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Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or in books.

Webcomics can be compared to self-published print comics in that almost anyone can create their own webcomic and publish it. In January 2007, there were an estimated 38,000 webcomics being published.^[1] Webcomics range from traditional comic strips and graphic novels to avante garde comics, and cover many genres, styles and subjects.^[2] Only a select few are financially successful.^[3]

Medium[link]

Many webcomics like Diesel Sweeties use non-traditional art styles.

There are several differences between webcomics and print comics. With webcomics the restrictions of the traditional newspapers or magazines can be lifted, allowing artists and writers to take advantage of the web's unique capabilities.

Styles[link]

The freedom webcomics provide allows artists to work in nontraditional styles. Clip art or photo comics (also known as fumetti) are types of webcomics that do not use traditional artwork. A Softer World, for example, is made by overlaying photographs with strips of typewriter-style text.^[4] As in the constrained comics tradition, a few webcomics, such as Dinosaur Comics by Ryan North, are created with most strips having art copied exactly from one (or a handful of) template comics and only the text changing.^[5] Pixel art, such as that created by Richard Stevens of Diesel Sweeties, is similar to that of sprite comics but instead uses low-resolution images created by the artist himself.^[6]

Content[link]

Webcomics that are independently published are not subject to the content restrictions of book publishers or newspaper syndicates, enjoying an artistic freedom similar to underground and alternative comics. Some webcomics stretch the boundaries of taste, taking advantage of the fact that internet censorship is virtually nonexistent in countries like the United States.^[2] The content of webcomics can still cause problems, such as Leisure Town artist Tristan Farnon's legal trouble after creating a homoerotic Dilbert parody,^[7] or the Catholic League's protest of artist Eric Monster Millikin's "blasphemous treatment of Jesus."^[8]

Format[link]

Scott McCloud, one of the first advocates of webcomics, has pioneered the idea of the infinite canvas where, rather than being confined to normal print dimensions, artists are free to spread out in any direction indefinitely with their comics.^[9][10] Other webcomics, such as Charley Parker's Argon Zark! or the work of political cartoonist Mark Fiore, incorporate animations or even interactive elements into their comics.^[3]

However, the format and style of many, if not most, webcomics is still similar to that of traditional newspaper comic strips like Peanuts consisting of three or four panels. Similar to comic books, manga and graphic novels, other webcomics come in a page form rather than a strip form and tend to focus more on story than gags. Webcomic creators often publish print collections when their archive consists of a significant number of strips; artists who create webcomics in nonstandard formats may experience difficulties to come up with an adequate page layout.

Early webcomics[link]

The first online comic was Eric Millikin's Witches and Stitches, an unauthorized Wizard of Oz parody comic which was published on CompuServe in 1985.^[11][12] It was followed by T.H.E. Fox, a furry comic strip by Joe Ekaitis which was published on CompuServe and Quantum Link in 1986.^[13]

Other online comics followed in the early '90s. Hans Bjordahl's college-themed comic strip Where the Buffalo Roam was published on FTP and usenet in 1991,^[14] and David Farley's single-panel gag cartoon Doctor Fun was published on the web in September 1993.^[15] Stafford Huyler's stick figure comic NetBoy began publishing on the web in the summer of 1994^[16] and NetComics Weekly from Finnish Comics Society was started in mid 1994.^[17] Among the longest-running webcomics, some of which are still being published, are Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan (a Dutch comic that started in November 1994) The Polymer City Chronicles (March 1995),^[18] Art Comics Daily (March 1995), Argon Zark! (June 1995), Kevin and Kell (September 1995), Slow Wave (November 1995), and Eric Monster Millikin (Fall 1995). The term "webcomics" was used as early as April 1995.^[19][20]

The late 1990s saw the number of webcomics increase dramatically. In 1997, Goats appeared (in April), followed by Sluggy Freelance (in August), Roomies! (in September), Piled Higher and Deeper (in October), User Friendly (in November). The webcomics Pokey the Penguin, Penny Arcade and PvP began a year later, in 1998.

Webcomics collectives[link]

In March 1995, Bebe Williams launched the webcomics portal Art Comics Daily, an online gallery of several webcomics.

In March 2000, Chris Crosby, Crosby's mother Teri, and Darren Bleuel founded the webcomics portal Keenspot.^[21][22] Crosby and Bleuel also started a free webcomic hosting service in July 2000, originally called KeenSpace but renamed Comic Genesis in July 2005.

In July 2000, Austin Osueke launched eigoMANGA a web portal that published original online manga "webmanga". Within this year, eigoMANGA brought comic book industry attention to webcomics after being featured in many comic book web magazine articles and later appearing in the March 2001 issue of Wizard Magazine.

In 2001, the subscription webcomics site Cool Beans World was launched after a high profile publicity campaign including extensive print advertising. It won Internet Magazine's "Site of the Month" award in October 2001.^[23] Contributors included, amongst others, UK-based comic book creators Pat Mills, Simon Bisley, John Bolton and Kevin O'Neill, and the author Clive Barker.^[24] Serialised content included Scarlet Traces and Marshal Law.

In March 2001, Shannon Denton and Patrick Coyle launched Komikwerks.com serving free strips from comics and animation professionals. The site launched with 9 titles including Steve Conley's Astounding Space Thrills, Jason Kruse's The World of Quest and Bernie Wrightson’s The Nightmare Expeditions.

On March 2, 2002, Joey Manley founded Modern Tales, offering subscription-based webcomics.^[25] The Modern Tales spin-off serializer followed in October 2002, then came girlamatic and Graphic Smash in March and September 2003 respectively.

By 2005, webcomics hosting had become a business in its own right, with sites such as Comic Genesis and Webcomics Nation.^[26]

While comic strip syndicates had been present online since the mid 1990s, traditional comic book publishers, such as Marvel Comics and Slave Labour Graphics, did not begin making serious digital efforts until 2006 and 2007.^[27] DC Comics launched its web comic imprint, Zuda Comics in October 2007.^[28] The site featured user submitted comics in a competition for a professional contract to produce web comics. In July 2010, it was announced that DC was closing down Zuda.^[29]

Business[link]

Only a few webcomics, such as xkcd, are financially successful.

A growing number artists make a full-time living from their businesses and intellectual property, among them Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade,^[30] Pete Abrams of Sluggy Freelance, and Randall Munroe of xkcd.^[31] Comics online can generate revenue from many sources, including: advertising, original art sales, merchandising, print collections, subscription fees and reader donations. These methods are not dissimilar to avenues of income available to traditional artists.

Awards[link]

Many webcomics artists have received honors for their work. In 2006, Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel American Born Chinese, originally published as a webcomic on Modern Tales, was the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award.^[32] Don Hertzfeldt's animated film based on his webcomics, Everything Will Be OK, won the 2007 Sundance Film Festival Jury Award in Short Filmmaking, a prize rarely bestowed on an animated film.^[33]

Many traditionally print-comics focused organizations have added award categories for comics published on the web. The Eagle Awards established a Favorite Web-based Comic category in 2000, and the Ignatz Awards followed the next year by introducing an Outstanding Online Comic category in 2001. After having nominated webcomics in several of their traditional print-comics categories, the Eisner Awards began awarding comics in the Best Digital Comic category in 2005. In 2006 the Harvey Awards established a Best Online Comics Work category, and in 2007 the Shuster Awards began an Outstanding Canadian Web Comic Creator Award.

Other awards focus exclusively on webcomics. The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards^[34][35] consist of a number of awards that have been handed out annually from 2001 to 2008. The Clickburg Webcomic Awards (also known as "the Clickies") has been handed out annually since 2005 at the Stripdagen Haarlem comic festival. The awards require the recipient to be active in the Benelux countries, with the exception of one international award.^[36]

Webcomics in print[link]

Some webcomics, such as Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet, Macanudo, Van Von Hunter^[37] and Diesel Sweeties^[38] have been syndicated and published on daily newspapers' comics pages. Others such as The Perry Bible Fellowship and PartiallyClips have been published in smaller alternative newspapers, or printed in magazines, such as The Order of the Stick in Dragon Magazine^[39] and Get Your War On in Rolling Stone.^[40]

Several cartoonists like Phil and Kaja Foglio of Girl Genius have stopped publishing traditional comic books and instead serialise their content as a webcomic to reach a larger audience. Often, the webcomic is later published in the form of trade paperback collections.^[41]

In August 2000, Scott McCloud's Reinventing Comics, half of which consisted of a treatise on webcomics, was published. Though sometimes controversial, McCloud was one of the first advocates of digital comics and remains an influential figure in the webcomics field. His theories have sometimes led to debates about where webcomics should go and what, precisely, they are. McCloud's early advocacy of micropayments has also been a source of debate.^[42][43]

In June 2006, Universal Press Syndicate editorial cartoonist Ted Rall focused on webcomics for the third volume of the Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists series, and included comics such as The Perry Bible Fellowship, Cat and Girl, and A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible.^[44]

In 2008, Brad Guigar, Dave Kellett, Scott Kurtz, and Kris Straub released How to Make Webcomics, published by Image Comics. The book covered many practical matters of making money through webcomics, including website design, publishing, and merchandising. ^[45]

Non-anglophone webcomics[link]

Comics in short and long form were also published online in languages other than English. For example, in 2000 Joscha Sauer started the German-only nichtlustig.de (translation: not funny) and published a free daily black-humour cartoon. His work quickly became well-known in Germany and gave him confidence to keep submitting to publishers until Carlsen Verlag offered him a contract in 2003. From then on he published his comics in an annual book, sales of which comprise his income.^[46][47]

This section requires expansion.

See also[link]

	Comics portal
	Internet portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Webcomics

Wikinews has related news: Wikimedia fundraiser highlights webcomic community's frustration with Wikipedia guidelines

Look up webcomic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Comic book creator
• Digital illustration
• List of webcomics
• Mobile comic
• Webserial

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

Doug TenNapel
TenNapel in June 2011
Born	(1967-11-14) November 14, 1967 (age 44) Denair, Stanislaus County, California, United States
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer and Artist
Pseudonym(s)	Douglas TenNapel Douglas R. TenNapel Doug R. TenNapel Doug Richard TenNapel
Notable works	Earthworm Jim, Catscratch, The Neverhood, Ratfist
Awards	Eisner Award Winner
Spouse	Angie TenNapel (1995-present)

Douglas Richard "Doug" TenNapel (born November 14, 1967 in Denair, California)^[1] is an American musician, animator, Eisner Award-winning artist, author and essayist. He is best known for creating Earthworm Jim, a character that spawned a famous video game, cartoon series, and toy line.

Early life[link]

TenNapel was born and raised in the town of Denair, California. He got his primary education from Denair High School from 1980 to 1984.^[1] From 1984 to 1988 TenNapel studied at Point Loma Nazarene University on art specialty, finishing it with Bachelor's Degree.^[1]

Career[link]

TenNapel began as an animator on Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series. He soon began working in the video game industry on projects like 1993's Jurassic Park and Stimpy's Invention for the Sega Genesis and The Jungle Book for the SNES and Sega Genesis. In 1994, he created Earthworm Jim, the character that would star in Shiny Entertainment's video game, toy line, and cartoon series. In 1996, working for Dreamworks, he created for The Neverhood for the PC. The sequel, entitled Skullmonkeys, followed in 1998.

Work on TenNapel's first feature-length live action film, Mothman, began in the late 1990s, although as of 2002, the film was not finished. In television, TenNapel was the creator of the Project G.e.e.K.e.R. cartoon series for CBS, and was a consulting producer on the ABC series Push, Nevada with Ben Affleck.

As a graphic artist and cartoonist, TenNapel released his first comic book in 1998: GEAR, a surreal epic based on his real life cats, Simon, Waffle, Gordon and Mr. Black in a war against dogs and insects using giant robots as weapons. The cats from GEAR would eventually become the Nickelodeon series Catscratch. His second graphic novel, Creature Tech (2002), became the focus of a bidding war between movie studios. 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises won the war and are developing the script for a live action motion picture based on the novel.

TenNapel did the cover art for several of Five Iron Frenzy's albums, including a sculpture for their live album, Proof That the Youth Are Revolting. TenNapel has also created album covers and artwork for several Daniel Amos CDs, The 1999 tribute to the band, When Worlds Collide, the Neverhood soundtrack Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood and others.

Flink, a graphic novel by TenNapel, was released in late 2007 through Image comics. Monster Zoo, was released in early summer 2008. In June 2009 his graphic novel Power Up was released. In July 2010 his latest graphic novel, Ghostopolis was released; it was optioned by Disney^[2] in Spring 2009 with Hugh Jackman attached to star and produce.

TenNapel is currently producing an episodic spoof of Japanese Super Sentai-style shows called Go Sukashi!, in association with WestHavenBrook (with whom he collaborated on Sockbaby), Watanabe Entertainment and Dentsu, based on a character by Shoko Nakagawa (who appears in the films), and starring John Soares and Brooke Brodack; as well as an online superhero-genre-spoofing webcomic titled Ratfist.

TenNapel is also the lead singer of an independent band called Truck and is currently working on a Cartoon Network original series called Phibian Mike.

TenNapel is politically conservative and has written articles for Andrew Breitbart's "Big Hollywood" blog.^{[citation needed]}

Bibliography[link]

Children's books[link]

• The Strange Kid's Chronicles (a series of five children's books, published by Scholastic)

Graphic novels[link]

• Gear (Fireman Press, 1999, ISBN 1-58240-680-4)

"GEAR begins with four incompetent cats who are assigned to hijack a giant killer robot. The plans are made, the cats lay in wait, the robot comes and everything goes wrong. On the other side of town, two detectives find a body and a mystery unfolds. The cat's home town giant robot guardian is attacked by a gargantuan mechanical insect. The whole town is thrown into a panic as they wait for the heroic return of the bumbling cats sent to bring back a giant killer robot protecter. The backstory of a gear-shaped artifact called the Forbidden Mechanism is explored. The cat town is attacked by hordes of insect arimies while the elder contemplates the fate of their world."

New Edition rereleased by Image Comics in 2007, ISBN 1-58240-680-4. This new edition had all new coloring, as well as a new creator commentary by TenNapel.

• Creature Tech (Top Shelf Productions, 2002, ISBN 1-891830-34-1)

"Good battles evil, and the world hangs in the balance! Resurrected by the Shroud of Turin, the zombified Dr. Jameson intends to finish what he started 150 years ago - destroying the earth with a giant space eel. Standing in his way is Dr. Ong, a would-be pastor-turned-scientist who now works in a government research facility known as "Creature Tech." Aided by an unlikely cast of rednecks, symbiotic aliens, and a CIA-trained mantid, Dr. Ong embarks on a journey of faith, love, and self-discovery. All in a day's work at Creature Tech!"

Top Shelf's fastest selling first printing; 5,000 copies sold out in 90 days.

20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises picked up the feature film rights.

New Edition rereleased by Image Comics in 2010, ISBN 1-60706-282-8.

• Tommysaurus Rex (Image Comics, 2004, ISBN 1-58240-395-3)

"A tale about a boy and his T Rex! Ely is an everyboy trying to cope with the death of his dog Tommy. When he finds a live, 40-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex trapped in a cave behind his grandfather's house, Ely embarks on an adventure to tame this seemingly friendly giant, convince the town his new pet isn't a threat, and keep his dinosaur safe from the jealous town bully. With Tommysaurus Rex at his side, Ely discovers what it takes to be a man... and what it costs." It has been optioned by Universal Pictures.

• Earthboy Jacobus (Image Comics, 2005, ISBN 1-58240-492-5)

"Chief Edwards retires from the Modesto Police Department a lonely man. On his way home, he hits a flying whale with his car, opening the beast's mouth to find a boy from a parallel universe named Jacobus. Chief discovers that a society of insect monsters want to kill this boy due to a mysterious virus that grows on his hand. He becomes a father figure to the boy and trains him how to survive insect monsters by becoming a great American ass-kicker."

• Iron West (Image Comics, 2006, ISBN 1-58240-630-8)

"Preston Struck is an incompetent outlaw with a heart of fool's gold. He discovers an army of metal men bent on destroying central California. While Struck avoids any form of heroism, he gets a little help from a magical old shaman and his sidekick Sasquatch. Struck is going to need all the help he can get because he's deputized just as the mechanical men have taken over the railroad and are mutating the train into a giant demonic iron monster."

• Black Cherry (Image Comics, 2007, ISBN 1-58240-830-0)

"Down-on-his-luck Mafioso, Eddie Paretti is so desperate for cash he's agreed to steal a dead body from his own mob boss! Things only get worse when he discovers the body isn't human! With few options and fewer people he can trust, Eddie calls on the man who raised him, Father McHugh. The priest tells Eddie that the body was stolen from his monastery by the Mafia. Father McHugh is accompanied by a beautiful woman Eddie swears looks just like a stripper he once fell in love with named Black Cherry."

• Flink (Image Comics, 2007, ISBN 1-58240-891-2)

"A boy survives a plane crash and is rescued by a bigfoot named Flink. They form a close bond by learning about the lost of each other's family members."

• Monster Zoo (Image Comics, 2008, ISBN 1-58240-911-0)

"Monster Zoo tells the story of a young boy who discovers his local zoo may be more frightening than he imagined!"

Monster Zoo was optioned by Sam Raimi & Josh Donen's Buckaroo Entertainment in March 2008 for Paramount Pictures.^{[citation needed]}

• Power Up (Image Comics, 2009, ISBN 1-60706-093-0)

"The comedic story of Hugh Randolph, a family man down on his luck. He works as a mindless drone at a local printer until he discovers a mysterious video game console that gives him the power to produce endless riches, manipulate his work day, and even cheat death!"

• Ghostopolis (GRAPHIX, 2010, ISBN 0-545-21027-5)

"Imagine Garth Hale's surprise when he's accidentally zapped to the spirit world by Frank Gallows, a washed-out ghost wrangler. Suddenly Garth finds he has powers the ghosts don't have, and he's stuck in a world run by the evil ruler of Ghostopolis, who would use Garth's newfound abilities to rule the ghostly kingdom. When Garth meets Cecil, his grandfather's ghost, the two search for a way to get Garth back home, and nearly lose hope until Frank Gallows shows up to fix his mistake."

• Bad Island (GRAPHIX, 2011, ISBN 978-0-545-31480-0)

"When Reese is forced to go on a boating trip with his family, the last thing he expects is to be shipwrecked on an island-especially one teeming with weird plants and animals. But what starts out as simply a bad vacation turns into a terrible one, as the castaways must find a way to escape while dodging the island's dangerous inhabitants. With few resources and a mysterious entity on the hunt, each secret unlocked could save them...or spell their doom. One thing Reese knows for sure: This is one Bad Island."

Other comic book work[link]

• TenNapel has also contributed to several other comic books, such as issue #5 of Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror, issue #3 of Scud: Tales from the Vending Machine (TenNapel also contributed cover art to the 24th and final issue of the main Scud: The Disposable Assassin series, as well as penciling a single page on the same issue), the Fractured Fables anthology graphic novel, 9-11: September 11, 2001 (Artists Respond), and Flight Volume 2. Earlier in his career, TenNapel produced a short comic entitled They Called Him Evil, published by Mockingbird Studios in 1991, which introduced the character Evil the Cat, who later became one of the central villains in the Earthworm Jim series. [1]

• On January 1, 2011 TenNapel began a webcomic called Ratfist. The webcomic is semi-comical work featuring a 40 year old human protagonist with a pet rat who is transformed into a semi-human with rat features, then promptly lops off his tail (which gains sentience) and uses it in a fashion analogous to Spiderman's web-shooters. The series ended on August 5, 2011, and tennapel has said that a graphic novel will be released sometime in December.

• Another webcomic by Doug TenNapel was set to launch on September 19, 2011, titled Bigfoot for Hire. However, it has been cancelled due to scheduling conflicts.

Video games[link]

• Jurassic Park (Sega Genesis), (Blue Sky Software), 1993
• Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention, (Blue Sky Software), 1993
• The Jungle Book, (Virgin Interactive), 1994
• Earthworm Jim, (Shiny Entertainment), 1994
• Earthworm Jim 2, (Shiny Entertainment), 1995
• The Neverhood, (Dreamworks Interactive), 1996
• Skullmonkeys, (Dreamworks Interactive), 1998
• Boombots, (Dreamworks Interactive), 1999
• Earthworm Jim 3D, (VIS Entertainment), 1999
• Earthworm Jim 4, (Relativity Interactive), 2012

Discography[link]

• When Worlds Collide, 1999 Daniel Amos tribute album of various artists
• The News at When?, album of Zebrahead

Filmography[link]

• Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series, cartoon
• Earthworm Jim, cartoon
• Project G.e.e.K.e.R., cartoon
• Mothman
• Koghead and Meatus, animated short
• Push, Nevada, consulting producer
• Sockbaby, Director and Actor
• Catscratch, cartoon
• Ape Escape, animated shorts
• Random! Cartoons, cartoon
• Phibian Mike, cartoon
• MitchBot, cartoon
• The Mammal Team, cartoon
• Geekdad, cartoon

Voices[link]

• Chipmunk 1, Chipmunk 2 - Random! Cartoons in the first episode short, Solomon Fix
• Gerry - Camp Lazlo
• MitchBot - MitchBot in season 1
• Earthworm Jim - Earthworm Jim video game ^[3]
• Robot Bil, Klogg, Hoborg - The Neverhood
• Stinko - The Mammal Team
• Fish 1, Fish 2 - What a Cartoon!

Personal life[link]

TenNapel is married to his wife Angie (b. 1968),^[4] with whom he has four children. They currently live in Glendale, California.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Dumesnil, Sébastien (February 22, 2006). "Interview: Doug TenNapel". Futureal Studio. http://www.futurealstudio.com/films/aidc/interviews/dougtennapel.html. Retrieved 2007-05-27. 
• Young, Sarrah (August 2005). "Father Figures: God Is in the Details of Earthboy Jacobus". Exclaim! (Canada). http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid2=20&fid1=4142&csid1=72. Retrieved 2007-05-27. 
• Kit, Borys (2008-03-12). "Paramount nabs 'Zoo'". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i9375e474de039b3b7cadb95ac18466d7. 
• TenNapel, Doug (January 1, 2011). "Webcomic: Ratfist". Wordpress with Comicpress. http://ratfist.com/. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Doug TenNapel

• Doug TenNapel at the Internet Movie Database
• www.TenNapel.com
• www.Sockbaby.com
• Doug TenNapel's profile at MobyGames
• A review of TenNapel's Gear at The Daily Cross Hatch, from March 4, 2007
• Review of Black Cherry, Silver Bullet Comic Books, August 29, 2007
• Go Sukashi! Official website
• Ratfist