TWCL

wendyw · Last edited by wendyw on Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:07 am; edited 2 times in total

Edit: The Poll is now open!

Should we or should we not have this category?
You have until next Sunday evening to decide. Choose wisely.

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This thread is just for discussing whether or not we should have a category for best limited series, to cover shorter story based comics, and what the criteria for such a category would be.

I will open a poll based on the options suggested in this thread on Sunday 2nd August between 9 and 10pm GMT and close it around the same time on Sunday 9th August.
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MoonFreight3 · Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 140 Location: Connecticut, USA

Since this was my suggestion, I'll weigh in. There are comic creators who design a story to run for a specific length, and sometimes that's less than a year. While running for a year or more is often a good indicator that a creator hasn't just quit or faded away, it would be unfair to exclude a comic just because it had a short run if that was the intention all along. The criteria should be that the comic had a definite ending on-line at the time of the nominations, or that the creator has said right from the beginning that it was going to be a limited-run series.
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Chilari · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 5:24 pm Post subject:

Hmm, well, it would certainly make the awards more inclusive for those creating a limited run comic. If this goes ahead, I'd suggest that it must have a definite ending (preferably even a "the end" either in the comic itself or the author's comments, to be sure), that was envisioned from the original inception of the comic, rather than hastily tagged on when the creator decided they didn't want to do it any more. There would have to be some limitations - a minimum number of pages posted in the 12 months leading up to the awards, for example.

I think a limited run comic that's been started but isn't complete wouldn't qualify if they finish after the awards take place (or after nominations close), but would for the following year.

I don't see a resources problem because in theory, they judges would have less to read than for any other category except New Comics.

It's just occurred to me, however, that there might be a problem in terms of updates. Imagine there's a limited run comic that's 120 pages. If updated weekly, that's just over two years - would that qualify for the award? But if updated daily, that's four months, give or take a few days. Would that qualify? I think for this kind of award, we'd need a page limit rather than a time limit.
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dooky · Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 217 Location: Themiskyra

Are there a lot of these comics about? Just curious, since off the top of my head I can't recall any. More to the point, is there any reason we couldn't just amend the other categories' criteria to include them?
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MoonFreight3 · Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 140 Location: Connecticut, USA

Chilari wrote:

I think a limited run comic that's been started but isn't complete wouldn't qualify if they finish after the awards take place (or after nominations close), but would for the following year.

That's actually a better idea.

dooky wrote:

Are there a lot of these comics about? Just curious, since off the top of my head I can't recall any. More to the point, is there any reason we couldn't just amend the other categories' criteria to include them?

I can't think of any off the top of my head, I just didn't want anyone to be excluded if their comic ran for less time than any qualifying minimum time frames that were set.
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LukeSurl · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:29 pm Post subject:

Perhaps we could add a clause into some (or all) the categories, that as well as individual comics you could nominate a person and consider all the comic works they've done this year as a collection.

This came to mind as I was thinking about Daniel Goodbrey who does a whole variety of things on http://e-merl.com/ (and would possibly be my pick for most innovative).
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ttallan · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:16 pm Post subject:

My problem with this category is that I can't think of anything that fits the definition, either. Except that one that won a Beaky-- Speak No Evil, and that was last year.

Is there a place where I can find a bunch of current "limited run" webcomics listed?
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wendyw · Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:58 pm Post subject:

What do people think Sunday's poll options should be for this one?

Based on the conversation so far I'm thinking of putting a simple Yes/No poll up and then we can work out the details afterwards if the award is given the go ahead.

Does that sound okay to everybody?
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wendyw · Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 10:47 pm Post subject:

The poll is now active for one week.
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LukeSurl · Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:28 am Post subject:

Considering it looks like 3 votes per category is going to win that poll, it's important to ask:

Without having to look them up, can people actually name three limited series webcomics from the past year?

Limited series are almost exclusively the preserve of print, with what would be a short run online condensed into a medium sized floppy. I would suspect that the majority of the contenders for this award would only be webcomics in the most technical sense of the word, with online distribution being a secondary medium to print.

KEZ · Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 778 Location: Not anymore!

I produced a "mini..." Mini for me at least. Very Happy

I'm doing a series of short stories based on the origins of my characters, but truthfully, I can't think of any more recent examples of this. I wouldn't even be eligible for this award probably, since my story started August 2008 and finished a couple months ago.
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dooky · Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 217 Location: Themiskyra

Voting no here, because I don't believe enough of these exist to make the award meaningful.
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oppernaR · Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:29 pm Post subject:

How about a best *finished* comic? One that we lament going on hiatus or that has come on an absolute end?
Let's say best comic that hasn't updated in at least a year that people new to webcomics should read?
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dooky · Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 217 Location: Themiskyra

Hmm... that's an interesting proposition. It would be a tricky one to define, though. Pawn hasn't updated in about two years, but it's not finished and the creator is working on more... just very slowly (it updates a whole chapter at a time). There are probably far more webcomics that have simply slipped into semi-permanent hiatus than have been given a definite ending. When you're talking about good webcomics, it's likely closer to an even split, but I'm still not sure about judging completed projects against incomplete, abandoned projects.
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KEZ · Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 778 Location: Not anymore!

If it's a "finished" comic award, it needs to be done, completed, as planned. You don't give an award to half a movie that was never finished or is on indefinite production hiatus, ja?
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