Theory
Theory of webcomics
Good Article About Understanding Comics
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on March 23, 2004 - 17:48
No not an article about "Understanding Comics", but an article about the medium of comics. From Kochalka comes this link to "Comics, Games and World-Building" written by Dylan Horrocks. Definitely worth checking out.
Comictastic Program Author Writes Open Letter to Cartoonists
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on March 20, 2004 - 22:14
Jan Van Tol is the author of the software program Comictastic mentioned in an earlier news post this week. Van Tol posted an open letter to cartoonists this past Wednesday.
Article from Academic Journal, Image & Narrative
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on October 22, 2003 - 13:45
Journalista! linked to another article of this "online magazine of the visual narrative" but this article, "Too much is too much. The never innocent laughter of the Comics" is the only one I found somewhat thought provoking. On the other hand I may simply have too much of a short attention span for most of this site.
Here's the abstract for the article:
The article points out that most of the common theories on comics underestimate this medium. Understanding comics as a medium with a lack of whatever necessarily 'forgets' that comics are too much before they are lacking of something. Discussing an early sunday page of the Yellow Kid the essay shows in a condensed way the possibility of an aesthetics of comics that enjoy what is too much for most of the critiques and defenders of comics.
John Barber Interviewed by Director Sebastien Dumesnel
Submitted by johnbarber on October 22, 2003 - 12:03
A discussion between filmmaker Sebastien Dumesnel (director of the upcoming Adventures into Digital Comics) and John Barber (of JohnBarberComics.com and ModernTale’s Vicious Souvenirs fame) is online at TopTwoThreeFilms.com.
Barber opines about mainstream comics, both online and in print, and discusses if it’s even possible to not read comics, which he doesn’t think it is. Barber's comics are to be among those featured in Dumesnel’s forthcoming film on the impact computers have made on comics.
Bookslut Interviews Scott McCloud
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on October 7, 2003 - 14:03
Erik Ferguson, over at Bookslut, posts an interview with Scott McCloud that covers Bitpass, some comics theory, and an update on the most current McCloud projects-in-progress.
Ninth Art Tackles the Definition of the Graphic Novel
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on October 6, 2003 - 11:23
The first part of a series focused on the graphic novel and giving form to the "it" in it.
Eisner and Ignatz-nominated creator Rob Vollmar returns to Ninth Art with a new four-part essay that aims to thoroughly address one of the great questions still troubling the comic industry. What exactly is a graphic novel?
Continuity in Comics? Sacred Cow or Don't Have a Cow?
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on October 3, 2003 - 19:09
Ninth Art weighs in on whether or not comics are uniquely obsessed with issues of continuity.
Pacing in Webcomics: Slower, Faster or Sideways?
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on September 24, 2003 - 09:59
Here's an interesting article on the "decompression" of pacing in comic books over at the Pulse. With the infinite flexibility of presentation available in the webcomic format how exactly do you go about selecting the right "pace" for a specific project? What has the web allowed for that more traditional printed versions do not?
What About Flash Introductory Pages for Webcomics?
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on September 9, 2003 - 17:01
Another good thread at Talkaboutcomics.com focuses on the use of Flash animation as the "splash" page for a webcomic. Good? Bad? Although the general consensus on this thread is "bad" there is an acknowledgment that Flash in general may be a big part of the future of the web and therefore of webcomics.
Masters of the Comic Book Medium
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on August 25, 2003 - 10:19
Decent article on one person's picks for Comic Masterpieces. All of them are from comic books of course. My question is what would a similar list limited to webcomics look like? Or maybe the question should be, are webcomics mature enough as an artform to begin asking such questions? And if not, how long does it have to go?
