Webcomic Insights for Webseries Creators
Webcomics are one of the earliest forms of creative entertainment to appear on the Internet. Before there was a World Wide Web with all of its graphic wonders, for instance, there was Usenet and CompuServe which allowed visitors to interact and share information through newsgroups. While only text could be posted at the time, links containing downloadable content of any medium was a viable option and utilized by such pioneers as Joe Ekaitis with T.H.E. Fox and Hans Bjordahl with Where the Buffalo Roam. Once Tim Berners-Lee invented hypermedia and the modern day World Wide Web was born, meanwhile, webcomics began to grow as an independent option for creators to release their work. Even established artists joined in, recognizing the freedom the medium offered in much the same way that Joss Whedon would years later with Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and the webseries.
While the World Wide Web offers the previously unavailable ability to directly reach an audience regardless of the creative medium, the very non-tech yet rapidly-growing comic conventions are another way for creators to interact with their fans on a more personal level as well. For independent writers and artists, it’s also a means to introduce themselves to a new potential audience. It was within that context that the PIX Indy Comics Expo was launched in Pittsburgh during October 2010. Just as the webseries offers anyone the ability to create their own television-style show regardless of where they live, the same holds true for comics—even in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“I believe that the comics scene in Pittsburgh is particularly strong right now,” Bill Boichel of the Copacetic Comics Company, one of the co-sponsors of PIX, remarked. “There is a large contingent of comics creators here working away, and there has been for quite some time. Pittsburgh has had an organized comics scene for over forty years, and became formally organized back in the early 70s with Ben Pondexter’s Pittsburgh Comics Club, which ran the Pittsburgh Comic Con. Former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter was an early member of Pittsburgh comics fandom, and Don Simpson was another Pittsburgh pro whose work goes back almost thirty years.”
The relatively younger Carolyn Belefski was an attendee at the PIX Indy Comics Expo and had a broad collection of her work on display, including traditional comic book-style creations as Black Magic Tales and The Legettes. A finalist for the Kim Yale Award for Most Talented Newcomer in the 2010 Lulu Awards, Belefski is also a webcomics practitioner, having taken the comic strip Curls, which she created for the Virginia Commonwealth University school newspaper, onto the Internet shortly after graduation. In many ways she exemplifies the independent spirit and opportunity that the melding of traditional comics and the new webcomic medium represents, and her insights correlate to the webseries just as much as webcomics.
“The Internet allows people to create their own opportunities,” she explains of her decision to utilize the web for her work. “It seems easier to build a fan base now than in the past, especially globally. With webcomics, anyone with access to an Internet connection can read your material. Before the Internet, you’d have to be a published author or artist, usually in the print medium. With the door open and some motivation, you can publish yourself at a relatively low cost.”
The same can be said of the television industry with its Hollywood insider mentality. The advent of the webseries, coupled with the dropping cost of the equipment needed to film, has opened doors for creative types interested in the television medium who had no previous chance of breaking into the business. The structural difference between television and the webseries, meanwhile—most webseries episodes are significantly shorter than what can be found on the networks—is partially due to the changing nature of the entertainment needs of a more web-savvy audience, just like webcomics.
“Webcomics provide people with quick entertainment and characters they can follow along with,” Belefski explained. “In this era of new media, audiences recognize and support stories that they are interested in. I also think we are living in a time of selective media. People have more choices and avenues to digest how they want their time to be spent on the Internet, therefore traditional media is being pushed aside in favor of fresh webcomics.”
The key word in Carolyn Belefski’s comment is “fresh” and relates to television just as much as comics. While the reasons for the current erosion of network viewers has been debated, dissected and discussed by many cultural prognosticators, the fact remains that year after year and despite much hype, every new television season inevitably leads to “more of the same.” At this point it is the smaller cable channels like AMC and FX that is willing to take risks while their larger counterparts continue to play it safe. Belefski offered a similar opinion in regards to webcomics and traditional newspaper comics.
“Webcomics are being recognized more and more because audiences are looking for new material,” she noted. “Nothing against the wonderful Charles Schulz, but how long do you want to be reading Classic Peanuts for? It will always be available in many outlets due to the popularity of the strip and will not be going away anytime soon. Some newspapers are afraid to try new material. They have stuck to the same format for many years. The newspaper strips are loosing luster with many readers, especially young people.”
Although still in its infant stages, the webseries offers the same potential to fill the growing void within television viewership. Just as webcomics began with a small handful of independent pioneers, for instance, which in turn led to professional comic writers turning to the web for the freedom it offered and then to the major publishers venturing into the medium as well, the webseries has followed a similar path. From Pittsburgh native Justin Kownacki and his Something to Be Desired webseries launch in 2003, to Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog in 2008, to the Sony-produced The Bannen Way of 2010, the newer medium has grown in much the same way as webcomics.
But just like with webcomics, it is the independents that are the true life-blood of the webseries. These relatively unknown video creators likewise share the same advantages and face the same obstacles as their webcomic counterparts, as illustrated by Carolyn Belefski’s description of her own personal career choice.
“Being an independent creator is wonderful because you have full control of your characters and story,” she explains. “You have no one to blame but yourself. You have to have extreme focus to succeed because you are only one person and most independent creators do not have a team or staff. Some of these pros can also be cons. On one hand, if you were published by an established corporation you get more exposure and don’t have to work as hard to get your books into stores or create your own comic tour. A lot of the business side is handled for you by others. On the self-publishing hand—everything is on your shoulders. You have to ship out your own books, be your own roadie and band manager on tour stops and promote yourself. I enjoy having the business side, but it does take away from creating. I want to retain the rights of my characters and stories, but it would be nice to find an easier way to get my books to new readers and that’s where the webcomic promotion comes into play.”
Webcomics are obviously graphic in nature while the webseries is video-oriented but the similarities between the two mediums are still evident. The benefits that can be reaped by practitioners of both are primarily the same, as well as the constant and multi-facet effort needed to become successful. Webcomics have been around longer than the webseries, mainly due to video restraints in the early days on the Internet, which means that there are lessons to be learned by webseries creators from their webcomic contemporaries.
And the experiences of Carolyn Belefski and Curls is a perfect example.
Anthony Letizia (November 10, 2010)
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