In the past I pointed to a then-new webseries called The Punchline, hosted by the Comic Strip Critic, John Weber. The show reviews newspaper, and the occasional web, comic strips. Since then we were both contributors to the same site, that sadly went down, and became friends. So yes, I’m helping another friend, but I don’t know anybody who does articles like this. (I wish I did. I wouldn’t mind someone push MY Patreon.)
But I don’t point to things just because they’re my friends. I want to see a push to really make a career out of it, rather than getting help through a hobby, and show some real effort to create something special. John’s really shown his dedication, making friends in the newspaper strip industry (he’s the only video reviewer I’ve seen discussing newspaper strips, although I’ve seen a number of blogs cover them as part of other things), putting together a virtual set, and traveling to conventions that feature cartoonists from your local paper. Now he’s hoping to make a big push with Patreon.
John’s milestones include new equipment to push his video quality up higher, upgrading the quality of his virtual set, attending more conventions, and the new show he mentioned. Ultimately, he’s like to make this his full-time job, which would mean hopefully less delays and the opportunity to work on something he really loves without worrying about bills and other things. And if you think this doesn’t qualify as getting a “real job”, try telling me what a real job is. Or try writing your own script, coming up with interview questions, getting those interviews, editing numerous video and picture clips–and all on your own, being a one-person video studio. It’s not easy, especially when you have to stop in order to get the money to live on.
So what are his rewards? Early access to episodes, exclusive newsletters, an opening for patron requests, a video game livestream, exclusive Google hangouts, and producer credits are all available. It’s a good show and one I promoted for Channel Awesome (sadly, he didn’t make it) and happily recommend to people looking for a new kind of review series. Here is his Patreon if you think this is something you’d like to support.
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