Insecurities

Some creators wear their emotions on their sleeves. To understand these guys you have to understand the following (and this applies to Charles Schultz as well). These guys were victimized in school. Bullied and ridiculed (not all creators but you get an idea of who is like this the farther you read). So they post a webcomic and get a fan base and then it's a god complex. Now THEY have fans. So they feel like they are big shots. But they still suffer from incredible insecurity. So when someone criticizes them they have a flashback of being bullied but now they have power. They can lash out. You know what's sadder than the old rocker? The bullied geek who never let it go. Sad.

Nothing to see here

Seriously. Didn't you read the header? Move along.

Now is the time

Never before has the opportunity for success been available for cartoonist. The internet is a great tool. You want to be a cartoonist? Great. Here's how you do it. This is assuming you've got your strip ready to roll.
Get a website. Godaddy will allow you to register your site and offer hosting for a minimal monthly charge. Get a program to build websites (downloads.com has some just do a search for web design) or become familiar with html. Dreamweaver or Frontpage are both great programs but will cost you.
Get your comic uploaded then start visiting forums. Many of them have areas where you can pimp your stuff. Project Wonderful is a great way to get some traffic at a minimal cost as well. If your strip is well done and unique you will start to build a fan base and word of mouth will get around. It'll take a few years to build up a good following but it can be done. And the best part is you can do this in your spare time and still pull in a bankroll from your day job.

Paths traveled

I've encouraged you to get your degree and have other options in life. Why? Well, you're 15 and you like drawing so you want to do that. When I was 7 I wanted to be a firefighter. When I was 9 I wanted to be Spiderman. When I was 15 I wanted to be Hugh Hefner. We have dreams but as we age our dreams change based on our life experience. I'm not saying abandon your dreams. Far from it. I'm saying explore all options. You may say "I hate science" then you take a science class and realize that you love it. It's the green eggs and ham theory. You truly don't know what you do and don't like until you try it. Don't lock yourself into one dream. Keep multiple pathways open so you can choose which road you want to travel rather than letting the road limit your choice.

The Real Juggernauts

Two of the biggest comics on the web are Penny Arcade and Ctrl Alt Del. Both lead the pack in terms of numbers. Both understand the points of business and finding your passion and turning that into profit. Penny Arcade updated three days a week and it's safe to say that while, it's a webcomic, it's the blogs that pull the fans in. Both creators are gamers and have tapped into that culture being viewed as trusted advisers. And the industry has embraced them. CAD is similar. There seems to be some frustration regarding CAD among some webcomic fans but he's doing something right to pull in those type of numbers and make the money he's making. Penny Arcade and Ctrl Alt Del have both found formulas that will transcend the timeline that will kill most webcomics. They have grown beyond just being webcomics both are thriving businesses within the gaming community.

Hey Blockhead

Charles Schultz was a slave to Peanuts. Watch A&E's biography or read his biography and you'll see someone who couldn't get past his early rejections in life. It was the heart of Peanuts. Here's someone who had major success but still struggled with his insecurities. And worst yet he let life pass him by while he was chained to his drawing table. Drawing is great but don't do it at the expense of life passing you by. Life goes by quickly. He didn't like to travel and didn't like to take time off. He passed on family vacations letting his wife and kids go without him. He shunned offers of friendship because his friends and family were pen and paper. Even as he grew old and senile and his strip read like a train wreck and looked like a disjointed group of scribbles he refused to quit. He somehow equated his worth in life in his art instead of himself. Not a life I'd wish on anyone. But he was rich you might counter. What is all the wealth in the world if you don't enjoy it.

It's whats for dinner

But not for posting-nothing to add

Peanuts Part 2

Cartoonists point out that you can have a long life in comics. Referring to my previous post of how short your life is in the entertainment industry. Peanuts was a juggernaut in the paper but it was because of the comfort it provided by being there daily more so than it's quality which was lacking for the last several years of it's incarnation. It had been a staple of the papers for 20,30, 40 years and people got use to it being there. Regardless of if they still read it or not. People don't like change. So when editors contemplated removing it from their pages the community was outraged. It's like an old friend who has been with them every day. That's what kept it going. And having a major syndicate behind it didn't hurt either.

Peanuts

Peanuts would have never made it in today's market. Cartoonists love to point out Charles Schultz had a long and happy career in comics and that's the model they want. Schultz had several things going for him. First was the timing. Peanuts was fresh and unique (and really quite good in it's early years considering it's competition) but what really sent it into the stratosphere was the animated specials. Consider this was at a time where there were only three channels and a large portion of the viewing audience watched the same holiday specials. A Charlie Brown Christmas became part of tradition. You talk to kids under 10 now and a large number have never seen this special. Why? Because it's competition are 100 other channels, internet and video games. Had Peanuts been launched today it would at best be considered mediocre.

Slave to the table

What I didn't like about cartooning. Being a slave to the media. When I was focused on being a cartoonist it was like being shackled. I slept with a note pad next to the bed in the event I would wake up at 3 am with a great idea. I'd be out at a restaurant eating while the wheels turned and churned for the next great strip. When it hit I would scribble it down on whatever was available, napkin, post it, etc. When I wasn't thinking about the content I was at the table drawing it. While life passed me by. There were times where I'd start in the morning and it'd be 11pm and I'd realize the entire day had passed me by. That amazed me but I was lost in the addiction. It wasn't until I finished college and started making fat cash that I realized how time consuming it was. For me, being alone in my studio for hours upon end was not as fun as being at out with friends. It's been a few years and I look back and have no regrets. My mission now is to make sure you don't have regrets. I want you to succeed in comics if that's what you want to do but I want to make sure you don't throw the rest of your life away.

Success killed it?

Ole Jason here wanted to be a cartoonist, too. So I'm honing my skill and working away. I send a few things off to syndicates and get some promising feedback. Not just the generic rejection letter. I had a couple of strips held for consideration which they eventually passed but encouraged me to continue to submit. This was while I was in college. What I like about drawing: It's a great release. Getting lost in time while you are working away and finishing a product that you step back and look at in amazement saying "wow, I can't believe I did that." What I didn't like: being chained to your creation. When I was actively pursing this I could never break free (more on that in a future post). So I graduate college, get a great job, meet a beautiful woman and all of the sudden I'm not that hungry college kid. I enjoy drawing but I also enjoyed spending time with my gal (now my wife), hanging out with friends, traveling, skiing, scuba diving, the list goes on. I wanted to experience life and had the bankroll to do so. The passion for art was put on the back burner. I still enjoy drawing but I'm not driven and it doesn't consume my every waking moment like it use to. Success killed my drive for a career in webcomics? I don't know. I know I'm really happy with my position in life.

Go for it

I don't want anyone thinking I'm trying to discourage you from chasing your dreams. Not even close. Chasing your dreams does not mean you have to abandon everything else. You like to draw? Great. How old are you? 15, 20, 25. Webcomics is a fantastic way to chase your dreams. You don't have to put every minute into it. You can spend time in college, work and still find time to hone your craft. Get something online and start building an audience. In the meantime you are getting that degree. Now after you graduate college you want to focus on comics full time that's great. You have that degree to fall back on. What if you find that after 10 years you are bored with drawing? You want to do something else? That degree helps ensure you are not taking a job that you'd have in high school. You can enter corporate America ready to collect your just rewards. Or you may realize that drawing everyday is your dream come true and you have the satisfaction of knowing you have your degree and the life experience to make your strip well rounded. Good luck.

You don't know squat

Hey, brainiac, you shouldn't deter people from chasing their dreams. I started a webcomic in my 20's now I'm living the dream. I'm not the sad rocker so screw you. Well said, friend, but let's look at reality. How long of a life shelf does entertainment have? How many bands from the 80's and 90's have survived and thrived? How many television shows make it past 10 years and still maintain their quality? People love to point out the Simpsons but it's a mere shell of what it was and continues to slide in ratings. It's naive to think you are going to have a 40 year career as a cartoonist unless you're syndicated and then it's iffy. Especially a web comic. There are so many other options available after awhile, unless you constantly bring in new content, you will eventually see your readership drop. Some of the biggest webcomics 10 years ago are long distant memories. If you are starting a webcomic look at 10, 20, 30 years into the future. Make sure you have a plan B. It's what I'm referring to when I talk about sad rockers. If you hit it big in your 20's and have a 20 year run before you and your readers suffer burnout what do you have? A 40 year old who has no work experience other than "sitting at home drawing cartoons" and no degree.

The Old Rocker

You know what's sad? Running into your high school classmate 10 years later. You know the guy. The rocker. He had his band in high school and they were going to be huge. You went on to college, got your degree, and landed a good job. 10 years later you bump into this guy and he's still chasing the dream. He works a few gigs and makes some money but you know his opportunity has passed. He's failed to realize it. So he keeps booking local gigs thinking that record deal is right around the corner. While you are pulling in your six figure income, spending time with the wife and kids, going on family vacations and living the American dream, he's working on his big break. No plan B which is why I stress the degree. You know this guy is going to have a sad life. In another 10 or 20 years reality will begin to set in along with bitterness. Don't throw away your 20's on trying to have that big webcomic unless you are working on other options as well. Don't be that sad old rocker.

Plan B

Why is having a plan B important? Making a living as a cartoonist is difficult. There are very few that succeed. You can get a degree and get a good job and in your off time work on your strip. If you start to make decent income then you can look at limiting your hours at the office or quitting altogether. If art is your passion you can work toward a degree in advertising or graphic design. Get industry work and develop your passion in your spare time. But make sure you have a Plan B. You could be incredibly talented but just don't catch that big break. In the meantime you want to make sure you have solid income streaming your way.

Webcomics 101

So you want a career as a cartoonist. What's the first step? The standard answer is write and draw. Practice practice practice. So I'll take a different approach. Finish high school, go to college and get your degree. What if I want to be a cartoonist, though? College is 4 years. The experience you get from college will make you well rounded and give you more life experience. The alternative is to sit in your bedroom drawing comics and realizing at age 30 your entire life experience is based on high school and 10 years locked in a room, thus your life experience is fart jokes. Get your degree. While you are in college you can hone your skill and if you are lucky get some work published by your college paper (or put your work online). But that degree is essential. Gives you a plan B.