Archive for ‘Blog’
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In my earlier post, I talked about my re-affiliation with TopWebComics.com and I wanted to take a minute to explain to everyone what it is and what my goals are.
People who have been visiting the site for a while remember that I was once affiliated with Top Web Comics. For the uninitiated, the site is a web comic promotion tool that gather votes submitted by readers and ranks the most “popular” comics on their homepage.
Top Web Comics was helpful resource when I was getting my start. It put the comic in front of a lot of readers as I ascended into the Top 10. I walked away from the ranking sites once I felt Theater Hopper could stand on it’s own two legs.
It’s been a few years since Theater Hopper and Top Web Comics parted ways. In that time, some readers have moved past web comics as part of their daily routine. Other people are being introduced to web comics for the first time. Now is a perfect opportunity to familiarize Theater Hopper with the next wave of readers and Top Web Comics is part of that strategy.
Here’s how it works: I post a new comic every Monday, Wednesday and Friday just like I always do. But in the blog post, there will be a link to Top Web Comics where you can “vote” for Theater Hopper and contribute to it’s higher ranking.
For you’re trouble, you’ll be treated to a bonus sketch that may or may not be related to that day’s comic. It might be an addition to the punchline or a little extra scene. People who own a copy of Theater Hopper – Year Two will know what to expect. I collected several similar sketches from my previous tenure with Top Web Comics in that edition.
If you don’t want to vote, that’s fine. If you do want to vote, that’s great! It’s totally voluntary. But voting for Theater Hopper helps the site by raising its ranking on Top Web Comics and potentially bringing in new readers. Basically, it’s a very high profile opportunity for some free advertising that I’m not going to pass up.
I should also mention that I’m thinking about selling these bonus sketches in the store sometime in the near future. So if you vote for the comic and see a sketch you like, there will be an opportunity for you to own it at a very affordable price. Look for updates on that in the future.
So there you have it. Pretty cut and dried. Now you know why I’m affiliated with Top Web Comics again and you also know what additional value you get out of the arrangement.
I want to say thanks to the people who have already voted. So far, we’re up to #18 on the list. That’s really good! Now let’s see if we can crack the Top 10 in the next few days.
In the meantime, if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to leave them in the comments area below. I’d be happy to continue the conversation there.
Thanks!
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Hey, guys. I just wanted to post a quick note to let you know that I am back home from exhibiting at Emerald City Comicon and a new comic will be posted on Wednesday. I met a lot of really cool people and had a GREAT time. Seattle is a wonderful city. I felt comfortable there immediately!
Expect a full recap (perhaps with some pictures linked to my Flickr account) tomorrow.
In the meantime, if you posted comments to Friday’s or Monday’s comics, they’ve been approved and are currently live on the site. Sorry for the restrictions, but I didn’t have internet access over the weekend!
Talk to you soon!
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Since I was traveling home from Emerald City Comicon on Monday evening, we had to postpone recording our weekly installment of The Triple Feature. We pushed back the show to tonight and you can listen in LIVE at 9:00 PM CST.
Tonight, Joe, Gordon and I will be talking about Adventureland and Fast & Furious. I’m sure I’ll be telling more stories about my experience at Emerald City Comicon as well.
In fact, it might benefit you to listen to the live show tonight if you can, because there is a story I want to tell about an experience I had in Artist Alley too sensitive to commit to a recording. I think I might take a few minutes to share it after we’ve concluded the show and people are still connected to TalkShoe and can listen in.
Consider yourself teased. See you then!
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So I had something interesting happen this week. Theater Hopper was dropped from Google’s index.
Don’t believe me? Go to Google, type in “Theater Hopper” and see what comes up. Notice my URL isn’t displayed anywhere? Yeah. Good times.
So, what happened? Basically, someone hacked the site and placed a bunch of links to web sites selling cheap Viagra inside a hidden <div> tag. The links didn’t manifest in production on the site, but they were being pulled from the code by Google’s spiders and classified as spam.
Since Google has a very firm anti-spam policy (yet, oddly, continues to index literally MILLIONS of sites with malicious intent), my site was pulled from their site for no less than 30 days while I “clean up my code.”
Well, the code has been scrubbed and security has been tightened, but Google yanked me anyway.
I’ve submitted an appeal to be reinstated sooner than 30 days, but Google pretty much says they won’t make any promises.
This is really bad timing for me because I was hoping to attract some new readers after attending the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle last week. Now people can’t find the site.
At this point, I’m trying to raise a big stink to see if I can get Google’s attention. But, in the meantime, my traffic is suffering.
If it’s not too much to ask, can you guys go through the archive and bookmark some of your favorite strips using the ShareThis application under the comic? Index individual pages in Stumble Upon, Reddit, Digg… where ever you have accounts. Post comics to your Facebook page. ANYTHING. It’s the only thing I can think of to have you do to help stop the bleeding from this Google fiasco.
And if you’re reading this post through RSS, I implore you to please come back to the site and read the comic for the next few weeks. Keep your subscription to the feed, but if you could help me out for a short period of time, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks for your help and I’ll keep everyone updated with any change in status.
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Looks like Gordon has some free time in his schedule so we’ll be recording this week’s Triple Feature after all.
Be sure to join us at 9PM CST at http://www.thetriplefeature.com as we discuss Adventureland, Observe and Report and more!
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After Emerald City Comicon, I had a couple of t-shirt ideas kicking around in my head. I tend to over-analyze my ideas and smother them before I give them a chance to get off the ground. So this time out, I decided just to roll with my instincts and try not to put too much thought into it.
Maybe I’m not doing myself any favors by putting them out here for your comments at such a formative stage. But I figure at this point, what do I have to lose? Either I entertain the notion of a new t-shirt design and kill it before I ever sit down to design it or I knock one out super quick so I can at least move on to the next thing. Who knows? Maybe you might like it? Maybe it’ll be the biggest-selling shirt I’ve ever designed!
So, what do you think? Leave your feedback in the comments below.
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A couple of days ago I posted images of a few t-shirt designs I was working on. Response was generally positive and I have been encouraged! Thank you!
One of the designs I’m taking back to the drawing board and adjusting. But the other design was received well enough that I’ve decided to go forward with production. Starting today, you can pre-order the Spoiler Alert t-shirt. Next Wednesday, April 22, I will submit those orders to the printer.
For those of you who forgot what the design looked like, here’s a reminder:
You’ll notice that I added a tag line to the back of the shirt. The feedback I received the other day pointed out that a shirt that says “SPOILER ALERT!” on the front kind of sets up an expectation for some kind of spoiler. I agreed, but I didn’t want it to be a specific movie spoiler. I already have two shirts that do that. Instead, I decided to make the statement more general and reflective of your passion and knowledge and movies. In a way, the shirt says “Watch out! I know so much about movies, I might accidentally spoil one for you. But, hey – my t-shirt DID try to warn you!”
I had a suggestion to print the tag line on the back in black ink. Think about it for a second. Black ink on a black shirt. Kind of like a hidden message or sort of like how you have to highlight text in a forum or on a web site to reveal a spoiler.
I really like that idea and I’m asking my printer if it’s advisable to go this route. I don’t want the tag line to be obscured completely, so we’re looking into ink that is perhaps shinier or more reflective so it catches the light. I’m thinking I might do a “Limited Edition Super Spoiler” edition of the shirt. Maybe only print up 5 of each size. We’ll see. I’ll be sure to let you know what we find out.
Anyway, that’s it for now. Place your orders now so I know how many of each size to get. This pre-order will also help me determine the popularity of the shirt and if it’s an item I want to continue producing going forward.
I really like the design and appreciate the feedback you guys gave me the other day. I hope you like the shirt as well and consider adding it to your already impressive collection of ironic t-shirts.
THANKS!
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I realized this morning that I forgot to upload today’s Top Web Comics incentive sketch.
So, if it’s not too late and you want to know what’s up with the old guy in today’s comic, vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics to find out!
Thanks!
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Does anyone out there have any experience writing code for RSS through WordPress? I wanted to make a change to how the comic displays through the RSS feed and I need someone to double-check my coding before I attempt to put it into production and screw everything up.
If you have any experience in this regard, please contact me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com or leave your comments below.
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Hey, guys. Don’t forget that I’m taking pre-orders for my new shirt Spoiler Alert! now until Wednesday, April 22. If you’re thinking about ordering one, please place your order now as it will help me to determine how many of each size to request from the printer!
Thanks!
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