Webcomics in print
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Though
webcomics Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be ...
are typically published primarily on the
World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
, some webcartoonists may get
publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
deals in which
comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
are created of their work. Sometimes, these books are published by mainstream comics publishers who are traditionally aimed at the
direct market The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * four major comic distributors: ** Lunar ...
of regional comic books. Some webcartoonists may pursue
print syndication Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, political cartoons, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. The syndicates offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content o ...
in established
newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...
or
magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...
. In other cases, webcomic creators decide to
self-publish Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...
their work. Crowdfunding through
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
is often used in order to fund such projects.


Publication of webcomics

Though mainstream comic book publishers have typically been wary of licensing webcomics and adapting them into a print format, the rise of webcomics in the 2000s coincided with an American boom in
graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
. Anna Baddeley, writing for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', stated that the established fanbase many webcomics have could give publishers a chance to attract new audiences to the print format, making webcomics an attractive focus for publishers. The traditional audience base for webcomics and print comics are vastly different, and webcomic readers do not necessarily go to bookstores. For some webcartoonists, a print release may be considered the "goal" of a webcomic series, while for others, comic books are "just another way to get the content out." Caitlin Rosberg, writing for ''
Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...
'', noted that "digital-first" comics, as found on platforms such as
ComiXology Iconology Inc., d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), is a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads . It offers a selection of more than 100,000 comic books, graphic novels, and ...
,
Marvel Unlimited Marvel Unlimited, formerly known as Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, is an online service by Marvel Comics that distributes past issues of their comics via the internet. The service launched on November 13, 2007, and now has more than 30,000 comic ...
and
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
' Digital First, share more aspects with printed comics than with webcomics. With the exception of
two-page spread Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book design, "though ...
s and the occasional large-panel layout, the formatting of such digital comics are indistinguishable from their print counterparts. "Digital-first" comics can almost seamlessly transition from screen to print, as they are designed with this leap in platform in mind. Rosberg claimed that such comics are not webcomics, as webcomics are designed for consumption only on the
World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
, often using
infinite canvas The infinite canvas refers to the potentially limitless space that is available to webcomics presented on the World Wide Web. The term was introduced by Scott McCloud in his 2000 book '' Reinventing Comics'', in which he suggested that webcomic cre ...
techniques or uncommon page formats. Similarly, Lauren Davis wrote for ''
Comics Alliance ComicsAlliance was an American website dedicated to covering the comic book industry as well as comic-related media, and is owned by Townsquare Media. The site has been nominated for multiple awards including a 2015 Eisner Award win in the catego ...
'' that "webcomics are not print comics that happen to appear on the web. They're a distinct animal, offer a distinct reading experience, and should be evaluated accordingly." Webcomics have been seen by some artists as a potential new path towards syndication in
newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...
, but attempts have rarely proven lucrative. According to
Jeph Jacques Jeffrey Paul "Jeph" Jacques ( ) (born June 17, 1980) is an American cartoonist who writes and draws the webcomics '' Questionable Content'', '' Alice Grove'', and ''DORD'' (and formerly "Indietits"). Personal life Jacques was born in Rockvil ...
('' Questionable Content''), "there's no real money" in syndication for webcomic artists. For instance
Jeffrey Rowland Jeffrey J. Rowland (born May 22, 1974) is the author and artist responsible for ''#Wigu, Wigu'' and ''#Overcompensating, Overcompensating'', two popular webcomics. Originally from Locust Grove, Oklahoma, Locust Grove, Oklahoma, Rowland now lives ...
uploaded his webcomics to the internet in order to gain constructive criticism after being rejected from various syndicates in 1999, but eventually found that he didn't need to get his work syndicated when he started selling merchandise of his webcomic ''Wigu''. To ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', Rowland said that "if a syndicate came to me and offered me a hundred newspapers, I would probably say no ... I'd probably make less money, with more work." When ''
Diesel Sweeties ''Diesel Sweeties'' is a webcomic and former newspaper comic strip written by Richard Stevens III (R Stevens). The comic began in 2000,Rall, Ted (2006). '' Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists'', New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchi ...
'' found syndication by
United Media United Media was a large Column (periodical), editorial column and comic strip newspaper print syndication, syndication service based in the United States, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, that operated from 1978 to 2011. It syndicated 150 comi ...
in 2007, its creator Richard Stevens still made 80% of his income through his website. Other webcomic creators, such as R. K. Milholland (''
Something Positive Randal Keith Milholland (born November 25, 1975), better known as R. K. Milholland, is an American webcomic author. His works include '' Something Positive'', '' New Gold Dreams'', ''Midnight Macabre'', ''Classically Positive'' and ''Super Stupor ...
'') and Michael Terracciano (''Dominic Deegan''), wouldn't be able to syndicate their work in newspaper because they fill up a specific
niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...
and wouldn't be accepted by a broader audience. Some webcartoonists have proven more successful with newspaper syndication since: in 2015,
Dana Simpson Dana Claire Simpson is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the comic '' Phoebe and her Unicorn'', as well as the long-running webcomic Ozy and Millie. Other works created by Simpson include the political commentary cartoon ''I D ...
syndicated her webcomic '' Phoebe and Her Unicorn'' through
Universal Uclick Andrews McMeel Syndication (formerly Universal Uclick) is an American content syndicate which provides syndication in print, online and on mobile devices for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and cartoons and various other ...
to over 100 newspapers. Many authors opt to self-publish their webcomic in print. In order to do so, many comic artists may use the
crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
service
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
, which successfully funded 994 comic and graphic novel projects in 2015.


Published webcomics

In 1996, David Allen launched
Plan Nine Publishing Plan Nine Publishing was a small press book publisher known for publishing webcomics in printed form. The first series published, and perhaps its most famous, was ''Kevin and Kell''. History Plan Nine Publishing was named after the Ed Wood film ' ...
, a small press American publisher focused on printing webcomics. The first webcomic Plan Nine published was Bill Holbrook's ''
Kevin and Kell ''Kevin and Kell'' is a furry comedy webcomic strip by syndicated cartoonist Bill Holbrook. The strip began on September 3, 1995, and is one of the oldest continuously running webcomics. The comic's website states it is "The World's Longest R ...
''. Plan Nine published over 70 titles, printing late 1990s and early 2000s webcomics such as ''
Sluggy Freelance ''Sluggy Freelance'' is a long-running webcomic written and drawn by Pete Abrams. Starting in 1997, it is one of the oldest successful webcomics, and as of 2012 had hundreds of thousands of readers. Abrams was one of the first comic artists succ ...
'', ''
Ozy and Millie ''Ozy and Millie'' is a daily comic strip that ran from 1998 to 2008, created by Dana Simpson (originally published under D.C. Simpson). It follows the adventures of assorted anthropomorphized animals, centering on Ozy and Millie, two young fo ...
'', ''
Greystone Inn Brad Guigar (born April 9, 1969) is an American cartoonist who is best known for his daily webcomic ''Greystone Inn'' and its sequel ''Evil Inc.'' Early life Brad Guigar was the eldest of five children and grew up in Bad Axe, Michigan. He att ...
'', and ''College Roomies from Hell!!!''. Since 1997, various webcomic creators worldwide have made book deals with larger publishing companies, resulting in their webcomics being adapted into comic books and distributed to retailers.


Webcomics syndicated in newspapers and magazines

Some webcomics have been regularly published in
periodicals A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a Academic journal, journal ...
such as newspapers and magazines.


Collected works

From 2004 to 2011, graphic novel author and illustrator
Kazu Kibuishi Kazuhiro "Kazu" Kibuishi (born April 8, 1978) is a Japanese-born American graphic novel author and illustrator. He is best known for being the creator and editor of the comic anthology ''Flight'' and for creating the webcomic ''Copper''. He is al ...
edited the
comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication t ...
series ''
Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
''. Published by
Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...
and
Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...
, ''Flight'' featured short comics by various artists who had varying audiences online. The third book in
Ted Rall Frederick Theodore Rall III (born August 26, 1963) is an American columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic strip, comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and e ...
's ''Attitude'' series, subtitled "The New Subversive Online Cartoonists" (2006), features interviews with and strips of 21 different webcartoonists.


Notes


References

{{Webcomics Print