Webcomics: Tools and Techniques for Digital Cartooning
Webcomics: Tools and Techniques for Digital Cartooning. Ed. Steven Withrow and John Barber. Barron’s, 2005.
As I’m gearing up to do some comics and put them up online, I’ve been doing a little research. This brand new book on Webcomics seemed like a good place to see how others do it and pick up a few tips and tricks for working on comics with the computer. The largest part of the book consists of brief interviews with webcomics creators and illustrated (mostly screenshots) walkthroughs of the creators process from script to posted comic. Peppered between these sections are short essays on various elements of webcomics technique: scanning, coloring, anti-aliasing, file types, infinite canvas, flash, etc. A few other essays on webcomics history and business elements round out the book.
The technical essays in the book are filled with information that would be invaluable to the novice. If you don’t know what anti-aliasing or image resolution is, this is for you. If you have experience with creating websites or image manipulation software you may find a lot of it too basic. I can’t say much of it was new to me.
The brief creator interviews that precede the walkthroughs are of dubious value in my mind. They all follow the same set of questions (though not all are used in all cases) which are quite generic (how did you begin creating comics, what webcomics do you read, describe your comic, etc.). The answers are also quite generic. Snooze.
The walkthroughs are where the real value is in this book. It’s educational and interesting to see how the dozen or so creators go about their work. In step-by-step descriptions accompanied by images of scripts or drawings or screenshots of computer work, the creators showcase their way of working. I found technical inspiration in seeing the different ways they write and script, the different tools used, the different ways of lettering and coloring and layout. Some of the creators are quite detailed in their process, particularly in regards to various software applications and the ways they color and letter.
With these creators as well as a number of others appearing in a gallery at the end, the book also exists as a kind of reader (or at least a recommendation list) for webcomics. I have no way of knowing what range or subsection of webcomics as a whole the book covers. Much of it seems of little interest to my tastes, gag strips, fantasy comics, etc. The stand out creator for me is Nick Bertozzi and his “The Salon”, a story about Picasso and Braque in Paris in the 1900s with amazing art that uses a four color palette (2 colors, 2 shades of each). Sadly, the strip appears at Serializer.net which seems to be having some problems right now. I can’t even figure out if the strip is still running.
I’ll be checking out some of the others to see if anything is interesting.
Tags: Webcomics
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