Hi everyone,
I just wanted to share a quick thought and see what everyone think about a different way to promote a comic. I found some of my favorite comics because they became meme templates and spread across the internet. This usually takes the form of comics that have a speech bubble or some other framed area that can easily be blanked out and replaced with a variety of other things (replacement words, images, etc.).
Comics that this happens to a lot include Cyanide and Happiness, False Knees, and Safely Endangered, for example.
It is definitely possible to design comics with the intent of giving them potential to become meme templates. Of course whether or not they take off largely depends on your comic type and your existing following, but it is still something I think should be considered when planning comic layouts. It would probably be easiest for short slice of life comics but it could be incorporated into large story comic panels too with a bit of planning.
The way I see it, while it wouldn't always work, it doesn't hurt to experiment with this tactic. I'm planning on trying it myself.
What do you think? Is this tactic worth using? Is it beneficial to your niche/genre? Would you consider meme variations of your comic detrimental to your original artistic intent? I'd love to hear your opinions!
-Mitch
P.S. A good place to experiment would probably be r/memeeconomy on Reddit.