Thoughts or opinions about starting a web comic

Hi all,I'm curious to hear thoughts and opinions about going about starting a web comic book. Up until now, I've put together four issues of my comic December Sun and listed them, along with sample pages, on my crummy free geocities site, and now I'm at the point of considering a paid domain - one with a little more control and fewer restrictions than geocities.But how does one get started with something like this? I think it would be fantastic to basically offer the entirety of a comic online for free, with the newest page appearing on the MAIN page, and a "Prev" option leading to past pages. Are there templates for things like this, or is it just assumed that the person putting together the site either 1) paid some web design pro on the setup, or 2) has a considerable web design background and knows how to do all this stuff already?I'd love to find out more about how to get started, and maybe hear from some others who have done this, and see some samples too.Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!Rob

Replies

Pastor Z January 24, 2008 at 6:57pm

I've had a webcomic (Church Mice) online now for about six and a half years. I put it together using some web design software. In the years I've been doing the cartoon, I've not made much money with it, although I always seem to get enough donations to cover the cost of my webhosting, but not much more than that. I had originally wanted to make a lot of money with it, but God has taken the website and turned the cartoons into a ministry. I receive emails from all over the world telling me how some cartoon on the site helped someone find their way back to God, or finally helped them to understand what God's Love is all about. A couple years ago I heard about a man in England who read a Church Mice comic and for the first time understood about Jesus and forgiveness. He gave his heart to the Lord and spent the rest of his life telling others about Christ. When the man died, his family put a copy of the cartoon in his casket.
Do I ever wish it would start generating some income for me - sure I do. I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But... with stories like the one about the guy in England, I have no complaints about what is happening with Church Mice. I'm doing it to point people to God, and that's what it seems to be doing.
- Rob Marsh > Pastor Z January 24, 2008 at 7:44pm
  
  That is fantastic that you've been able to minister with your web comic. That's so encouraging to hear what an impact can be made.
Robin White January 22, 2008 at 10:34pm

How do you make money at wowio if your comic is a free download? Is there a print version you can buy?
UnchartedSpirit January 16, 2008 at 8:34pm

On the Aside (if you'll pardon me), http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail181.html

Funny, but also all too true....just don't do any of those things and you'll be on the right track :P !
- Rob Marsh > UnchartedSpirit January 22, 2008 at 7:44pm
  
  "Lens flare!"
  
  That was hilarious!
Bro. Orfenn January 6, 2008 at 8:54pm

http://www.wowio.com/users/product.asp?BookId=2608
Here try this one. You can make some money ( though not much ) in making a web comic.

Wowio.com
- Rob Marsh > Bro. Orfenn January 7, 2008 at 8:12am
  
  Good suggestion. I contacted WOWIO about having my title added to the list. Thanks!
Shandra Koger January 3, 2008 at 4:17pm

I have my webcomic up for almost 3 years now. With your own hosting site it depends what audiance you want to aim at. With myself I have a da account, accounts on many Christian Comic/Manga/and Anime Forums as well as secular forums. Even having a MySpace or Facebook account always help with self-promotion. But to get your site in search engines I always sign up for the small ones first because within a month your link will always end up in google or one of the major ones. Works every time.
- Rob Marsh > Shandra Koger January 3, 2008 at 7:41pm
  
  Thanks for the information. Actually, I've been considering working with GooglePages (since I have a gmail account) for free hosting initially, and the page editing tools aren't too bad, so far. Nothing fancy, but its a start...
  
  http://decembersun.googlepages.com/home
  
  It's got a long way to go, but it should be a fair start for now.
Craig H Wright December 20, 2007 at 7:21pm

Rob,

You may want to consider 1 and 1 web hosting for reasonable web space. Take a look at either one of my websites: www.thetruthsofgodsword.org or www.greatcommissionholinessministries.org to see just a couple possibilities of websites. I built these myself, with alot of help from a fellow minister friend, using Yahoo Sitebuilder software and a few other "tricks" . You could easily upload your comic images instead of text or pics. Making an archive page is easy and all the software I used was free. All you have to pay for is your webhosting, which is very reasonable.

Let me know if you need help at all.

Brother Craig

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