Webcomics: Tools and Techniques for Digital Cartooning

This instructive guide to an exciting new art medium was written for the cartoonist who knows a lot about drawing, color, and design, but doesn't know how to apply his talents to computer technology. Webcomics shows artists how to get into the fast-growing field of online comics. Created digitally and distributed on the Internet some for free; others on subscription webcomics range in style from traditional looking cartoon strips to innovative works that often integrate imagery from photography, video, and other visual arts. This book offers detailed advice on how to design, create, and publish online comics. It also showcases the best webcomics work being produced today. Interviews with leading artists walk readers through all the essential steps in the various creative processes, starting with a story idea and developing it into a finished graphic narrative. More than 400 full-color illustrations, diagrams, and examples of webcomics works.

[back cover]
WEBCOMICS

Webcomics is an introduction to one of today’s fastest growing and most exciting areas of publishing—online comics. Created digitally and distributed on the Internet—sometimes for free, sometimes on subscription—webcomics represent both a new type of publishing and a brand new art form. They range in style from traditional-looking cartoon strips to innovative, experimental works that may integrate imagery from photography, video, and other sources, and feature audio soundtracks, animation, and interactivity. Webcomics offers an in-depth look at what is happening in this area—revealing who the pioneers are, what sort of work they’re doing, and what kind of digital tools and techniques they employ. Combining profiles of well-known webcomics creators with detailed workthroughs that reveal the nuts and bolts of every aspect of comic creation and presentation, this book is a must for anyone interested in where comics are headed in the 21st century.

An up-to-the-minute examination of this completely new graphic art form

A visual tour-de-force that showcases the best work being produced in the world today

Detailed, practical advice and guidance on how to design, create, and publish online comics

Interviews with leading artists walk the reader through all the essential steps in the various creative processes on the path from idea to finished product

[front flap]

Section one: A New Day for Comics—introduces the new medium of webcomics with a brief history running from its birth in the mid-1990s to its current incarnation. It defines what makes a webcomic, examining the broad styles and genres that have appeared and the audience that is reading them.

Section two: A Strand of Lanterns—looks in detail at the work of six popular web cartoonists, featuring interviews and workthroughs illustrating the methods they use to create their art.

Section three: Stellar Cartography—goes into the more complex aspects of creating webcomics. Highlighting the work of eight acclaimed web cartoonists, the section reveals the more advanced and experimental techniques that can be employed in webcomics. The section also features a showcase of the work of some of the best web cartoonists. The section closes with a roundtable discussion between the editors of five webcomics anthology sites, where they debate the pros and cons of joining an anthology site, and the processes involved.

[back flap]
Steven Withrow is a writer and editor specializing in the world of digital comics and animation. His weekly digital comics series, Crackles of Speech, appears on Komikwerks.com, along with other examples of his work.

John Barber is well-known and highly respected as one of the new generation webcomics authors. Trained as a graphic designer, he now works full time as a writer, illustrator, and Flash programmer on the webcomics site, Modern Tales, where his regular comic strip, Vicious Souvenirs, is published.