Maintaining Bohemia
Genre:
Modern, Comedy
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55051
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Who keeps order in the land of total indulgence? Who cleans up after performance pieces that involve dead fish and stagnant water? Who keeps a conceptual art school tethered to Earth and functioning on a day-to-day basis? The janitorial and security staff of the New Academy of Art and Design are all that stand between clean, well-maintained hallways and pseudo-intellectual chaos.
Maintaining Bohemia follows the support staff of NAAD (New Academy of Art and Design) as they navigate a campus filled with immature and uninformed examples of conceptual art from students more concerned with thrift store t-shirts and hair care products than any higher pursuits. The staff provides an outsider’s view to the workings of the modern art school. A man-on-the-street’s view of lame and fake crucifixions, slightly pornographic videos of puppet suicide, and the same footage of animal slaughterhouses that show up in sophomore performance class year after year.
sorry you didn't win. hope you guys give us another unique zuda entry to look at again!
I wanted to thank everyone for all the kind words and support on the comic over the last month. We are really grateful to have been part of the ride this month. Buster and I are cooking all sorts of new stuff - follow us on Twitter for updates - @HaroldSipe and @BusterMoody
@Nicromanser - Thanks so much and thanks to everyone that came by and talked to Buster and I at PlanetCon.
@bmorganz - Thanks for all the kinds words - one more day to go tell your friends!
You guys have done a GREAT job of blending a new, creative idea (not the lost in the herd comics) with well-done art and interesting colors. I can see where this comic could get a growing fan support.
Nicromanser: Thanks so much, man! Thanks for coming by also! Did you have a good con?
hey i met you guys at PCC today, you got my vote!
Hello all - just a note, Buster and I will be at PlanetCon in Kansas City tomorrow - http://www.planetcomicon.com/
Anyone in the area, please stop by and say hello.
This comic ruined my life, I love it.
Congrats, guys. I guess that animal sacrifice did the trick.
Wow - up a notch! Thanks again to everyone for the kind words and support!
That opening scene had me in stitches - I felt like the narrative drifted a little bit after that. I would have liked to have learned more about the janitor instead of the other characters. Nice art - I really enjoyed the hyperdeformed characters and insane colours
BUSTA, you're blossoming. Continue.
The 40,000 view is gonna be MINE!
come one guys! you need to get some more votes to make it close!
-aniline: It does indeed makes sense. Harold and I both have gone to art school so, it's definitely something that is close to us, having taken up at least 4 years of our lives (more for Harold). We're glad you feel included! Thanks for your kind words!
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-nikkilinkin: Thanks a bunch! I hope you made all of your and Dustin's family vote on it too!
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-frequentcontributor:It looks like your post from a few weeks ago got reposted with censorship up here somehow. In response, I'll just copy and paste my last response to this same post: There have indeed been a few miracles of publicity to happen for us. You're right though. Just getting traffic through the site is obviously not even to win. Oh well, for now. Thanks for your other comments too, there is more craziness in the works.
There's something slightly insane going on here... This comic has over twenty THOUSAND views. That's nearly 4-5 times as much as the other comics on here, this month (and what the amount usually is, based on my coming here every month...). So what's up? Even if some miracle of great publicity happened for you guys, why aren't those people voting for this comic? Doesn't make any sense...
Anyway, the art on this comic is really nice. Cool colors and an intersting, skewed style make this look really fresh, but the story is stupid as ****. Sorry, but it's just boring and pointless. Not my cup of tea; others might like it, but I either need some actual plot, or a ****load more craziness.
Awesome Patrick!! I voted, rated a 5, added to favorites, and commented!!! You Rock!!!
I think the more I think about it, the more I really love this comic. I think when a lot of people take on the subject of art school I don't enjoy it because it sounds like it's coming from an outside-looking-in perspective as if they're better than the subject. This seems like it's more of a "poking fun at ourselves" type of thing. I feel included instead of excluded, if that makes sense. :)
@LittleHillLill- Well, thank you so much for your comment, stars, and favorite. We'll take whatever you'll give!
This doesn't get my vote, but best of luck! I gave it 5 stars and favorited it!
@Keatonkohl - Hey man! The bubble is really the thing - and that isn't limited to art school. You can find bubbles in any environment (I'm thinking of the last office I worked in) - it's easy to fall out of step with the wider world around you.
@FrankieBaltimore - Thank you for the kind words, sir. I have had a blast doing this on Zuda and love the format. Whatever happens with Maintaining Bohemia (we're still hoping to win - pass the comic on to your friends!)I will be submitting more comics in the future.
I changed my vote to this comic, as I think at this point it has more chance than Lani, right now!
Plus I like the approach on this, plus out of the top 4 I think this is the most unique, also I push a broom for a living so I can relate to the characters.lol...if it doesn't win, please resubmit more pages to Zuda again or something!
Nice dialog. I go back and forth with agreeing with the different characters. Sometimes it seems important what we are doing in art school then you step out of the bubble and it's a bit of a joke.
Hey Bryy_Miller and RKB - thanks so much for the reviews - I especially enjoyed comparing Buster's inking style to R. Crumb's - I always thought I saw a bit of that in his work.
ALSO - anyone who is looking to reminisce a bit about art school day gone by, hit the Zuda Message Board - http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/web/thread.jspa?threadID=2000183675&tstart=0
I threatened to do this. You all laughed at me. Here is this month's Zuda reviews, done under heavy medication:
http://leftyfilmsblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/zudamarch-2009.html
your welcome. :)
@RKB- Thanks for the wonderful review, man. I appreciate that you take the time to do that. Yeah, the name change for when I draw is mostly because of this guy (http://patrickmorgan.com/homepage.html), who is not me. He's already pretty well established, so I thought it'd be good to try something else. Thanks again!
My art school memories, a Rush Limbaugh quote, and a comparison to R. Crumb. Not to mention my review of the comic. Read it all here.
http://pigs-of-the-industry.blogspot.com/
Hey Don. Thanks for the comment. The main characters are actually the maintenance staff, hence the title. You're right though. With the other approach, the plot would wear thin very quickly. Having the cast be the staff allows for something of an outsiders view as well as the possibility of the effects of their job on the other aspects of their lives. They aren't the artists themselves, but they are possibly affected by the work of the artists, in an indirect way, more than many of the other students who view the work.
Hmmm. Well, this is disturbing, but I guess it's an interesting commentary on the state of the artistic society. That being said, I dont' know why this needs to be done. What is the dramatic appeal of an artist (I'm assuming thats your main character?) who is so self absorbed that he drains the plot and potential?
@mrgodon - thanks for that. Also, Buster has done some really great work in animation. Check out his stuff here: http://www.bustermoody.com/
Me likee this one a lot. Do you ever work with clay bustermoody? I could see this as a claymation as well. Very cool stuff guys!
@IkeDizzle: I appreciate the kind words and if Maintaining Bohemia wins I guarantee that there won't be any problems with Bayou updates (at least not on my end)!
It took me awhile to understand the concept here, but I can dig it. It's good to see something different in comics, and this is definitely different. You got my vote, I just hope it doesn't backfire on me and mess up any Bayou updates. :) Good luck.
@WEB99- We can make comics about it! Thanks for the nice words! Having conversations with other art school grads is almost like trading war stories. Always a good time. Thanks again!
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@RKB- Yeah, I gave detailed instructions on the Facebook group that I created, but I personally feel like my range is pretty limited. Whenever the site first came up it took me a while to understand that you actually had to PRESS the vote button in order to vote for it, rather than just stars and favs. Can't wait to see the review, man. I enjoy them!
My review will be up eventually, but maybe you should post instructions here for all your viewers to get through the nine levels of hell some people seem to have to get past to vote. A reminder to fav and star the comic, but a fav is not a vote would probably be helpful too. I never had that much trouble figuring it out, but various message board posts show not everyone had it so easy when it comes to signing up. At this rate you may have to resort to blackmail. ;)
LOL, what a great adventure. I only say this because I went to the great CCAD and I know, like many here, what art college is all about. I always love to see stories on the subject. You got my vote. I saw a performance where a female, who will remain nameless, sucked up raw eggs through a vacuum cleaner. It was her comment on abortion. Art School Rocks, but what the hell can we do with that?
@landrestmusic: Well, thank you very much for the nice words. I'm always fascinated by people who do maintenance work as well. Especially in odd settings. Having been a janitor at both an elementary school and an office building in the past, I can really sympathize with someone who's task it is to clean up after semi-neurotic art students.
i always wondered what the janitor at my art school thought of us and our art - i like the strip , and i'm sure more pages would give more personality - i also like the fish section
-gpz: Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, Harold mentioned earlier the difficulty of getting an audience to latch on to anyone particular character in such a small number of pages. Especially when there is an ensemble cast. That being said, the arcs following this introductory one focus more specifically on individual characters and their own struggles, flaws, high points and etc.
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-famished: Thank you for taking time to comment. Yeah, trying to introduce everyone at once gives more of surface level interactions with the characters rather than a more sympathetic introspection (even though there's a bit of that in there too). Also part of the difficulty is mixing sympathetic characters in an environment that is sort of satirical.
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Thanks again everyone for looking and commenting. That really means a lot!
This is probably one of the most difficult comics I ever had to review, or chose to comment on. Conceptually its brilliant. To have a boarding school for kids with "issues" in itself can create some interesting stories. However, aside from the boy who presented his video, the execution is really fifty fifty with me. On one hand I can understand the pressures of trying to give the reader a taste of everything, but in doing so you failed in telling one complete story. I really like the strip,and as I stated before I think the concept is great, but I can certainly see why some my not feel that that is enough. Good Luck.
I dig the style of the art, but I felt it was inconsistent in some areas. Th color palette is great. Unfortunately, I felt like I should have cared a bit more for what was going on but it just didn't really draw me in.
Wanted thank everyone that has come by in the last few days and showed their support.
@ Tony Moore - Thanks Tony - your opinion and friendship really means quite a bit to me.
@mpd57 - Thanks, I agree it is a pretty stiff competition this month - quite a credit to all the creators involved. I know Buster and I are thrilled to be part of it this month.
I agree with your critique on the issue of the central character - it was challenging to get all of the ensemble cast in and introduce the overall concept. If we're lucky enough to continue I plan on focusing the main characters as we set up the first storyline.
@JFx - great strip, man. Thanks for stopping by to take a look
My vote has finally found a new home. Tough choices to make this month, but this is the one (for now at least). Shame there's not one obvious sympathetic central character to get behind. Art style reminds me a little of the Passenger another strip too good to come close even to winning.
Great work her fellas i'm not sure if Zuda has enough readers that are going to love your comic, but I think that is a great new approach with something new :D Congratulations :D
-Thanks, find_mew!
-And thank you Sean Ricketts for coming by and taking a look!
-littersglitter, she HAS! I think Jessica sent her a link.
-frequentcontributor:There have indeed been a few miracles of publicity to happen for us. You're right though. Just getting traffic through the site is obviously not even to win. Oh well, for now. Thanks for your other comments too, there is more craziness in the works.
If only Mrs. Smither could see you now.
I was directed here by kelly sue.
nice work
Wow, look at all those views. Thanks everyone so much for your comments. We're really glad you like it!