Answering More E-mails - Blog Entry # 11

We have been getting a few e-mails here and there, with some being good and others not so good. So let's answer the bad one first. So here's the e-mail and my response will follow.

THE E-MAIL:

"I have read your bio and you don't seem like you are a young guy. Don't you think it's a little strange for someone your age to start doing a comic strip? What's the matter, you can't decide what you want to be when you grow up?"

MY RESPONSE:

A lot of famous cartoonists did their comic strips right up until the day they died. Some of them lived to be a ripe old age. Of course, in their cases, they started their careers early and just continued on later in life.

I could probably credit my late start to procrastination. I had always thought of doing a comic strip but just never got around to doing it. The thing is that I have know a lot of people in my life that had certain things that they said they were going to do but never actually did them. At least I eventually got around to doing this.

If there is one quote that sums this sort of thing up it is one of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis and it goes like this: "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." I love that quote because I think of how many people waste their potential in life because they are too busy doing this or that or maybe certain circumstances prevent them from doing so. Well, you don't always have to give up on things just because you are getting older.

I realize that some people are going to like what I do and others are not. That's life. I just hope that my efforts will pay off in the sense that there will be a significant number of people who enjoy my work.

NEXT E-MAIL:

"Hey Bob Craypoe,

I think it's awesome that you use Daz Studio 3D software to create your comic strip. I use the program myself for 3D artwork but I never thought of using it for something like a comic strip. I don't know if anyone has done that before but it's a great idea. keep up the good work."

MY RESPONSE:

Thank you for your nice comments. I don't know of anyone else using Daz Studio or other 3D artwork program for a comic strip. It's possible that someone else got the idea before me. But I took some of the strips and put them in my gallery on the Daz3d website and the response was great. I got a lot of encouraging comments from other people who use the program and it was nice to get that from my Daz studio using peers.

As far as the Daz Studio program goes, I love it. there are some who like Poser over Daz and you have the people who prefer Daz over poser and there may be a bit of a rivalry there. I started using Daz before I even purchased poser and I got so used to the interface in Daz Studio that I have not really gotten into Poser. there are some very serious differences between the interface of each program. So instead of applying myself to both programs and only being mediocre at both, I really went all out and learned Daz Studio while just tinkering with Poser. Eventually, I would like to learn Poser but i would have to find the time to dedicate to learning and experimenting with the program.

So that's pretty much my questions and answers for this week. If you are interested in checking out or finding out more about Daz studio just go to their website: Daz3d.com

Bob Craypoe

My Response to a Recent Hate E-Mail - Blog Entry # 10

I have asked for feedback on my comic strip and I got it. I have a nasty e-mail here that was sent in by someone who did not leave their name. I would like to respond to it though. So here it is:

"Hey Punksters,

I have checked out your comic strip and I find that it contains humor not suitable for younger people. I thought comic strips were supposed to be kid friendly. Obviously, your strip is not anything I would like my kids to read. I also won't expect to see it in the Sunday morning comics in my newspaper.

Personally, I think you should be ashamed of yourself for putting such garbage on the Internet where any kid can find it. Your humor is in poor taste and it makes me wonder what kind of loser you really are. You probably won't have the guts to post this either."

And now for my response:

Well, gosh, whoever you are. I guess I could safely assume that you are not a fan of my work. But now that you mention your kids, let's get down to that. First of all, the strip contains humor not suitable for kids. I freely admit that. But here's the kicker: it wasn't meant to be for kids.

You see, in my twisted little world, I assume that responsible parents keep an eye on their kids to make sure that they are not getting into things that maybe they should not be getting into; instead of allowing them to and blaming everyone else for that. You are probably the type that would let your kids run out into a busy street playing and would be the first to sue someone if they get hit by a car.

As to the humor itself, anyone who doesn't like it can simply not return to any of the sites the strip is posted on. I mean, damn, don't let it traumatize you. It's just a cartoon. As far as me not having the guts to post your drivel, you were wrong. You may be surprised at that or surprised at my response but it's obvious you don't like my work and I am not going to kiss your you know what just to get you to like me. So get lost and get a stinking life! There, that felt good. Have a nice day.

PS: I have included a strip with this post that I would like to dedicate just to you. It has humor that is in very poor taste. I hope you dislike it.  :)

Bob Craypoe

To see the first ten comic strips, CLICK HERE.
To read about the characters, CLICK HERE.

My Response to Recent Feedback Regarding the Punksters.net Comic Strip - Blog Entry # 9

I asked for feedback regarding the Punksters.net comic strip and the website and I got it. They say that you should be careful what you wish for because you just might get it but, overall, the response has been good. So let's get started with the first e-mail:

"I like your comic strip but don't you worry that you have too many characters for people to follow? I took the time to check out the page on your blog that introduces all of the characters but how many other people are going to do that?"

The person who sent this e-mail did not want their name used, so I won't use it. But I will respond to it, and here is my response:

You are right that I do have a lot of characters. I currently have 17 characters that I intend to be regulars in the strip. I will admit that it may be a bit much for people to follow. I will also have a few extras here and there. I tried to introduce as many of the characters as early on as I possibly could to sort of get it out of the way. As of now, I have only officially released strip # 6 (included here) but I have created 17 strips so far. I have them already made up ahead of time. I am currently a couple of months ahead.

Since I have already completed 17 of the strips, I have been able to introduce 16 of the 17 characters I have on the Meet the Characters Page. I am hoping to be able to work that 17th character in by the time I complete the 20th comic strip. 

The advantage to having so many characters is that I can create a variety of scenarios and as I receive feedback from the readers, I can then tailor the strip more to what the majority of the people tell me they would like to see. It allows me a number of different directions and options for future strips.

I realize that there are no guarantees for success regarding anything in life. For all I know, this strip may never really catch on. If it doesn't, I will just compile them and release a book with all of them; which will include an introduction to all of the characters. If the book does okay, I might continue with the strip, if not, I may try another one. We will see. I appreciate your input and I look forward to receiving more input from others. Thank you.

Anyone interested in reading the first ten comic strips can CLICK HERE.
Anyone interested in offering their own feedback can  CLICK HERE.

Bob Craypoe

One month Since the Release of the First Comic Strip - Blog Entry # 8

Today marks one month since the release of the first Punksters.net Comic Strip, which was released on January 25th 2015. So far the site has received traffic from 66 different countries and from 29 states in the US.

We are still looking to receive more input on the strip. So anyone interested in offering suggestions for it can go to the following page to fill out the suggestion form: Click HERE 

So far the response has been positive. At least we have not received any hate mail yet. That's a good thing. If you have not read the first ten strips, we have a page with them all on it: HERE

That's all that's new for now. Check in again to see what's new. Thanks for stopping by.

Bob Craypoe 

Some People Like Us - Blog Entry # 7

I was looking over Google Analytics for the Punksters.net website and I can get a sense of where our traffic is coming from. I can see on the international level as well as on the state level in the United States.

The top ten countries that we get are traffic are in the following order: United States, Russia, Canada, Italy, Germany, Philippines, Belgium, Spain, Finland and the United Kingdom.

The top ten states in the United States where we get our traffic from is: New Jersey, New York, Virginia, California, Texas Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana and Massachusetts.

It is understandable that the state we get the most traffic from is New Jersey. After all, it is my home state. New Jersey is also the state with the highest average number of pages per visit, at 6.25. Louisiana is at 6.00. the worst are Iowa and Massachusetts with just over 1 page per visit. Oh well, I guess some just like us more than others.

The site has only been online for about a month now, so hopefully things will get better and our popularity will increase. That's what we are hoping for anyway. If you want to help, just kindly spread the word. it would be much appreciated.

Bob Craypoe

Comic Strip Looking for Input - Blog Entry # 6

The Punksters.net Weekly Online Comic Strip is looking for input from writers, comedians, musicians or anybody interested in offering ideas for the strip. the idea is to do a strip where people from all over the world can offer ideas that may be incorporated into the strip. I just think it would be a fun thing to do. Any contributor would also be mentioned in our blog, so everyone will get credit for their contribution.

If you want to know more about the strip and the characters, there are two ages on the Punksters.net Blog that can help you. First, I can introduce the main characters. They are displayed above and from left to right they are Bing the drummer, Bang the guitarist, Crash the singer and Boom the bass guitarist. That's Bing, Bang, Crash and Boom. They are obviously a Punk rock band. There are more characters you can read about on our "Meet The Characters" Page. You can also get more detailed background information on the ones we have just introduced to you too.

If you want to see what we have done already with the strip, you can check out the "First Ten Comic Strips" page. We have some strips displayed that are actually dated to future official release dates, so don't let that throw you off.

The basic format of the comic strip is a four frame strip with the first three frames setting it up for the punchline in the fourth and last frame. I prefer to use the same format for every strip. Any suggestions can be sent through our website by filling out the form on our "Suggestion Box" page.

I look forward to any interaction and suggestions that come my way. I would also appreciate any participation. So, give it some thought and send in your ideas. Thanks.

Bob Craypoe

Slow Progress Beats no Progress - Blog Entry # 5

I have been putting a lot of work into the Punksters.net website lately. Right now we only have 2 comic strips officially released but we do have 11 different downloadable desktop wallpapers available at this time. The image to the left is one of those wallpapers, called "Set the Guitar for Stun."

The site is now registered with the various search engines, so we will see how much search engine traffic we will get.

I have been looking at some of our stats from Google Analytics. So far we have only had traffic from 9 different countries. But the site has only been around since January. The domain Name was registered on January 14th. The website was completed on January 20th and the first comic strip was released on January 25th. So it was 11 days from the registration of the domain name to the release of the first comic strip.

I put up all of the strips that have been created up to this point and you can view them by clicking on the "First Ten Comic Strips" link to the right.

So that's this week's update. Just check back in to see what's new on this blog, the comic strip and the Punksters.net site.

Bob Craypoe