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Alan Moore once said, "What comics can do is provide material for a post-literate generation that still has all the substance, density, power and value of literature". Fifteen years ago another writer, Harvey Pekar, justified his love for the medium by saying: "Comics are just words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures." The attraction of the internet to comic creators and publishers is not just its possibilities as a promotional tool, but also as a new medium for exploration. Comics have always had an eye towards evolution of format, from the first 4-paneled daily strips in the newspaper to Will Eisner's experimentation with storytelling in THE SPIRIT during the '40s, to modern work by creators like Moore. With its own adaptable rules of format and presentation, the internet seems like a medium designed to help comics evolve. It was this attraction that resulted in the start of such massive (although eventually doomed) ventures as Stan Lee Media, to quieter, more artistic and eloquent endeavours like ELECTRIC SHEEP. But despite an ever-increasing supply of Web comics and a growing popularity for the marriage of the two media, it remains a highly debated topic. One that, if closely examined, can provide clues into the qualities and limitations inherent in both comics and the internet. The Issues Perhaps the best way to classify and categorize the debate around internet comics and their viability is to look at Scott McCloud's REINVENTING COMICS and Gary Groth's response to the text, 'McCloud Cuckoo-Land'. The former, a follow-up to McCloud's acclaimed UNDERSTANDING COMICS, goes into great detail to illustrate an optimistic view of the future of comics as affected by computers and the internet. The latter is a cynical, pessimistic dissection of McCloud's views. Both present articulate, well researched, albeit biased views of the future of the medium. When it comes to having an opinion on Web comics and their potential, most find themselves subscribing to either McCloud's or Groth's philosophies, and the rest live in the uneasy middle ground. All, however, agree on one thing: "Web comics" are not an easily defined medium. The dilemma caused by the use of a title like "Web comics" or "internet comics" is its vague nature. In his article ONLINE COMICS I: ENTERING THE MATRIX, Matt Brady of Newsarama points out: "As a concept, 'internet comics' are in a state of flux, and quite adept at dodging any attempt to pin them down. While there are some innovations out there, and more coming within the next few months, 'online comics' currently refer either to regular comic art scanned and placed online or comic art enhanced with Flash animation." Many of the Web comics found online are indeed simply scanned artwork. Comics.com is the most popular Web comic site, compiling the major daily newspaper comic strips on a single database. The comics are not interactive in any way, nor do they differ from their print presence in any format. They are simply scanned in and available for viewing online. But there are benefits provided by the online availability of these comics:
- They are archived and easily available to anyone with internet access. These are advantages that none of their print versions have, but are also advantages that the internet provides on its own. The comics themselves have undergone no alteration on a physical level, and the creators did not rethink the approach to their creation. In his article, Brady goes on to say: "If static panels downloaded on a computer can be called 'online comics,' then, by the same standard, one could clip a strip of FRUMPY THE CLOWN from the recent collection, pin it to the wall, and call it 'wall comics.' No, 'online comics' have come to mean ... something that resembles a traditional comic book with some form of animation added, usually through the use of Macromedia Flash." The best example of this is the now defunct Stan Lee Media. Comic artists worked with Flash animators to create what were essentially simple cartoons. Limited animation provided for fast download times: not complex enough to be television-quality cartoons, but with enough interactivity and movement to differentiate them from print comics. Between the two formats, bridging simply scanned artwork and flash animation are comics like Jenni Gregory's ABBY'S MENAGERIE and Christian Cosas's HOLE BOY. The former is just a comic, told panel by panel, using animated GIF technology to time the appearance of the speech balloons and captions. The latter is a silent black and white story using techniques like repetition and slight movement to tell a story. Pacing is affected by the layout within the browser window (i.e. side scrolling to mirror the characters' progress in one direction) and translating the pause caused in print by turning the page into the load time between web pages. Another comic creator who uses this technique to great effect is Patrick S. Farley, who provides a great deal of "web-comix" content on his excellent site ELECTRIC SHEEP. But not all comic creators are gung-ho about web development and experimentation online. Writers like Groth see no major benefits in using the internet as a medium of presentation for comics: the download times on some of the more elaborate flash animated stories make them inaccessible to anyone with a slow connection, and the animation is usually too simple. In the words of Spencer Lamm, comics editor for www.whatisthematrix.com), " If I saw that on TV, I'd throw tomatoes at my screen and then turn the channel". Even as a promotional medium, many critics argue against the possibility of success. Given the noise-to-signal ratio of information on the internet, it is likely that the only people who pay attention to any news about comics are existing comics fans. Most creators have come to the realization that web comics are not going to pay any bills. But this matter also has its flip side. Creators like Warren Ellis and Brian Michael Bendis use discussion forums to increase contact with their readership, allowing for one-on-one virtual interaction, something that was never successfully provided by the letters page in a comic book. Promotional material is also provided on personal websites and publisher's pages, and sample pages are sometimes provided to help the undecided buyer to choose their purchases. Oni Press has used this method to provide free scanned pages ready for download in Acrobat Reader format on their website. Marvel Comics continues to make parts of its new ULTIMATE SPIDERMAN issues available online for those who could not obtain the issues. Rick Veitch and Steve Conley's Comicon.com is a good example of translating a comics industry phenomenon (in this case the comic convention) into a web-based presence. An informational outlet for comics and their creators, it provides a home for varied discussion on a variety of topics in its message boards as well as creating online outlets for creators to use to sell or advertise their work. But while Conley works diligently on his web comic ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS, Veitch publishes almost all his work in print. This dichotomy is only made more puzzling by the knowledge that ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS is also now published as a print comic. The Evidence The main problem with viewpoints like those provided by McCloud and Groth is that they are unabashedly biased in one direction. McCloud proves himself to be a Tofflerite with his unquestioning faith in the belief that comics on the internet will work simply because it is a new medium that exists outside the rules that govern the current market. Independent publishers will, he claims, prove to be the end of larger corporations, as the internet will provide the independents with direct access to the market. McCloud has no doubt that if you place content on the web people will come to it in droves. Groth, on the other hand, spends as much time in his article making personal attacks at McCloud as he does attacking the work, criticising McCloud for never considering an alternative viewpoint before doing exactly the same himself. Both approach the subject matter with an uncompromising attitude that detracts from the credibility of their opinion. But the internet has provided several examples of comics projects that have been both successes and failures. The issue is not as black and white as either writer makes it out to be. While it is true that defining scanned artwork as a Web comic is debatable, to say that the internet provides such a comic with no advantages is inaccurate. Spencer Lamm proved this by recruiting some of the best creators in the comics industry to write and draw stories that are exclusively available on the website for the movie THE MATRIX. The MATRIX comics receive over 20,000 unique hits per day and more creators are continually signing on to the project. This kind of audience would not be available if the comics had gone directly to print: by placing them on the movie's website the comics benefit from cross-pollination. Of course, the advantage the MATRIX stories have is that they are told by established names, and are linked to a popular movie. In much the same way that internet portals linked to major companies like Microsoft or Lycos find that their audience increases, in the same way these comics benefit from their associations. There are hundreds of comics on the internet using the same format for storytelling that suffer in anonymity. More adventurous creators who experiment with Flash as a format for presenting their stories also find audiences are hard to maintain, mainly because the technology is not yet up to par with expectations. Viewers do not want to wait five minutes for a single panel that will have a minor animation and even less story. The benefits that the internet provides comics with when used as a promotional tool are more community based. While few non-comics readers will read a comic news or creator website and find themselves converted into regular readers, the online community that has developed tends to be helpful towards new creators and works. One good example is Aman Chaudhary, who posted his artwork on writer Warren Ellis' discussion forum. Aman soon found himself illustrating FRIGHTENING CURVES, a story that was initially only available online, but was popular enough that it made the leap to print. Chaudhary has gone on to more comics work as a result. Other artists, such as Locke, may not have much print work published, but maintain a sizeable fan following almost entirely due to publishing work on the internet. Readers also have access to a wealth of information that they may otherwise miss. Ellis set up www.orderingcomics.com, a website whose sole purpose is to provide information about new upcoming comics that may not receive much publicity otherwise. A similar service is provided by websites like iComics, PopImage, Comic Book Resources and, of course, Ninth Art. Weekly reviews help buyers choose what they want to buy every week, and the sites also provide useful journalistic coverage. All print-based comics journalism is monthly; websites like Newsarama give comics enthusiasts a regularly updated news source. So while the internet may not be doing much in the way of increasing comics sales, it is providing the industry with a solid support system. The Conclusion My opinion regarding Web comics brings me closer to Groth's outlook than McCloud's. The latter's optimism does not take into account the harsher realities of publishing on the internet, where the only major successes have been by content providers with large resources and a pre-existing audience. The main problem has been, and probably always will be, that audience attention is a limited commodity. While comics is a medium that work well on the internet, the medium has not yet developed enough of an audience for web-based endeavours to be commercially successful. There is simply not enough general interest for the public to start paying for online comic content - especially since one of the major advantages of the internet is that many comics can already be viewed for free. On the other hand, I do believe Web comics have great potential as a new medium of expression. Once more creators become involved with creating comics for the internet, especially after understanding the capabilities inherent in the medium, then some truly innovative work can be created. As it is right now, few online works have pushed the medium in new and worthwhile directions. At present, the aspect of comics that has benefited the most from the internet is community. Between the development of news sites and discussion forums, comics readers have enjoyed a level of interaction with their favourite writers and artists and other fans that none of the other expressive media offer. Musicians, novelists and actors do not often interact with their fans as regularly as comics creators. This may be simply because involvement with comics, whether as a creator or as a fan, is often out of love for a medium that many have no interest in. People who read comics regularly may disagree on a great many things, but they agree on one: "Comics are just words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures." And they want that potential fully explored. Sami Shah is an English major at the University of Virginia and a freelance web designer. Ninth Art endorses the principle of Ideological Freeware. The author permits distribution of this article by private individuals, on condition that the author and source of the article are clearly shown, no charge is made, and the whole article is reproduced intact, including this notice. Back. |