Hi, my name's E.K. Weaver, and I write and draw a comic called
The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal. Although it's intended for print, I've been publishing it online for the past two years, and have recently been able to take TJ and Amal to press, thanks to the magic of crowdfunding.
* How do webcomics differ from traditional print comics?
Aside from the obvious difference in delivery, there's much more flexibility in webcomics, both in production and content.
If you create your comic with web distribution in mind, there's a lot more freedom in how you can produce it. Your files can be smaller and less intensive to create, or they can be enormous and elaborate. They can be any dimension. Sound, motion, and interactive content are possible. You aren't limited to what can fit on paper.
Also, niche interest media can flourish on the web, which allows material "too specific" for traditional publishers to thrive. Say you want to draw and distribute a comic that's all about organic radish farming. You can self-publish it as a zine and reach a few people; you can shop it to publisher after publisher to see if anyone will take a chance on it; or you can take it online, where it can be enjoyed by anyone in the world with internet access and an interest in radishes. It's much harder to build an audience for something like that exclusively in print, simply because of financial and physical limitations.
* How did you get started in webcomics?
I'm very new to webcomics, as a creator anyway. In 2008, I realized that a story I'd been developing would be best told in comic form, so I began working towards the goal of turning it into a printed graphic novel. (Sadly, this means I don't get to take advantage of most of that flexibility mentioned earlier.) In 2009, I decided I'd rather tell the story online than have to wait for years to share it.
I'd been reading webcomics for about 10 years at that point, so when I launched my own, I already had a good idea of how I wanted to present the content.
* Why should people support webcomics with donations or purchases?
A few webcomic artists do it as their full time job, so they depend on reader support to pay the bills. A lot of webcomics are made by students or folks with other jobs. (I work full-time as a technical illustrator, for example.) Whichever is the case, donations and purchases are a tangible way for readers to show appreciation for the work they enjoy. I don't think readers should feel obligated or guilted into it at all, but it's a nice way to say thanks.
* How do artists and audiences benefit from online interaction?
Of course, positive feedback is always encouraging --sometimes it can turn a bad day around-- and critical feedback helps you improve your work.
Personally, I've found it immensely helpful when a reader contacts me to say "hey, you forgot to shade this part here" or "this character's tattoo disappeared between panels 2 and 3!" Once in a while, I'll work on a page for so long that my eyes sort of glaze over and I miss simple mistakes like that.
As for readers, I think that online interaction can help them feel closer to the narrative. Sometimes the author can clarify something, or refer a reader to new media... sometimes both parties learn from each other. Sometimes it's good to just joke around, too. Fun for fun's sake.
Social networking in general is great for promoting webcomics. A lot of artists will post update notices to Twitter, for example, which serves as both advertising to benefit the artist and a convenient reminder to benefit interested readers.
* Where can interested viewers/patrons find good webcomics?
The best place to start is probably the Links section of a webcomic you already like. There are also review sites like
Webcomic Overlook and comic-related blogs, like
Scott McCloud's, that feature new and interesting material.
* Which webcomics do you read and why?
Oh man, I read a ton. I actually read a lot more webcomics now that I'm making my own. Let's see... for frequently updated strips, it's
Girls With Slingshots, and
Something Positive (also
Bobwhite, which ended its run earlier this year).
There are many, many more long-form stories that I'll let build up for a few weeks and then read in a stretch. I know I can't name them all, but off the top of my head, there's
Unsounded,
Cheap Thrills,
Sfeer Theory... I just realized I'm leaving off the ones that I read via RSS feed! Agh, so many. If I name them all we'll be here all day and I'll still accidentally leave a bunch of great comics out.
As for why I read webcomics, same reason I take in any other media: something about it hooks me. I'd say the common threads running through my list are intriguing characters and clear visual communication-- that is, it's immediately apparent who's saying what to whom, what's happening from panel to panel, etc.
* What do you think is the coolest thing about webcomics?
Frankly? The "fuck tha police" factor. "Nobody wants to read a comic about organic radish farming!" "IDGAF, I'm gonna draw it anyway." No worries about demographics or broad appeal. No page quotas or house style to adhere to. No pressure to please someone higher up. You draw the story you want to draw the way you want to draw it.
* Are you involved in crowdfunding? What about other crowdfunded webcomics projects?
Actually, I am about to self-pubish my first graphic novel, the print run of which was crowdfunded through Kickstarter. If not for Kickstarter, I would have had to either go deep into credit card debt to pay for the print run, or stop working on the comic in order to handle and sort pre-orders. (Kickstarter compiles all the donor information for you.)
There are a lot of other comic artists who've raised funding for their projects through Kickstarter. Josh Lesnick just recently did a fund drive for a special collected print edition of his webcomic Girly, and Diana Nock is
currently running one for her comic The Intrepid Girlbot.
The things I like about crowdfunding have a lot in common with what I like about webcomics: no middleman (though Kickstarter does collect a 5% fee), no executive meddling, and the opportunity for more independent, more "niche" work to get produced and distributed.
The audience funding the project knows that their money goes directly to the author/artist (or, in the case of physical merchandise, to the author/artist, packaging, shipping, and manufacturing).
The artist determines how finances and merchandise are managed. You take on much greater risk and responsibility than with a traditional publishing route, but you also retain more of the profit, and more importantly, full rights and control over your intellectual property.
So hey, now you've got your hypothetical comic about organic radish farming-- it's got an audience, and the creator and the audience interact directly, to the mutual benefit of both.
The internet can be a beautiful thing.