I’m skipping a little bit ahead here to Part II: A History of Webcomics.  I’d like to say here that this information was as accurate as I could determine from what materials were available. Obviously, there aren’t many books on webcomics yet.

Click here for an explanation on the Art of Webcomics.

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Part II: A History of Webcomics

Not surprisingly, the first webcomics were nothing more than print comics scanned into the computer, and then posted online without alteration, or often even coloring.  At the time webcomics first began, the technology that allowed for extensive digital editing had not yet been created, and the first edition of Photoshop, the program de facto for most serious webcomickers, did not even appear until 1990.[i] Therefore, in the beginning, it is not hard to understand how or why webcomics were only of the varieties and styles that already pre-existed in print, without overt experimentation.

I feel at this point it is very important to note that while I will bolster webcomics and simultaneously criticize print comics as this paper progresses, I should here and now recognize that webcomics would not exist in the form they do without the history of comics itself, and secondly, without the form of print, as tested for over two centuries: sequential panels, pages, strips and books.  It is also important to take notice of the distinctions between the existing forms of print comics, as there is a great variety which is worthy of much discussion (and indeed, has already been discussed in many books).  Some comics are made exclusively for newspaper circulation, and are often uncolored, formatted into the horizontal or vertical strip.  For most uninformed comic readers, newspaper “funnies” are often the only form and genre of comics known, which is not only unfortunate—as it propagates the notion that comics is an insignificant art meant only for meager amusement, ultimately destined for the trash-but is a misconception: print comics also exist in the comic book, graphic novel, political cartoon, and “manga” forms, as well as wood cuts, engravings and sequential paintings.  The graphic novel and comic book are found in many styles: colored, dramatically inked in black and white, lined and toned, simply lined, sketched, and more. Graphic novels are also far more costly to produce than strip comics or comic books, are longer, often sold in volumes, and deal with a wide range of genres.  Comic books span universes and superheroes, and could easily be said to have made the art of comics famous. Political cartoons are often single panel works that are heavily inked, hand-lettered, and use no digital means of creation or editing.  Eastern-style comics, most notably Japanese “Manga,” (Korean “Manhwa” is also gaining popularity in the West) are published in multiple volumes, usually uncolored, with a distinctive style and flair most recently adopted by many of the popular American television cartoons, such as Avatar: the Last Airbender. These types of comics, created in purely physical media rather than digitally, were typical of the first webcomics due to an inability to create something more, which was dependent on software and hardware not yet developed.

Despite the variety of comics available in print, many genres and styles of comics could not find a niche within which they could publish their work, and therefore turned to the internet to archive their portfolio, or even go independent and retain complete creative control of their comic (the alternative of which was selling one’s rights in order to be printed).  While there is some contention as to which webcomic was actually created first, 1986 was the first year webcomics first appeared in the internet, which was one year after the internet was opened for public and commercial use.  Argon Zark!,[ii] by Charley Parker, is usually the first webcomic mentioned when discussing webcomic history, though Parker states on his website that his comic was preceded by Where the Buffalo Roam and Dr. Fun, in that order.[iii] Webcomics grew slowly in number until the image editing software was developed that allowed more people publish their own visual works without years of illustration practice and formal education in traditional cartooning practices.  Microsoft Paintbrush (now MS Paint) was one of the first programs developed for digital images, but still is barely useable on a practical or professional level; in its earliest forms, it supported very few image formats and editing tools were severely limited to little more than a hard pixel brush and a paintbucket fill tool.  However, in the early 1990′s, as webcomics quickly began growing in number, style, and genre, so did the technology with which to create and edit them, including the first generation of graphics programs such as Photoshop.

Among the webcomics that appeared in the 1990′s and are still being updated today are Argon Zark!, Kevin and Kell, and Sluggy Freelance. These webcomics are important because they are not only among the first renowned comics of their time, they also continue to set the precedent for how to measure the relative, but also objective, success of a webcomic. All three comics are primarily a hybrid of two genres: humor and fantasy, or humor and science fiction.  Argon Zark! was and still is believed to be far ahead of its time. First published in June of 1995, it features interactive, full-color panels, many of which are partially, if not fully, animated—including sound.  Upon scrolling over a comic page with the cursor, the characters and/or the environment change to reveal a passage of time in a 2D medium, creating the illusion of a three dimensional space as its three characters explore the internet in a virtual reality.

Kevin and Kell, launched in September of 1995[iv] and created by Bill Holbrook, was among the first of the “furry” webcomics, featuring a main cast of anthropomorphic characters.[v] The popularity of Kevin and Kell has spawned a huge genre of “furry” comics with casts of fully-animal characters, half-human/half-animal characters, humanoid animals and everything in-between.  Some of these types of comics delve into the more mature realms of cross-species sex and play to an obsessed fandom that dress as animals, but the great majority have characters far more reminiscent of Disney’s anthropomorphic creations like The Fox and the Hound. It is a misconception that “furry” is firstly, a new genre, and secondly, “animal smut.”[vi]

Sluggy Freelance, started in 1997 by Pete Abrams, has updated seven days a week since its inception. As an epic comedy/fantasy/science fiction that crosses dimensions, time periods and often satirically incorporates popular movies or books (most notably, Harry Potter), the sprawling archives have now been made into multiple print volumes.  Abrams is one of the few who makes his living as a professional webcomicker.[vii]

While these three comics are only a small portion of those that formed the framework of the current webcomic paradigm, they are important because of the precedent they set for maintained success-monetarily and subjectively. Most webcomics currently have nowhere near the success of these; many webcomics garner no income, nor have audiences numbering in the hundreds of thousands, such as Sluggy Freelance. All webcomics however, begin with the hope of someday becoming a work comparable to these three. But webcomics as a business model is another discussion entirely, and the significance of webcomics in culture and art is not dependent upon the income generated by the venture, only by the impact on society through the medium. If the success of print comics were judged by income, most would be failures. Luckily, that is not considered the case for either form of comic, as stated previously.

[ii] argonzark.com

[iii] Charlie Parker, “About Argon Zark!,” Argon Zark! <http://zark.com> (April 2008)

[iv] Bill Holbrook, “The Story Behind Kevin and Kell,” Kevin & Kell, <http://kevinandkell.com> (April 2008).

[v] “Anthro” comics feature animal characters with human behaviors, and also often humanoid characteristics, such as walking on two legs or wearing clothing.

[vi] As popularized by a CSI: Las Vegas episode.

[vii] Pete Abrams, Sluggy Freelance, <http://sluggy.com> (April 2008); “List of Self-Sufficient Webcomics,” Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_self-sufficient_webcomics> (March 2008).