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Webcomics Are From Uranus: Precarious Pitfalls in Perilous Panel Form

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Thinking about starting up a webcomic? Has the thought ‘ Hey, if they can do it, so can I!’ ever crossed your mind?

You’ve been reading my comic, haven’t you?

Before you start looking around for a place to host a comic (or wondering what hosting is and if it requires deviled eggs) or thinking about what kind of comic you would like to do, there are some simple things you should be aware of. Proceed with caution, my friend, for the trip down into webcomic creation is a perilous path!! But avoid these pitfalls and you’ll be fine. Continue Reading →

Damonkey Business by Damonk

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Clique, Clique… c’est du webcomique politique?

Walking home with my wife and a dozen tallboys of beer strapped to my back, I playfully babble out some brainstormy thoughts as to how to compare the various webcomic camps to the American Political Beast. Meaghan, much more politically savvy than yours truly (my political bent goes about as far as rooting for the Silly Party), quickly goes on to show how easy it would be to put everyone in type. As I listen to her words and explanations, I marvel at how right she is. Continue Reading →

Webcomics Are From Uranus

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Come Together

Which would you rather go see, a one-man band or an orchestra? Is a four-piece band just perfect? Was The Who so loud because they were overcompensating for only having three instruments? Is bigger really better? Or do too many cooks spoil the broth? (Should I throw in some more metaphors or get right to the, uh, meat of the matter?)

The point: Most online comics are done by just one person. Continue Reading →

Why Do Online Comics by Iain Hamp

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On a bustling Friday night at the mall recently, I wandered into the Barnes and Noble to see what was new.

My wife and I set a small allowance aside for ourselves, for fun non-necessities we want to purchase now and then. Not surprisingly, most of mine gets spent on comics and graphic novels. I have a fairly set pattern when I go to one of these massive bookstores, and I was following it to a tee that night despite never having been in to that particular store location. First, I perused the magazine racks, checking out all of the latest Hollywood gossip, video game reviews, incredible toys I wished they would have been making when I was a kid, and of course, the new issue of Wired. From there, I scanned the bargain book tables on my way over to where they keep the computer books. I then proceeded to swear a lot about how expensive all the programming books I wanted were. Once I was done there, my next destination was the science fiction racks, where I would of course find the graphic novels and… manga? Continue Reading →

Shadowplay: an interview with Intershadows’ Kathleen Jacques

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Since February 2001, fans of complicated and intertwining relationships have been reading the adventures of an ensemble cast originally in a strip called Coolville and recently reincarnated as a strip called Intershadows. Defying easy categorization and cliche, its characters often take off into their own metaphorical inner landscape. On top of that, the author herself is having a relationship with another webcomic creator, Justin Pierce of Killroy and Tina. Kathleen Jacques recently gave us this interview about Intershadows and getting into the heads of her characters." Continue Reading →

Benjamin River’s Empty Words, reviewed by Matt Trepal

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Audrey, the main character in Benjamin Rivers’ Empty Words is a Registered Practicing Nurse in a long-term care facility. She is a new employee, and has just experienced her first on-the-job death, an aspect of the job that she finds difficult to deal with. In fact, she’s having trouble dealing with her job period, with what she sees as the warehousing of old people until they die — so much so that it is starting to affect her relationships with friends and family. Continue Reading →

Another trio of PREviews

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Continuing last week’s trend of introducing you to fun new comics, but tying into this month’s theme of relationships, here is another trio of newcomers that are fresh out of the webcomic starting gates, and raring to wow you with their interesting premises, plots, or just plain priceless humor.

With a healthy mix of angsty young adults, strawbatos (strawbatos are all about relationships, honest), fruit bats, and young petting zoo emancipators, how could you be steered wrong? Continue Reading →

Form Is Function by John Barber

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This column was meant to be an examination of the form and aesthetic qualities of comics from a theoretical yet practical point of view. This had been, really, the idea of pretty much anything I’ve ever written about comics.

I’ve always been more interested in the practical side of "comics theory". My philosophy has been that in understanding how something works, I can better use that something to make comics. Continue Reading →