Eisner 2019 Webcomics Nominations!

Hitting you hot off the presses of the cultural Zeitgeist, it’s the Digital Strips Blog here with the nominees for the 2019 Eisner awards!…

…two weeks after they were announced!

But tardiness aside, there’s some interesting titles on the block this year. We can’t help but notice, too, that 60% (or, three out of the five) of the offerings in the Webcomics category are hosted on Line Webtoon — but then, the pervasiveness of that ever-expanding hub of Webcomics content is no surprise to erstwhile listeners of the Digital Strips podcast now, is it?

Here, then, are your Eisner Awards 2019 Webcomics Category finalists.

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Hourly Comic Day 2019

Bringing you only the hottest of hot takes, today we’re talking about “Hourly Comic Day”, the yearly event which happens on… Feb 1?! Aw, man.

Missed the boat again! (Photo credit, Kai Schreiber, used under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Hourly Comic Day is a tradition that first began in 2005, when John Campbell (of Pictures for Sad Children fame—or, perhaps, notoriety). This first outing for the event occurred when Campbell posted a journal page with a series of doodles he had taken every hour throughout the course of the day. Over the following few years, more webcomic artists picked up on the trend, until it finally became An Event To Look Forward To on Feb 1st every year, from 2008 onwards.

1 Feb 2019 was no exception, and many webcomic artists jumped on the wagon to journal their days in comic form: here are a few to whet your appetite if you missed seeing the event unfold this year (like, apparently, some webcomic columnists out there…)

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An App(arition) for Modern Horror

Happy… *checks calendar* What? November?! When did this happen?

Oh, right – I’ve been lost in the all-consuming vortex which is Tales of the Unusual by Seongdae Oh.

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What’s in a (spooky) name?

We’re back!

And just in time, too – with October winding down, we’re getting closer and closer to that time of year where Webcomics and their creators take on the dark powers of the night to theme all webcomic things Halloween.

In fact, if you’re on Twitter, you might already have noticed one of the October trends that have remained part of the webcomics landscape since the practice began back in 2013: Halloween-themed name changes.

It didn’t take long for the trend, which started across various writer and celebrity accounts in the first week of October 2013 then gained popularity following the #SpookyCelebs game on that year’s All Hallow’s Eve, to spread into the Webcomics community. Creators such as Jeph Jacques and David Malki jumped in early (and are still in the game) and were joined by a growing host of others that have continued to make Webcomic Twitter a spooky place each October.

Whilst the practice still spreads across a number of other Twitter communities – such as the aforementioned writers and celebrities – Webcomics have the distinct advantage of their art to help differentiate their changes from others’. Many creators have taken to updating not only their names for October but also their profile pictures and colour themes to give off just the right spoooooky vibes!

Below, we’ve compiled thirteen (ooooh!) accounts which are still playing along five years later for you to check out and follow – Have you or your favourite creators spookified your Twitter names this year? Continue reading

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DS Blog in September

Hey everyone! Terence (a.k.a the Average Joe) here – just popping in a quick note the blog will be on temporary hiatus (not “Temporary Hiatus”!! Every Webcomic reader knows what that means!!!) during September. My thesis is due, and I am writing this from the secret bunker where I’ve been ensconced until it’s finished at the end of the month.

See you all in October for some spoooooky webcomics articles!

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These Webcomics have CHANGED! Five great comics already using Jason Brubaker’s approach

It is the end of the world (as we know it) for webcomics.

Over the past few years, the Digital Strips podcast has highlighted time and again how the way we interact with, discover, and read webcomics has changed. And now, it seems others are listening as well! Jason Brubaker’s (reMIND, Sithrahrecent YouTube manifesto on the changes and challenges to webcomics has been making the rounds, so we’ve gathered here five of the best webcomics (and their creators) that have already embraced the five elements of change Brubaker highlights in his video. Continue reading

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How Mary Worth Beat Superman

Anyone on the street will tell you that “comics” mean “superhero comics.” With the rise of Batman, Captain America and the Avengers from the back of the dingily-lit comic store, to the summer blockbuster every year (forever) that person on the street might even be able to tell you everything about their favourite Hero, without ever having seen a comic book.

By Yale Stewart – JL8 #2

Online, it’s a different matter. Sure, superhero webcomics exist, but how many of them do you see in a given ‘Top 10″ or ‘best of‘ list? How many of them do you read?

Not many – because Superhero comics lack something special, something integral to digital success: something comics like Mary Worth figured out a long time ago. Continue reading

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[Edit: OMG! This is my first top comment! Ty, Ty (UwU)] The Psychology Behind a Webtoons Phenomenon

If you’ve been following the podcast’s recommendations over the past few years, then odds are you’ve ended up somewhere on Line Webtoon once or twice.

Webtoons offer a great reading experience for webcomics: posting multiple pages for each chapter means you can blitz through really meaty chunks of a comic each update, and the way the posts flow into one another (particularly on mobile devices) leads to a real sense of ‘just-one-more’ishness equalled only by a packet of crisps or free booze at a work Christmas party.

Many regrets were had. Photo credit: istolethetv

But as you’re scrolling to the bottom, waiting for that little arrow to bump and tick you over into the next strip, you go past the comments. And inevitably, you see some variant of the following:

Witty comment pertaining to the latest update. (Edit: OMG! This is my first top comment you guys! Thank you, thank you, please remember that [cartoonist] is the real hero here, please like and support their work. Who thought this little thing I dashed off with barely any thought would be so popular haha I love you alllllllllllllll)”

The psychology behind commenting on the internet has been subject to a number of investigations, articles and academic papers over the years – but it seemed to me that this phenomenon was a little different to the standard trolling or ‘First!’ comments that plague other creative platforms like YouTube. So why do people feel the need to edit their comments once the original achieves some popularity? Continue reading

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Danielle Corsetto and Monica Gallagher launch a new Webcomic

Greetings, Digital Strippers*!

Most of you who’ve been listening to the podcast or reading through the blog over the past few years will be familiar with the love and respect the show has for Danielle Corsetto’s Girls With Slingshots and Stuck at 32. And if you’ve stumbled down the Webtoons rabbit hole once or twice, chances are you’ll have come across Monica Gallagher’s Assassin RoommateYou might also be familiar with Monica’s work as an Indy artist/creator on Bonnie & Collide, Nine to Five or her slew of other comic projects.

Today, these two creators of comics about strong, independent women came together (with colourist Mae. S. Keller) to launch their new collaborative comic: Boo! It’s Sex.

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