Not having grown up with comics, I still don't see the magic in Wednesdays that some people do.

I raise my hand and flap it in the air, quickly, but not too hard. I want to look a little eccentric, but not crazy – just weird enough that I might have something interesting to say.

The Otakon panel moderator takes interest in (or pity on) me. He passes me the microphone. I arch an eyebrow challengingly at the guests – cartoonists from Applegeeks, Little Gamers, Paradox Lost, Mac Hall, and the "other" Avalon – and say...

"Webcomics. 2009. Where are we?"

One first glance at Errant Story is not enough. A passing glance, and you'll likely see a fantasy genre comic that is "more of the same": Tolkien-style elves and humans coexisting in a fantasy world where magic supersedes technology, swords are ridiculously big, and guns apparently exist despite a lack of other technological developments.

There just aren't any rules for creating comics. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don't, and you can figure out principles to guide you in the use of these things, but there's never any rule that always works.

Here's a familiar problem: You write a webcomic that's not getting nearly as many readers as you think it deserves. You're already sending press releases to the newsmagazines, you're posting announcements in the webcomic forums, you've joined web rings, and you've slapped your logo on every product Café Press offers. Still, your readership is modest, at best. You need a more aggressive marketing plan.

One problem: like most of us, your entire marketing budget comes from between the cushions on your couch.

Rodrigo Pin is one of the newer crop of webtoonists. Having recently snuck on the scene with his Keenspace-hosted comic Alex and Ilia, he wasn't able to keep himself or his work a secret for very long. Now a very prominent voice among the newer toonists, Pin can be found spreading his words on message boards across the, umm, board.

Newbie comics are both cursed and blessed by their, well... newness. Spinoffs like Scary Go Round and Lizard taken aside, most webcomics are the author's first steps onto a new shore. Some creators will spend years, even decades developing their creative abilities before jumping onto the Web. Others may be borne of the online community, having yet to earn their artistic "sea legs". Whatever the basis of a webcomicker (and, by extension, their webcomic), we're all evolving, and it's usually most evident in the beginning.

Kelly J Cooper's Most Excellent Comic-Con Adventures
Part 2: Saturday and Sunday

Saturday, 24 July 2004

New Blood and the Pull of the Undertow

The Internet, as we all know, moves fast. Real fast. And as an old fogey, it still astounds me how fast things can evolve around here. In the old days, it would take a fad a few years to develop, a year or two to stick around, and a year to hit the dollar stores. Hell, can anyone else remember "Miami Mice?" Or when disheveled ducks were all the rage?

Lordy.

Kelly J Cooper's Most Excellent Comic-Con Adventures
Part 1: Wednesday to Friday