What would you do if you discovered that all the world’s secrets — from mythological creatures to aliens and paranormal activity — were true? How would you protect these secrets from the rest of humanity?

The answer is simple: “The best place to hide a needle isn’t a haystack,”  says character Mr. Detweiler. “It’s a big pile of other needles.”

Such is the basis behind Scandal Sheet, Troy Smith’s spec-fi/comedy webcomic devoted to the characters who guard those secrets: the employees of The Comet, a tabloid to rival Weekly World News in its plausibility. The difference? The writers of this rag write those true stories of aliens and magical creatures, and include them in the paper. Positioned next to stories such as “I Gave Birth To 61 Rabbits”, they fail to register as truth on anyone’s radar.

The plot centers around journalism-school graduate and former porn writer Foster Hearst, and his best-friend-slash-partner, Max Murdock. With a cast of humans, vampires, sasquatchi, and yes, even lawyers, Scandal Sheet is as amusing as it is unique, and definitely worth a read.

Two bits of collaborative news today!

First off, a very serious issue brought to our attention from Lindsay Totty:

The Washington Post recently ran a story on a group of syndicated
cartoonists planning a protest this weekend. They’re targeting newspaper
editors who choose not to syndicate one strip created by or featuring
minorities because they’re already publishing another strip — often just
one strip — that meets that “diversity demand.”

The cartoonists drew strips with similar plot lines — all of which involve
an older, white character lamenting the appearance of “politically correct”
minority-drawn strips on the comics page.

Be sure to check out candorville.com for information on the protest.

I participated in the protest as well. My contribution can be read at
http://www.luckyandguy.com.

We’ll keep an eye out for updates on this situation. I suggest everyone keep an eye out here, this seems pretty important.

Next, Remi has informed me of a crossover that is running on Comicgenesis. It’s about an evil coalition invading other webcomic universes. I am not sure if it’s a private project, or open for people to add to, but check out Evil Overlords United, these things are pretty cool.

It’s been a bit of a slow weekend for news, but be sure to read our two spotlight comics, Jonny Crossbones and Scandal Sheet!

Okay, it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Troy Smith’s comic, Scandal Sheet. So I’m delighted to report the news that after a hiatus of a few months, he’s back and better than ever!

For those of you new to the scene, the comic documents the trials of Foster Hearst, reporter for the Comet what is thought to be the sleaziest rag on the market. Let’s just say that it’s so bad makes the Weekly World News look PLAUSIBLE.

What most people don’t know is that the tabloid is a front for a secret organization sworn to protect the world’s mysteries by writing about them … because if it’s in the tabloids, it can’t be true, right?

With a zany cast of characters and a great story, this four-panel comic may be simply drawn, but it has a lot of heart. And for me, the story is where it’s at.