Webcomics, not just for breakfast anymore.
July 26th, 2006 by 2xKnight
Since the site is about fandom, and will include a webcomic in time. I decided to talk a little bit about webcomics, since I’m a fan. At the end, I’ll include my current comic bookmarks.
First lets deal with the things important to any comic, art, story and character. These are the fundamental foundation of any comic. It doesn’t matter if a comic is done for the web or a major publisher. If you want a comic to be any good at all you need at least two of these. No, you don’t have to have all three. It would help, but it’s not necessary. A lot of the big comics in the print world only have two, art and character. They strive for all three, but after a while the history of the characters builds to a point that makes a really good story very hard to do. Every so often the biggies will clean house so they can do good stories again. A good example of this is Marvel’s Ultimate line of comics. Ultimate goes back to the start of a comic book and retells the story from the begining. Fresh art, good characters and not so much back story weighing them down. This has worked very well. Long time fans seem to enjoy a fresh look at old friends. New fans can get to know the characters without the feeling that they’re missing out on something.
With comics on the web, back story isn’t as much of a problem. Archives let a new fan start from square one, without dropping tons of cash for back issues or collections. A new reader can spend a couple hours in the archive, depending on the comic, and be on the same page as everyone else. The problem in webcomics is usually art. Since anyone can do a comic online the normal professional screening process is completly bypassed. This isn’t always a bad thing. Some great webcomics have so-so, or even downright bad art, but the character and story can more than make up for it. On top of that, if the creator of the comic is serious about telling the story, quite often the art will improve as the story moves along. Even comics that start out with decent art can improve. Characters can grow over time, as can the story. Therein lies another pitfall for the webcomic, creative drift.
Tell a story in any medium and it will evolve in the process. When writing a complete story, the revision process should pull things together. When the story is published one page at a time, like most comics online, rewriting the beginning of the story is much harder, if not impossible. Planning the story is vital. Of course this assumes the comic contains an ongoing storyline, not all do.
Quite a few comics rely on the characters for continuity. What the character is like, the way they react, and what they’ve done in past comics all provide opportunities for development. Character history becomes the story.
These are just a few of my thoughts. Feel free to comment if you disagree with any of them. I’d be interested to hear it.
My current comic bookmarks, with minor edits. I removed the dead links and such…
Megatokyo
MegaTokyo - relax, we understand j00
Something Positive
This is not a webcomic. This is your Humor Fluffer.
Scary Go Round
Bobbins
Scary Go Round Monday-Friday Comic by John Allison
Misc
Krakow - In Soviet Russia, Webcomic Reads YOU! Thursday, March 16, 2006
Chugworth Academy Updating Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
Cartridge Comics Destroying your childhood memories one by one.
Legostar Galactica version 3.0 - Thursday, April 13, 2006
Cute Ninja Girls - Updates on Mondays
{ butternutsquash • by ramón pérez & rob coughler }
No Pink Ponies - Updates every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Little Gamers
Little Gamers Hot swedish love
VGCats
Manga
TokyoPOP
Lowroad75
Lowroad75.. yeah, it’s juvenile…
Van Von Hunter
Pseudome’ Studio LLC Van Von Hunter Hunter of evil…stuff. Comic #194 04-09-06
Comic News Sites
Webbed Comics - Main Page - All Sites
Mikes Stupid Comic
Directory
Online Comics at OnlineComics.net
Sinfest
Applegeeks
Applegeeks New Comic Every Monday and Thursday
Girl Genius
Atland
Temp
Mac Hall
Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade! - Always Remember There Are Two Of Us
Ctrl+Alt+Del
Striptease
STRIPTEASE - Monday, May 1, 2006
Loxie & Zoot
( Warning: Contains nudity. Lots of nudity. It’s about a Naturist Resort)
Loxie & Zoot - Tuesday, April 25, 2006
PvP
PvPonline.com · Hosted By SPEAKEASY.NET
Diesel Sweeties
Temp
diesel sweeties pixelated robot romance web comic
Questionable Content
Questionable Content New comics every Monday through Friday
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