Yes, a miracle. And it doesn’t happen often. If you want to make a lot of money, comix isn’t probably the best place to go looking for it.

Since quite a few of the subscribers to this blog don’t come from the world of webcomix, I figured it might be important to take a minute and put things in perspective. There’s some history here that might seem redundant to a few of you, but it underscores the idea that comix is not and has seldom been a high-paying industry for the people who make them.

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So, last week I waffled a bit about monetization. I didn’t really mean to but it kinda came up while I was thinking about the bigger picture of motivation and as we all know money is the prime motivator for a lot of people – especially those who haven’t got it! I didn’t see many (any) answers – which is worrying – if only for the reason that there may be no easy answers for anyone to give on that question. What I’m asking today though is: why would anyone want to make webcomics, or print comics for that matter, if not for monetary reward? (more…)

Michael just hit some great points about the webcomic process and ‘doing it yourself’ in his earlier post, and it got me thinking (late at night after a long day of drawing thinking can be a bad thing!). I was going to respond, but then I remembered, “hey, he’s right! I own the site and can start my own damn post on the thing!”

Most of Michael’s points there have to do with artistic control and monetization. I’ve put some thoughts about that into bullet points to take the conversation further. These are hard topics for everyone working in and enjoying web-based content so, please, jump into the waters of the discussion and I’ll make room in the bath.

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As promised – here I am again with some webcomic wonderment. Ulysses “Seen” is a stand-alone comic affiliated with no-one but a few friends we like to link to. That’s a conscious choice – one that might be made for a number of reasons. There are alternatives though and the question I want to pose today is why would you choose this route over any of those alternatives? By standing alone, as this site does, the obvious and main benefit would be one of control. There’s nobody here to tell you what to do or how to do it. The reason this site looks the way it does is because of the time and effort put in by those who have created it. The limits are only made up of time, money and knowledge. Money is always tight but if you have the time and the knowledge then most everything is possible. If the creators behind Ulysses “Seen” want to change something and it is technically possible then there’s no one can stop them. Were this comic to be hosted anywhere else then the requirements of that host would have to be taken into account and those changes might not even be possible. (more…)

Well, if  the brain really is the House of Ideas, it’s a good thing to occasionally rearrange the furniture.

Paris was great. Very artistically stimulating and personally reassuring to anyone trying to make comix as their chosen artform (you’ll be getting a bunch posts and reviews from my Paris trip this week on the blog).

I spent a lot of the time there looking at some of the painting that drove me most to become a painter and visiting comic shops that reminded me of the long-standing, childhood love I have for this kind of story-telling. It really was a treat to step outside of the American sensibility towards the comicbook industry and see what things are like in other markets. I really suggest anyone out there making comix (or any form of art) take time to do that now and again; look beyond what you think the goal is in your own success towards how others might enjoy the work you do.
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