Analysis: There are a myriad of reasons why webcomics have proven so popular with both creators and readers
At the dawn of the 21st century, cartoonist Scott McCloud considered the future of the medium. After the hysteria of the comics speculation bubble in the 1990s and the painful aftermath of the bust, the comics industry seemed stale, hidebound and increasingly punitive for artists and writers. The world wide web, meanwhile, was expanding, offering a new vista of opportunities for creativity and connection.
The possibilities promised by the internet inspired McCloud, whose Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (1993) was a landmark survey of comics, to see beyond the old format of page, panel and grid. 'The page is an artifact of print, no more intrinsic to comics than staples or India ink," he declared in Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form. "Once released from that box, some will take the shape of the box with them - - but gradually, comics creators will stretch their limbs and start to explore the design opportunities of an infinite canvas."
From TED, Scott McCloud on understanding comics
The revolution which McCloud envisioned was already underway, unfolding as he had imagined it. A handful of computer geeks with niche interests and an interest in comics-making had taken the first steps towards the creation of a new medium: the webcomic.
Webcomics are different from print comics in that they are created either solely or primarily for consumption online, unlike digital comics, which are print comics adapted to be read on the web. As McCloud had predicted, the first webcomics retained the newspaper strip format with which their authors were most familiar. However, as web-only publishing became easier and more sophisticated, creators moved away from three- and four-panel gag strips to develop long-form storytelling.
Some creators set up collectives, which pushed down the cost of hosting sites and boosted the readership of participating comics. In 2005, the blogging site WordPress released a webcomic theme, which provided a free template for those with no knowledge of HTML or website design. In the same year, the Eisner Awards, a longstanding benchmark of excellence in comics, began recognising webcomics. The medium hit its stride and webcomics bloomed as a diverse form of storytelling.
What makes webcomics so popular with both creators and readers? On the production side, the existence of premade templates and free hosting sites such as ComicFury makes the medium accessible for amateurs. It costs nothing to create a webcomic, and the creator has total control over their work.
A webcomic can deal with any subject matter its creator chooses, even if it is so niche it only appeals to a very small demographic. No print newspaper would have published 8-Bit Theater, which used pre-existing sprites to parody popular video games, but it became one of the most popular webcomics of the Noughties on the strength of its appeal to retro game enthusiasts.
For readers, webcomics offer greater variety than mainstream superhero comics and a broader choice of styles and subject matter, and are almost always free to read. Today, one can even read 'infinite scroll' webcomics (more often called webtoons), where entire chapters scroll smoothly with no page-breaks. This format is designed for reading on smartphones, and is wildly popular in Korea, China, and Japan. It is also becoming the norm for Western webcomics, edging out the older one-page-at-a-time format.
Some creators worry that the medium risks becoming a victim of its own success. The popularity of the medium has attracted professionals who can churn out polished content at a rate of a chapter per week. This has raised readers' expectations: a teenager uploading their magnum opus a page or two at a time today might not get one-tenth of the audience they could have gotten a decade ago.
Audiences used to tolerate less-than-stellar artwork in webcomics because they knew that the artist would improve. Indeed, watching their work get steadily better was part of the joy of being part of a webcomic community. In an age where pages are industry standard right from the start and those starting out are urged to focus on marketability first and foremost, webcomics are in danger of calcifying into a closed industry, a far cry from McCloud’s vision.
But at the same time, it’s still possible for someone with nothing but an idea for a story to break into webcomics and build a following. Today’s readers are spoiled for choice. What tickles your fancy? A gag-a-day for grad students? An epic saga for gamers? A comic about a terminally-online accomplice to murder, proud home of the most contentious comment section on the internet? A comedy about wacky middle-aged tax agents?
A suburban dystopia where the totalitarian government is obsessed with cats? A reimagining of the Dutch tulip craze where demons work behind the scenes? A comic about anthropomorphic teenagers investigating their friend’s disappearance? A comic about non-anthropomorphic teenagers navigating relationships and identity? A slow-burning horror set on a 19th century whaling ship? No matter your interest, there’s a webcomic for you, and there’s no such thing as too big an audience. Happy webcomicking!
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