Blog 7 - Webcomics

The internet has opened a whole new avenue for artists to distribute their work and reach their audiences. For comic artists this has been especially significant. A whole culture of webcomics has arisen where the kinds of comics which had previously been kept to the margins (found only on alternative weeklies like the Village Voice or other regional periodicals like fanzines) can proliferate. Community sites (such as http://www.webcomicsnation.com or http://webcomics.com) have popped up, to allow quick and easy access to varieties of webcomics and information on how to make your own, encouraging growth in the community.
Community is also found in the form of different webcomics banding together, and forming their own affinity groups of sorts. Collectives such as Dayfree Press and Boxcar Comics feature a number of different webcomics who are invited by members to join their ranks. Then there are sites like Modern Tales, who accept submissions from authors of “high quality” to be part of their subscription-only service. Modern Tales also features s selection of free strips and even downloadable long-form comics, such as would be found in a comic shop.
The internet opens new dimensions for exploration in the medium. Because the comics are not dependent on any specific spatial dimensions, authors of webcomics can open themselves up to new ways of presenting their work. The comics can be entirely horizontal, forcing you to scroll sideways, or vertical, forcing you to scroll down. A lot of interesting takes on more traditional comic strip forms can also be found. A Lesson is Learned… completely eschewed the traditional linear, three- or four-panel layout in favor for experimentation on communicating flow and direction, sometimes telling stories within what is essentially one frame.
Some comics, such as Dinosaur Comics or Death to the Extremist, use the same technique as David Lynch’s strip, The Angriest Dog in the World, where the same strip is shown with each “episode” with only the dialogue changed. Dinosaur Comics and particularly Death to the Extremist have both used this layout to explore self-referential humor to what may be its furthest reaches. Death to the Extremist took to this minimalist approach with fervor, and used it as an opportunity to play with narrative techniques and experiment in the narrative structure of the comic.
While being born on the internet, webcomics are not cursed to be left there. They can compete (at least to some extent) with print comics on their own terms. Comics like Cat and Girl and Achewood have had successful anthologies of their own work released (albeit, by themselves). Some webcomics have gone on to be syndicated in the same sort of weekly magazines to which alternative comics were traditionally banished, and some webcomics authors have found illustration employment in weeklies and otherwise. The comics anthology series Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists has even published a volume on cartoonists whose work primarily appears on the internet.