Working Webcomics

I've been reading The Devil's Panties, and I keep thinking about something that comic's writer, Jennie Breeden says in her FAQ (under "What advice would you give to someone who wants to do webcomics?") It is making me think that webcomics are getting more established, at least by one particular measurement.

First, some background. Here is a conversation I've had maybe a fourty times:


SOMEONE GETTING TO KNOW ME: What kind of books do you read?
ME: I read a lot of webcomics.

SGTKM: What's a webcomic?

ME: A webcomic is a comic strip that is published regularly on the internet, usually by an amateur artist. They are almost entirely different from the comics you'd read in a newspaper.


For one thing, with webcomics the reader can go back and all the comic strips that author has ever written from the beginning, which lets webcomics artists to do longer storylines. Some of those story lines go on for years.

For another, webcomics artists can get more and faster feedback from their fans. Some artists feel that what their fans think is important, some don't.

Finally, because webcomics artists don't have to answer to a syndicate or a boss or even really their fans, they can just do what they want, so there's a much richer range of subject matter and different types of people writing it. Webcomics can more easily explore adult themes and write for an adult audience.

SGTKM: Do these artists make money with their comics?

I used to say:
ME: Most don't. They do it to develop as an artist, or because they want to develop an audience for their art, or because they like doing the art anyway so they feel like they might as well let an audience see it, too.

A few have been around a long time and have built enough of an audience that they can quit their day jobs and earn a salary by selling merchandise through their websites, but you could count the comics like that on your fingers.


That brings me to my point. In her FAQ, Breeden lays out what aspiring webcomics artists can expect from in their first five years if they do it like she did it (promoting her comic at conventions, etc.)

This makes me think that webcomics artists are supporting themselves with their art more regularly than they did before. When I think about the artists who make the comics I read every day, that seems right.

That's it, just a small idea, but I think it's significant. It wasn't long ago that no one could have written about what to expect from your first five years because no one had actually done it.