Webcomic News Roundup: Google Gets A Talking-To, Zero Punctuation Rages

It’s a light one this week, as many of us on this side of the pond are enjoying a day off and trying to stay as far away from a computer as possible.

Attentive Twitter-stalkers already know that Diesel Sweeties‘ Rich Stevens and Octopus Pie‘s Meredith Gran spent some time in San Francisco last month as guest speakers at Google HQ, but now <a href=”

video of their speech has been posted on YouTube for everyone to enjoy — not just the lucky cogs in the Great Google Machine.

The video is posted below, and once you get past the somewhat timid introduction, it’s a really enjoyable presentation that features some great behind-the-scenes elements of both webcomics.

On a semi-related note, Gary Tyrrell of Fleen is still waiting for any questions about Rich Stevens’ decision to opt out of his Diesel Sweeties print syndication deal.

And on a completely unrelated note, I’ve always enjoyed Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw’s animated reviews of videogames — so much so, in fact, that I watch reviews of games for consoles I don’t own. While his "Zero Punctuation" column often targets individual games or game franchises, he recently turned his focus on gamer-oriented webcomics. Much like my own attempts to last more than 30 seconds in Halo 3, gamer webcomics didn’t have a chance.

 Oh, and in case you’re wondering why Wall-E and Short Circuit‘s Johnny-5 look so much alike, prepare yourself for a sad, sad story.

Finally, make sure you didn’t miss my interview with Warren Ellis about his webcomic, FreakAngels. It was a good one!