Week 3: The influence of digital convergence on Comics

Comics are a valuable form of expression and gained an undeniable position in the popular culture of recent centuries. However, writers and illustrators have tried to take a different path from the traditional in­dustry by giving more individual and poetic treatments to their narratives. In this case, the digital media embody an important context, creating new spaces for discussion and dissemination of these materials. This blog post analyzes the influence of digital convergence on Comics and elaborates on how this form of communication has been shaped by the market in the last decades.


Comics, Technology and New Media

The Comics industry experienced a huge boom in the mid-80s due to considerable scale production of titles and its consequent impact on the market. However, the constant repetition of narrative formulas, the adoption of misleading editorial policies and the constant strained relations between publishers and authors brought a deep retraction period led by a sharp fall in the profits in the early 1990s.

According to Roberto Elísio dos Santos (2009), as the crisis in the print medium continued, the personal computer (PC) became more popular and the manipulation of graphics software more friendly and attractive. This development eventually led artists to consider the digital medium as an alternative to produce something that differs from the already saturated market, which was dominated by a few publishers.

Despite the initiative of independent authors and smaller companies, the first successful experiences departed from large brands like DC and Marvel Comics: Iron Man - Crash (with script and art by Mike Saens and produced by William Bates) and Batman - Digital Justice (written and produced by Pepe Moreno). On the other hand, the novelties presented in relation to these new forms of  interaction were mere adaptations of the traditional language with commands to move forward and they performed no major changes in the way of perceiving this art form (McCould, 2006).

  

Batman - Digital Justice

After considerable experiences that lasted about ten years, major American and European publishers have decreased their investments in interactive media, releasing few works after 2000. The rare initiatives from that date were restricted to short runs of independent publishers, signaling the unwillingness of the public to consume this kind of product.

The traditional Comics diffused over the internet were more successful, though, largely because of its increasing accessibility. Since the 1980s French Minitel, a huge list of websites were related to comics. They were categorized among portals, publishing sites, fan sites, sites of cartoonists and Comics made specifically for this medium. It can be said that the latter category only began to exist from the moment in which artists and editors had a greater concern to adapt their stories to the computer screen dimensions and other standards such as color and resolution.

Concerning the mediatization of the Comics, or their growing reliance on media commucation and technologies, Roberto Elísio dos Santos (2009, p. 14) states that “the computer screen requires different layouts in comparison of a magazine or comic book, encouraging artists to innovate the way of presenting or organizing their sequential narratives. Similarly, the stories start to incorporate features of the digital media (sound, movement and effects) and lead authors to create a hybrid product that mixes the language of Comics with the animation and games.”

This new context also offers the potential to dig deeper in the narrative by encouraging the authors to produce more texts related to the universe they created (drillability). Also, it invites readers to take paratexts and creative interpratations into their own hands and circulate them across their social network via fanzines (spreadability). For Moacy Cirne (2002, p. 159), the barrier separating the Comics and the digital spectrum has been already broken: "To Think about Comics today means thinking about their placement in the new media field."

Authorship and Digital Broadcasting: A Powerful Combination

Although some authors defend the idea that the establishment of creative processes in the digital environment means a growing threat to major publishers and studios, what is often observed is a change in business approach. As Edgar Franco says in his book HQTrônicas (2008, p. 257), the internet "has even contributed to the emergence of new titles in print media, making the other way that we could predict." Thus, the internet is not only a space for hybrid experiments of languages but carries with it a revolutionary embryo which is gradually changing the guidance of the industry.

However, the main novelty of this scenario is the equivalent or even exceeding aesthetic quality of the artists’ production if compared with the publishing industry. This is caused mainly by the lack of interest of young and talented authors regarding the restrictive policies adopted by the editors in the traditional market. That being said, unknown artists and their alternative titles start to regard the internet as a possible solution, not only to overcome the high costs of printing and distribution, but also to solve the issue of accessibility for potential readers.

Traditional environment

According to Edgar Franco, [...] “the web started to function as a democratic space where cartoonists and editors can advertise and promote the sale of their titles, breaking through the major logistical problem of the independent publishers. [...] Before the internet, the editors were often forced to make a huge number of copies if they wanted to see their work distributed, which precluded many editorial projects aimed to smaller segments of the public”.

Thus, the importance of the internet is shaped not only by a broader diffusion and a aesthetic renewal of Comics but it also contributes to the formation of a new audience and the creation of an essential space for discussion and evaluation of Comics as an artistic expression. Traditionally, these places consist of environments dominated by fanatical geeks, where women, children and people with limited income are excluded (Santos, 2009).

New media also changed the game for authors who cannot access the mainstream flows and use the online platform as the only space available for their works. Fanzines have revealed artists that luckily find space in the market, reaffirming that the internet can help publishers to produce a greater diversity of titles from the prior recognition of an author in the digital world.

By breaking the barriers of the traditional industry another problem concerning the producion is solved: progression and constancy of work. With almost no financial impediments, artists can produce new Comics continuously and take them to the public, and by doing so, more loyal readers are formed as the overall artwork is improved.

Therefore, it becomes clear that the digital production and broadcast promotes an increase in the quality of comic books in many ways. The technical quality improves by increased information exchange that takes into account the existence of a critical, active and connected public (rather than a passive market with presumed satisfaction). The same goes for the artistic quality, due to a greater possibility of authorial expression.

Nevertheless, the most significant change can be found in the way of doing business, since practically all the fundamental principles of trade are attached to the printed graphic product so-called comic book. From a market point of view, the digital convergence opens up new perspectives to the print media given the fact that artists can be more successful and well-known using the online platform. So even facing crises of an economic nature, the traditional industry can benefit from this new image-sharing digital culture.

AH - SH - MS - GV - MW

Thesis: The new digital culture on comics opens up possibilities for creators and their audiences to shape worlds together.

Works Cited

 SANTOS, Roberto Elísio. Comics And Editorial Production On The 21th Century (Curitiba, 2009).

McCLOUD, Scott. Comics: The Invisible Art (São Paulo, 2000).

McCLOUD, Scott. Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form (São Paulo, 2006).

CIRNE, Moacy. Comics and New Media (São Paulo, 2002).

FRANCO, Edgar Silveira. HQTrônicas: From Paper To The Internet (São Paulo, 2008).