At one of my past jobs, we talked about the idea of sideways energy. I can’t remember which motivational speaker deserves the attribution (and a quick Google search turned up nothing useful), but the idea basically states that you can get really busy and accomplish a lot of things without ever achieving your main goal. So, even though you’re marking things off your to-do list and feeling great about all of these little accomplishments, you’re still not doing what you set out to do. You look busy and successful, but you’re going nowhere.

So, I am following what I hope to be wisdom and scaling back in my online posting to five days a week instead of seven in order to weed out some of my own sideways energy. We’ve been ramping up some new materials over at the webcomic Next Door Comics, and I can’t wait to see all of that go live. Ryan Morris and I are working on the next issue of The Hidden, and you can keep up with all of the latest on that over at our Facebook page for our publishing group Deaf Samurai. I’m also working on another project, which I hope to have ready for the NOLA Comic-Con in May.

As the year presses on and your New Year’s resolutions begin to weigh on you, take a look to see if you’re actually accomplishing the main goal you set out to achieve. If you are, stick to it! If not, don’t be stubborn like me. Get rid of that sideways energy.

One of the most memorable aspects of today’s show was the costumes. You never know how many people are going to be brave enough to dress up like their favorite character, but there was a strong showing of fan groups (Ghostbusters, SteamPunk, Star Wars) and individuals. My favorite group was a family of four that dressed up like the X-Men — even their little daughters. I’ve cropped them out of the photo out of respect for privacy concerns, but you can see how much attention to detail they put into their costumes. I also saw Gambit and Lady Captain America in the picture above. Everyone that I asked was really cool about posing for pictures, and I saw several others dressed up who were very kind to other fans.

I’ve been to comic conventions in a few states now, and I have to say that this show stood out from the others in that this is the only show where I’ve seen a Mardi Gras krewe parading around the convention floor. You can see from the picture below that the Krewe of Chewbacchus included costumes from several different shows and sci-fi ideas. I didn’t get a good shot of the large X-Wing complete with R2D2, but you can see robots and Avatar and Jedi (oh my!).

Comic book conventions are a lot of fun when you can tell that others are enthusiastic about the culture, and New Orleans did not disappoint.

Click on any image to see the full-size version.

But how do you get your readers there in the first place? Sure, you should seek every possible webcomic list and get your name, description, and URL out there, but getting sustainable traffic takes more than a few listings.

Trying to draw all of your traffic from a webcomic list creates an atmosphere where all of your potential readers already read webcomics. People have a limited amount of time and a limited attention span. If your potential readers are dedicated followers of a half dozen webcomics, they may not have the time or interest to pick up another webcomic.

Let’s look at it another way. Let’s say your webcomic is the funniest story about chinchillas that the world has ever known. You are certain that there is a rabid fanbase for chinchillas out there on the web. You just have to get your humor out there. You should certainly find lists and communities online that highlight chinchilla humor, but you also need your site to show up in the search engines for keyword phrases like “chinchilla comics” and “chinchilla jokes.”

Enter WordPress plugins. While WordPress and ComicPress are fantastic management systems, they do not come optimized for search engines upon your initial install. While there are several SEO plugins, I recommend FV All in One SEO Pack. The plugin focuses on creating a meta description tag and meta keywords for each page / post / comic. While keywords are much less important than they used to be, some search engines still rely on them.

Using our example of the chinchilla webcomic once more, I would first access my most recent comic strip in the admin section of ComicPress and scroll to the bottom of the screen where all of the necessary fields are located. Since meta description tags should be no more than 160 characters, I would enter something like, “Charlie the Chinchilla learns that Vinnie is not a fan of weasels and rocket launchers.” In that one sentence, I gave Google and the other search engines the keywords I want them to focus on for this particular page: Charlie, Chinchilla, Vinnie, weasels, rocket launchers. To further help clarify, I would add those same keywords to my meta keywords section (or simply your post tags, depending upon your configuration).

Ideally, the meta description you enter is the description that Google will use when it lists off search results for users, though this is not always the case. Some search engines display the meta description tag more often than others. Each time you add another webcomic with a meta description that includes the phrase “rockets launchers” (or whichever keyword you’re aiming for), the more likely you are to show up for that term in a Google search.

Questions? Concerns? Thoughts? Please share in the comments section.

No chinchillas were harmed in the writing of this article.

>>Stay tuned to MWR.me to find more free ways to gain an audience for your webcomics and other creative works.

This may be old news to you, so why am I doing an article about this now? Hashtags have been around for a while.

Well, I want to focus on relevant hashtags for writers, for comics and webcomics in today’s Twitter Hash Tag Report. This is certainly not an exhaustive list of every related search, but all of the ones suggested have enough activity to make them using.

Writers

I recently started using a couple of these tags, and the use of #FlashFriday was what originally gave me the idea for this post. Upon doing further research, I found the #PostaDay2011 tag that matched up with my New Year’s resolution. To see how these tags are used, jump over to Twitter and enter them into the search bar.

Some of these terms are pretty broad like #blog. You’ll generally find several posts per minute with this term, and your contribution could easily be lost in the shuffle. Try combinations to better target users. Change the word slightly to get #blogging, and far fewer users post (and search) for this keyword, but your listing will stand out more.

Comics

I was rather surprised that there were so few comics-related hashtags that had enough activity to be listed. After all, Marvel has nearly 100,000 followers, and Brian Michael Bendis has over 30K himself. The super-popular webcomic Penny Arcade has over 8,000 followers as well.

Suggestion

Do you have other Twitter trends / hashtags that you would like to see? I’m considering making this a regular segment, and I’d love to hear your opinion.

I had to know what would happen to Charles Xavier. So I did what everyone did in the 90’s for an important issue: I bought multiple copies. Seeing that I was on a middle schooler’s budget, I only bought three issues, which left one copy to read and two to save and sell later on for exorbitant amounts of money. (I still have all three issues, by the way.) Xavier died, and the Age of Apocalypse began.

With the Age of X set to begin in March of 2011, I wanted to take a look back at another dystopian view of Marvel’s mutants to see how an event from 1995 looks in today’s standards.

A Quick Summary of the Age of Apocalypse

Charles Xavier is killed in the past, before the X-Men and any other superhero teams are ever formed. Magneto becomes the leader of a harsher group of X-Men. These are not the benevolent do-gooders of Xavier. These are soldiers, trained to deal with threats in the ways that are necessary. Only Bishop, a character who became unhinged in time because of his past time travel and other complicated factors, remained as a link to the X-Men universe that we previously knew.

In the new world, all of the comic book titles changed. Some were obviously more creative than others.

• The Uncanny X-Men became Astonishing X-Men.
• X-Men became Amazing X-Men.
• X-Factor became Factor-X.
• Excalibur became X-Calibre.
• Cable became X-Man.
• X-Force became Gambit and the X-Ternals.
• Wolverine became Weapon X.
• Generation X became Generation Next.

Upon re-reading all of the titles in preparation for this article, I was surprised how much these storylines intersected. This entire event was carefully orchestrated so that each team had a crucial role in the struggle against Apocalypse. I believe that you could certainly enjoy the tale without having to know what happened in each book, but the experience is certainly richer for knowing.

The Crazy 90’s

In looking back at the event, some books obviously hold up better than others over the passage of time. The Age of Apocalypse is not as over the top as the Image founders brand new series at the time, but there are still plenty of characteristics that plainly root the series in the era.

Apparently, at the time, nearly every book had to have a two-page spread close to the beginning of the book. Not only was the two-spread required, but a good portion of the issues required readers to physically turn the book sideways to follow the orientation of the art. Again, this wasn’t quite at the level of Jim Lee’s double-page foldouts in Wildcats, but the standard practice of switching orientation is no longer the mainstream approach to comics.

Another clear indication of the time period was the heavy tone that saturated the entire series. I can easily imagine a bunch of Gen X kids sitting around listening to their Nirvana and Pearl Jam CD’s while reading this series. Even though comics had become darker since the 80’s, the 90’s reveled in the mopey, woe-is-me type of attitude. I actually liked a lot of the storyline and think much of it held up over time, but it is humorous now that comics reflected then current culture with such a brooding story.

The other dead giveaway that this is a 90’s book? The fashion! Every man has long, grungy hair that makes him look like he wondered out of a garage band and into a superhero team. In fact, Cyclops lets his hair hang over one side of his face to cover his scars and missing eye. There are a few characters with “cyber” arms and / or legs, but they are mercifully few. Wolverine was probably one of my favorite re-designs, but Jean Grey looked decidedly 80’s depending on who drew her. Her shoulder pads and her hair grew wildly puffy in some issues.

While several artists followed the overhyped muscles for men and hourglass figures for women, not all followed suit. The artist whose work stands out the most for me was Chris Bachalo on Generation Next. The funny part about that is that I really didn’t get his work at the time, but there is a dynamic quality and intricacy of design that separates itself from the rest of the series.

A Period of Transition: the 80’s vs. the 2000’s

The writing of the issues throughout the Age of the Apocalypse is truly intriguing compared to today’s books. Writers heavily employ the use of thought balloons throughout the series, while they are hardly ever used today. They either use thought balloons, or characters will just talk to themselves for a while – out loud – so they can express their feelings. Of course, another character is inevitably bound to come walking in to comment about the way the other person feels. It’s interesting when to modern writing because the characters are so entirely direct and plain in their thoughts and monologues that it feels like the writer is just stopping the story for a moment so that he can explain the plot for a while.

Now, this was a time when many more kids were reading these titles, so allowances had to be made to make the story more obvious. Since older audiences are now the primary readership of the X-Men books, you can’t make a direct comparison between the two. It’s like comparing the 80’s TV version of the A-Team with the show Lost. The plot complexity is not quite the same!

One notable exception to this style is young writer Warren Ellis on the X-Calibre title. I don’t think he ever uses the thought bubble through the 4-issue run.

Big Events

Just from looking through the creators who worked on these issues, it’s interesting to see the lengths Marvel went to in order to keep books coming out on time. Gambit and the X-Ternals switched artists halfway through. Several issues of all titles have multiple writer, pencillers, and inkers. At the time I was reading the series, I didn’t really notice. It seems much more apparent now.

What Did I Learn?

I’m a sucker for X-Men alternate universes. I bought the Exiles book when it was out. I read the House of M, and I’ll read the Age of X. Even though I don’t read many superhero books anymore, I’ll be there this March, ready to scoop up all of the issues. Marvel… you know me too well.

Butternut Squash

http://www.butternutsquash.net/ – Butternut Squash is a webcomic that, for all intents and purposes, does not look like it is going to continue anymore. But… there is a whole lot of backmatter here that is definitely worth checking out. I’m going to warn you up front. This is crass material, and not everyone is going to enjoy this. But if you’re a sicko like me, you’ll laugh your head off.

Butternut Squash focuses on a few guys and their attempts at relationships with the opposite sex. There are some other challenges in their lives, but it pretty much boils down to scoring with the women.

Sheldon Comics

http://www.sheldoncomics.com/ – I have only one family friendly recommendation on this entire list, and this is it. Sheldon is a wonderful comic about a kid and his duck and all of the little adventures that they become involved in. The premise that explains how they are able to go on all of these adventures is plausible and ridiculous all at the same time. Sheldon, a 10-year-old boy, started his own software company, and he became a billionaire. Hey… it could happen!

From this list, Sheldon is the most reminiscent of the newspaper comic strips that we all grew up loving, but Sheldon is able to have wackier humor than would probably be permitted in the newspaper, with sci-fi or geeky jokes that may not be consider “mainstream” enough. The jokes can also depend on your familiarity with the week’s current storyline. For instance, a particular gag may not be as funny to you if you haven’t read the last two day’s strips.

I’ve been a fan of this strip for a long time. The artist is a real pro, and the series has a lot of heart.

Sheldon updates daily.

FreakAngels

http://www.freakangels.com – FreakAngels is one of the highest quality sci-fi / drama available online right now. Written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield, the story focuses on England after a flood of epic proportions put the entire island under enough water that only the top halves of the buildings in London are visible. Around the time of the flooding, 12 special children were born. These children, now young adults, all have telepathy and telekinetic powers of some sort.

This is not your typical superhero story of capes and tights. These are young, selfish individuals all trying to make their way in a post-apocalyptic setting. Some of the characters indulge in their various vices in an attempt to cope while others organize and try to protect small pockets of people left in the city.

FreakAngels is an epic, sprawling tale that I’ve enjoyed for a long time now. Even if you aren’t into reading comics online, you can find the story collected in trade paperbacks from Avatar comics.

FreakAngels updates once a week with 6 full comic-book pages of content.

Gutters

http://www.the-gutters.com – Gutters is one of those webcomics that plays on a lot of inside jokes. If you’re not aware of what is happening in comic books, then you likely will not enjoy this series. If you read a few comics and / or listen to a podcast, then you’ll have enough current knowledge to keep up with the humor. Jokes include everything from commentary on marketing campaigns to blasting recent storylines and poking fun at creators.

This strip often makes me laugh out loud. You should be probably be careful where you read the jokes. Some punchlines occasionally involve some over-the-top violence and can often involve strong language.

Gutters updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Anyway, looking ahead at the New Year, I think I’m going to use Saturdays as my lazy writing days. This is where I can just get on the blog here and just ramble about what’s going on in life. My goal is to provide carefully prepared material throughout the rest of the week, but Saturdays will be lazy. I guarantee.

Hope everyone is well on this first day of the year. I look forward to a weekend of relaxing after a busy holiday season, and I am sure you have been busy as well.

In the coming week, I have a few posts already planned that I am pretty excited about. Every Monday marks a new Next Door comic strip, so be sure to keep an eye out for the conclusion of the holiday “Mysterious Package” storyline. In the middle of the week, I’ll be here to prove my comic book nerdiness with a comprehensive look back at the Age of Apocalypse storyline from Marvel Comics. And then Friday will be the first of a hopefully weekly effort at creating flash fiction. Flash fiction is a complete story told in 1,000 words or less. I’ve written a few short stories recently that were only slightly longer than flash fiction requirements, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with trying to pack as much story into as few words as possible.

As always, I’ll still be working on comic book reviews and work-related blog entries in the coming week, I will be sure to post links at Twitter. I am excited this week to return to my comic book store to catch up with regular issues. In the midst of the holiday season, I really fell behind. That whole gift-buying thing sort of used my allowance, but I’m ready to catch up with the latest issues of Sixth Gun, American Vampire, X-Force, and Morning Glories.

I did, of course, get some great trade paperbacks for Christmas, and I will be sure to write about them as I get them read. So far, I’ve been able to read through Secret War from Marvel and the first trade of BPRD from the Hellboy universe. Secret War was especially interesting as it reminded me of Queen and Country with superhero powers layered on top. Secret War is about the discovery of a 9/11-type scenario, and Nick Fury uses all of his means – legal and otherwise – to help prevent serious destruction. I only heard of it because of playing the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 video game, and I was very stoked to get to see the full material in del Otto’s beautiful art style. Very few people can actually make painted artwork look good in comics, and he entirely succeeds.

Looking forward to the year ahead, and I’ll talk with you soon!

It’s finally here, in full color and in physical, fresh-off-the-press form. The Hidden is published and will soon be available for sale online and in select stores.

I can’t say how much it means to have a project done. Oftentimes, I begin artistic projects only to see them sputter out or meet with seemingly endless delays. Artistic projects are difficult, and that is why it is a real accomplishment to finish anything.

Ryan and I are working on ways to distribute the book online and in stores. In fact, there may even be a convention in our future.

NaNoWriMo

Some stories lend themselves to comics, while other, longer stories need to be told in novels. Since I’m not independently wealthy and cannot afford to hire an artist full-time to do nothing but churn out my ideas, I figured that a return to prose might do me some good.

Living in New Orleans has been an inspiring experience. This city is not only a tourist attraction but also a fabulous setting for fiction. I recently found a list of classic movies set in New Orleans, and there are tons of modern moves coming out of the Crescent City every year. (btw – Christopher Nolan’s next Batman movie might spend some time here!) I’ve also read some amazing comic books set here like NOLA from Boom Studios and Sweets from Image Studios. The point being… New Orleans plays host to a wide variety of story types.

In the last few months, I came up a story idea that’s already seen a few different variations in both genre and medium in the planning stages, but I have finally found the means and motivation to complete it. Enter NaNoWriMo. November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short), and the goal is to write 50,000 words. Last year I gave it a shot and got lost in the plot after about 20,000 words or so. This year, I am coming in with a full outline. I’m no Stephen King, so I need as detailed a road map as possible. Normally, my fiction writing is incredibly focused on getting one idea across, and I often miss great opportunities for character-building and world-building along the way. This story idea has lot of side roads that I can choose to help describe my version of New Orleans in both the past and the present.

The hardest part now is waiting until November 1st, but the support of writing with a community both online and in the read world makes it worth the wait.