Digital comics and the refusal to let go of the printed dream

I dislike this debate of print versus web/digital. It's not a zero sum game. One is not the better than the other. I get annoyed just the same when print comic folks criticize web comics.

The media of delivery is a separate thing, ultimately from the actual contents of the comic. Sure, using certain media (format) allow for some opportunities and constraints. What is interesting is understanding the opportunities and constraints and playing with them in your work.

@carloswebcomic you view web as more open, well tell that to the many people who complain about the forced vertical format from Tapastic that limits what one can do in terms of storytelling and really support one type of comic. This is a long shot from the open canvas first defended by Scott McCloud for web comics in his 2000 book Reinventing Comics.

Creating a web comic and then printing it is not a fetish. It's a way to reach different audiences. Do realize that people who read web comics are different than readers of printed comics. And digital comics readers are also different from web comic readers. Understanding this means that a creator will work toward reaching his target audience best using a complex strategy.

For example, I know that people who want to read my comic Johnny Bullet3 mostly fit the print comic demographic. My comic does not do well on Tapastic at all. Not because it is a bad comic (I've had very good positive reviews from a lot of people who have read it). But the demographic at Tapastic is not the one that can support a comic like this. Were my comic a manga of yaoi, it would be a different affair.

I've also surveyed my readers and overwhelmingly, they would rather read the comic as a book instead. My comic also uses the classic comic strip format while being a web comic. Strips are very limited in space yet the best comics ever produced were all comic strips - Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, Terry & the Pirates, Pogo. They played with the space constrains pretty well and still managed to eclipse every other forms of comics.

I love all comics regardless of the medium they are published at. I don't see any opposition or cheat in starting a comic online first and then getting it printed. Neither would I ever criticize someone who chooses to keep his work only online or even to a specific platform, i.e., Tapastic. it's up to every cartoonist to decide what works best for them and their objectives.

Print is not a dream for me. It is a necessity. I understand my readers and most of them tell me frequently that they would rather read my comic in a book than online. Personally, I am committed to making a web comic too because I think it is the closest format to comic strips which I love tremendously. I'm not refusing to let go of a dream. I am doing what I must.

I've learned to to plan my comics as two page spreads from all the years of reading printed comics. I still kinda dislike reading large amount of pages on the screen when flipping through a book feels so much more relaxing (and I know this sounds really weird considering I've done webcomics for well over 10 years for now). I first got a comic of mine printed a couple of years ago and there just is something really special in the printed book.

I have also seen some webcomics having their fans asking for a printed versions and feeling disappointed when the author tells them it's not happening. I don't think the author of any webcomic is obliged to provide a printed version mind you, but there seems to still be a lot of people who want their favourites on the shelves even when they can read them for free.

Sometimes I think about other comic projects I have and whether some of them could possibly be realized in a more web-oriented format but I dunno, the idea of having to edit them heavily were there ever the need for a printed book does always seem unappealing to me. I would kinda want to create a comic with all panels being the same size and taking advantage of the eternal scrolling but that would be a dull looking comic for me if it ever were to be printed since comic pages have different panel sizes for various reasons (emphasis on certain panels over others comes to mind).

I remember reading Scott McClouds ideas about webcomics ages ago how we should do horizontal pages rather than vertical ones since monitors are horizontal. Boy was he not predicting smartphones being a thing some day. So I guess the printed book is just an easy measurement for me to see how comic pages exist in physical form.

I prefer reading comics on my tablet, in fact... that's why I bought a tablet in the first place! I used to collect comics in the 90's but man they take up space. I know I do 'front covers' for my comics, but it's because I'm celebrating the genre more than wanting to give myself extra work, but I agree with the OP, I prefer the unrestricted approach which comes with webcomics.

I think it is just a matter of choosing styles these days.
I work in print format (newspapers), but I don't apply my comics to newspapers.

I think its similar to making 8-bit games in 21st century.
Some styles & formats never become outdated

This is the short comic strip I'm working on called "Not Really"
https://tapastic.com/series/Notreally2

I plan on keeping this comic in print format, and use brushes that look like pens from the old days.

for me it all boils down to being able to hold a physical copy. I like the feeling of owning something

I do plan to print my comic. It's still the best way to monetize your comic. Also, it's hard to read webcomics in the bath tub, one slip and your iPad is ruined. It's a lot easier to read printed comics in the tub.

I think the infinite canvas thing just doesn't click with me when I create because I'm so used to reading printed comics. It's already engrained in me that I should format my comic into pages because that's what I'm used to seeing. Plus I like having that guideline so I feel like I have a structure and my stuff isn't going all over the place. I'm sure other people are probably great at that but for me I like to have boundaries to help guide me. When I really like a comic I prefer to have it in print because I feel it gives it more of a feeling of permanence. Anybody could look at a book but not everyone has access to the Internet. I sometimes feel overwhelmed when there are so many options in front of me online but I do enjoy the limitless opportunities and varying formats.

well put, and can't agree enough

i think it's natural in my case to think of printing my comic at some point, because i find my self working better in a limited canvas, because it's way easy to navigate
plus, working on an infinite canvas is like describing a psychological nightmare, infinite canvas means infinite work, and for someone who worries a lot, i need to stop at a certain point of editing and retouching and move on to the next part
also, i'm used to work on A5 size which looks beautiful on mobile devices too
minding all that, i think it's natural for me to think of printing someday...

Growing up my ambition to become a cartoonist made me work towards the goal of getting my comic in the newspaper - if I was to reach that point I would say 'I've made it' - because I would have finally broken into the cartoonist career path. That mentality has stayed with me for a long time, therefore the format of my comic stip is to print standards. However since branching out to displaying my comic on the internet I am slowly opening up to the possibility of adapting and changing my comic. Maybe it will start becoming a vertical scroll format, opening it up to have more than 4 panels. I could even add the functionality of animated GIF's to give a bit of motion to the comic. Who knows? But I still cling to the idea of having several printed published books, as my comic inspirations (peanuts, calvin & hobbes, zits, garfield) still display in that format. However most of those strips are old and only really had print. I guess it's a matter of choosing between evolving with new technology and adapting to it, or sticking to tradition and the original formats of our predecessors.

Aside from all the very good points justifying print up above (I'm with you all there, I sell my books and that's where I make money!), there's also something to be said for having restrictions.

Trying to be creative withing the bounds of a set page size or a restrictive grid can force you to be creative with page design and how you handle your space in ways you might not discover when your page format is completely open. Learning to use space creatively and economically, learning to play with negative space to tell a story - all of these are things that a clever cartoonist will work with to take those page restrictions of print and make something unique out of.

Although...I do think HORIZONTAL comics do more poorly than vertical comics, lol. Having comic that can be read online and printed is really the way to go.

The best example of a comic which uses the endless scroll format but is ALSO cleverly formatted to page size is Swim Thru Fire by Sophia Foster-Dimino and Annie Mok4. You can tell that the chapters are sectioned in pages, but when displayed online it creates a very unique reading experience. However, this comic could also be collected and printed successfully while still being beautiful.

Emily Carolls earlier comics are also very good examples of this done successfully.

Wow, didn't realize how old this topic was...

I think people just like having something physical in their hands. This is why I've purchased several printed editions of webcomics despite having read through them before. I especially like hardback editions that I can keep on a shelf or a table.

Beyond that though, whereas I feel that printed comic BOOKS will be around for years to come, I feel that the era of printed comic pamphlets is quickly coming to an end. Twenty-two page pamphlets that only tell a portion of the story for $3-5 is simply not a solid model for success anymore. I can't even recall the last time I picked up a comic pamphlet from Marvel or DC.

Actually that's where the catch-22 has landed the comics industry. It's easier for indie/self-pubbed artists to print a graphic novel or printed edition than it is for the established industry. The mainstream industry need the 22 page comic books to be sold in order to justify making a collected edition. If sales from the smaller books dont hit, then they dont even make collected edition.

Many years ago, I was told in a strong voice that comics are dead. It would not have met much if the person telling me this was a well know and profitable comic artist (a damn unicorn) who still makes comics today for DC. Anyway, Kickstart has made it easier for us to raise the small amount needed to do shows and Cons which generates fans to come back to what????? ONLINE MEDIA!!!
My book Frontier Graveyard https://tapastic.com/series/Frontier-Graveyard has had small success in print with four guys pouring money into the project, doing Cons, radio shows, press releases, Kickstarter, and online ad campaigns. The most success we've had is here on Tapastic so far. I have a three year old project that's doing well in my eyes.
So the bottom line is, I appearly don't correct typos, comics are not dead it's just way too many of them and we need to find better ways to get them into peoples hands like Tapastic, and print is a good physical way to grap peoples attention at Cons. This is a good thread, I saw the title and couldn't help myself to reply. I hope this helps somebody who is crying about quitting comics or something.

Scott McCloud said some really interesting things about webcomics in the Ted Talk he did about understanding comics.

He mentioned how when Hollywood was trying to adapt to the rise of television, they simply took the production format of films and applied to what they made for television, and they were baffled when what they made was unsuccessful.

I'm paraphrasing, but Scott said that the reason Hollywood's approach didn't work was because television as a medium required its own unique approach -- just as webcomics require their own approach that suit their medium.

I particularly have trouble reading comics formatted for paper on my screen or phone, simply because it's not designed for the device that I'm using to read it. In my webcomic (Freddie Freakie), I've tried to enlarge the text and panels and create a more scrolling-centric flow in order to better suit the medium of the webcomic. Check it out here!

It's certainly a thing I still aspire to, personally. Web-based media and Ebook style comics may be the future -- as it is slowly taking over all print-based media -- but I still yearn for the day when I can see my book on the shelf of a comic book shop. It's even reflected in the way in which I work: traditionally, on bristol paper, 15x10 inch image area, very easy to transfer to print.

It's not like it never happens to webcomics. Look at Henchgirl or KillSixBillionDemons, for some quick and easy examples. If you can find comfortable/fruitful success with a purely digital distribution, that's great, I'm glad for you. But I'm still clinging to that comic-shelf dream.

Despite my comics being online, I still print them. I think print is a market you don't want to avoid for a variety of reasons.

Here's my take on it: I wish we could get over print. But nostalgia and marketing systems won't allow it to happen. Yet.

Eventually, it's likely to be a necessity. I get the whole tactile argument, but it's content that excites me, not form, so I don't really care if I'm holding a stack of papers or a tablet, unless the tablet is running out of juice and I don't have a charger, or the sun has gone down and I don't have a lantern to read the book with.

Mostly though, I'm a demented environmentalist and think it's morally irresponsible to continue supporting the manufacture of physical objects to satisfy personal interests. Myself included. I WANT print comics and do buy a lot of them. I need help to stop. Gorging on digital comics certainly helps.

The other main point though, especially as a creator, is INNOVATION. The boundaries of print have been quite firmly explored. Digital is a new frontier. The functionality doesn't come through on hosting sites like Tapastic (though its soundtrack feature is cool), but The Beard is designed specifically as a digital comic, though I made concessions on formatting so that it would be printable (I'm just a writer, so I have to pay my artists still). In the pdf version, it's an enriched document that has hidden hyperlinks serving as footnotes and pathways to extra content as well as music cues and sound effects that you trigger by clicking on certain panels. The trouble has been in finding a widely used PDF reader that works. PDFX Editor is the only one I've found so far that does everything I need it to. Ah, tech problems. I'll solve 'em yet. I want there to be every reason to CHOOSE digital over print eventually, because it's a hard decision to make when you're used to a popular standard.