The guys who make up Halfpixel; Dave Kellett, Brad Guigar, Kris Straub, and Scott Kurtz, put out a book a few years ago called How To Make Webcomics. It is a thorough "how to" guide on how to take your comic idea and put it on the net for everyone to see in a professional manner.
Though my aspirations in life don't really lie in being a cartoonist for a living, I found this book to be a very interesting read. It gives very sound advice on everything from how to interact with readers to settings in Photoshop needed to have your strip look nice on your site and in print. The authors do not boast that they know everything there is to know about the medium. In fact it is quite the opposite. They tell the readers what has worked for them and it is up to each individual whether the advice is taken or not. The authors do their best to share what they feel is the best route of action and explain why they feel that way.
I really like the fact that the advice given in this book is practical. It is not something that can only be achieved by a handful and the masses are just left to figure it out for themselves. It is for anyone who aspires to be a web cartoonist. And in some cases, a cartoonist in general. I also like that they do not make astronomical promises similar to those late night infomercials where if you just follow all the steps in their book, you will be on the money train in no time. The book is very plain in saying that being were the authors are right now takes a good deal of effort, but it is not impossible.
I was also very entertained by the tips that were given for the actual setting up of the strip. There were things that I had seen in comic strips, but didn't really pay attention to. Things such as: having gutters, spatial arrangement of characters, use of shadow to confer a point, etc. These were all things I had seen before and my subconscious mind had made sense of the set up. But I had no idea that the artists were making the conscious decision to place things on the page in a certain manner for readers to pick up subtle hints and clues in order to make the story more dynamic. I was quite impressed when I learned that fact. I gave comic and cartooning art another dimension
So, for those out there who wish to try your hand at making webcomics, this book should become your bible (or at least one of your bibles). For others, I think it is was pretty cool to get a peek into the inner workings of a webcomic. I definitely advise picking this up. It is a great read.
