There are loads of really creative people out there - people with talent, imagination, and a fresh take on the graphical storytelling medium - who will probably never see their work in print under the existing comic publishing model. This is a crying shame, but a regrettable reality of the way the market works - there are only so many comicbook fans out there, which means that the market can support only so many titles, which means that the comicbook companies can afford to employ only so many staff artists and writers.
The printed book/strip model sets a very high barrier to entry for newcomers to the field, as there is an extremely limited number of slots open, and competition is fierce. You can be a thoroughly competent artist or writer, but unless you're noticeably more talented (or at least marketable) than 99% of the other artists or writers out there you're probably not going to get hired as a full-time artist or writer. The situation is even worse for those who make short-form comic strips of the variety syndicated in newspapers - there's even less space on the funny pages than there is on the comicbook shelf, and the majority of the slots are taken up by "legacy" strips that have been running for decades.
Long story short: there are vastly more aspiring comic creators than there are available positions within the comicbook industry. Standards are high, competition is fierce, and very, very few would-be creators get to make comics for a living. Even fewer get to work on their own titles.
In the field of webcomics, meanwhile, the barrier to entry is much lower. If you've got even a basic level of tech-savvy and don't want to rely on webcomic hosting sites, the WordPress blogging platform has a number of useful (and customisable) add-ons like ComicPress or Webcomic & InkBlot which can help you get your site up and running in an afternoon. In fact, you don't even need to know how to set up a website as there are plenty of webcomic hosting sites like DrunkDuck, Smack Jeeves and Comic Genesis that'll do it for you.
Anyone can get their comic online - of course, the drawback is that anyone can get their comic online, and Sturgeon's Law certainly applies. It's worth remembering, however, that it applies to everything - webcomics, TV, fiction, music, movies - and thus should not be taken as a reason to dismiss webcomics out of hand.
The fact remains that webcomics give independent creators a low-cost, low-risk way to get their work out there in front of people who otherwise would never have known they existed. Additionally, since the vast majority of webcomics are made available online for free this also gives readers a similarly low-cost, low-risk way to discover independent creators, to browse their work before deciding whether or not to support their efforts.
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Very cool blog. I've been thinking of comics and I would say that 95% of the people who make their own webcomics are in it, not to make money, but for the love of the medium. Personally, it's a bit more than a hobby for me and something that I love to do. I think that love that people put into their work carries through on the virtual page.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. :D Just starting out, so hopefully it'll continue to remain interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree that a lot of people are in it for the enjoyment of creating and sharing work in a medium they love, and that's a good place to start. But what I'm keen to see happen is for these hobbyist creators realise that it is possible to make money from their work, and thus find a way to support themselves doing something they love.
Up to now that's not really been possible, for reasons mentioned in the article - the limited opportunities within the comicbook industry - but with the expansion of social media, the growing popularity of webcomics and the increasing availability of print-on-demand services, it's getting more and more feasible all the time.
The more comics made by people who love the artform but aren't necessarily associated with the dudes-in-tights side of things, the more appeal comics will have to a wider audience. The bigger the audience, the more independent creators it can support.