Actually, the NeS comic has had a new artist for a bit now and has put up several strips. I've just been waiting for previous comic strips to be working again (thank you CM!) before I went spamming about it.

http://nes.sorrowind.net

Please give your support to Ping_Me -- you might remember him from back in the day. He'll be updating every other Wednesday, for the time being at least. The next one should be up this coming Wednesday.

Feel free to post your questions, comments, criticisms, cheese, etc. in hopes of providing a better comic experience. I'll see if I can get Ping to make a post here too.

That is the most hideously drawn comic ever.

Perhaps I should have said "constructive criticism" -- the idea is to help make it better, not drive the NeS comic back to the grave. Perhaps you can elaborate?

Also, I'm a firm believer that the best artist is useless if they never update. So far, Ping has been doing an excellent job of doing just that, which is surprisingly difficult to find in someone. </2 cents>

Touche.

Actually, if anyone should be taking offense, it'd probably be Krig (the former artist) or Jep (who had been one step from jumping on board). Really, though, it's a lot to ask for from people on the Internet and for no money, so it wasn't meant as a jab on anyone. I was just pointing out that aesthetics wasn't the only factor in getting a new artist, though I personally happen to like Ping's work so far.

also, yay for new NeS comic!

And btw, JM a comic doesn't have to be drawn well to be successful. Look at xkcd. it's stick people.

Geb lays punishment like a pro. 5 star thread. Will read comic.

No punishment! :S Er, so long as you all read the comic, I mean!

But art style is important because, if not done right, it can easily distract from whatever underlying ideas. I mean, the reason why one would choose to make a comic instead of just text on the screen is to convey the material visually as well.

Yes, xkcd is filled with stick figures. But they are drawn nicely and adds to whatever abstract point the guy is making.

No, see, I'm on Geb's list of artists who never produced anything for it. It's all much more personal than you think.

In all fairness, JM never promised me anything, just showed interest and was thinking of starting small with some one-panel stuff for unrelated kicks.

ECHOMAN is right about art style though, Sarn. While art skills aren't necessary to make good material, being able to produce appropriate aesthetics that work are. If people don't think Ping's current work works well for the NeS comic, they should speak up and say why. However, I will admit that even if everyone hates it, I'm not about to go canning Ping, but it might help him know what he can try focusing on in the future if he gets constructive criticism. Of course, blatant praise would help support him too, I'm sure.

oh yes, don't get me wrong. I agree. I'm just saying that the art can be purposefully bad or simplistic in the same way that it can be complex, and depending on the context, it can be appropriate. In this case, I've no criticism about the art itself (it does look a little unprofessional, but I've no real suggestions for improving it), but do have suggestions regarding the story itself. I think you should skip past the humble laaaame beginnings of NeS and get to the stuff that's actually got some meat. There are times further in when the NeS storyline is very intriguing and funny, and I think NeSi is an oppurtunity to trim down a lot of the excess fat that makes NeS so hard to read and instead showcase some of the more ingenious moments of NeS. Doing so will hopefully appeal to a broader fanbase.

Art is art is art is art.

But what about them very long-awaited UPDATES

i agree with sran, and if you have to/want to, have flashback moments to the early days.