Teh Webcomics

It was nice to see that on the list of URLs we received from teach, I had already read at least two of them.  This allowed me to get familiar with one more new comic so that I could make a comparison of what I have already known against something I wasn’t expecting.  Thus, we have the melding of YU+ME, Shadoweyes, and Hark A Vagrant all in one post. 

           

The biggest thing about webcomics is that they are entirely self-motivated so anything goes with updating.  I have followed a few in the past where they update once a week and a fair amount of story happens per page, which makes following the comic online very enjoyable because you have something to look forward to per week.  However, most that I have started have fallen to the hiatus monster where the artist just had no idea where their own story was going or it was taken up too much of their time.  Even YU+ME fell under this trap for several weeks and I was very worried that it was never going to come back to finish.  Thankfully, it did because the story in that comic is beautiful and weird at the same time.  The primary reason for this fall from grace is most often caused by the fact that the author is trying to make a full web comic page, lined and colored, once per week without fail…with no money income from it other than a few outside commissions.  Not only that, but there is a ton of pressure coming in from the fans to make a fantastic page each week or they may lose viewers.  At least in a print comic, what you buy is what you get for that issue and you must understand how quickly they need to make the artwork.  Self-published webcomics don’t have the understanding from their readers most often.

 Many of the traditional webcomics fall under this fashion where it is trying desperately to be like a real comic book but online and free to the general public.  Shadoweyes also does this even though it is a newer comic.  What is nice about Shadoweyes is that the artist brings a new style with the paneling and line-work; mimicking the progress we have seen in the more recent print comics such as Batwoman. All of the characters are so squishy! And the action scenes plus the design of the hero look super cool and edgy. 

Hark a Vagrant I initially wouldn’t have even considered a webcomic at first glance because of how many traditional comics I had been reading.  They aren’t even one panel!  They are a few drawings if that.  However, if you consider what most comics do and apply it to what this webcomic is doing you can see how it matches it’s title.  In the traditional graphic narrative we have set characters always in a line of motion display and carrying out a story line through a two-dimensional space-time continuum.  Hark a Vagrant also does this with a few key medieval characters floating in space that look as if they jumped off a thousand year old tapestry.  They are from the time line that then follows beneath their feet in an absolutely hilarious narration.  I do believe that this qualifies as a full graphic webcomic and a very good one at that.  Not to mention that it is unconventional and successful.  I would much rather read something like this per week that I know will have a start, finish, and be entertaining every time it updates.

I am greatly looking forward to the future of comics if it is going to keep progressing this way!