Keenspot

by **packrat42** on Tue Aug 05, 2003 11:58 pm

Let's see ... I believe it was sometime during the summer of 2001. I was clicking on random comics on the Keenspot front page, looking for something interesting. I've been reading ever since, although I didn't start posting until somewhat later.

by **BanditAngel** on Wed Aug 06, 2003 3:29 am

The second time I got here was through the keenspot box about the 200th strip plotline. I read the entire archives that night, and read it religiously since then. The first timE was following another newsbox, but I just bookmarked it and forgot about it (nasty habit of mine that I still haven't broken

).

Not sure where the newsbox was, but probably GPF.

by **Jaxartes** on Wed Sep 10, 2003 5:33 pm

My own Path to Avalon:
I heard of Sluggy Freelance from a friend, read that for a while, bought the books. Plan 9 sent me teasers for a few other webcomics, including Bruno the Bandit, which is on Keenspot. Then one day I clicked on some "today's strip from a random webcomic" thing on Keenspot over and over again and one of the webcomics there was Avalon. I think the strip was 2:205. Not a bad time to discover
Avalon. Plenty of archives to go through, plenty more story to go.

And the path doesn't stop there. From Avalon to various other webcomics whose artists post here or do Guest Artist strips, and who are themselves involved in crossovers with various other strips...

And that's more than anybody wanted to know.

by **JHU Battousai** on Thu Sep 11, 2003 8:15 am

I started on Sluggy, like many others, and spread from there to a few Keenspot comics early my sophomore year in college. From one of them, I have no idea which one, I saw the first anniversary newsbox (Nov. 8,2000) and was intrigued by the fact it was designated to have a limited run time. After a run through the archives, I was irrevocably hooked.

I entered the forums the next day, posting on the "Comments on the first anniversary" thread. I've been in the forums ever since, through I rarely have anything to say, as evidenced by my only 105 posts in nearly three years.

Good memories. ^_^

by **Tangent** on Thu Sep 11, 2003 10:27 am

It was a long long time ago...

I started with Clan of the Cats, and soon after started with College Roomies From Hell. I stayed with just those two web-comics for several months (even resisting new strips from crossovers of CotC with Alice and Elf Life) but finally succumbed and started expanding my reading to include Alice and EL... and one or two others.

Then, one day, the Newsbox had an ad for Avalon. I don't remember what it was exactly... but the idea of a high school comic strip just intrigued me. So I clicked on the link... and started reading Avalon High.

I mourn the day when Avalon ends... but I also look forward to it, so that Josh can finally move on. I think that this comic has started to eat away at him in some ways. I'm unsure if it would be better if he'd gone with a slower timeline and just had it continue indefinitely... maybe knowing it was going to end and how it was going to end just leeched the joy out of the comic. Or maybe Josh just needs to try a two or three time weekly update schedule.

I hope his next venture is more fun for him.

by **Josh Phillips** on Thu Sep 11, 2003 5:55 pm

Tangent wrote:I mourn the day when Avalon ends... but I also look forward to it, so that Josh can finally move on. I think that this comic has started to eat away at him in some ways. I'm unsure if it would be better if he'd gone with a slower timeline and just had it continue indefinitely... maybe knowing it was going to end and how it was going to end just leeched the joy out of the comic.

Oh hell no. If Avalon were to last indefinitely, it would've died long ago (ie. during on of those first hiatuses). Without an ending to the story, I'd have little reason to bother continuing it. Avalon is for the story, after all, and not a daily laugh.

I'm not sure if it's accurate to say the comic has "eaten away" at me. Most definitely, in the early days, it affected my academics as it took away my free time and eliminated sleep. Lately, though, I've been more apt to let Avalon slide while I try to keep "real world" issues at bay. My only regret these days is that I can't keep Avalon in line with what people expect from it ('cause that results in a lot of guilt on my part, and a lot of ire directed at me. :-) ).

Anyways, Avalon's going to conclude as best as I can manage (and in such a way that it has the effect I've always intended it to have). Not much use wondering what should have been... all I know is that I'll probably do things differently with future webcomic projects, but those are completely different from Avalon anyway, so there's not a lot of use comparing.

JOSH.

Website · by **gwalla** on Thu Sep 11, 2003 10:53 pm

IIRC, I discovered Avalon through somebody mentioning the first Gala thread (probably on the CRFH forum).

Website · by **Hai-Etlik** on Fri Sep 12, 2003 11:28 pm

I got bored one day so I went to the Keenspot main page to select a comic. I saw Avalon, remembered hearing some good things about it so I clicked on it. I'm very glad I did.

I had found Keenspot via the "Sluggy Freelance Where Are You?" mass crossover, and Sluggy was via the "AJ and the Crudasaur" User Friendly crossover, and I think I found UF from Slashdot.

by **Fool** on Wed Sep 17, 2003 3:51 am

So Josh...

How did you find Avalon?

by **mhwood** on Sun Sep 21, 2003 4:09 am

I wish I could remember precisely, but I'm sure it was the rotating Keenspot ad. on either _Sinfest_ or _It's Walky!_ (From there the chain probably leads back to something on the _AfterY2K_ page.)

by **mhwood** on Sun Sep 21, 2003 4:31 am

I wish I could remember precisely, but I'm sure it was the rotating Keenspot ad. on either _Sinfest_ or _It's Walky!_ (From there the chain probably leads back to something on the _AfterY2K_ page.)

by **Zathras10** on Wed Aug 25, 2004 12:12 pm

With the recent closing out of the Avalon story in Josh's text posting, it seemed an appropriate thing to revive this thread, kind of like everyone telling "when I first met him" stories at some old Irish guy's wake. :-)

I'd been meaning to post to this thread since I started reading Avalon, and what better time than now? So without further ado:

The ugly truth? Three simple words:

Bikeeni Summer 2002.

Or, more to the point, Phoebe Bradley in a yellow bikini.

Yes, I'm that shallow.

For the longest time, the only webcomic I read was Sluggy, recommended by a friend. Then once when I was laid up for a couple of weeks after a surgery with only a TV and a laptop for entertainment when my wife was at work, I started exploring Keenspot and got positively hooked on Sinfest, and later started reading Clan of the Cats (which I've since dropped reading). I happened across a link to the Bikeeni pages a few months later, and was looking for whether 'Nique or Chelsea, etc., were in it. I noticed a link with the face of this really cute redhead, and accidentally clicked on the comic link next to it. Went back, clicked to see the image, and decided I needed to check out this comic if it had babes like that in it. :-)

In reading the archive, I fell in love with Ceilidh right off, and got far too invested in all the angsty, twisty emotions of the story. Josh has a way of really making you *care* about the characters. I also found myself giggling uncontrollably at the humor ("sweet, sweet doughnuts" anyone?).

I was sad to learn that this strip I was growing to love was a three-years-only deal, and sadder still when it became clear that Josh might not ever get the strip finished. While I'd love to have seen all the story lines Josh described in his text posting drawn instead, I'm glad to at least know how it all ends, since I've been anxious to know that for 'bout a good year now. :-)

Avalon is what led me to It's Walky!, too. Mention of the Power Booster Rod in the forums and in fanart with Nancy holding the PBR (which just confused the bejesus outta me at the time) led me over there (and now IW!'s ending too!) and IW!, through crossovers, led me to Melonpool (now also ended) and Fans (still going, but who knows for how much longer--I know T. Campbell had intended to end it, but has kept it going at least for now).

I have bad webcomic luck. They all seem to end soon after I start reading them!

So long story short, came for the hotties, stayed for the twistiness. Thanks for one of the finest webcomics ever, Josh.

Z.

by **Neil** on Sat Aug 28, 2004 9:53 am

One of the few times I actually clicked on an ad banner.

by **Q99** on Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:22 am

You know, I'm not exactly sure. I -think- I was linked to it by someone at a now long-non existant forum, and it and Nukees were my first webcomics (and maybe CRFH!. I really only got into webcomics as a whole when I followed the link from here to the BBoCS Vs. ClanBOB match which I participated in, and which got me into both of the titular webcomics. It's Walky, Sluggy, etc., all came noticably later for me).

Definitely was a long time about, when Keen was new and BigPanda was fresh in the minds of a lot of other people.

Oh yea, and a thought- Has anyone else considered that the long delay before the end, ended up bringing us a lot more fanart and fanfics? Just a note.

by **jeffk** on Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:56 am

It's all a blur...

UF was my first webcomic, and for a long time, my only one. I read through the archive a time or two.

GPF came next, probably via a link from the UF board, but I don't remember the context. I read the full archive once or twice, and read some of the highlights multiple times.

Someone on the GPF forum alluded to Dina in a thread on Supreme Evil by Evil Cartoonists, which eventually got me hooked on IW. (Full archive once, highlights multiple times.) Got hooked on the forum too--fan art, fan fic, fan angst, etc.

I got hooked on Avalon sometime around the IW "Anomalie" storyline, although I don't remember if I started reading because of "Anomalie", the Newsbox, or some other link. (Full archive multiple times.) Found Avalon forum diving even more fun than IW forum diving, especially posts before, during, and after particularly whiplash-inducing twists. (I even contemplated starting the next AAR thread. Shoot, I still might, if there's no objections and if I ever get around to it.)

by **Gamerking** on Mon Aug 30, 2004 9:12 pm

I don't really like meantioning how I found this site because it may upset alot of people. I was in sixth grade (now in 1st year of high school) and I was looking for something that could make me laugh. I was experimenting on the address bar and went to a site called dumb.com and went to dumb comics. I found that this was not a dumb comic but a very good comic and I'm sorry I had to mention a way that included "dumb" in it. I love this comic and good luck to you josh. You've touched so many people. Good luck with whatever ride life takes you on.

by **Crysania** on Thu Sep 02, 2004 6:50 am

I don't think I ever posted here, but I have lurked and read for quite some time. I think I too found the comic by doing a Google search for Avalon (I'm really into Arthurian mythology and enjoy Mists of Avalon and other such books). My interest was piqued.

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