How comic published online become a distinctive medium
It used to be thought that comic books were the safe haven of the nerdy, the outcast and the socially inept. Comics are fantasy worlds made up of people with phenomenal powers, overcoming insurmountable obstacles in the name of justice.
While we’re all very familiar with the stories – especially those popularized by films being produced at an alarming rate by the media leviathan that is Marvel Studios – few of us have ever stopped to appreciate the art of the comic book. The artistic merit of that style of storytelling is more apparent in graphic novels, also recently popularized by the graphic-novel-turned-TV-show The Walking Dead. Graphic novels use unique, stark art styles to convey an emotion along with their storytelling. It’s an interesting and extremely gripping medium that I would encourage anyone to check out. The Walking Dead is obviously a good place to start, but you might also check out the Maus series if you want to really appreciate what incorporating art into a fiction story can do.
What remains constant through all of these forms of media? They’re all still pay-to-view. You still buy comic books, go to theatres to see movies, and a graphic novel will run you just about the same price as a paperback. But, there is a new form of media finding its way to our eyes, and it’s free.
Webcomics come in all shapes and sizes, so it isn’t easy to define them by any one genre. What is common to all of them though, is the low cost of entry (read: free). Webcomics generate income using the tried and true method of all other online services, advertising. Just as you would see advertising on a forum or an ad before a YouTube video, webcomics feature advertisements on their pages as a way to keep their services free.
…we get to see all kinds of interesting, beautiful and, frankly, somewhat risky publications by way of webcomics.
An interesting and under-appreciated consequence of this model of revenue generation, combined with the basic principles under which the internet functions, is an incredibly low barrier of entry. Someone could write the most beautiful piece of science fiction the modern world has ever seen, but if they don’t have the resources to attract the attention of a publisher, that piece of writing could sit in an unnamed folder on their desktop for the rest of their life and we’d never get to see it.
To publish a webcomic, you’re entirely at your own hands. Yes, there is still a lot of work to do, and your work still needs to be on point, but getting your business up and running is entirely within your own reach: you needn’t rely on anyone else. And because of this, we get to see all kinds of interesting, beautiful and, frankly, somewhat risky publications by way of webcomics. Jokes, characters and situations that might not pass muster with a review panel prior to publishing are all free game for webcomic creators. Whether artists choose to publish the more risky comics is entirely their decision to make.
If you’re looking for something new to read, and the price is right, give webcomics a go. A side effect of the publication system being the way it is, it can be a bit overwhelming to try and find a comic you like. There are classic comic-style webcomics like XKCD, Cyanide and Happiness, and SMBC, which offer panel-style humour that is usually relevant, current, at most times a bit risqué, and always funny. If you lean more towards the graphic novel-style, which uses art to tell a coherent, multi-episode story, I’d encourage you towards a new (to me) comic called Stand Still Stay Silent. It’s a comic set in the Scandinavian countries and, as such, there are often translation inconsistencies that take a moment to figure out. Once you get past that, though, it has a wonderful, fantastical story, and an amazing art style.
Take a chance and start building your own personal library of webcomics to catch up on and follow. Not only does it get you something new to entertain yourself for the low, low price of free, you’ll be supporting talented, clever artists just by visiting their pages. Who knows, if you have some artistic talent, you might find yourself in their shoes some day soon.