Are print comics dead? Is digital distribution the only future of comic strips?

@PotooGryphon Oops Comic
Tue, 05 Jul 2016 13:21:50 +0000

@PotooGryphon wrote:

I agree that print newspaper and magazine shouldn't really be the focus for aspiring comic strip creators. If it just so happens that a print syndication wants to hire an artist to contribute some material, that's cool but shouldn't be the goal for that artist.

And just because newspaper/magazine industry is evolving to a more digital format doesn't mean that those roles for strip comic creators are disappearing. Far from it. It's gotten better for them. Many are able to approach sites like College Humor, Funny or Die, and such and either contribute or get hired to do strips for articles. And it's fantastic publicity for these artists and they're able to reach a more general audience.

Now to address the question in the thread title, "Are print comics dead?" :stern stare:

Printed comics are not dead, ie. printed books whether self-published or getting picked up by a publisher. Really for us self-publishing webcomic artists [both gag or story series] getting our work officially copyrighted, obtaining an ISBN, and approaching distributors should be our goal. With that, print copies of our work can be picked up by stores, schools [depending on the age rating], libraries and can be distributed nationally and internationally and really get infront of the general public eye. [I can rant on this for hours but it's off-topic so I'll stop here with that]

Back to the point, I think newspapers and magazine would be pretty decent publicity for an artist, but I agree that that industry is evolving into a more digital format. Which doesn't signify the end of the strip comic reaching syndication but more evolving with the industry to online opportunities.

AnnaLandin:

Comics are doing remarkably well! Just look at how Raina Tegelmeier's works

:hugs you for mentioning Raina: !!! Raina is on fire and most of the mainstream comic industry has no idea who she is because she's more on the book/schools/young kids side than the superheroes Marvel/DC side of comics. YES! Raina and Dave Roman are fantastic!