Share your story: How did you get into webcomics?

Jewe11s 2015-10-07 17:25:52 UTC #89

I mostly found new webcomics through 'links' pages on my favourite comics. I visited topwebcomics a lot too. (The 'vote incentive' thing was much bigger a few years back.) Nowadays I find them primarily through Tapastic (woo!) and Tumblr, where a lot of artist that I follow are enthusiastic enough to reblog their friends' and mentors' comics

jessiepolfliet 2015-10-07 19:26:53 UTC #90

I don't have but maybe I will. I realized I had already subscribed to your series. I buy my comic mostly at comic cons. For the rest some times they have a American comicbook at our comicbook store but not often.

Vikiro_Hop 2015-10-07 23:17:33 UTC #91

Yeah sinfest has been going on since 2000, unfortunately the most recent stuff has taken a very strange turn. Was one of my favorites, but now its kinda unreadable.

I'm definitely wanting to go back to story driven comics, its just a lot more natural for me to sit down and make a story rather than come up with one off jokes. I still see the current series as more of something to experiment with. I've got a few short story ideas I want to get out there soonish possibly after the winter. I'm not sure what will happen to Self Defeat when that happens, but it is a bit down the road and I've still got a lot to learn.

jmhenry 2015-10-08 12:51:01 UTC #92

What got me into reading them? Honestly they wre there and a few of them were interesting. I remember my earliest reads being 20 Galaxies and G-Mancer on Smackjeeves(back before it became a mostly BL site). After that, I just went searching for more interesting ones.

As for what got me into making webcomics, I mostly got into it because of a huge webcomic site project a few friends wanted to start, that, kinda went belly up after a year. After that, I just built up a site and did my own thing.

Variety, a willingness to try new concepts rather than keep rehashing old ones. Almost zero limits on creativity.

The simplest way I could put it is, where all the other places I could've pitched my comic to would've said "no", the internet just says "eh, go nuts!". The fact that there's almost no bar to entry is what got me into webcomics. It's easy to keep motivated and working on your webcomic, when you really enjoy what you're working on.
....Also helps to be really stubborn.

insomniascrawl 2015-10-09 02:55:58 UTC #93

Thanks, I'm slowly starting to get it haha! (Sorry for the late reply >_<)

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 03:13:51 UTC #94

Aw that's sad. Still, a really impressive collection! I can hardly imagine thousands of comics in one place :0

That's great! I've had friends who learned entire languages to read manga, and that's really encouraging to hear. Comics getting people excited about culture is awesome.
Yeah I'm surprised with the takes on the characters. The setting is certainly strange, but a very stellar premise.
Exactly! I didn't grasp the concept that we could just do it! and make a comic on our own if we wanted to. Of course our first few stories are going to be a mess of cliches, but we had to start somewhere! :b

Aw that's sad. Did you have a big fanbase for that story?

Yes I agree, I'm glad that "being a nerd" now is pretty much them norm! There are grown-ups who wilingly admit they watch children's cartoons and reading comics and cosplaying is the cool thing now. :]

That's cool! It's going to take a lot of work, but determination can take you anywhere. I'm glad your stories are out there for people to enjoy.

it's okay I like reading this stuff :B

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 03:17:59 UTC #95

Aw that's cool! I'm familiar with McCloud's book, he was a really big name back then.

That's interesting. Slow and steady progress, but you definitely picked up from the comics you were reading and learned from them. Was there a specific theme or element in those comics that you found particularly appealing?

Ah yes, the drama behind editorial choices in printed comics can really mess up continuity. Especially when a series goes on a "reboot" and changes its audience. really messes up the established fans.

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 03:24:19 UTC #96

Neat! I've definitely heard of both those webcomics (on topwebcomics I believe?).
I felt similar too, being an introvert and also not being big on socializing helped me focus on drawing and reading.
Did you read printed comics back then? Was your experience reading webcomics different from printed?

Riana 2015-10-09 08:14:59 UTC #97

First post on the forums! \o/ Figured it was a good idea for it to be how I got into webcomics.

My history with webcomics itself is short, but I've had a heck of a journey trying to find the perfect medium to use to tell stories. I always loved writing stories and inventing characters. When I found out I loved drawing, I wanted to find a way to marry the storytelling and art. For the longest time I thought I was going to be an animator. Traditional animation was one of my favorite things growing up and the film "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" inspired me to take drawing seriously. My pre-college years were all about myself debating if I wanted to be an animator or an illustrator, because I loved drawing characters as well as backgrounds. I drew a lot of scenes. Did I want to be a concept artist? Animator? Illustrator? I cycled through these every month or so. I mostly wrote stories and made illustrations for certain scenes, but I made comics of some of them, too. I found making comics to be very satisfying, and I wanted to illustrate a comic. However, I promised myself to learn to be an animator, so I can REALLY bring these stories to life!

Then college came. I took an introductory course into animation and found out how amazingly tedious and cooperative it was. I didn't find the animation process as enjoyable as drawing still scenes. Luckily, I was an illustration major as per advised by both the animation and the illustration program coordinators that I was fortunate enough to chat with simultaneously.

During this time, my good friend was teaching me to write. Even though I loved telling stories, I didn't know a thing about writing. I spat out a few comic pages on DeviantArt in 2011 and she took me aside and gently told me to toss this comic and start over (it was really bad I promise! Haha!) She had a webcomic and showed me the world of webcomics, and I thought to myself I really want to be part of that! So I buckled down for 3 years and painfully developed a comic idea--completely ignoring the advice of "starting with something simple before diving into a long, complicated epic"! Long stories drive me to draw, what can I say? During this development stage, I slowly introduced myself to some webcomics (mostly through my friend's recommendations). When I finished writing my 10+ chapter script and finished drawing 15 pages, I threw my comic on a couple platforms, and that was when I discovered just how many webcomics were out there! It was super overwhelming! I'm embarrassed to say that I'm fairly new to reading webcomics in general, and there's so much out there, it feels like staring at the ocean when you're on the beach!

So hopefully, participating in the forums and reading all your posts will help educate me to this relatively new world that I decided to take part in! Hopefully, I'll learn some stuff, read some cool comics, and get to know some of you!

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 12:02:52 UTC #98

Still trying to get the hang of things here (: I'm probably doing some things terribly wrong, but well it's my first time! :B Glad to chat it up with you here too.

Ah cool! Art couples are the cutest. Folks who are able to have a love for the arts and each other always rock my world ;B

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of different projects did you two do separately? Did you two do separate things because you had differences in preference (animation vs comics)?

Oops and Alchemy? :0 how far did that project progress before you two decided to work together as a team? (Curious about how the world of Oops could have looked like animated!)

I see! I think some of us have a similar experience when deciding to share our story as an animation or as a comic. We love imagining our characters like in the movies, but it's not exactly practical to animate an entire film/episode by yourself. My sister and I went through something similar.

Ah I really want to do this! ;__; I've never promoted my stuff at a convention before, hoping to get a chance at CTN this year.

Indeed! Honestly, if it weren't for webcomics I don't think I would have gotten into comics as intensely as I do now! The accessibility is a big plus from the stories people are sharing. I think one of the advantages of print is personalizing it as your own (getting author signatures and using pretty bookmarks!!). Part of the reason I think print is going to stay alive despite the rise in digital copies.

indeed! I love how anyone can start and make them if they truly want to, and that there's no pressure from an editor/marketing worrying if "the public will like it". I love too how many of the big names in webcomics are actually women and POC! They thrive in these circles <3

At least catch up with animated tv shows :Y they're so goood (we're having a renaissance in animation right now! It's beautifuuuul) <3 and if not play video games, I'd actually encourage watching playthroughs. There has been some stellar stories in videogames (Undertaleeee), and seeing gamer's immediate reactions to the plotline gives you a good sense of what's working and what's not. Also read books, lots and lots of books. I admire the passion to create, but it's important to eat up as many stories as you are creating them!
It's great to create (wow that rhyme, go me) together! Working together with someone is a truly great experience, and not one many people have the luxury of doing (positive teamwork doesn't come by often).
What is your team dynamic like? Are there disagreements or differences in artistic vision? Is there a certain role one of you takes, or is it a jumbled up together process?

Thanks for sharing your story <3

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 13:28:44 UTC #99

Cool! I like the dynamic poses in your comic. Definitely animation friendly!

I think that was a good use of your time then. Sometimes I see some amateur webcomic artists who get into the craft too early, when their skills aren't refined yet, but they've dedicated themselves to a long epic story they can't back out of. Practice helps a long way before getting to the big project itself. Yes I think Smackjeeves and ComicFury were popular sites back in the day too. I'm glad we have a better community like Tapastic too (:

Oh wow. Rough first webcomic experience in 2013. How long did that comic last?

Ohmygosh! You're from SCAD? That's crazy! So are we (our comic was featured on the SCAD blog a while ago) were you majoring in animation then? I didn't know that a thesis had to be made for graduation! I like it when artists revisit ideas they had previously, especially as a sign of showing how much they've progressed since then.
Do you plan to continue your webcomic perpetually or does is it a one-shot?

Hey no problem! Glad to meet a fellow SCADee

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 13:29:54 UTC #100

Neat! I actually feel the same way about my skills at the moment too :] good to be flexible!

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 13:34:31 UTC #101

Ooh that's so cool! I'm glad I'm not the only one who goes through the "links" pages in webcomic sites :B
Ah yes I was around the days when the vote incentive thing was popular too, the days of Topwebcomics~

Me too! Both are great sites for spreading comics around! I think it's sweet that there are blogs out there that reblog friend/mentor comics! That's so nice :3
what do you suppose are the major reasons you're finding comics through Tapastic/tumblr nowadays? How have things changed since then?

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 13:39:40 UTC #102

I see. Be sure to get a comixology account! Much easier to read printed comics that way :]

Oh what a delightful surprise, haha :b

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 13:45:16 UTC #103

Ah, one of those stories. I've had a few webcomics I haven't returned to going in a direction that's just waaay off of what they've established in the beginning. Shame.

That works! I think I did something similar too. I would do experimental gag comics, then short stories, and finally a long story driven comic! Keep going at the pace you have then, sites like Tapastic's super supportive of multiple projects :]

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 13:46:42 UTC #104

no problem! (and that's totally fine, I take my time with replies) : )

jacintawibowo 2015-10-09 14:29:00 UTC #105

Congrats on your first forum post!! Huzzah! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Love of storytelling is strong in many of us webcomic creators <3 I find a lot of us had interests in animation. I guess it's a close-cousin to the comic crowd! We pick a lot from each other.

In these fields, what do they have that you were interested in, that comics didn't have?

omg..THIS exactly this. I was turned off by animation for the same reason. In animation, you're pretty much a small cog in a very big machine. A film is the culmination of hundreds of animators working together to make it possible. Each individual works on tiny scenes, or is in charge of making sure a shoe looks consistent, or is in charge of hair/cloth simulation. We don't get to work on the big picture at all :b

Haha XD I think what's shown to be consistent in this discussion is that the first stories we write are often terrible! It's good to know we're not perfect!

Haha oh wow, you go in for the long haul don't you? :B brave, very brave! I must say XD

Interesting! So you're discovering the world of webcomics as you're making a webcomic yourself! How has the experience been? What's it like discovering the world of webcomics while making one? Do you discover "tricks to the trade" as you go, or do you stick to your guns and do it your way?

Lovely to meet you here! I always want to befriend and talk to artists, I hope tapastic forums will be able to provide for that! Can't wait to hear more from you :3

PotooGryphon 2015-10-09 15:00:05 UTC #106

Jeramy's personal projects were just stories he's had since high school that he's always wanted to make into a comic series (Trash below). Then he collaborated with a writer friend from school and made What I.F. Both Trash and What I.F. were publish by small local comic publishing houses, and he was able to travel to conventions and get his name out there. Once his reputation started to grow some of these publishers started hiring him for work; Decisions and Joshua Black (the last thumbnail below).

lol so he's always keeping busy.

My first 2 years after collage, I couldn't draw. I stopped completely because I was burnt out and it was terribly difficult to start back up again. I got together with a few animation friends and we had big plans of forming our own animation house and producing the cartoons we wanted to make (lol I think everyone goes through that after animation school). Oops was the idea we came up with. So for me, Oops has been a focus since 2007.

Kind of, yes. Jeramy had his passion and focus of wanting to be a comic artist professional, so it was important for him to go out there and build his portfolio and credentials. He'd take him portfolio to each bigger publisher's portfolio review at conventions and get punished by them. So much stuff he needed to improve (now they say he's just this close (squeezes fingers together) to becoming hiring material, ugh!).

And for me, I wanted to work on 2D animations. Get hired at Cartoon Network or some TV Network making animated cartoon series. However, these days, none of those TV companies do their own animations inhouse (it's done overseas), and TV network ratings are dropping. So if I'm ever to be a 2D animator (in America) I'd really have to make the career for myself (much like making your own professional webcomic career).

Well, I have a very old intro animation, about 4 animatics for episodes, scratch voice recording, and lots of storyboards/concept art. We plan to make a nice animated trailer for Oops soon, so animation is not all abandoned yet.
Link to Talon riding Cass run cycle- old promo animation

It's a lot of prep work and lots of fun to interact with fans face to face. ^_^ I recommend trying small local events as a good way to practice for the bigger ones. That helped us in the beginning.

Very true. It's tangible. That's definitely a big pulse to me. I like to hug the comics I own lol

lol yep, I'm totally missing it then. I only follow SU and Gravity Falls. Over the Garden Wall and Avatar finished so those two shows are my only two current series. Nothing else has caught my attention yet.

Oh yes, lots of Let's Plays on Youtube as I work. Game Grumps, Markiplier, Pewds, Jack, so on. They're also pretty good models to emulate for building an online fan base/community. We're all internetainers after all ;D

Reading books are hard for me to get into. So many stories start good with weak pay offs/drag on, then it feels like I spent hours I could have used to created a story I do like for reading a story I didn't like. I do use Audiobooks to help create and hear a story at the same time. What are some books you enjoy?

Wow, another monster text wall of a post lol

Riana 2015-10-09 18:54:54 UTC #107

Ah, thanks!

At the time, I wasn't very interested in comics in general because there was nothing out there that particularly interested me! It was sort of an ignored-medium. But concept art appealed to me because I loved that "blue sky" vibe of it! Anything was possible! Continuity was something you needn't worry about because these are just ideas! They could change and that appealed to me. When it comes to animation, I just loved the general aesthetics of traditional animation and the fact that the drawings were moving was so exciting! Magic! Illustration appealed to me because it was something I already knew I loved doing, but I knew there was something missing from just drawing still images.

Yep. That turned me right off to being an aspiring animator. Plus the industry as it stands now doesn't help, either. I've expressed to my animation professors that if it were still the 90s, I'd probably be more interested in being an animator. Regardless, I like having a lot of control over a project. In animation, that's mostly done by directors and maybe even storyboard artists and designers. The latter two falls into the illustration/concept art category so it contributed to my "what do I want to be?" juggling.

Yes! I want to find someone who had their first comic be a masterpiece! Lol! : P

Thanks! That's just the nature of how I tell stories. I like seeing big worlds, dramatic character development, journeys... the more massive the stories, the more invested I find myself in the characters, and therefore, the more I like drawing and obsessing over them! Short stories are fine and all but I always want more! Saying this, I actually do plan on making a little spin-off comic of my main comic epic of little random, maybe mostly funny short stories about the characters doing things that don't contribute to the plot as a whole! I think that would be fun to do!

Yep, yep! Overall it's been mostly overwhelming, but the world of indie comics is just so amazing to me because of the lack of a "gatekeeper." People can write precisely what they want and exactly how they want it without conforming to the wants and needs of a publisher! I love seeing the passion in that! I mean yes, some webcomics do have target demographics and careful marketing to try to appeal to that group, but for the most part it's creators making what they've always wanted and it's just amazing to me! When it comes to tricks of the trade, I mostly study storytelling and comic making in a fairly general sense (ie, plot structure, character development, and comic grammar, consistent page layout-style, pacing...etc). I'm not sure if it's helped me or hurt me yet, but I hope my background of narrative art that's mostly in animation/illustration helps me stand out in the world of comics. I even opted out of taking a comic-making class at my school and took storyboarding instead. Debatably a good idea, even to myself! But I chat with my peers that are taking the class to see what they learn in it. But I shouldn't neglect to mention fact that the first 32 pages of my own comic was done for independent study schoolwork and my professor is a published comic artist as well as an artist in many fields including animation and illustration! I had lots of good help! But online, I mostly study how people market their webcomics. To to put it short, when it comes to comic production, I tend to stick to my guns--for better or worse. Everything else I need to absorb and adapt to make my own!

Yes! \o/ So far it's been really cool! And I'll definitely be popping in here and there!

Jewe11s 2015-10-09 23:59:43 UTC #108

I'm not too sure why I'm not searching up new sites via 'the links page' on people's home sites anymore. I suppose my core webcomic followings haven't updated their public reading lists and I've already thoroughly checked out their interests that way.
On the other hand, I'm on tumblr and tapastic all the time. When I get new subscribers, I check out their comics if they have any. When I've got time, I check out the forums and try and meet new creators and when I'm bored, I browse the 'new', 'trending', etc sections of tapastic for something new to read. With tumblr, I usually either follow someone I know is already a webcomic creator OR an artist who posts their own illustrations. I find the artists I follow so far are broadly interconnected to the online art community as a whole and as they reblog content, I naturally get exposed to new artists, new comics, and inspiring artwork without having to try very hard. (Which is awesome.)
So I guess I've fallen away from using home-base link pages and sites like topwebcomics because I don't really need to anymore. I still check them out every now and again (especially when someone uses vote incentives for twc and renews them with each new page - I'm a sucker for those) but I suppose I've got a system that already works for me.