I could forgive people if they thought Crook and Triceratops had just disappeared somewhere. According to the tags the last time I drew them on panel, the comic was in triple digits.
I think of Crook's little "zaa" a sounding like a chirp. Had a maine coon a few years back who did that. She didn't meow, she chirped.
Dave. *Please* stop stressing about taking your time? You’re providing a service, free of charge. Those of us who get persnickety about the occasional late-finish aren’t worth your time. We all love you and Selkie and we all know life gets in the way. You don’t owe us any explanation beyond “life happens”.
I’d rather a quality comic that sometimes is “late” than something rushed and left to rot. You’re doing a fantastic job!!! *Offers hugs*
Ok, there are guys who like, never, miss a post. Do I read THEIR comics?
Ok, bad example. … I follow comics that go on hiatus for months, sometimes years. If you fall behind with your buffer, meh, so? Everyone will still be sitting here, waiting for it, like birds in the wilderness, wainting for our views.
There’s a continuum.
On the one side: Howard Tayler, the Determinator who has never missed a single update of Schlock Mercenary, even when his site went down (he updated on a different site that day).
On the other side: Tracy J. Butler, whose stunningly gorgeous and delightfully rompy Lackadaisy sees an update once in a blue moon.
Rich Morris (Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic) was like Howard for a while, but life got in the way. Still, he’s one of two artists I know of who updated consistently for years. And Rich and Tracy are the two webcomic artists I know of who are full-fledged professional artists in their own right, prior to starting their comics, so it’s somewhat amusing to have them hit the far ends of the spectrum.
Rob Balder (Erfworld) got to a stage where the updates were sporadic, due to a variety of real-life circumstances that happened to the various creators involved, until it culminated (this October) in the official death of the comic, following some tragedy that made it impossible to continue.
All these comics are well worth reading, and, as a binge reader myself, the slow updates doesn’t bother me unless I come back after a year and find just two or three new pages. But different artists update in different ways, and that’s fine. Even occasional hiatuses are fine.
Selkie is one of a handful of webcomics that I check back on as soon as they update. Selkie, El Goonish Shive, Forward, xkcd, and Freefall are the handful that I’m currently that invested in. And I don’t mind schedule slips — though if the slips bother the creator, then there are various changes that can make them less of a problem. (I like the half-color thing enough to kinda wish Dave would go on an arc of coloring the main characters and just giving a quick wash to the backgrounds, aside from in key strips like the mental-unbalance backgrounds he does sometimes. It’d reduce the time per strip, and that might be enough to give him some breathing room, plus it’s artistic and deliberate instead of unfinished.)
I am going to miss Erfworld. I never had a chance to back it, so I’m not privy to what went down, but I sincerely hope it wasn’t the worst thing i could have imagined happening. As much as I’ll miss the comic I hope the creators that live with us here in Stupidworld are okay. 😭
The authors step son took his own life after being found guilty of molesting a minor. 🙁
You forgot Bill Hollbrook who I’m not sure if hes Human or at least isn’t a cyber being in a meat suit… Hasn’t missed a day in over 20 years with Kevin and Kell, Hasn’t missed a deadline for Safe Havens in more than 30+ years. and Hasn’t Missed an installment of On the Fast Track in more than a decade and a half. ( I think he actually draws One other comic too for a regular newspaper…)
I STRONGLY suggest going and giving that man a look see.
Doc got me into webcomics with TheWhiteBoard. I didn’t know what paintball was, and I laught meself outta me very own chair. I have a sibling like Roger. My Partner mare bear a Stong resemblance to Sandy.
Hollbrook got me dragged into using firefox browser, as in those days comics looked slightly different viewed with different browsers. Kel and Rudy are wonderful characters, but also Hollbrook introduced me to the problems students might have being ‘different’ at a time when I needed to become more aware of issues involving employing students.
And Florence (a Bowman’s Wolf) is one of my heros! (“When I smile I can be very persuasive!”) what a great line!
As much as I love getting up in the (early) A.M. and seeing an update; the G-rated comic character that stole my heart was ‘Ten’ living in the Kahmith Universe, in “Shades of Gray” — Still available, hosted on “The Duck Comics” site. Each of the Long Run comics has changed my way of viewing, either myself, or my coworkers, or the students in my care.
And as the glass on the bottom fills up with sand, and the sand in the top glass runs out, my patience with Trolls and llamas and Tsunderery and manufactured drama grows ever smaller. And my appreciation for artists like Dave, Doc, D.Y.Willis, and Geoff, grows. Solid comics, great characters, respectful commentary, and a glimse into a world from which we might learn to better handle our own daily lives with an informed grace.
Heh, my dad used to sing that “birds in the wilderness” song while we waited for dinner. I had completely forgotten it existed until I read this.
More broadly, though, I can say that I do not read a single ongoing comic, online or otherwise, professional or hobby, that updates perfectly without ever missing an update.
I *do* read many comics that update erratically or extremely sporadically (Love Me Nice). Regular updates are a plus, but certainly not a requirement, and if I’m not paying, I’m not complaining.
Moreover, I would take a comic that misses two out of every three weeks of updates to one that burns out its creator and dies any day of the week.
What they said!
The coloring is a bonus, but if you came out and one day said “Hey guys, I need a break, but I dont want to mess up my normal schedule. So I am going to not color for a while and make up a buffer, since color takes a lot of extra time.” I would respond “Same content and a happier creator? Sounds like a bargin.” But you do it how you want to do it, its your baby.
Or if you just wanted to take a break… or whatever… anyways, the message is I support you and am confident you will do whats best for you and your creation.
Yay for Crooks! Kitties give the best advise. :p
Dude I thought the coloring was an artistic choice to show she was narrating to someone else. It looks cool.
Take some rest Dave, you cant make comics for us if you burn out so in my own self serving interests I’d like you to get some rest!
Triple-digits nothing. The last time the fish was named, and more than just background scenery, was page 132. That’s close to 1/10th of the current comic length.
(And for other trivia hounds, the fish was bought one page 108, immediately after the “one year milestone” sketch/pinup.)
I’m glad kitty and Selkie get along now. :3
Heh, every time I see Crook saying,”Za,” I keep thinking of Elliot and Ellen from El Goonish Shive. XD
It’s a reference to that, if I’m honest. Crook’s “zaa” dates back to a time when I was flush with excitement at running a new webcomic, and wanted to slip in references to other comics I like for my own amusement. See also: Sandy and Wu.
Sandra and Woo. Slid that one right past me. 😀
How did we miss that? That seems like something we should Not have missed! I’m blaming the coffee. That’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it.
Maine Coons do indeed have all kinds of vocalizations. I miss mine (ok, a mix). Not a “meow”, but lots of other things, including trills.