Webcomics

Like a lot of kids, I grew up reading comics. Not the superhero type comics (though I'm starting on those now), but the type found in the back of the newspaper, or in the funnies section. You know, back when newspapers were still a thing. Calvin & Hobbes and then Zits were the big ones.

Reading comics has stuck with me and I've been absolutely thrilled with the way comics have evolved. In the past, only a few comic strip writers could really make a career of it. Either you managed to get published in a large number of newspapers and had enough to live on, or you didn't and comics became, at most, a hobby.

These days, webcomics are supplanting the traditional print comics and it's nothing short of amazing. Most webcomics don't get their creators rich, but many provide enough to live on, particularly with the rise of crowd-funding. A couple thousand dedicated followers are enough to support an artist if they're willing to pony up a bit of cash for projects (usually books) every now and then.

The great thing about online comics is that they're relatively free of constraints. They can be about virtually anything, provided there's a natural reader base. They can take any format - and that format can change! They can publish on their own schedules, rather than what a publisher demands. This leads to some incredible of variety in the webcomic world.

I spend a bit too much time reading webcomics and draw on them frequently in life. I will likely post more than a few on this blog if they're relevant to the topic. I will try to reference them as explicitly and overtly as possible - these content creators deserve as much credit as they can get for the work they do. And I encourage anyone reading to visit their sites and check them out!