Webcomics, Part 1: Introduction

Hi, Owl,

Today I wanted to get back to talking about hobbies and interests about which we are passionate. Specifically, I wanted to talk about an interest we share: webcomics.

Before I can begin this post, I would be remiss if I did not thank my brother. (I guess if we’re going with avian nicknames, my brother should also be from the genus Corvus. Nevermind that Crow is as well and Roommate and I are not related. The internal consistency of this blog’s naming structure is not yet perfect. Let’s call him Rook---closely related to the raven, and it shares a name with a game piece of a game Rook taught me how to play when I was young---chess!) Rook was the one who first got me hooked on webcomics. In fact, a great many of my hobbies can be traced back to Rook’s influence. He is a very good big brother, and I am a better nerd for his teachings. Thanks, Rook!

Back in middle school, Rook got me reading some now-veterans of the webcomic universe: Penny Arcade, Sluggy Freelance, Gods of ArrKelaan, and Something Positive were among my earliest introductions to the wonderful world of webcomics. (Side note: That was around the same time that Rook and some of his friends started a website that lets users subscribe to their favourite webcomics and receive notifications when they update. It’s called Comic-Nation and you can find it here!)

By the time I was in high school, I was reading, either religiously or passively, dozens of webcomics, and had read through the archives of or had previously followed dozens of others. In terms of skills with limited “real-world” utility, my working knowledge of webcomics is one of my strongest.

I love webcomics enough that I could spend days talking about them---and that’s exactly what I am going to do. I won’t do it all at once, as I realize that this is not a topic that everybody finds quite as fascinating as I do, and I don’t want to overwhelm you all, so I’ll space these out. You can expect me to do something similar with many other hobbies---I can talk endlessly about books, video games, and television, for instance. For now, I want to give you a brief introduction to webcomics, since I know that not all of our readers are as endlessly excited about the Internet-based-comic-strip industry as I am. Those people are probably a lot more fun at parties.

So. First, an important question. What is a webcomic? Broadly speaking, any comic published on the web can be considered a webcomic. This includes comics that are also syndicated print comics: Garfield, Get Fuzzy, Calvin and Hobbes, Foxtrot, are all posted online as well as in print. A comic doesn’t have to be published exclusively online to be considered a webcomic, but for our purposes, most of the comics I talk about are. (Although many of them now have print books that compile strips from the comic for sale online, and occasionally in brick-and-mortar stores as well.) 

The thing is, it is very hard to define a webcomic, the same way it is hard to define a print comic, a graphic novel, a cartoon, or basically any other form of art. To really answer this question, we need to ask ourselves what a comic is, and probably what we mean by “online”, and also what the definition of the word “is” is. And while I am a sucker for semantics, we’re not going to do that. 

There are, however, a few key elements that play a crucial role in the development of webcomics, and their deviation from print comics. Unlike most print comics, webcomics are, almost exclusively, published entirely independently. The only people webcomic creators answer to are their audiences, and so they have almost no restrictions or rules to follow. There is nobody censoring these creators, editing out content that might not be deemed “fit to print”, or placing guidelines and limitations on them. This can, of course, lead to a lot of poorly-edited, offensive, or just plain bad comics, but it also leads to some truly wonderful, groundbreaking, subversive, or just plain neat comics. It’s a double-edged sword, sure, but ultimately, this is a blessing for the webcomic industry.

There is no particular style that defines webcomics. The comic can be done exclusively in stick figures, as is the case with the renowned xkcd, using a predetermined template like Ryan North’s Dinosaur Comics, consist of text superimposed over unrelated photographs, as per Joey Comeau and Emily Horne’s A Softer World. They can be done in Microsoft Paint and partially interactive, like MS Paint Adventures, created in a pixelated 8-bit style like Diesel Sweeties or 8-Bit Theatre. They can be influenced by anime, French impressionism, or baroque architecture (though I admit I can’t think of any webcomics that fit that last example). They are not limited by style, nor by content, though there are some common themes that pervade the world of webcomics. Webcomics are generally more likely than most other media to talk about or focus on subjects like geek subculture (science fiction/fantasy and gaming in particular) and LGBTQA+ lifestyles, and they can freely post mature, controversial, or subversive content without fear of censorship. Webcomics are one of the most flexible, accessible, and broad-reaching media we regularly consume, and this is precisely because it is an industry built entirely on independent producers. 

At a later date, I would like to talk  more about the history of webcomics and what specific elements make webcomics so intriguing to me personally, but for now, I’ll leave you with a list. (I’m sure this will just be one of many lists in my webcomic series, but it is also a pretty important one!)

Comics Raven Currently Follows*

*By “follows”, I mean that I check for updates regularly, whenever the comic updates. This is an abnormally low number of comics for me; normally I follow many more, but I’ve been busy. It’s also worth noting that this does not necessarily reflect my favourite comics. More on that later.

1.) Questionable Content

2.) Girls With Slingshots

3.) xkcd

4.) Two Guys and Guy

5.) Johnny Wander/Lucky Penny

6.) Least I Could Do

7.) Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

8.) Alice Grove

9.) A Softer World

10.) Awkward Zombie

11.) Amazing Super Powers