Interesting Article

[Rob]

I ran into this via my Google Alerts. This fellow used to do a fairly popular webcomic (called Avalon on Keenspot) back in the late 90's early  00's and in this article he discusses his laments and memories with a fairly active group of commenters.

I find it interesting looking at it from the perspective of someone who was where we all are now, sort of looking back from ten years being away from it all and missing it.

162 comments and counting. Someone should tell him about this place. He seems to want to reconnect.

:D

http://www.reddit.com/comments/be5io/i_am_a_washed_up_webcomic_artist_whose_comic_was/?sort=old

[JR]

I wish this the guy the best of luck, and I hope that he gets back into creating comics again. 

His story was disturbing to me.  His life doesn't sound bad, by any stretch, but I still don't want to be where he is now.  Life has a nasty habit of getting in the way.  What I'm taking away from his tale is that it's not how many times you fall down that matters, but how many times you pick yourself up that counts.

Again... the best of luck to him.  I hope he finds some succor.

[Gibson]

My updates have started to falter...and my work isn't nearly that popular. Now, I'm scared! Someone hold me.

[Dr. BlkKnight]

Interesting. My updates have dropped in frequency, but I'm currently working on getting it back up. The only difference is that I also upped my style so my whole process changed from when I was three times a week.

[Knara]

I loved Avalon.  Was always sad it didn't get a proper resolution.

[Gar]

Kinda sounds like he wants to start it back up again. We should encourage him to do so  :)

[jaygee]

Reading this article/blog was disturbing, fascinating, eye-opening, brain-paralysing, sad, motivating,...(running out of attributes here) - all at the same time. I mean it's sort of the vicious cycle of doing entertainment in any form or shape: to some extent we all appreciate/rely on feedback from our respective audiences (no matter whether large or small) which only happens when you deliver regularly over a prolonged period of time and which takes ages to build up but is lost within a coupla weeks. And unless you are pro means doing it for a living the impact of life tends to be more significant...I hope Josh starts realising one of his various projects soon -would be nice to see someone with his skills and experience being back in the comic business...      

[Rob]

From what I read he seems to think he's lost his ability to draw.

I agree with your assessment though. It is a very enlightening and troubling article. In many ways I feel similar to him because my own comic was doing staggeringly well for the short time we existed before losing my artist and having everything come crashing down around me.

So I look upon the entire community with very mixed, melancholy feelings.

[Gar]

My comic died for a couple of years. Twice. It's entirely possible to get back on the wagon, so be ye not disheartened, Rob. (It is hard to force it though. Hence the Twice.)

Back to the article: Somewhere down in the comments there's a link to a page with some of his more recent drawings. The skill set's still there, he just got fed up doing the comic when it started to feel like work rather than a fun hobby. I can empathise with that.

Dude needs the Elite Beat Agents.

[Gibson]

he just got fed up doing the comic when it started to feel like work rather than a fun hobby

This is the key difference, though, between a successful webcomic and an unsuccessful one. And not just webcomics, everything. The ones that keep going when it feels like work are the ones who have the legs to make it...because if you're serious about it, it is work.

[JGray]

he just got fed up doing the comic when it started to feel like work rather than a fun hobby

This is the key difference, though, between a successful webcomic and an unsuccessful one. And not just webcomics, everything. The ones that keep going when it feels like work are the ones who have the legs to make it...because if you're serious about it, it is work.

It all depends on what you mean by making it. If you mean make a decent amount of money off the comic, you're absolutely right. On the other hand, for some people "it" means enjoying yourself and sharing your comic with whomever chooses to peruse it.

One of the odd things about webcomics, as opposed to television, movies, music, and so forth, is there's no clear separation between hobby and professional. For the most part, you aren't going to see a show made in someone's basement right after you watch, say NCIS (though there are some SciFi monster movies that make me wonder). On the other hand, Drunk Duck is home to both the amazing Simply Sarah and any number of barely updated comics that tell wishy washy melodramatic stories.

This is changing, of course. YouTube and Facebook and the internet in general is making it easier to get content out and relatively affordable software by companies like Adobe makes it easier to produce good quality material. Still, webcomics stand apart as a medium where hobby and professional crash together.

[Gar]

We all want people to read and like our comics, otherwise we wouldn't be putting them on the internet (and it's really nice to get fanmail!!).

That said, Neko the Kitty's been around since 2002, and has never made any money or had a particularly big audience (there's a 'cult' following at best. Not a lot of people like NtK, but the people who do seem to like it a lot. I call them Nekophiles, though not to their faces.) If there was going to be a big audience they'd be there by now, so from the fame-and-money perspective I'm a failed artist.

Being unpublishable takes a lot of the pressure off, though. Being a pure hobbyist means you can just have fun drawing stuff and being weird.

[Gibson]

It all depends on what you mean by making it.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that when people use terms like 'making it' and the like, they mean an increased level of fame and finance, generally to the point that it's a significant if not sole source of income, or attaining a certain level of acclaim. I've never heard of anyone who considers the solitary act of making a comic, regardless of whether fame and fortune are what they're seeking, to be 'making it.' I make no judgments about someone who doesn't want to do comics when they stop being fun, nor do I use terms like success or failure, it's a personal choice of what's important. If it helps, consider the term to be short for "making it to a high level of notoriety and respect."

I'd also disagree with your idea that webcomics are the only medium where there is no clear distinction between amateur and professional. You might not see what you've described on television, but you do see it in film, books, theatre, visual arts and especially music, perhaps even moreso than in webcomics. Honestly, television is more of a standout in that respect.

[Rob]

To my mind the very short and simple definition of "making it" is being able to financially support yourself through the work you do as a comic creator. If this includes corporate commissions and speaking engagements; as long as it comes to you by way of your comic success and notoriety it's all included.

And if that amount, whatever it may be keeps you financially stable in a life you are comfortable in then that to me is "making it."

The only other element is if the work brings you joy. You could manage a supermarket and make money enough to be comfortable but if the work is miserable then you really haven't made it.

Don't get me wrong. It won't be lollipops and rainbows all the time but if doing the work brings you joy and you can live off of it financially then you have "made it."

But that's just my opinion.  :-[

[wendyw]

I'd also disagree with your idea that webcomics are the only medium where there is no clear distinction between amateur and professional. You might not see what you've described on television, but you do see it in film, books, theatre, visual arts and especially music, perhaps even moreso than in webcomics. Honestly, television is more of a standout in that respect.

Music definately is a great example of another medium that has the blurriness going on. These days we've got the likes of youtube and Daily Motion that anyone can put their home made music videos up onto and services like CD Baby, and I think People Sound before it bit the dust and was reborn as a social networking site, that make it easy to put your own CDs up for sale, much like webcomics and print-on-demand paperback books. Plus there's the hundreds, probably thousands, of vanity record labels out there, set up for the sole purpose of putting out the owners' own music.