I was recently typing out a letter explaining my comic-creating passion to a Christian relative (who expressed more than passing interest in my work and now may be regretting), and thought anew of the exciting potential of this CCAS site in 2014. Discussion time; what do you folks think?
“Is CCAS online in a unique ministry position?” is a sufficiently pretentious title to stimulate some commentary. There are so many online sites involved in Christian ministry that it certainly appears to be grandiose for me to believe that CCAS is in a special ministry position. So here is the defense I offered in my letter:
“Publishing houses and established media outlets used to be the only ones with the resources to reach a large number of people, and so acted as a sort of quality filter. However year by year, more viewers of all ages access the internet, and both amateur and professional creators are offering an enormous amount of free material and samples in an effort to find and follow the comic market. One consequence of the current flood of unfiltered offerings on the internet is that a wide range of viewers can expect to find some site on the net that will inform and entertain them. A site that offers a wider variety of styles and stories to correctly express the gospel can be as relevant as a site with a smaller number of handpicked offerings. Meeting the emerging need for wide variety is what makes the CCAS site relevant for me.”
But I’m curious as to what makes this site exciting and relevant (or doesn’t) for you? Sound off, folks.
Replies
Ah cool! Thanks, for the link, it looks like some of my suggestions are a moot point. Here's an active example of what makes this site relevant! It's also a great place to come to exchange info & resources with each other. :)
Melchizedek Todd said:
Be sure to check the COMIX35 website which is the best for international Christian comics information & links: www.comix35.org
Monica, the best place for links and ifo is at R-Squared Comicz http://www.rsquaredcomicz.com/comics/links/
I'm new to CCAS although I've known about it for a long time because I would see the booth at ComicCon San Diego. To be honest back then I was still in my teens and I had no idea what CCAS actually did other than have a booth to sell comics by Christian artists. Now that I'm trying to make it as a professional artist and have rediscovered the site I find it more relevant. As a creator it's nice to connect with other Christian artists to know that I'm not the only one out there who's passionate about this.
Going forward, I do think it would be nice to find a way to do more outreach. Bring more fans to the site as mentioned. It would be nice to have a section that archives Christian comic publications so that fans could find titles. Once I started looking, I found that there are a lot more comic titles by Christians than I realized, but I don't know of any sites that archive what's out there. Also, I know the site has a section listing all the members which is neat, but I could see the relevance of having a directory of creators to make it easier for writers and artists to find each other for collaborative projects, or to help an outsider who may be specifically looking for a Christian artist to help them with illustrations for ministry or something of the like.
Those are tight Mel... good looking out.
Facebook has two groups for Christian comic creators. https://www.facebook.com/groups/305902196133201/
and https://www.facebook.com/groups/christiancomics/
I come here to live vicariously through others. ;)
Frankly Chris, as far as an incubator/gallery for Christian cartooning I don't know of another one besides here. Does anyone else know of a good, encouraging tutorial site with peer critiques?
Brien what are some other good sites to go to? I do need some more sites to check out.
I got excited because I wanted to find something to quench my Christian comic geekness. And I did for the most part. This is my go to site to see what people are up too. CCAS is like facebook in a sense with the way the site operates. And there are some very interesting folk on here too who are very knowledgeable. Whenever I have concerns or questions I would come here first, when it comes to brainstorming on how to do comic things. I give input, on people's art, and encouragement. The debates are nice and keep me sharp. I see that everybody is extremely different in style and interest.
I always believed that the need for large publishing houses to provide excitement has not been as necessary because of the internet. Which places us, the little guy, in the right era. Because we can really have the freedom to create and reach folks it just depends on our own savvy and hunger and passion and strategy and eye candy for comic pages doesn't hurt either.
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