Webcomics and Weblogs
I’m sitting in BarCamp which can only be described as a major conglomeration of geeks. There are, and will be, some interesting discussions. Currently, the discussion is about _Blogging for Profits_. The more this discussion unfolds, the more I start to recognize that webcomics have paved the way. Sure, there’s podcasting and video and endless other things that will change dynamics slightly but web comics have explored every possible way of monetiing and doing it full time because comic artists care more about the possibility of doing it full time.
Penny Arcade mentioned how Kottke going “full time blogging” is _not a new thing_ and they’re right. Web Rings (referral links to each other), affiliate programs, advertising, merchandising, donations, commission, sponsoring articles, print versions of the product … if anything, web comics have explored _more_ avenues than blogs and keep in mind, most web comics like PA have had a blog element already so all the issues of trust, conflicts of interest, how do we know they’re not selling out, etc etc have _also_ been covered.
It’s nice to think of oyurself as a trailblazer but sometimes, it might be worthwhile to go “hey, maybe this isn’t a new problem”.
