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Cameo at The Apple of Discord

epicfailcameo
Epic Fail just got a cameo over at The Apple of Discord. Martin seems to have found a mission that offers a reward this time!  Go and see what they’re up to.

The Apple of Discord is a really fun comic that Amuletts would completely approve.  It’s chaotic and unpredictable – you just never know what you’re going to get.  It’s experimental and full of suprises.  The recurring characters make The Apple of Discord enjoyable as a long-term read but there are plenty of random one-shots that make ‘dipping in’ rewarding.

And it seems it is their 1 year anniversary tomorrow, so Happy Birthday Apple!

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See you at the Thing!

comixthing
The Thing is a web & mini comics convention that happens every year in the UK – and it’s on tomorrow, Saturday the 28th of March at 10am – 5pm in London.

You are going right?  This will be my first ever comics convention and I’m really excited!

I know a few of the people attending from online but nothing beats meeting someone face-to-face.  I haven’t got a booth – to be honest I wouldn’t know what to do with one – so I’ll be the person floating around with a sketchbook randomly molesting artists.  To make myself recognisable to anyone specifically seeking me out I will be wearing fairy wings.  Got that?  Yes, it’s random and not related to Epic Fail in the least, but they are really easy to spot!  So no excuses for not saying hello!

I’m going to set up twitter on my phone and send updates of what I’m doing throughout the day. I’m hoping to have lots of fun!

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The WAR! is over…

The webcomic WAR! is over.  It ended last night when the remaining participants Life’s a Witch and Slightly Off Topic fell in battle leaving my nemesis Union of Heroes the sole survivor – and victor.

Epic Fail & Apple of Discord died together when Ant Guy turned out to be a suicide bomber.  Who knew?  Sadly this means I have no victory to celebrate and will not be making cartoons in my underwear.  Disappointed parties – you know who to blame!

For me the contest was a push to get out there in the webcomic community.  Prior to the contest I barely knew another webcomic artist.  Now I have met a great deal and consider several to be good friends.

With Epic Fail being so new there was no way I would have started promoting it if not for the WAR!  The rules contained a straightforward list of promotional activities.  I’m proud of the fact that despite joining two weeks late Epil Fail was the WAR’s top promoter.  I tryed everything… except advertising.  I signed up for Project Wonderful but sadly never got any furthur.  That’s something I intend to correct however, I have heard a lot of good things about it.

Things that really worked for me were:

Doing Fanart – FUN!  You get to draw other peoples characters, and show them how much you appreciate them.  They usually link back to your comic and might even reciprocate with some fanart for you.  Most importantly you just made a friend for life!

Signature Banners – This means that every time you post to a forum there’s a link to your comic there.  Loads of people click on it.

Twitter & other Social Networks – Just get out there and meet people – lots of people!  They make it really easy to remind people your comic just updated and tell them any special news.

Many thanks to Frumph & Webcomic Planet for running the WAR!  I know he put a great deal of time into it.

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Should I henna my hair?

tohenna

Henna is a plant whose leaves produce a red dye.  It’s translucent and conbines with hairs natural tones.  It’s supposed to be a very good conditioner, making hair strong and smooth.  In addition to this it apparently soothes headaches and migraines (I’m a terrible migraine sufferer myself).

You can see from my picture what colour my hair is now. What would you call it – dark blonde? To be honest I’m not sure, it certainly used to be blonde but has gradually been getting darker.  I’ve sort-of wanted red hair since reading The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce.  The heroine – Alanna – was a huge role-model for me in my teens.  My sister dyes her hair red and it looks really nice.

I have never, ever dyed my hair.  I don’t like to fuss over my appearance and rarely wear make-up.  If I started using henna would I be reapplying it all the time?  How tedious is it to do?  Is it worth it?  Do you think it would suit me?  I’d really appreciate hearing peoples experiences and opinions.

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Whatever happened to those Webcomic Cameos?

With one this or another – namely a migraine and internet troubles – the cameos for page 11 did not get done.  These things happen sometime.  I’m still working on it though, and so far it looks great!  I won’t make the mistake of promising when it’ll be up though, because so far whenever I have fate has conspired against me.  I’ll be twittering loudly and posting prominantly when it’s done so you won’t miss it.

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How Goest the WAR?

Thanks to everyone who helped me in the webcomic WAR! by doing things to promote Epic Fail.  As you know I joined the contest two weeks late and was therefore at a disadvantage.  With your help, I not only made up that disadvantage but overtook everyone else in the game.  At the end of the resource gathering phase I was sitting pretty at 4930 crystal points!

The comics have been embroiled in battle for about a week now.  Here is a list of the fallen:

Bitter Tea Studios
Capes N Babes
Clan of The Cats
Diablito Del Ring
Doomed Media
The Glass urchin (whom I took down personally)
Oy
Phineus
Recombobulated
Unconscious Ink
You Me and Steve

I have avoided being a target… until now!  Several sharks in the pool are collectively turning on me.  But I’m not going down without a fight, and if I do I fully intend to take my enemies with me!

That said if I win the WAR! I promise to:

1) Post a picture of myself in a bra & panties (bribery is such an ugly word, I prefer ‘incentive’)
2) Create a celebratory animated video
3) Post a bonus page of Epic Fail related to the WAR!

In the meantime check out this interview with me over at the Soulless Machine. It has pictures and everything!

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Fanart from Sacred Pie

epicfail_sacredpiefanart
Today I recieved this brilliant, action-packed piece of fan art from Phil Shaw of Sacred Pie. It’s of Martin, Clodin and Amuletts versus a Cave Troll. I really appreciate the attention to detail here and especially the character nuances. It’s a wonderful mix of action and humour – I only hope I can do as well when I get to the big fight scenes! At least I know who to go to for advice.

Sacred Pie is an epic science fiction webcomic. It begins with a mysterious traveller stumbling through a portal into Sid, Roonas and Bob’s living room. Following a portentous demand involving the fate of the universe, he disintegrates on their carpet leaving a stain and several artifacts.

It’s the story of ordinary guys turned super-heroes with resemblances to Star Wars and The Last Starfighter. The art inproves as the story progresses with some experimentation along the way. There’s a lot going on which can be hard to keep track of sometimes, but if you are looking for variety and a comic that doesn’t take itself too seriously this is the perfect read.

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Fanart from Spying with Lana

martin I just got this fabulous piece of fanart from Sean Harrington of Spying with Lana. It’s of Martin, with his shirt off, looking extremely buff and attractive – as indeed he should! It’s nice for him to get the chance to show his muscles off as they are usually hidden by his armor.

Inked in black & white with red as an accent colour Spying with Lana is a titillating action webcomic with a hint of humour. It throws you right into the middle of the plot, with storys told on a case-by-case basis, generally involving sexy Lana getting naked along the way! The comics are grouped as a storyline per page so they are easy to read by scrolling down. So far they seem pretty stand-alone so this is easy to get into. You should definately check it out.

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Webcomic WAR! video appeal

I’ve made an animated video as a final appeal in these last few promoting days of Frumph’s WAR! This week we can only gain points for promotion done outside the webcomics community, so I’m hoping this’ll get spread around different blogs and websites. Viral videos FTW!
This is my first attempt at lip-syncing. It didn’t go too badly :p
I had some technical difficulties with this, but Dungeonwarden helped me.
I’d also like to thank Dave Brendon for reposting this video alongside a review on his weblog. Cheers!

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My first review and other news

Epic Fail has had a really lovely, positive review at The Soulless Machine, a review blog covering short stories and other stuff. It’s a good place for discovering new literature that’s somewhat outside the mainstream, and is very supportive of small press and self-publishers. You can read their review of Epic Fail here.  I hardly need add that I’m chuffed as ninepence.

In other news, I’ve registered the domain name www.comicofepicfail.com which I think is more memorable and easier to pass on to people verbally. I tried to get epicfail.com by preorder but, alas, did not succeed. I fear it is just too popular a term for me to stand a chance.

I’m still looking for webcomic cameos to appear in a crowd scene on page 11. I’m mainly looking for human characters since these are the dominant race in my world, but I will accept a few from other races. The sooner you let me know that you would like your characters included the more likely it is they will be. I will also be making a bigger version of the scene as a free wallpaper.

Just to remind you I still need support in the webcomic WAR! I’ve already promised to post a picture of myself in my underwear if I win, but there is likely to be some other kind of extra content to reward my loyal fans in the event of a victory! So please do a little something, and thankyou all.