Having read Watterson’s own words and after reading his associates opinions on the matter I still have a hard time understanding Watterson’s point of view. I recognize his need for privacy but I don’t understand his disdain for commercial promotion and borderline contempt for the cartoon industry and his peers. It seems that one of the reasons Watterson pulled away was his discomfort with the commercial promotion of his work. In his opinion any licensing or marketing of his work would destroy the content and diffuse his art. I really can’t disagree more.

In my opinion, Art is and always has been a contract between the artist and their audience. One can’t be removed from the other. It goes along with the saying “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” or in other words “If an artist creates a work that no one sees and appreciates, is it Art?” The arrogant artist in me says “Yes!” but the realist in me says “No.” To me Art is what happens in the mind of the audience in the viewing. If an artist or cartoonist pulls too far away from their audience and wants to control their feedback like a tyrant then I think they’ve lost touch with what could be an invigorating and mutually beneficial partnership. There is a limit to what can or should be done, especially when dealing with kid friendly cartoon characters, in terms of marketing, licensing, and promotion but, what would have been the harm in a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon? Did “A Charlie Brown Christmas” ruin the Charlie Brown characters? I don’t think so, in fact I think it only enhanced the public’s regard for them.

Ultimately Watterson has the right to do things as he sees fit, but his silence is a great loss for those of us that could learn so much from him.

Super Siblings Web Comic Strip for the week of November 9th, 2009 by Patrick Scullin. As a general rule I try to avoid discussing religion and politics with my comics so I’m taking a risk here, but this joke came to me and I couldn’t resist. Besides it’s a cool Star Wars theme.

Here is my strategy for my collected editions. Super Siblings will always be available to read online for free, but all of my free comics will be in black and white. The collected editions I have for sale will be in color. I like the idea of giving my readers something more for their purchase and color seems like a good incentive to buy. I hope to have my first color editions available for purchase soon. Color is expensive in print, so I haven’t completely worked that out yet, but in the meantime color digital editions should be ready soon. As was stated by @OgdenStudios in our chat, our approach to digital comics may need to be something akin to the video game industry when they try to decide between gaming systems, i.e. Wii, Xbox, PS3, Gameboy, etc. Should you format your comics for Kindle, iPhone, Sony Reader, Droid etc? For now I think the answer is “yes”. Try them all until a dominate distribution format is widely accepted. We’ve all heard of the fabled iTablet, and maybe that will finally create a standard with iTunes or Longbox. Your guess is as good as mine. In any case it’s good to stay informed and see what’s coming to look for opportunities.

@surfsidejack also pointed out in our chat that people will read digital and collect print. This makes a lot of sense. In contrast some feel that digital will adversely affect print sales. This may be true for large publishers, but I don’t think it matters for independents. The more people that are reading your digital comic will increase the percentage of potential print customers. It’s a lot like the musicians, the more their music is played the more people know about them and buy albums and go to concerts. Here is a list of print on demand services that can help in printing your comic for resale:

lulu.com
lightningsource.com
createspace.com
ka-blam.com
comixpress.com

Here are some more digital distribution sites:

Comixology.com
Longboxinc.com

To sum up, we’re all looking for ways to derive an income from our web comic. We should all think about how to sell both digital and printed collections of our comics. We should also think of ways to make those collected editions special so our customers have an incentive to buy. Every web comic is different so not all methods will work for everyone, but I think there are a lot of good ideas out there to try.

Super Siblings Web Comic Strip for the week of November 2nd, 2009 by Patrick Scullin. Nothing like carrying on the family tradition of hating sports!

Back in the day, because Watterson was a syndicated cartoonist, he could rely on the syndicate to take care of his marketing and public promotion. That private and reserved personality type could work in that environment because the cartoonist could rely on others to promote for him. For independent web cartoonists today I think that attitude is a sure bet for failure. In fact it seems that a creator’s personality can even overshadow the strip itself. I think Scott Kurtz with his Player vs. Player strip is a good example of that. As stated in tonight’s discussion web cartoonists MUST embrace social media and interact with their readers. Without that added element of interaction it’s very difficult to keep readers interested. To put it another way, good interaction and feedback from readers can create a more devoted following. In a way readers become part of the strip and feel like they’re “in on the joke.” As was stated in our #webcomicschat how cool it is that an artist can interact directly and immediately with his audience. That has never been possible before and there’s something special about that.

As with all things, I believe that the cream rises to the top so I’d like to believe that Calvin and Hobbes would have found an audience and success in today’s web comic market, but maybe not. If you’re out there sitting on the next Calvin or Hobbes, don’t be shy get on Twitter and Facebook and let’s hear about it. There are plenty of other things online screaming for our attention so it’s a tough gig to be sure, but it’s worth it. In the past a cartoonist could live that secluded life, but today, if you want attention and want to be successful it’s not possible. Along with that, think of how rich your appreciation of the art form is because of the creators you interact with. It’s unfortunate that for those of us that adore Calvin and Hobbes, we’ll never get any closer to the creator himself.

Super Siblings Web Comic Strip for the week of October 26th, 2009 by Patrick Scullin. Happy Halloween all you ghosts and goblins. Who says you’re too old to wear a costume.

Many Tweeters also contributed great lettering resources and book recommendations. I’ve tried to compile a helpful list here, in no particular order:

- Cerebus by Dave Sim
- Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
- Making Comics by Scott McCloud
- Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative by Will Eisner
- Comic Book Lettering: The Comicraft Way by Richard Starkings
- ComicBookFonts.com
- Blambot.com
- How to Make Webcomics by Guigar, Kellett, Kurtz and Straub
- Fontlab.com
- Balloontales.com
- KaBoom a Dictionary by Kevin Taylor
- Lexicon of Comicana by Mort Walker

If I missed anything feel free to post your comments. See you next Wednesday at #webcomicschat 6pm PST / 9pm EST.

Super Siblings Web Comic Strip for the week of October 19th, 2009 by Patrick Scullin. What can I say other than that a wife has a way of keeping a husband grounded.

On this week’s #webcomicschat I started off with the question “Which do you prefer Black and White or Color?” I thought this might be a simple question to start, but it turned out to carry most of the discussion. I never expected to have so many responses but it’s obvious that the decision to use black and white or color is an important one that no cartoonist takes lightly. You might assume that just because color is possible with web comics everyone would use it, such is not the case.

For myself, I originally planned my comics for print so naturally I went with a pen and ink style that would be cheaper to print. I have kept it that way online out of convenience. As my comic has progressed I’ve been tempted to add color but I haven’t yet. Lately I’ve been thinking that I’d like to reserve color for special occasions or purchased materials. For example if I use color on digital books or collections my readers might like getting something extra for their money.

In our discussion some thought color was essential for reader interest and retention while others disagreed. There’s no denying how important color is but it’s hard to say that it’s always superior because there are so many good examples of black and white art. Take Jeff Smith’s Bone for example. Others said that color can sometimes compensate for bad line art, but bad color will definitely kill it. It was also said that color is a way to unify a piece and pull it all together to make it look finished. To all the cartoonists out there I say “Yes” and “Yes”. In this case I agree with everyone. I would never say black and white is superior to color or the other way around. The fact is they are different and meant to be so. To me it’s kind of like asking whether I prefer movies or comics. I really can’t say, I love them both. Which ever style you prefer I say - go with it. Look for artists you admire that do the same successfully and work to make your comic the best you can.

Thanks again everyone! Feel free to comment here if you have something to add. I’ll be back for another #webcomicschat Wednesday, October 21st 6PM PST / 9PM EST.

Super Siblings Web Comic Strip for the week of October 12th, 2009 by Patrick Scullin. I enjoy using this play on words on friends and family.