[more info...]



Vera Brosgol



Patrick Farley



Demian 5



Shaenon Garrity



Cat Garza



D. Merlin Goodbrey



Kazu Kibuishi



Derek Kirk Kim



James Kochalka



Scott Kurtz



Jenn Manley Lee



Dylan Meconis



Justine Shaw



R. Stevens



Tycho & Gabe



Jason Turner



Jen Wang



Drew Weing



Tracy White



Jim Zubkavich


Still great (i.e., on previous years' lists): Tristan Farnon (currently offline), The innovative Jasen Lex, Charlie Parker's legendary Argon Zark, David Gaddis' beautiful Piercing, Steve Conley's Astounding Space Thrills, Cointel.de, Gareth Hinds' TheComic.com, Ethan Persoff, Brent Wood's Brambletown, Roger Langridge's Hotel Fred, Gareth Hinds' TheComic.com, Vicki Wong and Jason Little's BeeComix.com 		Webcomics Links

After letting my links page languish for two years, I figure I owe it to you to give a more in-depth set of pointers than last time. Here are some notes on current trends and the cartoonists that are driving them.
[Last updated July 2004]

<< Read more about each artist.

The New Storytellers

Vaudeville 2.0

Information Wants to be Cheap

Reinventing Webcomics
- On the Radar...
--New or recent names to watch out for.

Pants Pressers Erika Moen, Bill Mudron and Clio Chang; Spike, Kris Dresen, John Barber, John Allison, Nick Bertozzi, Ethan Persoff, Kean Soo, Amy Kim Ganter, Neal Von Flue, Faith Erin Hicks, Sam Chivers, Indigo Kelleigh, Alan Hunt, Neil Babra, Colin White, Hope Larson, Tom Stackpole, R. Kikuo Johnson, Jonathon Dalton, Charles Snow, Nicholas Gurewitch, Jeff Jacques Deadmouse and Natasha Allegri.
The New Storytellers

Looking for a good story? Something with a beginning, a middle and an end, memorable characters and interesting twists and turns? You’re not alone. Fortunately, with a few years under their belts, some of the best webcartoonists are starting to get completed stories under their belts as well as impressive stories-in-progress that can still make for very satisfying reading. Here are some recommended starting points.

Completed Stories:

Same Difference by Derek Kirk Kim. This 79 page black and white story follows Simon and Nancy, two cynical young Asian Americans on the trail of a mundane but compelling mystery set in suburban Northern California. More portrait than plot, Same Difference still managed to generate considerable suspense—and a considerable audience—during its many months of daily uploads. Though designed for the page more than for the screen in many respects (it’s since been printed in an anthology of Kirk Kim’s work) it nevertheless stands out as one of webcomic’s early victories of substance over style.

When I Am King by Demian 5. This Swiss artist’s silent sex comedy about “a king who loses his trousers” is overflowing with inventive visual gags and beautiful surrealistic imagery. A real hit with readers looking for innovation in both art and story.

The Jain’s Death by Patrick Farley. In 91 simply drawn color panels, Farley tells a story of spiritual conviction and rebirth that had me absolutely captivated (and let me just say for the record that tales of “spiritual conviction” would usually bore me to tears). Though it lacks some of the visual pyrotechnics of his later work, Farley’s gift for storytelling comes through loud and clear in this gem from 1998. I suggest reading the whole archive, but this story is a great starting place.

The Leisuretown Archive (find it) by Tristan Farnon. Farnon took Leisuretown offline for unknown reasons last year. From time to time, fans will post temporary bootlegs but you'll have to search to find them. If you do find a mirror of this classic site, I highly recommend reading "Down By The Freeway", "Rhapsody In Yellow" and especially "Nobody Came To My Winter Solstice Party".

Piercing by David Gaddis. This gorgeous silent story put Gaddis on the map in 1999—and we’ve been waiting for more ever since (so far to no avail). But hey, if you’ve never read it before, it’s new work. Piercing is a haunting little allegorical tale about social acceptance, social alienation and the razor sharp ridge between them.

The above selections are free. Others of my favorite completed stories can be read for a small fee using micropayments or subscriptions. Visit the Information Wants to be Cheap section for notes on favorites Trunktown by Tom Hart and Shaenon Garrity, A Dog and His Elephant by Ethan Persoff, Makeshift Miracle by Jim Zubkavich, Encounter Her by Kris Dresen and others.


Stories-in-Progress:

Nowhere Girl by Justine Shaw. Two chapters so far of this wonderfully immersive story. Shaw isn’t sure when she’ll get a chance to continue it, but don’t let that stop you from experiencing it today.

Bite Me by Dylan Meconis. Vampires, Guillotines and Robespierre, Oh my!

Dicebox by Jenn Manley Lee. Just another "itinerant female factory workers in space" story, yessir.

True Loves by Jason Turner. Awe inspiring—i.e., you’ll read it and go "awww..."

Return to Sender by Vera Brosgol. I have no idea where it’s all going, and neither does Brosgol, quite possibly, but it’s fascinating so far.
Vaudeville 2.0

When comics were first hitting the web, about 9 in 10 were in traditional daily gag strip format. Having long since fallen out of love with the cramped, by-the-numbers, unfunny world of contemporary newspaper comics pages (with some exceptions), I wasn’t too enthusiastic about reproducing their limitations online. Obviously the form had potential in the right hands, but I wasn’t seeing a lot of stellar examples. Not at first, anyway.

So, I continued focusing on my first love; the long form, experimental stories done by cartoonists that were pushing the boundaries of what could be done online in much more overt ways, while the daily humor comics were quitely evolving just out of my (admittedly blinkered) peripheral vision. I was obsessed with finding trail-blazing new forms of comics that could only be created online and daily gags looked like an already well-beaten path when we got here.

In a sense, daily humor strips and I met each other halfway. While a few like Tatsuya Ishida’s funny, elegantly-drawn Sinfest have retained the format of their paper predecessors, a lot of successful humor strips have taken advantage of their online freedom to try out new formats, add color and just generally stretch their limbs. And I’ve finally come to grips with the fact that making me laugh every morning is no less noble a goal than changing the shape of an artform online.

Meanwhile, though, the distinction between gag-strips and the comic book influenced “long form” comics was blurring. Subscription sites like Modern Tales were presenting long form comics in strip-like daily or weekly installments, while many cartoonists in the gag strip scene were adopting larger, page-filling formats or varying their lengths to suit that day’s contents.

Six of the creators listed on my twenty favorites sidebar (Shaenon Garrity, Scott Kurtz, R. Stevens, and the team of Tycho and Gabe) are refining and redefining daily (or near-daily) humor strips on the web and they’re getting plenty of help. Stevens’ Dumbrella cohorts John Allison, Jon Rosenberg and Jeff Rowland have perfected a concoction of bizarre plot developments and quietly absurd dialogue; Roger Langridge’s Fred the Clown revives early twentieth century humor motifs in some beautifully drawn, expertly calibrated skits; and on the long-form front, Dylan Meconis’ whip-smart Bite Me proves that even a series of non-stop vaudeville gags can accommodate fully-realized characters and themes.
Information Wants to be Cheap

In recent years, some of the best cartoonists on the web have been searching for ways to support their work and turn their hobbies into professions. A few of the most popular have created successful cottage industries through advertising, merchandising and print editions, but for the vast majority of cartoonists—even those with readerships surpassing most printed comics—the dream of making a living through comics still hasn’t materialized. A few of us are determined to change that, and in the last few years we’ve started to see some progress.

Here are a few complete stories available either as part of subscription sites like Modern Tales or through one time small purchases or “micropayments” like those offered by BitPass (see the write-ups at bottom for more info on each type of paid content).

Trunktown by Shaenon Garrity and Tom Hart. (For Serializer subscribers or 25 cents via BitPass) Thurber meets Voltaire meets Charles Schulz! One of my favorite Garrity scripts, drawn by alt comics legend Tom Hart.

Rumble Girls by Lea Hernandez. (Stand-alone subscription site, part of the Modern Tales family). Hernadez’s lovingly rendered Shojo-Manga style graphic novel is now complete and viewable online.

Wary Tales by Pants Press. (50 cents via BitPass) An fairy tales-themed anthology created for the San Diego Comic Con in 2003 by six extremely talented newcomers.

A Dog and His Elephant by Ethan Persoff. (50 cents via BitPass) A haunting, grotesque tale of domestic turmoil with an gripping ending. I’ve never seen anything like it online.

Makeshift Miracle Jim Zubkavich. (For Modern Tales subscribers or 99 cents via BitPass). A terrific psychological fantasy story rendered in glowing limited palette tones.

Apocamon by Patrick Farley. (25 cents via BitPass). The latest chapter of Patrick Farley’s brilliant (and blasphemous!) cross-pollination of The Book of Revelations and Japanese Kids’ Anime.


Modern Tales and the Subscription Sites

In March of 2002, Joey Manley launched The Modern Tales subscription service, featuring dozens of running comics series. Most new work was free, but to access the archives, users were asked to subscribe at just a few dollars per month. Manley was neither the first nor the last to create a comics subscription service (Keenspot being a popular predecessor and important center of gravity in its own right—though with a different focus) but the business model he pioneered has been successful enough to stimulate three thriving sister sites; the alternative-themed Serializer, the women-friendly Girlamatic, and the action-oriented Graphic Smash. Through these four sites, over 100 cartoonists are making a modest income from their work. Still not a living wage in most cases, but in time that may change.

Modern Tales also provided a launching pad for solo artist subscription sites including Girlamatic editor-supreme Lea Hernandez’s recently completed shojo-style graphic novel Rumble Girls, Cat Garza’s Whimville, James Kochalka’s American Elf and Ted Slampyak’s Jazz Age.

Other serious contenders have entered the field recently including OnlineComics.net and PVComics. I’m not ready to do a comprehensive survey, but I strongly suggest looking into this fascinating new trend.


Micropayments and BitPass

For nearly eight years, I had my eye on a goal: To reach an environment online where any webcomics creator with more than 10,000 loyal readers could make a modest living from their work. Subscription sites like Modern Tales were a part of the solution, but I felt strongly that there had to be a way to make single purchases as well—and in many cases, those purchases would need to be cheap; somewhere between a dime and 50 cents each. Years ago, such small value purchases were labeled “micropayments” and until recently, no company had succeeded at creating what I thought was a viable system for processing them.

BitPass launched in late June 2003 with the first micropayments system I ever liked enough to want to use it, but even before the launch, I was hardly an impartial observer. BitPass’ founders (Stanford grads Kurt Huang and Gyuchang Jun) had contacted me nearly seven months before the launch and shown me what they’d designed; I liked what I saw so much that I signed on to their board of advisors. When BitPass launched, I launched with them as one of their three original vendors; offering the first chapter of my online comic The Right Number for 25 cents.

My advocacy of micropayments dates back to the mid-90s, so anyone who’s followed my career for more than a year knows that my belief in the idea of micros is free of any conflict-of-interest (other than the “hey-I-wanna-sell-my-comics” motive). My advocacy of BitPass the company is fair game, however. I was paid advisory fees in the early months, and I even have stock in the company (the first stock I’ve ever owned in fact), so unless you know me personally, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to question my motives. I do honestly think BitPass has the best system right now, but until you can read my mind over the Web, you’re welcome to seek out second opinions just in case. In a recent article on micros, the players in the micropayments field were listed as BitPass, Yaga and the Boston-based Peppercoin (with a nod to PayPal as a potential “500-pound Gorilla” if they decide to enter the fray). I suggest buying some mico-content using all three and compare what it takes to be a vendor in each.

As of this writing (July 2004), BitPass has over 500 vendors, a few of whom are listed here.
Reinventing Webcomics

The biggest challenges for webcomics in the next 5 years may have more to do with storytelling and business models than formal experimentation, but the time for experimentation is hardly over. With only 11 years of online comics sites under our belt, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what can be done with comics in a digital environment. Fortunately we have some brilliant minds doing the scratching.

Daniel Merlin Goodbrey leads the pack with his inexhaustible experiments at e-merl.com. His astonishing PoCom-UK-001, a collaborative multidirectional comic created for London's Institute of Contemporary Arts was the closest thing I’d seen to an "infinite canvas" when it was unveiled in 2003. Underlying "PoCom" was a new coding environment called "The Tarquin Engine", a brilliant new adaptation of the Flash plug-in which I used in a recent Morning Improv "Mimi’s Last Coffee" and which I expect others to use once it becomes more widely available.

Many of Merlin’s experiments center on new ways to navigate comics spatially; the reader pans or zooms through an otherwise static landscapes of panels (i.e., there’s a sense that you do the moving, not the comic) but others like John Barber, Brendan Cahill and Colin White have explored navigational models where the panels come alive individually and rearrange themselves with each click. Some of the most challenging and ingenious work in this area has come from Barber, who’s also penned some fascinating essays on comics storytelling.

Also being played with are design models for revealing parts of a comic gradually such as in Barber’s sort-of-comic "K" and Tom Stackpole’s stylish Invisible Forces; while work continues on the expanded canvas front by the usual suspects (Demian, Cat, Patrick); and even the occasional multimedia comic.

The ideal of finding mutations of comics online which couldn’t be reproduced on paper drove a lot of my early forays and this is still one of the holy grails for a lot of us with a more experimental bent. With luck, this first generation of mad scientists will soon be passing the torch to the next one.