v. important question

Joined: 13 May 2007 Posts: 1285 Location: in transit

people keep asking me what the correct term is for a person who makes webcomics.

has there been a consensus reached on this? other than 't-shirt seller'

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:32 am

webcomicker? thats what i've seen

Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 3764 Location: Beat City

Web/Internet/Online Cartoonist

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:36 am

Cartoonist.

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:58 am

You can say "webcartoonist" without sounding like a snob, I think. There is no correct term because this is not the kind of thing that people who establish "correct terms" have any interest in.

Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 782 Location: USA

I like the term "webcomicker" myself!

Of course you probably couldn't say that in front of somebody without getting punched, but hey!

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 5828 Location: Los Angeles, CA

Even Ryan and I say "cartoonist" and we don't even draw cartoons.

"webcomicker" is clever but I would never say it to somebody in life because it has no meaning to anybody who is not a total nerd.

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:48 am

Webcomicker is a pretty awkward word anyway. It sounds like you're the author of the WEBINOMICON or something.

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:10 am

Aren't you guys like slightly offended but not really by the term "webcomic" anyway since it implies that the method of publication is the defining feature of your work?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:11 am

By "you guys" I mean the worldwide community of webcomickers who I understand agree on a platform every year at their annual convention in Copenhagen.

Joined: 13 May 2007 Posts: 1285 Location: in transit

'webcomic' just means you weed out the riff raff who can't use a computer.

Sad

i sure wish my mom never learned to use a computer.

Joined: 18 Sep 2008 Posts: 8353

start a new site for comics and don't tell your mom, and start posting decoy comics once a month on your old site

make sure the decoy comics have a lot of photoshop filters and lens flares so your mom thinks it could really take a month to make

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 5828 Location: Los Angeles, CA

Boorishly P. Foundry wrote:

Aren't you guys like slightly offended but not really by the term "webcomic" anyway since it implies that the method of publication is the defining feature of your work?

I don't make a stink about it, but yeah I don't really like that word because it is pretty limiting. My thing is on the web but also in print, and it is a comic but also other things. Also, as mentioned elsewhere, 'webcomic' doesn't mean anything to most people, and is usually perjorative for those who do know what it means.

I wish there was another word for "creative internet person in general" that could encompass cartoonists, bloggers, sketch comedy people, people that post clever photo essays detailing how they turned their water-heater into a replica of the Nautilus, etc., and that we could gradually introduce into the lexicon. The closest I've come up with is "maker", but that is kind of tied to that whole Maker Faire crowd.

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:29 pm

What else is your comic if not just a comic?

Also, Drew from TPFD calls himself a "Humorist" (or did).

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:14 pm

But it's like do you want your Wikipedia entry to read, "David Malki is an American humorist." Or do you want it to read, "David Malki is an American cartoonist, novelist, artist, essayist, cultural critic, publisher, and purveyor of humorous novelty items."

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:22 pm

Well, for taxes.

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:41 pm

Yeah I've thought about calling myself a humorist but it didn't quite feel right.

The term webcomic is kind of like indie or alternative for music, where the word itself doesn't really mean anything specific but it has kind of specific connotations anyway. Like when I think of just "comics" I'm almost more likely to think of superhero comics than something like what I make. Webcomic makes me think of a newspaper-style humor strip. That is the dominant form comics on the web tend to take, but of course there are zillions of counter examples that are still webcomics. And like if you think of indie music you get an idea of a certain aesthetic even though what really constitutes the entirety of indiedom is pretty varied.

Anyway I'm kind of ambivalent about the term.

Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 3060

I usually just say "webcomic writer" or "comic writer".

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 5828 Location: Los Angeles, CA

Boorishly P. Foundry wrote:

But it's like do you want your Wikipedia entry to read, "David Malki is an American humorist." Or do you want it to read, "David Malki is an American cartoonist, novelist, artist, essayist, cultural critic, publisher, and purveyor of humorous novelty items."

I mean when you put it that way.

But Ryan has made this point before, in an interview I think: You are at a party and someone says "What do you do?" I could legitimately answer many things.

I used to just say "Movie-trailer editor." But that is not really my main thing anymore. However, if I am going to supplant that with something else, it had better be something equally or more interesting.

The most accurate thing is probably "Writer." But since I didn't say "newspaper columnist" or "novelist" or "infomercial copywriter," the next question would be "Oh, so what do you write?" The true answer is "a comic strip, novels, essays and short humorous pieces on a website." This makes me sound like an poopy head.

The problem is that there is a perception that anybody can be a writer -- this is why there's the cliché of people quitting their jobs to write The Great American Novel. But the vast majority of "writers" are unsuccessful. So claiming to be simply a "writer" is, amazingly, both pretentious and unimpressive.

Similarly, "humorist" would make me sound like an poopy head because all of a sudden I'm expected not just to be funny, but to self-consciously attempt to be funny, which is a defining trait of an poopy head.

So I've landed on "cartoonist" because the response is usually a reflective "Hmmm!" which is fine. It makes them think of newspaper comic strips, which people like, and they know that there are probably not very many professional cartoonists in the world, so this is interesting.

If they say what type of cartoons, I say I have a comic strip that runs in a few papers, I've got a few books out, and I also have a website. This is sufficiently impressive.

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:55 pm

I don't think it's really pretentious to say you're a writer if that's actually how you make a living. But, like you said, if cartoonist is your main thing then just saying so upfront cuts out a step.

Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 3060

Or, you know, you could use more than one word to describe yourself.

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 5828 Location: Los Angeles, CA

I agree, if you're legitimately a professional novelist, by all means say so. But I know a lot of "writers" who are actually bike messengers with a half-finished screenplay, so I don't think there's a lot of value in the term itself when there are alternatives.

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:09 pm

Most professional freelance writers actually probably do a hodge-podge of things, sort of like you do.

Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: 189 Location: Montreal

loser

close thread.

Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 11:17 am

i think part of the problem is that everybody wants you to totally friggin' SPECIALIZE these days. malki is a true renaissance man, and has actually been able to make a living doing many and varied creative things, and that is awesome. i think a lot of us have several different things we'd like to do, and ideally, we'd be able to do all of them and have enough time in the day/money to live. but when people ask you "what do you do" they really expect you to sum yourself up in one word Sad

Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 11:19 am

i know i, for one, have my hands in many sinister soups.

Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 53 Location: Toronto

darthkittenlover wrote:

Boorishly P. Foundry wrote:

Aren't you guys like slightly offended but not really by the term "webcomic" anyway since it implies that the method of publication is the defining feature of your work?

I don't make a stink about it, but yeah I don't really like that word because it is pretty limiting. My thing is on the web but also in print, and it is a comic but also other things. Also, as mentioned elsewhere, 'webcomic' doesn't mean anything to most people, and is usually perjorative for those who do know what it means.

I wish there was another word for "creative internet person in general" that could encompass cartoonists, bloggers, sketch comedy people, people that post clever photo essays detailing how they turned their water-heater into a replica of the Nautilus, etc., and that we could gradually introduce into the lexicon. The closest I've come up with is "maker", but that is kind of tied to that whole Maker Faire crowd.

I know what you mean. I design sets for theatrical productions for a living, but it's not my main thing either, so I'm not really comfortable defining myself as just that (aside from the fact that "theatrical set designer" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue).

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:04 pm

I usually say "Graphic Designer" (or "artist," depending on how cute someone is). Whether I am doing a nine-to-five job designing some flyer, or making comics, or selling posters with booze on them, they all revolve around essentially the same thing.

Joined: 20 Feb 2006 Posts: 2465 Location: on my deathbed.

my favorite thing is when people gets comics and animation mixed up!