Comics Across the Web: A Review of a Few Styles

The following post is a review of five different online comics. The original sites can be found here:

What are the differences between each of the sites? Does the site use the medium (internet browser) effectively?

Wormworld and Crimson Fly are both continuous, start-at-the-beginning, story comics that focus on a character, or set of characters, and follow these characters through a time-coherent storyline. Norm and xkcd, on the other hand, are individualistic comics that vary greatly from one another, meaning that you do not have to start in one place or follow a specific storyline. Though they maintain similar characters throughout the strips, the occurrences in Norm and xkcd do not link to one another. Girls with Slingshots maintains a small amount of continuity in storylines, to the extent that something from an earlier strip will be mentioned or built upon, but they are not as adherent to a specific storyline as Wormworld and Crimson Fly.

Crimson Fly and Norm are both YouTube-based comics, but they use these platforms quite differently: Crimson Fly is both a video and an auditory comic, meaning that the parts of the comic move and include sound effects, while Norm is mostly an auditory comic, with sound effects acting to add or emphasize setting. The only motion in Norm may be a transition between panels here and there, while Crimson Fly relies heavily on movement to tell a story. On the other hand, Wormworld, xkcd, and Girls with Slingshots are all static comics, meaning that there is no motion nor audio affiliated with the artwork. Wormworld is set up as one continuous page of stories, organized into sequential chapters, very similar to a graphic novel. Wormworld also maintains a style, design, color, and attention to detail synonymous with a graphic novel. Girls with Slingshots and xkcd, however, are panel-based comics and resemble the more classic style seen in newspapers. Girls with Slingshots has some detail, but the backgrounds are not as elaborate as those in Wormworld. Some of the earlier strips from Girls with Slingshots are in black and white, but eventually they are colorized. On the contrary, xkcd is a stick-figure comic that deals in very little detail, and exclusively in black and white.

Through these approaches, I feel like each artist harnesses different parts of the online medium, but I think that Norm and Crimson Fly utilize the internet’s abilities the best. I do not think that Wormworld, xkcd, or Girls with Slingshots would lose any of their elements or appeal if they were published in print. I think that Wormworld could incorporate more internet-exclusive aspects if the comics were somehow interactive, but I fear that this would transition the content itself away from a comic and more into a gaming realm. I assume that this is not the genre that Wormworld’s author is looking to produce.

Place yourself in each artist’s seat and consider the different choices they made while creating the comic. Write down the decisions you think they made during the creative process.

The author of Wormworld has to decide how to continue the story, how to develop the characters in the foreground, the details of the background, and the interactions between the two; he must decide how to blend each section of the comic together into one continuous stream that can be scrolled through. He must also find a way to spiral details throughout the story, while simultaneously sneaking foreshadowing minutiae into his current pages. The author of Crimson Fly must also incorporate portions of the previous stories into his current comics, but he has more flexibility in what he can create; his creative process likely revolves more around the animation of his characters, the sound effects layered throughout his panels, and the orientation of the panels themselves: be them straight, angular, side-by-side, stacked on top of one other, playing one at a time or playing simultaneously. Though also a video platform-based comic, the author of Norm does not have to incorporate large amounts of animations into his creative process; instead, his creative process likely revolves around the development of his characters and individual storylines within each of the videos. He still includes audio into his comics, so the nature, time, level, and style of these effects are also incorporated in his creative process, as well as the placement of the occasional transition effect between panels. The greatest aspect of the creative process for the author of xkcd is the creation of new and different content; due to the lack of detail in the panels themselves or a continuous storyline, these are not concerns that the author needs to entertain. Instead, he must capture his readers through the content, especially satire, and themes of his comics. Similar to the authors of Wormworld and Norm, the author of Girls with Slingshots must occupy himself with the creation of detailed characters in the foreground, but the creator of Girls with Slingshots does not incorporate much background detail into his comics. Instead, his creative process includes the development of contextual character development and recurring themes, since each comic section is loosely strung between its predecessor and successor.

Who do you think the intended audience is? Elaborate on why?

I think the intended audience for Wormworld and The Crimson Fly is older adolescents and younger adults. Their respective storybook and cartoonist qualities make them appear generally catered towards younger audiences, but these juvenile-like characteristics could also act to preserve the childhood reminiscences of more adult audiences. On the other hand, I think the intended audience for Norm, xkcd, and Girls with Slingshots is older teens and adults. The themes and content are more mature in the way that they incorporate life experiences and perspectives unique to individuals who embody an older adult role. I feel like younger audience could read these comics and understand them on a surface level, but individuals with more knowledge and general awareness are able to relate to the content and understand it on a deeper level.

Would you change anything? If so, what? If not, why not?

Due to the fact that comics are such a fluid, subjective, and expressionist form of media, I do not think that it is my place to propose many changes. I think that one of the most valuable aspects of comics is the individual author’s ability to showcase their creativity without limits, without structure, and without expectation; I appreciate each of these authors’ perspectives and lenses of the world as uniquely their own. Comics are an incredibly involved form of media, meaning that there is a lot of personal engagement and commitment that goes into creating and producing a comic series. In this way, every aspect of the comic is intentional; I think that we can derive a lot more meaning and enrichment from the comics if we focus on these details and these efforts instead of trying to change what the author is creating.

What resources do you think were needed to make this comic experience?

The greatest resource needed to create these comics is imagination. Though cliché at first glance, these comics simply could not exist without the authors inventing, crafting, and depicting these worlds. Not only that, but the authors need to create storylines, character depictions, dialogue, themes, and develop their own personal style; all of these aspects require varying levels of creativity and inventiveness. The actual production of these comics definitely requires a scanner or digital art creator, access to animation programs and/or sound effect databases, and accessory funds to support the authors’ lifestyles, similar to if they maintained an office or other “traditional” occupation.

You will notice that some links send you to the first comic in the series, others send you to a playlist, and some land you at the most current comic strip? Do you have a preference and why?

I much prefer sites that present the first comic published and then allow the reader to progress sequentially. Even though some of the comics do not maintain a continuous storyline, I feel that this format allows me to watch and understand the artist’s style as it evolves through their work. Not only that, but this also allows the audience to understand the development of the characters as the author creates them; as the reader progresses sequentially, they are learning about each character as the author develops the characters through time. This allows the reader to form a better connection with the characters and their individual stories. Even if there is no continuity to the comics, especially prevalent in the xkcd site, progressing through the comics in the order that they were produced allows the reader to connect to the author and the general point at hand as the author develops their style, very similar to the connection formed to the characters developed sequentially.

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