Crawling Through Space
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![[ Crawlspace ]](images/1199/crawlspace_2.gif) |
Once I got up to doing four sites, I'd refined "the Crawlspace Method" a good deal further, and decided that I ought to bring in a few friends, teach them the system I'd developed, and it basically went from there. By that point the seeds of the Crawlspace Network had been planted, so to speak. It's really a lot of fun, and it allows me to spend my time working on sites for lots of comics that I enjoy, while sharing in the maintenance workload with other fans. So - I don't know that it was a concious decision. It was more of a "Gee, look where this is going! Guess I'll go with the flow!" sort of thing. Now, of course, there's a lot more planning ahead than there was when I first started Crawlspace.
ST: You've been on panels at conventions about internet fandom. What do you think Crawlspace adds to internet fandom?
CL: I think the main thing that Crawlspace adds is a professional-yet-"grass-roots" combination of enthusiasm and geeky know-how. There are a ton of comic sites out there, but a majority of them fall into two categories - enthusiastic fans who don't know much about web technology; and big money sites that know a lot about technology (or have hired people who do) and have very much of a "SELL! SELL! SELL!" attitude. I don't feel that either type of site is exactly what internet-savvy comic fans are looking for.
With Crawlspace sites, we have fast servers, cool technology ... but we're just big 'ol fanboys trying to do things that will make comic fans say "Cool!" So, I think Crawlspace adds professional-quality sites to internet fandom - without the pressure to buy a bunch of stuff. Of all the comic sites out there, I can only think of 6 or 7 sites that have a similar atmosphere.
ST: But it seems like Crawlspace has concentrated mostly on a certain type of comic book. True, you have message boards for Strangers in Paradise, but most of the Crawlspace sites are Wildstorm or Image, right? Do you think including those other kinds of fans - who like indies or black & white books - would be a good thing?
CL: Hah! I like the way you phrased that - "a certain type" is a nice way to put it. Some of my relatives call that type ... uh... "racy". The reasoning behind choosing the comics we've chosen to do sites on has been: what's going to bring in the most traffic? Crawlspace is a business, and as such, we've got to focus our energies on the largest audience possible. So, just like the companies making the comics we're doing sites on, we've aimed for the mainstream. This is not to say that we'll never do sites for indie or black & white books - in fact, we're working on a design for a Strangers in Paradise site right now to be launched sometime early next year.
Now that the Crawlspace Network system is mostly in place, we're able to expand into smaller niches - as well as potentially larger ones! - so we've been considering more possibilities and proposals. I think that it would definitely be a good thing to give good indie books more exposure online.
ST: Crawlspace hosts comicpoll.com and comicmail.com Where did the idea for those come from?
CL: Those two sites launched back-to-back - with about 30 days between the launch dates. What drove Crawlspace into both of them at that time was the desire to do something a little broader-reaching than just the title or creator-specific sites we'd been doing up to that point. We still enjoy doing those kinds of sites, and they make up the bulk of our traffic ... but it's fun working on sites that have a broader appeal. In addition to those sites being a change of pace for us, they also serve as a doorway into Crawlspace. Because of their broader appeal, new visitors find their way into the Crawlspace Network through those sites all the time now.
ST: Where do you see comics and the internet going in five years?
CL: That's a tough question. A few years ago, there was a big push in the "Cyber Comic" direction. I actually worked on the Spider-Man and Wolverine CyberComics which ran weekly on AOL for a little over a year before starting up Crawlspace ... and I know from that experience that cool online comics, complete with sounds and animations, are incredibly expensive to produce. Prohibitively so, I think. During the big push in the Cyber Comic direction, everyone was saying "Oh, the 'net is where it's at for publishing comics!" I don't agree.
While Cyber Comics are an interesting diversion, they're not collectible! And most of the people I've spoken with on the subject agree that collecting (and all the hunting around that goes with collecting sometimes) is half the fun of comics. If an online comic can have unlimited downloads at any hour of the day ... that means that half the fun is being stripped away. I guess that doesn't really answer the question - other than that I don't think that comics will all be online in five years. Combine the expense involved in creating really good stuff with the weird idea that everyone on the internet seems to think that content should be free, and you wind up with a losing business proposition. Beyond that - who knows?
ST: How did you get into that (Cyber Comics)?
CL: The short answer is "right place, right time." The longer answer is: I started working for America Online as a freelancer waaaay back in 1994, while I spent the majority of my time bouncing around Los Angeles as an unemployed actor. I did some chat room event hosting for them, as well as production work on a since-deceased area called The HealthZone.
After a little over a year as a contractor, I moved up to the San Francisco Bay area, and took a full-time production position in AOL's Northern CA office. That was in the spring of 1996, I think. Just so happened that right around then, AOL was getting started with Marvel Comics for their online area, and the programmer who'd done the first 6 issues of the Spider-Man comic had just resigned, so being a lifelong Spidey fan, I jumped in with both feet. I wound up doing the programming for about 50 weekly issues of the Spider-Man CyberComic, and we did four issues of Wolverine in there as well. It was a pretty sweet gig, I must say.
ST: What do you think you and Crawlspace will be doing in the future?
CL: Ah! The biggie! Upcoming projects are on my mind all the time, it seems - too often, if you ask some people. Heh heh heh! Right now we're working towards growing the Crawlspace Network at an acceptable pace - acceptable to us and acceptable to Crawlspace visitors. I'd like to see it grow to enormous size, but don't want to sacrifice quality along the way. So, it's slow going at times. Beyond just growing, we've kicked around some ideas like getting into some low-key online retail (such as keeping a few extra copies of the comics we're doing sites for on hand), but we haven't committed to that course of action yet. My main goal for the future is to keep having fun! I feel like my job description is "professional comic fan", and that's what I'd like to continue doing. Makes it fun to get out of bed every day!
ST: I'd imagine so. I know that's how some people working in comic stores feel. Do you think that maybe those people who aren't making it in retail in the "real world" will try doing what you're doing online?
CL: They just might! And I say "good luck" to all of them - doing professional-level web development isn't the walk in the park that it may appear to be. But, I say the more comic sites run by knowledgeable and enthusiastic people, the better!
![[ Crawlspace ]](images/1199/crawlspace_1.gif) |
ST: You've got quite an array of message boards at Crawlspace. I know that J.Scott Campbell posts there. Anyone else I haven't noticed?
CL: There are a number of people who pop in on the boards periodically. Humberto Ramos, Mike Heisler, Andy Hartnell, John Layman, Jim Lee, Munier Shariff, Joe Quesada, Francisco Haghenbeck, Patrick Blaine and Tony Daniel have all made appearances at least once. I know there are a few others that I'm forgetting too!
ST: Books like Gen13 and Danger Girl are often scorned by mature comic fans. Why do you think that is? What can be done about it?
CL: There's a certain type of comic fan who always looks down on popular or mainstream books. I don't know why that is - but I do know that it's not always because they're more mature. The bottom line is, whether you're a fan of Gen13, Danger Girl, or Battle Chasers or not ... those types of books sell a lot of issues, and that's good for EVERY comic fan. Take a look at everything good that's going on in the industry right now - seems like there's more self-publishing and/or property creation going on now than there has been in the last few years. To me, that indicates that comics are rising up from the slump of the mid-90's a bit - partly due to high-profile, big-selling books like Gen13, Danger Girl and Battle Chasers. Doesn't mean that everyone should love those comics - and it also doesn't mean that some of those comics do some harm to comics (and how comics are perceived by "non-believers") - but positive sales figures make people and publishers more willing to take risks on new ventures.
One could argue that the success of the next Danger Girl-like project could inspire someone to create the next Cerebus or Grendel-like property! When comic creators "do good", it's inspiring to other creators who may create a totally different kind of comic. So if there's anything to be done about the scorn that you're mentioning, it's trying to get people to understand and accept that not everyone has to like the same comics - and the stuff that isn't your cup of tea just ... isn't your cup of tea. Doesn't mean it doesn't have merit, and doesn't mean that it's not good for the industry as a whole. Scorn just isn't necessary when agreeing to disagree would fit the bill just fine.
ST: So, you think we should all have more of a Voltaire kind of attitude - "I disagree with what you are saying, but I will defend to death your right to say it." - instead of the current sentiments?
CL: Exactly! If people want to continue having the choice to buy the cool, fringe, cutting-edge indie stuff, they might want to wholeheartedly support the choices of those who want to spend their money on the mainstream stuff - whether they themselves like those comics or not. Indie comics and mainstream comics have more of a symbiotic relationship than I think some people realize.
If you want to check out the Crawlspace Network visit Crawlspace.Com
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