Why webcomics? Part 3: Innovation.

From listening to commentary on the comicbook industry, the impression I get is that the majority of the existing comicbook readers are pretty conservative in their tastes. They know what they like, and they stick to it. They want Batman, Green Lantern, Spider-Man, Captain America, and all the other well-established characters that they've been following for years, and they aren't necessarily interested in exploring beyond these familiar figures.

This is quite possibly a consequence of the previously-mentioned feedback loop in which one genre proves the most popular and comicbook publishers increasingly focus their efforts on that one genre, to the detriment of variety in the comicbook marketplace. At present the readers who are into comics are predominantly fans of the superhero genre because that's what's predominantly on offer, and so readers who aren't interested in superheroes are effectively excluded from comics as a whole. Unless, that is, some kind soul directs them towards the independent comic creators.

Print publishers have overheads, payrolls, printing and distribution costs to think about; they have people whose mortgages depend on the success of the company. If they make a mistake the company loses money and employees can lose their jobs and homes. Because of the aforementioned conservative tendencies of the customer base, comicbook publishers aren't going to gamble on a newcomer unless they're very confident that newcomer's work will sell.

If the publisher invests time and money into a title that flops then they're going to be in trouble, since the comicbook industry operates on pretty narrow profit margins as it is. This makes the industry as conservative as its customers, in that for the most part they'll favour producing tried-and-true properties in which the readership is already invested, rather than taking a chance on untested characters, or stories that might push the readership out of their comfort zone.

Newspaper comic strips can be considered to be even more conservative, to the point of outright stagnation; these are strips that have been running for decades, in some cases continuing past the deaths of their original creators; the newspaper-reading audience gives the impression of being highly resistant to change, opposed to anything that takes them beyond what is familiar - or at least, the more vocal sections behave in such a way, and they're the ones who write incensed letters to editors when they take offence at a new strip that has usurped Marmaduke's place on the funny pages.

As a result, under steady evolutionary pressure from nervous editors who daren't risk offending their readership by presenting them with "edgy" humour or denying them their familiar content, newspaper comic strips have adapted to reach their current state. They're familiar, they're reassuring, they're inoffensive, they take no risks, they push no boundaries, they're safe. As a result they're also pretty bland a lot of the time.

Online, no such restrictions apply - provided the comic creator is prudent, failure need not necessarily mean disaster. A webcomic can be as safe or as edgy as the writer desires, it can address any subject matter imaginable, however controversial.

A long-form webcomic can tell setting-altering stories that are impractical in the continuity-focused shared universe settings of the major comicbook publishers. Characters can die - permanently, without necessarily having to worry about losing a chunk of the fanbase. A comic can address real-life issues that could alienate those who're only into comicbooks for the superheroes, it can be fantastical or pedestrian, it can aim for high concept, mass appeal, or anywhere in between. It can stretch boundaries and test the limits of the medium.

Short-form webcomics can employ humour that is heartwarmingly sweet or scathingly cynical; they can say things that would never get past their editor in the world of syndicated comic strips; they can be as daring and exploratory and experimental as they please. The only demographic they have to satisfy is the one they want to.

Possibly I'm waxing slightly evangelical about the giddying freedom that comes with producing your own content. But it is giddying, and invigorating, and one of the best things about creating a webcomic.

Whatever the style or flavour or topic or tone, if a webcomic is done well it can attract a following online. Even comics not done particularly well can attract a following if they stick at it for long enough. Some genres are more niche than others, of course, but the fact is that if you put in the enthusiasm and hard work it'll show in your comics, and someone out there will like it. With luck, lots of someones.