[Angie]

The topic says all. I figured it might be fun to see everyone's reasonings for what brought them to Void and why they've decided to stick around. I know the first part of the question has been asked in some shape or form in other topics throughout the years. But since we have so many new faces around I thought it might be good to get a fresh perspective. Some of you came to us through the Invitational, for the awesome people who stuck around afterwards, what about Void kept you from jumping ship? Maybe some of you went on hiatus and came back, what brought you back?

[Charlie]

People I know that were on WFA that came over here pretty lured me in, and I also enjoy tournaments. I'm used to one week battles by this point and they're probably what I am most comfortable with. I do plan on doing normal, longer battles, but I have lots of homework and obligations to WFA as well.

Basically what keeps me here are tournies and people I know I guess. Also just to change things up from time to time since the formats are different and the way you fight is different too. Also if I am feeling more competitive than usual I also like coming here since there is a bit more of that competitive vibe I think in general.

[Mister Kent]

I was juggling two web comics at Drunk Duck (updated relatively infrequently) and they had a sort of match up tourney on the forums. Void member Pinn stopped by and mentioned the tourney's similarity to Void, and I thought it sounded like just what I needed to get excited about comics again. And plus, I thought (and still do) that I can really learn some tips and tricks here. So I waited, and I lurked, and watched a few tournaments pass by before finally submitting Jane. The reason I'm staying at Void is because I get to co-create with so many talented artists - just seeing everyone else's work is like fuel to me, and its an honor that I get to share everyone's toys (characters).

[Slagglle]

I found Lysol Jones on deviantart, thought his stuff was pretty slick and decided to check this place out.
And I have no idea why I stayed here.

[E.W. Schneider]

Someone showed me the site. I joined and they never did. I stayed because I got nowhere else to go.

[William_Duel]

They left me on the doorstep as a baby.  I'm still here because I wish to undermine and corrupt everything Void stands for.

[Angie]

To answer my own question, Seel showed me the site and suggested I submit Angie, I thought the site was neat so I did. I stick around because I like reading and making comics and I've made a lot of friends here. I really like collaborating with people so that's why Void was the superior option to just doing a comic for a random webcomic site.

[The Bent One]

My friend (known here on the forums as Nex in a Box) showed me the site at the end of the Spring 2010 semester at my college. I thought it looked cool, but never really checked it out. Then  over the summer I remembered it and came back. I loved it immediatly. I've only been here since August, but I think I'll stay. I love comics and want to create them someday.

[Red]

I came here in 2006, and struggled to get a character in haha. I left and came back in that time because I was pissed that I couldn't get TL Bot in. I came back cause I had an "I'LL SHOW THEM!!!" attitude about it. I finally got in in early 07 and just started having fun with battling. I stick around because I have some strong loyalty to Void now, because everyone has helped me out so much. I want to help other people out like so many other people have done for me. Void became this huge motivation for me. Plus Void gave me so many opportunities. I never ever thought in a million years I would be published, but now I've got 4 books on my shelf that I can proudly show off  Last but not least, I've made so many amazing friends here <3333!!!

[(Pi)]

Okay, fan boy gush time.


Back in high school, I liked this girl, who also sort-of drew like I did. She was planning on submitting to the Rising Stars of Manga contest by Tokyopop, and convinced me to do the same. Two contests later, I wasn't sure what I was doing and how I could improve my art at all. I really was stuck, thanks in no small part to over-encouraging high school teachers, parents, and friends. Around this time I was also really into webcomics, and was regularly following about six or seven different series. It still wasn't enough to keep me occupied (this was a land before youtube and such, haha), so I resorted to googling "webcomics" and "internet comics" to find new material.

A few pages into the image searches, I found some really sick comic pages by people like JaR, Bacardi, and Spikes (for your youngsters who don't know them, look them up in our archive). I was fanatically impressed, but disappointed because the comics weren't from a serial, which was my goal. However, upon further research into the site (and subsequently devouring a great deal of the archive), I realized what Void was all about. I was instantly hooked into the idea of comic battles, of fighting it out with sequential avatars over webspace. I lurked for a bit while putting my first character together, and quickly dropped into the Incubator with my first concept.


Oh, that takes me back...

Needless to say, it wasn't particularly impressive. One post from Galvo set me straight real fast, and I learned quickly just how loosely I'd been taking my art. I was pretty obnoxiously enthusiastic during those days, and obsessively replied to every post in every thread, trying to be helpful and trying to be funny (ever wonder why I have more posts than anyone else on the boards?). But, even through the rampant fanboy-ism and teen angst, I learned buckets and buckets about my art. Not just how to draw, but how to approach drawing and how to function in a community of other artists. Really, Void helped mold me into the man I am today, and I absolutely credit the site for getting me work as a cartoonist, a designer, and currently, getting me into art school.

I've stuck around because of the amazing friends I've made here, and that even after all these years, I'm still learning loads from the community. Void has and always will be my internet family, and I know I can always come back here to get the real deal on what I've done. Just like everyone else, my journey is far from over, and I know the people of this site will always be there to help me along the way.

[Angie]

Semi off topic but...

You know, your bringing up the archive makes me kind of wish there was a separate button for the archive on the navigation buttons. Like I know it's there in the drop down menu if you hover your mouse over Comics but I think there should be a separate button for it to bring more attention to it. Like we know it's there since we've been here forever, but I really think new people should know the archive is there. That and the archive should be easier to browse so it's easier for new people to check out those awesome comics of yesteryear.

Spending a lazy Sunday afternoon picking random characters to follow and read through their comic history and seeing all these old comics is always fun.

[Shojin]

Haa....where do I start...

Well I was introduced to this site by my cousin (SailorLonestar) long ago, way before she even submitted her character into this site.  She was very taken by the idea of the comic battle site and wanted to show it to me.  I thought the idea was cool too and entertained thoughts putting a character in, but never did because life was going a different direction unrelated to art and so I forgot about it.

Fast forward a few years, I'm in the middle of college working in a major I really didn't have my heart in.  My cousin finally starts to submit her character, asking me for opinions/critiques.  She sends it in and it becomes official and I watch her do her first battles.  I liked how much fun she was having and promised I'd put one in.  I kept putting it off/forgetting.

Each year she would remind me to work on the character.

Fast forward some more, I've switched to graphic design and finally doing something I liked.  While I had some free time during the summer in the midpoint of working on my degree, I decided, "hey I'll work on a character".  I drew one up and submitted it into the Incubator.  Got lots of feedback on it.  There were quite a few things not quite working with the character.  I realized I didn't really have much drive for the character and needed to rethink it.  Family problems came up and the poor thing laid forgotten in my sketchbook.

Fast forward again to 2010, Pi (a mutual friend of SailorLonestar) told me about the Invitational Tournament and said I should give it a try.  I wasn't sure about it because it had been a long time since I had given much thought about the character and I hadn't redrawn him much at all since I last touched the design.  After some encouragement from both Pi and SailorLonestar, I decided to touch up what I had and give it a try.

And now I'm here.  I'm glad I actually took that step forward because I never would have known how fun this was.

I'm still here because this site is fun for me and I'm learning a lot.  I like the challenge in here as well.  I don't think I would have done as much as I had if I had come in regularly.  The one week deadlines really pushed me to my limits, not just in speed, but in creativity as well.  It's much different to have random opponents thrown at you than it is to pick and choose one.  It's allowed me to think on my feet in a way and test how i can creatively weave characters into a story.  I know that I will be here for a long time because of this. : D

[4:00am]

To answer my own question, Seel showed me the site and suggested I submit Angie, I thought the site was neat so I did. I stick around because I like reading and making comics and I've made a lot of friends here. I really like collaborating with people so that's why Void was the superior option to just doing a comic for a random webcomic site.

considering the control freak  way you play as though only certain people are allowed to battle you because you want to tell "Angie's story" then i think you should have just gone for making the Web comic  i think it would have saved us all having the fun ruined thanks ...fun police the Alternate Universe defense really helped everyone else that was too afraid to deal with what ever may happen in void....

2005...introduced by some kids at  art school 
2  tries and 3rd was the charm  taught me a lot  i didn't even draw backgrounds before Void.

I stay because I hate where void has gone in many ways but always wanted to leave something behind that was memorable
i hate her and i want to stay  but i Need to go  shes that bitch i can't give up not till i show her something Amazing. My true skill is never really displayed on this site and there is still many things to show with Shrapnel Girl.


Don't reply to me  you'll only prove Carlito's point.

[sheldon]

To answer my own question, Seel showed me the site and suggested I submit Angie, I thought the site was neat so I did. I stick around because I like reading and making comics and I've made a lot of friends here. I really like collaborating with people so that's why Void was the superior option to just doing a comic for a random webcomic site.

considering the control freak  way you play as though only certain people are allowed to battle you because you want to tell "Angie's story" then i think you should have just gone for making the Web comic  i think it would have saved us all having the fun ruined thanks ...fun police the Alternate Universe defense really helped everyone else that was too afraid to deal with what ever may happen in void....

2005...introduced by some kids at  art school 
2  tries and 3rd was the charm  taught me a lot  i didn't even draw backgrounds before Void.

I stay because I hate where void has gone in many ways but always wanted to leave something behind that was memorable
i hate her and i want to stay  but i Need to go  shes that bitch i can't give up not till i show her something Amazing. My true skill is never really displayed on this site and there is still many things to show with Shrapnel Girl.


Don't reply to me  you'll only prove Carlito's point.

I fuckin love you, man.

I came here to win a DS and defaulted on my first fight. Skip 5 years of bullshit, and now i'm drawing a Deadpool.

[Angie]

To answer my own question, Seel showed me the site and suggested I submit Angie, I thought the site was neat so I did. I stick around because I like reading and making comics and I've made a lot of friends here. I really like collaborating with people so that's why Void was the superior option to just doing a comic for a random webcomic site.

considering the control freak  way you play as though only certain people are allowed to battle you because you want to tell "Angie's story" then i think you should have just gone for making the Web comic  i think it would have saved us all having the fun ruined thanks ...fun police the Alternate Universe defense really helped everyone else that was too afraid to deal with what ever may happen in void....

2005...introduced by some kids at  art school 
2  tries and 3rd was the charm  taught me a lot  i didn't even draw backgrounds before Void.

I stay because I hate where void has gone in many ways but always wanted to leave something behind that was memorable
i hate her and i want to stay  but i Need to go  shes that bitch i can't give up not till i show her something Amazing. My true skill is never really displayed on this site and there is still many things to show with Shrapnel Girl.


Don't reply to me  you'll only prove Carlito's point.

I DO WHAT I WANT I IZ THE FUN POLICE YO

[fowlie]

OMG STOP RUINING EVERYTHING ANGIE

[Angie]

My bad!

[Aluísio C. Santos]

The forum being back brought me back here.

[Phill]

Zsa's metal slime keeps me sticking around, can't seem to hit that fucking thing! Also I enjoy seeing how people improve here over time, it's not as random as it used to be, and people didn't really give a shit about who they battled against. They should do that again, only not on the obligation of doing a tournament.

[Knomer]

I fuckin love you, man.

I came here to win a DS and defaulted on my first fight. Skip 5 years of bullshit, and now i'm drawing a Deadpool.

I like how you managed to fit the story of your current success there....you successful bitch.

As for me I was forum hopping for some original art (this was around 2003) and there was this art group that had a site. If you old schoolers can help with the name, but they had artists like skottie young, masik and kristian i think. But yeah Galvo was also in that site, and through researching him I found VOID.

I lurked for about 2 months, submitted, approved and never looked back. As for why I'm still here. I'm a creature of habit, oh and the other reason was because Polykarbon was Lé WHACK.

[Angie]

Zsa's metal slime keeps me sticking around, can't seem to hit that fucking thing! Also I enjoy seeing how people improve here over time, it's not as random as it used to be, and people didn't really give a shit about who they battled against. They should do that again, only not on the obligation of doing a tournament.

Then get to battling!

[Phill]

Can't, doing commissions. Void ain't paying the bills.

[Angie]

Excuses! You can do both if you get faster

[Jack]

I followed Monday here forever ago, and the site was too rad not to sign up. It gave me a reason to draw comics throughout highschool and keep up a fairly constant workflow, doing the Void shit helped me keep up a momentum to do some non-Void shit (which amounted to nothing of value but time spent drawing comics in earnest is never time wasted) and a large portion of the portfolio that got me into college was Void comics (Primarily one Wei decided was too shit to get posted, back when he went around deciding comics were too shit to get posted).

Through Void I've met some of the most impressive and most influential artists I've ever known, and I got a girlfriend off Void (We lived close enough that we were hanging out before we were dating, fuck e-dating). I fucking hate cons but goddamn if WW07 wasn't one of the biggest things for me as an artist. It was also when I started drinking. Since then I've been simultaneously banned and welcomed back as a special guest at the Chelsea Hotel for throwing a shitstorm party. Shit, WW09 was rad too. It felt rad sharing a row of tables with people I'd admired and finally having something of my own to show.

Most importantly I met Justin (Dawgmastas) and he and I are now putting out some badass books, and I'll admit I was heavily motivated by Void's Pulpo books and my disappointment in what they'd turned into to do so (No offense Galvo, but you know you hurt me bad with how mismanaged that one was).

Oh yeah and I lost my V card via someone I met on Void, so there's that.

I spent most of my time here being a contrary cunt and I learned a lot for it. Moreso when I did it with comics than in the forums but still. In looking for ways to break form and rules I experimented a lot in my comics here and that was awesome that I was allowed to. The site is imperfect, the site will always be imperfect. What one person loves is going to piss someone else right the fuck off. Punks won't go to Abercrombie, whatever. The world is a better place for having variety.

But this is my leaving the site. It's not for me anymore. I've done my time here, and I've had a great one, the best one. I'm not saying goodbye to anybody, just to the site. It's changed and it's not a website I'd want to use anymore, and I couldn't be happier. If it was still the website I wanted to use it wouldn't be the website you new users want to use. This isn't a website for adults, it's a website for kids. It isn't a website for comics professionals, it's for wannabes and neverwills, and it's okay to be either one. At some point though you have to grow up and say "I want to be a comic artist" or "I don't" and go on with your life.  I didn't even want to make a goodbye post, but I was struck with how pathetic it was seeing people still bitching about how the site has changed. Fuck you, move on, grow up. If there's anything that should be learned from this site it's that there's way bigger and better things out there than Void, but this is a fucking great place to find out what those things are.

Don't be this guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo4kDrWBa6c


PS-I'm leaving because Gavin ruined Void.

[Aluísio C. Santos]

Void got ruined ever since Angie started making 30 page void comics per month AND professionally coloring a zillion pages for money, simultaneously.
I'm sure that's it.