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Webcomics
The first critical guide to cover the history, form and key critical issues of the medium, Webcomics helps readers explore the diverse and increasingly popular worlds of online comics.
In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers such topics as:
·The history of webcomics and how developments in technology from the 1980s onwards presented new opportunities for comics creators and audiences
·Cultural contexts – from the new financial and business models allowed by digital media to social justice causes in contemporary webcomics
·Key texts – from early examples of the form such as Girl Genius and Penny Arcade to popular current titles such as Questionable Content and Dumbing of Age
·Important theoretical and critical approaches to studying webcomics
Webcomics includes a glossary of crucial critical terms, annotated guides to further reading, and online resources and discussion questions to help students and readers develop their understanding of the genre and pursue independent study.
In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers such topics as:
·The history of webcomics and how developments in technology from the 1980s onwards presented new opportunities for comics creators and audiences
·Cultural contexts – from the new financial and business models allowed by digital media to social justice causes in contemporary webcomics
·Key texts – from early examples of the form such as Girl Genius and Penny Arcade to popular current titles such as Questionable Content and Dumbing of Age
·Important theoretical and critical approaches to studying webcomics
Webcomics includes a glossary of crucial critical terms, annotated guides to further reading, and online resources and discussion questions to help students and readers develop their understanding of the genre and pursue independent study.
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
Published June 25, 2020
12 people want to read
About the author
Sean Kleefeld
4 books31 followersSean Kleefeld is an independent researcher whose work has been used by the likes Marvel Entertainment, Titan Books and 20th Century Fox. He writes the ongoing “Incidental Iconography” column for The Jack Kirby Collector and columns about webcomics and fandoms for FreakSugar. Previously, he spent several years working on the “Kleefeld on Webcomics” and “Kleefeld's Fanthropology” columns for MTV Geek. He’s also contributed to Alter Ego, Back Issue and Comic Book Resources. Kleefeld’s 2009 book, Comic Book Fanthropology, addresses the questions of who and what comic fans are, while his 2012 book, Edward Lear & the Snargetted Flartlethants of Nonsense, examines nonsense poetry and one its earliest practitioners. In 2020, Bloomsbury released the fourth book in its Comics Studies series: Webcomics, which was nominated for an Eisner Award the following year. He blogs daily at KleefeldOnComics.com.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 2, 2020
If you want to understand webcomics, Webcomics is probably the best single text out there and it’s also good scholarship on its own merits. If you don’t really need to understand webcomics but would like to give something a try, to broaden your horizons a little, Webcomics works too.
Webcomics is a product of rich study. Nothing less could have produced this. I kind of wonder if anything short of living through a lot of it could have produced it, but additional and intentional scholarship clearly went into Webcomics.
The result can be a little challenging to get into, especially early on. My advice is to persevere or skip ahead. The book starts picking up as the “Historical Overview” section begins summarizing nearly 30 years of constantly changing cartooning for Web publication. This is a dense stream of information, although I’m not sure how the facts could have been covered better. After a page or so, hopefully you’re surfing along with what is a dizzying but remarkable ride. (A reminder of how wild the frontier years of anything on the World Wide Web were, in retrospect.)
Most of the book is satisfyingly readable even if you don’t care especially about e.g. the social and cultural impacts of webcomics. A lot of it is good human storytelling. The “Key Texts” section later in the book is most accessible in this regard, I think, because each subsection establishes one or more “characters” and sticks with them until the next subsection. But the middle parts of the book also have plenty of plot, conflict, reversal of fortune, etc. Sean’s recap of the great newspaper-webcomic feud, e.g., is a misanthrope’s delight.
Webcomics is a product of rich study. Nothing less could have produced this. I kind of wonder if anything short of living through a lot of it could have produced it, but additional and intentional scholarship clearly went into Webcomics.
The result can be a little challenging to get into, especially early on. My advice is to persevere or skip ahead. The book starts picking up as the “Historical Overview” section begins summarizing nearly 30 years of constantly changing cartooning for Web publication. This is a dense stream of information, although I’m not sure how the facts could have been covered better. After a page or so, hopefully you’re surfing along with what is a dizzying but remarkable ride. (A reminder of how wild the frontier years of anything on the World Wide Web were, in retrospect.)
Most of the book is satisfyingly readable even if you don’t care especially about e.g. the social and cultural impacts of webcomics. A lot of it is good human storytelling. The “Key Texts” section later in the book is most accessible in this regard, I think, because each subsection establishes one or more “characters” and sticks with them until the next subsection. But the middle parts of the book also have plenty of plot, conflict, reversal of fortune, etc. Sean’s recap of the great newspaper-webcomic feud, e.g., is a misanthrope’s delight.
February 16, 2021
This review originally appeared in the February 2021 issue, on page 95, of "Technical Communication".
Historically, comics have been a form of print media appearing in newspapers and comic books. Many people have fond memories of reading Peanuts or Calvin and Hobbes from their Sunday newspaper, or perhaps picking up the latest Spider-Man or Superman comic book from a shop. While those forms of media still exist, the Internet boom has given comic artists many more options than were available to their pen and paper predecessors. Webcomics is a study in the history and growth of comic, an examination of the cultural impact of webcomics, as well as several case studies on popular webcomics.
Kleefeld begins with a history of the comics industry for the reader to understand how webcomics exist in today’s culture. He moves from business models for traditional print comics, to a study of how different comic artists developed profitable systems for producing content only on the web. Many well-known comics, such as Penny Arcade, are discussed either in passing or as a direct focus. Penny Arcade is an impressive example of how a webcomic influences pop culture. It grew from a small webcomic to running a series of game-themed conventions (Penny Arcade Exposition, or PAX) across the country. Not all webcomics share in that success, and many are passion projects from their creators. While some are one off gag strips, many are serialized stories, or a balance between the two styles. Several webcomics, such as Questionable Content and Girl Genius, are discussed, examined, and analyzed. Such a discussion may peak the reader’s interest to try other webcomics that are new to them. The book wraps up with a discussion of webcomics as a genre, defining success for a webcomic, and how more creative control affects the comic’s creator.
While the concept of comics may be considered a juvenile topic by some, Kleefeld takes the matter seriously. Webcomics is not a light, casual read as you might expect, but a serious academic study into the online comic industry. Sample images are scattered throughout the book, and numerous comics are mentioned. A thorough index lets you find all those references, no matter how obscure they were in the text. If you would enjoy learning how the comics business evolved and modernized with the internet, then Webcomics may be the print book which inspires you to read online.
Historically, comics have been a form of print media appearing in newspapers and comic books. Many people have fond memories of reading Peanuts or Calvin and Hobbes from their Sunday newspaper, or perhaps picking up the latest Spider-Man or Superman comic book from a shop. While those forms of media still exist, the Internet boom has given comic artists many more options than were available to their pen and paper predecessors. Webcomics is a study in the history and growth of comic, an examination of the cultural impact of webcomics, as well as several case studies on popular webcomics.
Kleefeld begins with a history of the comics industry for the reader to understand how webcomics exist in today’s culture. He moves from business models for traditional print comics, to a study of how different comic artists developed profitable systems for producing content only on the web. Many well-known comics, such as Penny Arcade, are discussed either in passing or as a direct focus. Penny Arcade is an impressive example of how a webcomic influences pop culture. It grew from a small webcomic to running a series of game-themed conventions (Penny Arcade Exposition, or PAX) across the country. Not all webcomics share in that success, and many are passion projects from their creators. While some are one off gag strips, many are serialized stories, or a balance between the two styles. Several webcomics, such as Questionable Content and Girl Genius, are discussed, examined, and analyzed. Such a discussion may peak the reader’s interest to try other webcomics that are new to them. The book wraps up with a discussion of webcomics as a genre, defining success for a webcomic, and how more creative control affects the comic’s creator.
While the concept of comics may be considered a juvenile topic by some, Kleefeld takes the matter seriously. Webcomics is not a light, casual read as you might expect, but a serious academic study into the online comic industry. Sample images are scattered throughout the book, and numerous comics are mentioned. A thorough index lets you find all those references, no matter how obscure they were in the text. If you would enjoy learning how the comics business evolved and modernized with the internet, then Webcomics may be the print book which inspires you to read online.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews