I read webcomics. There seems to be to groups of people online with opinions regarding webcomics. One group says that basically, they are all pieces of shit put together by talentless amateurs. The other side seems to worship the community, and is often reluctant to say anything bad about the webcomic movement.
I tend to agree that the vast majority of webcomics are utter shit. But this is to be expected. What's great about the webcomic community is that it has created a situation in which people can create completely unhindered. You have organizations that encourage this movement. Particularly keenspace (a group that gives free webspace for amateur webcomics) comes to mind. Now most of what is on keenspace isn't worth the server space it's stored on. However, the existence of this group is important because the one out of ten thousand comics that is actually decent is given a place to begin, and good webcomics spread fast once the right people know. The problem, is the talented webcomic artists end up suffering because of the time they put into it. Some become frustrated and disappear, but you rarely hear about this, because the frustration begins before the popularity hits its peak in most cases.
Many artists feel that they would like to be paid for their work. I can understand this perfectly. What many artists have begun doing is essentially begging. Paypal buttons have been popping up in many comic strips. I don't have problems with this, and many people have success. Some stories are truly amazing, like Something Positive's success story about the author, being fed up with his fan's ill consideration of real life priority, threatened that if they wanted him to continue his comic and do it regularly, they would need to pay his salary. Astonishingly, they did. Many comics make money off advertisers. Many comics attempt to sell merchandise. Some are successful, some aren't. I have never bought comic merchandise, but I can honestly say that I've come close, on multiple occasions with Goats. Other comics like megatoyko and pvp seem to do well with merchandising and advertising(neither of which I read, but PVP gets a link because Scott Kurtz seems like an honestly cool guy from rants he has written and blurbs I've read on him) Other artists, in attempts to gain funds (join (by invitation I believe) subscription based groups like Modern Tales. I have come close, on many occasions to joining this, and similar groups, but alas, my cheap money grubbing qualities hold me back. However, it is apparent that, although
You know, I honestly forget what my point was. I think I originally intended to just discuss the community as a whole. Somehow I got into money, I don't know why. How about I just say that I think that despite the utterly despicably quality of the majority of internet comics (rule of thumb, anime blows and animorphic is almost always lame)the community is good, as it provides a sort of artistic Darwinism. The shitty comics fail, or are ignored because their fan base is too small, while the decent comics thrive because they are supported by their fans. Because even the most popular webcomics are far from money making powerhouses, business doesn't become a factor in art and the popular tend to be popular because of quality and effort of the artists. It's a nice model of the way artistic fields should be. I wish music, movies, and literature would work the same way.
I went through a big webcomic phase around four years ago. I discovered a lot of comics and artists that way, and one of the most important in my search was Framed. the comic was not the best. I really enjoyed it (and still do when it is updated) but it's an acquired taste. The humor is far punnier then most humor I follow is. It's importance was, rather, that Damonk (the artist's name/pseudonym) made a habit of regularly suggesting decent comics that he had come across. He was a huge supporter of a comic community, and in fact, at on point, began a massive project, among hundreds of webcomics in which his characters (it's a self aware strip) escape the comic and wander through other webcomics. Other comic characters found their way to Damonk's comic, and it was the single biggest crossover I have ever seen or heard of. The point, is that Framed was important because of Damonk's emphasis on spreading quality comics by word of mouth. I didn't always agree with his choices, but they did show me to comics that I still read regularly. Some fail my theory of popularity (although perhaps they aren't really high quality and I am deceived) but others have since become huge. SomethingPositive is one of these comics. I discovered it when the comic was only a couple weeks old, all because Damonk had run across it and posted it. It's interesting how it's a self serving community.
Today I came across a dated quiz that tells you what comic artist you are most like. I was shocked to find that, not only did I recognize more then half the possibilities, but almost all of them were introduced to me through Framed and Damonk.
If anyone was curious I am apparently most like Tycho of Penny Arcade, which I found a little surprising and disappointing only because I have trouble imagining either of the penny arcade creators outside of a video game and technology discussion. I enjoy the strip, and I enjoy their daily rants as much if not more. It's always interesting, but I don't see them as people one can identify with. I view them almost more as journalists. No one is going to watch the news and say "Man, I really identify with Tom Brokaw." Because he doesn't have a personality. He's just a guy who tells the news. And although Tycho and Gabe are more opinionated in their posts, I seem to view them in the same way. This quiz as well as http://www.websnark.com sort of inspired the post.
Maybe sometime soon I'll post a list of comics I like. I'm falling asleep now though, at the ripe hour of, uh, four in the morning. 9:30 classes are gonna be fun!
-Brandon
