Robot Beach by Matt Forcum

I have been given the fantastic opportunity to attend the 2010 Festival of Cartoon Art at the Ohio State University this October. From what I have gathered from cartoonists that have attended in the past, it should be an exciting weekend of fellowship with other artists who share a passion for cartooning.

However, this weekend also holds very special meaning for me because Dave Kellet of my favorite webcomic Sheldon will be speaking to a room full of professionals and academics about the future of cartooning. Yes, Dave will be talking about Webcomics.

In his own words:

At the 1989 Festival, Watterson spoke of the incredible potency in comic strip cartooning: This rarest of arts that let one artist, one voice, speak to millions. This artform that lets the personal outlook shine through, where so many other mass media arts do so by committee.

So to be invited, some twenty one years later, to speak at the very same gathering of professionals and academics, is magical to me. (It’s humbling beyond words, too, in a stomach-churning way…but let’s focus on the magical aspect of it.)

Because, the funny thing? The thing I want to talk about? Is actually that very same Watterson speech from 1989. Or rather, to offer a loving and respectful rebuttal to it, from 21 years on. I want to speak to his concerns about the space allotted comic strips in newspapers; about zombie comic strips still being drawn long after their original creator had died; about why so many features have stale, interchangeable voices; or why so many are merely advertisements for dolls and greeting cards; or why comic strips in general have been on this slow, downward trend of diminishment in American life for the past 20-30 years

Because basically, I’m going to talk about this incredible change of fortune for the comic strip. I’m going to talk about Webcomics.

This means a lot to me because I feel that, in many ways, Dave Kellet is the spiritual successor to Watterson. The work he produces speaks to the adults who grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes, as well as their kids who are now turning away from newspapers and looking to webcomics for their cartooning entertainment. Plus, Dave is not only a very funny guy and a talented artist, but he has the educational background and the knowledge to speak with long time professionals and educators on their level about comics. Webcartoonists have been looking for an “ambassador” to represent us and “legitimize” us for a very long time, and I think that Dave Kellet may just be the man for the job.

So anyway, It should be a very interesting weekend for webcomics and I am very excited to get the opportunity to go!

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Hey gang, Just a quick heads up to let you know that there will not be a new comic today. Unfortunately this comic is kinda a side project for me, and I work a job where my hours are rather liquid. (for example, I worked a 15 hour work day yesterday, hence, no comic today.) Occasionally these two worlds bump into to each and the comic will always have to give way to “real work”.

Looking ahead into the rest of June, I see a great number of potential conflicts to get in the way of a regular, timely update schedule, but please do not fear. I am not going on hiatus and I am not going to stop updating as often as I possibly can. You may see me miss the occasional strip, and you may see more Black and White strips go up before I can get around to posting a color version. To compensate for all of this, I plan on doing more traditional blogging so look for some cool stuff in the blog section of this site in the coming weeks.

However, please know this: I am extremely thankful that I get the opportunity to draw this strip and I am extremely thankful that all of you stop by so often to read and comment on my latest offerings. Please continue to check back often! I will still be here!

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Just a quick heads up. In the next week or so the release schedule is going to change up here a bit. Larry’s Lazy Sunday Strip is going to a more occasional release schedule (Actually it already has) and the regular weekly updates will be increasing from two days a week to THREE days a week! You can soon expect to see a new comic on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays! Whoo!

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Saturday, May 1st is Free Comic Book Day! Your local comic book shop will have plenty of free comics available, but if you can’t make it out there, why not download a free book from my friends over at Wishtales Publishing.

All three book offerings are excellent and I highly recommend everyone check them out!

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Well, my first comic con experience was a good one. My buddy Ben and I traveled north to Chicago for C2E2. I saw lots of cool stuff and met some great people. The Half Pixel crew were great. I got an opportunity to thank Brad, Kris, and Scott personally for putting together the Webcomics Weekly podcast, the book, and the site. I also took the opportunity to pick up a copy of Truth, Justin and the American Way, as well as the complete collection of books of Kris Straub’s excellent Starslip Crisis. Here is a picture of Chris drawing an awesome sketch of Mr. Jinx in my sketchbook:

Next I stopped by Dawn Griffin’s booth and grabbed a copy of her childrens book for my daughter. She was very nice and had a really great setup at her table. I wish I would have taken a picture of it.

I tracked down Ramon Perez in the artist alley and got this simply amazing sketch of Leonard the snail lounging on the beach:

Ramon was just the nicest guy in the world and was very patient with me as I awkwardly showed him my site on my iPhone. I have been a huge fan of his since I started reading webcomics and so it was great to get a chance to meet him in person.

I also stopped by Danielle Corsetto’s booth and grabbed a great sketch of Jamie ready for a day at the beach and looking sexy in her swimsuit (McPedro the cactus sure seems to like it):

Her booth was packed with people wanting to talk to her. It was very cool to see a webcartoonist getting so much attention at a convention packed with many famous actors and traditional comic artists.

All in all, it was a really fantastic weekend. I had a great time and I am very glad that I had the opportunity to take a trip to Chicago and meet a few of the great artists that I have been following online for a while now.

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