Rethinking Webcomics: Webcomics As a Screen Based Medium
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Dennis Kogel Digital Culture Department of Art and Culture Studies 16.01.2013 MA Thesis Rethinking Webcomics: Webcomics as a Screen Based Medium JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO Tiedekunta – Faculty Laitos – Department Humanities Art and Culture Studies Tekijä – Author Dennis Kogel Työn nimi – Title Rethinking Webcomics: Webcomics as a Screen Based Medium Oppiaine – Subject Työn laji – Level Digital Culture MA Thesis Aika – Month and year Sivumäärä – Number of pages January 2013 91 pages Tiivistelmä – Abstract So far, webcomics, or online comics, have been discussed mostly in terms of ideologies of the Internet such as participatory culture or Open Source. Not much thought, however, has been given to webcomics as a new way of making comics that need to be studied in their own right. In this thesis a diverse set of webcomics such as Questionable Content, A Softer World and FreakAngels is analyzed using a combination of N. Katherine Hayles’ Media Specific Analysis (MSA) and the neo-semiotics of comics by Thierry Groensteen. By contrasting print- and web editions of webcomics, as well as looking at web-only webcomics and their methods for structuring and creating stories, this thesis shows that webcomics use the language of comics but build upon it through the technologies of the Web. Far from more sensationalist claims by scholars such as Scott McCloud about webcomics as the future of the comic as a medium, this thesis shows that webcomics need to be understood as a new form of comics that is both constrained and enhanced by Web technologies. Although this thesis cannot be viewed as a complete analysis of the whole of webcomics, it can be used as a starting point for further research in the field and as a showcase of how more traditional areas of academic research such as comic studies can benefit from theories of digital culture. Asiasanat – Keywords Comics, comics studies, Media Specific Analysis (MSA), Webcomics Säilytyspaikka – Depository Muita tietoja – Additional information JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO Tiedekunta – Faculty Laitos – Department Humanistinen Taiteiden ja kulttuurin tutkimus Tekijä – Author Dennis Kogel Työn nimi – Title Verkkosarjakuva näyttöruutuun pohjautuvana mediumina Oppiaine – Subject Työn laji – Level Digitaalinen Kulttuuri Pro Gradu Aika – Month and year Sivumäärä – Number of pages Tammikuu 2013 91 sivua Tiivistelmä – Abstract So far, webcomics, or online comics, have been discussed mostly in terms of ideologies of the Internet such as participatory culture or Open Source. Not much thought, however, has been given to webcomics as a new way of making comics that need to be studied in their own right. In this thesis a diverse set of webcomics such as Questionable Content, A Softer World and FreakAngels is analyzed using a combination of N. Katherine Hayles’ Media Specific Analysis (MSA) and the neo-semiotics of comics by Thierry Groensteen. By contrasting print- and web editions of webcomics, as well as looking at web-only webcomics and their methods for structuring and creating stories, this thesis shows that webcomics use the language of comics but build upon it through the technologies of the Web. Far from more sensationalist claims by scholars such as Scott McCloud about webcomics as the future of the comic as a medium, this thesis shows that webcomics need to be understood as a new form of comics that is both constrained and enhanced by Web technologies. Although this thesis cannot be viewed as a complete analysis of the whole of webcomics, it can be used as a starting point for further research in the field and as a showcase of how more traditional areas of academic research such as comic studies can benefit from theories of digital culture. Asiasanat – Keywords Mediakeskeistä analyysiä (Media Specific Analysis, MSA), sarjakuvat, sarjakuvatutkimus, Verkkosarjakuvat, Säilytyspaikka – Depository Muita tietoja – Additional information Table of Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2 2. Theoretical approaches ....................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Webcomics as reinvention ............................................................................................................ 4 2.2 Webcomics as counterculture ....................................................................................................... 7 2.3. Webcomics as part of participatory culture ............................................................................... 10 2.4 Webcomics as microserialized fiction ......................................................................................... 12 2.5 Webcomics as part of the history of comics ............................................................................... 14 2.6 Webcomics as systems and editions ........................................................................................... 15 3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1. Method ....................................................................................................................................... 17 3.2 Selection ...................................................................................................................................... 20 4. Webcomics as a Screen-Based Medium ............................................................................................ 23 4.1 Deep Comics ................................................................................................................................ 23 4.1.1 The tactility of alt text .......................................................................................................... 23 4.1.2 Webcomics as code .............................................................................................................. 25 4.2 Webcomics as process................................................................................................................. 36 4.2.1 From indie rock to sitcom: Questionable Content ................................................................ 36 4.2.2 From roleplaying insider jokes to fantasy epic: The Order of the Stick ................................ 41 4.3. Remediating Weekly Comics ...................................................................................................... 44 4.3.1 Strips and books: The two forms of comics language .......................................................... 45 4.3.2 The webcomic strip .............................................................................................................. 47 4.4 On Clicking Next .......................................................................................................................... 52 4.4.1 The webcomic as comic book ............................................................................................... 53 4.4.2 Challenging the webcomic strip ........................................................................................... 58 4.5 Beyond the Infinite Canvas .......................................................................................................... 63 4.5.1 Rediscovering the Infinite Canvas ........................................................................................ 63 4.5.2 The infinite forms of the Infinite Canvas .............................................................................. 68 4.5.3 Moving Webcomics .............................................................................................................. 74 5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 81 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................... 86 Works cited ........................................................................................................................................ 86 Comics cited ...................................................................................................................................... 88 1 1. Introduction Despite the growing popularity of online comics or webcomics, there seems to be a surprising lack of response from both comics scholars and Internet researchers as to what webcomics are. Some attempts at theorizing webcomics, mostly connecting webcomics with popular ideologies, have been made, but so far, no known scholar has made a serious effort to analyze webcomics as a system of meaning-making in the same way that comics have been analyzed by theorists such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud or Thierry Groensteen. Even in works meant to serve as an entry point to current comics studies such as A Comics Studies Reader, webcomics exist only as a footnote pointing to the beginnings of “informed criticism” (Heer & Worcester (eds.), xiii) without referencing the informed critics. I would like to contribute to this barely existing discussion and suggest ways of how to rethink webcomics as a screen based medium built upon a foundation of visual storytelling shared by all comics. In this thesis I understand webcomics mostly as they are defined by Marianne Hicks as “comics produced primarily for the web rather than for print” and “made by an independent creator or creators, without