“This is a totally aggrandized, narcissistic, beautiful thing,” he said.
The walls that surround Filipovic are covered in gruesome blood-red paint. His workspace is cluttered with his favourite comic art by Steve McNiven from Marvel Comics. Filipovic says this is how he gets his inspiration when he sits down and creates his graphic novel entitled Man Made.
Filipovic knows the lop-sidedness of the comic book industry; so many artists fighting for very few jobs. He has no other choice. If he wishes to crack one of the big companies he needs to act fast and act now.
“Going through a publisher is complicated and expensive. When you’re just trying to get your name out there, online is the quickest route and it’s the easiest way to connect to most people,” he explained.
The Internet has provided artists and anyone with an Internet connection, a vast landscape where do-it-yourselfers can simply build their own brand and publish their own work. Online publishing and the rise of webcomics are changing the definition of comics. Artists and editors agree this shift ultimately helps the industry by challenging an artist to be better.
Tom Spurgeon, former editor of the Comics Journal, now working under his own online brand, comicsreporter.com, says the move to online is popular decision among amateur artists.
“You’re talking about an exponential increase on the number of people that can read your work,” Spurgeon said. “It seems perfectly natural for a certain generation to publish online or self-publish.”
Anyone can publish something online in a very few steps. With free blog services and low-rate domain names; a comic creator can build a website with just a few mouse clicks.
Spurgeon said the biggest challenge a DIY webcomic faces, is finding a way of turning eyeballs into money.
Ryan North, founder of Dinosaur Comics has managed to make his DIY webcomic a living. For North print wasn’t an option.
“The main advantage for doing your own thing online is that I recognize that my comic isn’t for everyone; maybe it’s for one in 10 people,” he said. “When you go online, one in 10 people will tell someone else, and you get a broader audience.”
But the cash flow didn’t happen overnight. North advises amateurs considering full time to be consistent and update regularly.
“There’s no formula though,” he said. “One person compared it to the recipe for making bear stew. Step one, catch the bear. Then step two is really easy.”
Spurgeon explains that the comic book culture of today has a commercial focus, maximizing profits and sticking with what’s worked in the past, most notably, superhero comics.
This focus ultimately makes these companies successful, but where these companies ignore other styles of comic books, the online community features a very diverse and inclusive definition of comics.
Adriana Blake, author and artist of “Fall on Me,” believes the move to online enriches
the comic medium.
“It’s given the opportunity for… different ways of telling and re-telling comics,” she said. “It really challenges the artist to step up and do better.”
Excerpt from "Fall on Me" Courtesy of Adriana Blake.
Blake’s style reflects the traditional newspaper comic. The main characters in the webcomic consist of Adriana and her husband. Her inspiration and her product fit nicely into the webcomic niche.
“I’m happy that this is something funny enough that I can share with other people,” she said. “Sometimes reality is funnier than fiction.”
North’s Dinosaur Comics also veer away from the norm. His comics consist of the same six panels showing a T-Rex conversing with a smaller dinosaur. Every day, North simply changes the dialogue in those six panels. North loves the idea of waking up and working for him.
“It’s a lot of fun and it’s great to have that sort of control over your life, to be able to decide that I’m going to work on this today,” he said.
Dinosaur Comics have appeared in many college and university newspapers across North America; proof that in fact there are people out there looking for something off-collar.
“Online offers a lot of chances to do something new and figure out what works, your options are wide open,” he said. “There’s a democracy to putting your stuff online.”
No comments:
Post a Comment