Web comics are comics that are available on the web. Many of these web comics are exclusively published online, while others are published on paper but maintain a web presence or archive, for either commercial or artistic reasons. Web comics run the gamut from traditional cartoon strip styles to an electronic emulation of manga or graphic novels and beyond, using the web's inexpensive costs and low entry barrier to begin publication, seek an audience and, in some cases, advance sequential illustration as an art form.

Medium

Many web comics are little different from traditional paper comics, but a few web comics artists have taken advantage of the web's unique abilities. Scott McCloud has pioneered the idea of the infinite canvas, the idea that web comics should be free to spread out in every direction indefinitely, rather than confining themselves to dimensions that would fit on a piece of paper. A prime example of this principle would be the latter-day installments of T Campbell's Fans, or Cayetano Garza's Cuentos De La Frontera, as well as several stories by Patrick Farley of e-sheep.com. Other artists have experimented with the incorporation of animation into their comics (although purists may believe animation has no place in comics). Critical analysis of this medium can be found at Comixpedia, an online magazine (ezine) covering webcomics.

The web has, at least potentially, several advantages over the conventional form of publishing. It has removed many of the traditional barriers that prevent an independent comics artist from having his work published (in this sense, web comics are a continuation of the independent comics movement that began with underground comics, and later alternative comics). As stated above, the restrictions of the usual comic format are lifted, though for functional reasons most still follow it. While newspaper comic strips have to be comprehensible to the average reader, the huge potential audience provided by the Internet allows much more specialization, as can be seen in the rise of video game-oriented comics and the Transsexual Biographies. Much deeper plotlines and characterization are also made possible. And, of course, some (such as Eric Millikin's Fetus-X) delight in the fact that very few things short of blatant breaching of international law will lead to censorship.

To the criticism of many (especially established cartoonists) computer technology has made it no longer necessary for a webcomic artist to actually be a skilled artist. One popular form of webcomics that have become feasible due to the proliferation of video game sprites are sprite comics, in which existing images of video game characters are pasted into panels and dialogue is added in the form of speech balloons. These types of comics should not be confused with ones that use pixel art, an artform where the artist draws his own low resolution artwork from scratch.

Themes

Webcomics differ from published comic strips, in that almost anyone can start his own comic strip and publish it on the Web; there is no longer any need to for a creator to meet the approval of a publisher or syndicate. Currently there are hundreds of web comics, most of which are low-quality and sporadically updated. However, a number of web comics have endured, and the best web comics rival their newspaper and magazine counterparts in quality and quantity.

Currently, some of the most popular webcomics include PvP, Sluggy Freelance, Penny Arcade, User Friendly, and Megatokyo. It is interesting to note that all of these comics deal with video game / technology sub culture in some form.

Some successful webcomics have subsequently been reprinted in book-length collections, just as a successful print comic might be.

Primary sites for webcomics are Modern Tales, Serializer, PV Comics, Keenspot and KeenSpace.

See also: List of web comics

Notable artists

• Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins - Creators of Penny Arcade
• Pete Abrams - Writes Sluggy Freelance
• Patrick Farley - An early pioneer of webcomics
• J D Frazer - Writing Userfriendly since 1997
• Fred Gallagher - Writes Megatokyo
• Shaenon K. Garrity - The most prominent cartoonist in the Modern Tales family of webcomics
• Cayetano Garza - Another early pioneer of webcomics
• Bill Holbrook - Creator of Kevin and Kell, the first web comic syndicated exclusively via the internet
• Kazu Kibuishi - Operates http://boltcity.com
• Derek Kirk Kim - Won an Eisner for his online comic
• Scott Kurtz - Writes PvP
• Scott McCloud - Wrote Understanding Comics, and is a popular defender of webcomics
• R.K. Milholland - Creator of Something Positive
• David Simpson - Creator of Ozy and Millie and I Drew This
• Howard Tayler - Creator of Schlock Mercenary
• Greg Dean - Creator of Real Life
• Dan Shive - Creator of El Goonish Shive

Related topics

• cartoonist
• comic strip
• manga
• Sprite comic

External links

• Comixpedia (http://www.comixpedia.com), an online magazine focused on coverage of webcomics
• ModernTales (http://www.moderntales.com), subscription-based site of professional webcomics
• Serializer (http://www.serializer.net), subscription-based online alternative comics anthology
• PVComics (http://www.pvcomics.com), a subscription-based and free webcomics site
• Don Markstein's Toonopedia (http://www.toonopedia.com/index.htm), a good source for further information
• Websnark (http://www.websnark.com), a critical commentary site largely devoted to informal analysis of webcomics.
• The Belfry Comics Index (http://cgi.belfry.com/comics/), a list of webcomics
• Keenspot (http://www.keenspot.com), a company that hosts webcomics on individual domain names.
  • Keenspace (http://www.keenspace.com), an arm of Keenspot that hosts many webcomics as subdomains of Keenspace.com
• buzzComix Top 100 (http://www.buzzcomix.net), a top-100 list of webcomics determined by voting by readers.
• DrunkDuck (http://www.drunkduck.com), a webcomic hosting service similar to Keenspace.