The Loneliest Astronauts
Comics have come a long way since its invention in the 20th century. The creation of comics started out being a intense and lengthy process. According to DC Comics [1], comics start out with the editor talking to the writer, sometimes, even a whole year before the comic even enters its production stage. After the writer and the editor reach a consensus, the writer writes a script, which is sent to the penciller, where it is drawn out, panel by panel. The inker receives the finished panels to reinterpret the page in ink. After the ink pages are approved, it is sent to the colorist. The colored comic is finally sent to the lettering department for all the text to be added. The whole process is a long back and forth between different departments; however, webcomics aren’t created in the same way. Sure, webcomics still follow the storyboarding, sketching, inking, coloring, and lettering process [2], but they aren’t necessarily created by several people in different departments. Nowadays, there are a lot of independent webcomic creators that create a whole comic from the scratch without the help of others.
Because webcomics don’t require the lengthy process of being reviewed by different departments, webcomic production is typically more streamlined. In addition, being able to use the web also allows more possibilities. As mentioned by Sharon Leon [3] in “Imagining the Digital Future of The Public Historian,” “the range of possibilities here is limitless. The web allows for less polished, quicker, immediate and dialogic work…. Additionally, the web offers the flexibility to publish mashups…field notes, short essays, exchanges that are open and real-time (and that might lead to a more polished piece).” Webcomics that have a lot of collaboration between artists such as “The Loneliest Astronauts” have been created because of the development of the web. There are also more webcomics that follow this mode. “The Nib,” for example, is also a webcomic that is an amalgamation of comics created by different authors. The introduction of the web not only allowed creators to be able to work with each other more efficiently, but also generated limitless opportunities for creators. The future for webcomics is certainly vast.
1. Jacobs, Laura, and Bob Harras. "From Pen to Print: How Comic Books Are Made." DC Comics. August 08, 2014. Accessed March 11, 2019. https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2014/07/29/from-pen-to-print-how-comic-books-are-made.
2. Requesens, Jonathan. "How I Make a Webcomic." Webcomics: An Investigative Report by Jonathan Requesens. Accessed March 11, 2019. http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring05/Requesens/howimake.htm.
3. Bryans, William, Albert Camarillo, Swati Chattopadhyay, Jon Christensen, Sharon Leon, and Cathy Stanton. "Imagining the Digital Future Of The Public Historian." The Public Historian, no. 1 (2013): 8-27. doi:10.1525/tph.2013.35.1.8.