Places to go from here
Journal comics on the web
|
Leo Leowald, Germany. Very nice guy from Cologne, a young father. I visited him, his wife and his son in 2005. He is incredibly productive, actually updating his Flash-based journal comic every day. I have no idea how he keeps it up so consistently, though. If you don’t speak German yet, here’s a good reason to learn it.
his guest strips 2005 |
|
Margreet de Heer, Netherlands. Very regularly updated daily journal comic in very nice grayscales. Mostly in Dutch. |
|
James Kochalka, USA. James Kochalka Superstar is very famous. So famous in fact, that trying to describe him comes close to blasphemy. Not only does he draw his Sketchbooks Diaries, he also makes weird music, my favorite being “Ocean of Girls,” for obvious reasons. |
|
Magnus Hølvold, Norway. Magnus is this nice blond guy from Bergen, Norway. We love each other so much that sometimes, we shoot each other to pieces in BZFlag. I visited him in August 2005. recently reactivated his journal comic, “Honestly.”
his guest strips 2004 | 2005 |
|
Dan Hernandez, USA. Very talented and nice guy; consequently, he draws a very cool, classic journal comic. :-) Can’t seem to decide whether he spells dreadful with l or ll, says the extra l is for love, though.
his guest strips 2004 | 2005 |
|
Floor de Goede, Netherlands. If you happen to be into journal comics, you ought to learn Dutch. Why? Well, there are a lot of JCs in the Low Lands. And this is one of the most popular and most regularly updated ones, about Flo and his boyfriend in Amsterdam. Also available in print, by the way. |
|
Michiel van den Pol, Netherlands. Yet another example of a really great Dutch journal, complete with daily updates. I discovered Michiel’s comics in a comicbook store in Amsterdam, and now I have him in my bookmarks. |
|
Die Rübe, Germany. German journal comic, mostly in German, lots of inside jokes, so it’s difficult to follow at times. Rübe acts incognito, his real name is one of the industry’s best-kept secrets.
his guest strips 2005 |
|
Denise Tan, Singapore. Very young, cute and loveable Denise Tan straight from Singapore. Helped me out with mekka blue and other comics a couple of times.
her guest strips 2005 |
|
Kathleen Verhetsel, Belgium. When it comes to Flemish girls, I tend to get a little sentimental… In any event, Kathleen a.k.a. as Kleintje draws a JC with a similar theme as mekka blue. And of course, go learn some Dutch in case you do not speak it already. |
|
Chuck Riffenburg, USA. Nice, politically conscious guy who lives in Chicago, IL. Loves cats, acts on stage, does lots of things. Has a great, simple, and consistent drawing style, updates often. His girlfriend Mandy draws too.
his guest strips 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|
Fafé, France. One of the few French websites I read on a regular basis. Malheureusement, my French has become terribly rusty. |
|
Ryan Pequin, Canada. Nice young man from Canada, very likeable, straightforward, down-to-earth drawing style, frequent updates, quite funny at times. Ryan now hosts the Journal Comic Jam on his website. |
|
Jeffery Manley, USA. A guy from Michigan who became a father some time ago. Recently released the first year of comic strips as a book. |
|
Brian Fukushima, Canada. Used to be a very productive comic artist, but is also known for his music. The comic is actually called, “Salt for Sore Eyes,” the website “Bottomless Pop.” Don’t ask me why.
his guest strips 2003 |
|
Jhosephine Tanuwidjaya, Indonesia. Calls herself Jingu J or simply Jingu. Very young, very talented comic artist from Jakarta. Huge archives.
her guest strips 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|
Maggie McFee, USA. Boston’s radical left-wing lesbian feminist, really cool woman. Says her journal comic was inspired by mekka blue, great artist nonetheless. Updates much too rarely.
her guest strips 2004 | 2005 my guest strips 2004 |
|
Barbara Nedved, Austria. As far as I know, this is the only other Austrian journal comic on the web apart from mekka blue. Very young, very talented graphic designer and painter; only recently graduated from the very same graphic art school I teach at… go figure!
her guest strips 2004 | 2005 |
|
Neil Babra, USA. Very cool comic artist; amazing technique, unbelievable colors. Had been forced to take down his website in 2003, but is now back, alive, and kicking again. Used to have a huge archive of which only a few bits and pieces have been put back online, reformatted to fit the new vertical layout.
his guest strips 2003 |
|
Michael Jantze, USA. Simply classic comic strips, released in both electronic and paper format. Michael grew up in Normal, Illinois, hence the name. |
|
Elaine Hornby, USA. Amazing journal comic, complete with that occasional hiatus, and a very good, ambiguous title. Unfortunately not updated any longer, but has been around ever since June 2002, if I’m not mistaken.
her guest strips 2003 | 2004 |
|
Kean Soo, Canada. By all standards, he’s one of the best around, he started his journal comic almost at the same time as I, but he used to update far more frequently than I ever did. Unfortunately he stopped his JC a while ago, but the archives are absolutely worth your time.
his guest strips 2003 my guest strips 2003 |
|
Jeremy Clarke, Canada. Unfortunately, he stopped the comic after a year or so, but fortunately, he kept writing his blog. I remember that I once had an instant messenging discussion about determinism with him.
his guest strips 2003 |
|
Ryan Sias, USA. Ryan Sias is a genius when it comes to drawing. Not only does he design animated characters for movies like Robots, or the animated sequence in Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, he also draws for Nickelodeon magazine, and makes these cool dolls. I will never forgive him for stopping his journal comic, Urban Observations, though. Gee thanks he kept the archives online. And he also still owes me a guest strip, but maybe I can convince him to do one in the upcoming session. :-) |
|
Les McClaine, USA. I consider him one of my all-time journal comic heroes. He draws a lot of great stuff, like Highway 13, or Jonny Crossbones, I wish I had his talent. His journal comic, simply titled “Life with Leslie,” and unfortunately discontinued, also appeared in dead tree format.
his guest strips 2003 |
|
Drew Weing, USA. He is the absolute Godfather of all journal comics. After all, his comic is called, The Journal Comic. Started in March 2002, unfortunately discontinued in July 2003. Luckily, he kept the archives online. |
|
David Twomey, United Kingdom. David Twomey’s comic journal is another gem on the internets, very unfortunately not updated anymore. He has a unique drawing style, so please shed a tear for “em world.”
his guest strips 2004 |
Other webcomics & cartoons
|
Herr Metzger. Julian Nariño’s fabulous Herr Metzger, a German pig in Florida looking for a ladyfriend. Don’t worry, it’s in English. Mostly.
his guest strips 2004 |
|
Boy on a Stick and Slither. Filthy rich and precocious green snake vs. poor boy on a stick, by Steven L. Cloud. Very classic, smart comic with political undertones and class war implications.
his guest strips 2004 |
|
Average Jane. Alexandria Lee-Goldman’s an amazingly young, amazingly skilled artist. Average Jane is a comic strip with reverse genders. Alex a.k.a. Wednesday Law thankfully revived it in April 2006, but unfortunately ditched the archives, because she wants to re-do all the strips. Crazy, crazy girl.
her guest strips 2004 |
|
John and John a.k.a. Sick Comic. Dutch humor—you have to see it in order to believe it. If you’re easily offended, do not click this link. Dio van der Veen is a very cool dude, and I am very happy we could exchange guest strips a few times.
his guest strips 2004 | 2005 my guest strips 2005 | 2006 |
|
Little Gamers. Pontus lives in Malmö, Sweden and does this comic strip which seems to be very popular among computer nerds on both sides of the Big Pond; chances are you know it already better than you do mekka blue. I visited him in 2005 and helped him clean out his flat.
his guest strips 2004 | 2005 my guest strips 2006 |
|
Deprodan. Daniel Spreitzer is one of my students. One of those with some talent. And if he doesn’t update his comic any time soon, I’ll fail him. Promise. |
|
White Ninja. Black and white, intellectually abstract and bizarre humor, not for everyone. But if you’re into Monty Python, you’re probably into this, too ;-) |
|
Diesel Sweeties. Very popular pixel comic, cool t-shirts, made on a Mac. Takes a little time to get the hang of it, though; one should start reading from the beginning. When I asked Richard Stevens whether I could still take part in a guest strip week that took place on the web site, he was skeptical at first, but the bra I drew changed his mind.
my guest strips 2004 |
|
Count Your Sheep. Bed-time stories of a little girl named Katie, her imagined friend Ship (a sheep), and her mother Laurie.
my guest strips 2005 |
|
Her! A.k.a. Girl vs. Pig. Very violent comic, irregular and at times infrequent updates, but has a cool randomizing feature.
my guest strips 2004 |
|
Sinfest. You probably know this one by Tatsuya Ishida anyway. And if you don’t, then you must click the link now. |
|
Fokke en Sukke. Dutch cartoon, appears in Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad, in Dutch. If you happen to speak Dutch, you probably know them anyway. There is an English website about them, though. |
|
Nozzman. While we’re at it: another Dutch cartoon, in Dutch. Nozzman’s creator Bram van Rijen lives in Rotterdam and draws the weirdest things in his cartoons; the mother of weird drawing styles. Well, Dutch humor; very recognizable, though. For those unfortunate amongst you who do not speak Dutch, there is an occasionally updated English version, too.
his guest strips 2004 | 2005 |
|
Lectrr. We keep the language, but change the country: this is the absolutely weird but incredibly funny Lectrr from good old Flanders. Draws cartoons that crack cou up. Don’t ask me what that name means. |
|
Zieke hond. Dutch cartoons, very weird, very sick, very Dutch, hehehe. The name literally translates to, “Sick Dog.” Figures. |
|
Beck. Weird German cartoons, very funny. |
Weblogs and other stuff
|
Claartje van Swaaij. Claartje (a.k.a. Cableclair) is Holland’s biggest Jim Carrey fan, a budding actress, stand-up comedian, and she very occasionally updates her drawn journal, which, technically, is not exactly what you call a journal comic, but then again, who cares about those technicalities, anyway?
her guest strips 2005 |
|
ionoi. Aldo Tolino is a teacher at the Graphische art school in Vienna, which makes him my work colleague. His blog is mainly a linkdump, and a very interesting one, if I may say so. |
|
Suspicious Eyes. This is my highschool buddy Martin Skopal’s blog, and yours truly occasionally adds his two cents. Contrary to what the title suggests, it’s kept (almost) entirely in German. Currently being redesigned, that’s why it’s offline. |
|
nSonic podcast. A nice guy and Scotland fanatic called Boris from the vicinity of Göttingen, Germany. I visited him in 2005. One of the few podcasts (language: German) I listen to. Why? Well, he picks great interview partners, doesn’t he? And guess who drew his b&w portrait?
his gueststrips 2005 interview February 2006, part 1 and part 2 |
|
Motherfiver. Andrew Bergdahl is from… well, where exactly? Doesn’t matter, somewhere in the States in any event. He used to draw the hilarious Batman Remix, now he draws Bit Parody. Keeps cracking me up with his guest strips. Hahaha.
his gueststrips 2003 | 2005 interview January 2006 |
|
tera. Yet another collaborative blog that I used to co-blog for; run by a friend of mine called LColocho, who now lives in Leipzig, Germany. It was the official mekka blue blog for a while, so you can find lots of background info on mekka blues #100 through #233. |