic podcast to ever mention "Mr. Turnkey," the followup to "In The Year 2525" by Zager and Evans!
2008/04/23
Podwarping
And in PodWarp 1999 news, Episode 10 is online - possibly the only sci-fi webcomic podcast to ever mention "Mr. Turnkey," the followup to "In The Year 2525" by Zager and Evans!
Labels: podcast, site update, voting bonus
Episode 9 of Podwarp 1999 isn't up* yet. This is because we just finished recording it.
Episode 8, on the other hand, is! This is because we recorded it over a week ago.
* Now it is!
2008/04/09
Birthdays, bonuses, and things
Episode 8, on the other hand, is! This is because we recorded it over a week ago.
* Now it is!
Labels: podcast
Somehow I managed to forget Z7's birthday again - a couple days ago (on the 5th) it turned four.
Station V3 will be turning five next month (on the 6th), and once again, the planned birthday festivities include a guest strip week - so if you're interested in drawing a guest strip, let me know! (Or just send one in!)
In other news, today's new bonuses are a bad translation of today's strip, and a sprite strip in which a rumormonger with a hat plans to try out for Rumormonger Idol. Thanks for voting!
And in other other news, another new episode of PodWarp 1999 is up!
2008/04/04
Other things to see (and hear) today
Station V3 will be turning five next month (on the 6th), and once again, the planned birthday festivities include a guest strip week - so if you're interested in drawing a guest strip, let me know! (Or just send one in!)
In other news, today's new bonuses are a bad translation of today's strip, and a sprite strip in which a rumormonger with a hat plans to try out for Rumormonger Idol. Thanks for voting!
And in other other news, another new episode of PodWarp 1999 is up!
Labels: milestone, podcast, voting bonus
Two more contestants try out for Rumormonger Idol in today's bonuses (here and here - thanks for voting, and if you have a bonus request, you can post it here!
Ebb's Children updated today. (First time this year!)
And the latest installment of PodWarp 1999 is now online for your listening pleasure! In this episode, we discuss sci-fi sub-genres, the Deus ex Machina, parody/homage/plagiarism, and continuity.
2008/03/18
Some new stuff
Ebb's Children updated today. (First time this year!)
And the latest installment of PodWarp 1999 is now online for your listening pleasure! In this episode, we discuss sci-fi sub-genres, the Deus ex Machina, parody/homage/plagiarism, and continuity.
Labels: comics, podcast, voting bonus
Time for some new voting bonuses! At TopWebcomics, a sprite strip in which Ebb considers trying out for Rumormonger Idol, and at buzzComix, an alternate version of today's strip, showing how it would have gone in the "regular" V3 universe.
And in other news, the latest episode of PodWarp 1999 is now up, in which we discuss (among other things!) the process of creating an individual page/strip.
2008/03/09
Adventures in Podcasting
And in other news, the latest episode of PodWarp 1999 is now up, in which we discuss (among other things!) the process of creating an individual page/strip.
Labels: podcast, voting bonus
Last month, Ben Paddon of the comic Jump Leads invited me to join him, Tauhid Bondia (Good Ship Chronicles), Jim Francis (Outsider), and Mark Mekkes (Zortic) weekly for a sci-fi webcomic podcast, which we've named PodWarp 1999.
The first installments of the podcast are now online for all to hear - if you're the sort of person who enjoys sci-fi and/or webcomics (and I'm assuming most of you reading this probably are!), listen to an episode or four and let us know what you think!
The first installments of the podcast are now online for all to hear - if you're the sort of person who enjoys sci-fi and/or webcomics (and I'm assuming most of you reading this probably are!), listen to an episode or four and let us know what you think!
Labels: other things, podcast
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