Giving Thanks…
This week’s entry isn’t about a particular webcomic either, but it is about them in general- among other things. I’ll get back to reviewing things next week, I promise.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day here in the Good Old US of A, and whatever you might have to say about Plymouth Rock landing or being landed upon, many of us here take at least some time to consider the things that we have to be thankful for.
Personally, I’m very thankful for the chain of events that led up to me being a part of the Sapo Entertainment Project; even though they weren’t all positive. Expanding a little further on that subject, I daresay that I’m thankful for the art form of the webcomic in general.
Traditional comics are primarily marketing vehicles, especially in this day and age, crafted by well-trained and well-known individuals in the hopes of gouging out as large a chunk of the market share as possible before replacing any or all of existing continuity with another version. (I’d like to point out that there’s nothing wrong with commercial art. I love commercial art, in all its forms, and the fact that it is ‘art with a purpose’ makes it dearer to me, believe it or not.)
Webcomics often sprout out of the idea of someone not necessarily skilled or known, sometimes as a lark that grows out of hand, and chirps its way into the hearts of many, or as a more clearly dictated, purposefully directed creative endeavor, complete with plans for merchandising and placement, but rarely, if ever with the level of built-in self supporting mechanisms and so forth that publishing houses are able to generate.
In either case, a great deal of the time, they operate at a great loss, so to speak, because as we all know, time is money, and even the simplest sprite/stick figure/MS Paint comic still takes time to create.
But still, these people continue relentlessly, producing sequential artwork that the rest of us cheerfully consume, refer friends to, and otherwise absorb into our cultural consciousness. As free as mainstream radio, but more varied and accessible, webcomics and other Internet content providers are doing just that.
Providing, and usually free of charge.
Looking back this year, I’ve been making an effort to contact people who did webcomics and other Internet things that I appreciated, but I know that I could be doing a better job of it. I’ve received a few (emphasis on few) unsolicited instances of fan mail, and getting them brightened my spirits, and helped me feel better about doing the whole webcomic thing, and I hope that my efforts have done the same.
I’m not asking anyone to write me a heartfelt letter about how much you like the comics over at SapoEntertainment.com (but if you did, I would be very happy to receive it); I just want you to think about the things that you like that live out there on the Internet. In most of those cases, there is another human being on the other end of that video/comic/blog/whatever that you are taking in at whatever rate it updates; it might be nice to let them know that you know they are there, and that you like what they are doing.*
That’s it for now, see you next week.
*I was thinking of trying to organize some sort of Thank a Webcomic Artist Day, but I sort of lost that train of thought. Which is not to say that it’s a bad idea, all that it means is that I’ve been distracted this week.
