Web comics growing rapidly in popularity
September 7, 2001
If asked about Garfield, Dilbert or Foxtrot, you would most likely be able to tell me that they are all comic strips appearing in your local newspapers.
But, if I were to ask you about Krazy Larry, Elf Life or Penny Arcade, chances are, you haven’t heard of them.
The latter comes from a growing trend on the Internet – Web comics.
For the last few years, budding cartoonists have been moving online to seek fame, fortune or a creative outlet. Starting small, the trend has rapidly grown as artists and their readers find many benefits of going online.
Besides a Web comic being easy for anyone to start, many artists are able to find free Web space, devoted fans and comic communities that offer exposure. Likewise, readers find multiple strips about specific topics and a tight community where they meet other fans as well as the strip’s creators.
Like any growing entertainment, most strips are hobbies for the creators, but a few success stories are emerging.
Scott Kurtz, creator of the strip “Player vs. Player” also known as “PvP,” started out small.
“I used to come home from work at 6 p.m., unwind for an hour and draw until midnight or 1 a.m.,” he said.
Over the last couple years, though, Kurtz has been able to turn “PvP” into a full-time job, a dream of his. His strip also has started to spawn comic book series, magazine appearances and appearances on various Web sites.
The comic strip “Rudy Park,” online since 1997, found its niche with the beginning of the end for many dotcoms, co-creator Darrin Bell said.
“We made Rudy the poster boy for laid-off dotcommers, and that expanded the realm of the strip,” he said.
After the strip built its online fan base, United Media is picking up “Rudy Park” for syndication.
But for each success story, there are many failures.
Web comics tend to focus on a smaller, targeted audiences, shutting out many potential readers. Wiley Miller, creator of the syndicated strip “Non Sequitur,” pointed out what he believes to be one fault of Web comics.
“One thing I have noticed about amateur cartoonists on the Web . is the lack of creativity in utilizing what the Web offers,” Miller said. “They all still do comic strips in the same format as newspapers. This is ludicrous, as the Web offers space that we could only dream of in newspapers.”
The newspaper format has been used for most of Web comics’ existence and continues as the norm. However, each day, we are seeing more creative ideas as artists expand on Web possibilities.
Fred Gallagher, co-creator of the popular strip Megatokyo, had a different vision when he came online.
“I wondered if some sort of hybrid of a semi-daily `comic’ that had the same kind of elements as a multi-page manga [Japanese comic] might work,” he said.
Because of this, Megatokyo quickly has become a very popular online strip.
As more artists explore their possibilities, we are beginning to see Web comics take new approaches.
One of the fastest growing is interactive or animated strips, which attempt to immerse the reader more. This work is time-consuming, which limits its availability. However, Web comics grow fast enough that each day brings a new artist with a new vision. As the trend continues, Web comics may someday take their place next to print comics as an everyday tradition of many readers.
To get you started exploring Web comics, here is tiny sampling of strips and what they offer:
Chris Weishaar is a sophomore in construction engineering from Bronson.
