Watch STRIPPED the Documentary

Several GHPALS were Kickstarter supporters of STRIPPED, the comic strip documentary. It had a fundraising goal of $33, 560 and raised $75,550. It had its debut this week, and while we couldn't go, we urge all our readers to buy it through iTunes.

There's no better description of it than this one, copied directly from their website http://www.strippedfilm.com

STRIPPED is the ultimate love letter to comic strips. It brings together the world's best cartoonists to talk about the art form they love, and what happens to it as newspapers die. …Over 70 interviews were conducted, including the first-ever audio interview with Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes), as well as Jim Davis (Garfield), Cathy Guisewite (Cathy), Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey), Mike & Jerry (Penny Arcade), Mat Inman (The Oatmeal), Jeff Keane (The Family Circus), Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics, Lynn Johnston (FBOFW)*, Zach Weiner (SMBC)**, Scott Kurtz (PvP), Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics), Richard Thompson (Cul de Sac), Jeph Jacques (Questionable Content), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Bill Amend (Foxtrot), Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant) and more. Set to a gorgeous original score by Stefan Lessard of Dave Matthews Band, STRIPPED explores comic strips in depth, why they're so loved, and how they're navigating this dicey period between print and pixels.

* For Better or For Worse
** Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Those GHPALS who contributed have already watched it, and loved it. Many of us still read the comics section of the paper first. Others don't get a paper but faithfully follow a web comic or two. At Comic-Con and Wonder-Con we always go to the indie comics section in the exhibit hall to see what's new and how we can support the makers of the comics we like. And an interesting group they are.

The film explains how cartoonists make it into the newspapers (the whole syndication system) and how nowadays anyone can be a cartoonist on the web. The first group is paid, the second isn't. The film makes it clear it isn't easy to make a living with a web comic, but creative folks have. The creators of Unshelved tapped into a great niche, librarians. Others, like Girl Genius and Supernatural Law have used Kidkstarter to fund printing compilations of their strips. Many sell their drawings (I remember one cartoonist telling me he stopped drawing on his tablet when he realized he wouldn't have original artwork to sell anymore.)

STRIPPED is full of good stories told by interesting people. We encourage our readers to pre-order it on iTunes and help make it the best seller on April 1.

Buy It Here on iTunes

Keep your finger on the pause button when you watch it because you will want to look at the comics.

http://www.strippedfilm.com