Internet Info 1994 March/Internet Info CD-ROM (Walnut Creek) (March 1994).iso/answers/rec/comics/faq/part1

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From: [e-mail] (Tom Galloway)
Subject: Welcome to rec.arts.comics: Introduction
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Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4
Archive-name: comics/faq/part1

WELCOME TO REC.ARTS.COMICS (part 1 of 7: introduction)
written by lots of different people
edited by Paul A. Estin 1990-1993
          Tom Galloway  1993-present

[last update: 4/6/94]

Welcome to the rec.arts.comics hierarchy, or as we tend to call it, rac.
If you're new to Usenet, you probably aren't aware of the many customs that
the net and the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy have developed over many years.
However you should be, so you won't inadvertantly break them.

Breaking these customs won't cost you anything but the most important thing
you've got on the net: your credibility. It's assumed that you're reading
and posting to newsgroups to communicate with other people, and violating
these customs will tend to make most people take your posts less seriously,
or even start to ignore them all together. Which isn't much help in your
attempts to communicate with others.

This monthly posting, provided to help out new readers of the
rec.arts.comics newsgroups, contains the following parts:

1. where to read/post: the rec.arts.comics hierarchy and related newsgroups
2. glossary of some common terms
3. the "FAQ": answers to frequently-asked questions
4. guidelines for posting articles
5. ftp addresses to ask for various types of comics-related files
6. e-mail addresses to ask for various types of comics-related files
   and how to use other net resources about comics such as IRC and
   MUD/MUSHes
7. e-mail addresses of comics-related mailing lists.

Before getting specific about rec.arts.comics.*, if you are a newcomer to
Usenet you should go read six posts which are generally found in the
newsgroup news.announce.newusers. These have the Subject:s of:

Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette
Rules for posting to Usenet
A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Usenet
Hints on writing style for Usenet
What is Usenet?

If not in n.a.n., these are available via FTP from rtfm.mit.edu. See part 5
for specific commands to access them, both by FTP and by email.

You should also be reading the newsgroup news.newusers.questions.

Feel free to e-mail me at [e-mail] if you have any suggestions as
to what should be included in this "Welcome to Rec.arts.comics" post.

1.    the rec.arts.comics hierarchy and related newsgroups

Groups described here, in order (a + before a group indicates a change in
its description, a * before a group indicates a new group)

rec.arts.comics.info
rec.arts.comics.strips
rec.arts.comics.xbooks
rec.arts.comics.marketplace
rec.arts.comics.misc
rec.arts.manga
rec.arts.animation
rec.arts.anime
alt.comics.alternative
alt.comics.lnh
alt.comics.superman
alt.comics.batman
alt.comics.elfquest
alt.fan.albedo
alt.fan.bugtown
alt.fan.furry
alt.fan.suicide-squid
alt.fan.tank-girl

The r.a.c set of newsgroups, in general, is devoted to the discussion of
comic books, graphic novels, and sequential art.

Until summer 1992, comics discussion took place in the group
rec.arts.comics. This group was removed and should not be posted to.
r.a.c. was replaced by the following more specific groups:

  rec.arts.comics.info: A moderated group, r.a.c.i. is intended for factual
and informational postings and reasonably detailed reviews (i.e. a review
consisting entirely of "I really liked/hated Suicide Squid #666" isn't
going to cut it). Relatively low volume, the idea is to have a very high
signal to noise ratio in its postings.  Posting to this group will result
in your post being emailed to the moderator, who'll decide whether to post
it to the group at large. In general, turnaround time is within 24 hours,
and the moderator announces on the group if he'll not be posting for any
longer period.  Followup discussion of posts here take place in the
appropriate r.a.c.  group.  The moderator is Brian Hughes, whose mail
address is [e-mail]

  rec.arts.comics.strips: For the discussion of comic strips and editorial
cartoons, their creators, and any spinoffs such as tv, movies, collections,
or merchandise.

  rec.arts.comics.xbooks: For discussion of Marvel mutant books (defined as
X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, Excalibur, Wolverine, X-Men 2099,
Generation X, and any mini-series or stories in anthology titles about
characters from those books). Note that xbooks has its own FAQ.

  rec.arts.comics.marketplace: For the posting of For Sale and Wanted posts
dealing with any aspect of comics or related merchandise.  Note that
marketplace has its own FAQ.

  rec.arts.comics.misc: If it's about comics and doesn't fit in the above
groups, this is where to post it.

In general, there should be almost no crossposting between the above
groups.  r.a.c. has taken the approach of developing a hierarchy based on
carving off well defined subtopics with their own semi-defined readerships
from the overall topic.  In particular, all "for sale" posts should go in
rec.arts.comics.marketplace, and crossposting them elsewhere is *highly*
discouraged.  (A number of r.a.c.ers have stated that they will ignore For
Sale posts made in other groups, and it'll undoubtedly result in your
getting some flaming email.)  One other special note: material solely about
xbooks should be posted into r.a.c.xbooks and should not be crossposted
into r.a.c.misc.

See part 3 for suggested criteria for future r.a.c.* groups.

Note that posts which have nothing to do with comics, such as
non-comics-related Star Trek, political/religious rants or personal
attacks, have no place in r.a.c.. In particular, regarding the Usenet
Floating Homosexuality Flamewar, it is appropriate for the appearance of
gays in comics to be discussed, but rants either against or in favor of
homosexuality in the general sense are not appropriate.

There are several groups which are tangentially related to comics, and
which may be more appropriate for a particular post.  It *may* be
appropriate, in limited contexts, to cross-post between one of these groups
and one of the rec.arts.comics groups, but be *very* careful that your post
is actually relevant to both groups!

  rec.arts.manga: Though not technically part of the rec.arts.comics
hierarchy (there was already one religious war on the subject; let's not
repeat it), this newsgroup is devoted to the discussion of Japanese manga.

  rec.arts.animation: a newsgroup devoted to the discussion of animated
films, TV shows, shorts, etc.  There are also innumerable related
newsgroups to this, such as rec.arts.disney and alt.tv.tiny-toons, but in
particular there is:

  rec.arts.anime: for discussion of Japanese animation.

Finally, there are various "alt" groups which are not affiliated with
"mainstreaml" Usenet and are usually received at fewer sites than r.a.c
groups. User discretion is advised.

alt.comics.alternative For alternative comics. Crossposting to r.a.c.misc
                        is *very* strongly recommended. See below for why.
alt.comics.lnh         The Legion of Net.Heroes, a r.a.c spinoff of
                         fan fiction
alt.comics.superman    use r.a.c.misc instead, for more dependable
                         distribution; at the very least, crosspost
alt.comics.batman      use r.a.c.misc instead, for more dependable
                         distribution; at the very least, crosspost
alt.comics.elfquest    use r.a.c.misc instead, for more dependable
                         distribution; at the very least, crosspost
alt.fan.albedo         a furry comic
alt.fan.bugtown        Matt Howarth comics, such as _Those Annoying Post
                         Brothers_ and _Savage Henry_.
alt.fan.furry          all furry comics + animation
alt.fan.suicide-squid  a net.character, see part 3 for details
alt.fan.tank-girl      the comic book "Tank Girl"

alt.comics.alternative was created in January 1994 amid considerable
debate. The arguments by those pro-creation involved it being hard to find
posts about alternative comics in the heavy r.a.c.misc traffic and that
such a focused group would attract people who'd given up on r.a.c.misc. The
counterarguments were that alternative was not defined by the proposers,
and alt groups have lower propagation than rec groups.

The situation was further confused by the actual creation of
alt.comics.alternative. Simplifying matters considerably, the creation was
done by someone known to be less than discriminating in group creation, and
due to this a number of sites are not carrying the group. Crossposting of
any comics related post here to r.a.c.misc is *strongly* advised as this
will 1) give the post a wider propagation 2) allow people in r.a.c.misc
whose systems don't carry a.c.a.

[end of part 1: introduction]

"There are no net.gods, just some people with bigger mouths than others."
  --Dan'l DanehyOakes, net.roach
tyg   [e-mail]