We had a lot of fun with this week’s pinup. I had been wanting to do a series of homages to movies and pop culture moments that I love and cherish for quite a while now, and how perfect is it that the wonderful artist Robyn Seale had not only the chops, but the inclination to humor me in this silly obsession of mine? I love her style, especially her colors, on this pinup – I think it captures the mood of the film, while of course, letting the characters of Hot Mess have their own fun.
Just in case you missed them, here are links to our first two pinups:
“Scooziecat is Displeased” by Emily Chan, and
“Spring Day” by Ben Chamberlain
Robyn comes to us from her own webcomic called “The Watcher of Yaathagggu” (pronounced yah-THAG-goo) which I love for a variety of reasons. First, I’m a nut for all things Lovecraftian. If you give me a choice between silly slasher movies and “R” rated stuff like “Saw” or visually tame, but psychologically frightening movies and books, I’ll take the latter every time. For my money, my imagination can scare me far worse than anything I see on screen, which is why the works of H.P. Lovecraft, with their insinuations and suggestive language rather than outright graphic horror, work better and stay with me far longer.
Robyn plumbs the depths of the Lovecraft mythos and gives it her own spin, and what I love about her art is the way she uses color and light to great effect. She’s also proof of my “Grand Theory of Webcomics” – if you have a story you want to tell and are willing to do the work, you can have your very own webcomic that has the potential to reach fans around the world. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never had formal art training, or you have no idea how to create a website. Modern technology has made it so easy to create and publish on the web, that the barriers to entry that used to stop a comic from getting out into the ether (i.e. having a publisher, a distributor, advertisers, etc.) no longer exist. It’s something I’m working to cover more in depth in my blog series of “How to Make a Webcomic” which I hope to launch soon.
From the Yaathagggu website:
Yaathagggu (pronounced yah-THAG-goo) is a city surrounded by eldritch horrors and absolute darkness.
Pieta Gaolwynne is a perimeter watcher, tasked with guarding the city by keeping her lighthouse running and survey the ocean, which stands as the greatest threat.
But things aren’t right with her tower or with the city, and one unlikely protagonist is thrust into a plot of mystery, intrigue and madness.
And below take a look at a few of her pages… enjoy (and click through to see them on her website):
wow, so cool
Great spoof! I can hear the theme music now…
These pictures are all good, but can you guys try to focus on the comics more? :/
I keep waiting for an update… is it still going to be Tuesdays?
Yes, we’re going back to the regular schedule of Tues & Thurs just as soon as we can. Thank you all so much for your patience!!!
I was keeping up with this comic but I am not impressed with the lack of updates. It seems like the creators have lost interest which is disappointing.
there could be a *date* at least, where we can expect something…
Geoff, what’s the hold up? It’s been a while since there’s been an update!
And Pingo, you sound like a shoggy.
Hi Geoff,
Just a suggestion; maybe having a “next update:” or “expected page” date on the front page so people don’t waste their time checking back? And maybe just stick to a once a week update until you build up a buffer of pages (for unforseen circumstances), that way people know what they’re getting and won’t have to wait an unknown period of time. In the webcomic reading world, anything less than a once a week update is a long time, and not keeping to a schedule once you set it makes people niggly, as you’ve probably noticed.
Keep up the awesome work though, really appreciate the effort that goes into this comic and will continue checking back in the meantime!
Or perhaps, because you are not paying for a comic…you could have a little patience.
I just found this today and enjoyed catching up. ^_^ Can’t wait to see more!
So, to begin with, I really love your comic. I think it’s great. As I’m sure you can guess, my only quell is with the updating time, but I can deal with that. I think, for me, the most annoying part was that I didn’t know that tuesday & thursday were the regular update days, and so I’d just check back every day and get more and more annoyed… Maybe you should make the fact that update days are Tuesday & Thursday more well known? Put it on the front page or something? Then people would know when to check and get less annoyed. (Well, maybe.
)
Anyways, it really is a good comic, and the pinups are fun while we wait.
@Ekio, yup I agree.
It’s just nicer to know if there is a hold up, rather than to be left waiting indefinitely for a page to appear.
It’s a delicate balance. I mean, yes, Hot Mess, or any webcomic for that matter, does not inherently provide funds unless it becomes big enough to work on merchandise and donations (I can think of at least one), so real world issues are bound to take priority. Most people that have any common sense will realize that.
On the other hand, satisfying the fanbase is important for success. That’s not easy to do during kind of delay. Posting up an estimated time until next update given the circumstances would be nice. Allow room for error, but a ballpark wouldn’t be a bad idea. Talk of “eventually, eventually, eventually…” turns off fans, fast. I’ve seen things from small webcomics to large forums shutdown due to such seemingly empty assurances.