The Rise of Web Comics: a short PBS documentary

It was fun to see the faces behind some of my favorite web comics in this brief PBS documentary.

The internet has given birth to yet another new medium: web comics. Moving beyond the restrictions of print, web comic artists interact directly with audiences who share their own unique worldview, and create stories that are often embedded in innovative formats only possible online. Sometimes funny, sometimes personal, and almost always weird, web comic creators have taken the comic strip form to new, mature, and artistic heights.

Cartoonists interviewed:

Christina Xu, Breadpig

Nick Gurewitch, Perry Bible Fellowship

Sam Brown, Exploding Dog

Lucy Knisley, Stop Paying Attention

Andrew Hussie, Homestuck

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

MORE: Cartoonists • Web comics

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stillcantfightthedite

I’m surprised you guys still haven’t mentioned the Kickstarted documentary “Stripped” on BoingBoing. Seriously, check it out: https://www.facebook.com/StrippedFilm
gnp

A great summary of the ways in which webcomics thrive on the Internet and the positive vibes between creators and fans. Not so much a discussion of how webcomics actually rose. After the “black-and-white implosion” of indie comics speculation and publishing in the late 80s, comic book stores started going under ,and distributors were either bought up or faced bankruptcy, until Diamond was the only big distributor left.

The Web came along in the 1990s with just the right timing, allowing indie comics artists to distrubute their work to a wide audience, without all the publishing/distribution/sales issues – at least until they started to get really popular and had bandwidth concerns.
http://www.peterbagge.com/ Buddy Bradley

Love those Off-book documentaries. Also recommended is this very enjoyable Ignite Phoenix speech on Webcomics (though sound quality isn’t great):
http://youtu.be/wlEDeNy_BF0
http://twitter.com/wildwomanfund Mazarine

how could they not mention Pokey the Penguin? One of the first, best web comics made of pixel art?

If you don’t know what Pokey is, you’re in for a treat:
http://yellow5.com