Webcomics pros and cons


Krashnicoff's avatar
So when considering publication of your comic's what are the pros and cons of online publication and what formats work best.

Really I'm looking for anything useful; rates of publication, img sizes, color or no color, anything useful really.


It should come as no surprise that I'm really new to the whole field as a creator if not as a consumer.
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codeslacker's avatar
Stan Lee once said: "Comics are like boobs. They look great on computers. But I'd rather hold one in my hand~"

A wise man with a wise word I must say~

img.pandawhale.com/post-44297-…
tobin-k's avatar
check out webtoon.com and tapastic.com

there's a new generation creating comics for and reading comics on their phones.
crapsh0ot's avatar
Online is better for getting famous, traditional is better for getting rich (maybe) :D Either way, you seem to already be in better hands than mine :iconeratsplz:
halesette's avatar
i think the main point about webcomics is that MOST of the time, they are more recreational than professional
if you write/illustrate a weekly webcomic, you are mainly going to see creative improvement, the building of a fanbase, and the addition of that webcomic to your portfolio. so if you're just getting started - or you just really enjoy it! - webcomics are great. they usually aren't big money makers, unless you write/draw for a client or you have your comic set up like an ebook that can be bought [or you use a host that allows premium, paid content]
imo, the "standard" format for a webcomic has been the generic smackjeeves, comicfury, etc layout for probably ten or fifteen years. it's very basic coding and usually isn't very community integrated. personally, i use tapastic, which has less customization options but is accessible and has a very modern look

as far as format goes, thick lines and simple flat colors are easiest. if you don't plan on printing your pages, the size doesn't matter. i use 540x810 px at 300 dpi because  it fits the dimensions for photos on tumblr, so it's easier to share

i've been a creator since 2011, and i'm still a high school student, but i do have some exposure to this little niche of the comic industry, so if you have any specific questions, i would be happy to answer! 
and if you're considering posting a comic, i highly recommend tapastic 
Penny Arcade had a reality show called Strip Search, that had a lot of information in it. Lots of marketing, public relations, commissions, etc. advice along with the standard reality show stuff.

Things to think about:
*Monetization. How am I going to make money from this? It might be a work of passion, or hobby, but it's much easier to sustain a steady schedule if you're seeing money for it. So, how are you going to make money? Merch? Ads? Donations? 
*Publication. It's often a good idea to plan your strip around eventual paper publication. This means your format should probably be something that can be published, and that you should keep high-res (at least 300 DPI, if not more) copies for yourself. There's a bunch to do with publication that also runs into your choice of color or not, B&W is much cheaper to print, which can lead to cheaper books, or higher profit margins.
*Backups. Back up everything. Everything. Solid state hard-drives are super-reliable, but expensive. You pay for the peace of mind, because hard-disks eventually fail, and that sound is not good.
*Other people's computers. The most common screen resolution is 1366x768, but 1024x768 should probably be the resolution you design around. It's probably not a good idea to let your comic be wider than, oh, say, 1000 pixels wide? I'd suggest going around to a bunch of pro-webcomics and checking out their formats to decide on something. Remember nobody likes horizontal scrolling, but vertical is fine, as long as your comic panels are legible at low res (so a single panel that's 500x1000 is probably not a good idea, but a panel that's 1000x500 is). 
Lytrigian's avatar
As thexenops says, anything goes. Almost. The number one, most important, make-or-break-you, thing about webcomics is regularity. If you say you're going to update Monday, Wednesday and Friday -- You'd FUCKING well better update every single goddamn Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Most readers will be willing to let you slide once in a while, particularly if you provide guest content, but once too often will be too often and your readers will evaporate. For me personally, the number one reason I've given up on particular webcomics is that their updates became irregular. If your personal life becomes such that you can only update 3x/week instead of 5, or twice instead of 3x, say so -- and then STICK to your new schedule.

This should never become a problem if, like Howard Tayler at Schlock Mercenary, you hold to professional standards and have installments ready a few weeks or a month ahead of time. That way you can give yourself plenty of days off while still maintaining regular updates. There are a few others who do this, but they're not many. Others maintain their schedules by basically never giving themselves time off, or by interrupting the strip when they do. That's OK if, as I said, it doesn't happen too often, but it's not the best way to do business.
Hestia-Edwards's avatar
Hestia-Edwards's avatar
First of all, get a hold of this book: www.amazon.com/How-Make-Webcom…

The thing with webcomics is that "anything goes" as far as format, etc. Though I can say that colored comics get more attention than black and white ones.