Monday - February 14, 2005:

My hope for webcomics is partially betrayed by Today's slashdot hopes. If there are strips that are faithfully read by thousands or tens of thousands daily, there is a market, a severely underexploited market here. The next step for the economic evolution of webcomics is their larger-scale invitation into the commercial world. Why? On the one hand, there is not enough money floating around the webcomic world to sustain many of us full-time. On the other hand there are tens of thousands of sites looking for ways to keep visitors coming back daily. Comics, particularly those delivered through the web, lend themselves well to this mission and in several ways.

For example, commercial serials have proven their value in the world of television. The little 7-Up guy gets me to turn my head at every new commercial and it was the same with the bud-bowl and alex and the "Where's the beef?" lady. I've argued before that comic characters pimping products or services won't do the trick. Web-clickers are too savvy to fall for it. Instead, people will visit sites for compelling content that is constantly updated. One way to make content compelling is through the same kinds of character development and great art that are sometimes found in comics. I read somewhere that sites have only a couple of seconds before a viewer decides to read on or move on. A good comic-strip or comic-page can hook visitors quickly and potentially bring them back as often as a new page comes up. I've noticed a few web-cartoonists signing deals with media promotions companies in recent weeks, but they seem to be interested primarily in syndication, liscensing agreements with other media outlets or producing products for the comic's own sake. Although some webcomics that move successfully beyond their creator's site may do it through this traditional path, I think there may be far more potential for a different path, one that has more relationship to the marketing and advertising world.

How valuable could web-comics be? Imagine hundreds of thousands of teens flocking to the EB (Electronic Boutique) site each day to read the latest episode of PVP.

-Bob Stevenson