The TfC Ramble is a weekly buffet of content from the intersection of comics and technology.
Social Media
TikTok ban? Here’s how creators should prepare. I suspect this article is preaching to the choir for our list, but there is still some good advice here.
AI & Machine Learning
“All design is redesign.” There are a lot of great things to extrapolate from here, especially the importance of empathy.
Key takeaway: AIs can improve themselves. “We hypothesize that LLMs possess an emergent property of self-reflection.” (Aside: As a former classroom teacher, I found this fascinating, as self-reflection is a best practice that often gets criticized as a waste of time by outside observers who don’t understand its importance.)
Ever wonder who is leading the charge in AI research? I found this very interesting. The Global AI Talent Tracker
NFTs
NFT Market Faces Tough Times With 31.42% Drop In March Sales. There are a lot of great stats here, although the data is a little skewed towards Ethereum-based digital assets and the use of NFTs as an investment. One line not to miss is “Total transactions have also dropped by 22% to 5.7 million” in the month. My glass-half-full take is that even as numbers are dropping, the actual number of transactions is not trivial. Hop over to cryptoslam.io (the site that generated the source material) and look on the right of the screen for the latest 24-hour transaction data.
Notable Drops
If last week was a little lacklustre, this week, the big two pulled out all the stops with notable issues that sold out.
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN (2005-2008) #1 Total editions: 3550 available (I need to investigate this, but I believe 4000 were actually minted). Price: $9.99
The site experienced an ill-timed 3rd party technical issue, but even with that problem, all issues sold.
Tales of Suspense #39 - The first appearance of Iron Man. Editions: 10,000 $20 Sold out nearly instantly. This is one of the first issues in a while where the floor price for the commons is still above the list price from the initial sale. The secret rare is selling for $890 or higher as of this writing.
Vision and the Scarlet Witch #12 -The first appearance of the children of Vision and the Scarlet Witch - Billy and Tommy. Editions: 5000 at $6.99. Sold out.
W.H.A.D.A.L.O.T.T.A.J.A.R.G.O.N. #1 Editions:10,000 $10
“NFTs” on the Bitcoin Blockchain
In my book, Comic NFTs - An Ethical Approach, I say categorically that given Bitcoin is not a smart contract blockchain, no NFTs are on the chain. This is technically not the case anymore… well, sort of. Some enterprising humans have found a way to inscribe data in the chain’s memo fields and then decode it in such a way that you end up with something NFT-like without a smart contract that can be traded. The main attraction for collectors is that the resulting images are now on the most immutable (think incredibly difficult to change) blockchain, literally in the chain itself.
The technology is not really suitable or relevant for comic NFTs because of the high transaction fees involved. However, the existence of these NFTs complicates the “NFTs are no longer a problem for the environment” message, as there is at least one type of NFT on an energy-intensive proof-of-work blockchain. It is also interesting to note that these NFTs are also controversial in the Bitcoin “maximalist” investor community as they are seen as distracting from the BTC as a currency message and, pragmatically, are resulting in bloat of the actual size of the chain that needs to be stored.
This thread is a bit technical, but it is a good summary: https://twitter.com/JamesonMah/status/1644010184791183362
Writer Accountability
This week has been all about setting up my Shopify store for The Lump Sum Saga. It was something I’ve always had on the “to-do” list, but given the recent hit from the tax man, the only way my next issue will ever be made is if I find ways to generate more revenue so I can pay my creative team.
Among other things, I’m building a store to sell:
any comic inventory remaining from my Kickstarters.
dropshipped merch to go with my comics. “Frass!” mugs coming your way soon.
I could do some lessons related to Shopify on Tech for Comics, but I’d be doing you a disservice by distracting you from the excellent work of “Wholesale Ted.” Sarah Chrisp’s ecomm clubhouse course has been invaluable. Her free Ebook is available here.
Shopify media assets are available here.
I also started an online course on the Flow blockchain at metacrafters.io. This course includes a module on creating NFTs on Flow, the chain best known for hosting NBA Top Shot. In a twist on education, if I successfully complete this free course in under 30 days (and am one of the first 500 people to do so), I’ll actually earn $50. My guess is this is made possible through recruiting fees coming from companies looking for programmers.