HOW TO MAKE WEBCOMICS REVIEW

[Blake Petit]

Review by: Blake M. Petit Blake@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Very Good

Everything you need to know to bring your webcomics to life!

Writers: Brad Guigar, Dave Kellett, Scott Kurtz & Kris Straub
Cover Art: Erica Stephens
Publisher: Image Comics

The guys from Halfpixel Studios have come together to share their combined expertise in what it takes to make a successful webcomic. This easy-to-read volume dishes on practically everything you could want to know about what it takes to make a successful webcomic, and they do it in a way that’s both informative and entertaining.

The book skips over the basics of drawing – the writers assume here that if you’re planning to create a webcomic you already know how to draw, and get right into what makes a successful comic strip. Early chapters focus on how to create interesting characters, how to write and pace a storyline, and what sort of supplies and equipment you may need that is unique to making a webcomic.

Other chapters focus on the technical aspect: designing a website, building a community, how to advertise, how to sell ads on your own site. Even further, they go into how to monetize your site: selling merchandise, appearing at conventions, even seemingly simple things like how to interact with your readers when you meet them in person.

The writers of this book are responsible for four of the more successful webcomics out there in the enormous webcomic universe: Evil, Inc. (Guigar), Sheldon (Kellett), PVP (Kurtz), and Starslip Crisis (Straub). They each take turns writing different chapters, although the other three writers will frequently pop into someone else’s chapter with a bit of advice, a tip, a joke, or even a disagreement with one another. That’s something else they work very hard to make clear: although they’re giving the best advice they can, webcomics are a new medium and there are no hard-and-fast rules. What works for one person may not work for someone else, and they give you different angles on various topics.

The book is also liberally sprinkled with comic strips by all four cartoonists, usually strips that relate in some way to the topic of that chapter. These not only serve as practical examples of the advice they’re giving, but also are usually pretty amusing in their own right. The writers aren’t immune to criticism either: at intervals during the book, each of them submits two of their own strips for critique and commentary by the other three; the message is clear: “We can accept advice from each other, and so can you.”

A lot of the stuff in here is applicable even beyond the realm of webcomics: tips for the writer and artist apply just as easily if you want to make comic books. Advice for how to market your website can work for many different kinds of sites. Tips for working a convention apply no matter what your purpose for being at the convention is. Fans of these four cartoonists will enjoy this book regardless. For people who want to actually go the distance and create their own webcomic, this book is essential.

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