What does that have to do with cartooning? I’m feeling like the comment section is drifting downward and much of that is my fault. Not sure how many noticed, but over the last year or so, I relaxed enforcement of the rules. Threads I would have shut down early I left to burn themselves out. I figured if this is what my readers want, then fine, let them deal with the flame wars. Only it’s usually not the participants who have to deal with the fallout, it’s me. I get emails, direct messages and even phone calls. I get demands that comments be deleted, individuals banned, even full threads be removed. Another reason I’ve come to dislike the comments is The Daily Cartoonist brand has suffered. Without fail, when a thread bursts into flames, I will see several negative Twitter users tweet their disgust. Sometimes they acknowledge it’s the participants that are behaving badly, but more often than not it is “The Daily Cartoonist” in general that is mentioned in bad light. Lastly, I’ve found myself avoiding certain stories – stories that are worthy topics for the blog – but I don’t have the energy or time to deal with the assured flame war.

So, like the wise Oprah, I’m making some changes in hopes of creating a higher level of dialog. You’ve no doubt seen the “like” and “dislike” feature. Truthfully, I’m not a fan of this particular implementation and it won’t be here long. I installed Disqus last weekend with the intent to use that as the new comment system, but pulled back because it lacked the ability to put a “recent comments” feature on the homepage (which is HIGHLY popular). The general aim with any system I adopted is to discourage comment trolls from participating. If we can manage the trolls, meaningful dialog will result.

So here is the road map going forward. A new comment system will be put in place that allows you, the community who use the comments, to help keep the dialog civil. I’m not asking for everyone to agree or be quiet if you disagree – I’m simply asking for you to be respectful of other participants. The future ability to flag bad behavior will hopefully show trolls they’re not welcome and they leave. If they won’t abide by the rules, I’ll permanently block their participation. Currently there are about 30 individuals blacklisted, I suspect in the next few months that list will grow.

Should that fail, my next line of defense will be to move to a moderated system. I’m thinking of a “Letters to the editor” type feature where only comments that are interesting, coherent and/or free of troll bait will be approved.

The last option is to close the comments completely. It’s the nuclear option that I hope I never have to use.

So that’s a very long explanation to the new “like”, “dislike” feature. Thanks for your patience and thanks for your participation. I recognize the comment section is a highly popular feature and I only want to improve it.

Alan

Have you ever wanted to sit in the studio of a famous artist and watch them draw?

Now you can, for the first time with “The Masters Series” exclusively on Schoolism. Hear their stories, learn their techniques, watch them draw.

The Master’s series was created by Stephen Silver who was welcomed into the artist’s homes and spent two days with each of them, interviewing and filming them draw from start to finish. The series was created with three goals in mind- to appeal to the student, the professional and the fan.

You will learn how they got started, what helped them achieve their goals, stories of how there careers unfolded, the mediums they use and much more. Never before have they been filmed like this in their home studios with complete access to their process of drawing. These videos have been made in order to preserve the Legacy of the legends in our industry.

It is one thing to buy their books, and look at their marvelous art. But now for the first time you can see their hands in action, line by line. This is just the beginning, with many more legends to come. The first series will start in January 2010 with the legendary Mort Drucker. Followed up by Stan Goldberg (Archie) and John Reiner (the Lockhorns, Howard Huge).

So without ever looking at the index cards (as I didn’t want to be unduly influenced by their material), I’d stick them right into the return envelope.

I’ve heard variations of that theme – cartoonists not going to collection sites like Cagle.com or comic collection books so as not to unintentionally pick up on an idea that in the future might be questioned as their own.

On the opposite side are cases cited by Mike Lynch where he knows cartoonists that obsess with figuring out if their material is original. He writes,

A couple of my gag cartoonist friends obsess over originality, using their COMPLETE NEW YORKER CARTOONS CDs and Cartoonbank searches to check if their ideas possibly came to Carl Rose, Warren Miller or Mort Gerberg before now.

I’m assuming that we all, A. want to do original work and B. would be unpleased to be called on the carpet if our work was questioned. But where is the balance as a cartoonist? You can’t check all your gags through various databases (think of the time spent on that alone) and even if you did, wouldn’t you be opening yourself up to possibly unconsciously picking up further ideas?

In the interview Jon points out how hard it is to convince people to pay for something when they’ve been getting it for free, which leads to a 1981 report from KRON in San Francisco about The San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle’s forays into online news.

(via boingboing)

Continuing commitments with my own ongoing comic, writing, and film projects have precluded my spending further time on faux criticism, and frankly, I don’t even read newspaper comics anymore. So it’s been a bit hard to get into the swing of things; each time I had wanted to write a new column I found myself dredging through online archives looking for the worst examples of Ziggy or whatever, and that’s not how I want to spend another Saturday, ever.

The adult world is pretty scary right now, and we adults need routine, too. Comic strips are once again part of my morning ritual. It’s grounding.

…

Most people, though, live their daily lives absorbed in more personal headlines. They work out issues with spouses and bosses, snuggle with pets and babies, carpool with life’s smaller crises. The world outside their personal lives explodes with wars and turmoil. Elected leaders do wise as well as stupid things. The economy races up and down. Yet their private narratives move forward, often with little connection to breaking news.

Modern mothers – those who work inside and outside the home – have guilt talk in their thought balloons when their teens get in trouble, just as Winnie Winkle did nearly four decades ago. Comic strips reflect the daily reality where most of us dwell.

A character in “For Better Or For Worse” is mending from a broken heart. Another character in “Funky Winkerbean” is battling cancer. Sally Forth’s mother is driving her crazy. I have come to care about all these folks, and as silly as it seems in our tense time of war and terror, it’s comforting to ponder where their story lines will take them.

Most of you who visit the blog are serious comics fans – not passive readers. We’re groupies. Is our experience the same as Rebecca’s? What do comics mean to you?

What specific tools and products do you use that are so indispensable or enjoyable that you without them, cartooning would be slightly less of an experience than it is now?