What are webcomics, it's not something I've heard of?
Well, good albeit unenlightened sir, allow me to explain this deceptively simple premise! A webcomic, you see, is a series of comic strips or pages (with me so far?) that rather than be published in books, booklets or syndicated in newspapers, are (typically) self published on the internet. A comic page/strip (both are fundamentally similar for the purposes of this blog) is simply a series of pictures connected (through layout, positioning and context) to each other to form some kind of narrative. This can be as simple as telling a knock knock joke or as complicated as a hand to hand fight or other series of complex actions. At it's most sophisticated, comics and graphic novels (sequential art published in substantial book editions as opposed to in a small series of comic booklets) reach a level of artistry as sophisticated as (though not comparable to) films or literature. Any reader of revolutionary graphic novel Watchman can attest to that.
That's all well and good, but that's published comics and graphic novels. What does that have to do with webcomics?
Well, webcomics, like many new mediums is for all intents and purposes a hybrid medium, in that it has the potential to use all manner of media freely. This is largely limitless and at its most inclusive includes actually using other media and dressing them in the conventions of the comic it happens to be a part of(i.e. calling it part of the comic). These are to be discussed when discussing other media, something we shall deal with when it comes. However, there are several concepts unique to webcomics which are an advantage of the use of a digital medium, the main one being the 'infinite canvas'. This is somewhat self explanatory; one can make a comic as big or small as they like, to fit whatever artistic purpose one likes. However, any actual use of infinite campus hampers any attempt at publication though, which tends to be the secondary aim of quite a lot of webcomic authors (the amount of time, money and energy it takes to willfully produce a successful webcomic can be substantial, so the first priority has to be a love of one's craft), so the toying with conventions in this way is very much a rarity. Other ones are the integration of music, and culminations with a growing trend in 'flash comics' which are essentially multimedia comics, featuring text, voice and varying amounts of animation and interactivity. The most notable success story of this type is the Newgrounds.com sleeper hit Broken Saints, which has since been released on DVD.
Even when sticking to conventions, there are webcomics that display a sense of artistry, writing craft and emotive strength to rival conventional comics, and the possibility is still there that a webcomic could match the quality and literary depth of some of the greatest works of other media. After all, with an almost limitless space for anyone to join in and hone their craft, the opportunity for one person (or a group, the great thing about webcomics is that collaboration and community takes many forms) to take that bold leap forward is so much closer.
Popularity and proliferation are hardly barometers of quality, artistic worth or justification for analysis are they?
While on its own a fair point, the inference I get from this is identical to the case made against analysing film, then television, video games and new media as a whole. It took the legendary Frankfurt School, to begin analysing film and television, then radical thinkers in the late 1990s for video games and the rise of Media studies to aid the case for new media. The point being that elitist, traditionalist snobbery should not be a justification for credible worthy literary artifacts to be ignored, and while this blog will not in itself retain the harsh professionalism necessary for publication in journals, perhaps it will open the long overdue floodgates for analysis.
When did this art form begin then?
Well, this is a source of debate as to what counts as the 'web' but as early as 1985, with Witches and Stitches, the first comic by later commercial success story Eric Monster Milkin (He of Fetus-X fame), but the first webcomic on archive was a year later: the furry archetype T.H.E. Fox. A simple single panel comic made on a C64, T.H.E. Fox was the missing link between newspaper comics and the internet as it existed at the time. The first comic actually on the web, Doctor Fun, came seven years later with the birth of Netscape and the birth of the web as we know it.
1985?! That's an awful long time ago, how have I not heard about it until now?
Because it took until 2000 for enough people to have fast enough connections to load webcomics at any satisfactory speed. Indeed the marriage of technology and artistry is part of the reason why webcomics have become a lot more sophisticated in the 10 years since the year that spawned 3 internet success stories: Megatokyo, Bob and George and Penny Arcade.
What kind of success are we talking about?
Quite large. The right comics will be published in book form, providing enough revenue to sustain oneself on, as well as merchandise sales etc. That's the path of success Megatokyo took. Penny Arcade, while not published or syndicated to my knowledge, created a massive fan following, became a key part of video gaming culture (and proved the power of webcomics within the growing subculture), created one of the biggest gaming conventions of the year, PAX, a gaming charity Child's Play, several games, as well as god knows what else. With ability, knowledge, cultivating a fanbase and a lot of luck, there is big money to be made in webcomics. However, commercial gain should not be the primary focus of any artist, as the corrupting power of cash can contaminate one's work like a virus.
Ah, you've sold me on this, this means that any webcomic around is brilliant right?
Ah, this is where the great advantages of webcomics and the reasons why their proliferation has so much potential starts to fall apart a little. Like all media, webcomics have their own atrophied specimens, the Monster A Go-Gos, the Eye of Argons, the My Mother, the Cars of the webcomic world. And because of proportional representation of the webcomic world, there is a mammoth amount of awful webcomics, be it due to deliberate lack of effort, relative inexperience or a sheer lack of talent, bad comics far outweigh good ones, and occasionally the sheer level of awful in some of the worst offenders on issues of artistry, narrative and taste make them unpalatable. This is where Behind the Panel comes in. This blog is here not just to name and shame those comics that separate men from their stomachs, but also to hold them up to demonstrate the issues surrounding webcomics and the wider world.
Lord SuperC
Behind the Panel of Pixels: Webcomic Fucktardery and how to avoid it.
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