Not Exactly an Anniversary, But... · 3:09pm Aug 26th, 2016
On the last day of February:
In the year 2005, the Daily Grind Iron Man Challenge began. Fifty-six webcartoonists took part that first day with the agreement that they would update their webcomics with new material every Monday through Friday. If they ever missed an update, they would be eliminated from the contest.
Only two of us are left now--I attribute my longevity with my comic Daily Grind to my drawing style being more akin to hieroglyphics than anything else--and today marks the contest's 3,000th update. I usually do two page per update, too, so I'm closing in on having executed 6,000 individual pages--and I do mean executed. Here's a link to the complete Table of Contents if anyone wants to examine how my ability to wield a #2 Rapidograph pen hasn't improved appreciably over the course of eleven-and-a-half years.
I've often wondered what would've happened if I'd devoted that time and energy to something I was actually good at, but contemplating that point can only lead to madness. Suffice it to say that I still have stories to tell about the five characters who make up the main cast, so I'm certainly gonna keep going with it.
And giant, extra-special thanks to Xepher for hosting the comic on his server for all this time without ever charging me rent! Here's to another 3,000 updates!
Mike
Man, I remember when the Daily Grind was first announced, and a bunch of folks threw their hats into the ring.'
That two of you are still chugging away at it is pretty crazy.
I'm still amused by "better luck next round".
Since I don't know the other guy, I'm rooting for you!
I remember you mentioning this before. Glad you're still at it. :D Who's the other guy, I wonder?
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Thanks, folks!
Andrew Rothery's the other webcartoonist still in the running. I quite enjoy his TRU-Life Adventures, a comic that focuses on folks who work at a branch of a large toy story chain that isn't Toys-R-Us at all. He's located in Oregon, which I believe puts him in your jurisdiction, TD...
Mike
Impressive.
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Thanks!
I think it's why I took so naturally to Pony writing. When I found MLP at the beginning of 2011, I'd already spent 6 years coming up with stories for a group of continuing characters. Which is pretty much what we do around here...
Mike
I started reading your Daily Grind a while ago, and then stopped because I'm lazy and it's hard to read on my phone. But I think I might have to engineer a way to do so easily, because it was an awesome read and I desperately want to work my way through it all.
Congrats!
Nice!
I haven't read Daily Grind in a long while, but I enjoyed it very much! I really should catch up with my comics...
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Thanks, folks!
I've been thinking I should adapt the comics into novels since they wouldn't really lose anything with the pictures gone. I might have to move that project to someplace nearer a front burner, as they say...
Mike
From where I sit that's somewhere just south of crazy. In a good way, of course. I could only wish that I had that sort of persistence.
Many kudos. So what happens if you're the last man standing?
Edit: Ah, you win almost $1200. Or, about 17 cents per page.
Thanks for linking to your Table of Contents. I just started reading your comic today, and though I've barely scratched the surface so far, I already find it to be enjoyable.
By the way, here's something I just found that I think is quite amusing indeed:
If only you knew then that you'd be celebrating its existence of eleven-and-a-half years now...
Happy not-exactly-anniversary! That's quite an accomplishment, both in storytelling and in pure, persistent commitment
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And of course:
The kicker comes in the part I forgot to mention in the original post: Andrew and I have even outlasted the contest's organizers.
Last year when Brad Guigar fell out of contention for posting three single-panel comics on three consecutive days, Ed Brisson, the only judge left still paying attention to the thing, contacted us and said he was going to Paypal each of us half the prize money. Which he then did. So at this point it's literally just Andrew and me and our "sense of duty" as they keep saying in Pirates of Penzance.
Mike
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Okay, now it's a real nerd fight. :V Grats, though, you definitely won!
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Honestly the more I learn about this contest the more utterly amazed I am. It's these kinds of stories that keep the world beautiful.
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Do the two of you have some sort of celebratory agreement for the eventual end, like winner gets to pick the place you both get lunch?
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Whenever we reach:
An update divisible by 50--so every 10 weeks or so--I head over to the largely defunct Daily Grind Forum and post a message about it. Sometime Andrew answers, but that's pretty much the only contact we've ever had with each other.
I did incorporate a tribute to his comic into mine a few years ago--in his comic, most of the characters work at Toy Mania, and the company mascot is a centipede named Centi-Pete. In my comic, I already have the Fae being giant glowing spiders, so I made centipedes into cosmic beings who scuttle around and keep the various Planes of Existence from crashing into each other. He's said he'd like to do a similar tribute to my comic, but he hasn't figured out how to get a bunch of talking animals into his entirely human world: maybe as stuffed figures for sale at the toy store...
Mike