Let's Make a Magazine

[Matt]

I can also write.

[Regantor]

First off, I'm totally willing to make a comic for this.

However...

I've seen quite a few attempts at this kinda thing both on here in the past and on the Sweatdrop forums; It seems the biggest problems with these kinda ideas is really lack of exposure and the lack of funds comming in. Just like how video game magazines rarely show indie games, making a magazine by and for people who aren't making alot of money is kind of always going to be a hard sell. It doesn't exactly help that magazines as a medium have been slowly melting away since the internet started to become popular.

So, with that in mind, maybe I'd suggest looking into article-themed website ideas, too? Like how Cracked is run in concept. Or maybe a more fan-orientated version of Anime News Network?... Don't mean to back seat drive, but it does seem like there isn't anything like that at the moment... Well, not unless you include Manga Tutorials itself. :p

Of course, if my suggestion is ignored I'm still fine with supporting this either way. It was just an idea.

[Evil_Cake]

ya I agree, printing seems like it'd be a hassle

[nextweek]

I'd be willing to do anything you want! Used to run a paper and had to do almost everything anyway...

I agree with above statements...let's not muck up the well with money...it gets messy after awhile with this sort of thing..

[Black_Shaggie]

Yeah, that is true. I really wasn't expecting for this to be a huge project and don't expect anyone to dish out money unless they want to & we're going to print. Matt suggested using a PDF format & an ezine would be the cheapest way to go if we're not spending money I mean, if we're resurrecting the original MT Chronicles, then I'm assuming the it will be featured here somewhere, so folks will see it.

Besides, society is moving away from the printed format ( I know my day job is in print) so the best thing for us to do is go digital. Pluse, seeing as this is something that was already done here, I think it would be a cool place to showcase members work (if they'd like).

Doing this quarterly is best I feel for lack of interest. I figure if folks know we have that much time it won't stress them in other areas of their personal lives. What I'm seeing as a format is a 64 page book with four manga/comics 14 pages each, 1-3 pages of current events (in the manga/comic, anime/cartoon & gaming world), one or two MAJOR articles on any of those genres 3-4 pages long, with a few pages to spare for extra or other shit. It should be geared towards teens & older but not too heavy on swearing & violence. I mean, I'm not stuck to this idea though

I've already a few ideas for one story so we could start with that or any other ideas you guys want to do. If you guys are really serious then send me a message so we can start planning.

[Linz]

I would be willing to add a female perspective to this project, a bit of variety. I can also offer art and writing. Im open to ideas. Or if you dont need me at all, then no sweat lolol.

[Matt]

I've got an idea for a comic. If the e-zine is quarterly, I can probably churn out at least 14 pages every three months.

Linz, you write? What kinda stuff?

[Rio]

I'm going to put a little blurb about this on the main site and see if we can get more contributors. : )

On a side note, you guy should specify now what the content you guys are aiming to provide or else you're going to get a mish-mosh of stuff put together. Some people would think it of it as a mission statement or business plan. For example, you can specify that this will be a quarterly ezine for the general advancement and instruction of manga creation (how-to's), enjoyment (original mangas to read), and community (providing additional things like a calendar, critiques, showcasing artwork, etc).

[BunnyVoid]

i think i can participate in this.

i have tons of experience in layouting, typesetting, formatting, etc.

I can also help out with weekly comics (i work pretty fast, despite all the activities i have in life) but i dont think i could pull off a good story without a good writer. I'm not good at writing. Thinking, writing and concepts take too much of my time. If someone could write for me, i could just draw really fast for them (in decent quality tho, don't expect).

A nice content would be providing reviews of tutorials, drawing books, trending artworks/styles, anime, or games in comic/manga form. Maybe incorporate some sort of parody and commentary on the subject. In my head i see it like a graphically superior version of 9gag.

[Black_Shaggie]

I'm going to put a little blurb about this on the main site and see if we can get more contributors. : )

On a side note, you guy should specify now what the content you guys are aiming to provide or else you're going to get a mish-mosh of stuff put together. Some people would think it of it as a mission statement or business plan. For example, you can specify that this will be a quarterly ezine for the general advancement and instruction of manga creation (how-to's), enjoyment (original mangas to read), and community (providing additional things like a calendar, critiques, showcasing artwork, etc).

Yeah Rio's right. I haven't see the original MT Chronicles, but if it fell off it was more than likely because of two things: 1)unwillingness to complete the work on time & 2)sheer boredom....which should never happen on creative projects.

I'm not sure what our mission statement or business plan would be short of "Creating new realities in manga/comics today for a new and innovative tomorrow" (I know corny).
See, I feel that the world of visual storytelling in general is completely stagnated in 2012. Sure, you have good projects being created all the time, but I'd wager that for every say...Fruits Basket you got out there...there's 10 really horrible clones of that same story & nothing truly fresh. Even worse in 'western' comics the two major continuities have pretty much spun the same stories for over 5 decades now & they're getting stale.

Whatever we decide to do, I want to be sure that we're doing original ideas that we collectively feel will appeal to the audiences we're targeting. I do feel that though we have a very broad demographic to cover, if we were to keep things limited to these 2(or four) genres, we can make some cool stuff: shonen(duh), shojo, seinen & josei.

Anyways, I'm wating for at least three more artists & writers to chime in & about two more layout folks. I don't wanna step on anyone's toes & if we're not gonna put it print, stuff like tutorials should be directed back here. Unless folks are wanting tutorials of a specific artists.