Virtual Print

Comics aren't just books anymore.

While the experience of reading comics online can never replace the joy of holding a freshly printed book in your hands, web comics have existed just about as long as the technology has been available to make them possible. They are particularly relevant for those of us whose jobs place us in front of computers for most of the day, bringing a little light to the systematic and repetitive existence entailed by such work.

While originally consisting primarily of shorts and daily funnies, you can now read a wide variety of comics online in different formats. Beyond the classics like Penny Arcade, the late Perry Bible Fellowship, and Slow Wave created by local Jesse Recklaw, here’s a sampling of some of my favorite sites to browse.

Top Shelf 2.0
This collection of comics includes many artists actually published by Top Shelf as well as many using the site as a platform for releasing sections of larger stories or more experimental works. If you like something, check and see if they have some books for sale as well! There are a lot of names, but be sure to check out Jed McGowan, Jessica McLeod, Scott Smith, Dunja Jakovic, and Nate Powell.

Vice Comics
Vice hosts funny, crude, and fresh comics by such greats as Johnny Ryan, Lisa Hanawalt, and Zach Hazard. How could you not?

Arthur Comics
Edited by Jason Levian, this sampling of comics comes in a very interesting new format called Greener Mags. It makes a new experience out of reading online and is similar to apps on phones these days. It takes away the typical online strip or scroll style and offers a format more akin to pages. Originally designed for the growing production of online-specific magazines, it lends itself well to this new usage. Levian, as always, has great taste and is on his game getting up new and exciting artists.

What Things Do

What Things Do
This site is clean and simple and presents work from established and respected artists. What Things Do was brought to life by Jordan Crane.

There has been an interesting discussion about the presence of the internet in the comic world. It’s something I think about quite a bit. Seeing as how comics are not a mainstream market and “indie” comics even less so, it’s hard to find the means to spread one’s work or fund production and circulation. Anyone, on the other hand, can start a blog and post their work, maintaining control over the way in which it will be viewed. Those living in smaller cities also may not have the luxury of having comic and art book shops in their town that would carry what they’re interested in.

Publishing comics on the internet opens up an unrestricted territory which many artists are taking advantage of. Probably the most interesting example of this is Dash Shaw’s Body World. Divided into twelve chapters that were originally published online on a week-to-week basis, it is presented in a series of extremely long scrolls, fitted for how one best reads on the web. When Pantheon came around to print the 384 page book, they actually mimicked that format.

Dash Shaw's BodyWorld online

I’m typically most in favor of printing everything. I love well-designed books and zines and being able to carry them around. However, I’ve come to gain a new found respect for the medium of web comics. There have been exhibits devoted to them (the Infinite Canvas show at MoCCA in 2007), and the Eisner, Ignazt, and Harvey Awards all have web comic categories. Web comics are not solely produced by artists who can’t afford or find a printer. I don’t necessarily see them as a threat to the printed comic, but I do see them being much more intertwined in the future presentation of comics.