ROFLCON III brought us many a delightful meme and comic culture fodder. Following the map in our choose-your-own-adventure guide, we found our way to the webcomic panel with Richard Stevens of the Diesel Sweeties webcomic and Sam Brown of Exploding Dog. The Q & A got bizarre (as only a self referential Internet conference can get), so I asked Richard to talk to us about the comic market, webcomics, toasters, pixel kittens and more.

Richard — thank you so much for joining us. Are you, in fact, a robot?
I identify as a robot, so I do believe you are supposed to give me the option of a robot bathroom due to the fact that we’re both in Massachusetts.

Sam Brown and R Stevens from ROFLCON informationPhone cam

We usually talk about comics that flop around your hand. While it is true that you can hold an iPad or laptop in your hand, your work does not start out with the intention of being printed. How have digital comic strips grown with you and your style?
I don’t really see a difference between paper and electronic comics as far as the writing and art goes. I don’t think that anyone who focuses on that divide is going to enjoy the next ten or twenty years.

If anything, I think we’re going to see comic books move closer to the webcomics model: Frequent updates published electronically, followed by more expensive permanent copies for the bookshelf.

Working digitally allows you to rapidly iterate ideas as if you were living some kind of high-concept Grant Morrison X-Men ruining secret laboratory so that only the strongest survive, break free, and imprint themselves on paper.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

COMICS

Sookie Sookie now! Vampires, mindreaders and Daredevil’s Ann Nocenti are more than enough reasons to pick up the new ongoing True Blood series from IDW. Issue #1 sucks your wallet dry of $3.99. … Youngblood is Rob Liefeld’s team superhero book held over from Image Comic’s inception 20 years ago. Issue #71 is an all-new look at the team from screenwriter John McLaughlin and Liefeld. Get caught up on the front lines of the Image Revolution 20 years on. … Conspiracy theorists are right, we are watching you so put down that coffee! Get paranoid with the debut issue of Mind MGMT from Matt Kindt (3 Story). Talking dolphins and weaponized psychics haunt and bewilder a young journalist on search for the truth. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

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Ya like comics? Check out Clay’s interview with Richard Stevens of the Diesel Sweeties webcomic! EARTH PRIME TIME: DIESEL SWEETIES: INTERVIEW WITH RSTEVENS.

The 2013 Star Trek sequel has wrapped filming but there is more to see in the JJ Abrams Trek timeline while we boldly wait for a release date.

The Boston Sci-Fi/Fantasy Meetup group had a hand in selling out Coolidge Corner Theatre on Monday to wrap up Season 7 of the theatre’s Science on Screen series with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Before the screening of the scratchy print, NOAA‘s Dr. David Wiley educated the audience on his research on humpback whales in Stellwagen Bank and how the magnificent creatures use their flukes to create giant splashes to trap dinner.

We trapped our own meal—fruit roll-ups from the concession stand and Cokes. Just like when we first saw the film in 1986.

[READ MORE AT DIGBOSTON.COM]

EARTH PRIME TIME: STAR TREK COMICS AT IDW by clay-fernald

COMICS

Hardcore gets people’s attention, especially here in Boston. What about a book about an assassin brain waves taking over your body? Hardcore #1 is a Pilot Season book from Image heavyweights Kirkman (Walking Dead) and Silvestri (X-Men, Cyberforce). … Stoked by the new Hulk in the Avengers movie? So were we, and Marvel wants you to bite on this “7.1” issue. That strange number means ‘Buy me, please’. Incredible Hulk 7.1 will smash your puny brain. … A retired assassin and a ballerina are hunted by a sniper in Nathan Edmonson’s Dancer #1 from Image Comics. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

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Author and illustrator Maurice Sendak passed away yesterday at the age of 83.  Where the Wild Things Are inspired generations of adults and children—maintaining a dark and mysterious tone while celebrating play and discovery. Sendak taught us to hug the monsters under the bed and not be afraid of the dark.

Mr. Sendak was recently on the Colbert Report in January full of energy and wit. He even endorsed Stephen’s first attempt at a children’s book, I Am a Pole (And So Can You!).

“I don’t write for children. I write, and somebody says, ‘that’s for children’.”

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

COMICS

Comic book master John Byrne (Superman, X-Men, Fantastic Four) subtracts one from the superhero family to bring us his creator owned Trio #1. … The stars of the show are Rock, Paper and Scissors. No room for a guy that catches on fire in this book! … The Pro from Garth Ennis, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti pits a super-powered prostitute against the hard livin’ streets. Oh my! … Takio is our all- ages pick this week from Avengers scribe Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming. Sisters Taki and Olivia deal with being the only superheroes on the planet, can they handle all of the pressure? … Picks this week from the letter T and LeaguePodcast.com.

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The High Holiday of geekdom is upon us. The publishers have deemed us worthy once a year to give us free books, but more importantly, to get kids reading. Avengers hits the big screen as Free Comic Book Day celebrates an eleventh year!

“One does not simply GET INTO comic books.”

Your local comic book store or LCS will likely be decorated with balloons, offer snacks and be slightly more awesome than usual on Saturday. The stores want your business, your kid’s future business and will be offering smiles to all who come in the door.  It won’t be about the money, it will be about the pride shared by our fandom.

Comics and graphic storytelling have been inadvertently promoting literacy for nearly a century.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

EARTH PRIME TIME: FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2012 PREVIEW by clay-fernald

COMICS

Robert Venditti (The Surrogates) pens the triumphant return of 1990s armored barbarian X-O Manowar for the all-new Valiant Universe. Look for the talking voice variant cover of issue #1 to hear ‘The Voice of War’. … You sure hate Mondays, but Wednesdays just got a little better with the debut of Garfield #1 from kaboom!. Comics legend Mark Evanier (DNAgents, Groo, MAD Magazine) teams up with artist Gary Barker for comic gooier than 7 layer lasagna! … The less questions asked about the new-new DC continuity the better. Earth 2 #1 materializes over at DC to give us alternate versions of Batman, Superman, Power Girl and Huntress. Why? Only Starman’s James Robinson knows. It’s comics—just consume and accept! … LeaguePodcast supports your decision to bring the kids to Free Comic Book Day Saturday!

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Canadian born cartoonist and animator Guy Delisle lived in the Holy City of Jerusalem for a year with his wife and two young children. His wife worked for Doctors Without Borders as an administrator as Guy settled in to raise his children, find a studio, sketch constantly and teach cartooning when called upon.

Drawn and Quarterly debuts his hardcover graphic novel this month, and Guy joins us in the States from his permanent home in the South of France to promote his book with a slide show and discussion about his experiences in one of the oldest cities in the world.

I was immediately intimidated by this assignment. How can I do the work justice when I know absolutely nothing about the politics of the Holy Land? My base understanding is that the place is to be revered as the birthplace of civilization and of Western religion. I’m uneducated on even current events or recent conflicts in the region. I expected to come out of this review feeling dumb.

Thankfully, Guy’s book was a travel journal of his life there as someone with knowledge on par with mine. Delisle’s cartooning and illustrations of the intensely complex subsections of the city throughout the book transformed my vague conceptions of the West Bank into realized maps.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

OK so this review was a preview of Guy’s signing. I went, got some pictures and asked about process. Guy uses photo references, his own sketches and google image search for his drawings. The clerk actually quoted me in his intro!

Guy Delisle has given us the history of the world told through the eyes of an outsider. He tells the story of how an artist and his family can integrate into a cultural mix thousands of years in the making.

Personalized Sketch!

COMICS

100 Months was written and drawn by the late 2000AD/Judge Dredd artist John Hicklenton before his assisted death in 2010. Diagnosed with MS, John struggled with the disease and left us with this ethereal and insightful quest of Mara the Earth Goddess vs. evil Longpig. … S.H.I.E.L.D has taken over in Ultimate Comics: Ultimates #9. What does this mean for the Ultimates and the nation they are sworn to protect? … Find out all about the place Superman hangs his cape and his gigantic golden key in Superman Secrets of the Fortress of Solitude! The sheer number of visits to the Fortress of Solitude Wikipedia site is prompting another check up at the shrink before having to explain this to HR! Picks from LeaguePodcast’s Boston Comic Con After-Party are here. Thanks for coming!

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Psssst… guess what graphic novel thing is tonight at Harvard Book Store at 7pm? EARTH PRIME TIME: GUY DELISLE SIGNING FOR ‘JERUSALEM’. Don’t forget your sketch book, kehd.