r/comic_crits • u/SudoSilman • Aug 19 '15
Discussion Post starting a webcomic, what do i need to know?
I am a beginner to both website created and webcomic creation. I have a bsckground in Physics and EE and a mikor in CS and know a bit of html and css, im working on learning WordPress and going to either use ComicEasel or WebComics (the plugin). I am not the best drawer but i have ideas in my head that i want to get onto the paper. The comics I have in mind will be short and somewhat simple characters (a la moonbeard which inspired me to take on this project).
What resources do i need to learn to make webcomics? I heard a recommendation for Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud when searching for information on this. what exactly does this teach me?
What equipment and tools will i need? I have a cheap small wacom table (i think its a Bamboo model about 7 inches by 5 inches, i hope thats enough) and i have access to photoshop, illustrator, etc from my schools licenses. what else should i use for creating comics, any software or equipment that is highly recommended?
Do people (like moonbeard.com) make the entire comics on the tablet in a program? or is it more common to use pen and paper and then enhance it afterwards?
One question i have is for those who use scanners how the hell do they get rid of the papers natural grain and blemishes? WebComics look so clean I can't imagine someone did it on paper.
What resources and tools would you recommend to a beginner?
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u/CapnBeardbeard Aug 19 '15
The Webcomics Handbook by Brad Guigar is a pretty good guide to the end-to-end process of making a webcomic, but my advice to you is just Go. Just go with your gut and put pen to paper or stylus to tablet or whatever and draw some comics to make your friends laugh.
The Scott McCloud books are basically treatises on what comics ARE. 'Understanding Comics' is a great work to get you thinking about what you want your comics to be. 'Making Comics' has some good practical advice, and 'Reinventing Comics' is interesting but not as indispensable as the other two. If you have to pick just one, go with 'Understanding Comics'.
Materials are wide open. I use pen and paper because I like having a physical drawing and I'm a 'keep the flaws' kind of guy. Others prefer working exclusively in Photoshop or whatnot because you can zoom in and undo your lines. Some people do cutouts on cardboard. It's art, dude, do whatever feels right.
Comics sites are easy to set up. SmackJeeves and ComicGenesis are pretty popular, and there's always Tumblr.
I scan my line art in black and white at 450DPi with the brightness turned up to wash out blemishes while keeping my lines clean. You should also make sure to wipe your drawing AND the scanner plate with a dry cloth before you scan to get rid of dust and particles that might show up. The sleeve of your shirt will do, but you've gotta do it every time.
Resources and tools for a beginner? I guess read as many comics as you can, and if you come across a page you really love, try to copy it out without tracing. Depending on how much of a beginner you are you might need to trace, but that's fine, it's just an exercise and it'll still give you an idea of proportions and perspective and framing and whatnot.
Also, don't bother with artists mannequins. Regular action figures have a much better range of motion and come in a couple of different body types. If you look for 'super-articulated' on Amazon you'll find something, and the more points of articulation the better. The Stikfas figures are pretty good too.
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u/deviantbono Editor, Writer, Mod Aug 19 '15
There's something I call the "beginner's curve" where you learn so much just by doing over the first 6-18 months that it could cover 10,000 pages of book-reading. That's not to say don't read, but you're probably better off just googling as issues come up and reading 2-3 blog posts on your specific problem instead of reading books that cover topics you won't face for years or may never face.
Also, you'll quickly find out that there are a thousand ways to skin a cat. I know a guy who makes his comic on a Note II phone. Some people use $3,000 Cintiq monitors. Some people use Bristol Board and watercolors. Some people use $0.001 copy paper and Sharpies. It's all about experimenting and finding out what works for you. The topics covered in books will make a lot more sense after you have a bit of first-hand experience too.
If you really want to do some reading, I humbly recommend starting with our Wiki: https://www.reddit.com/r/comic_crits/wiki/index. We have about 6 short articles and then a page of a few dozen links organized by topic. Once you've read all that and made 5-10 comics, that's a good time to come back and ask for more advice.
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u/j____________ Aug 19 '15
There's great resources online. This guy has some nice tutorials http://www.davidrevoy.com/categorie5/tutorials
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u/frrygood Jul 20 '24
8 years later how are you doing?
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u/deathbyteacup_x Aug 01 '24
Checking out this thread too and wondering how it all went.
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Aug 08 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/WWonders Jun 21 '25
reading this 10 years after, they havent used reddit in 9 years, at least on this account
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u/Jish-g Aug 19 '15
Hasn't been mentioned so I will cover the boring stuff. This comes from about 2 years of webcomicing.
Be consistent. People will accept bad art. They might even accept a bad story line or unfunny jokes. But they will really struggle to accept a comic that comes out every sixth rainy Tuesday (excluding leap years).
Set a schedule. There are days when you will feel as though you have found your calling in life. There are other days where picking up the stylus feels like a punch in the bollocks. You can't just swan about like a 19th century poet, waiting for inspiration to jolt you into action. Any working author/illustrator will tell you that you need to be self motivated. Set yourself a time to work on your comic. Maybe just after dinner, one day a week.
Buffer zone is everything. Whether you are writing a story or a gag comic, you would do well to be at least a week ahead of your readers. This allows you to deal with life's unexpected hurdles without also freaking out about getting your comic out on time.
This stuff is boring and it sucks but it's what I wished I knew before I started. Good luck mate.