New Links to Add

It was a major oversight that I did not include Hyperbole and a Half and The Oatmeal in my initial link dump.  Doctor cat I just found, and it is so stupidly adorable, I just had to share.

http://bizarrocomics.com


http://autistscorner.blogspot.com/2010/04/things-you-dont-see-every-day.html
The Autists Corner.  Blog about Autism, Feminism and Literature.  This post is about a feminist comic short featuring hte hellfire club.

Zen Pencils

I just got turned on to this website: Zen Pencils, where the cartoonist, Gavin Aung, takes inspirational quotes and draws cartoons based on them.  I think this is a fantastic idea, and he pulls it off well.  I was originally linked to this based on his Bill Watterson comic.

Calvin and Hobbes is very likely the best newspaper comic ever and I recommend you check out the Bill Watterson comic.

Dinosaur Comics

No other strip makes me laugh out loud as consistently as does Dinosaur Comics.  For a good example, take a sample - of comics with the word 'frig' in them. 

Dinosaur Comics is also incredibly prolific.  Thousands of comics, easily winning the race for quantity, in terms of funny comics and in terms of total comics.  I also think it may still win the prize for comedic density;  despite its great volume, Dinosaur comics are frequently hilarious.

Zany is a word I would use to describe Dinosaur comics.  I'd also use the words 'educational,' 'clever'  and 'funny.'  How's that for a word combination? 

Also, the products, oh the products.  There have been some great T-shirts available. But recently, the most incredible innovations in Dinosaur Comics products have appeared.  One is the Dinosaur comics, Panel 2 sticky notes.  Never before has there been a more appropriate product for a comic strip. 

However, this wonderfully clever and thoroughly awesome product may have been eclipsed by the even closer to perfect: Dinosaur Comics White Board!  WOW!  What a brilliant product, and I want three for myself, and one for everyone I know who has an awesome sense of humor. 

I don't often like to hock the merchandise of others, but Ryan North is a funny, funny man, and I thank him for all of the many free comics, and the laughs and thoughts contained therein.  The least I can do is to purchase and promote his comics. 

This post will be revised to include pictures and links when I am no longer at work.  Updated:  Nevermind, I just went ahead and put the pictures and links in while I'm here at work. Hah! 

I encourage you to click all the links I provided.  I can almost guarantee you will increase your happiness index if you do so.

-D


7/10/2013 Update:  Another really great search to do is for the word 'balls.'  And hilarity ensues...

Zebra Girl

Zebra Girl is the first serialized webcomic I ever got into.  I was going to call it a 'serious' webcomic, but it started out being quite silly.  It is an old comic (started in May, 2000) and over the years it has evolved into a more generally serious tone, with a refined art style and a lush mythos.

When I first got into Zebra Girl, I marathoned the first five or so years of comics.  It doesn't take long to get going, and there is plenty of content when you start from the beginning.  I recommend giving it a go.  If you like it at all, please know that it only gets better.

The tragedy of Zebra Girl is that, for all its quality illustration and blooming storyline, the creator, Joe England, has had less and less time to keep it updated.  He has also made it clear that he doesn't make a dime off of his work with Zebra Girl.   For these reasons I would like to promote Zebra Girl more than any other comic.  I think that Joe has real storytelling talent, and I'd like him to get more recognition for his work.

Strip Search: Revisited

The show is drawing to a close, and I find myself deeply enmeshed in the drama and excitement.  I really have to hand it to the Penny Arcade crew and all of the artists.  Everyone comes across so well.  The crew seems to be editing to their benefit, rather than to play up drama, backstabbing and all other trashy tropes that reality TV is well known for.  Kudos and Bravo.

Of course, another trope of reality TV is that as a viewer, I have to resist the feeling that I *know* the artists, based on their performances on the show.  I am always gripped with this feeling after I watch a couple episodes.  I think this is normal, after all, how well adapted to watching people move around on a glowing box can I expect myself to be?  Our chromosomes are the product of millions of years of evolution, as our human instincts.  Motion pictures have only been around for a hundred years or so.  But I digress.

the purpose of this rationalization is that it helps me to control my behavior so that I don't turn into a weird stalkery fan guy thing that I fear these artists are now plagued by.  However, I do want to give a little feedback, a vote of confidence and otherwise.  Though I suppose the best thing to do in that case would be to buy some shit from each of the artists stores... Yes, I suppose that is the best vote of confidence.

So, without further ado, here are select products from each artist:

Tavis:

 http://thunderskullpress.storenvy.com/products/1168196-i-expect-you-to-die

Monica:

http://phuzzycomics.storenvy.com/products/340975-3-buttons-for-5

Erika:

http://erikamoen.myshopify.com/products/dar-volume-one

Amy:

http://cardiganweather.com/2013/05/09/no-big-deal-part-1/

http://amytfalcone.com/about/

She doesn't appear to have any products, so here's a link to her strip.  And a link to her artist page.

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Alright, that's all I have time for right now.  Consider the above products my 'wishlist' like if it was all on Amazon or something.

-D

Erika Moen

I am way overdue for a post about Erika Moen.  She is one of the stars of Penny Arcade's Strip Search, and was my first favorite pick.  She is queer, sex positive, funny and proud.  She beams brightly all through the show, and the personality I see in her art matches wonderfully with what she shows on Penny Arcade.  I like to think of her as a happy resident of the house the Bechdel built.

Her comics are delightful.  Here's a nice little gender identity piece:

http://www.erikamoen.com/comics-portfolio/check-one/


Here's a selection of other comics

http://www.erikamoen.com/comics/


Erika also has a brand- new webcomic:

http://www.ohjoysextoy.com/introduction/


Also, here is Amy Falcone's tribute comic to Strip Search.  I'm throwing it in because they're buds.  I will do a post about Amy at some point as well.  I find her Cardigan Weather comic to be excellent.

http://cardiganweather.com/2013/04/25/thats-a-wrap/

Favorites from the Miriam-Webster Dictionary App

I have a free App on my phone called the Miriam-Webster Dictionary App.  It seemed like a no-brainer to have a dictionary on my phone.  Like a calculator, it seems like something that should be part of the basic software.

My favorite part of this app though, is the 'word of the day' choice.  This one can be a lot of fun.  It includes a random word, it's definition, examples and a little bit about the etymology.  I wasn't previously all that interested in etymology, but this App has changed that.  English is just the marriage of Latin, Greek and Auld English, it seems. 

Anyway, I've begun collecting my favorite Words of the Days, and I'm going to be reposting them here.  I hope that Miriam Webster considers this free advertising for their app, and not theft. 

Without further ado, here's the word of the day 5/12/2013:


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sesquipedalian - \sess-kwuh-puh-DAIL-yun\ - adjective 1: having many syllables : long 2 : using long words

Examples:
Jacob's editor advised him to do away with much of the sesquipedalian prose he favored and opt for simpler word that would reach readers of all ages and backgrounds.

"You just don't see that many sesquipedalian writers like William F. Buckley Jr. in the media anymore,' said a colleague to whom I mentioned this topic." -- From an article by Mary Schmich in the Chicago Tribune, December 5, 2012. 

Did you know?
Horace, the Roman poet known for his satire, was merely being gently ironic when he cautioned young poets against using "sesquipedalia verba"--"words a foot and a half long"--in his book Ars poetica, a collection of Maxims about writing.  But in the 17th century, English literary critics decided the word "sesquipedalian" could be very useful for lambasting writers using unnecessarily long words.  Robert Southey used it to make two jibes at once when he wrote "The verses of [16th century English poet] Stephen Hawes are as full of barbarous sesquipedalian Latinisms, as the prose of [the 18th-century periodical] the Rambler."
The Latin prefix "sesqui-" is used in modern English to mean "one and a half times," as in "sesquicentennial" (a 150th anniversary). 
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The text of above is quoted verbatim from the Miriam-Webster Dictionary App.  What I like the most about this word is its irony.  The word sesquipedalian is itself sesquipedalian - unnecessarily long and fully of syllables.  This cracks me up.  It also makes me laugh that the words more literal translation is 'a foot and a half long'  - that this word, which has all the makings of a pretentious nerd-word, has exaggeration in its definition.  Cracks me up. 

7/10/2013 Update:  It turns out a word that describes itself is called an 'autological' word.  Sesquipedalian is a fine example of one.  And, would you know it, I found out about autological words from an episode of Dinosaur Comics.