Keenspot

Keenspot is a webcomics portal founded in March 2000[1][2] by cartoonist Chris Crosby (author of Superosity), Crosby's mother Teri,[3] cartoonist Darren Bleuel (author of Nukees),[1][2] and Nathan Stone.[4]

Keenspot
Logo of Keenspot
OwnerChris Crosby, Teri Crosby
URLwww.keenspot.com
LaunchedMarch 2000 (2000-03)

As of 2016, Keenspot.com was the exclusive webcomics home of Twokinds, Brawl in the Family, the Luther Strode saga, Marry Me, Last Blood, Fall Out Boy Presents Fall Out Toy Works, Flipside, and dozens of other features.[5]

In December 2016, Keenspot began publishing a new line of print comic book titles distributed to comic book stores by Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. Their launch titles included monthly ongoings of Hunters of Salamanstra and Marry Me and book collections of Thomas Fischbach's Twokinds.[6]

History

The formation of Keenspot was triggered by the collapse of an earlier webcomic portal, Big Panda.[7]

Following the portal's creation in March 2000,[8] Keenspot was serving over 23 million page views monthly by February 2001 and had 47 cartoonists.[9] Also in June 2000 they had launched the free comics web hosting service Keenspace[8][10][11][12] (later renamed Comic Genesis[13]). In 2001 Keenspot launched its own printed comic book line and launched graphic novel collections in 2002 both at Comic-Con International. By August in 2002, Keenspot opened a retail store, selling brandname toys and comics; Keenspot had 50 million views monthly and 600 paying members – who can read the comics without ads – and had published 26 titles.[14]

Keenspot gross revenues grew from $103,976 in 2002 to $188,475 in 2003 with the number of pageviews largely unchanged from mid-2001.[15] As of October 2007 it claimed to be home to more than 50 comics covering several genres and artistic styles.[16]

In 2008, Bleuel and Stone sold their 50% stake in Keenspot to Crosby Comics, leaving Chris and Teri Crosby as the sole owners. Dan Shive was named Chief Technical Officer.[17]

As of September 2017 the site hosts 57 comics, of which eight are described as "updating with new comics regularly" and the rest of which are "completed or update infrequently".

Impact and Policies

One of Keenspot's most notable traits is that it has been a starting point and steadfast supporter of many successful webcartoonists over the years. More than a dozen comics originally and currently hosted at Keenspot have branched out to become substantial full-time jobs for their creators.

The company says that it keeps exclusive web publishing rights to its comics, including archives, but that other rights are left with the creators. Side projects, particularly merchandising deals, are covered separately. Keenspot Entertainment is based in Cresbard, South Dakota.

The majority of titles published by Keenspot have been distributed to comic book stores worldwide by Diamond Comic Distributors. Keenspot has also launched 2 podcasts, a cartoon podcast, called Keentoons Video Podcast Network and an audio podcast called Keencast. Until 2006, Keenspot published the Keenspot Comics Page in collaboration with the Turlock Journal and several other small newspapers.

Comics in Keenspot

Active

On hiatus/sporadic
  • Alice!
  • Ashfield
  • Chopping Block
  • Down to Earth
  • Dungeons & Denizens
  • Elf Life
  • Elf Only Inn
  • Eat the Roses
  • Fat Jesus
  • Felicity Flint, Agent from H.A.R.M.
  • Filthy Lies!
  • Flint Again
  • Hound's Home
  • I Drew This
  • Inside the Box
  • Just Another Vice
  • Landis
  • Mad About U.
  • Mr. Chuck Show
  • No Room for Magic
  • Owlie
  • Road Waffles
  • RPG World
  • Sex and Violence
  • Skirting Danger!
  • Soap on a Rope
  • Todd and Penguin
  • Vigilante, Ho!
  • WICKEDPOWERED
  • Winger
  • Yirmumah

Ended (archived)
  • Adventurers!
  • Andiewear
  • Avalon
  • Awesome Gamerz
  • Basil Flint, P.I.
  • Bobbins
  • Bonus Stage
  • Boy Meets Boy
  • Brawl in the Family
  • The Class Menagerie
  • Cool Cat Studio
  • Common Grounds
  • Exploitation Now
  • Flat Feet and High Heels
  • Frankenstudent
  • Horribleville
  • Joe Average
  • Limited Space
  • Lizard!
  • Look What I Brought Home!
  • Manifestations (Premium)
  • Melpomene (Premium)
  • Men In Hats
  • Ozy and Millie
  • Pete is a Pogo Stick
  • Purple Pussy
  • Queen of Wands
  • Quiltbag
  • Shin Kage
  • Shmorky
  • Silly Cone V
  • Sporkman
  • Talismen

Former members
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
  • Checkerboard Nightmare: creator co-founded Blank Label Comics
  • Darken left in January 2010
  • Dominic Deegan: Oracle For Hire moved to ZeStuff on 31 October 2005
  • El Goonish Shive joined with 910CMX
  • Errant Story became self-published on 29 August 2005
  • Help Desk became self-published in July 2007 when the Keenspot servers could not handle the data-based site the author wanted to use
  • General Protection Fault returned to self-publishing in March 2008
  • Goblins left August 2010
  • Greystone Inn: creator co-founded Blank Label Comics
  • It's Walky: creator co-founded Blank Label Comics
  • Krazy Larry: creator co-founded Blank Label Comics
  • Life At Bayside was removed from Internet; later reformed on Comic Genesis
  • Melonpool: creator co-founded Blank Label Comics
  • Ménage à 3 created by Gisele Lagace and now part of pixie trix comix
  • Nukees: creator sold his share of Keenspot[18]
  • Real Life Comics: author no longer felt compelled to be a part of Keenspot, later moved to Blank Label Comics
  • Life's So Rad: author took archives down for personal reasons; later released a book [through Young American Comics] containing the comic's full digital archives and all the self-published print comics
  • Schlock Mercenary became self-published, later joined Blank Label Comics
  • Sheldon joined United Features Syndicate, later also affiliated with Blank Label Comics
  • Sinfest became self-published on July 9, 2006
  • Sorcery 101
  • The Suburban Jungle
  • Wapsi Square became affiliated with Blank Label Comics
  • Zebra Girl announced its affiliation with 910CMX on July 2, 2010

References
  1. Yim, Roger. (April 2, 2001). "DOT-COMICS: Online cartoons skip traditional syndication and draw loyal fans on the Internet". San Francisco Chronicle. Pg. D1
  2. Newman, Heather. (February 2, 2001). "See You In The Funny Pixels Michigan Cartoonists Draw On Web Sites To Find Readers". Detroit Free Press. Pg. 1H
  3. "Keenspot.com: Company Info". Keenspot Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2009-02-28. Retrieved 2011-01-28. Teri Crosby ... joined her son Chris
  4. BENDER TOONING UP WITH KEENSPOT.COM Marc Graser, Daily Variety, 2000-06-23, page 7
  5. "Keenspot.com News". Keenspot.com. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  6. "PREVIEWSworld's New Series For October 2016". Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  7. "Glossary of Comics, Webcomics, and Digital Art Terms - Big Panda". WebComicsReview.com. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  8. Rozakis, Charles (2003-04-09). "AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE BUSINESS VIABILITY OF WEBCOMICS" (PDF). pp. 7, 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-02-23. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  9. Keenspot Press box Dave Astor, Editor & Publisher, 2001-02-26, "more than 23 million page views a month. It showcases the work of 47 cartoonists who aren't in traditional print syndication"
  10. Laporte, Leo (2006-05-25). Leo Laportes 2003 Technology Almanac. Pearson Education, Limited. p. 323. ISBN 0789728478.
  11. Brad, J. Guigar (2004-11-04). The Everything Cartooning Book: Create Unique And Inspired Cartoons For Fun And Profit. Everything Books. p. 263. ISBN 1593371454.
  12. Lopes, Paul Douglas (2009-05-28). Demanding Respect: The Evolution of the American Comic Book. Temple University Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-1592134434. first successful long-running open host-site was Keenspace ... launched in 2000
  13. Hills, Doug; Rhodes, Michael (2008). Manga Studio For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 333. ISBN 978-0470129869.
  14. Keenspot Press release / KEENSPOT ENTERTAINMENT OPENS OFFLINE RETAIL STORE, 2002-08-10
  15. KEENSPOT ANNOUNCES 2003 REVENUES INCREASED 81.2% OVER 2002, 2004-03-15
  16. Keenspot: "Keenspot is the largest publisher of exclusive webcomics! Founded in February 2000, we are now the home to over 50 comics, and the list keeps growing."
  17. "Crosbys Buy Out Other Half Of Keenspot". Comics Reporter. February 28, 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008.
  18. Nukees "Most recent news item: (7/13/2008) Keenspotless", 2008-07-13
  • Keenspot (homepage)
  • Comic Genesis (formerly Keenspace)
  • Keentoons (animation division)
  • Keenswag (print volumes/collections and misc. items from their hosted comics)
  • Keenspot Pressbox (incomplete collection of major newspaper and magazine articles about or featuring Keenspot, includes Daily Variety, Editor & Publisher, Comics Buyers Guide, etc.)
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