Engaging readers on GoComics

From "FurBabies" by Nancy Beiman.  https://www.gocomics.com/furbabies/2023/09/30

I'm definitely contacting Nancy. She's GoCreator material!

 

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GoComics server error

Have you received a light-hearted message like this one on GoComics yet? Let's mix and match. Collect the whole set!

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GoComics survey

GoComics recently sent a survey to some (or perhaps all) of their Premium subscribers.

One my (bestest!) readers shared the questions he was asked by GoComics. If you felt left out of the survey, feel free to answer their questions and post them on my "Frog Applause" page (or another creator's page). Or send them to my email address. I'll post your answers here, if you prefer. Please. No need to mention "Frog Applause" or me. Seriously. 

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How interested are you in discovering new comics?

How often do you share comic strips with friends or family?

How often do you engage or add a comment to a comic on GoComics.com?

How easy is it to find the comic you are looking for?

How easy is it to read comics on GoComic.com?

How many comics do you read daily?

What do you love most about GoComics.com?

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John P. McMeel

 https://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/remembering-john-mcmeel/

John P. McMeel co-founded what is now Andrews McMeel Universal, a multifaceted media enterprise that comprises Andrews McMeel Syndication, the nation’s largest independent newspaper syndicate and a leading digital entertainment provider; Andrews McMeel Publishing, an industry leader with multiple New York Times bestsellers, the nation’s top calendar producer, and a greeting card division; and Andrews McMeel Entertainment, its film and television division, and GoComics.

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GoComics, from Andrews McMeel Universal, is home to many of the most popular comics and cartoons in the world. GoComics.com is the web's largest catalog of syndicated newspaper strips, political cartoons and webcomics, offering free new content every day.

Iconic cartoons include Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, Ziggy and Dilbert. Recent successes include FoxTrot, Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine, The Argyle Sweater, The Boondocks and Cul De Sac. There are two membership options (Free and Premium), both providing e-mail subscription and personalized online access to the GoComics library. With content from critically-acclaimed comic creators, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists and the hottest up-and-coming talents, GoComics is guaranteed to have something that will make you smile. It is also home to the lamest comic on the planet, Frog Applause.

About Andrews McMeel Universal

Andrews McMeel Universal is the largest independent syndicate in the world and a leading digital entertainment provider of humor, comic strips, political cartoons and gaming content for print, Web and mobile devices. Andrews McMeel Universal provides editorial development, licensing and other distribution services for iconic brands like Doonesbury, Dear Abby, Miss Manners and some of the most significant comics in history, including Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, Garfield, Peanuts, Dilbert, For Better or For Worse, Cathy, and Ziggy. Recent standout successes include Lio, Cul de Sac, Pearls Before Swine, Get Fuzzy, Big Nate and The Argyle Sweater. 

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NO PANTS DAY

On May 7, 2021 more than twenty-five cartoonists plan to take part in the annual event NO PANTS DAY to encourage people to help charities hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participating cartoonists will draw their characters without pants.

https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/article251178674.html

Dennis the Menace (Comics Kingdom; King Features Syndicate)

Dennis the Menace (Comics Kingdom; King Features Syndicate)

Frog Applause (GoComics, Andrews McMeel Universal)

Kindly send me a link to any comic strips or cartoons that are participating in this. I want to post them or provide a link to them.  Thank you. --Teresa


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Animal Crackers by Mike Osbun

Arctic Circle by Alex Hallatt

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith by John Rose

Barney & Clyde by Gene and Dan Weingarten and Dave Clark with Horace LaBadie

Betty by Gary Delainey and Gerry Rasmussen

Bizarro by Dan Piraro and Wayno

Blondie by Dean Young and John Marshall

Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn

Brewster Rockit by Tim Rickard

Dennis the Menace by Steve Ketchum and Marcus Hamilton

Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Joe Staton

Gertie Gearhead by Mike Smith

Half Full by Maria Scrivan

Hi and Lois by Brian and Greg Walker and Eric Reaves

The Lockhorns by Bunny Hoest and John Reiner

Loose Parts by Dave Blazek

Mallard Fillmore by Bruce Tinsley

Marvin by Tom Armstrong

Mt. Pleasant by Rick McKee and Kent Sligh

Off The Mark by Mark Parisi

Rhymes With Orange by Hilary Price and Rina Piccola

Sally Forth by Francesco Marciuliano and Jim Keefe

Shoe by Susie MacNelly, Ben Lansing and Gary Brookins

Zippy the Pinhead by Bill Griffith

GoComics ad

Wow. Talk about classy ads, GoComics. Check out that butt logo. 

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Eric Scott

My good friend Eric Scott is as nice as he is talented. I love his drawing style and his sense of humor. He is the creator of two features on GoComics, "Back in the Day" and "1 and Done".

https://www.gocomics.com/backintheday/2020/11/02

https://www.gocomics.com/backintheday/2020/11/02

 

Eric is also a greeting card guy at Andrews McMeel Universal. (He's actually the senior art director in that department. So cool.)

Brilliant, Eric. (Available at Target!)

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11 women cartoonists THEY love...

From: The GoComics Team 

March is Women's History Month and we wanted to ackowledge some of our great female cartoonists. Enjoy 11 comics from the pioneers like Cathy Guisewite and Jan Eliot to more newcomers like Sarah Andersen and Huda Fahmy. 

https://www.gocomics.com/comics/lists/1722852/11-women-cartoonists-we-love

Cathy Guisewite, Jan Eliot, Lynn Johnston, Georgia Dunn, Dana Simpson, Olivia James, Sarah Andersen, Connie Sun, Huda Fahmy, Chen Weng, and Chuck Mullin.

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I guess I missed this back in March. (See "Best Of"→ Comic Lists)  At first, I thought GoComics was just spotlighting pioneers, but then they threw in some newcomers, too. Apparently, I'm somewhere in the big middle (19 years/Shoecabbage, 14 years/Frog Applause). I wonder how many other women creators were also around in March... but didn't feel the 💖 love.**😁

Going through the A-Z list, I found the following female creators:

(I hope I didn't miss anyone. I count 59, including myself and the 11 above. I may have miscounted.)

**Joey Alison Sayers, Marguerite Dabaie, Amanda El-Dweek, Lela Lee, Lisa Benson, Pat Chen, Rosemary Mosco, Catana Chetwynd, Jennifer Babcock, Cathy Law, Lorie Ransom, Julie Larson, Melissa Lomax, Megan McKay, Patty LaBan, Cathy Thorne, Signe Wilkinson, Jenny Campbel, Gemma Correll, Maria Scrivan, Christina Stewart, Rebecca Hendin, Dami Lee, Alex Hallatt, Olivia Walch, Bea R., Paige Braddock, Alexis E. Fajardo, Teresa Logan, Carol Lay, Ann Telnaes, Melissa DeJesus, Allison Garwood, Maiji/Mary Huang, Carla Ventresca, Sarah Graley, Shaenon K. Garrity, Jen Sorensen, Christiann MacAuley, Sandra Barthauer, Nicole Hollander, Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons, Angie Bailey, Jackie E. Davis, Kate Ashwin, and Dana Maier.

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Frog Applause Descriptions, Comments, and Promotional Blurbs

I want to add to or replace the ABOUT FROG APPLAUSE quote above. If you have another description in mind, kindly share it. I'll probably list several descriptions in addition to this one. I have so many talented writers among my readership, that I doubt I could choose one, two or even three descriptions. All are welcome! Thank you.

“I can’t imagine why anyone would find this strip funny or entertaining. “—pbo67

"This is absolutely the dumbest cartoon ever.”—damifino59

“Survey says: you were drawn by a really bad cartoonist.”—Sack of Rabid Weasels

The comments above were later discovered to be ghost-puppeted by another GoComics creator (whose name is known by most of my readers), later outed here:

If you don't know this chickensh!t's identity, write to me, and I'll tell you.  He still has a cartoon on GoComics!

Frog Applause is a bizarre yet enjoyable combination of strange phrases and unexpected art.--GoComics promo

Some readers have been so upset with Frog Applause that they were suspended or banned from the GoComics website because they couldn’t temper their language or their rage. The strip brought 

out the worst in some people, and they just "lost it”. But what about Frog Applause made certain readers lose their shiitake mushrooms?

 

 

Some people were further outraged because instead of inflicting pain and suffering on Teresa with their comments, she embraced their words, spotlighted them on her blog, then offered a comment of her own, often deriding the hater for not trying harder to be original or creatively hateful enough.

Using the comments that mocked her strip, Teresa often incorporated those comments into new Frog Applause 

material, which probably wasn’t the desired result by the person who hoped to crush Teresa’s spirit.

"I was trying to remember when I started reading Frog Applause, and I think it was some time after I started reading Teresa’s (now defunct) blog. She had this post called,"Yes, we feel the love," (I think) and there were these really mean-spirited comments about the comic that she posted. And that was what piqued my curiosity. Could it really be that bad? I had to take a look, even though I didn't normally read comics. And then I looked, and looked, and looked, and laughed my butt off and got a GoComics membership and subscribed. So, in summary: I started following Frog Applause because somebody said it was awful." —Zelmarific

We need more cartoonists who are willing to challenge our sense of aesthetics and our cultural taboos. —Ted Mallory, mal•toons 

"Can anybody describe the comic strip Frog Applause to me? I like it, but I don't know why.” —Unknown

"So wrong, Frog Applause”—Unknown

Teresa Burritt was born in Kansas City, Missouri on National Cartoonist's Day (May 5). Her comic strip Frog Applause has been described as "enticing and welcoming like the womb of a marshmallow mermaid" and has enjoyed a cult following since 2006.--GoComics promo

Teresa Burritt has created a strange little world in Frog Applause where people morph into other people, thoughts run wild, and the fourth wall is often broken. Read early, read often - this is a one-of-a-kind strip.--GoComics promo

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Dance all day with FROG APPLAUSE

This is what is called a "hero" image, I think. When FROG APPLAUSE is typed into in the search bar, this is the image that appears now. The previous one was horribly outdated.

 

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Doug Sparling: Prostate cancer advocate living with incurable cancer...

 

Read about Doug's advocacy and prostate cancer story here. (Doug is another kind GoComics friend). 

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Adrenaline was high 23/6...

I've been reading articles titled, WHY YOUR BLOG IS A FLOP, STINKS, SUCKS AND IS A FAILURE, and the new FROG BLOG meets almost every criteria listed. Some articles list as many as 12 obvious reasons and I can easily ✔️ off most of them. The first FROG BLOG was wildly popular and had a large, engaged audience. What was I doing then that I'm not doing now? Was I spending more time finding stuff to post? Did I actually post interesting stuff? Was I maybe hungrier then? 

I just dodged a big bullet (the takedown of my 14 year-old-strip on GoComics), and you'd think I'd be full of creative spirit, ready for vindication. Instead, I'm almost resigned to accept FROG BLOG failure. 

This is where I begin to free associate. This is where my thoughts run in different directions and I watch as each thought slams into a tree that is coincidentally being struck by lightning.  

I had a very diverse group of readers in the early days. I have a diverse group now, but they are almost all fans, people who seem to like me and my comic strip. Back then,  though, I had haters --plenty of them-- and they were very vocal. Instead of shriveling up in a fetal position and crying myself into a stupor, I took on those haters. I embraced them. I mocked them. I gave them so much rope that some of them ended up hanging themselves. Good times. 

When my strip was in danger of being removed from GoComics, there was an intense drive to keep that from happening. FROG APPLAUSE was going to be evicted and I was going to be lamelessly homeless. 

Readers rallied. We also watched in amazement as something happened that many of us thought would not happen... that GoComics would reverse its decision. 

Adrenaline was high 23/6. A campaign was underway to Save the Whales. (FROG APPLAUSE = Whales). Everyone had a purpose. I had a goal, too. I needed to redeem myself. I needed to prove my worth to GoComics, and maybe to myself as well.

What do I have now? A sucky blog and no master plan that guides me toward fixing it. 

Don't worry. I won't give up. I know it will take time to build an audience again. You can't always just pick up where you left off. Maybe some people can, but I'm some people. 

If you enjoy watching a wreck in progress, a canoe capsizing, a swimmer going down for the third time, or an important sporting event being rained out, stay tuned. You may just get a front row seat to one or all of these happenings.

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