Features

How To Write Romance in a Webcomic by Meaghan Quinn

1 Comment

I’ve been watching a lot of westerns lately, and my favorite so far in terms of "watching over and over again until I know the lines by heart" is easily Tombstone, with Kurt Russel sporting a fantastic moustache. After watching a movie, particularly one with a self-congratulatory "making of" feature, I like to search around for old reviews to see what other people thought of it. Consistently, what I came across for this particular movie was one particular complaint – the romance was distracting, not well done historically or otherwise, and just plain bad. This rocked me back in my seat. I LOVE the romance! Sure, it’s just a little side part and distracts from the main story, but isn’t romance itself just a side part of our lives and a distraction from the mundane? Continue Reading →

I Hate You All by Dalton Wemble

27 Comments

A Farewell to Paws

Okay, I was going to get into this big thing about the point of this column, and politely explain that how it's just great that all webcomics creators are supportive and friendly and sloppy kisses all around but that the medium's ability to self-criticize is completely eroded by everyone's reluctance to piss anyone else off…but screw it.
But that would take an awful long time, so here's the deal:

Webcomics can, on occasion, be a good read.

Most of the time, though, reading webcomics is like being locked in a coffin with a rabid, amphetamine-crazed monkey in possession of (a) a taser and (b) the total and unerring knowledge that your groin is responsible for every ill that has ever befallen any member of the monkey nation. Ever.

Continue Reading →

Why Do Online Comics by Iain Hamp

10 Comments

I should go ahead and warn you right now. This month’s "Why Do Online Comics?" focuses heavily on the print side of comics. This may seem a tad odd to you, but since doing online comics has led me to a lot of this line of thought, and since ultimately I think the best world is one where online comics and print comics build off and feed off each other in a strong symbiotic relationship, I feel presenting the information in this column is not only merited, but important. Continue Reading →

Juxtapose This!: A Tale As Old As Time…

2 Comments

A Tale As Old As Time…

So I wake up this morning, and my webcomic is still asleep. No problem, I think. Let it get a little sleep. It’s been working hard, what’s the harm of a few extra hours of shut-eye for my hard-working little darling? So I crawl out and go for my morning run (which, by the way, I only go on because I have repetitive stress injury from drawing and typing – but, you know, these are the compromises you make in a good relationship).

When I get back, it’s still sacked out, so I throw together some breakfast, figuring it’s probably my turn, anyway. I’m pulling the last piece of toast out of the toaster when, sure enough, my webcomic straggles in. Continue Reading →

The Pram In The Hall

5 Comments

Cyril Connolly was a British literary critic who lived-

"Kip!"

Ah. Excuse me. Yes?

"What do you think?"

Of what?

"Of these rough layouts."

Well, I'm not exactly sure that's Molly, isn't it?

"That's Griffen."

Oh.

"It's the bit with the guitar. On the corner. Remember? So. What do you think?"

It looks good.

"You're just saying that."

No, really. I like the, uh. The thing, there. I can't wait to see it finished. Now, I need to get back to
Continue Reading →

Measuring the Webcomic Audience Version 0.3

Xaviar Xerexes 7 Comments

Time once again for another edition of Measuring the Webcomic Audience. Last month we explored some of the tools and methods developed by the blogging community, in particular the use of links between sites to rank blogs.

For this month's edition of our measurement project we again rely on information from Ranking.com and Alexa.com. We calculated a score for each webcomic based on their rankings for unique visitors, page views, and new for this month, links. For example, Penny Arcade ranked first for unique visitors, page views and for the number of sites linking into the Penny Arcade website. Continue Reading →