What is the Abyss? I'm taking my comics off the internet and into a print magazine. Why? Because (whisper it so the internet doesn't hear) reading comics on the internet takes 90% of the enjoyment of reading comics and fucks it down the toilet.
I recently have had the pleasure of reading old issues of Zap Comics, Blimp and Dr. Wirtham's Comix & Stories. These were comics from the 60's and 70's featuring R. Crumb and the like. They are fantastic. And, if you'll pardon a brief moment of wankdom, they are exactly what comics should be. You should be able to roll comics up and shove them in your bag, you should be able to read them on the bus, read them in your back yard or on the toilet. Yes, you can do that with a laptop and wifi (except roll it up and shove it your bag, I assume) but I've come to realise that this isn't the point.
Don't get me wrong, I love the internet. I do, it's just not the best place for comics. Scott Kurtz will tell you different (because he wants you to buy his book on webcomics). Then again, Scott Kurtz, while undoubtedly successful, has one of the blandest comics on the internet. Were he to arrive on this blog the first thing he would say to refute this is that he gets hundreds of thousands of hits a day, what do I get? Not as much as that, sure.
But does the amount of hits you get on the internet matter? In Net Land, yes. In reality, no. The fact that he gets hundreds of thousands of hits a day is inconsequential. All it really shows is that just because a fly swarm buzzes around a pile of dogshit doesn't mean it's a steak dinner.
And this is my problem. The internet, for comics, is a safety net. You're in a creative half life where (bar the odd troll) most people will say that you're the fucking best ever just so they can get a link. Contrary to what most people think the internet isn't full of hate filled trolls, mostly it's full of link hungry cuddlefish just out to either 1) Lick arse to spam their own blog or 2) uh Lick arse to spam their own blog. And if that's what it takes to be a web success, then fuck it, you can keep it.
I can't end up like 98% of webcartoonists begging for donations or talking to myself on my forum, because if that ever happens, I've instructed my wife to shoot me.
I wrote to my favourite cartoonist a few months ago and he wrote back with a very concise answer.
"If you're any good, do it for real".
Putting comics on the internet, no matter how much we want it to be, isn't "for real". So fuck it, I'm going to put it out there. See what happens.
I'm still going to be online, it's just that 95% of my comics won't be. They'll be in your local comic book shop, music shop, pub, club, head shop and whatever store I think should/will stock it. It'll be free.
I don't know about you, but I'm excited.
